LAST CHRISTMAS - No. 1 SONG AT CHRISTMAS 2023

I was delighted to see the news on the front page of Times of India stating that the song "Last Christmas" by Wham! has been crowned this year's Christmas number one, 39 years after it was released.

I have loved this song ever since I first heard it which probably was in Singapore in 1985, if not earlier in Bombay. The three years we were in Singapore, it was being played all over malls and department stores particularly at Christmas time. I must have heard it hundreds of times and it remains a favourite of mine till date.

The song sung by Wham! which was a George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley duo, was released on 3 December 1984 and has an up-and-down history. After its release, it spent 5 weeks at no. 2 on the UK Single's Chart. Despite its appeal and popularity, it could not beat another Christmas song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?". The latter was a video recording conceived by Bob Geldof and Midge Urs who got 40 top singers together in a group titled "Band Aid" to raise funds for Ethiopian anti-famine efforts. Ironically, George Michael was part of Band Aid, preventing his own "Last Christmas" from rising to number one!

Thereafter, "Last Christmas" rose and fell on the UK Charts and till 2020, was considered the highest selling single never to top the charts. Then on New Year's Day 2021, 36 years after its release, it reached no. 1 for the first time. Thereafter, it has reached number one spot again in 2022 and now in 2023. 

The song is universally popular and has reached the top spot in Scandinavian countries, Germany, Italy and many other European and non-European nations.

The video recording of the song is interesting. It features characters played by Michael and Ridgeley with their girl friends at a ski resort. It becomes apparent that the character played by Ridgeley's girl friend had a previous relationship with that of Michael's and she still seems to be somewhat indifferent towards the character played by Ridgeley. However, all is well at the end with both couples going off happily with their present partners. 

And now the lyrics. The opening and refrain-

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart

But the very next day you gave it away

This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special, special."

The bitter sweet line-

"Now I know what a fool I've been

But if you kissed me now

I know you'd fool me again!"

Merry Christmas!

P.S. Am I in good company listening to this 39 year old song? Well, according to the UK Official Charts Company, the song notched up 13.3 million plays during this year's Yuletide seven-day chart cycle, making it the most-streamed Christmas No. 1.

VICE ADMIRAL RKS "RUSSI" GHANDHI - NAVAL ICON

In my view, the Indian Navy has had two iconic leaders, Admirals Ronnie Pereira and Russi Ghandhi, colleagues and contemporaries, both tall, handsome and striking personalities with loads of charisma, and both Gunnery specialists. Yet there was a difference- Ronnie Pereira could be compared to a popularly elected President whereas Russi Ghandhi was more like a benevolent monarch.

While in service, I knew Ronnie Pereira well as I served as his Fleet Communications Officer when he was commanding the Eastern Fleet and through golf, I had almost no personal contact with Russi Ghandhi. But stories about him were always circulating particularly when he was commanding the frigate Betwa. Another source was Vinnie Mama, a Gunner and impressive personality himself, who knew and admired both Russi and Ronnie. One had also seen photos of Russi as the smart ADC to Lord Mountbatten, Governor General of India, at the Independence ceremonies in 1947. And in 1958, when we were cadets on the training ship Tir, Russi was commanding the frigate Cauvery which accompanied us on a cruise to Singapore and Malaysia.

Adm Ghandhi had the distinction of being the only officer to have commanded a ship during all three  wars after Independence. During the liberation of Goa, he was Commanding Officer (CO) of Betwa which sank the ship Afonso de Albuquerque and hastened the Portuguese surrender. In 1965, he was CO Khukri and during the 1971 war, he commanded the cruiser and flagship of the Western Fleet, Mysore, and was awarded the Vir Chakra. After commanding both Eastern and Western Fleets and the Western Naval Command, he was in the run to become Chief of the Naval Staff but the government could not ignore Adm Pereira. Unlike what we saw in latter years in case of competing rivals, there was no bad blood between Ronnie Pereira and Russi Ghandhi who remained on good terms and the latter happily went on to be the head of Shipping Corporation of India and then Governor of Himachal Pradesh.

His personality earned him Hollywood recognition and he starred in the movie, "Sea Wolves". Based on a true story of an operation during WW II, the film featured Russi Ghandhi in the role of Governor General of Goa. The film had a star-studded cast with Gregory Peck, Roger Moore, David Niven and Trevor Howard. Adm Ghandhi also provided technical guidance for the naval action in the movie.

I never heard any officer speaking of both Ronnie and Russi on anything but glowing terms. Officers who served under them loved them. Both possessed charisma, commanded respect and were models of honesty and integrity. Sailors on their ships adored them and displayed high morale as brought out by the fact that their ships would always win the prestigious Fleet Pulling Regatta. I wonder what would have happened if their boats were pitted against each other but to the best of my knowledge, they commanded their ships at different times!

My only person to person contact with him was in 1962 when peculiar circumstances resulted in my commanding the destroyer Gomati as a Lieutenant of just about a year's seniority at the age of 23. The ship was non-operational awaiting a refit but it was a great experience to be responsible for men and material at that young age. The Naval Dockyard had a long list of ships awaiting refit after the Goa Liberation War, so finally it was decided to send Gomati to Garden Reach Calcutta. NHQ directed that the ship sail with only a skeleton crew of essential sailors and we were asked by Cdr Russi Ghandhi, Drafting Commander responsible for sailors' appointments, to forward a list of such personnel. Not satisfied with our first reply, Cdr Ghandhi asked me to come and see him. This time, I made out a detailed list marking each sailor at his action stations post in three watches. Cdr Ghandhi was quite impressed and approved our list with a pat on my back.

I was on Gomati when Russi Ghandhi was commanding Betwa and both ships were berthed alongside on the jetty. Cdr Ghandhi, who lived in his own house in Juhu and drove to work in his elegant Jaguar, used to come on board his ship at about 9.30 am, finish the paperwork in his cabin, walk around the ship talking to sailors on work, order his pink gin at 12.30, have his lunch and drive back at 2.30 pm. Nobody minded his coming late or going back early; in fact, he was admired for it with people saying that it was the delegation of responsibilty and trust in his ship's company that was the secret of the ship's efficiency. Far better than captains who thought they must spend hours on board before and after working hours to ensure people did their job!

I wrote this in a 'middle' titled 'Captain's Capers' published in the Times of India on 08 August 2003. I did not use any names but a few days later, received a handwritten letter from Admiral Ghandhi saying he had read the piece. He had made inquiries and succeeded in getting my address. It was a very sweet letter saying that he thought nobody had noticed his comings and goings but my piece revealed that his activities had been watched! He then asked me to introduce myself and I wrote back giving my details including my relationship with Vinnie Mama who he knew well. Thereafter we were in constant touch and he always wrote a very appreciative letter whenever the TOI or Indian Express published my middles.

Those days I was also visiting Bombay quite often thanks to Shumita working there. I always made a point to contact him and he would ask me to come to the US Golf Club where we would sit by the seaside under a palm tree and, dressed in immaculate whites with red socks, he would regale me with his naval anecdotes. At times he and his wife, 'Bubbles', would come to Shumita's apartment for a drink when I would also call another great naval storyteller, Cmde Randhir Malia.

We remained in touch till he passed away on 23 December 2014, exactly nine years ago.

Ronnie Pereira and Russi Ghandhi, two unforgettable iconic leaders of the Indian Navy.

 

RETURN OF VINYL

I cut my teeth in music on 78 rpm shellac records played on a hand-wound His Master's Voice gramophone. It was fun winding the machine with a hand-crank to rotate the turntable, placing a record on it and putting the tone arm on the record to start playing. A record would normally be about 3 minutes long and as it approached its end, I would start rewinding vigorously so that the music would continue with little disruption.

Then came electric players which overtook all the manual functions after putting the record on the turntable. One could even stack 7-8 records on a vertical spindle so that they would change automatically and the music would play uninterrupted for a long time. Records were made of vinyl and came in two additional sizes: the smaller 45 rpm ones with just one or two songs and the long-playing (LP) 33 1/3 rpm which would last for about half an hour.

When I was in School, there were no shops selling English records in Jaipur. Then Rajendra "Sunny" Sahai, two years my senior and elder brother of my good friend Yadu, passed out from School and went to St. Stephen's Delhi. He told me that there was a shop, Marques and Co. in Connaught Circus which mainly sold musical instruments but also records. So whenever I came to Delhi, I would visit the shop and buy a whole lot of them. The shop also sold a small book with lyrics of top songs of the year. That was another 'must buy' for me annually.

When we shifted to Delhi after my retirement from the Navy, Shumita wanted to buy a piano. So off we went to Marques and bought one. The shop was being managed by Marques Jr. who played many instruments including the piano. He became Shumita's tutor and used to come home for her lessons. I told him about my earlier visits and whenever he came, he and I would chat a lot about the good old days.

Buying records was a great experience particularly in Bombay. There was this big shop, Rhythm House, at Kalaghoda just 100 metres from Lion Gate, entrance to the Naval Dockyard, which had many cubicles with record players. So you picked up a few LPs, locked yourself up in a cubicle, and spent as much time as you wanted listening to your favourite songs. Nobody cared if after hours of listening, you didn't even buy anything!

Many restaurants installed jukeboxes in which a large number of singles were stacked. You went through the titles, inserted a coin and played the number of your choice. A favourite cafe of mine was Napoli, next to Ambassador hotel near Marine Drive in Bombay, which usually had all the numbers of my current liking. I would spend more on the jukebox than on what I ate or drank there.

Cassette revolution followed and vinyl records started disappearing. Advantages of audio cassettes were that they and their players were small in size and could be fitted anywhere such as in cars, or in a Walkman while jogging or walking. Cassettes have been overtaken by CDs which too are small and being digital, have a smooth and unwavering sound.

And now, vinyl is making a comeback! Apparently, 41 million vinyl records worth $1.2 billion were sold in the US in 2022. Each LP costs Rs. 3000-25000 depending on its quality and if you need a player, you can buy one for Rs. 1-4 lakhs.The last LP I bought was in late '90s from a shop in Chandni Chowk. I have forgotten what I paid for it but I believe the price has quadrupled in the last two years.

So why are people going back to vinyl and larger discs? According to experts, the analog sound of vinyl reverberates and creates a warmer sound. CDs are digitally mastered and create too perfect a sound whereas the rawer format of vinyl is more akin to how an artist truly sounds.

But for me, the biggest factor is nostalgia. After I joined the Navy, my visits home became less frequent. Many years later, I searched for my old gramophone but it was missing. On inquiring, Mataji, my Nani, told me that she had got rid of it as it was old and nobody was using it. I was heartbroken. Meanwhile, I had bought myself a record player. So even when cassettes and CDs were the rage, I resolved that I would always keep my player for old times' sake.

For some time the player and the records were lying idle. But I have brought them all out now. It is so exciting to go through the collection and look at, say the 12"x12" picture of Francoise Hardy, put the disc on the turntable, choose the track I want to listen to and place the stylus there. Then watch the turntable turn, turn, turn and savour the charming song in a hypnotic trance.

Time for me now to go and look for Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal with "Love means never having to say sorry" on the cover and listen to "Love Story".

MY COURSE AND SHIPMATE - JK ROY CHOUDHURY

After an association of over 68 years, JK Roy Choudhury bade farewell to his mates of the 14th course  and the Navy on 15 December 2023. 

The association began on 22 July 1955 when we joined the NDA. Chou, Roy Chou, JK or Jayanto as various friends chose to call him, was sent to 'A' Squadron and I to 'F' for one term followed by 'K'. I did not know him too well then except that he was excellent in Physical Training, vaulting over wooden horses with ease, Boxing, Football and Athletics in each of which he was awarded NDA Blues. Who can forget that memorable 100 metres sprint in which the elastic in his shorts came loose with Jayanto continuing to run at top speed holding up the shorts throughout and still winning the race!

After passing out from the NDA, the 20 or so us naval cadets boarded the cadet training ship, Tir, and Jayanto and I started coming closer. On to the cruiser Mysore as Midshipmen for six months and then for our three month small ship time, Jayanto, BB Singh and I were transferred to the destroyer Ranjit. That is when I really got to know this happy-go-lucky, full of life and carefree person.

We moved on to different ships and shore appointments and after our specialisations, he, in Gunnery and I, in Communications, were posted on the carrier Vikrant and Trishul respectively. In July 1969, Vikrant was sent to the East Coast for two months with Trishul as the plane guard. During this period, the two ships were based in Madras and Jayanto and I spent many evenings together.

On our return to Bombay, there was that incident when after the engagement cocktails of RB "Bunny" Suri, Jayanto and I accompanied by JK "Tally-Ho" Talwar, went to Taj Hotel to satisfy our hunger. Jayanto recommended Swedish Open Sandwiches and we ordered that. The waiter brought a whole tray and after we had one each, Tally-Ho said that was enough as the price was high. Jayanto, however, said that we could have as many as we wanted for the price indicated for the dish on the A la Carte. So he and I had one more sandwich each. When the bill came, we were charged for five sandwiches. With no credit cards in those days, it turned out that only Tally-Ho had the cash and duly paid the tag cursing under his breath, "You and your open sandwiches!"

Shortly after, Jayanto was transferred to Trishul as Gunnery Officer. But we spent only a couple of months together before I was transferred out to Signal School, Cochin.

With war clouds hovering, Jayanto was sent to the Eastern Sector to assist the Mukti Bahini forces. He commanded a converted fishing trawler and had the strange experience of being strafed mistakenly by our own Air Force. For his valour, he was awarded the Vir Chakra.

We were to serve together again. In early 1973, Jayanto was appointed as the Fleet Gunnery Officer on the staff of Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet while I was already the Fleet Communications Officer. By now, both of us were married and our wives got along with each other well. I vividly recall seeing the movie "Bobby" all together. Shiela and Akhila were in the centre with Jayanto and I on either side. When the song, "Chabhi kho jaye" came on, both of us started singing loudly much to the embarrassment of our better halves.

Our boss was Rear Admiral Ronnie Pereira who as you know, went on to become Chief of the Naval Staff. When the annual report time came, Admiral Pereira called us to his office one by one to show us our report, something which is rarely done. I remember Jayanto coming out all flushed and excited saying he never expected such a fine report as the Admiral had given him.

We spent a great one year together before I was sent for the Staff College Course. Unfortunately the Navy did not treat Jayanto well and he resigned, settled down in Darjeeling and joined the Merchant Navy. Our interaction became infrequent limited to occasional phone calls. Jayanto being what he was, never opened an email account!

In 2013, Premvir Das, Virendra 'Magoo' Nehra and I decided to go to Darjeeling with our better halves for a holiday. Accommodation was readily arranged with the Army thanks to SK Sharma, another mate who sadly and unexpectedly passed away recently. The Army Annexe where we stayed was within walking distance from Jayanto's house and we spent a lot of time with him and Shiela.

That's the last time we saw them. The only contact remained occasional calls.

About six months ago, Nalini Das sent me a forward of The Archies song "Sugar Sugar", saying that Jayanto had sent it to her asking her to forward it to me to remind me of Trishul days. Magoo too told me that Jayanto was unwell and wanted to talk to me. I immediately rang him up and the phone was answered by his son, Kaustav, who said Jayanto was unable to speak but he would put the phone on speaker for Jayanto to hear me talk and answer through Kaustav. We did that and Kaustav and I are in touch todate. 

I told Kaustav that I write a blog and there are many posts where I have written about Jayanto. He said to forward those to him and he would read them out to his father. Which is what we did and I got many sweet messages that Jayanto enjoyed those posts with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

The regular interaction with Kaustav kept us uptodate with Jayanto's condition. The messages were kind of mixed, some saying that he was improving. The end, however, came unexpectedly but with the consolation that he passed away peacefully with Shiela and Kaustav by his side.

Jayanto, you may be gone but memories of the happy times we spent together will live with me as long as I do.

Rest in peace.

REMEMBER "LOVE STORY"?

"Ryan O'Neal, star of 1970 movie, 'Love Story', passes on". So read the newsline.

And I go back to early '70s with the movie and the music.What a movie that was! A perfect film of romance: the story, the acting, the direction and the music. Two young students, a wealthy ivy-leaguer, Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal), and a baker's daughter, Jennifer 'Jenny' Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), fall in love. Despite his father's objections to the point of disinheriting him,  Oliver marries Jenny but then 'the moving finger writes'! 

The screenplay was written by Erich Segal and this is one of the rare instances of a screenplay being adapted into a novel rather than the other way around. The book, like the movie, was an instant hit and best seller. The dialogue in the movie is funny, full of peppy and bubbly Jenny's tarty quips to love-stricken Oliver who takes it all with a smile. Somewhere in the movie, Jenny says to Oliver, "Love means never having to say sorry." This line was repeated by Oliver to his father at the end when the latter apologises to his son for the way things turned out.

The line became legendary and inspired a whole lot of merchandise printed with "Love is...." followed by phrases such as "....sharing a toothbrush".

The director, Arthur Hiller, was never to make a film even half as successful as this. Ryan O'Neal, who won Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor, starred in other films notably "Paper Moon" with his daughter, Tatum, and won a Golden Globe nomination for it, but would always be remembered  as the handsome young man with lots of emotions in "Love Story". So would Ali MacGraw who won the Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress as Jenny, the beautiful free-spirited and funny but ill-fated girl.  "Love Story" also won her the vote of the top female box office star in the world in 1972.  The movie got both Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw the honour of a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Erich Segal did achieve best seller status with seven other romantic novels and a humorous children's book but mention his name and you will get the reply, "Oh, the author of 'Love Story'!" 

Ali MacGraw featured in the Time magazine cover story of 11 January 1971 shortly after the movie was released. To understand how deeply "Love Story" moved the audience, I can do no better than quote from the cover story in that issue describing the scene at the end of the movie outside the theatre "...the show breaks. While the frozen fanatics in the line look in disbelief, only about 20 customers emerge. What the hell, was the theatre empty? Can the film be a bomb after the New York Times called it "perfection"? More waiting, tempers rising. Then ten minutes later. comes the second wave, the other 95% of the audience. Wet-eyed men looking neither right nor left. Girls carrying men's handkerchiefs, eye makeup gone, gazing at sidewalks. All victims of Erich Segal's Love Story, the five Kleenex weeper, the marzipan heartbreaker. It has actually taken them ten minutes just to compose themselves enough to face the real world again." The story continues, "There are millions more to come."

I saw the movie in Vishakhapatnam with Akhila and my cousin Manjula and I can truly say that all of us came out teary-eyed with wet hankies and avoiding looking at each other.

Finally the music. Francis Lai's genius was at its best in composing the music for the film. The movie had 7 Oscar nominations but Francis Lai was the only winner with the Best Original Score award. He got the Golden Globe too. The haunting theme was unforgettable and heart-rending. The movie score included excerpts from Mozart's Sonata in F Major and Bach's Concerto No. 3 as Jenny was fond of them. Delightful too are 'Snow Frolic' and 'Skating in Central Park' which seemed so far away till Ruchir settled in New York!

In the movie, the theme song was only instrumental. Shortly after, the vocal version was released sung beautifully by Andy Williams. It was titled "Where Do I Begin?" It too was a hit and is popular to this day. It has versions from many top artistes such as Tony Bennett, Shirley Bassey, Celine Dion and Taylor Swift. But Andy Williams' remains the most loved.

The lyrics are simple and powerful and capture the deep emotions of falling in love followed by the poignancy of a breaking heart. The most touching lines are-

"Can love be measured by the hours in a day,

I have no answers now but this much I can say

I know I'll need her  'til the stars all burn away

And she'll be there."

The depth of emotions and the underlying pain are more palpable when you know that the story begins with the end!

 

NAPOLEON - AND JOSEPHINE

Renowned filmmaker and Director Ridley Scott's much awaited "Napoleon" is running in theatres now. Akhila and I went to see it a few days ago. We thought the movie worth a watch with my giving it half a star more than Akhila. The battle scenes are gripping particularly the final one of Waterloo with a vivid picturisation of the tactics used by the Duke of Wellington. 

Generally, American and British critics have praised the movie while the French have panned it. Incidentally, Napoleon's disputed descendant, 37-year old Jean-Christophe, his great-great-great grand nephew via Napoleon's youngest brother, Jerome, found faults with the film but still recommended that people see it. I am neither a critic nor a historian. So I shall refrain from commenting on the movie or the accuracy of the film's story. But the movie has brought Napoleon -and Josephine- to life again with a flood of articles since its release. Here are some titbits.

Napoleon has fascinated historians over the ages and is globally third behind Jesus Christ and Hitler in the number of books written about personalities. But he surpasses all in the number of movies made for cinema or television with over 1000 films about him. The first film was made in 1897, almost immediately after the invention of movies. It was "Napoleon Meets the Pope" by the Lumiere Brothers. By 1914, the year World War I began, 180 films devoted to him had already been made! Hailed as a classic was a silent movie "Napoleon" made in 1927, 10 years before Ridley Scott was born. Many of us might recall "Desiree"(1954), "War and Peace" (1956) and "Waterloo" (1970) with Marlon Brando, Herbert Lom and Rod Steiger respectively in the role of Napoleon.

Profokiev wrote an opera based on Napoleon and Beethoven was inspired to compose his 3rd symphony, "Eroica", and dedicate it to him. Shortly after, Beethoven felt disillusioned by the acts of the ambitious Napoleon and withdrew the dedication.

On a lighter note, there is a Bugs Bunny cartoon on Napoleon in which Bugs, disguised as Josephine, begins by asking Napoleon, “What's up, Nappy?" and then continues to bug him to the point of almost being guillotined!

In France, the number of books about him total more than 45000, the highest devoted to a single subject. Books are still being written about him winning numerous awards even now. Frenchmen revere him as an icon while the world debates whether he was a hero or a self-serving megalomaniac, ruthless in pursuing his ambitions no matter what the cost in human lives. One way or the other, he retains his popularity; 20 'Bicorne' hats identified with him survive and one of them was auctioned at 1.9 million Euros (US $ 2.1 million) on 19 November this year.

Napoleon fell head over heels in love with Josephine, a widow seven years older than him. Her real name was Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie and she was commonly called Rose which was not liked by Napoleon. So he named her Josephine. Napoleon adored his eldest brother named Joseph and according to the renowned psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, Napoleon gave his lover the name Josephine so that he could 'transfer to her a part of the tender feelings he reserved for his eldest brother.'

Overcoming some opposition, he married Josephine fudging ages in the registration to narrow the age gap to 1 1/2 years; he moved up from 25 to 26 1/2 and showed Josephine as 28 instead of 32. In his absence on battles, Josephine had affairs which he came to know of and accosted her with the issue. She was defiant and apparently told him, "You are just a tiny little brute that is nothing without me." Ridley Scott has brought this out in the movie in a scene in which Josephine makes Napoleon repeat a number of times, "I am nothing without you."

Napoleon loved her passionately but Josephine could not bear him any children even after 13 years of marriage. He finally divorced her and married the Austrian archduchess, Marie-Louise, who bore him a son. Nevertheless, he remained deeply in love with Josephine and when he learnt of her death in 1814 while exiled in St. Helena, he locked himself up in his room for two days and did not eat or talk to anyone.

When he himself passed away seven years later, the last word he uttered was "Josephine."