Laugh Central - Shaadi.com
So my friend emailed me this long fwd, supposedly containing excerpts from real profiles discovered by the intrepid at that Great Brown Hope site, Shaadi.com. And on reading which I nearly vomited my dinner in laughter. While I recognize that a command of the English language necessarily doesn't translate into the "goodness" of a person[1], bad language can make what is already a cliched[2] process of offering, ignoring and rejecting throw up bad or curious apples at the seekers while providing endless entertainment to (ironist) gwakers. So we bring you this public service message:
begin pointless transmission
If you are about to get on the Shaadi.com boat, pliss be getting some Engli-piss (this applies to junta across geographical boundaries) or you will be making your casual audience-
in the words of the gentleman whose quest went thus:
HYE I AM A GOOD LOKING BOY,WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TO LOUGH.I BELIEVE IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REAL MESSENGER OF GOD. THE 3 THINGS I AM LOOKING FROM A GIRL ,THEY ARE
THEY MUST BELIEVE IN GOD.
THEY HAVE TO LIKE MY PROFFESION
AND THEY SHOULD NOT GET BORED WITH ME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM LOUGH.
- LOUGH! HAHA HEHE!
end of pointless transmission
[1] My research (@ Shaadi.com, conducted in the interests of larger humanity, i.e., le moi) had previously shown that this disease of abusing the English language is not limited to folks in India but instead is omigod you know like so universal
[2] This is evident from the heavy traffic in phraseology along the lines of "has strong family values", "moderate traditional values" (huh?), "fun loving", "tight knit"ting with family etc
My Daily Notes
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Thumris and such
For the longest time I have been waiting for someone to write a deeply researched history (or a good historical novel based ) on Wajid Ali Shah[1], the final Nawab of Oudh (or Awadh), and a degenerate[2] patron and practioner of the arts - this man did it all, singing, dancing, composing, and writing. Further, if there is a Hollywood-ish Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Indian classical music, in my book, Wajid would be right up there with Tansen, just for writing and composing that exquisitely beautiful thumri Babul mora naihar.
I came back to this thumri after not having heard it in years this morning (in the voice of Bhimsen Joshi), and even though it is an intensely sad thumri, it has made my day. Here is my rough translation of the lyric that Wajid wrote when he was exiled from his beloved Lucknow to Calcutta:
Father! I depart, against my will, from your home. Four men have gathered to lift my palnquin away. Those who were mine will soon become strangers, And these courtyards of my life will become desolate, When I leave your house, father, for the husband's distant land.
[1] Should we page Willy D, now that his book on Zafar Shah is out, to get on this pronto?
[2] He got married, as per the norm for nawabs, 359 times. Damn! I should have been born a nawab.
Music Posts
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Lights Out - Raga Yaman
It is comforting to sleep with a raga unfolding in the dark*, and thanks to the number of night ragas at hand, things don't get much boring. So I chose Raga Yaman (Kalyani in Carnatic tradition) last night, another of those big, mainstreet Indian classical ragas. I don't have the requisite knowledge to discourse on it, so I will differ to this excellent article by Rajan Parrikar on its musicology, its variants, and not the least, its extensive use in Bollywood music (a quick example: the song Mausam hai aashiquana from good ol' Pakheeza**). Of the many great versions of Raga Yaman that can be had for listening***, I prefer this one by Ustad Amir Khan just because I am in love with his voice. He takes an infinite amount (ok, fifty minutes more like) of time to unfold the raga - this is the way sleep happens with its slow drift of thoughts, and then silence.
* Yes, even though this is not the attitude required to get at the rasa
** Why lord, why do they want to wreck what was once marginally good, and thus consumable in Bollywood by remaking it?
*** This is Bhimu's (i.e., Bhimsen Joshi's) version of Yaman
Music Posts
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