Valentine's Day

Firstly, I admit I got inspired by J's blog. And, I don't belong to any political party yet. But, I too believe that the whole Valentine's day issue is a blown up thing. It's more of a business than anything else. I don't need to have a specific day to do something for my loved one to tell her I love. Infact, I feel everything you do should make your loved one feel that you love him/her. Be it small things or big, you can do it anytime of the year, any moment of the day. More so, on their birthdays or your anniversaries. I did use to feel lonely on these days earlier when I was single, but now I feel this day isn't that great, after I am married. And mother's day and father's day are all the more ridiculous. I am sure, most of the time I am at my home, I think how can I make life easier for my mother, father, brother and wife and think how can I make them happy. I don't need a special day for that. And giving gifts is not at all a way to do that. There are many better ways to do that.

And if people believe that Valentine's day is a special day, I wish to ask, how many are aware of Guru Pournima. Its the day when we worship our Guru, our teacher. How many of us do that? Do we even know on that day that it is Guru Pournima? This day has been designated by Hindus since epic ages. Business people making big of Valentine's day should take special note of this and think what have they done on this day this year. I am sure no DJ or restaurant had thrown a party or no shop had special gift offers for your gurus, be it your school teacher, music teacher, management guru, whoever.

I feel its more of human behavior. Its the joy of celebration, an ocassion to do something special. Thats why we all like festivals so much. I am sure if all the people who wish to celebrate V-day are asked to moan or observe a sad moment for some tragedy, half of them will back off. And thats human nature. The only thing I want to stress is if we do something, we should have some solid reason behind it, not blindly follow what the (western) world is doing. We have a much better and richer culture which this world looks up to and we all should make sure we protect it, strengthen it and pass it to our juniors. I know there are grey areas, like J has said in her blog, but I think we are wise enough to sort out the two colours and make it clear.

Have a nice weekend ahead.

धन्य ही देवांहून जनता !!

Yesterday, a very melodious period came to an end. After six months of week after week of musical Monday and Tuesday nights, the final five champs are ready for the mega-final. And I have already started to worry about what to do on the Monday and Tuesday nights henceforth. Every week, Zee Marathi provided all of us blessed people with a musical extravaganza, which we rarely get to witness, even after paying for tickets. The quality of songs, knowledge of the kids and their talent overall has ever increased during this period and has made them ready to keep giving good performances for the years to come. I take this opportunity to sincerely thank Zee Marathi for giving us this very valuable five-star gift. The show just portrays pure love for music, unlike other similar shows where faltu bakwaas between arrogant and incompetent judges just makes it irritating to watch. Here, I would like to applaud Vaishali, Avadhoot and Pallavi for taking everything in the kids’ stride and making the show a real pleasure. Cheers to all three of you and keep it up.

Yesterday was yet another excellent performance by all the five and was a fitting finish to this grand schedule. All of them sang very well and exhibited their singing skills. Prathamesh has proved that he is a very talented singer who can go on to pursue a great career in classical singing and be a very good successor to Suresh Wadkar. Rohit has already proved his talent as a classic combo music director and he has it in him what is displayed by today’s leading marathi music directors like Ajay-Atul, Avadhoot and the likes who can sing as well as churn out some excellent pieces of marathi music. Mugdha is a girl who can sing any song and make it sound extremely sweet. Her innocence renders a pure feel to every song she sings and its just amrit to the ears. Kartiki, with her rustic voice and tremendous devotional music background and home-location, is very well-poised to be an upcoming successor to Bharat-ratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, that too in a female voice. But her rendering of other Anand Shinde songs also turns the crowds crazy. And finally, my favorite, Arya, is truly an amazingly versatile singer. Her progress throughout the schedule of six months has been remarkable and has transformed her into a great all-round singer to be. She is the future Asha Bhosale and I wish to request Ashaji to start a one student gurukul just for Arya to hone her skills more and make herself immortal for another 100 years. Be it any song, and Arya makes it adoringly beautiful as herself. She is my winner-elect.

But the competition really has no significance now, since all the show-followers will agree that all five are equally talented and none is even a thread lesser than the others. As Vaishali and Avadhoot pointed out yesterday, Zee Marathi should declare all the five as winners and win over the hearts of all the followers (I am not saying maharashtrians here since I know a lot of non-mahas. are also following this show). They should consider the basic purpose of the show which is to provide complete entertainment to the audience and so they should consider the demands of the audience too. I wish to watch the mega-final live. So see you there, Champs and all the very best. And thanks to all of you for bringing us such a memorable six months. Looking back at my first line now, I feel it’s not the end, but a beginning to an era of the Champs rule in the Marathi music industry, and probably Hindustani music industry as well. And I already can’t wait for this Champ-rajya. Way to go, Champs!!

तुमच्या गाण्यांनी ही सगळी जनता धन्य झाली आहे.