#365DaysOfWriting – Day Fifty
A double event on my fiftieth writing day.
No, Kaijus aren’t attacking Earth from a breach in the Pacific Rim. Although one earth-shattering event did happen today…
Let’s talk about the happy stuff first. Today is RD Burman’s birthday.
My happiness knows no bounds. Day 50 coincides with the birthday of my all-time favourite music director. I’ve been listening to his songs since I was 3 years old. Lovingly known as पंचमदा (Panchamda). I don’t have to say this out loud, but the fact that it’s most of his songs that are remixed and played at clubs today shows how much ahead of his time he was. He introduced new sounds and instruments to Bollywood, and probably was the uncredited pioneer of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) in its earliest form. And, the genius created his first tune at the age of 9, which his father, SD Burman, used in the film ‘Funtoosh’ – the song being ए मेरी टोपी पलट के आ (Aye meri topi palat ke aa). You can listen to it here. I have a list of favourite songs of his, which keep changing every day. There are too many songs to have only one favourite set. Here’s the list:
- दो नैना, एक कहानी/तुझसे नाराज़ नहीं ज़िंदगी (Do Naina, Ek Kahaani/Tujhse Naaraaz Nahi Zindagi) – from the film मासूम (Maasoom), Shekhar Kapur’s masterpiece and also Panchamda’s.
- मेरा कुछ सामान (Mera Kuch Saamaan) – from the film इजाज़त (Ijaazat), a gorgeous bit of writing from Gulzar, coupled with some of RD’s finest tunes. It’s like fine single malt whiskey on the rocks, on a rainy day. I had written about it a few days back, you can read more here.
- रैना बीती जाए/कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे (Raina Beeti Jaaye/Kuch Toh Log Kahenge) – from the film अमर प्रेम (Amar Prem), one of my all-time favourite Bollywood love stories. Lata and Kishore are magnificent in this.
- तेरे बिना ज़िंदगी से कोई (Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi) – from the film आँधी (Aandhi), RD-Gulzar-Lata-Kishore, the Fantastic Four. Need I say more?
That was my little tribute to Panchamda. Happy birthday, and thanks for all the music, genius.
Now to move on to the earth-shattering event. I’ll try and make this quick – Lionel Messi has retired from international football.
After losing 3 finals in 3 consecutive years, his emotions finally got the better of him. It was followed by the retirement of many other Argentinian players, and this could prove detrimental for the Argentina team. I only hope against hope that this is a knee-jerk reaction and that is they’ll take it all back. Your final hurrah awaits you in 2018, Leo, in Russia. You will always remain my favourite player. Just give it one final shot. With that magical left foot. Even Sachin Tendulkar took 22 years to get his hands on a World Cup, champ.
