jugalbandi

Dosti ya prem mein kahte hain matbhed ho magar manbhed na ho.magar kya ho agar na matbhed ho na manbhed? hmmm tab shuru hoti hai Jugalbandi.jab do log,do saaz ya koi bhi do cheezein ek hi sur mein bolein to hoti hai Jugalbandi. aaiye jugalbandi ke kuchh namoone dekhte hain-

Sangeet mein ek taal hai-Kaharwa taal-8 maaatron ka- DHA GE NA TI NA KA DHI NA. saamanyatah rajsthan aur uttari Bihar ke sangeet mein iska prayog hota hai. is taal par aadhaarit zyadatar gaane bahut hi prasiddh hote hain aur iska ek kaaran hai- 8 maatraon ka yeh taal jab apne 9 chakkar poore karta hai to 72 maatraayein banti hain
aur 72 maatraayein matlab ek saamaanya insaan ke dil ki dhadkanon ki sankhya 1 minute mein.aur is tarah Dhadkanon se is taal ki jugalbandi hoti hai aur jo dil se mil jaaye woh to achha lagega hi.

Subah subah jab roshni hoti hai magar dhoop nahin hoti,bahut achha lagta hai aur kahte hain bahut hi faaydemand hoti hai.halki roshni jab Oas ki boondon par padti hai to oas ki boondein bilkul wahi roshni aur thandak reflect karti hain jo hamari aankhon tak pahunchti hai aur yeh jugalbandi hai Prakriti ki do roshni ke beech.aur jab prakriti is tarah ki jugalbandi kare to sukoon aur faayda to milega hi.

Bas yahi hai jugalbandi. Do alag tarah ki cheezein aur ek hi sur.na matbhed na manbhed.to aaiye karte hain JUGALBANDI.

Besabab baat badhaane ki zarurat kya hai !!

Chicken soup for the soul series padhi hai? Acchha lagta hai padh ke, lekin ye bhi lagta hai ki ismein se bahut si baatein hoti kahan hain?

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Main batata hoon ek sach.

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Dec 2002: I was at Adilabad for two months. It’s a tribal area of Andhra Pradesh, very close to the Maharashtra border. PWG is very active, tribal life's integration in modern world is yet to become seamless. Population density must be one of the lowest. Languages spoken - Thoti, Kolami, and five other tribal languages, Marathi, Telugu, and Hindi (in that order)...... main tribe - Gond..... Some call themselves RajGond (royal Gond) as well. Main highways are excellent, the topography is mountainous...... village-roads are non-existent..... It’s India and Bharat story...... I was there for project work as part of my rural-management curriculum. Had support from one of my batchmate Ankita, and a senior, Ashish, who was a senior functionary in the government.

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Ashish introduced us to Ravindra Sharma (fondly called Guruji). This man, in such a place, spoke to me in a Hindi that put me to shame "Aapki dincharya kya hoti hai? Aapke shodh ka vishay kya hai? Iska prayojan kya hai? Aapne vishraam kiya na! Agar sihran ho to mutthhi baandh lein, thand muthhoyon mein band ho jayegi!!!!"............ We were in an open hut and he was guiding 10 tribal men to make bamboo artifacts. He spoke to them in 3 languages, which I later came to know were Telugu, Kolami, and Thoti. People who know him say he speaks pure, whatever be the language. He is actually a sculptor, an artist of national fame. He, after making a good name for himself in the art world, established a Gurukul in his hometown Adilabad and started teaching the tribals the delicate art of converting coarse bamboo sticks to art works. If I had not seen them being made, I would easily have termed the ornamental entities as high class carvings of wood.

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Guruji was a father figure there, so calling him by this name suited us well. There was a batch from NIFT, Hyderabad to learn bamboo work. Guruji felt awkward (a bit) with their metro-ish lingo. But he found a way out - he asked every one of them to be an apprentice to one tribal. Few tribals knew little bit of Telugu, and that was the saving grace. Otherwise, speaking to each other was a Himalayan task....... Human bonding at best was in force...... art was created when words didn't communicate.

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And in the evenings, he finished the day (everyday) by actually opening Ram-Charita-Manas and reading one or two pages to the crowd gathered. He would then proceed by explaining its meaning in 3 local languages....... His arguments were never religious or entrenched in faith. He had tools from economics and science to explain everything. Things like, why was the caste system formed, why were few people asked to make utensils from baked-soil, why were YAGNAS organised and how it made economic sense. Why languages have different phonetic sounds and how an understanding of the same can lead to an understanding of the culture....... We had planned for few hours there. We stayed for 3 days......

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Guruji’s father had migrated from Punjab 50 years ago. His wife was from Punjab . In India, you are generally welcomed and given royal treatment. Then you feel good. She didn't treat us royally. She allowed Ankita to roll rotis and let me serve Guruji and Ashish. I felt at home. If it sounds cliched, it’s because of my handicap with language.......

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Second day morning: Guruji woke up and informed every one, by listening to 'gaay ka rambhaana' (i.e. by listening to sound of bugling made by cow), that she is about to deliver. It was the first time that we were to see it. Oh God, when the calf was born, Maaji bathed it in lukewarm water. I remember only once of having felt the same touch, when my nephew was born. I can still feel the softness on my fingers.......

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The place (Gurukul) was in natural environs, and hence had snakes all around. I am very skeptical of reptiles, and I said so to Guruji. He advised - don't make much noise while walking because snakes don't have ears and your low-noise steps will produce such low vibrations that they will fail to notice. He had his head on his shoulders, and his heart at the right place. So logical, and so creative........ He showed us his statues and paintings....... No displays and no covers, they were just strewn around...... They were metal statues of Ganesha, Shiv-tandav, Farmer with oxen - so intricate and well-carved that you remember the stone carvinsg of Delwara Temple (Mt. Abu) and think which one has an upper hand; Oil-pintings of normal day life - so real that you hear a sound and look around to make sure somebody other than paintings spoke; Water colours of tribal life - painted when guruji was on desh-bhraman. My god, I haven't seen anything like that till now.......

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I recommended many people there, and thankfully no body came back and said I am exaggerating. But Guruji doesn't remember me. He is growing old now.

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What he remembers well is Rama's story in Awadhi, and his knowledge of languages is intact....... his cow's family has grown now to three, and NIFT students are now taught by tribal supervisors....... He still speaks to Ashish in the same SHUDHH HINDI. He signed off a recent conversation by saying, "Ye purabiya log (people from Bihar and West Bengal) sangeet ke rasik hote hain. Maine desh bhraman ke beech dekha, unke jeevan ki har lay mein ek geet hai, har kartavya mein ek sur mila hua hai, har kadam mein taal ki anubhuti hoti hai. Isliye hi wahan chinta nahin hoti....... desh mein kuchh bhi ho, garibi kitni bhi aaye, baadh aapki saari jama poonji baha ke kyun na le jaye.... agli subah wo phir muskura denge. Samaaj ka dhancha wahan mazboot hai, saahitya sabal hai, aur shayad isliye arthvyawastha kamzor. Woh geet nahin suna - O ram-e-ram, saiyaan daaru pee-ke unghalad khet mein....... naayika roti hui apne sasur se keh rahi hai ki mere pati ko dhund laaiye. Sood bahut chad gaya tha, to saahukaar ne hal waapas le liya........ Acche log hain ye purabiya, unke jaisa nazariya rakho to jeevan mast hai, sahal hai, sulajha hua hai."

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Chicken Soup for the soul - In Hindi. Nahin!?

When we were using our hearts more than our brains

Got an interesting forward (from Vikas Jha, blog writer's friend ....Got nostalgic!!! am sure you can relate to many of them, as I sure did!!!!

When gulli-danda and kanche (marbles) were more popular than cricket ...
When we always had friends to play aais-paais (I Spy), chhepan-chhepai and pitthoo anytime ...
When we desperately waited for 'yeh jo hai jindagi'..
When chitrahaar, vikram-baitaal, dada daadi ki kahaniyaan were sofulfilling ...
When there was just one tv in every five houses and When bisleris werenot sold in the trains and we were worrying if papas will get back intothe train in time or not when they were getting down at stations to fillup the water bottle ...
When we were going to bed by 9.00pm sharp except for the 'yeh jo haijindagi' day ...
When Holis & Diwalis meant mostly hand-made pakwaans and sweets and momsseeking our help while preparing them...
When Maths teachers were not worried of our mummys and papas whileslapping/beating us ...
When we were exchanging comics and stamps and chacha-chaudaris andbillus were our heroes ...
When we were in nanihaals every summer and loved flying kites andplucking and eating unripe mangoes and leechis ...
When one movie every Sunday evening on television was more than askedfor and 'ek do teen chaar' and 'Rajni' inspired us ...When 50 paisa meant at least 10 toffees ...
When left over pages of the last years notebooks were used for roughwork or even fair work ...
When 'chelpark' and 'natraaj' were encouraged against 'reynolds andfamily' ...
When the first rain meant getting drenched and playing in water and mudand making 'kaagaj ki kishtis' ...
When there were no phones to tell friends that we will be at their homesat six in the evening ...
When our parents always had 15 paise blue colored 'antardesis' and 5paise machli wale stamps at home...When we remembered tens of jokes and were not finding 'ice-cream andpapa' type jokes foolish enough to stop us from laughing ...
When we were not seeing patakhes on Diwalis and gulaals on Holis as airand noise polluting or allergic agents ...
the list can be endless ...

On the serious note I would like to summarise with ...

When we were using our hearts more than our brains, even for scientifically brainy activities like 'thinking' and 'deciding' ...
When we were crying and laughing more often, more openly and moresincerily ...
When we were enjoying our present more than worrying about our future...
When being emotional was not synonymous to being weak...
When sharing worries and happinesses didnt mean getting vulnerable tothe listener ...
When blacks and whites were the favourite colors instead of greys ...
When journeys also were important and not just the destinations ...
When life was a passenger's sleeper giving enough time and opportunityto enjoy the sceneries from its open and transparent glass windowsinstead of some superfast's second ac with its curtained, closed anddark windows ...

I really miss .. do u?