Photo poetry: Baarish aur bachpan

Photography credits to my friend: Kaushik Paul

#MyList Top 10 Favourite Bollywood singers (Male)

  

Anybody who says that he does not like music might be an alien or someone having problems with adjustment. We all want harmony and so we enjoy symphony. I have grown on Bollywood songs and I have plenty of favourite singers and songs.

Today I would do a daring task to name my top 10 favourite singers and even more challenging task of choosing my 3 favourite songs of them.

10. Kailash Kher

I have heard stories regarding his misbehaviour from the time when he was learning music, but two things are very sure when you listen to his song; he is a very talented singer and has a great passion for music. He is the voice of 'small town lovers'. There is masti and notorious mess in his voice.

My 3 favourites

1. Allah ke bande haste from Waise bhi hota hai Part 2
The song that brought him into limelight.  He sang it very well. Matured voice,  intonation,  depth,  feeling,  everything. 

2. Teri deewani from his album  Kailasha.
Describes the strong passion of love,  the song  stays with you. It is immune to time and sounds as fresh even if you listen to it after a long time. 

3. Tere nishan  from OMG Oh my God. 
I like this movie,  what it stands for and this song in 3 minutes emphasises what this movie is about.  There is anguish in his voice for this song as was to be portrayed. 

9 Sukhwinser Singh

The rock star Singh. His heavy Punjabi voice has a lots of versatility  and he sounds just as good at higher notes.

My 3 favourites

1. Chaiye chaiye from Dil se
Legendary song.  It is famous mostly for his visuals,  SRK  and Malika 's high energy dance on the top of a moving  train.  But AR Rahman,  the composer, Gulzar,  the lyricist and Sukhwinder  are at their absolute best here 

2. Kava  kava  kava (Aaj mera jee karda) from Monsoon Wedding
This song defines the word' zeal ' in audio form.  It has the punjabi  beats you cannot resent  shading your feet to.  Very popular song. 

3. Jai ho from Slumdog Millionaire
The world has listened to this song and loved it.  Period. 

8. Mohit Chauhan

His romantic numbers appeal to me.  He enjoyed a good 4-5 years as a top singer after struggling a lot. In the present times,  not many singers have enjoyed as much success.  Mohit is good,  he is versatile,  he has a voice soothes you.  And what soothes you,  is music. 

My 3 favourites

1. Tum ho from Rocester
I love the lyrics.  I love the honesty with which Mohit sings this song. 

2. Kitne dafe  (Tani weds Manu)
Again the lyrics and the feel with which Mohit sings it 

3. Nadaani parindey (Rockstar)
Rocester is a great album with all songs sung by Mohit. Tough to look beyond it.  Special mention to Irshad  Kamil,  the lyricist and music composer AR Rahman.  This is a meaningful song and captures a lots of emotions which Mohit sings wonderfully well. 

7. Arijit Singh

Everybody's current favourite,  right?  He made his way to the top after struggling for some years,  participating in a singing reality show way back in  2005. And he came into Bollywood and has not looked back.  He is damn good.  He sings with a lot of feel.  He has a powerful voice,  and can do justice to good songs and good lyrics. 

My 3 favourites

1. Gulon mein rang bhare from Haider
I liked him before this song as well,  but the maturity with which he dang this Mehandi Hasan ghazal  made me realise that he is an exceptional singer and would go a long way.  He has sung this difficult  song with such a great ease, making it his own. 

2. Soch na sake from Airlift
Romantic song,  sung with feel.  It stays with you 

3. Humdard  from Ek villain
Good album.  This is a simple track and I love it for that.  There are many other such sings,  but this one is just lovely. 

6. Shankar Mahadevan

Known more for his compositions,  the Shankar  of Shankar  Ehsan  Loy.  He is one of the most amazing singers in the country.  His command over high notes,  which is the toughest to achieve for any singer,  is just incredible. 

My 3 favourites

1. Breathless from the album of the same name. 
I have grown listening to  this song on Doordarshan.  The lyrics are written by Javed  Akhtar  and it is so poetic . As the name goes,  there is no point of taking a pause during this song,  which is such a difficult condition.  Yet he nails it. 

2. Aasvasan  ke paar shayad from Rochford
Not just with the higher notes,  he is just as good with lower ones.  His voice is very soothing in this song and it is one of my favourite feel-good songs. 

3. Shri  Ganeshay  Deemahi from Virudh
I do not understand  the lyrics.  But this song is sung in a great manner and the music holds you 

5. AR Rahman

The Mozart from Chennai does not impress me only as a musician. His singing is great. I find smoothness in his voice, there is a sense of calmness that can transform you to another level. You can drown yourself in his music.

My 3 favourites

1. Dil se re from Dil se
This sing has great rhythm and passion.  Great composition and we'll sung by the great man. 

2. Maa tujhe salaam from his album Vande  Mataram
The best patriots  song perhaps  it makes you feel proud of your nation.  It is so full of glory and pride. 

3. Lukka chippi from Rang de basanti
Great album.  This song is pretty special.  It has a classical touch and a unique concept that an on screen mother and son are singing.  It is very emotional.  The lyrics by Preston Josh  are amazing  one of my favourite  songs of Lata  Mangeshkar as well. 

4 Jagjit Singh

If you feel your life is moving at a great speed and you feel the need to catch, just sit back and listen to Jagjit Singh songs. It works. There is so much calmness, composure and grace in his voice that you forget your troubles momentarily and feel good about life.

My 3 favourites

1. Hoshwalon ko khabar kya bekhudi kya cheez hai from Sarfrosh
Lovely lyrics,  picturised  on Naseeruddin  Shah.  Jagjit's voice is just amazing. 

2. Tum ko dekha toh yeh khayaal aaya from Sath Sath
Romantic song ,  sung from the heart. 

3 Hazaaron khwaishe aisi from Mirza  Ghalib TV film

This is a great kalaam  by Ghalib and Jagjit  has given it the voice it deserved.  Do watch this TV till directed by Gulzar where Naseer plays Ghalib  and Jagjit sings the ghazals.  Magic.

3. Kishore Kumar

If you love Bollywood, you love this man. Just think about it. He has given voice to superstars like Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bacchan , who have so many fanatics. And the central trait of Kishore's personality is madness, something you can associate with Bollywood at any time. He gave the songs he sang a bit if himself, spontaneity, madness, humour, emotions.

My 3 favourites

1. Kuch toh kog kahengey from Amar  Prem
Lyrics by Anand  Bakshi,  composed by RD  Burman,  stars Rajesh  Khanna.  Super hit song,  sung by a musical genius.  Chingadi  koi bharke  is another brilliant song from this movie.

2. Pyaar deewana hota hai from Kati  patang
One of the best  romantic songs ever. 

3.  Jaane tu ya jaane na from Aa gale lag ja
A simple movie. This song is the highlight of this movie 

2. Sonu  Nigham 

Exceptional singer. He has enjoyed great success and has been very versatile,  something that helped him survive for so long.  Temperament problem at one point in his career.  But he has learned.  He has struggled in the early part of his career and is now quite humble. 

Top 3 favourites

1. Ab mujhe raat din from his album Deewana.
He has sung many romantic songs over the years,  but tough to beat this one.  His voice is so pure and natural  in this. 

2. Ye dil Deewana from Pardesh
Pardesh  is a good album and this song perhaps the best.  It has great passion and vitality.
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3. Sadness  aatey hain
A patriotic song that touches your heart. Sonu  has sung with so much emotions that this sing gives me goosebumps at times. 

1. Mohammad Rafi

The fondness for Rafi is in my genes. My father loves him and regards him as the best ever and I follow his footsteps and regard him as one of  the best even though he was dead long before I was born. There is something about his voice and by the time he ended his career, he proved how versatile he was, singing all kinds of songs. He was the reason behind success of many actors. And I have this debate with my friends as to whom his voice suits more, Dev Anand or Shammi Kapoor. I tend to go for Dev Anand but then I listen to the sings of 'Kashmir ki kali'

Mt 3 favourites

1. Abhi na jao chorh kar from Hum dono
Classic romance.  So much simplicity and elegance in this sing.  Exceptional lyrics by Sahir  Ludhiyanvi.  Magical composition.  This song is for life. 

2. Ishaaron ishaaron mein from Kashmir  ki kali
Great album.  All the songs are my favourite .  Deewana hua badal,  Tareef  karu  kya uski,  subhanallah... These are the names of the song, and also can be used to praise the songs. 

3.  Yuh  toh humne lakh hasten dekhe hain from Tum sa nahi dekha
Op Naiyyar  special.  The sound of moving cart and this song,  great rhythm.  Sharma does his antics on Rafi's playful voice. 

..

This was a really difficult task.  I do not know how I missed some absolutely amazing singers from the past and the present,  but this was about the top 10. I would have loved to add Mama Dey,  Mukesh,  Lucky Ali,  Shafqat  Amanat  Ali,  Kumar  Sanu,  Shaan,  Udit Narayan,  Papon,  Hariharan,  SP  Balakrishna and many more. 

I hope you enjoyed the list and I would love to know your list of favourite singers. 

Keep listening to good music.

Cheers. 

#MorningWalk 02

I don't think one can plan a murder in a park, not in the morning anyway. It is too positive a place for that. Not just the chirruping birds and fresh air, but also the people around. Not sure if it is the case everywhere, but in the park I visit, I see a lot of elderly people. They are elderly, but not aged and some of them would have more stamina than me. It is a notion that the present generation is not as fit and healthy, and I truly believe in it. We have grown on machines and don't know the value of exercise and physical activities.

There is a group of people doing laughter yoga. I don't know the exact health benefits of it, but whenever I go walk around that group, I smile. There is a nice sensation in my chest. Laughter and smiles would forever remain the world's most desirable infections. There is a group doing a normal yoga as well. Occasionally I overhear a valuable health suggestion from them. They often chant a Gayatri Mantra or any other hindu hymm, which is always good to hear in the mornings. Thr familiar walkers also greet each other pleasantly, often with a 'Ram Ram' or 'Sat sri akal' or such greetings.  A few clap while walking, an action performed for better blood circulation. The sound is quite musical.

At another side of the park, children and young men play cricket or football, some of them come to the park with their whole family. Precious thing that  parents and grandparents give to their children; a healthy habit and a way of life.

A morning walk is like a 'difficult task we choose to accomplish. It teaches us that it is important to keep moving. One accesses his pace and does not mind being overtaken or boasts of overtaking others. That's how perhaps it is different from the outside world, where one is always and since forever competing. Here the challenge is only to improve on yourself. Wish we could take this practice into our actual lives,  just focus on our progress at all times. 

#MorningWalk 01

Thoughts pop up like sperns racing for life, when I abandon all the machines I make use of and complain about, and put into use my body and work it like the most imperfectly perfect machine; the one with mind and soul, during a morning walk.  Chin up, the whole body errect and walking as straight and steady and possible. There are not many pleasing things than to step out of your home and smell the morning, hear the birds chirrup; two signs that the life is still worth it, and see some of the finest people around, who understands and executes the idea that life is no fun without sound health.

The experience of a morning walk, have a proportional relationship with any 'difficult task' that we have to perform in life. The initiative to take the walk is difficult, the first couple of rounds are a bit challenging, but when the body gets warmed up, the speed increaes and we enjoy the body moments and want to continue as long as time permits. Similarly, while performing the task, at first, we are at self-doubt, whether we should take up the challenge or not. Then while performing it, we are very calculative and perform it according to prescription. There are difficulties and doubts, but they are overcomed, and we feel comfortable and soon we start enjoying it.

While walking, when I look at elderly people walking faster than me or jogging, I just whisper a 'wow' to myself. It i such an inspiring sight. And even for all the other walkers/joggers, the speed doesnt matter, the fact that they have come out and chosen a healthy way of life is all that matters. Just like in life, what matters is keep moving ahead, at rapid pace or slow pace, it doesn't matter.; what really doesn't work is relinquishment, giving up.

The pleasure doesn't end in performing the task, the satisfaction on its accomplishment is what we seek, and an initiative from the very beginning. The five minutes after walking continuously for an hour, the sweat, the feel of the blood circulation and coming out of all the oils and fats, that we unfortunately can't live without, in form of sweat is very satisfying.

I am an occassional Walker.  I wish to have a proper routine in my life and walking would be one of the most joyous parts of the routine as it is truly a great exercise for both my body and mind.

Syra Yousuf sketch

Syra Yousuf is a Pakistani VJ turned actor, and I think she is really pretty.

Rahul Dravid Sketch

Whenever I draw a sketch, I go defensive I say stuff like it is just my summer time pass time, I am not an expert or have enough experience. I take satisfaction in the fact that it looks similar to the subject I draw or at least looks like a human. (I draw just faces and upper body.)

But it is a time to move ahead. I did better on the cleanliness front. Some of my earlier sketches have lines visible. I drew this on a normal A4 sheet just like my earlier sketches. I would get myself proper drawing sheets soon. It is the first time i did my sign in s sketch.

Rahul Dravid is my favourite cricketer and I wanted to do this one well. I spent more than three hours on it. The face is stretched in the sides and I did the mistake of introducing 8B pencil too early in the process. It didn't have a proper form when I went for shading with 8B. J could have improved upon it if not for this mistake.

Okay, open for feedback.

IPL 2016 All Star XI

IPL 2016 All star team

Now that we are done with the 56 matches and have the four teams, Gujurat Lions, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the play offs, it is a good time to discuss who were the big performers in the 9th edition of IPL.

I have made my all star playing XI for this purpose. I restricted myself to only 4 foreign players as is the rule for any IPL team. I considered the players who were regular in the team, consistent with their performances and had an impact in their team's performance. This is my team:

1. Virat Kohli (RCB)
2.  David Warner (captain) (SRH)
3. AB De Villers (RCB)
4. KL Rahul (wk) (RCB)
5. Yusuf Pathan (KKR)
6. Krunal Pandiya (MI)
7. Andre Russel (KKR)
8. Chris Morrs (DD)
9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar(SRH)
10. Y Chahal (RCB)
11. Zaheer Khan (DD)

1. Virat Kohli

This was his tournament. His batting was mesmerizing. To score over 900 runs and 4 centuries in just 14 innings is outstanding, unheard of. He did this in T20 format which many regard as a lottery. You cannot expect to come every day and score, but this guy did just that innings after innings he came out and consistently got big runs. His fitness has been outstanding as well and has taken some great catches in the tournament.

2. David Warner

He has been a very consistent performer in IPL cricket and this was yet another great year. He is a match winner and got over 600 runs at a fantastic strike rate. He had an impact on Sunrisers' success in this season by his brilliant leadership as well. His work in the field is outstanding as well. He jumps like a rabbit in the field to take good catches and save runs.

3. AB de Villers

Not as consistent as the two mentioned before, but in the games he did do well, he had a huge impact. And when RCB needed to regain his form, he hit that brilliant 129*  an innings that gave momentum to his team. He is always a great fielder and has taken many safe and difficult catches this season as well.

4. KL Rahul

I like typing the name of a young Indian in the All star team. He deserves it completely. He has added a new dimension to his game; the power game,  fast scoring ability, the six-hitting ability. It was great to see him score consistently despite his batting position being dropped from opening to no4 whelooking  Gayle played. He played some outstanding shots and did a reasonable job with the gloves as well.

5. and 6. Yusuf Pathan and Krunal Pandiya 

Yusuf Pathan after having some below par seasons for KKR, finally had a good one, something KKR management would have been hoping. It was not just one or two innings this season but he was exceptional in the second half of the season when Uthappa and Gambhir lost some form.
Krunal Pandiya reminds you of young Yusuf Pathan. Similar story, his younger brother, a seam bowling all-rounder came to the limelight before him. And it was IPL that helped him gain attention. And K Pandiya has been the find of this IPL. His hitting is fearless and bowling has some control. He is perhaps the all-rounder India has been looking for.

7. and 8. Andre Russel and Chris Morris

Russel is my favourite all rounder from the West Indies. He has got quality. He bowls at 140+ km/hr and can hit really clean sixes. It was unfortunate that he got injured. But still he did enough to occupy the key no7 position in my team.
Chris Morris had a great season. He was the star for Delhi. His bowling has been outstanding. He has bowled with pace, great lengths, bowled the best yorkers in the tournament and the six hitting ability he showed in the 17 ball 50 he hit was just amazing. He did well in the field as well.

9.  Bhuvneshwar Kumar

I like his attitude and determination. He knew that he needed some pace to be successful at the big stage and he has made a constant effort to improve in this regard and has been successful this season. He often got a wicket in his first over and bowled some very consistent opening spells. He did quite well coming late into the innings and has bowled decent yorkers. I hope he gets back to all formats for India because he really has got some great ability with both ball and bat.

10. Y Chahal

Not a great season for spinners, but a few leg spinners including Amit Mishra and Zampa did well. Y Chahal bowled well right through and got into a great wicket taking form at the end of the season. He can spin the bowl, he does give it a little bit of air and has got variations. I would like to see him in the Indian team soon.

11. Zaheer Khan (DD) 

He had a good season after a bad start to it. I saw even Kohli misjudge the slower ball angling away from him. He was good, used his skills and experience. He did well captaining a young team, a job he has not been assigned much
...

Special mentions from oversea players 

Q de Kock (DD)
He missed a couple of games, had a few single digit scores, had bad luck with unoiring decisions, but scored runs and looked good at other times. He is so talented and sorted at 23. He is going to be a great cricketer.

Muztafizur Rahman (SRH)
He is going to be a great bowler. He has been unplayable at times. He is a thinking bowler. 

Adam Zampa (RPS)
His 6 wicket haul was outstanding. He is a real find for Australia as far as soon bowling talent us concerned. He bowling action reminds you of Shane Warne and that is a good start.

Special mentions from India

Karun Nair (DD)
I loved watching his shots and after Kohli, he was perhaps the most good looking batsman to the eye. Just missed the line-up. 

Amit Mishra (DD)
Just missed the team again. He bowled well consistently. The great thing about him that he is always attacking the batsman, bowls a perfect googly, bows it wide when the batsman is going after him.

Ajinkya Rahane (RPS)
He is always good to watch and played some very good looking innings for his team. But RPS didn't have the batting talent to support him. Too bad Kevin Pieterson and Steve Smith did not play all games.

Sandeep Sharma (KXIP)
Sandeep who has been regular and consistent just missed it to Zaheer Khan.  Line and length bowler, who bowls well with the new ball and coming in the death overs.

Murali Vijay (KXIP)

Talk about captains doing well. Since the time he was given the captaincy, he scored consistent runs for his team.
..

Can you beat my All Star 11?

Kohli and Warner as openers.
Abd and Kl Rahul, solid in the middle.
Yusuf and K Pandiya as hitters. Can bowl off soon and slow left arm orthodox.
Russel and Morris, more hitting. And bowls 140 km/hr with the ball. 
B, Kumar and Zack, right arm medium and left arm medium as opening bowlers.
Y Chahal as the leggie.