An interesting dream

A few days ago I had an interesting dream- my dad, Shyamala and I were playing frisbee in a wide open park, with some kind of a steel vessel (banali). We were tossing it around and father was running hard after it. He looked to be in fine shape.

Mom's budgeting...

Mom was recounting today how she used to manage the budget while we were growing up. Dad would give her money at the beginning of the month, and mom would first take out the money for rent, tuition and fees, and other expenses and keep them separately before spending money on groceries and other items. A tough life, but a love-filled one.

Railway Station..

reminds me of Ghaadi Bula Rahi Hai...the fine song by Kishore Kumar..

in touch by being out of touch

Today the mother of a student stopped by along with her son. She wanted to meet me and discuss her son's progress. When I was growing up, my father was away most of the year and our mom would be responsible for our school work and for maintaining the house. I cannot begin to fathom how she handled it all.

Carroms

Having played carroms the past few days with my sister, I remember fondly the many games we played with our father. Often my elder sister and I would be paired against our father. He would generally let us win, which was so important when we were kids.

Jim Reeves

I remember father liked the songs of Jim Reeves, especially the Jingle Bells number. We also used to play the Osibisa song Ojah Awake and other rousing numbers that father enjoyed too...

Railway Platform

As I listened to the song Basti Basti Parbat Parbat from the movie Railway Platform that my brother played this evening my memory went back to the times this song would come up in conversations with father. This was another Rafi song where he sings the word Ram.

The song Bequarar Dil from Door Ka Rahi is playing, and it is another song that father appreciated. It was sung by Kishore and Sulakshana Pandit.

Music- the wonder drug for the soul.

The Kishore RK period...

I was a big fan of Kishore/Rajesh Khanna songs, and remember getting the albums of Mere Jeevan Saathi and Kati Patang and playing them often. Whether he liked them or not, father never complained about my playing the songs of my choice.

world before ubiquitous communication

We still have a large collection of letters written to our parents and the letters we received from them. In an era of email/facebook/twitter, these handwritten notes are especially heart-warming- they represent a big part of the person and the past.

Rafi

Father liked Rafi's songs quite a bit. Rafi's duets are quite wonderful, irrespective of the female singer.

kids...

Today a student of mine, EC, came into my office. She will be graduating in May. She is also a remarkable turnaround story. While discussing academics and sports and other topics, I mentioned the need to balance work and family. She said that she wanted to have two boys, and no girls.. We had some interesting discussion about it, but it hit me that none of us ever had that discussion with our parents or friends when we were in school. She also talked about her parents, and how her father wants her to work and be independent. Reminded me a lot of our father.

a Director's cut...

I remember listening to music with father and all of us sitting in the family room sofas. While we discussed music, most of the arguments were about Kishore and Rafi and Hemanta and Lata and other singers. I do not remember many discussions about composers. While I did pay attention to the composers it is only much later that I could understand the importance of composers in the creation of music. Today, listening to Ilayaraja composing a Hindi tune, I realized how limited my appreciation of the genius of those composers was.

Bawarchi...

A movie that all of us like, and one with excellent music. I was reminded, yet again, of the compositions by the amazing Madanmohan.

Grape Juice

Today, I poured some grape juice for my sister and the smell reminded me of the grape juice that mom used to make in our house. It was our father's favorite drink, while I preferred the orange drink. Mom also made lemon drink and other varieties as well- all delicious.

The big Vishnu-Chakra

I remember father holding the big Vishnu Chakra fire cracker as it spun - it creates a strong centrifugal force and one needs a steady hand to hold it. It is quite an impressive sparkler and creates a nice show.

Sending me off at Secundrabad station

I remember our entire family sending me off to Madras when I joined IIT. Even father had come to the station that day. It was also the time when I used to catch a running train.

Dasara Bullodu

songs and movie were also father's favorites...

Baiju Bawra songs

The Rafi Lata songs are classic...

So are the songs from Uran Khatola.. O door ke musafir...

Lending a helping hand...

I remember father helping many people in his office. In particular, I remember him guiding a young, hardworking officer named Benhur. As I help my students and others, I always hope that He appreciates the importance of his actions- these formed the value systems for his children.

Listening to the radio

While doing the homework...with the songs at 8:00PM and the AIR news at 9:00 AM. Many pleasant memories of evenings spent in the front room listening to music.

Anticipation...

Father used to show us many tricks, including making a net with a loop of string, card tricks, making coins disappear, and so on. Those tricks always interested me, and as I grew older, mathematical tricks (that usually relied on dividing something by zero) also ticked my fancy.

The Geet of Geeta Dutt

Father had collected some wonderful songs of Geeta Dutt- compositions of SD Burman and OP Nayyar and others from movies like CID. While I was not a big Lata favorite then, I loved the singing of Geeta Dutt, and I still do today.

Eating on the floor

I just remembered sitting down with father on the wooden blocks (peetalu) and eating. I tried doing that on my recent trip to India and it was not easy...

Having the conviction

and shouldering responsibilities, but always striving to do the right thing...Another lesson from father and grandpa.

Being nice

even to the people who stab you in the back and try to ruin your advancement- that describes my father. I used to get upset that he would treat his colleagues so well when some of them were sleazy bastar*% but now I see his philosophy and his approach to life. A great big heart.

Courage of Conviction...

Thanks to my brother who introduced me to the writings of Marcus Aurelius. They are extraordinary in depth of thought. He writes about the good things he took from everyone around him.

I have seen our father struggle with so many frustrations, especially with those at work. The excruciating office politics destroy the drive of anyone desiring to do good work, but father was committed to perfection till the end. The conviction to do the "right thing" irrespective of the consequences, is something I learnt from him. Of course what seems right at one instant can, in hindsight, appear grossly wrong, but the conviction to do the right thing is near and dear to me and is a key aspect of my sense of values.

SJ and LP

In the running argument over which pair- SJ or LP- should be regarded as the greatest composers of Hindi film tunes, I rest my argument on the fact that our father's collection had more tunes of SJ than of LP. Father did have Parasmani, but his collection of SJ included Kanhaiya, Kat putli, Begunah, and Sangam..

The Magic of Talat

Father had quite a few records of Talat Mehmood. While I always enjoyed Talat's songs, I have come to greatly appreciate his amazing talent and his wonderful contribution to music. Am always awed by the extra-ordinary musical tastes of our father.

Rags to Riches

My older sister introduced me to some excellent movies including The Boy Who Could Fly, Baghdad Cafe, and Rags to Riches. I wish I could have seen these with father- he would have loved them.

Wish I had...

talked to father about his days in Calcutta..As I listen to Bengali songs, courtesy of my brother and picturize the place, I realize that father could have made the imagery come alive. Mother occasionally tells us stories of their life in Calcutta...What a life they had led then...