Keep Journeying O Traveller!

 The music of 'Swades' (Homeland, Hindi film, 2004) is celebrated as a deeply soulful and introspective The music of 'Swades' (Homeland, Hindi film, 2004) is celebrated as a deeply soulful and introspective masterpiece. Rather than relying on booming dance tracks, A.R. Rahman crafted a melodic, roots-driven soundscape that mirrors protagonist Mohan Bhargava's inner transformation from a detached NASA expatriate to a man reclaiming his homeland. The film received universal critical acclaim and is considered one of the best acted by Shah Rukh Khan who is the protagonist. 'Yun Hi Chala Chal Raahi' (Keep Journeying, O Traveller!) is a buoyant song from the movie sung by Udit Narayan, Hariharan, and Kailash Kher that captures the journey through the expansive Indian countryside. (Ref: Wikipedia) Lyricist Javed Akhtar's theme is a mosaic of the journey of life, forgetting worries, guidance by a heart aflame with Love and gratitude for the natural beauty of the world. This video is a 4-minute version of the original 7-minute song, both published by the T-Series music label company. The lyrics have been translated from Hindi into English and displayed on the video so that the wider audience can understand and appreciate the song better. For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/YnBkKX772Js?si=HLjK1_kBaGZlM5Vs

The Sky In Our Grasp

G.R. Gopinath, it would seem, was born to fight unfair systems. His father believed that schools were systems of regimentation and was resolved to teach Gopinath at home, but fate made the boy go through the very opposite. 

G.R. Gopinath served as an officer in the Indian Army and voluntarily retired at the age of 28. After ventures in sericulture, a dealership and hoteliering, he started a helicopter charter service in 1997 and finally co-founded Air Deccan, India’s first low-cost airline, in 2003, which rendered award-winning service till he sold it in 2007.

'Kayilae Aagasam' (The Sky In Our Grasp) is a song from 'Soorarai Pottru' (Praise The Brave) Tamil film, 2020) inspired by the events in the life of G.R. Gopinath. Suriya, a top Tamil film actor, played his role and this song is the climax, off the beaten track of commercial films, where the protagonist stands silent, intense and tearful receiving passengers including his near and dear ones from the inaugural flight of his airline after overcoming all the hurdles from rivals and bureaucracies.

The song is an outstanding creation by lyricist Yugabharathi, musician G. V. Prakash Kumar, and singer Saindhavi. The film won 7 Tamil Nadu state film awards and 5 National Film  Awards. (Ref: Wikipedia)

For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/gsxcV37ppZ0

One With Earth by Ricky Kej - A Tribute to Farmers of India

Selected is a tribal song from Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh. The song is in Paraja, a tribal dialect along with English renderings and scintillating music produced by Ricky Kej & Vanil Veigas. (Paraja or Paroja is derived from the Odia term Praja, meaning "common people" or tenants/peasants.)

Araku Valley is a biodiversity-rich region in the Eastern Ghats, where over 90% of the population is tribal. Many tribes are traditionally involved in agriculture and, more recently, cultivation of organic coffee and spices. The song was launched at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and published on the YouTube channel of Ricky Kej, a Grammy Award winner, in 2018. Ref: Ricky Kej, YouTube channel & Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/VDcu3T1hCi4?si=lnHHMg_npx0acQXg

Rumi's 'All Is He' by Poetry for Heart

 It is the turn of Timeless Music and Talks for a music video in a language other than Indian. The search led to a beautiful video rendition of a poem by the Sufi mystic Rumi. Titled 'All is He' (2026), it's a translation from Persian, and the music and video have been produced with AI by Poetry for Heart (YouTube channel).

Jalal al-Din Rumi lived in Greater Iran during the 13th century CE. His poems have admirers in many parts of the world and have been translated into many languages. The idea "All is He" was already expressed as 'Sarvam Brahman' in an Upanishad of ancient India. The Upanishads are part of the ancient body of teachings called Vedanta. According to mainstream history, the Upanishads belong to 200 to 800 BCE. Ref: Wikipedia For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/09cQBZgqKLg?si=9yhz8wW5ghKJ-JNy

Kun Faya Kun Dance Cover by Krithi Nathan, film Rockstar

'Kun Faya Kun', an Arabic phrase in Islamic theology, refers to the process of creation wherein God does not require tools or time; He simply wills a thing to exist by saying "Be". Sufis often interpret it as the power of divine love to transform a human heart or bring a soul back to its purpose. 

The phrase gained wider popularity in India through the song 'Kun Faya Kun' in the film Rockstar (Hindi, 2011). When the idea of using it for a song was suggested to composer A.R. Rahman, by Imtiaz Ali, writer and director of the film,  the former was initially reluctant as it is “the most sacred word in the holy book" but agreed when the latter assured him to be careful. Penned by Irshad Kamil, and sung by Rahman himself along with Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan, the song turned out to be a success. 

It's in the Qawwali genre, a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing that originated in the Indian subcontinent in late 13th century CE. The Delhi Sultanate's Sufi saint Amir Khusrow of the Chisti order of Sufis is credited with fusing the Persian, Arabic, Turkic, and Indian traditions to create Qawwali. Originally, musical instrument use in Qawwali was prohibited. Eventually, however, it found its way into Qawwali.

Ref: Wikipedia & Google

A.R. Rahman, who composed music for the film's songs and also did its background score, said in a video interview published on YouTube in May 2021, "O my God, everybody talks about this. Somebody from the West who doesn’t understand a word of it is responding to it. And in India, every faith, whether they are Muslims, Christians or... Hindus... And this is beyond politics”. 

This Saturday's music video on 'Timeless Music and Talks' is a stunningly beautiful dance cover for the essential parts of 'Kun Faya Kun' expressing its communion with the Divine by Krithi Nathan, trained in Indian classical dances, from Boston, USA. 

From her website danceinkritz.com: "Krithi is an active, passionate dancer from the Boston area who always endeavors to tell a personal narrative through her choreography and performance. Trained in Bharatnatyam from the age of 5 and Kathak since 2021, she credits classical dance to be the foundation of her skill". 

The Hindi and Arabic lines of the song have been traslated into English by referring to online translations and Google AI and displayed on the video for a wider audience to understand and appreciate them better.   

For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/JxdxsCQOuMM

Praised be Thy Mercy Great

 The song Potri Nin Perarul (Praised be Thy Mercy Great) was set to music and also sung by renowned Indian musician Ilaiyaraaja for the film 'Viduthalai Part 1' (Liberation Part 1,Tamil, 2023). The lyrics of the song [titled in the album as 'Arutperum Jothi' (Vast Grace-Light)] were written by Thangam and include significant verses from the poems of Swamy Ramalingam (1823-1874, Cuddalore). This is a video of a live rendition of the song by various artists in January 2025. 

'Arutperum Jothi' (Vast Grace-Light) is a formless divine propounded by Swamy Ramalingam, who is revered by his followers as Vallalar (the generous sage). He advocated a casteless society and established a centre to provide free food to the needy in Vadalur (Cuddalore). In furtherance of his spiritual path free from ritualistic practices, superstitions, and reliance on physical idols, he built a 'Sathya Gnana Sabhai' (Hall of True Knowledge) without any idol or image but instead a perpetually burning oil lamp behind 7 screens representing veils covering the human soul. He emphasised compassion for all beings and preached strict vegetarianism. 

His poems, numbering 5,818, were compiled into six volumes called 'Thiru Muraigal' (Sacred Ways), and the collection was named 'Thiruvarutpa' (Sacred Verses of Grace).

More information about his extraordinarly life are provided in this article titled 'Swamy Ramalingam’s ideals of universal compassion and Vast Grace-Light' posted here: https://tinyurl.com/ys3j92v4

(Ref: Wikipedia)

The lyrics have been translated from Tamil into English and displayed on the video so that the wider audience can understand and appreciate the song better.

For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/qFfyOORqngo

Entharo Mahanubhavulu, film Devadoothan

What if soulful music is also rendered powerfully? Vidyasagar did that as composer for 'Entharo Mahanubhavalu' (Many Are The Great Souls) in the film 'Devadoothan' (The Heavenly Messenger, Malayalam, yr. 2000). 

The original song of the great Carnatic musician Thyagaraja (1767-1847) had 12 stanzas, and its average duration is between 10 and 15 minutes, whereas the movie version has only the first two stanzas and is 3 minutes and 47 seconds in duration. The verses were sung in classical raga within a Western orchestration. Mohanlal in the role of a celebrated musician in the film acts as the conductor of the symphony in the song.

Despite underperforming commercially on release, the film received critical acclaim later and was said to be "ahead of its time". Still, it won Kerala State Film Awards for Best Music Director, Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value, and Best Costume Designer. A digitally remastered 'Director’s Cut' version released in 2024 was a commercial success. 

(Ref: Wikipedia)

The Telugu verses of the song have been translated into English and displayed on the video to enable a wider audience to understand and appreciate it better.

For non-monetary, non-profit cultural and educational purposes.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/Jl-QeydGuoQ

'Smile' by Nat King Cole

A standard symphony orchestra typically consists of about 80 to 100 musicians, but jazz bands comprise a much smaller number of about 3 to 25 musicians. But in its potential for making high music, jazz is no less than orchestral music. “Europe gave us classical music, and jazz is America’s classical music”, said Esperanza Emily Spalding, an American jazz musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who won four Grammy Awards, while performing a jazz concert for a then U.S President, years ago.

The origin of 'Smile', a jazz standard song, is the 1936 movie Modern Times, produced, written, and directed by Charlie Chaplin (Charles Chaplin), who also acted as its protagonist. The film won many awards and honours and is considered one of the greatest films ever. Chaplin had a climactic musical piece for the film composed (without voice, as it was the last of the silent movies) which is the basis of 'Smile'. Later, John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons wrote the lyrics, based on the film and titled it, in 1954. Nat King Cole recorded the song, perhaps its best-ever rendition, the same year. It illustrates how great singers perceive the true inspiration behind the lyrics and by their rendition lift the listener's consciousness to the higher level. Subsequently there have been over 50 covers of 'Smile' by other artists. 'Smile' was also used at the beginning of the 1975 movie 'Smile', a film that satirises small-town America. Nathaniel Adams Coles (Nat King Cole, 1916-1965), the smooth baritone voice of the song, began his career as a jazz pianist in the late 1930s, when he formed the King Cole Trio, which became the top-selling group in the 1940s. Starting in 1950, he transitioned to become a solo singer billed as Nat King Cole. Despite achieving mainstream success, Cole faced intense racial discrimination during his career. While not a major, vocal public figure in the civil rights movement, Cole regularly performed for civil rights organisations. From 1956 to 1957, Cole hosted The Nat King Cole Show, which became the first nationally broadcast television show hosted by a Black American. Highlighting the universality of the song, 'Timeless Music and Talks' has compiled a video of smiling faces — children, youth, middle-aged and seniors — from around the world. This video is without the usual subtitles as the lyrical lines aren't many, and they are easy to understand. Hope you enjoyed the charm and universal appeal of 'Smile'.

For non-profit cultural and educational purposes.

Click to watch the video: https://youtu.be/xCpnTg-vfqE?si=UjUuJwZgzWslFbhR

'Ruk Jana Nahin' with alternate visuals, film Imtihan & cover by Jaya

Ruk Jana Nahin is from Imtihan (Trial, Hindi movie, 1974) directed by Madan Sinha. Vinod Khanna, Tanuja and Bindu played the lead roles in the movie . The lyrics of the song were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri, the music was composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, and Kishore Kumar did the playback singing.

In the movie, the song plays in the background of the opening titles of the film as Pramod (Vindo Khanna) – an idealist son of a wealthy businessman who doesn’t want to live under the shadow of his father – appointed as a lecturer, journeys to join the college. The song introduces Pramod's philosophy of not being attached to wealth attained by birth and portrays him as a noble and happy soul whom even the sun doesn't scorch and bows to. 

Song situation/Movie synopsis: While working as a new lecturer in a college, the protagonist is falsely accused by a jealous female student who is the daughter of the chairman of the college. Added to that are troubles from a gang of students led by a rowdy and hostile faculty members. Pramod decides to quit, but Madhu, the Principal's daughter who loves him, tells she believes in him and stands by him. She advises him to prove the charges against him as false, so they don't have to leave but continue to live, together, in the same city. Pramod thanks her for showing the right path, gathers necessary evidence and proves to the college management that the allegations were fabricated. However, admitting that he failed in his attempts to reform the students, he resigns from the college and leaves. Madhu joins him in his onwards journey.   

It's an inspiring and educative film in which the hero,  – like Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who left behind his royal life in pursuit of truth, – leaves his prosperous family. But unlike the prince who became Buddha and preached of the illusion of the world, Pramod lives in the world by his ideals of truth and love and is not attached to the conventional position or security the society gives. 

Kishore Kumar’s rendering has a philosophical tone, and among the covers of the song, Jaya's cover conveys better the fighting spirit in the lyrics. This video of Timeless Music and Talks has parts from Jaya’s cover and, for the lines omitted by her, alterrnate visuals have been provided (movie footage can't be used as the titles roll throughout the song). YouTuber Amir’s cinematic visuals of his trek in the Himalayas [Amir Explores, July 2024] has been found apt and used as the alternate visuals, with gratitude. 

The Hindi lyrics of the song have been translated into English and displayed on the video to enable the wider audience to understand and appreciate it better. 

For non-profit cultural and educational purposes. 

Click to watch the video: https://youtu.be/OWtuz5_RTQQ

The Sky is New

The song 'Puthiya vaanam' (புதிய வானம் – The Sky is New) from the movie Anbe Vaa (அன்பே வா – Come, My Love – Tamil – 1966) was one of the most popular of MGR’s (M.G. Ramachandran) idealist songs. Based on the story of the Hollywood film 'Come September', 1961, it was a resounding commercial success and “attained cult status in Tamil cinema”.

Song background: The hero arrives in Shimla (the capital of Himachal Pradesh) for a holiday and proceeds to his bungalow, enjoying the sights and sounds on the way. He sees a new sky and Earth and the world awakening to a new sun. He sings that nobody there questioned about one’s nationality or discriminated based on caste. Human beings were pursuing the path of love, worshipped Nature and showed in life that the mind is as high as the mountain summits.

MGR holds a suitcase and a cane in his hands during the entire song, except when he is with a couple of children for 30 seconds. He handled the luggage so gracefully, it is doubtful if any other actor would have succeeded so well or even agreed to do  so. Another interesting aspect is that the lyrics sing about showers of snow and flowers everywhere, but the footage doesn't have them. Perhaps the weather failed the shooting crew, and a natural shower of flowers was impossible to find, and yet MGR's convincing acting made the audience forget the lapses. 

The lyrics were written by Vaali to music set by M.S. Vishwanathan and sung by TM Soundararajan. The song has been translated from Tamil into English and displayed on the video so that the wider audience can understand and appreciate it better.

For non-commercial cultural and educational purposes. Copyrights belong to the rightful owners.

 Click to watch the video: https://youtu.be/sbbmIsO63V4 

Dawns and Dusks, film Charlie

 The film Charlie (Malayalam, 2015) won 8 state awards, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Cinematography, and was remade in Bengali as Surjo, Marathi as Deva and Tamil as Maara. It was directed by Martin Prakkat with Dulquer Salmaan and Parvathy in the lead roles, Gopi Sunder scoring the music and Jomon T. John in charge of cinematography. 

The song "Pularikalo Sandhyagalo" (Dawns & Dusks) was written by Rafeeq Ahammed and sung by Shakthisree Gopalan and Md. Maqbool Mansoor. 

Song situation: Tessa is a software technician who can earn a living. Her parents want her to marry someone whom she can’t imagine as her life partner. As the parents force, she escapes to a friend’s place in Kochi city and rents an apartment. It’s dilapidated and has many things left by its previous vagabond tenant, Charlie, who phones her but refuses to take them away immediately even when Tessa warns of disposing them. The song  starts there showing her waking up the next morning, making her coffee and looking closer at the things created/installed by Charlie. She begins to admire their artistry and innovation. Changing her mind, she cleans his arts/artefacts and keeps them in order. 

The lyrics have been translated from Malayalam into English and displayed on the video to enable the wider audience to understand and appreciate the song better. 

For non-monetary cultural and educational purposes. 

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/k9F_cKLMl8o?si=zxaXs8dR7gP9UG7Q

Beethoven, César Franck, Wagner, and Bach: The Mother's observations

 

Beethoven in 1823 by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Among the great modern musicians there have been several whose consciousness, when they created, came into touch with a higher consciousness. César Franck played on the organ as one inspired; he had an opening into the psychic life and he was conscious of it and to a great extent expressed it. Beethoven, when he composed the Ninth Symphony, had the vision of an opening into a higher world and of the descent of a higher world into this earthly plane. Wagner had strong and powerful intimations of the occult world; he had the instinct of occultism and the sense of the occult and through it he received his greatest inspirations. But he worked mainly on the vital level and his mind came inconstantly to interfere and mechanised his inspiration. His work for the greater part is too mixed, too often obscure and heavy, although powerful. But when he could cross the vital and the mental levels and reach a higher world, some of the glimpses he had were of an exceptional beauty, as in Parsifal, in some parts of Tristan and Iseult and most in its last great Act.

*

There is a domain far above the mind which we could call the world of Harmony and, if you can reach there, you will find the root of all harmony that has been manifested in whatever form upon earth. For instance, there is a certain line of music, consisting of a few supreme notes, that was behind the productions of two artists who came one after another—one a concerto of Bach, another a concerto of Beethoven. The two are not alike on paper and differ to the outward ear, but in their essence they are the same. One and the same vibration of consciousness, one wave of significant harmony touched both these artists. Beethoven caught a larger part, but in him it was more mixed with the inventions and interpolations of his mind;Bach received less, but what he seized of it was purer. The vibration was that of the victorious emergence of consciousness, consciousness tearing itself out of the womb of unconsciousness in a triumphant uprising and birth.

- The Mother

Source: Excerpts - 28 July 1929, Questions and Answers, Collected Works of the Mother, Volume 3, Pages 110-113

(The above text is not exhaustive of the Mother's words on the musicians.) 

Image: 1823, Wikipedia. (Beethoven composed the Ninth Symphony between 1822-24)

Hero by Mariah Carey

"Mariah Carey is the best-selling female artist of all time with more than 200 million albums sold to date and 19 Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles (18 self-penned), more than any solo artist in history. Mariah is a singer/songwriter/producer recognized with multiple Grammy Awards, numerous American Music Awards, Billboard's 'Artist of the Decade' Award, the World Music Award for 'World's Best Selling Female Artist of the Millennium' and BMI's 'Icon Award' for her outstanding achievements in songwriting, to name a few – with her distinct five-octave vocal range, prolific songwriting, and producing talent, Mariah is truly the template of the modern pop performance. " (Excerpt from the description on Maria Carey's YouTube channel.) 

Mariah's "Hero" is regarded as one of her most inspirational songs. The core message: the hero is not someone to be found outside but within oneself. He is neither a world-saving superman nor a genius who builds a business empire like Steve Jobs or destroys a world-threatening evil project like James Bond. Heroism is in everyone who finds the inner strength to keep moving towards the realisation of one's dream, feeling also the presence of the Divine. Love is also not to be found outside but by searching within. The spirit of the song is to emphasise a soul-centric inner life to transform the external life. 

Interestingly, the concept of transformation of life by the discovery and influence of the soul within a human being is an essential aspect of Sri Aurobindo's (1872-1950, India) vision of human evolution. The Mother (1876-1973, born in Paris, France), who created Sri Aurobindo Ashram and founded Auroville in India, while encouraging the publication of a book titled "On the Way to Supermanhood" written by an Ashram inmate, Satprem, observed in 1971: "I personally have the feeling there is a close and invisible connection between America’s aspiration, as it is now, and the book." Mariah Carey's song of 1993 might be inspired by that aspiration. 

Released on 19th October 1993, "Hero" was a creation of Mariah Carey and record producer Walter Afanasieff and was part of their album "Music Box". The song was a global success, reaching the top five in Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway, the top ten in Australia and the United Kingdom, and number one in America. 

The "Hero" video posted on "Timeless Music and Talks" now is Mariah Carey's rendition on 29 September 1993, in the year of its release. However, perhaps the best Mariah Carey rendition of "Hero" is the one posted on her channel 15 years ago. It's stunning to see the vast improvement in the singer's presentation of the song – theme articulation, smoothness of singing and hold over the audience – compared to the launch year renditions. This is the link to that: https://youtu.be/0IA3ZvCkRkQ?si=6ZdO3_L8XlkWvz3w 

The lyrics of the song are displayed on the video as subtitles so that the wider audience can understand and appreciate it better.

Click the link to watch the music video: https://youtu.be/sa7YbaXKZng

Berlioz: Incarnation of Music - The Mother's observations

 

Louis-Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
by Gustave Courbet, 1850

(Excerpt: 20 October 1954, Questions and Answers, CWM, Vol 6, Pg 379) 

(Silence) 

Nothing more? Do you have another question? 

Regarding the film we saw, what is the place of suffering in artistic creation? 

The film? 

We saw that through suffering… 

Oh, oh, oh, oh!... the film about Berlioz? 

His music matured through suffering… 

Yes, yes, so what place...? Where does it come from? 

Suffering—how does it help artistic creation? 

How does it help? That depends on people. Some people are very powerfully helped by it. I consider that man one of the purest expressions of music. It is almost... I could say that he is an incarnation of music, of the spirit of music. Unfortunately, his body was a little frail; that is, he did not have that solid base which yoga gives, for instance. So this shook him up too much and made him too emotional, nervous, agitated, and emotive. You see, it was a serious weakness. But from the point of view of creation, I have always felt—and the other day it was very very strong—that truly he was in contact with the spirit of music, you know, the very meaning of music, and that this entered into him with such a force that it shook him up; but truly, truly he was like an incarnation of music. 

The notion that it was suffering that made him create is purely human; it is not true. What, on the contrary, is very very remarkable is—to turn the thing around—that there was no physical pain which was not instantaneously translated into music in him; that is, the spirit of music was much stronger than human pain, and each blow which he received from life—and as he was indeed too sensitive to have the power of resisting, he was shaken—all the same, instantly, it was translated into music. It is something very rare. 

People—all creators—usually require a little... how shall I put it? ... time and quietness to be able to begin creating again, while with him it was spontaneous. The painful blow brought musical expression instantaneously. Truly for him his whole life began with music and finished with music. It was music, and it was a... he had such a sincerity and such an exclusive intensity in his attachment to music that I feel that the spirit of music expressed itself through him. Perhaps what he has written is not the most beautiful music because of that kind of weakness of what we call the “adhara” here. He was... his physical make-up was a little too weak. But from the point of view of music, it is very beautiful, very beautiful. (Silence) And even with his power, he had a very great simplicity. There is a kind of limpidity of line in what he has written, with a very great technical knowledge, of course. His power of orchestration was very, very remarkable. When one can orchestrate something for six hundred performers, it means a science as complicated as the most complicated mathematics. And in fact they come very close. 

- The Mother 

Image: Info about artwork, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15883573

O Majhi Re, film Khushboo

 O Majhi Re! (O Boatman!) is a song from the movie Khushboo (Fragrance, Hindi, 1975). The film is based on a story by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay from the early 20th century. This song by Gulzar is a renaissance poetry, as it evokes the ancient Indian view of life that prevailed prior to the illusionism of Buddha and Shankara of the recent millennia. 

The film's protagonist, Vrindavan, was married in his childhood to a girl child, Kusum. Child marriage was a practice resorted to by families in late mediaeval India. The justifications might be to protect the girl child from abduction by men from other castes or religions or powerful but aged men, invaders or bandits, or to prevent the girl from escaping family-arranged marriages by eloping with someone of her choice. The practice took away conscious consent of the women in her marriage and denied them education by confining them to domestic work. The practice was made illegal by the British Indian government due to a campaign against it by Bengali reformer Ram Mohan Roy.) But the family of Kusum left the boy's house, taking her to another village because they were accused by the boy's family of a crime they didn't commit. Vrindavan grew up, became a doctor and married a woman who was a child marriage victim and widow, and they had a boy child. As his wife died due to an illness, he was living alone with his son. While attending a patient in Kusum's village, Vrindavan and Kusum happened to meet. Kusum had become a beautiful woman but refused to marry anybody. The possibility of Vrindavan and Kusum's reunion arises but is still prevented by the memories of the old conflict between their families. A plague then strikes the village, and the people are falling dead or leaving. Kusum takes care of Vrindavan’s son, who had fallen sick, while he takes a boat to attend to patients somewhere, promising to return by nightfall. 

The song "O Majhi Re!" is Vrindavan's vision of life while sailing on the boat. It evokes the true ancient Indian view of life that prevailed prior to the illusionism of Buddha and Shankara of the recent millennia. The singer advises any boatman coasting by the shore that the real shore is the stream of the river itself and describes the confluence of the river streams as the true shore. The song is also indicative of the river of his life flowing towards a union with that of Kusum. 

Jeetendra and Hemamalini did the lead roles in the movie. Direction, screenplay, dialogues and songs of the movie were done by Gulzar. “O Majhi Re” is sung in the majestic voice of Kishore Kumar to the music set by R.D. Burman. 

The Hindi lyrics have been translated into English and displayed on the video to enable viewers not knowing Hindi to understand and appreciate the song better.

Copyrights belong to the original owners.

Click this link to watch (3 min : 25 sec) : https://youtu.be/ke540O-hbVc

Vennila Chandanakkinnam by Ashwathi Rajendran

The lyrics of "Vennila Chandanakkinnam" (The Sandalwood Paste Bowl Moon) were written by Kaithapram Dhamodharan Namboothiri, and the music was composed by Vidyasagar who won the Best Music Director from Kerala State for his compositions in this movie titled "Azhagiya Ravananan" (Handsome Ravana, Malayalam, 1996). The lead roles were played by Mammootty and Bhanupriya.

The film song is a marvellous production with the playback of K.J. Yesudas and Shabnam, enacted by actors Mammootty, Bhanupriya, Sreenivasan, and two child actors. It's a song of pure emotions and joy but due to copyright restrictions it can't be seen in 55 countries if reposted. The song has been covered by various singers, and among them, Ashwathi Rajendran's music video brings out the best, visually and musically,  the poetry of the lyrics. Ashwathi is a vocalist and a medical doctor and has been covering and publishing music videos on her YouTube channel since 2018.

There is a line of "Vennila Chandanakkinnam" that has a mystic description: peepal leaves chanting divine names. Ashwathi's cover version had another word for peepal leaves that sounded similar to it. To an email query if there was any reason for the change, Ashwathi clarified it was not deliberate and regretted the mistake. She said it might have been due to the lyrics taken from some website while recording the song. Thanking me for the information, she replied it would be remembered while recording a song next time. It's good to see an artist admitting a mistake and resolving to prevent it in the future, qualities that would help make her work more perfect.

The original lyrics have been translated from Malayalam into English and displayed on the video to enable the wider audience to understand and appreciate the song better. I am grateful for translation suggestions from Meena Agimon (Maya, sister), to whom I had sent my draft translation. She was a first-prize-winning poet at high school and completed her graduation in Vaikom, Kerala. (Married to Agimon in 1998, she has been living with her family in Chertala, Kerala).  

Click this link to watch (2 min : 52 sec) : https://youtu.be/QOkwsoM-7QQ

Thunbam Nergayil by IndoSoul

 "துன்பம் நேர்கையில்" (Thunbam Nergayil – When Sorrow Strikes) is a poem by Tamil poet Bharatidasan. Born in Pondicherry in 1891, named K. Subburathinam, he "was deeply influenced by the Tamil poet and freedom fighter, Subramania Bharathi, who mentored him and hence named himself "Bharathidasan, meaning the follower of Bharathi". Bharatidasan remained a prolific writer and poet till he died on 21 April 1964, aged 72. He was conferred the Sahitya Academy Award posthumously for his Tamil play "Pisiraandhaiyaar". [Wikipedia]

'Thunbam Nergayil' is a poem written by him in 1939, wherein a parent speaks to a child, and was set to music by Dhandapani Desikar in the Hindustani raga 'Desh'. The song became popular when it was rendered in the same raga by R. Sudharsanam for the Tamil film ஓர் இரவு (Oer Iravu – One Night, 1951). Desikar said in an interview that it took him two years to compose the song, and he believed that music should be in accordance with the meaning of the song. 

The song has also been rendered by many classical and light music singers and that by IndoSoul has been chosen for 'Timeless Music and Talks'. One of the main reasons is that the band hasn't done it as a romantic song between a couple – as erroneously done in the film version and that of QFR, a popular music group – it is well made, and Karthick Iyer's vocalisation scales great heights. 

The song has been translated from Tamil into English as sung, except one word, and is displayed as subtitles on the video. About the one word difference:

Most renditions (including IndoSoul's) have the first lines of the second stanza as follows:

 "வன்பும் எளிமையும் சூழும் நாட்டிலே

வாழ்வில் உணர்வு சேர்க்க". 

However, the poem on the website of the Tamil Virtual University has a small but significant difference:

"வன்பும் எளிமையும் சூழும் நாட்டிலே

வாழ்வின் உணர்வு சேர்க்க". 

The common version means "For adding consciousness to life", whereas the university version means "For adding life's consciousness". As life itself is a consciousness, and so adding "life's consciousness" makes sense than adding "consciousness to life", the university's version of the word has been translated for this video. 

 Click this link to watch (3 min : 42 sec) : https://youtu.be/Uu46mPWh8Zw

Phagun Haway Haway

'Phagun Haway Haway' is a Bengali poem by Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Shirin Soraiya has rendered a light musical version of it, which is delightful to listen to and joyful to view. Born in Murshidabad district, West Bengal, to parents who were not musicians, Shirin took her basic training in Hindustani classical, which she learnt for nearly six years. Her first Rabindra Sangeet tutor was a well-known exponent, Maitreyi Majumdar, a disciple of the legendary Suchitra Mitra. She always wanted to carve out a career in performing arts and culture, but obliging her parents, she prioritised education, passing an M.A. in English and also a B.Ed. In 2012, she married and found a schoolteacher’s job. Two years later, their daughter was born.

During the Covid lockdowns of 2020, she and her family withdrew from Kolkata to their country home in their native place. She said in an interview with Different Truths in 2022, “In 2020 on Pochis e Boishakh (Tagore’s birth anniversary), I launched my first song, which was much appreciated and warmly received. Now, having made up my mind to learn the technical aspects, I seriously delved into technical books to master the techniques of sound effects, sound engineering, recording, editing, etc.; I even fixed up a home studio for the purpose.”

“I personally feel, as of now, Rabindra Sangeet is heavily chained and shackled by draconian rules and regulations, which the budding artists often find oppressive and intimidating. There is an erroneous idea doing the rounds that Tagore’s music is meant only for esoteric groups. But that is not so. Tagore wanted his music to permeate the lives of even the lowly and meek”. She added, “I nurture a dream: it shall be my endeavour to liberate Tagore’s lyrics from pseudo bondages and put it within the grasp of the common man.”

Shirin Soraiya attributed her success to Facebook (now 443K followers) and YouTube (now 43K subscribers). (Source: 'Shirin: Liberate Tagore’s Lyrics for the Commoners', Different Truths, March 12, 2022). 

'Phagun Haway Haway' produced by Pradyut Chaterjea, premiered on Shirin Soraiya’s YouTube channel on 29th December 2024. I am grateful to her for kindly agreeing, when her permission was requested, to post the song, with an English translation from the website Geetabitan, on ‘Timeless Music and Talks’.

Minor changes have been made to the English translation of Anjan Ganguly's that was posted on the Geetabitan. Gratitude to the translator and the website for making it available free for all. Thanks to Sumita Chakraborty (West Bengal), who helped identify a tree named in the poem. It was well worth the effort, as it turned out to be not 'fir' as in the translation but saltcedar (Jhau, red tamarisk, or tamaris).

For non-monetary, non-profit, cultural and educational purposes. 

Watch the music video at: youtu.be/SbPvF7rx4NQ

Watching the sea swaying its manes

"Watching the sea swaying its manes" is the first line of Bhaavam (Attitude, music video, 2023) by singer & composer Job Kurian. Bhaavam is perhaps one of those "untranslatable" Indian words as eminent Indian intellectual Rajiv Malhotra would call it. "Attitude" gives the sense of a mental poise but Bhaavam gives not only the mental but includes the vital and the physical poise of a human being.   

Kurian has sung 37 film songs and composed and sung in 18 music albums since his first song in the film "Goal" in 2007. His Bhaavam is about losing the ego, opening to self-knowledge, and seeking the Truth. The protagonist's experiences are not a result of joining a traditional ashram or monastery but while living in the present world. Notably, his vision is not an ascetic withdrawal from life's riches nor an embracing of poverty, reflective of the Upanishadic teachings that the Divine can be experienced both amid wealth and poverty. ("For it is not the wealth and the poverty which matter or are real, but only the feeling of the presence of the Lord in all things". - Sri Aurobindo, Isha Upanishad, CWSA, Vol 7, Pg 184) 

The video has received 4.2 million views on Kurian's YouTube channel who regards as his gurus Surendran Master, Kavalam Narayana Panicker (1928–2016, poet, playwright, theatre director, lyricist—Padmabhushan, 2007), and Nedumudi Venu (1948–2021, veteran movie actor, won three National Film Awards).

The lyrics of Bhaavam were written by Engandiyoor Chandrasekharan and Job Kurian. They have been translated from Malayalam into English and added as subtitles on the video. 

Click this link to watch (5 min : 24 sec): https://youtu.be/yaiyONTH1Rk

Jazz: What a Wonderful World by Angie Fisher

  A standard symphony orchestra typically consists of about 80 to 100 musicians, but jazz bands comprise a much smaller number of about 3 to 25 musicians. In its potential for making excellent music, jazz is no less than orchestral music. Esperanza Emily Spalding, an American jazz musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who has won four Grammy Awards, said while performing a jazz concert song some years ago, “Europe gave us classical music, and jazz is America’s classical music”.

'What a Wonderful World', is considered a jazz standard, and was written by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele. It was first recorded live by the legendary singer Louis Armstrong in 1959 and then, in 1967, recorded in a studio and released. Louis passed away in 1971, and the recording received wider attention when it was used in an American war comedy film, ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’ in 1988. The song was then re-released.

It's a lovely song on the simple joys of life and has been covered by many singers over the past decades. I find Angie Fisher's the best for many reasons, not least of which are its simple presentation and heartfelt expressions. Besides, a female singer rendering the blooming of a rose, a rainbow, and children growing seems more apt, and the fact that she is a Black singer reminds us that jazz originated from the urban culture of American Black musicians but has transcended race and become a part of the American culture.

Ref: Wikipedia

Click this link to watch (3 min : 05 sec):  'What a Wonderful World' by Angie Fisher

The world is not an unfortunate accident, it is a marvel which moves towards its expression. - The Mother

(Excerpt: 27 November 1971, Words of the Mother - I, CWM Vol 13, Pg 15)