dil kehta hai kuchh

दिल कहना चाहता है कुछ
चुप चुप के खुद ही सुनता है
आस पास में कोई नहीं हो
हर पल यूं ही घबराता है

सोचना इसका काम है
बस यह सोचता रहता है
कभी अतीत में
तो कभी भविष्य में खो जाता है

चाहता आखिर क्या है
यह कह नहीं पाता
इसकी चाह बस यही है कि
कोई इसकी बात सुनले और समझले

वोह बात जो उसने कही नहीं
कहने से पहले ही घबरा गया
इसकी चाह बस यही है कि
कोई इसकी घबराहट समझले

कहानी

सूनी सूनी सी ज़िन्दगी
दिल में ज्वाला पर है जगी
राह निर्जन सा लगता है
मंजिल पर नज़र मगर है लगी

चलना है चलते रहना है
किताब के पन्नों को उलटना है
कहानी जो अभी शुरू हुई है
किश्तों में उसे आगे बड़ना है

कई कलाकारों से बनी यह कहानी
कई रिश्तों से सजी
आगे बड़ते रहेगी
नए अध्याय जुड़ते रहेंगे

- शास्त्री वद्लामानी

ज़िन्दगी का गीत

चलो चलो चलो चलो चले चलो
बहती इस धारा में बहे चलो
ज़िन्दगी की लहरों के साथ साथ
मदमस्ती में बस गाते चलो

चलते चलते सूरज को देखो
हौसला तुम उससे लेते चलो
लहराते हुए पेड़ों को देखो
बुलंदी तुम इनसे लेके चलो

देखो देखो देखो उन चिड़ियों को देखो
गाती हुई वोह उड़ती चली
कलकी फ़िक्र न करती हुई वोह
आज कि मस्ती में हंसती चली

आज का वक़्त जो हाथ में तेरे
कल तेरे हाथों में ना होगा
इसलिए आज को जी भर जी लो
कल का सवेरा कल होगा

आये हो अकेले जाओगे अकेले
हो जब तक तुम रिश्ते बनाओ
खुद को अकेले ना उलझाओ
रिश्तों में तुम खुशियाँ मनाओ

गाओ गाओ गाओ कोई गीत ऐसी गाओ
दुनिया जिसे सुन झूम उठे
सन्देश कोई तुम इसमें भेजो
पड़ जिसे सबकी रूह जाग उठे

-- शास्त्री वद्लामानी

Plagiarism in Indian Film Music

Oops!! Did I say plagiarism in the title? I guess so... Let me rephrase it as inspiration.

Our music directors are really awesome you know. They are inspired all the time, every time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They cannot exist without getting inspired.

Alright set the pun aside. Here is some stinking reality check. Thanks to my brother in law, I came across this site. And hats off to the person maintaining it. I admire his research :-)

Now check this out :

Indian Film Songs and their Original Versions

On the right side, you will see the music directors. Click on them to find out about their inspirations.


Thankfully, my favorite music director has not copied stuff. Though some of the initial beats etc. might hold resemblance but he is absolutely original. And that is what makes dear A.R. Rahman apart.

If you look at the deeds of folks like Anu Malik and Pritham Chakravarthy, you will realize how low they have gone. Thankfully they are not in USA or Europe. Otherwise, by now, they would have been sued enough to have lost their fortunes. It is disgusting... In gentle terms.

अगर

agar kal aakhrii din hotaa
to main aaj kyaa kartaa
jo vakt main aise bitaataa hoon
kyaa vaise main bitaataa ?
shaayad nahiin !!
kyoonki jitane khvaab
dil men samaaye huye hain
soye huye hain
shaayad aaj jaag uthate
aur mujhme
bechainii sii samaa jaatii
jo mujhe majaboor kar detii
sochne par
ki kitne khwaab poore huye
aur kitne adhoore rah gaye
dil se chhotii sii aawaaz
mujhse poochhtii
kaisaa rahaa safar
tay kaise huaa
jude huye khwaab
chehre pe roshnii laa dete zaroor
adhoore se khwaab maayoosii
lekin ek adhooraa khvaab
zaroor poorii kartaa
taaki ek to kam ho jaaye
khwaab kuchh adhoore
kuchh poore
hameshaa rah jaate hain
magar is safar ki
yaadon se paribhaashaa hotii
jitanaa pyaar is safar men milaa
us pyaar se paribhaashaa hotii
khushii se main is kitaab ko
bandh kartaa kyoonki
kvaabon ki koee parisiimaa nahiin hotii

Note : Hindi transliteration was becoming illegible. So keeping it in English. But read them as hindi

Apni Daastaan

कुछ सपनों से बुनी जिन्दगी
कोशिश से है बनी दास्ताँ
छोटे कदम हम ले ज़मीन पर
मंज़िल अपना बाना आसमान

सफ़र में अपने मिले अजनबी
अजीब कहलाया अपना कारवां
राह में रहते राहे अकेले
चले चलो कहती थी जुबां




I may continue working on this as when I feel like and will get some creative thoughts. If you feel like adding in line with it, feel free to add as comments and I will add them as your contribution :-) This is fun isnt it?

Musical Memories in Austin

I was chatting with Anand yesterday and in the midst of conversation, came the discussion on music as it always does. We were just thinking about composing something etc. etc.

Way back in 2001, soon after starting to work, I came across this colleague named Anand and while talking I came to know that he played keyboard. Pretty soon we decided to catch up hear each other play our instruments that is, his keyboard and my flute. It was a fun get together. We kept playing some random things. He had this $100 keyboard and I had this $1 flute. I didnt know what to call it? A flute? A piccolo? A brass windpipe? Whatever it was but I could successfully play some tunes. Anand and I decided to continue doing some small jamming sessions ofcourse just with keyboard and flute and some singing in the middle. We both were new to Austin and accidentally came to know our musical interests and decided to just continue meeting and enjoy the music. Some of the initial tunes we tried were Bombay Theme, Nightingale by Yanni and so on.

During one of those when I was attending a concert organized by ICMCA (Indian Classical Musical Center of Austin), I was introduced to this new graduate at UT named Dinesh. He also was passionate about music and himself was a singer and a tabla player. And he was a very down to earth who did not jump around beating his musical skills. So I told him about us, the two rookies who jam and asked him to join us if he wants. He immediately jumped at the idea and promised to join when we would meet next.

Next time we met, we thought why not we start music band. So Anand, as always taking the initiative, went ahead and put some Ads on Sulekha informing about our desire to form a band. And thus started our first Austin based Indian music band. But as it happens most of the times with bands, this band got disbanded within few weeks even before something could be achieved. I guess there were too many "knowledgeable" got together who did not have the ear to listen to others. And there you go. Back to square one we were. That is, Anand and I kept meeting and doing some jamming. But our efforts to bring in other people who were aware of their knowledge as well as limitations continued. On quite some occassions, few strangers with different interests joined us for jamming sessions. They kept joining and vanishing and our jamming sessions continued. The only sad thing was we lost touch with Dinesh then. But we had a new friend Sesh who was an amazing violinist. So now our music jamming session were kind of involved myself, Anand and Sesh.

This is when I left for Korea on a business assignment. In October 2003, a fresh attempt by Anand, Sesh and Dinesh (who Anand again got in touch with and brought him back) led to the formation of our dearest music band, Omkara


I had a wildcard entry into the band as soon as I cam back from Korea. Thank god there were no auditions for me :-) My friends say that is the reason why I almost always screwed up on stage.

But Omkara was one of the best musical platforms where I learnt a lot from other talented musicians and came to learn about the amazing talents of Dinesh, Sesh, Anand, Vaish, Sriram and Priya. Everyone of us improved ourselves considerably by performing together.

We performed almost 15 live concerts in Austin, Houston and Dallas. It was not just about music. It also gelled friends. Dinesh and Anand became two of my closest friends. They gave me a nice gift which was our last composition based on a Tamil song by A.R Rahman.

Listen to it here :





I miss you guys. And the musical compositions. Lookign forward to visiting Austin and doing some compositions.

I hope I will start an Omkara soon in Bangalore.

पुराने शहर की यादें

एक शहर अनजाना सा
थोडा नया पुराना सा
कुछ जाना पहचाना सा
कुछ अपना बेगाना सा

बचपन गुजरा था यहाँ पर
पतली गलियों मैदानों पर
कितना अलग था वोह मौसम
इतने हलचल में भी आज
लगता है कुछ गुमसुम

परिवार था एक सारा गाँव
वोह मधुर धुप वोह कोमल छाँव
इतने बरसों के बाद यहाँ
ढूँढता हूँ मैं यहाँ वहाँ

अपना रिश्ता था प्यार का
ना हानि पर उपकार का
हृदय क्यों संकीर्ण आज है
इस भेद भाव का क्या राज है

इस मिटटी में खेला था मैं
इन राहों में घूमा था मैं
पर आज मैं यहाँ पराया हूँ
कोई नही जानते मुझको
एक आम मुसाफिर नया हूँ
--- Sastry (Written sometime in 1999)

भोर

भोर हुई
चिड़ियों का कलरव कहता है मुझसे
जागो हे मानव निद्रा से
करना है तुमको कितना कुछ
प्रगति करे मानवता जिससे
सो सो के तुम व्यर्थ ज़िंदगी
का बहुमूल्य वक़्त खो दोगे
और जब ना मिलेगा वापस यह वक़्त
तुम ही खुद पछताओगे
यह वक़्त है महनत का
अपना फ़र्ज़ निभाने का
अब ना करोगे परिश्रम तुम तो
ना आयेगा समय खुशहाली का
जीवन की डोर देव ने तेरे हाथों में दीं है
इसे बनाओ या बिगाडो सब तेरे हाथों में है
यदी सोचते हो ऐसा तुम की
भाग्य के अनुसार सब कुछ होगा
पीछे पद जाओगे प्रगती के मार्ग में
और तुझसा मूर्ख कोई ना होगा

--- Sastry

P.S: Typically font issues. I hope you can read it.

पुकार

यह धरती तड़प रही है
इसकी र्क्षा कर भगवान्
पापों से अपिवत्र हो गयी
इसको पिव्त्र कर भगवान्
मार काट फैले हुये हैं
ला दे तू शांति भगवान्
जो नारी देवी है
उसकी इज़्ज़त नही रही है यहाँ
अन्याय का राज्य फैला हुआ है
कौन लाएगा न्याय यहाँ
भूक प्यास से तड़प रही है
तेरी यह प्यारी संतान
जीं ना सके तो दे देती है
अपनी यह बहुमूल्य जान
जब तू भेजे इस धरती पर
मत भेज केवल तड़पने को
थोडी सी खुशियाँ भी दे दे
इन बेसहारे दुखियारों को
शक्ती दे इनको ताकी
लड़ सके यह अन्याय के विरूद्ध
शक्ती दे इनको ताकी
पा सके अपने अधिकार
बुद्धी दे इनको जिससे
परख सके यह सही गलत
बुद्धी दे इनको ताकी
सुधार सके यह अपनी जगत

-- Sastry (Written sometime in 1999)

P.S: Typical Transliteration issues.

Memories with the Rains

Heavy rains always have been my favorite. They bring back awesome memories from the past. I just feel like just sit and keep watching the heavy downpour that the clouds are doing on earth.
After a long time, yesterday Bangalore saw some heavy rain. Dark clouds already gave an indication on how much water there is on hold. There used to be a time you would crave for so much rain so you can get drenched in it. But now I feel worried about getting drenched thinking what will happen if I get sick. As we grow old and add more responsibilities, do we start losing or disregarding the pure craving that the heart asks for?

I stand near the window looking at the sky
The sun was just here but slowly made way
The dark beautiful clouds are here
Carrying lots and lots of water with them
I stand near the window looking at the clouds
Waiting for the rain to start
I think to myself
Oh rain come soon don't delay
Bring me back those fond memories
That are associated between me and you
Remember when you would arrive
How you would bathe me
How can I forget the fun of playing soccer
While you would keep coming down on us
As I grew I stopped hugging you
But would watch you with a cup of tea in my hand
And thinking about life as a philosophy
And time kept passing
Today I stand by the window
And keep watching you
But I am scared to hug you
Influenced by consequences
But my love for you is perennial
Keep coming in loads
So I do not miss you
And hey why dont you come down
While I am walking on the road
And hug me, my dear rain?

--- Sastry Vadlamani

BlogSwara

Whoaaa!!!! what a neat concept. I just came across this while searching for music related stuff. I am amazed to see people from different parts of the world coming together.

What is very fascinating is the fact that everyone maintains blog and have their recording on their blogs. Amazing.

Hope I will be with them one day with my contributions too. :-)

Check it out : http://www.blogswara.in/home.htm

Fabulous.

Saturday Afternoon

I guess this is nothing but a random rambling from the heart. Its the afternoon time. Nothing to do at home I came to work. As the stuff I am working on refuses to work correctly. So back to debugging and solving the issue. Its sunny outside with lots of activity. People are walking, doing bargains on the roadside, just phasing out into the sky and doing everything you can think of. I look through the window of my workplace. Just stepped out and it is truly pleasant outside. Bangalore is really pleasant. Except when it rains or except at 7:30 p.m in the evening. :-) I called my friends but no one is picking up. Damn it. Not feeling like working, I just went down to grab a cup of coffee. And that too tasted old . One thing I am waiting for though is 9:00 p.m tonight to see who got eliminated from Indian Idol. Yeah thats one thing I have hooked onto. After that Star Voice of India time . It has been raining since the last few days.

Life is beautiful with so many bounties
So many opportunities in its basket
I dream of so many things
I stare into the sky as I look into the future
Many a times we lose focus
And start complaining about the problems
But problems I feel are great lessons
To bring out new facets
I wanna be a scientist
No ! a musician
No! a poet
Oh No!! something else
Countless thoughts
Countless emotions
Countless dreams
I keep looking into the horizon
staring into the future
aspiring new heights
to leave my footprint
before I leave this world
and separate from life.

-- Sastry

खामोश सी शाम

अँधेरे का वक़्त है
आकाश में ढ़ेर सारे
तारे टिंमटिमा रहे हैं
बादल हमेशा की तरह
झुंडों में टहल रहे हैं
ठंडी सी हवा इधर
जमीन पर बह रही है
मैं आँखें मूंदे बैठा हूँ
और ठंडी हवा मेरे रूह को
छू के जा रही है
कई ख़्याल इस हृदय में
आ और जा रहे हैं
क्या सुहाना मौसम है
मेरे दिल के साथ एक
मीठी सी रूबरू चल रही है
रात का समय
मुहल्लाह भी कुछ खामोश सा है
मैं बस आसमान की तरफ देखता हूँ
टिमटिमाते तारों की तरफ देखता हूँ
सोचता हूँ
इस खामोशी से ना जाने मैंने कितनी बातें कर बैठी
और ठंडी सी हवा मुझे बहलाती रहती है

-- By Sastry Vadlamani

Campus

वो कॉलेज की बातें
याद आती हैं मुझे
वोह कैंपस की बातें
याद आती है मुझे
वोह ह्यारीस की शामें
चाय समोसे के संग
वोह एगिस की रातें
जहाँ बैठते थे हम सभी यार
गपशप करते थे घंटे तीन चार
वोह हीज्ली का पुल
जहाँ बैठ कर खाते थे चोप और पीते थे चाय
और देखते थे गुज़रती हुई रेल गाडी को
वोह सेंट्रल लाय्ब्ररी
जहाँ जाते थे पड़ने
और देखते थे लड़कियों को
वोह क्लासेस के बीच
कैंटीन जाना और चाय पीना
वोह ज़िंदगी जहाँ कोई चीन्ता ना थी
वोह शामें और वोह रातें
ना कभी भूल सकूंगा मैं
और वोह यार जिनके साथ
बीताये मैंने चार साल
अभी मुझसे हैं दूर
वोह चार साल मेरे
जिन्दगी के हसीं पल
कभी आये और कही चले गए

-- Sastry
Written sometime in 1999 I guess. Just after graduating and spending time in a small place alone far away from friends.

P.S: There are some inherent bugs in the hindi transliteration. Bug is evident with i kaar.

Any Good Flute Music and Vocals Teachers in Bangalore

Well if you know, then please do let me know through this feedback form.

MUSIC AND POETRY

Music and Poetry are my passions.... Not that I am an expert but I am definitely an addict towards them...

http://www.urdupoetry.com