Rajesh Khanna said this popular dialog in the movie Anand:
बाबू मोशाय... ज़िन्दगी एक रंगमंच है और हम सब इस रंगमंच पर कठपुतलियां हैं, हम सबकी डोर ऊपर वाले के हाथ में है, कब किसकी डोर खिंच जाए, कोई नहीं जानता |
Ever thought about what makes a movie or TV show popular? A touch of unexpected surprise in the story is an essential ingredient to make a movie interesting and popular. If its story and narrative is predictable, it fails to hold our attention. Even in case of a suspense thriller, have you ever experienced how it kills all the fun the moment a friend shares the suspense with you. When we already know what’s going to happen, it is no longer exciting to go through it.
When I carefully ponder over this idea, aha! it gives me a completely fresh way of looking at life. I have been blessed with a very interesting life, that has a blockbuster like suspense at every twist and turn. It is worth living because of its unpredictability.
Suppose I somehow get to know everything that is going to happen to me today, will it still hold interest for me?
Suppose someone predicts my future for the whole lifetime, what will be left there to live?
With this thought, I am no longer apprehensive about the uncertainties of life, as I know the purpose behind them now. Why would I want to know my future? Why do I need to go to an astrologer? It is more interesting to discover it as it happens.
क्यों डरे ज़िन्दगी में क्या होगा
कुछ ना होगा तो तजरबा होगा
- Javed Akhtar
Recently, Shah Rukh Khan said this in Om Shanti Om:
आज इस बात का भी यकीन हो गया कि हमारी फिल्मों की तरह हमारी जिंदगी में भी एंड में सब ठीक हो जाता है, हैप्पी एंडिंग्स। और अगर ठीक ना हो तो वो एंड नहीं है, पिक्चर अभी बाकी है मेरे दोस्त ।
We are often told to look at life's problems as opportunities, but another way to look at it is that
there will be no fun in life if we do not have any problems. A life free of challenges is a problem in itself, as it would be boring. Hence, we should welcome problems with open arms. Here are a few useful tips to ensure that we have a pleasant experience while facing the problems in life:
Do not postpone anything for tomorrow. Start doing it right now. (Do it Now).
If you could not finish anything today, do not worry. Try again tomorrow with fresh energy.
If its a multi-dimensional complex problem, break it into smaller parts and tackle them one by one. (Divide and Conquer).
Do not get overwhelmed if you have too many tasks to be completed. Make a prioritized list and tackle them one by one.
Fully focus your energy and attention on the task that you are doing to ensure maximum chances of success.
Do not wait for the best way to do a task. Do it with the available way, and gradually work on improvements. (Best is the enemy of good.)
A lot has been said about the importance of positive attitude in life. But the way Charles Swindoll has put it, has deeply impressed me. I agree 100% with each and every word that he says below.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.
In their last moments, people often think about what they could have done differently with their life. What are the most common regrets?
Bronnie Ware has written a book named The Top Five Regrets of Dying, in which she has compiled a list of the top regrets expressed by people on their deathbed.
She should know as she has spent several years nursing the patients on their deathbed.
For me, this list is really an inspiring wake up call to live my life differently now! Thanks Bronnie for coming up with it.
I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
When we realize that our life
is almost over and look back on it, it is easy to see how many
dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most of us do not honor even a half
of our dreams due to choices we have made, or not made.
I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
We miss our children's youth and our partner's companionship, and later on we deeply regret spending so much of our lives on the treadmill of a
work existence.
I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.
We suppress our feelings in order to keep peace with others. As
a result, we settle for a mediocre existence and never become who
we are truly capable of becoming. Often we even develop bitterness and resentment as a result.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
We get so caught up in our own lives that we let golden
friendships slip by over the years. And then there are many deep regrets about
not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.
We do not realize until the end that
happiness is a choice. We stay stuck in old patterns and habits.
The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflow into our emotions,
as well as our physical lives. Fear of change makes us pretend to
others, and to ourselves, that we are content, when deep within,
we long to laugh properly.
We all have an unending chain of desires, and at times
we want something very badly, but cannot get it in spite of our best
efforts. This makes us wonder if there is a better way to get what we want in
life? We have heard story of Aladin and his magic lamp, that fulfilled all the
wishes of its master. If only we could get hold of such a lamp, life would be
such a fun. We will be able to get whatever we ask for. But we quickly dismiss
it as fiction; such things do not happen in real life.
What if I tell you about not one but two such magic lamps
that are available for you? Sounds too good to be true? Read on the tale of
two magic lamps that can help you fulfill your wishes.
Magic Lamp 1: Power of Prayer
If you want something really badly, why not ask God to provide it? Nothing can be
simpler and more powerful than prayer. As a child, whenever you needed
something, you demanded it from your father, and he tried his best to fulfill
your wish. Now, if you ask anything from the Almighty Father, will he not
fulfill your wish? But make sure to state your wish as clearly as you can. If
you are confused about what you want, how can someone fulfill your wish? Even
the Jinn in the magic lamp needs to be told about your wish clearly. As an
example, do you want your child to develop into an independent thinker, and at
the same time, wish that she accepts whatever you say without any question? What do you really want?
Are prayers answered? There is no evidence that suggests
that they are not answered. If God Himself cannot fulfill your wish, who else
can? In fact, there are times when God may deliberately not grant your wish as
the outcome may not be good for you, and in such cases, we should learn to accept His wisdom.
Note that I am not advocating any particular religion here.
You can pray as per the custom of any religion and follow any form of God, so
long as you take your wish to Him in prayer. I know that many religions
advocate not asking for worldly things in prayer, but if a burning desire is
holding you back, why not take it to Him?
Magic Lamp 2: Power of Assertions
The method is simple. Once a day, write down fifteen times
what is it that you desire. Keep on doing it and you will find that it is
turning into a truth. It may take about two to six months of writing assertions
before your wish is granted.
As an example, if your name is Sanjay Jain and your wish is
visit Disneyland, you will write the following sentence fifteen times.
I, Sanjay Jain, will visit Disneyland.
So simple? How do I know if it works? I read about it some
years back in a book by famous cartoonist Scott Adams, and found it hard to
believe it. However, just to prove it wrong, I gave it a try on a wish that was
incredibly hard to achieve, and was very important for me. And to my amazement,
it worked!
You must be saying now that this is the same old faith and
religious stuff, and I have no idea how it works or whether it works at all.
Fair enough. If you want to know if it works or not, why not try it out
yourself? In the worst case, nothing happens and you do not get your wish. Then
you dismiss this post and go on as usual with your life. But it is also likely
that like me, you may be surprised to find that these magic lamps actually work
and then all of a sudden you have added the power of two magic lamps to your life.
Now comes the question, how does it work? Frankly, I do not know. Is it
important to know the answer? Take the computer that you are reading this blog
on; do you have to know its internals before using it? An even simpler example is the quartz watch
that you are wearing, do you have to know its working principle before you can read time on it? Do you have to be an automobile engineer with in depth knowledge of a car before you drive it?
So, if you do not need to understand the insides of your computer, watch, or
car to use it gainfully, why do you insist on being an expert and having the need to understand the principle behind
prayer and assertions so long as these work for you?
Today, I read this inspiring story by Charlene Costanzo, that I am summarizing below:
Long long ago, royal children
were given twelve special gifts when they were born by twelve fairy godmothers of the kingdom. Each fairy godmother pronounced a noble gift upon the
royal baby.
With passage of time, the fairy godmothers realized that the
twelve royal gifts of birth belong to every child in the world, but most of them are not aware of these gifts. The godmothers made this
prophecy:
Some day, all the children of the world
will learn the truth about their
noble inheritance. When that happens a miracle will unfold on
the kingdom of Earth.
Finally, the day is here.
Here is the secret they wanted you to know.
At the wondrous moment you were born, as you took your first
breath, a great celebration was held in the heavens and twelve
magnificent gifts were granted to you.
The first gift is STRENGTH.
May you remember to call upon it whenever you need it.
The second gift is BEAUTY.
May your deeds reflect its depth.
The third gift is COURAGE.
May you speak and act with confidence and use courage to follow
your own path.
The fourth gift is COMPASSION.
May you be gentle with yourself and others. May you forgive
those who hurt you and yourself when you make mistakes.
The fifth gift is HOPE.
Through each passage and season, may you trust the goodness of
life.
The sixth gift is JOY. May
it keep your heart open and filled with light.
The seventh gift is TALENT.
May you discover your own special abilities and contribute them
toward a better world.
The eighth gift is IMAGINATION.
May it nourish your visions and dreams.
The ninth gift is REVERENCE.
May you appreciate the wonder that you are and the miracle of
all creation.
The tenth gift is WISDOM.
Guiding your way, wisdom will lead you through knowledge to
understanding. May you hear its soft voice.
The eleventh gift is LOVE.
It will grow each time you give it away.
The twelfth gift is FAITH.
May you believe.
Use your gifts well and
you will discover others, among them a gift that is
uniquely you. See these noble gifts in other people. Share the
truth and be ready for the miracle to unfold.
This is the third post in this series about my experiences with music. In earlier posts, I talked about my experiences with music before it became digital, and on the advent of digital era. In this post I take it further to the time when computer recordings at home became possible for me, with smaller MP3 files and my new computer with a 120 GB disk. This unleashed an unending chain of fun and discoveries. Here is a summary of the exciting journey.
Initially, I connected my all purpose Onstage AS400 microphone to the computer and used an audio editor called Audacity for recording and mixing. Audacity let me listen to the music track on headphone while recording the song on a separate track. Later on I would mix the two tracks to produce a final recording. Soon I learned that a good recording needs to have proper balance of the volume of each track, and I have to avoid clipping of sound by excessive levels. I also found out how to spruce up the vocals by adding an echo effect, or how to clean up the background noise using DSP techniques in Audacity. The results at this stage were better than anything that I had done so far.
Around the same time, I started using AVS Video Editor for video tasks like video editing, creation, and DVD burning. I decided to buy it as it is a complete suite of media tools that help you handle audio, video, pictures and all kind of media files. This video software came in handy when I wanted to share my recording on Facebook, as it does not allow to upload audio files; so I converted my recording to a video file with a static picture and shared my first song on FB on April 17, 2011. Bol Radha Bol was my first track on FB, and I am glad that I published it. The likes and encouragement I got from the friends acted as the fuel that gave invaluable support to my passion, and kept me trying to do better. You can listen to the track below.
At that time, I was also looking for a way to add the lyrics display to a Karaoke music track, so that it can be used for fun in a party. I found a great tool Karafun Studio that does exactly that. However, you have to teach the timing of the song to the tool painstakingly. I started creating one karaoke song at a time using it. Over time, I have prepared more that 100 hindi songs, that are a great source of fun in music parties.
In an attempt to discover new audio techniques, I researched the Internet for tutorials and articles. I came upon a good article on how to mix a song using Audacity. From this article, I learned several aspects. One was about perfect timing. I found out that the computer recording adds about 200 ms delay in the track, so my vocals so far were slightly out of timing with the music. Once you know it, it can be easily fixed in Audacity. In fact I measured the exact delay with an experiment and learned to compensate for it. Another key aspect was about vocal compression. Most modern songs use compression extensively to create a wholesome sound. When I added compression to my vocals, the results were amazing. Third learning was about creating space in the background music for vocals. I learned to use techniques like eq and ducking to make room for vocals. The results were clearly much better.
My disk was getting full again with all these audio, video, pictures and other media files. It was not long before I had to add a 250G, 500G, and finally 1TB external USB disk to my computer to cope with this demand for space. I am currently using a 1TB disk to store media and another USB disk to back it up.
Next I found out that to get the next improvement in my mix, a technique called mastering is must. Audacity does not do mastering, so I found out another tool Kristal, which is a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). In October 2011, I tried mixing and mastering with Kristal on the Mukesh number - "Main to ek khwab hun", and I was thrilled with the outcome. Listen to this number to get a feel of it.
Next couple of months I played with Kristal, discovering its features, and various sound effects possible to be done with it. I came to a point where the clarity of my recording was limited only by the quality of the mic and its connection. I measured in an experiment that the in-built audio card in PC add about -45db noise to the captured signal even when there was no input. Nothing could be done to remove this noise once it gets in your track. Thanks to eBay that allowed me to get an item from Amazon.com to India, I bought an external audio interface - Blue Icicle to tackle the issue. In January 2012, I did "Mana Janab Ne Pukara Nahin" with this, and got a huge improvement in the quality. Listen to this song to make out the difference yourself.
As a result of compression and reverb, the quiet parts of a vocal track are also heard very loud and clear. That became a problem for breathing sounds and plosive sounds - sound of "p", "s", etc that cause an air shock on the mic. I bought a pop filter and in June 2012, recorded "Yeh Jeevan Hai" with it. It was very effective in eliminating the plosives. For the breathe noises, there was no option but to edit the track in Audacity, find the point of breating noise and suppress it manually. This was a painful process, but it had to be done. I was sure that there must be a plugin that can automate it, and I started looking for it.
That's when I hit upon Reaper, a new Digital Audio Workstation that is much more capable. I recorded "Aap ke pahalu me" on it in July 2012. I found out about the use of dynamic splitting to remove breath noise, using stereo width and spatial mixing, and I am still discovering more new ways to improve my mixes.
Along with this, I also took the plunge and got myself a studio quality condensor mic to improve my recordings further. On July 28, 2012, I recorded my favorite number "Pukarata Chala Hun Main" on my new Behringer C1U microphone, and mixed it with Reaper.
So, this is the story of my exploration so far. But picture abhi baki hai mere dost! I feel like a small kid in the candy shop, who has goodies scattered all around him. There is so much to enjoy, learn, and discover. The journey goes on..
With the introduction of digital technology, the world of audio
went through a revolution. Initially, most people experienced the effect of
this revolution indirectly, when the recording and processing in the studios
switched to digital. The music was still distributed on cassettes, but one
could see a marked improvement in the quality and fidelity, as the digital
process provided advance techniques to do so. These tapes used to be labeled “Digital
Recording” to highlight this switch.
Soon afterwards, Compact Disks (CDs) and CD players arrived on
the scene, allowing the music to be delivered in digital form. It resulted in a
several folds improvement in the quality of sound. When I first listened to a
flute recital by Pt Hari Prasad Chaurasia on my friend’s CD player, I was
completely amazed at the clarity of its sound. It was apparent that this is the
future of music. The CDs were hard to afford in the beginning, and very few
titles were released on CDs. However, with time, CD players became more common,
and availability of CD titles improved as well.
With this, a new class of CD based Karaoke systems were
available, that played the background music on CD, and recorded the mixed song
on tape. I got myself such a system from Panasonic in 2001. Around the same
time, sensing the interest in Karaoke, music companies came out with good
quality Karaoke CDs of Hindi songs. I was a regular buyer of these CDs at the
nearby PlanetM stores. I had a lot of fun doing recordings on my Panasonic. Using
digital techniques, it allowed change of pitch of music to suit your voice. I
found it very convenient to use “Key Down” feature to lower the pitch for songs
that go very high. I was still using the CDs for background music only and the
recording was analog on the tape. As an example of the recordings done at that time, listen to the tracks below - chand si, koi jab, and chookar mere man ko.
While these "key down" tracks were convenient to sing with, they sounded somewhat off-color, and dull. And this was the second important lesson for me. You have to sing a song in its original pitch if you want it to sound good. I made tape copy of the karaoke tracks and used my long daily commute hour to enjoy and practice singing with these tracks. With the passage of time, I regained the ability to render these songs in the original pitch, and that was a big relief.
Around the same time, I had my first brush with digital
recording when I used my home computer to record a few songs in my brother’s
voice using the PC microphone and Windows Sound Recorder. The recording itself
was very clear and noise free. I also used Cool Edit audio editor to add reverb
to the recording, and the results were cool. Listen to the tracks below as an example - aise to na dekho and aadmi aadmi ko kya dega.
However, I knew that the digital recording was not feasible for
me at that time as each wav file was taking close to 100 MB of disk space and
my 20 GB hard disk would have been filled very soon. So, I did not pursue it
for next few years. It would return when the disk space issue is resolved with
availability of large low cost USB hard disks.
After a few years, when I got a new computer with a bigger 120
GB disk, I tried to revive the digital recording again. I had also learned to
use the compressed MP3 format, which takes just 5 MB for a song. In the next post, I will recollect the fun unleashed by bringing a computer in my music
activities.
Very often, we hear that our life today is full of tensions and problems. We are all tied up in numerous things that we must do and there is no time to enjoy life. I firmly believe that majority of our problems and stress is an outcome of our own imagination. I read this interesting story that illustrates this viewpoint. I am sharing below parts of the story that really touched me:
रेगिस्तानी मैदान से एक साथ कई ऊंट अपने मालिक के साथ जा रहे थे। अंधेरा होता देख मालिक एक सराय में रुकने का आदेश दे दिया। निन्यानवे ऊंटों को जमीन में खूंटियां गाड़कर उन्हें रस्सियों से बांध दिया मगर एक ऊंट के लिए खूंटी और रस्सी कम पड़ गई। सराय में खोजबीन की , पर व्यवस्था हो नहीं पाई। तब सराय के मालिक ने सलाह दी कि तुम खूंटी गाड़ने जैसी चोट करो और ऊंट को रस्सी से बांधने का अहसास करवाओ। यह बात सुनकर मालिक हैरानी में पड़ गया, पर दूसरा कोई रास्ता नहीं था, इसलिए उसने वैसा ही किया।
झूठी खूंटी गाड़ी गई , चोटें की गईं। ऊंट ने चोटें सुनीं और समझ लिया कि बंध चुका है। वह बैठा और सो गया। सुबह निन्यानबे ऊंटों की खूटियां उखाड़ीं और रस्सियां खोलीं , सभी ऊंट उठकर चल पड़े , पर एक ऊंट बैठा रहा। मालिक को आश्चर्य हुआ - अरे, यह तो बंधा भी नहीं है , फिर भी उठ नहीं रहा है।
सराय के मालिक ने समझाया - तुम्हारे लिए वहां खूंटी का बंधन नहीं है मगर ऊंट के लिए है। जैसे रात में व्यवस्था की, वैसे ही अभी खूंटी उखाड़ने और बंधी रस्सी खोलने का अहसास करवाओ। मालिक ने खूंटी उखाड़ दी जो थी ही नहीं, अभिनय किया और रस्सी खोल दी जिसका कोई अस्तित्व नहीं था। इसके बाद ऊंट उठकर चल पड़ा।
ऊंट - मालिक ने हैरानी के साथ इस सलाह का राज पूछा। जवाब मिला -' न केवल ऊंट बल्कि मनुष्य भी ऐसी ही खूंटियों से और रस्सियों से बंधे होते हैं जिनका कोई अस्तत्व नहीं होता। ऊंटों का मुझे कोई अनुभव नहीं , लेकिन मनुष्यों के अनुभवों के आधार पर ही मैंने ऐसी सलाह दी। '
जिस तरह ऊंट ने बिना बंधन मान लिया कि वह खूंटे से बंधा है, मनुष्य भी ठीक इसी तरह समस्याओं के न होने पर भी समस्याओं से घिरा हुआ या समस्याओं के अहसास से बंधा हुआ महसूस करता है। जितनी भी समस्याएं हैं सब मन से जुड़ी है। कई बार जो समस्याएं नहीं होती हैं, मनुष्य मन - ही - मन उन समस्याओं का सृजन कर लेता है, मान लेता है। इसलिए मन को प्रशिक्षित करना ज्यादा जरूरी है।
I recently came across a presentation with this beautiful thought. Indian philosophy teaches us about the following four principles of spirituality:
1. Whomsoever you encounter is the right one
This means that no one comes into our life by chance. Everyone who is
around us, anyone with whom we interact, represents something, whether
to teach us something or to help us improve a current situation.
2. Whatever happened is the only thing that could have happened
Nothing, absolutely nothing of that which we experienced could have been
any other way. Not even in the least important detail. There is no “If
only I had done that differently…, then it would have been different…”.
No. What happened is the only thing that could have taken place and must
have taken place for us to learn our lesson in order to move forward.
Every single situation in life, which we encounter, is absolutely
perfect, even when it defies our understanding and our ego.
3.Each moment in which something begins is the right moment
Everything begins at exactly the right moment, neither earlier nor
later. When we are ready for it, for that something new in our life, it
is there, ready to begin.
4. What is over, is over
It is that simple. When something in our life ends, it helps our
evolution. That is why, enriched by the recent experience, it is better
to let go and move on.
I think it is no coincidence that you’re here reading this.
If these words strike a chord, it’s because you meet the requirements
and understand that not one single snowflake falls accidentally in the
wrong place!
I am passionate about listening to music and singing, and know many people
who are also equally interested. This series of posts is to share my
experiences with singing and audio recording. Over the years the
technology revolution has made it affordable for an enthusiast like me to do
quality recordings at home. I have also constantly learned several ways to
improve the quality of my recorded songs. This field has now become so vast
that I feel more like a novice who is groping his way around and discovering
new stuff regularly.
Today we have the convenience of digital music literally on our finger tips,
but here is a look on the life as it was before the digital revolution.
To begin with, when I was a small child, Radio or a Record player used to be
the only source of music at home. The radio was AM and the record player was
mono, but I distinctly recall that its sound used to be very clear and good
quality. I do remember using a few 78 rpm records, but most of the time it
used to be 33 rpm LP or 45 rpm EP records. I am still very fond of the songs
that I heard at that time.
Then in early 70s, we experienced stereo sound, again on the record player.
The sound was much better. Still there was no way to do recordings as
cassette recorders and cassettes became popular only in late 70s. Once
cassette recorders were available, it became possible to record your own
songs.
This gave rise to a lots of fun. I used to enjoy recordings songs in my and
my friends voices on my self-made cassette recorder. I distinctly remember
an occasion in 1982, when I went to a friend's vacant flat in Mumbai, and
recorded several Rafi and Mahendra Kapoor songs on a cassette. The echo
effect due to the empty house made them sound so good, that my friend
decided to keep the cassette. I wish I would have made a copy of the
cassette for myself, but dual cassette tape recorders needed to do a tape
copy were not common at that time.
While this was an enjoyable experience, most of these recordings sounded
somewhat dull and boring without the background music. Listen to the song
"Sanjh Dhale" below to see what I mean.
I tried to record with the song playing on record player or radio, and it
sounded better, but obviously I could not do anything about the original
vocal in the song. For an example, listen to "ye Berukhi" or "chand si
mehbooba" tracks below.
Similarly I tried instrumental tracks as well without much success. Listen
to the track "Ye Chand Sa" below for example.
My wish at that time was for a tape that has only the background music and
no vocal. In hindsight, I was looking for Karaoke tracks without knowing
that this would become available in future. This was 1980s and Hindi Karaoke
would take another ten years to become a reality.
I got my first brush with Karaoke when cassettes with Hindi Karaoke tracks
became available in 1990s. When I tried to sing with a Karaoke tape (I still
remember my first Karaoke song - Awaara Hun) It was nothing less than a
nightmare. Why? Because I was essentially a free style singer, twisting the
rhythm of the song at will. It did not matter so long as as I sang all by
myself. But when I sang with this music track, I found that I can not keep
pace with the rhythm of the music easily. I was either going too slow or too
fast. I firmly believed at that time that there was something wrong with the
music. :)
This was my first big lesson - the need to maintain the rhythm while
singing. Once I started using the Karaoke music tapes regularly, I got the
hang of it soon.
Listen to the track "Awaara Hun" below to get an idea of how it sounded.
So, I decided to record my singing with Karaoke track. By that time, there
were specialized Karaoke Audio systems available with two tapes that allowed
you to play the music on one tape, and sing in a mic and record the mix on
another tape. But my Panasonic dual cassette recorder did not have this
Karaoke function for recording, it could either record from the tape or from
mic. So I decided to open it up, and modify it so that It could record a mix
of tape and mic sounds. I also took the music signal out and fed it to a
home made amplifier to make the music available on my earphone. This was
needed as the speakers were muted during recording and you need to hear the
music. This contraption worked great and I had years of fun recording with
this system. Check out the track "Mana Janaab Ne" below.
The quality of the recorded song was only moderately good, but it was really
enjoyable. I had no idea at that time why these recordings do not seem to
have the depth or presence that is seen in the original song, and what I can
do to improve these. This was early 1990s, home computers were not yet
common in India and MP3 was still not invented, and it will be several
years before we would experience the digital audio revolution.
Read my next post in this series in which I talk about life after digital
revolution - The Dawn of Digital Era
Music Series - My Experiences
Welcome to my Music Series blogs. There are following posts in this series;
उर्दू के मशहूर शायर 'आतिश ' का एक शेर है : काश ! ये जमशेद को मालूम होता जाम में , कासा - ए - सर कासा - ए - दस्ते - गदा हो जाएगा। जमशेद ईरान का एक प्रसिद्ध बादशाह था। उसके पास एक ऐसा प्याला था , जिसमें वो सारे संसार के भूत , भविष्य और वर्तमान का हाल जान लेता था। कहते हैं कि उसकी मौत के बाद उसकी खोपड़ी को एक भिखारी भिक्षापात्र के रूप में इस्तेमाल करता था। 'आतिश ' इस शेर में कहते हैं कि काश! जमशेद अपने मशहूर जाम (प्याले) से अपने बारे में भी ये पता लगा लेते कि उनका कासा - ए - सर (खोपड़ीनुमा कटोरा) कासा - ए - दस्ते - गदा (भिखारी के हाथ का कटोरा) बन जाएगा। हम सब की स्थिति भी कमोबेश ऐसी ही है। चाहे वो एक सफल राजनितिक पार्टी हो, कोई सफल धनवान, कोई लोकप्रिय कलाकार, या कोई प्रभावी नेता - सब अपने आप को सर्वज्ञ और सर्वशक्तिमान समझने की भूल करते हैं और अपने ज्ञान, अपनी ताकत के सामने किसी को कुछ नहीं समझते। सबको एक दिन इस नश्वर संसार से विदा हो जाना है। फिर भी अपने लिए ऐसा मुकम्मल बंदोबस्त करने की कोशिश करते हैं, मानों सदा के लिए यहीं रहना है। यह अल्पज्ञता और अहंकार नहीं तो और क्या है ? इराक, मिस्र ओर लीबिया के तानाशाह शासकों का जैसा अंत हुआ वह किसी से छुपा नहीं है। लीबिया का राष्ट्रपति कर्नल मुअम्मर गद्दाफी जैसा शक्तिशाली तानाशाह अपने अंतिम दिनों में जान बचाने के लिए छुपता फिरा, जूठन खाकर जीवित रहा और ऐसे जीवन की भीख मांगने के लिए भी रोया - गिड़गिड़ाया। लेकिन इसके बावजूद उसे भीख नहीं मिल पाई। मरना तो एक दिन सबको ही है, लेकिन ऐसी जिल्लत की जिंदगी और ऐसी मौत का क्या लाभ? क्या कारण है इस जिल्लत का? आज जागृति बढ़ी है। जनता का तानाशाहों के विरुद्ध उठ खड़ा होना स्वाभाविक है। लेकिन तानाशाहों के इस कदर पतन का क्या कारण है? जो कई दशकों तक लोगों के दिलों पर शासन करते रहे, अचानक एक दिन कैसे उनके दिलों से उतर गए। उनके पतन का कारण है उनके अहंकार में हुई बेतहाशा वृद्धि। जैसे - जैसे उनकी ताकत बढ़ी, उनके गुरूर में भी इजाफा होता गया। ये वही लोग थे जो कभी स्वयं तानाशाहों का खात्मा कर सत्तासीन हुए थे और लोगों के दिलों पर राज करते थे। लेकिन जैसे ही सत्ता पर उनकी पकड़ मजबूत हुई, वैसे ही उनकी निरंकुशता और उनका अहंकार बढ़ने लगा। इसी अहंकार का परिणाम है पतन। रावण और कंस जैसे बाहुबलियों के पतन का कारण राम अथवा कृष्ण की असीम शक्ति नहीं, अपितु रावण और कंस का स्वयं का अहंकार था। हम दूसरे की शक्ति से नहीं, बल्कि अपनी कमजोरी के कारण हारने को विवश होते हैं। अहंकार हमारी सबसे बड़ी कमजोरी है। अपने अहंकार के कारण ही हम पतन के गर्त में समा जाते हैं और जब तक हमें इसका पता चलता है, तब तक बहुत देर हो चुकी होती है। आज स्थिति ये है कि चार किताबें पढ़ लेने पर हम फूलकर इतने कुप्पा हो जाते हैं कि अपने को विद्वान और दूसरों को जाहिल समझने लगते हैं। चार पैसे क्या हो गए कि सारा संसार भिखारी नजर आने लगता है। शादी - ब्याह जैसे आयोजनों पर स्वजनों और आत्मीयों से बेगानों से भी खराब सलूक करने लगते हैं। अपने से कम आर्थिक हैसियत वाले रिश्तेदारों, मित्रों और परिचितों की उपेक्षा प्रारंभ हो जाती है। अपने से अच्छी आर्थिक हैसियत वालों की चापलूसी व छद्म सम्मान तथा कम आर्थिक हैसियत वालों की उपेक्षा और अपमान सबसे बड़ा अहंकार और अल्पज्ञता है। यह पतन का सुनिश्चित मार्ग है।
चाहे वह सामान्य व्यक्ति हो,अथवा सर्वशक्तिमान शासक, उसका अहंकार ही उसके पतन का मूल कारण है। जब तक हम लोगों के दिलों पर शासन करते रहेंगे , हमारे अस्तित्व को कोई खतरा नहीं हो सकता। लेकिन जैसे ही हम लोगों के दिमागों पर हावी होने का प्रयास करेंगे, हमारा पतन निश्चित है।
