When I started blogging a new buzzword had just come into vogue: Vision 2020. We all – whether in public, private or non-profit sectors – were rushing in and out of seminars, workshops and breakout rooms, to prepare a Vision 2020 document for our organisations in nice spiral-bound volumes containing Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Objectives, Tasks, Values, Weights and Weighted Scores. All this was Greek and Latin to me, I still don’t know whether Mission Statement came first or Vision Statement, and why. I was equally clueless about blogging, least of all how long it would last and what shape it would take. SoY completes ten years today and, coincidentally, we are in the year 2020. Even if I had attempted a Vision 2020 document for SoY, letting my imagination soar as in those documents, writing the most grandiose goals, I would not have been able to visualise what the blog is today.
I started on a स्वान्त: सुखाय journey which I described in the page ‘About’ in the following words:
“Songs of Yore is about songs that are part of our precious heritage. Songs of the 1950s and 60s; of Lata Mangeshkar, Rafi, Mukesh, Hemant Kumar, Talat Mahmood; of Naushad, SD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan, C Ramchandra, OP Nayyar, Madan Mohan, Roshan and Chitragupta; further back, songs of the 30s and 40s; of KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick, KC Dey, Surendra, Khursheed, Kanan Devi, Zohra Ambalewali and Amirbai Karnataki; of RC Boral, Anil Biswas, Shyam Sundar, Ghulam Haider, Khemchand Prakash and Husnlal-Bhagatram. Songs that left you mesmerised when you first heard them from a relative at a family wedding, or from an itinerant singer in a train, or from a friend at the NCC camp bonfire on a moonlit night in a forest, or from a distant transistor radio in a roadside paan shop. Songs that set you off on your personal journey into the beautiful world of songs of yore, each discovery of a new gem bringing you an indescribable joy.”
Fellow travellers: Readers and Guest Authors
Little did I know that soon many travellers would join me on this beautiful journey. Some have stayed on from the beginning, many peeled off for their own pursuits, but many more new travellers joined me on the way. One man’s journey became the journey of hundreds, all sharing the same passion for the songs of yore; and many more cheering the caravan from the sidelines. It is always gratifying to discover that even silent readers are no less passionate than the active ones, but they also add a great deal by writing to me. Nayika Bhed in songs came out of one such mail from a silent reader long ago.
Several readers very graciously offered voluntarily, or agreed to my request to write guest articles. The guest authors also include some who are not regular readers, but are renowned experts in old film music, or family members of legendary music directors. Fifteen guest authors have so far adorned the blog. I have recognised them by creating a category for them under ‘Guest Authors’ and linking their contributions with their names. If I have missed any name or article please do let me know.
Hans Jakhar and Moti Lalwani made a grand debut as guest authors in the tenth year. Besides them, our regulars DP Rangan, Shalan Lal, N Venkataraman, Subodh Agrawal, and the renowned author and film maker on old film music, Sharad Dutt made significant contributions.
There is a nice ring to the number ten. You rate something on a scale of ten. Even being there for ten years and writing something regularly signifies some kind of milestone, a distinction. If I sound somewhat immodest today, a large part of the blame has to go to the readers, because SoY is very distinctively reader-driven. The ‘Comments’ section contains enormous amount of knowledge and information, not only about the theme under discussion but also many related, and also unrelated topics. Many posts are born out of specific themes suggested by the readers. A reader and fellow-blogger once observed that SoY has an adda-like atmosphere. An adda is a Collective; in law they call it ‘Common Intent’ – all swim or sink together. Therefore, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of SoY, you the readers can pat yourselves big. If there is anything amiss, you can always blame the man who created this adda.
Celebrating the tenth anniversary of SoY: Remembering some vintage artistes and special songs
Pahadi Sanyal (22 February 1906 – 10 February 1974)
I have earlier described Pahadi Sanyal as the Fourth Pillar of the New Theatres. Even in the face of the Big Trinity – KL Saigal, Pankaj Mullick and KC Dey – Pahadi Sanyal’s songs held a special charm for me for his unique voice and high-pitched singing. Adhikar (1938, MD Timir Baran) had Pankaj Mullick’s deeply moving Barkha ki raat aayi manwa har le man ka bhaar, but Pahadi too held his own in Suhaag ki raat aayi sajani, kaahe bhare tore nain, which was incidentally in the same tune. If you take out his voice from his duets, Prem ki naiya chali jal mein mori (with Uma Shashi, Dhoop Chhaon, 1935) and Koi preet ki reet bata de humein (with KL Saigal and some female singers), the songs would diminish a great deal.
Born Nagendra Nath Sanyal in Darjeeling (which led to his moniker ‘Pahadi’), his education in Benaras and Lucknow made him very proficient in Hindi, Urdu, besides Bengali. He was trained in classical music from Marris College (now Bhatkhande Music Institute), Lucknow. He acted and sang in several Hindi and Bengali films. The readers would remember his last appearance in Hindi films in Aradhana (1969) in which he played the role of Sharmila Tagore’s father (Dr Gopal Tripathi).
I do not know whether our Renaissance Man from Bengal, N Venkataraman, has any plans of writing a proper tribute to Pahadi Sanyal, but my reason for remembering him today is because his two songs from Devdas (1935), ‘Roshan hai tere dum se duniya ka paripkhana’ and ‘Chhute aseer to badala hua zamana tha’ came for discussion in a recent post, and a few days back I heard a ‘new’ song of his from Dhoop Chhaon on radio.
1. Moorakh man howat kyon hairan by Pahadi Sanyal from Dhoop Chhaon (1935), lyrics Pt. Sudarshan, music RC Boral and Pankaj Mullick
Kamla Jharia (1906 – 20 December 1979)
SoY is a continuous nostalgia trip. The reason for remembering Kamla Jharia is her just one song in the radio era, Na tum mere na dil mera na jaane naatwan meri, which made me her great fan forever. The end of the Radio Era made me sad at the thought of not being able to hear this song again. The Internet Era has changed all that, and now the song is available for hearing at one’s pleasure. I vaguely knew that she was somehow connected to Jharia town (then Bihar, now in Jharkhand) and her karmabhumi was Calcutta – that being the centre of music, recording and cultural activities. But her name was always pronounced as झारिया, whereas the town’s name is झरिया. It is obviously due to heavy Bengal effect, as is apparent from her biography by Dr Jyoti Prasad Guha, available on IMDB and also on the YT link.
“Kamala Jharia’s real name was Kamala Singha. She lived in the palace of the Maharaja of Jharia (now in Dhanbad district, coal capital of India, Jharkhand state, India). Her parents probably worked in the palace in some capacity. The surname Singha is common in several Hindi speaking northern and north-western states of India as also in Bengal but there is no doubt that she was a Bengali by birth. Mr K. Mallick (real name was Qamal Malik) who at the time was a very popular gramophone singer, was invited to the palace to sing at the court of Maharaja Shiva Prasad on the occasion of his marriage. The Maharaja was so pleased with K. Mallick’s performance that he appointed him court singer in Jharia. K Mallick had to stay back at Jharia for some time during which he discovered Kamala’s musical talent and brought her to Calcutta and introduced her to HMV authorities.
Kamala recorded four songs for HMV and went back to Jharia. She was paid sixty five Rupees only for the four songs. Her first published record was a red label one, numbered N 3137 in 1930. The songs were (i) Priya jeno prem bhulo na, a ghazal and (ii) Nithur nayan baan keno hano, a dadra. The lyricist for both the songs was Dhiren Das. The authorities had some problem in naming the artiste. They knew her name but not her surname. They could not credit her as Miss Kamala because there was already a singer by the same name. Finally it was decided to identify her as Miss Kamala (Jharia) keeping in mind her then usual place of residence and, thus, began her illustrious musical career. Her formal training in music was from giants like (i) Ujir Khan for thumris, ghazals and Indian classical, (ii) Zamiruddin Khan, (iii) K. Mallick (iv) Satish Ghosh and (v) Shrinath Das Nandi, to whom she formally performed the Nara Bandhan and became a regular student. Later, she came in contact with Kazi Nazrul Islam and Tulsi Lahiri, who was a film director, producer, lyricist and music director. In fact he was a very colorful personality with his talent spread over a wide field. Later, Kamala Jharia became closely associated with Tulsi Lahiri in her personal life and lived with him as his wife. Kamala became a regular artiste of HMV and its sister concern Twin Records though she was later shifted to Megaphone Company along with her mentor Tulsi Lahiri, but this was part of a purely business arrangement between HMV and Megaphone. Other recording companies like Pioneer, Senola and Columbia also published her songs. She joined films in 1933 and her first Bengali film was Jamuna Puliney (1933), which happened to be the first sound film of Angurbala and Indubala as well. They were also in the film Kanhopatra (1937). Apart from Bengali, she used to sing in Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujrati and many other Indian languages. At that time no other artiste could sing in so many languages which explains her all-India status and popularity. One of her lofty achievements was Bengali devotional songs like Kirtans and Ramprasadi. Songs like Katara Radhika Dekhiya Adhika, Ma Howa Ki Mukher Katha, Kanu Kahe Rai Kahitey Darai (Chandidas) are remembered even today. She acted in films like Mantra Shakti (1935), Thikadaar (1940), Sonar Sansar (1936), Bijoyini (1941), Bangalee (1936), Tarubala (1936), Night Bird (1934), Step Mother (1935), Devjani (1939), Pataal Puri (1935), Mastuto Bhai (1934), Blood Feud (1931) etc. As a playback artiste she lent her voice for the heroine Madhavi in the Urdu film Selima (1935), directed by Modhu Bose. Her singing career spanned over three decades. Kamala was associated with the All India Radio from the time of its inception as a singer. In 1976, The Gramophone Company of India honoured her with a Gold Disc, as a mark of lifetime achievement. She was attached to the radio from the very beginning of her career and also made several tours all over India singing at the durbars of different native princes. In 1977, during the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of All India Radio, she was felicitated as one of the living artistes who had taken part from the beginning of the All India Radio. Mr Lal Krishna Advani, then minister for information and broadcasting, graced the occasion by his presence. She was very unwell and had to be helped by two escorts on the dais. Angurbala was also present and rendered the same song as she had done on the first day of the radio company’s broadcasting. This was Kamala’s last public appearance. The third of the trio, Indubala was too ill at the time to attend. A documentary titled ‘Teen Kanya’ was made on the lives and achievements of the three in 1972 and all the three artistes were present on the first day of the film’s screening. Among those present on the occasion were Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. Kamala Jharia suffered from chronic asthma for a long time and passed away on 20 December 1979.”
(Notes: (i) ‘Singh’ is indeed quite a common surname in Hindi-speaking states, but I have rarely seen anyone writing ‘Singha’ – this must also be the Bengali effect. (ii) Rekhta.org, which is a very reputed site, mentions her date of birth as 5 February 1933. Looking at her career, this is way off.)
2. Na tum mere na dil mera na jaane naatwan meri (NFS) by Kamla Jharia, lyrics Faiyaz Hashmi, music Zamiruddin Khan
Now here is the song that had me launch a thousand words.
Firoza Begum (28 July 1930 – 9 September 2014)
The reason for remembering Firoza Begum is the same, my nostalgia for her one non-film song, Tum bhulaye na gaye, haye bhulaye na gaye, which haunted me then and haunts me now. Firoza was born to Khan Bahadur Mohmmad Ismail and Begum Kowkabunnisa in an aristocratic family in Faridpur (now in Bangladesh). Her deep interest in music was evident from her childhood and she started her music training under Kazi Narul Islam from the age of 10. He was associated with HMV and she cut her first album at the age of 12. Through Kazi Nazrul Islam she met Kamal Dasgupta who would play an important role in her life and career. Kamal Dasgupta was a renowned composer who, besides giving music in many films, composed many iconic non-film songs of Talat Mahmood, Hemant Kumar and Jagmohan. They made a significant decision to shift to Calcutta in 1954 to pursue their music career. She earned fame for Nazrul Geeti. Besides, she also sang songs in various genres in Hindi and Bengali. She married Kamal Dasgupta in 1956. When they decided to shift to Dhaka in 1967, Kamal Dasgupta converted to Islam, taking the name of Kamaluddin Ahmad; some sites suggest it was out of love, some suggest that it was to overcome the difficulties in relocation for him – he took Pakistani passport. He passed away in 1974, she in 2014 of kidney and heart ailments. She has been honoured with many awards by Bangladesh and our West Bengal government. A highly respected artiste in both the countries.
3. Tum bhulaye na gaye haaye bhulaye na gaye by Firoza Begum (NFS, 1950), lyrics Faiyaz Hashmi, music Kamal Dasgupta
A song that led to a Long Trail
4. Aage aage nanadi chale peechhe nanadaiya…Pyare nanadaiya sarota kahaan bhool gaye by Chinmoy Roy, Mrinal Chakravarty and Aarti Mukherjee from Haatey Baazare (Bengali film, 1967), lyrics Traditional, music Tapan Sinha
I heard this fascinating song for the first time courtesy Sadanand Kamath who has been writing an excellent series on Hindi songs in Bengali films on Atul Song A Day.
Mr Kamath in his post also mentioned a song on the same tune with the same mukhada, but somewhat different stanzas, in the film Zamana (1985).
5. Pyare nanaduiya sarota kahaan bhool aaye by Syed Amir Ahmad and Kishore Kumar from Zamana (1985), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri (?), music Usha Khanna
In that post a reader also mentioned this fabulous song from Sautela Bhai, sung by Manna Dey, Anil Biswas and chorus. The song has infectious beat, the revelry is wild, but the endearing part of this song is the last 15 seconds when Pyare nanadauiya suddenly jumps in. This is the same folk tune with fluid dance steps. It is very different from the rest of the song, except some similarity in tune with Bhajo kala daaram, but Anil Biswas weaves it beautifully.
6. Paisa nahin hota jo ye… Paisa hi maalik, pisa hi daata….Bhajo kaldaaram bhajo kaldaaram….Pyare nanadoiya sarota kahaan bhool aaye by Anil Biswas, Manna Dey and chorus from Sautela Bhaai (1962), lyrics Shailendra, music Anil Biswas
Even though Sarota kahan bhool aaye was new for me, a bee kept buzzing in my bonnet that I knew this tune since long, and I had sudden epiphany when I remembered the last part of the 3-part song, Chanazor garam babu main laya mazedaar, which went as Sainya raja la de gale ka mohe haar re. This starts with the identical instrumental prelude as Pyare nanadoiya sarota kahaan bool aaye when Kishore Kumar and Meena Kumari dance up a storm on the stage.
7. Chanazor babu garam main laya mazedar…Sainya raja la de gale ka mohe haar re (Part 3) by Kishore Kumar and Shamshad Begum from Naya Zamana (1956), lyrics Jan Nisar Akhtar, music OP Nayyar
It was clear now that this was a generic folk tune prevalent from UP to Punjab. And sure enough, I came across this performance on Pakistan TV.
8. Pyare nanadoiya sarota kahan bhool aaye by Farah Hasan (Pakistani singer, 2003 Non-film song), directed by Amjad Hussain Shah
And then suddenly this folk song cropped up out of nowhere in the NFDC film, Rooi Ka Bojh (1997), which I might have missed but for the Lockdown. It is a lovely film, available on the YouTube, and I would strongly recommend it. The grumpy old man whiles away most of his time cursing his son, daughter-in-law and the grandson. As the bahu and her giggling gang of village ladies start on their singing session in the aangan, the old man (played by Pankaj Kapur), sitting in the baithak, starts cursing them, “Ek hi geet roz roz mathati rahengi, ye nahin ki kuchh aur bhi ga dein” (They will keep churning the same song, it will not occur to them to sing some other song), and when they switch to another song, he switches to, “They won’t even complete one song”, and finally when they start singing Sarota kahan bhool gaye (1.03.50 onwards), the old man changes tack, “Jaane kis bechaare par dosh madha ja raha hai” (God knows which poor fellow they are going to hang now).
The readers must have started thinking what the song exactly means. The only sarota I know is a betelnut-cracker. The lady, who is singing this song, is teasing the husband of her sister-in-law (nanad), for forgetting the sarota. The nanadoiya must be a paan-addict who might be carrying his own panbatta. Now he would be miserable without the sarota. Making fun of the nanadoiya is an accepted part of folk culture. But rest of the song does not make sense. All the sarota songs have the same generic structure – there are four persons in the line, the nanad at the front, followed by the nanadoiya, behind him the lady, and at the tail end, the husband. While the three enjoy laddoo, pede, barfi, the poor sainya is left licking the plate; or while the three go to the theatre, cinema or shopping, the sainya is left behind to babysit (बच्चा पाले सैंया). The sainya becomes the butt of joke in these songs, which is quite discordant.
Many folk songs have whacky lyrics. The sarota songs are accompanied by equally funky dance steps that take you back to the vintage era of Mumtaz Ali’s style. Therefore, the sarota song has to have very old heritage. My Trail finally landed on this song by Nagina Jan. The song and the music is distinctly pre-1930 style. The YT link mentions the singer’s name as Nagina Jain, but I presume it is an error and her name is more likely Nagina Jan which was the norm for the courtesan singers.
9. Pyare nandoiya sarota kahan bhool gaye by Miss Nagina Jan
Missed then, discovered now
10. Milne ki rut aayi sakhi ri….Aao aao Basant manaao zara by Rajkumari and Amirbai Karnataki from Bhakta Dhruv (1947), music Shankar Rao Vyas
In our detailed review of the best songs of 1947 we had completely missed this song. I heard it recently on the radio and it left me wondering how we missed it
11. Kumar Gandharva (8 April 1924 – 12 January 1992) in a Wadia Movietone film (?)
Wadia Movietone of Hunterwali, Miss Frontier Mail and Diamond Queen fame and Kumar Gandharva, the classical singer with a divine voice, could not be more far apart. But it seems that along with their staple films like Lutaaru Lalna, Wadia Movietone were also producing short films titled ‘Variety Programmes’ featuring artistes like Firoz Dastur and Kumar Gandharva. Firoz Dastur, a doyen of the Kirana Gharana, also acted and sang in films in parallel, including some films of Wadia Movietone, but I couldn’t imagine Kumar Gandharva in films. Here is a clip featuring him in one such short film of the Wadia’s series (1937-38). By then Shivputra Siddharamaiya Komkalimath had created a storm as a child prodigy for his perfect rendering of the famous compositions of stalwarts of classical music. This earned him the title of ’Kumar Gandharva’ which forever became his name. In this clip the credit title mentions that he is singing Hirabai Barodkar’s popular song Govardhan Giridhari in Raga Maand-Jhinjhoti. (This song was sent to me by S Gopalakrishnan.)
And finally Kumar Gandhrava in a Marathi film!
While I was still struggling whether the above clip was genuine or doctored, a keen reader Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli posted Kumar Gandharva’s Aaj achanak gaath pade in Subodh Agrawal’s post on Bhimpalasi. I had long been fascinated by this song, but was struck to see Kumarji singing it in the Marathi film Jhakol (1980).
12. Aaj achanak gaath pade by Kumar Gandharva from Jhakol (Marathi film, 1980), lyrics Anil R. Deshpande, music Bhaskar Chandavarkar (?)
You can see Shriram Lagoo and the Marathi actress Sarla Yevalekar in the audience, lost in the divine melody. The child actor Urmila Matondkar (her first ever film appearance) is dozing off towards the end. The song was written by the renowned Marathi poet AR Deshpande in 1947. I guess, and I may be wrong, that Kumarji must have set it to tune and sung it long ago, and the film-makers might have persuaded him to sing it for the film scene. There could not be a better way to end the tenth year anniversary of the SoY. (I have pieced together the information from various sites. Our Marathi-knowing readers may please throw light on this and also provide translation of the song.)
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer
The song videos have been embedded from the YouTube only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over these songs which vests in the respective owners, such as Saregama India Limited and others.
{ 114 comments… read them below or add one }
AK,
I haven’t read it yet.
As i am bad with dates did not anticipate it.
Want be be the first to wish on this big day.
Need to say more.
BIG DAY. Congrats
Happy Tenth Anniversary AKji!
It’s really a great achievement.
The post of full of unknown information. I think I need time to digest it.
I am still to read and listen to all the songs.
The song from Zakol is very good. Though I tried translating it, I couldn’t make out some of the words.
It’s about a pleasantly surprising meeting of the love interest with the man.
The actress is सरला येवलेकर
And I wasn’t aware of Urmila Matondkar being a part of the movie. I of course haven’t seen it. I must be one year old then. But I heard the song later, it’s quite well known song by Kumar Gandharv.
I again congratulate you on the occasion and wish you many more years of successful blogging.
Anup
🙂
Mumbaikar8,
Thanks a lot, and special thanks for your sentiments. You are indeed the first.
Ten out of ten on the scale of Nadia….the famous chezec athlete of 76…and Bo Dereck of Hollywood!!
I have glanced thru the post. Its a great feeling to be connected to music of the past. For SoY it has been a great ride on parabolic curves…and what made this blog go was the rich contributions made by the honoured knowledgeable pro active members….but it was AK all the way driving the carriageway with many contributers in the wagon.
Ten years….and so many articles! Must have crossed mile stone of 1000 . Will come back with my connections with dhanbad, sindri, and jharia .
Anup,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. For your age your interest in Vintage Era songs is impressive. For the earlier generation the radio ensured that even the teenagers were constantly exposed to songs of the Vintage Era, and one developed a natural liking. I needed one clarification – Phonetically should the films name be written as ‘Jhakol’?
AKji,
Congratulations.
A decade. Wow. Ten long years. It feels like yesterday, and it’s been a terrific journey. And you have added joy to our lives. Thanks a lot.
And during the course of these ten years you never allowed the blog to get stuck in monotony. You did not follow a patter. One of the motives for the success story is your motto “Explore out of your zone”. Another reason is no doubt the quality content and consistency too. No matter what you achieve, you need to be consistently doing it. And last but not the least, your spirit of accommodation & generosity nourished a strong bond of togetherness among the readers.
Thank you for the ten remarkable years.
I have just browsed through the article. Will be back soon
AK ji,
Hearty Congratulations and Many Thanks on a decade of discussions and immense gain of knowledge for all of us.
Its a different feeling to be in this adda.
Mahesh
Happy tenth anniversary to your blog, AK! What a great achievement, and what a fitting post to mark the occasion.
SOY ten years old – is like a kid and has miles to go. I wish the journey
continues and more members joins this caravan as we sing along the
glory of great singers and composers who have left a treasure.
AK ji,
Congratulations on reaching a very important milestone. 10 years is big in the life of a blog. To have maintained it as a highly informative interactive platform where like minded music lovers of different ages and diverse backgrounds meet is a great achievement.
Many more years of blogging, Master ji ( as in Blog Master.)
10 years…As soon as I read the title, my mind started recollecting songs mentioning number 10…
Many of them…
Dus bahane karke le gaye dil…
Ek do teen char paanch che…..
Dus gyarah…..
Ek bola headline mein dus ho gaya
Baba bolta hai abhi bas ho gaya
( SANJU)
But, the very first was…
Kehet Kabir suno bhai sadhu
Baat kahoon main khari
Ye duniya ek numbri toh main dus numbri
Toh main dus numbri..
An unusual Non Bharat Manoj Kumar!
Seen smoking on screen!!
Jitni ungliyan in haathon mein
Utni jaadugari
Ye duniya ek numbri…
Then, in the article I read about Kumar Gandharva. My ‘ paagal man’, as it always does, connected Kehet Kabir with Kumar Gandharva because he is a great exponent of Kabir. In fact, Shabnam Virmani’s four parts film KOI SUNTA HAI has one part dedicated to KG…
KUMAR CREATES HIS KABIR.
A beautiful Kabir creation brilliantly composed and sung by KG.
Ud jaayega hans akela
Jag darshan ka mela…
https:// youtu.be/ l1SpZ7tf4DY
A post fitting for this milestone with several rare gems. Well done AK. I am listening to “Aao aao basant” as I type this. This is indeed a wonderful song and I am as perplexed as you as to how got missed.
Will come back to the post at leisure to explore the other gems.
Best wishes, and don’t give up. Keep the flag flying high.
Congratulations for achieving a milestone! I appreciate your efforts and the contributions by all the members. A lot of information in today’s post is new to me but enlightening.
KS Bhatiaji @4,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. You have been a great pillar of SoY with your nostalgia trips, poetry and outpouring of song on any theme.
P.S. I first thought you meant Fearless Nadia – one of the songs I have posted has Wadia Movietone connection. By 1000 if you mean articles, it is far from it. I have tried to maintain a gap of 8-10 days within articles, but in a recent post which became very popular there were comments that new posts came too soon.
Venkataramanji @6,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. You are one of the earliest co-travellers and you have remained steady with SoY. Your learned comments and guest articles have been a big asset of SoY.
Mahesh @7,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. I should also acknowledge that you have been very kindly sending me very informative links and articles in mail.
Madhu @8,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. You have been always encouraging SoY. Your own blog is a showcase of the variety of you interests.
Mr Vasudevan @9,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. You have been one of the active regulars.
Dr Shetty @10,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. You have created a name for yourself in a short while for your deep interest in music, and instant recall of dozens of songs befitting a theme. On this post too, you have reeled off a number of ’10’ songs.
Subodh @11,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. I am happy that you are as fascinated by Aao aao Basant manaao zara as I was. You are one of the oldest on SoY and you have been a steady patron. You were also the first guest author and what a series on classical music in film songs you have been writing! Hope you have still dozens of articles to contribute. You must have checked up under your name under the category “Guest Authors” whether I have missed any article.
Jawahar @12,
Thanks a lot for your greetings. I am happy you liked today’s post.
Arre! I am @ 10!
AK
I was not there at exordium of your blog. I am all in admiration of your persistence in running this blog of yours for ten years. The sheer variety of topic you had covered in these years is mind boggling. I recollect your saying if a blog is still alive and relevant after six years, it is something to be proud of. You are bound to cross several times those six years from here on. Stumbling on your blog in late 2016 was a great turn around in my life. The word ‘yore’ caught my attention and the rest is history so far as I am concerned.
With ‘cacoethes scribandi’, you had managed this blog all along with posts considered ‘chef doeuvre’. Your indulgence and the liberty you allowed blog followers in their comments had endeared you to one and all. Guest writers with one sole exception (me) had enriched the quality of the blog and vastly extended the horizons of coverage. I consider your writeup, be it post, introduction or comments as something par excellence, i.e., le mot juste.
I wish you all success in continuing your pursuit as you are doing at present. In conclusion please let me state ‘vogue la galere’.
Dr Shetty
How befitting that you are at 10!. You deserve a perfect score.
Congratulations to Songs of Yore on completing ten years. It has a long journey with so many brilliant contributors keeping the music of yester years alive.
HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY to SOY !! I was expecting a new post today.
10 years is a long time !
This anniversary post from AK ji has 3,746 words and add to that the YouTube links to so many songs !!! That says it all . AK ji has tremendous passion for HFM ! I am on the verge of withdrawing from participating in SOY in just around 2 years even when I have no binding and no deadlines to meet .
My estimate is that AK ji in these 10 years of SOY has composed around 200 articles , each averaging around 2,000 words alongwith YouTube links to an average 12 songs with each such article .
It is AK ji’s deep passion , very readable and well researched articles , reading and adding something to each and every comment from the participants, his sense of humour and the so many noble participants’ inputs which encourages newer ideas to emerge continuously that makes SOY stronger everyday .
My guess of a possible change in work style at SOY could be with the total digitalisation of all HFM records and use of artificial intelligence .
A BIRTHDAY music for SOY …
https://youtu.be/S04jk2JfYMY
Yes,
You are correct. The film should be spelt as Jhakol
🙂
Mr Rangan @22,
Thanks a lot for your generous words which only you can use. It is the support of people like you which has propelled the blog so far. While acknowledging the guest authors you are excluding the one who has been most prolific and whose enthusiasm is a model for everyone. Not fair. But please check up whether I have listed all your articles under the category ‘Guest Authors’ on the right. I suspect I might have missed some and I must rectify it.
Mr Seshadri @24,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes.
Mr Joseph @25,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. You cannot quit the blog, you have been holding fort on most of the themes. As for the number of posts so far the WordPress counter shows 333 posts. Other details Venkataramanji knows more than me, it is still a puzzle to me how he does it. You have been very generous about me, I am humbled.
A BIG congratulations or completing TEN years You have painstakingly ensured that Soy does not ever become stale or repetitive. ZHats off to you.
A BIGGER thank you for putting me on the road to a systematic enjoyment of the songs. From the day I became a reader of the blog, I have gradually outgrown myself from an avid radio-cassette-records listener of the film songs to an organized contributor to the vast sea of knowledge of the film music, from a passive e listener to an active participant at the far more knowledgeable discussion forums.
And THE BIGGEST thanks for providing me the privilege of granting a space at roll of honor of the “guest Authors’ @ SoY.
I will now move on to imbibe the songs that have been selected for this 1othe year celebration post.
CONGRATULATIONS ! We had a great experience with SOY and got updated also. All the best for the future!
Kumar Gandharva as child artist is superb
AKji
Congratulations .
It really is a stupendous feat to manage a blog on music which is more than 50 years old . You are doing it very effectively for last 10 years . The sustainable long term growth that you have managed beats any hard broiled CEO any time
Like Ranganji I was also drawn to the blog lured by ” Yore” around the same time and rue the fact that it was 6 years too late.
Thanks for including PtKumar Gandharva’s song in the collection.
Zhakol came in 1980 while the song must have been recorded in mid sixties .
Zhakol had many firsts to its credit like Dr Lagoo as the director, Tanuja’s first Marathi film & Govind Nihalani as cinematographer in a Marathi film.
I wish that just like HFM is part of everybody’s folklore this blog also becomes part of folklore of music lovers .
Th
Anup @26,
Thanks a lot. I thought as much. This thought came to when I read Zande Khan on your blog for ‘Jhande Khan’. 🙂
Ashokji @30,
Thanks a lot for your kind words. You have been with SoY in a big way. You have etched your name as the creator of the mega-series ‘Multiple version songs’. I realised that for a guest author it would have been difficult to instantly find his/her contribution, hence the new link. That would also ensure that all the articles are properly credited in the link. Please do check it if there is any missing.
KB @31,
Thanks a lot. Do stay connected.
Mayur @32,
Indeed Kumar Gandharva was a prodigy. Not all child prodigies maintain their genius. There was a major setback to Kumarji’s life when he lost his voice because of a serious ailment. But we are fortunate that with dedicated nursing and care by Vasundharaji he came around and had a long career thereafter.
Mr Muli @33,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. It does not matter you came late, you have made a dhamaakedaar entry. Thanks for all the information about the movie ‘Jhakol‘.
Have been associated with “ Songs of Yore” for the past six years. Wish had known about it sooner…I am glad to admit that the journey has been an enlightening one, filled with nostalgia and cheer alike. I eagerly look forward to the posts and enjoy the multitude of topics that are touched. Wish it every success- Tum Jiyo hazaron saal…
AKji,
A fitting 10th Anniversary post. Besides the preliminary part, there are four parts to this post. Let me take up one by one.
“Fellow travelers: Readers and Guest Authors”
Thank you for creating a new category for “Guest Authors” and linking their posts to it. Was the category on “Books & film review” there earlier? If it was there I did not notice it earlier.
You are right fifteen guest authors have contributed to the blog till day. In all 89 posts were written by guest authors. I think three articles are missing.
Talat Mahmood: A Mesmeriser (5/9/2018) by D P Rangan
Forgotten Composers Unforgettable Melodies (8): Avinash Vyas (8/20/2013) by Ashok Vaishnav
Multiple Versions Songs (21): Male solo and Duet or Chorus (Part II) (5/14/2015)by Ashok Vaishnav
In all 330 articles have appeared in the last ten years, out which 89 were guest articles.
In a couple of days I will try to present my review for the past year(s)
“Remembering some vintage artistes”
Pahadi Sanyal, Kamala Jharia and Firoza Begum had great fan following in Bengal and elsewhere. The centenary years of Pahadi Sanyal and Kamala Jharia were over before the origin of SoY. And this was an appropriate occasion to remember them.
Thank you for posting the three immortal songs rendered by the venerable veterans and presenting their brief biographical sketch.
In the life sketch of Kamala Jharia I find the name of one actor Kanhopatra.
‘She joined films in 1933 and her first Bengali film was Jamuna Puliney (1933), which happened to be the first sound films of Angurbala, Indubala and Kanhopatra as well.’
I was not aware of any actor/ actress by the name. I have read aboutKanhopatra (or Kanhupatra), a 15th-century Marathi saint-poet. I believe she belonged the Varakari tradition and composed and rendered Abhangs.
You must be aware that in Bengal Singha is used as a variation of Sinha. I have come across quite a few persons with the surname Singha, Singha Deb, Singha Roy etc.
I believe the music for song by Kamala Jharia, posted by you, was by Zamiruddin Khan.
It would be a privilege to do a post on Pahadi Sanyal. Though I have the inclination, you are very well aware that I am very poor in meeting deadlines. I would add a few lines on Pahadi Sanyal here.
Pahadi Sanyal was an excellent actor and singer. A student of engineering in Benaras Hindu University, he quit his course midway and joined the reputed Marris College of Music in Lucknow. Atul Prasad Sen, too based in Lucknow at that time, was also Pahadi Sanyal’s teacher. Atul Prasad Sen (1871-1934) is considered one of the Pancha Kavi’s of Bengal along with Rabindranath Thakur (1861-1941), Dwijendra Lal Roy (1863-1913), Rajanikanta Sen (1865-1910) and Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976). During the seventies Pahadi Sanyal penned a series of articles, on his teacher Atul Prasad Sen, in the prestigious “Desh” magazine. Later it was published as a book.
After “Aradhana” Pahadi Sanyal acted in 4 Bengali films. Apart from a role of an ornithologist in Satyajit Ray’s Kanchenjunga(1962), Pahadi Sanyal played the role of an old man in ” Aranyaer Din Ratri ” (1970). Ray had a song sequence for Pahadi Sanyal, singing a popular song by Atulprasad Sen, sitting in an easy chair in the balcony of the tourist lodge. The song is sung without any instrumental backup, with Pahadi Sanyal’s voice reverberating in the forest to the accompaniment of birdsong, enhancing the impact of the number. Doop Chaon is one of his early films and this song is sung during his fag end of his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJaKYN95-zY&feature=emb_title
to be continued……
Rakeshji,
Thanks a lot for your your nice words and good wishes. Though late, you have been an active participant and catalyst for some posts. Please stay associated always.
Venkataramanji,
Thanks a lot for you fine-combing and pointing out the omission of three guest articles under the link. I have since corrected it. Hope it is correct now. “Guest Authors” link I created to coincide with the tenth anniversary. I created the link of “Book/Film Reviews” a few days back, you may have missed it.
I am happy that you might think of a post on Pahadi Sanyal at some time in future. Of course, there is no deadline for you. Thanks for all the additional details about him. His song from ‘Aranyer Din Ratri’ is very nice, thanks for posting it. I think I have come across it earlier.
About Kamala Jharia I have taken verbatim her profile said to be written by Dr Jyoti Prasad Guha. I don’t know who he is. This is the exact portion as it appears on the YT link:
“She joined films in 1933 and her first bengali film was Jamuna Puliney (1933), which happened to be the first sound films of _Angurbala_ and _ Indubala actress Kanhopatra (1937)_ as well.”
The sentence construction is not very clear, I cleaned it up assuming what was intended. But I would go by whatever you say. I know ‘Singha’ is a common surname in Bengali for ‘Sinha’, but I am not sure whether she was a Bihari shifted to Calcutta, or was a Bengali who was associated with Jharia. I thought she was originally from Jharia, and Bengalihood was crowned upon her.
Akji @ 42,
It seems it was an error due to a bad cut and paste job. As per IMDB, Indubala was in the Marathi film “Kanhopatra” (1937) directed by Bhalji Pendharkar. May be it was dubbed in Bengali too. Whether Kamala Jharia hailed from Bihar or Bengal, her Bengali diction was good.
Moving on to the next part, “A song that led to a Long Trail”
Aage aage nanadi chale peechhe nanadaiya…Pyare nanadaiya sarota kahaan bhool gaye
Indeed a log trail;
I remember the “Haatey Bajarey” version. Tapan Sinha in his movies had Hindi songs and mostly folk based. Thanks a lot for introducing to the trail. In fact your build up to the last song was fantastic. You held back the best version rendered by Nagina Jaan for the climax. Too good. And a great find. I think it is Kafi based (expert please confirm or correct).I notice minor changes in the wording in the other versions.
My hunch is that the origin of the song must in rural Bihar and you have traced the trail to Bengali film, Bombay film and beyond the borders to Pakistan.
Chitragupt had used it in a Bhojpuri film Bihari Babu (1985) in the voice of Asha Bhosle.
https://www.thvideos.net/video/Gm8IMWn2W_E/sarauta-kahan-bho.html
Long trail or was it an infinite trail…….
There is popular Indo-Guyanese version. Probably the Indo-Guyanese who came as settlers in the 19th and 20th centuries must have carried their folk traditions with them. Most of the settlers who came to Guyana as indentured labourers where from the Bhojpur and Awadh regions of the Hindi Belt located in the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
This version has a typical Caribbean shade and note the change in lyrics too.
Sandrowta Kahan Bhool Gaye by Nisha Benjamin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCF_LhKtlNY
And I understand there a Trinidadian version too. There may be more.
AK ,
Ten years …. बधाई हो
The journey which U started for स्वान्त सुखाय has given total सुख to a gr8 no . of readers , of which I m also one .
Thnx a lot .
On SoY , The themes , songs nd the comments section … everything give a feel as Manna da sings
संगीत मन को पंख लगाए
गीतोंसे रिमझिम रस बरसाए …
स्वर की साधना …
स्वर की साधना … परमेश्वर की
Hoping for more nd more interesting posts here on SoY in future .
I wish
दिल की कली यूँही सदा
खिलती रहें , हँसती रहें
बगियाँँ तुम्हारी ….. no … It shud b
बगियाँँ हमारी महकती रहें
A special thnx for the Kumar Gandharva info .
Let me post a gr8 bhajan by Kumar ji for U nd all SoY readers
गुरुजी , मैं तो एक निरंजन ध्याऊँ जी …ध्याऊँ जी
दूजे के संग नहीं जाऊँ जी … जाऊँ जी
https://youtu.be/O1G7yYRW52U
AKji,
BTW, I remember, on your suggestion I watched “Rooi Ka Bhoj” during the lockdown period. It was a good movie to watch.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Venkataramanji @43,
‘Kanhopatra now makes sense, I had to untangle the sentence, and rewritten it to make it as clear as possible.
It is clear Pyare nanadoiya is a folk of Bihar, UP heartland. These may have spread to border regions. Sadanandji in his post that this song has been picturised in a Bihar village bordering Bengal; that explains its occurrence in Haatey Baazare. And from Western UP it might have gone to Punjab, West Punjab (now Pakistan). I had seen the link of Chitragupta song, but the link didn’t give credits. Since the song is traditional of very old vintage I am not surprised that it is popular in Chutney music (a popular name for Indo-Caribbean music having its origin in indenture labour from Bhojpuri belt). But thanks a lot for giving the link. And to think I was not aware of this song until I came across Sadanandji’s post. I was very certain that it has a story, and thus the Trail.
@45,
Did you notice ‘Sarota kahan bhool gaye’ in Rooi Ka Bojh’?
Pramodji @44,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and poetic good wishes. And thanks for adding Kumar Gandharva’s popular bhajan.
Akji @ 46,
Yes, I do remember. But it did not sink in at once. But my wife could connect it to the Haate Baazare song. She had a better recollect than me.
The song , Milne ki rut aayi sakhi ri….Aao aao Basant manaao zaran, was destined to appear in the 10th anniversary post. Hence it eluded our attention earlier. Another good find.
As you have said what a grand end to the 10th anniversary post. It could not have been better. I am hearing the childhood performance of Kumar Gandharv for the first time.
Thank you Akji once again for the wonderful anniversary post.
“Even if I had attempted a Vision 2020 document for SoY, letting my imagination soar as in those documents, writing the most grandiose goals, I would not have been able to visualise what the blog is today”
AK,
You may have not imagined it, but you have worked for it. It is undoubtedly you sheer love and dedication to your blog. You have earned it. You deserve it all. Congratulations.
Good choice of artists for the tenth anniversary celebration.
Heard Firoza Begum for the first time. Liked tum bhulaye nag aye a lot.
Interesting trail of songs of Sarota.
Aage aage nanadi chale peechhe nanadaiya from Haatey Bazaar ‘s dance is even more fascinating. Male dancers are as graceful as Vyjantimala.
Found a recital in U. P style
https://youtu.be/cG8L4-SexgI?t=30
Kumar Gandharva’s childhood performance is icing on the cake.
Classic example of पूत के लक्सण पलने में.
“the film-makers might have persuaded him to sing it for the film scene”
I may be wrong but I think that actors are super imposed on a performance of Kumar Gandharve.
Mumbaikar8,
Thanks a lot. Among the dedicated supporters I have to mention you specially. On the one hand you have been the Master Discoverer of many gems from the vast ocean of songs of yore, on the other hand you have always kept me on my toes by being brutally frank in expressing your contrary views.
In Haate Baazare the most charming part is, of course, the male dancers, but equally charming is one stanza of the Bihar-UP folk in Bengali.
Many sites mention Kumar Gandharva’s name in the cast of Jhakol. Therefore, the scene seems to be actually picturised. Our Marathi-speaking friends may please clarify.
AK ji
Congratulations.
Thanks to yourself and all the esteemed people associated with SoY.
The sheer depth of knowledge and sheer sincerity while doing research/digging work, is unparalleled.
Another great point is showing a balanced approach like a fair umpire— yourself or guest authors may have personal likings or prejudices but that is kept wrapped. Opposite views are respected; arguments are logical and not bitter at all.
Thanks and regards
Dear AKji:
I strongly believe the photo with reference to Kamla Jhariya is actually that Juthica Roy, the famous bhajan singer. And she was born on 20th April 1920 and passed away in February 2014.
Tyagiji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and generous appreciation.
DK @52,
I think you are right. I have removed the thumbnail picture, but I can’t remove it from the YT link. The uploader must have committed a mistake. Thanks a lot for pointing this out.
Congratulations on this terrific milestone, AK! All the best for many more years of blogging!
Kamala Jhariya’s Picture at 0.31 and after 2.41 minute/s in the following song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV1nVLMyl8I
Anu,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes.
Manoj,
Thanks a lot for this beautiful Bengali song of Kamla Jharia sung in classical raga. Her pictures are widely available, but on Na tum mere the uploader was slightly careless in attaching a wrong picture in the title.
AK,
Hearty congratulations on the milestone! Sincere thanks as well for nurturing this baby of yours from infancy and for allowing the larger community to contribute to her raising. While we all know that it takes a village to raise a child, it is the parents who play the most important role in moulding her character and personality and I think you have done a phenomenal job in the case of SoY – I must say that she is mature beyond her years! I am sure she will continue to grow and flower under your wonderful care with fond and doting aunts and uncles eager to support you.
My best wishes to you and to SoY!
Ashwin,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and kind words. SoY is lucky to have so many caring uncles and aunts, and also grandpas and grandmas, who are not only loving but also so knowledgeable in child-care. You are, of course, one of the best in the business.
The tenth anniversary of SoY calls for a celebration, since it is a special occasion in every respect.
For the last four consecutive years, SoY was showing a steady growth rate, maintaining an average of 80 or 80+ and touching a peak average of almost 100 last year comments on each post. And I was sure that this rate of growth is not sustainable. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. AKji and his dedicated team of co-travelers have not only kept up the momentum, but surpassed all the previous records. Before I go into the details, let me congratulate AKji and all the participants of SoY, for making the impossible possible for the fifth year in succession.
A quick look at the statistics will reveal some flattering facts and figures. In all, 330 articles and almost 25000 comments were posted. Adding the 230 comments posted in the “Open House” (208) and “About” (22) segments, the total number of comments posted in the year sum-up to 25224. Here is the year wise break up table.
Clearly, the figures speak for themselves. A glance at the first three columns conveys that SoY’s graph is on the ascendance since 2015-16 with an increased participation over the previous years. In all 38 articles were posted this year (2019-20), which is highest since SoY’s inception. And the total number of comments for the year 2019-20 (3833) has exceeded that of 2018-19 (3466) by almost 10%. The point to be noted here is that the last year’s (2018-19) numbers include comments posted this year for the articles appearing in last year. Else the growth rate would have been around 12%. Thus the average comments per article for 2019-20 (101) is the highest ever since 2010-11, maintaining an average of 80 or 80+ for the fifth consecutive year. I am not sure how long this unbelievable growth rate would continue. I feel an average around 80 would be a huge achievement.
Out of the total 38 articles, seven guest writers contributed 14 articles (37%), an increase of 6% over last year. This year there were two debutant guest writers, Hans Jakharji and Moti Lalwaniji. Articles by Moti Lalwaniji (4), D P Ranganji (3) Hans Jakharji (2), Shalan Lalji (2) and an article each by Subodh Agarwalji, Sharad Duttji and myself adds upto 14.
Out of the 89 guest posts by fifteen guest writers in the last ten years, D P Ranganji contributed 21 articles, followed by Ashok Vaishnavji (15), Subodh Agrawalji (13), Shalan Lalji (10), Ravindra Kelkarji (6), Moti Lalwaniji (4), Arun Deshmukhji (3), Ashwin Bhandarkarji (2), Hans Jakharji (2), Sharad Duttji (2) and one each by Sangeeta Guptaji, Anu Warrierji, Shikha Vohraji (Biswas) and Sadanand Warrierji (SSW). The remaining few were my contribution. AKji has mentioned that the guest writers have significantly enhanced the blog. I join AKji in expressing my heartfelt thanks to all of them.
I would divide the last year (2018-19) into four quarters of 3 months each; Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4. To cut a long story short, the average comments for each of the quarters were, 63, 66, 128, and 145 respectively, the overall average for that year touching an all-time high of 99 comments per posts. Thus the overall average of the past nine years moved to 72, setting a revised benchmark for the future years.
Compared to the previous year, how did SoY fare in 2019-20? The first quarter (Q1) with 9 posts attracted, on an average, 106 comments per post, which was too good to believe. The next quart (Q2) averaged 86 comments from 10 posts, touching an overall average of 95 for the 1st half of the year (H1), a slight slump from the last year’s overall average, yet maintaining a stellar performance. The third quarter (Q3) with 9 posts saw further slump bringing down the average for Q3 to 73 and the overall average for the three quarters taken together to 88, which made me feel that the year will end up with a healthy average somewhere between 85 and 90; a hunch which I had from the beginning. But history repeated itself. Like the previous years the fourth quarter (Q4) saw a surge once again. With 10 posts, Q4 averaged 136 comments per post resulting in an overall average of 101 comments per post for the year, an all-time record once again. Thus the overall average for the past ten years moved to 76 from 72, setting once again a revised benchmark for the future years.
The turnaround story:
As stated earlier the first quarter (Q1) started with a bang.
Q1 saw one 200+ post and four 100+ posts;
Four articles penned by AKji,
‘Songs of Yore completes 9 years’ (137),
‘Hemant Kumar’s duets with ‘other’ singers’ (105),
‘Ek Bangala Bane Nyara’ (202) and
‘Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri: Two lyricists in tandem and contrast’ (109)
and the guest article by Ranganji,
‘Bharat Vyas: lyricist extraordinaire in Hindi’ (119),
and two more posts by AKji,
‘Best Songs of 1946: Wrap Up 1’ (93) and
‘Rafi’s best songs by Ravi’ (87),
altogether boosted the average (106).
In Q2 seven out of the ten articles were by guest authors.
Four good articles,
two by Hans Jakharji
‘Ravi and Asha Bhosle: A class combination’ (107) and
‘Shakeel Badayuni: Revitalising bond with Ravi’ (87)
and an article each by Shalan Lalji,
‘Would there ever be another Lata Mangeshkar?’ (197)
and another one by Moti Lalwaniji,
‘S D Burman: the courage of his convictions (has his way with Hemant Kumar)’ (155)
could not check the slump.
There were four articles around forty or below forty comments in this quarter which contributed to the slide.
AKji’s
‘Ravi’s ‘other’ female playback singer: Lata Mangeshkar’ (78) and
‘Ravi: Booster rocket for Mahendra Kapoor’ (77)
stemmed the rot to an extent.
In Q3, with three articles attracting comments around thirty and three OK sort of articles the slide continued.
Another three articles,
one each by AKji,
“Surrogate Songs” (160)
Subodh Agawalji, ‘Film Songs Based on Classical Ragas (13) – An afternoon with ragas: Bhimpalasi and her Sisters’ (140) and
D P Ranganji, ‘Film Songs from Firmament’ (97)
steadied the ship.
Then came the windfall in Q4. AKji was holding five trump cards for the end game (two of them provided by Bhatiaji and Rahulji).
‘Nayika Bhed in songs’ (213),
‘The lost world of piano when it was more than a musical instrument’ (266),
‘Baaja that was Harmonium that was Music’ (238),
’Songs and contra-songs’ (269),
‘Remembering a special singer Manna Dey’ (158)-
played them one after the other and the readers responded with equal aplomb.
Thus said, the major share of the pie should go to the readers whose prolific contributions brought about this turn around once again.
Here is another table depicting the year-wise break-up of comments between AKji’s posts and Guest writer’s posts.
Although the average comments per post for the guest articles shows a healthy 82, the above table indicates a fall in the overall average comments per post for the guest articles for 2019-20 compared to the previous year. But this was more than made up by AKji’s articles which touched an average of 109 comments per article, which is again a record.
The ‘Open House’ page, started on a suggestion from Hansji on 4th November 2014 has attracted 1430 comments till 2019-20. This year the page received 208 comments. The introductory page, ‘About’ Songs of Yore, also started in November 2014, too received 83 comments till date. In all SoY has been receiving 3000+ comments for four consecutive years and this year it crossed the 4000 mark, again another land mark. Thus more than 25000 comments have been posted in SoY in the last 10 years.
I have taken into consideration all the comments posted before 7 am on 7th June 2020.
AK ji,
Heartiest Congratulations on completion of 10 years.
When most Blogs are or have been closed in a span of 4-5 years, this Blog has continued so long, and strongly at that, because the readers feel that they can identify their likings with this Blog’s contents. The atmosphere is healthy, informative and importantly-non competetive. It has a clean environment. This attracts a casual visitor and he becomes a regular visitor.
I feel happy that since 2012, I am associated with this Blog and have benefited so much.
I wish you many more successful years ahead.
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. You have been a big support to the blog. You are a storehouse of information and you have always been generous in sharing your knowledge unhesitatingly. Thanks a lot.
Venkataramanji @61,
Your analysis is awesome. How you do it is a mystery for me, I would not even attempt to understand it. Thanks a lot but all these data also creates a pressure.
AK
First of all congratulations on completing 10 years. I would endorse what has been said by Godboleji. I have been participating in this unique blog for about 7 years and believe me I have learnt a lot and I can say on behalf of others too that they would share this thought. Though you have given credit to readers, which is true also, but the main driving force are you and I have not met many as balanced men as you in my life. So the major credit should go to you naturally. Even when I am not participating, due to whatever reason, I always follow the articles.
The information provided in this article is very valuable and the additions by Venkataramanji are sone pe suhaga. Songs at 2,3,4 are simply out of this world. Did you notice the slight difference in the mukhda of song 4 which both male singers sing. This nandoiya song seems to me to be a combination of two folk songs. ‘Sarota kahan bhool aaye’ seems to be brought in from some vulgar folk song. My parents had great knowledge about folk songs. My father told me that some songs have two versions one of which was to be sung in public and the other in closed gatherings of like minded people. I remember, when I was a child, during marriage females used to sing folk songs and sometimes in the end they would shoo away all children for private concert of these double meaning type folk songs. My cousin who was much older than me and was married told me about these songs sung by the female folk. Acceptable part of this folk song with titillating mukhda of the other has been recorded. To me this song appears to be from east UP and west Bihar areas.
The links of song 5,6 and 12 are not working.
Venkataramanji
Though I had seen your comment 61 before I wrote the above comments, still I wanted to congratulate you separately. As a fellow statistician I know how hard it is to collect and analyse data. But your analysis is simply superb and it shows your are the master statistician of this blog and once again you have proved that you know more about the blog than the blogger himself.
Once again thanks for the great analysis.
AKji,
Heartiest congratulations on completing 10 years of this wonderful blog.
This is a treasure trove for music lovers.
I have quite a few posts to catch up but surely I will.
Thanks and keep continuing this suhana safar.
Best Regards.
Hans,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and good wishes. First about the links #5, 6 and 12. Some busybody remembers he has some kind of right over the songs. The links have not yet been removed, fortunately. You would see a prompt “Watch this video on YouTube”. If you click it the song will play on the YT site.
Sarota kahan bhool gaye may be a part of a vulgar song, but in all Pyare nanadaiya songs it has been embedded. The song has been structured in a modular manner. You can add any number of stanzas, you have to just think of three goodies for the ‘nanad’, ‘nanadoi’ and ‘main bechari’, and the ‘sainya’ in the end has to be left with some contrasting bad thing, such as जूठा चाटे सैंया, and so on.
There is some universality in folk traditions and songs which you see from Bihar/Bengal border to west Punjab in this song. The private raunchy tradition of the ladies is also common in our parts. This tradition grew in marriages because in villages only menfolk used to go to baraats, leaving the ladies all by themselves. The whole night revelry was meant for security of the house from burglars. This evolved into the ladies letting their hair down and some quite wild vulgar traditions. This was too embarrassing for any men to be near the goings on. There is an interesting college girlie joke:
ये लड़के आपस में क्या बातें करतें हैं
‘वही जो हम लोग करते हैं’
हाय राम कितने गंदे होते हैं. 🙂
Siddharth,
Thanks a lot for your compliments.
N Venkatraman ji,
You are an accountant/ auditor, statistician, researcher, writer all rolled into one! And, of course, always there as my kind ‘ runner’..any number of runs I score from a stationary position, you are there for me acting as a runner. As I have repeatedly said, I can’t thank you enough.
I am already waiting for your article on Paahadi Sanyal!
Some inputs:
Sanyal was very proficient in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English and French. He could speak all of these like a native.
His only English language film, probably,is THE HOUSEHOLDER, 1963.
The first Ivory , Merchant, Jhabvala collaboration starring Shashi Kapoor, Leela Naidu, Durga Khote, Harindranath ( Harin) Chattopadhyay, Pinchoo Kapoor, Achla Sachdev etc, and music by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, had Sanyal in a brief but important role of a Swami ,who gives some sane advice to Shashi Kapoor, a newly married man trying to understand the human relations, and, on meeting with the Swami ,was tempted to take the path of Sanyasa ( not so much as said in words, though). We see him at 1.16 in the movie, and, again at 1.27 ,where he sings a Kabir bhajan…
Mandir soona deep bina
Deep hai soona tel bina
Kehat Kabir suno bhai Sadhu
Jag soona ik Ram bina…
It’s surprising I am mentioning Kabir for the third time in my comments, in connection with such diverse personalities like Manoj Kumar, Kumar Gandharva and Pahadi Sanyal!
The first ever English news program, The News, from Mumbai Doordarshan, was aired on 05/02/1974. The first panel had Gerson Da Cunha, Nirmala Matthan, Dolly Thakore and Luku Sanyal, the only daughter of Pahari Sanyal. Sadly, Pahari Sanyal passed away just five days later.
Luku remained assosiated with the Doordarshan till 1981. An English teacher, who retired as the Principal of K C College, she was trained in Kathakali and Bharata Natyam in childhood, participated in AIR Calcutta programs, and, was even offered a role by Satyajit Ray in DEVI, which she did not accept.
She wrote many documentaries for the Doordarshan.
AK ji,
Congratulations to you, the guest authors and all others associated with SOY on completing ten years of successful journey. You have many times dived deep into the ocean of music to bring forth gems of purest ray serene. At the cost of repetition I would say that it is only SOY which introduced me to many many Hindi film songs of yore.
I am sure SOY will cross many milestones in the years to come.
Giriji,
Thanks a lot for your greetings, good wishes and generous words.
AK ji @ 50
My nephew who is an IT professional @ Pune is an avid fan of Pt Kumar Gandharva . He in association with 2 friends had created a 90 minutes audio-visual program on Pt Kumar Gandharva . They had conducted almost 10 shows in different cities before the outbreak of pandemic.
I contacted him about the zhakol issue. His take is that Dr Lagoo was also an ardent fan of Kumarji . Dr Lagoo had told Kumarji about his idea of incorporating live mehfil in the film. Kumarji acceded to Dr Lagoo’ s request. So it was not superimposing actors but a real & live rendition . According to my nephew this information is given in one of the books on Pt Kumar Gandharva ( कालजयी कुमार).
Mr Muli,
Thanks a lot. I had no doubt on this, because not only the video looked genuine, but various sites mentioned Kumarji’s name in the cast.
Dear AK Ji,
Heartiest Congratulations. SOY is a true treasure trove. I read it starting from the older posts at least once a day if not more. Have discovered so many gems and through them some more. Its like a veritable feast for the soul. Wish I had more patience to sit down and pen my thoughts every time I enjoy a post. Nevertheless, wishing you all the best, do keep the effort going, its priceless.
And yes, Sarota Kahan Bhool Aaye and Kothe Upar Kothari are twin UP folk songs sung in all marriage sangeet ceremonies to the beat of dholak. Have heard it in almost all the marriages I have attended. Many marriage songs make fun of the girl’s various relationships at her in-laws place, especially her mother-in-law. Sarota kahan is special as it is between two kindered spirits – both the nandoiya and the bahu are outsiders married in the family.
Dr. Shetty ji, Venkatraman ji ;
I have faint remembrance of movie ….Tere Mere Sapne….in which three famed Directors appeared as Actors and they were Mahesh Kaul, Pahadi Sanyal and Vijay Anand . Dev Anand became director on years later…but if we count him….. that will make it to four directors.
Pahadi Sanyal had a good company in his earlier days with the renowned singers of 30s and 40s like K L Sehgal, K C Dey , Malik etc. Many of his group songs , solos and duets are worth visit . Listen to one and the trail starts.
JAL BALE CHAL MOR SATHE CHAL Pahari Sanyal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5Q0L3Lpew
pahari sanyal..roshan hai tere dum se..devadas..1935
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnjNBxu0S-I
Kanan Davi and Pahari Sanyal… 1939. Haar Jeet…R C Boral Beautiful composition with excellent prelude and interlude !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9KEotAUoRA
AK @ 75 Rahulji @ 74
“the film-makers might have persuaded him to sing it for the film scene”
I felt that he had not sung for the movie. That made me assume it was superimposed.
Makes perfect sense that his Mehfil was recorded, he did not shoot for the movie. Shooting live recording has its own challenges, the shots taken from behind look good but front shots look out of place.
Forgot to post.
Found an interesting Kumar Gandharva documentary very well made by Jabbar Patel .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4ynjy8m04&t=145s
Malyada,
Thanks a lot for your greetings and generous words. I am happy that you are no less a passionate follower of the blog as active participants. Your explanation about Pyare nanadoiya is quite interesting. However, there is a vital difference – for bahu her sasural becomes her home, and maika gradually recedes from her consciousness.
Mumbaikar8,
You have given me one hour 17 minutes of watching and listening pleasure. Thanks a lot.
Chana jor/ zor garam… seems to have featured in three Hindi movies.
AK ji,
You have chosen the second one.
The first :
Chane jor garam Babu
Main laaya majedar
Chane jor garam…
BANDHAN, 1940.
Arun Kumar, Kavi Pradeep, Saraswati Devi.
The chana vendor outside a ‘ middle school’ must be the singer Arun Kumar himself. We see Ashok Kumar, the Masterji, towards the end. A lively song.
It has a second version _ Arun Kumar with chorus.
I can’t believe that coincidences can be of this sort,too!
The lyrics have the lines…
Aur kahe Kabir suno bhai Sadhu
Suno Guru ki vani..!!
I am sure Kabir Das ji, from his abode above, will surely bless us all.
https:// youtu. be/M2EaJYb1UHO
The third:
Tum tum tararara tum tum tara..
…
Chana jor garam Babu main laayi majedar…
KRANTI, 1981.
Lata, Kishore Kumar, Nitin Mukesh, Rafi; Santosh Anand, LP.
Glamour, grandeur, star power,and above all a heavy dose of patriotism.
Dilip Kumar ( comeback after 5 years), Manoj Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini… the song is a thorough entertainer.
Here, the term chana jor is used for the two patriotic men about to be hanged.
AKji @ 64,
Thank you Akji.
Pressure! I know, you are not a person bothered by numbers.
It is the readers who respond to the articles. Yes, your quality posts yield corresponding results. The latest example is the Contra songs posts. Mumbaikarji, Hansji, Rahulji, Bhatiaji, Josephji, all of them are still contributing to the post and I will not be surprised if the post crosses the 300 mark.
At some stage, the average no of comments is bound to fall. Such a dream run cannot continue. Anything above 60 will be good enough.
I follow a simple performance rating scale (just like the one given below) for each article and for the entire year and a few more self-styled techniques.
Below Average < 40
Average 40-49
Satisfactory 50-59
Good 60-69
Very Good 70-79
Exellent 80-89
Star 90-99
Star+ 100-199
Star++ 200-299
And I try to analyse and scrutinize the figures and the posts for further insights. I do it for my personal satisfaction. And I post a small percentage only. Such analysis and the interpretation give a lot of understanding on the subject. It is a continuous process and sometime other priorities come in the way and it becomes difficult to do a thorough job. It happened in the case of “ The Best Song and winners series”. Well as long as I enjoy I will continue to do it. If I feel it will have a negative impact on the readers, I would refrain from posting them.
Thank once again Akji.
on 84
Could you please elucidate on ” The Best song and winners series”
Hansji @ 65, 66
Thank you very much for your appreciation.
Pradeepji @ 70,
Thanks for your nice words of appreciation.
It is a pleasure to be a runner and it gives me an opportunity be present on the field.
I have seen the movie householder. And you are right he is in two scenes. If I can gather enough materials to justify a post I would definitely do an article on him. Thanks for the additional information on Luku Sanyal.
Bhatiaji @78,
Thank you for posting the songs of Pahadi Sanyal, especially the song penned by Atul Prasad Sen.
Are you sure Pahadi Sanyal was there in TereMere Sapne?
Yes Mahesh Kaul and Vijay Anand were there. Premanth and Hema Malini made guest appearances.
Vasudevanji @85,
I was referring to the “Best Songs of —-: And the winners are?” series started by AKji in 2012. This year Akji is covering the year 1945.
During the initial years I used to do a statistical presentation in each of the categories. But after a few years I could not continue the work and do a thorough job. The yearly analysis of SoY may meet the same result.
Dr Shetty @83,
I was, of course, aware of all the three versions, and the one that instantly comes to mind is the version from Bandhan, but I mentioned KK-Shamshad version because the last part which is not the main tune of the song, is identical to ‘Pyare nanadoiya sarota kahan bhool gaye’, and as it turns out, it is a generic folk song.
Venkatraman ji @61
Fantastic statistics !!
But as a fellow statistician ( a poor one at that ) and also a fellow accountant ( cost accountant , again not very good one) , I need to caution about overemphasizing on statistics only.
As per your rating scheme the post on songs & contra songs should be star ++ but qualitatively can we put it in the same category ? ( Here I am referring to the basic theme & not the write up – which as usual is impeccable)
To use cricketing analogy these ( comments ) are the runs scored on a flat pitch ( with due respect to all the comments). Just like we cannot compare fighting half century on an unfriendly track with a double century on lifeless pitch other posts cannot be compared with this one.
For example making a comment on Kamal Jharia is not everybody’s cup of tea.
Then there are other aspects also .
As has been pointed. out by many this has limitless scope while
many other posts had a very specific focus.
Take the case of posts on twins. Had we subjected ourselves strictly to the theme , how many hindi movies we would be having at our disposal?
Rahulji @ 89,
Thank you for your response.
You are right in cautioning about overemphasizing on statistics only.
In fact I should not have posted the performance rating scale (PRS) @84.
I adopted this method for segregating the articles, on the basis of average number of comments posted, with a view to understand which type of posts attracts readers the most and the reasons for the same. I would not elaborate any further lest it kills the simple fun of blogging. I would once again admit that posting the PRS was done on the spur of the moment and it was a huge mistake.
I think the basic theme of the post “Songs & contra songs” was innovative and the write up was not just the run of the mill article. I think one would rarely find such articles in other blogs on film music. It requires some thinking and application of mind for posting comments. I am not saying this because the idea was yours. Akji had nourished the subject well and presented a sleek article without any frills or fat. And the readers have taken it further with many more variations.
Yes I do agree with your cricketing correlation too. And making comments on certain topics or for that matter on each and every article is not everybody’s cup of tea. And I fully appreciate your views and the examples cited in support of the same. I would like to add a few more. For example there is scope for posting comments in the curtain raiser article for “The Best Songs for the year___ and the winners are?, but it is not the same for every year. And the scope in the wrap-up posts is lesser. Article on Piano songs and Harmonium songs drew ample comments since the availability of songs in such categories were immense. Some readers have good recall capacity and some have the ability to do deep dredging and dig out songs and related information. It again depends on the sustained interest of the readers on the topic. The response of the author and the scope of the topic are also important. The article on Meena Kapoor this year drew only fifteen comments. Unfortunately Shalanji was taken ill and could not participate any further. And the article covered Meena Kapoor’s songs rendered in 10 specific films of 1948. This was second part of a sequel. And the author had declared that the rest of the films and the songs would be discussed in a series of articles to follow. Such articles automatically narrow the scope for discussion.
Well I have long-winded my response. To wind up, no doubt numbers and figures are incidental but at same time are indicative and a proper analysis does tell us a lot. But they do not justify a posting.
Thanks Rahulji for sharing your frank opinion.
Thanks to AKji and all others for giving listening pleasure and giving many a times interesting information in the Music World all these years.
Wonder which song has been posted or suggested maximum number of times in the main articles and by participants under all categories. Sure that would be the best. But that is not necessary. It is wastage of time. One may have different moods to have same degree of enjoyment for the same song.
Thanks again.
Manoj,
Thanks a lot for your generous words. My attempt is to avoid repeating a song, but it becomes impossible not to repeat certain songs. But you are right, that cannot be a criteria for determining a song’s quality/popularity.
Akji wrote,
“Little did I know that soon many travellers would join me on this beautiful journey. Some have stayed on from the beginning, many peeled off for their own pursuits, but many more new travellers joined me on the way. One man’s journey became the journey of hundreds, all sharing the same passion for the songs of yore; and many more cheering the caravan from the sidelines. It is always gratifying to discover that even silent readers are no less passionate than the active ones, but they also add a great deal by writing to me.”
It couldn’t have been said any better.
No doubt, readers are the backbone of SoY, and SoY always had a good following. But how does SoY manage to achieve this? The answer goes beyond the number of comments. The objective of any writer / blog writer is to engage the readers with quality content. And quality content attracts quality readers, who add immense value to the blog and bring in a wealth of information. AKji and his band of guest writers bring out, thrice in a month, innovative and interesting articles and keep the readers engaged.
It is time to have a look at the reader’s participation.
Suchi and Abhigyan were the first two persons to post their comments in SoY in the first article in 2010.
Gaby, Harvey, Dharam, Sanjay Prakash, Richard S, Vaishampayan, & AM were some of the members who were very active during the early stages of SoY.
Both Subodh Agrawal & Arvind Chugh are with SoY from the inaugural year.
Dusted Off, Anu Warrier, Arun Kumar Deshmukh, Ashok Vaishnav, Naresh Mankad and KB are with us from 2011.
Gaddeswarup, Mumbaikar8, Jignesh Kotadia, Siddharth, Sekhar Gupta joined SoY in 2012. And that was the year I too made my debut in SoY.
Canasya, K S Bhatia & Hans Jakhar in 2013,
Anil Kane, Sadanand Warrier (SSW), Rakesh Srivastava & Arvinder Sharma in 2014,
Dinesh Jain, Shalan Lal, D P Rangan, Ashwin Bhandarkar, Ravindra Kelkar, Ashok Kumar Tyagi, Mahesh and Manoj in 2015,
Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli, Uma Maheshwar Nakka, Giri and R Vasudevan in 2016,
Anup (MMM) in 2017,
Dr. Pradeep Shetty, S Joseph, Vishwanath E and Jawahar in 2018 and
Shachindra Prasad in 2019, are some of the prominent names that I could recollect.
Ninety five (94) readers, excluding AKji, participated in the comments section in the year 2019-20. Being the master of the blog, AKji contribution in the comments section is bound to be the highest and one will find him in all the posts. 16% of the readers 2018-19 contributed 86 % of the comments and 84% of the readers contributed the rest 14%. The readers who contributed 84 % of the comments were K S Bhatia, Pradeep K Shetty, Shalan Lal, Hans Jakhar, Mumbaikar8, Ashwin Bhandarkar, Anup (MMM), D P Rangan, S Joseph, Rahul Bhagwarao Muli, Subodh Agrawal, Giri, Vasudevan R, Moti Lalwani & myself. 60% of the comments were posted by just five readers. Pradeep K Shetty, K S Bhatia, Hans Jakhar, S Joseph and Mumbaikar8 were among the most prolific commenters.
But there are innumerable silent-readers too, who rarely post any comment. And there are others who post very few comments. But their significance to SoY is no less in any way. There is no way to know the silent readers. Similarly many who have stumbled upon this blog are sure to continue as silent readers. I expect some of them to post comments from time to time. We have a feeling that the silent followers may be more than the active ones! This year we had 37 new commenters. And from the previous year 12 new readers came back to post their comments in 2019-20. I would like to mention the names of two recent entrants S Joseph (2018) and Shachindra Prasad (2019). S Joseph has joined the list of prolific commenters within a short time.
In 2019-20, in all we had 38 articles. I am presenting the list of readers (11) who had visited the maximum number of posts, no matter how many comments they posted in all. K S Bhatia (36), Pradeep K Shetty (31), Anup (MMM) (27), S Joseph (27), Giri (27), Mumbaikar8 (26) Ashok Vaishnav (24), Hans Jakhar (23), D P Rangan (22), Subodh Agrawal (21) and Shachindra Prasad (21)
Taking into account both the factors, (number of comments and number of posts visited) the top five readers of the year 2019-20 are,
K S Bhatia shares the top slot with Pradeep Kumar Shetty.
Hans Jakhar shares the second spot with S Joseph.
And the third spot goes to Mumbaikar8.
I would like to mention the names of some of the readers, who run a blog, writers, authors who had visited us from time to time.. Some of them are store house of information. Atul , RSBAAB (Ravi), Chitrpatsangeet, Richard S, Harvey, Gregory Booth, Sadanand Kamath, Sudhir Kapoor, Surjit Singh, Arun Kumar Deshmukh, Sharad Dutt, Manek Premchand, H Q Choudhury, Moti Lalwani and others.
Besides the daughters of three eminent musicians have contributed to our blog and in the comments section too- Shikha Vohra (Biswas)- daughter of Anil Biswas, Sangeeta Gupta -daughter of Madan Mohan and Supirya Sen -daughter of Subir Sen.
With the start of a new decade, it’s a good time to reboot and take a fresh guard. I hope in the next months and years, Songs of Yore will continue its march with greater verve and purpose.
N Venkataraman ji @93;
Awesome report card ! First I was bowled by your Statistics and now what a recollection of events …..so sumerised in awesome details .
Caravan is my belief my faith . Stars joining in ….made the camel caravan find Oasis of hearts……and with AK and yourself holding the compass and binocular . Readers were there to maintain course on the dunes and ridges of god made camel tracks. So no fear of Hour glasses… only shifting sands makes the camel adjust its path to keep caravan moving .
Long live this blog…and for celebrating the occasion ….I propse a double toast to AK ji and venkatraman ji for their untiring contribution to make this path of ten years shinning all the way. Hip Hip Hurray !!!
Venkataramanji,
This overview is even more awe-inspiring than your data analysis. It gives a very nice illustration of travellers in the caravan, where some leave and new ones join and the Qafila moves on. The total hits daily are a big number, but I don’t give much weight to that. Some fraction of that will be serious silent readers, we don’t have means to know about them, or what keeps them from commenting. We only get to know about them when once in a while they appear to express their attachment to the blog. But now I think Mr Rangan should transfer the title of Blog Master from me to you. 🙂
N Venkatraman ji,
What an amazing analysis! Awe inspiring!!
ksbhatia ji,
What a response! Poetic, picturesque and in vivid colours!! Balanced and Zen like, as usual!!
AJ ji,
What a cool response!
Bhatiaji @ 95, Akji @96,
What I have tried to say in so many words, both have you have expressed the journey of SoY marvelously and in few lines. Thank you for those concluding lines from both of you. But the real credit goes to you (AKji) in particular and the readers in general. Yet I would continue to bask in reflected glory.
Pradeepji @97,
Thanks for your appreciation.
I fully agree with your response to Bhatiaji’s and AKji’s comments.
I had posted this comment on contra blog and ढ़ me didn’t even realize until Hans brought it to my notice.
Venkataramanji @ 61
Hans @ 66 has said it all.
“you know more about the blog than the blogger himself”
Thanks that is all I can say.
Your analysis of AK getting more comments than rest of his guests writers, is because none of the guest writers can close to the promptness of AK in responding, that is one of the reasons why he has
that many (regular) visitors.
Like AK I do not much care about number of comments.
They can be misleading. Today Hans shot six comments, this is quite normal has happened many times.
I look for traffic.
Once again thanks, appreciate your effort.
AKji:
Wishing you and the entire SoY family many happy returns. I know I have been tardy, but it is never too late. Your writing, the choice of musical pieces, the statistical dissection by Venkataramanji, all go towards making this post wonderfully entertaining.
Mumbaikar ji has pointed out some of the secrets of your success: your promptness in replying to every comment is unmatched. I would add that you also have the rare knack of providing positive reinforcement to every visitor to these pages every time, even when their comments have lacked relevance, or when they have disagreed. And during those rare instances when you have been away, or otherwise preoccupied, Venkatramanji has taken over in his statesmanlike ways the responsibility of providing encouraging responses to comments by others.
While HFM of the golden era remains its core, SoY has expanded its scope with regular articles on classical music, non-Hindi songs, NFS, and such others. This means SoY’s charm today goes beyond nostalgia. This is one site I know where I have never been disappointed. Every time I visit SoY, I find the experience enlightening.
Let me end with a piece that I am currently listening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhzVHX74vMM
Canasya,
Thanks a lot for your very generous words. It is readers like you who uplift this blog. I am now listening this beautiful piece in Bhairavi.
I thank Venkatraman ji for the analysis of the data and report on the activities of SOY family. It is a lot of useful information and this is essential for any live and progressive body . It involves a lot of efforts , study and follow up to bring out this information . I do not know if we have actual figures of number of persons visiting SOY daily.
I have been regularly following Songs Of Yore since last 2 years now, though this is the first time that I am writing to you.
Congratulations for completing glorious 10 years with this wonderful blog!! Its really a great achievement to consistently provide interesting and informative posts on various themes. I really enjoy reading them, especially the comments from regular readers and the subsequent interactive discussions.
I had planned to comment on your last wonderful blog of Twins Phenomena and add some movies from later years having identical twins. But, somehow, it remained pending.
This time, however, the mention of the Marathi film Zakol and the subsequent discussions about Kumar Gandharva’s song in the film motivated me to finally write to you.
It also made me revisit the film after 12 years, its VCD being part of my movie collection.
Produced by his wife, Deepa Shriram, Zakol remains the one and only movie directed of Shriram Lagoo.
Kumar Gandharva’s name is mentioned as a Guest Appearance in the film’s credits. Besides him, two other renowned personalities have been mentioned as Guest Artistes – Thumri Singer Shobha Gurtu and Cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. Sunil Gavaskar is seen in the early part of the movie playing cricket with Shriram Lagoo, One sees Lagoo bowling to Gavaskar!!
There are two live music performances shown in the film and both are seen to be attended by Lagoo, Sarla and Urmila.
First is the Kumar Gandharva’s song mentioned in the post – Aaj achanak gaath pade. This song brings Lagoo (the husband) and Sarla (wife’s sister) closer to each other.
Shobha Gurtu’s song Bolo Piya Kab Aaoge comes in the second half of the movie after their marriage. Lagoo gets disturbed by the song as he remembers his first wife (Tanuja) and leaves the performance before it ends.
Though the story revolves around the husband, wife and the other woman, it had an interesting angle to it. The other woman is actually the wife’s sister who is called by the wife to stay with them as the wife is diagnosed with terminal cancer. The wife expresses her wish of her sister marrying her husband after her death. However, she gets disturbed when she finds that both of them have got involved with each other even before her death!! Her subsequent demise propels the husband into guilt and misery.
Overall, it is a sensitively made film by Shriram Lagoo.
Dr Deshpande,
Welcome to SoY and thanks a lot for your generous words and detailed comments. The information about the movie ‘Zakol’ is wonderful. It encourages me to watch it. Is it available on YT with English subtitles? And finally, would you know if this is an old composition of Kumar Gandharva which he performed in the film?
Thanks, AKji, for your immediate response.
I checked YT but the movie is not available there.
Apparently, it had been shown on one of the Marathi channels last September.
At least, I couldn’t find any link for the movie on the internet.
Only Kumar Gandharva’s song is available on YT and you have already provided its link.
The song had been written much earlier but I have no information as to when it was composed and sung for the first time.
Dr Deshpande,
Thanks a lot.
Something more about Aaj achanak
Anil was a lawyer by profession & this story was narrated by his son Shirish to Maharashtra Times, a leading daily in Marathi.
It was published in Maharashtra Times dated 11-9-18.
According to Shirish, once when Kumarji visited their home, he asked Anil about how Aaj achanak was born.
Anil told him that words of the poem came to his mind while listening to lengthy & boring arguments of fellow lawyers in Nagpur court. He finished the poem then & there before the arguments were over.
Kumarji liked the poem very much & requested Anil to allow him to compose it. Later on while returning from Delhi , Anil stayed at Dewas where Kumarji rendered the composition to him .
Article unfortunately does not mention the date or year of these events . The article is available on net but as it is in Marathi , I am not giving the link here.
Canasya @ 99,
Thank You for your generous words.
Sorry I could not respond earlier.
And also a big thanks for the Bhairavi number by Vidushi Sharan Rani.
Josephji @ 101,
Thank you for your nice words. As regards your query on the actual number of persons visiting SOY daily, only AKji can provide an answer. It is impossible for me know the figure since there are many silent visitors who do not post any comment. However the number of visitors posting comments each day can be tracked and compiled.
Mumbaikarji @ 98
Thank you for appreciating my efforts.
In response to your comment @ 240 in the post ‘Songs and Contra Songs,
‘One cannot compare apple and oranges.”
I wrote that I would try to do a fair analysis and address this issue in the anniversary post. Since I was tied up with ‘Hemantayan’ I could not respond earlier. I will have to keep my word, even it is late.
You are absolutely right. And I was not comparing apples to oranges. I should have elaborated. My question was that did the two posts, that followed, seriously or in any way, affect the post on “Songs and contra-songs”. The post appeared on 1oth May and remained free of any encumbrance-posts till 19th May. Within the first ten days, the post attracted 190 comments from 19 readers. Seven readers contributed 88% (168) of these comments and 12 readers contributed the remaining 12% (22). Let us take a look at the break up.
Rahulji (23), Hansji (13), Mumbaikarji (8),Bhatiaji (0) and I (20) contributed 34% (64)
Pradeepji (14) and Josephji (40) contributed 28% (54)
Akji contributed 26% (50)
And other readers contributed 12% (22)
For the next 19 days (from 11th day to 29th day), that was the period when the two more posts appeared on the 11th day and 18th day, “Songs and contra-songs” received 77 comments. Let us take a look at the break up
Rahulji (9), Hansji (16), Mumbaikarji (13),Bhatiaji (11) and I (9) contributed 75% (58)
Pradeepji (0) and Josephji (3) contributed 4% (3)
Akji contributed 20% (15)
And other readers contributed 1% (1)
The figures clearly indicate that the slump was mainly due to the absence of Josephji & Pradeepji during the said period. A major section of the readers post 10 to 15 percent of the comments in general. They peter out within the first few days; at the most within first 7 days. AKji contribution in the comments section is bound to be high since he is the author of this post and also for most of the posts. His number or % of comments depends upon his responses and interactions.
If the appearance of the post “Best songs of 1945: And the winners are?” on the 11th day caused the strangulation of the post “Songs and contra-songs”, then we should have noticed a prolific contribution of comments in the new post. Let us take a look,
Rahulji (0), Hansji (0), Mumbaikarji (1),Bhatiaji (0) and I (3) contributed 10% (4)
Pradeepji (0) and Josephji (0) contributed 0% (0)
Akji contributed 41% (16)
And other readers contributed 49% (19)
In fact there was no migration at all what so ever for the next 10 days
Hope that explains.
Mumbaikarji,
And now a few facts about the post “Songs and contra-songs”.
“Songs and contra-songs”, went on to create an all time record in the history of SoY.
The post attracted maximum comments (330 till date) crossing the previous highest by Subodhji’s article “Best film songs based on classical ragas”, which had 311 comments against it. That was the highest in the 10 years of SoY. The honour of taking this article beyond that land mark goes to Josephji. Yes, your nudge did help and I cannot deny your contribution by way of your comments. They are not just the run-of the mill types and add a lot of value. I fully appreciate your and Hansji’s initiative and efforts in boosting this post.
And this was fastest 300, achieved in a few days more than a month from its appearance.
The post also recorded the fastest 50 comments. And I am sure it must have recorded the fastest hundred and double hundred too.
And Josephji has posted till date 60 comments, which is the highest by any reader in a single post.
Did any of the articles in the past were closed for posting comments during any time?
Yes, It happened once.
The post on “Mohammad Rafi versus Kishore Kumar” which appeared on 14th November 2010, surprisingly did not elicit any comment for the first 8 days. The first comment was posted on 22nd November and the post could gather only 30 comments till the first anniversary of SoY. By the end of the second anniversary the post had touched the 100th mark creating intense debate. Within the next 7 months the post had registered 200+ comments but Akji was compelled to close the comments section on 9th January 2013 since the debate had reached a ridiculous level.
And the comment section was opened for the post only after 4 years and 8 months.
Mr Muli @106,
Thanks a lot again for this additional information about Aaj achanak gaath pade.
Venkataramanji,
You have given an absolutely impressive overview of the journey of SoY. Technically, a blog post has no opening and closing date. But since active readers are the most prolific commenters the majority of the comments are bound to be during a post’s active period. Rafi-Kishore Kumar is an exception, and the reason is clear. Everyone understands Rafi-Kishore, but on open platforms you have an army of semi-literate abusers to one or the other, and to anyone they think likes one or the other more. And then they know no limits, some YT links cross limits of obscenities. YT is very prompt on removing links of songs on some busybody’s claim, but on Rafi-Kishore Kumar their monitors seem to be strangely thick-skinned.
I had to block comments on Rafi-Kishore Kumar when it was in the danger of degenerating to a base level. But water seeks its own level. Those who have stuck with SoY are all highly literate, intelligent and mature, besides being well-placed in different professions. The semi-literates would have soon realised that they do not belong here.
Venkataraman ji
@109 ,110,111 and
@ 139 on Hemantayana
One may very well call you modern day Chitragupt ( & not the composer )