Tagged! :)

Well got tagged by Seema. So here I am with this post. But ground rules first. As is my wont with forward mails, I refuse to tag people. More so when the person who tagged me did not do it on her own accord! So the least I can do is pass on the goodwill...

8 Random fact about Archana Amperayani

1.) I am a compulsive talker.
2.) I totally am in love with an activity the world knows as SLEEPING. :)
3.) Books - Try and get me off them if you can...
4.) An Indian Pizza Hut - Anytime of the day, any day of the year, any year of my life. Slurp!
5.) Stranded alone on an island, I'd refuse to draw attention to my whereabouts as long as I've my music and books with me.
6.) I know I should do a MBA, I mean to do my MBA. I know I will never get around to actually do it. Queen of procastination - Thats me.
7.) I am in love with Lord Henry of "The picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. Why? This one sentence by Basil had me flip over Lord Henry and I have never recovered thence - "You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing."
8.) My motto in life - The best things come into life unseeked.

Now, anyone wants to get tagged? :)

The rules we "STARTED OFF WITH" are as follows:

• Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
• At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
• If you fail to do this within eight hours, you will not reach Third Series or attain your most precious goals for at least two more lifetimes.

60 years of Indian Independance.

India turned 60 today. And while there is lot to be achieved and there is a lot more to be done too. But nevertheless, one cant help feel jingoistic right now. And whenever I get into this mood, the one song that never fails to get me goosebumps is Mile Sur mera tumhaara... So sharing the lyrics with all of you in the hope that the years bygone and the patriotism never dies... Amen!

(Hindi)

Mile sur mera tumharaa,
To sur bane hamaraa....
Sur kee nadhiyaan har disha se behke saagar mein milee...
Baadalon ka roop lekar barsen halke halke...
Mile sur mera tumharaa...
Toh... sur bane hamaara...
Mile sur mera tumhara...

Kashmiri

Chaain taraj tahin nyay taraj
Ek but baniye saayen taraj

Punjabi

Tera sur mile mere sur de naal
Milke bane ek nava surtaal

Hindi

Mile sur mera tumharaa...
To sur bane hamaara..

Sindhi

Mohnja sur tohi desa pyara mile jadein
Geet ashaanjo madhur tarano bane tadein

Urdu

Sur ka dariya behke saagar me mile

Punjabi

Badlaan da roop leike barasan hole hole

Tamil

Isaindhal namm iruvarin suramum namadhakum...

Dhisai veru aanalum aariser aarugal

Mugilai mazaiyai pozivadu pol isai...
Namm isssaiiii....
Thik thakida thathikakidA.....
Thaka thimi thaka junu

Kannada

Nanna danige ninna daniyu,
Seridante namma daniyu..

Telugu

Naa swaramu nee swaramu sangammamai,
Mana swaram ga avatarinchey

Malayalam

Ente swaravum ningalude swaravum
Otthu chernnu nammude swaramai....

Bengali

Tomaar shoor moder shoor srishti korook oikyashoor...
Tomaar shoor moder shoor srishti korook oikyashoor...

Assamese

Srishti hok oikyatan

Oriya

Toma mora swarer milan srishti kare chalbochatano

Gujarathi

Male sur jo taro maro, bane aapno sur niralo

Marathi

Majhya tumchya julta tara madhur suranchya barasti dhara

Hindi

Sur ki nadiya har disha se behke saagar mein mile...
Baadlo ka roop leke barse halke halke...
Oh...Mile sur mera tumhara tho....sur bane hamara...
Mile Sur mera tumhara
To sur bane hamara tho sur bane hamara
To sur bane hamara.......

slowly merges into the tune of Jana Gana Mana, the Indian National Anthem
....jaya he jaya hejaya jaya jaya he

Secular India!

"History has shown us that a lack of knowledge breeds ignorance; ignorance breeds mistrust; mistrust breeds fear; fear breeds strife; and strife breeds hatred.”

It is easy to hate what you do not know. But the more you know the greater appreciation you can have. So, if we can learn about each other, we can stop this downward spiral before it starts.

It’s indeed a tragedy that instead of celebrating the differences in our religions and the inherent practices that act as an identifier to our souls we should be slinging mud at each other. All religions in their own different ways guide us towards leading a more meaningful life and meeting God, thereafter.

If in ignorance men choose to ignore the destination and hanker after which way is the best the bigger picture is lost. It’s not important what religion you follow, what you imbibe of it is what matters. Its heart warming to see how in calamities people unify against the turbulent forces let loose – be it natural or otherwise – to support each other and help each other rebuild lives. Why is it then, in spite of the majority people wanting peace and harmony some miscreants try and hamper this blissful existence…

Hatred, Vengeance, Retribution, Intolerance - This is not what Hinduism teaches its followers. Message of Hinduism is one of love, peace, mutual tolerance and universal brotherhood. In fact to the best of my knowledge this is not what any religion teaches. This world is a beautiful place and so are all the people who live in it. Let us live in a way that there be no cause for gloom, remorse and retribution.

Lets not sow hatred as there is no way we can reap love as a result in that case.

“Let there be light”

Audience polls, are they really worth it?

Ok, conceded the fact that it’s the viewers who have to make a movie, a song or an album a hit or otherwise. Its the audience any artist has to cater to ultimately.

Ultimately – THAT is the keyword. More often than not the audience is capable of judging an end product only, sometimes even that erroneously. Not the raw material as such… How do you trust the audience to decide correctly whether or not a person has a great future as a playback singer, a dancer or an actor? How many artists in making have they been subjected to?

And how many wannabe singers do you think Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Srivastava, Abhijeet, Alka Yagnik, Anu Malik, Javed Sahab, Ismail Durbaar and the likes have been subjected? How do you expect some tom dick and harry sitting in Ludhiana or Nagpur or some other place for that matter to judge about the dancing capabilities as well as maybe a Javed Jaffery or Prabhu deva would?

Isn’t it unfair on the contestants?

Last week, Deepali was voted out of Indian Idol. In my opinion, for whatever its worth, she is a far better singer than Ankita, Prashant and Puja. As Alisha Chinai rightly pointed out, performance is secondary. It’s the singing talent that counts first.

Similarly, Voice of India audience voted out Prantika. Another so very talented lady. But then in VoI the tragedy is that anyone who leaves, leaves a void behind. None of the most “talented” singers from the II would qualify even in the audition round of VoI, I guess.

But then, having gotten such a talent pool, why does one have to give their fates away into the whims and the fancies of the audience. No matter how much ever you appeal to the audience to vote sanely, sensibly, with discretion, they are always going to have prejudices.

Oh I am a bongaali, so I shall vote for Emon. I am a Hyderabadi, so my SMS goes to Mohd Irfan, Ah humre UP ka lalla hai, hum to Harshit ko hi vote denge…

Grow up people… It’s the talent not the regional biases that need to be recognized. And for this not only the audience, but the music show organizers, the judges and the contestants themselves have to grow up. Yes, lots of SMSes mean a lot of revenue. Agreed, Talent shows are money minting stores. But can’t you do something like this? Both the judges and the audience have some say in this matter. And let the esteemed judges take about 60% of weightage and let audience vote figure in the rest…

Does it make any sense? Or given the fact that with the exception of Shreya Ghosal all the other talent hunt “finds” have faded out of public memory, it’s just a sham anyways?