Durga Puja Pandaal and a most unique Bollywood song...

[Lurker]

This was much before many of the young readers would have even been born and even those who were would have little memory of the time. The setting is of early 80s. In those days the popularity of a song was judged by two marquee: 1) Its position in Annual Binaca Geetmala. Amin Sayaani and his bahanon-bhaiyon, not to mention the paydaan(rank) would be forever part of Indian music lover's memory. 2) Its popularity amontst local masses. In Bihar this was judged principally by how many times a particular song was played in Durga Puja Pandaals. Durga Puja is essentially a Bengali festival. However it is also a huge festival in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other North Indian states. Unlike a Raj Thackeray Biharis have embraced this festival like their own and given it a local fervour. Indeed if you visit Bihar today you will thing Durga Puja is the biggest festival of the land, ahead of Chatth, Deewali, Holi etc. The closest this can be expressed is thanks to Indeevar saab in his song - Hum us desh ke vaashi hain jis desh mein Ganga Bahti hai. Jo jisse mila sheeka humne gairon ko bhi apnaya humne nafrat ke liye andhe hokar roti ko nahin pooja humne But I digress. Back to the topic now. Typically the Pandal work starts about 6 weeks before Vijayadashmi(Xth day of Navratri). In the bigger pandals of the town the statues are often created inside to avoid movement and so it used to be in the pandal right outside my house. Big bamboo logs would be brought in to erect statues, labourers working overnight to get things in order, kids running about climbing on the temperory structures(often to be given a dressing down by seniors). And amidst this all the loudspeakers would be ablaze with the hits of the year. Even today I can remember the songs with a visual of myself climbing those bamboo sticks with a loudspeaker churning out tunes. In early 80s two Southern dynamos arrived in Hindi movie industry. And in the same movie. The first one was Kamal Hassan, arguably the greatest actor India has seen. The other one was Southern singing stalwart SP Balasubramanyam(Yesudas had arrived sometime back as well). The two worked together in the movie Ek Duje Ke Liye. The movie was a big hit, as were its songs. A very fascinating aspect of the movie(and a sign of times) was how parents often went to see the movie without taking the kids. This was because the movie was a tragedy and parents wanted to avoid their childrens getting into such a love-affair. Incidentally I am told the case was similar when Laila-Majnu and Heer-Ranjha were released. Ek Duje ke liye had some great songs. Most of you would know them: Tere Mere Beech mein kaisa hai yeh bandhan Solah baras ki baali umar ko salaam(my personal favorite) Hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye And in many ways the most unique song of Bollywood history - Mere jeevan saathi pyaar kiye jaa. The song is unique because the entire song is nothing but a series of names of Hindi movies. Right from Mere jeevan Saathi to Satyam Shivam Sundaram they are all names of hit movies. The scene is set in a lift where Kamal Hassan, enacting the role of a Southie, stops the lift to teach Rati Agnihotri, a Northie, Hindi poetry. Now Kamal(or Vasu) doesnt know Hindi much so he builds his poetry based on the name of the movies. Thats the gist really and after this the genius of Anand Bakshi takes over. If a person has little knowledge of Hindi music, but can understand Hindi he will listen to the song and come out convinced it is simply a song, it is not. It is a fascinating wordplay where not only does the protagonist suggest his muse about how they should keep love, then goes all the way to suggest how after marriage they shall have their own Guddi and Milli. Some interesting titbits about this song: 1) Total of 56 movie names is used in the song. 2) Raj Kapur & Dev Anand have most movies with 7. 3) Shashi Kapur has 3rd slot with 5. 4) Somewhat oddly Amitabh has only 1. 5) Naughty boy was not made a movie when this song was written, but was done later on, so effectively this puts the number to 57. Now if you are not sure of the movies here is a die-hard movie buff's effort on the song And of course if you want to relive the song you can watch it Rq021lXIz9w&NR=1 xxxx

[Dhondy]

I was home during the Pujas last year, Lurker. Did you ever go to the Bengal Club Puja on that big maidan in Sakchi? It's exactly the same, just as frenetic, the same chinia-badaam, heavenly fuchka (only a Jampotian will recognise that word), the egg roll stalls crowding the perimeters to go with some high class dhaak from the folks from Midnapore. You just spread some newspapers in the grass and wait for the peanuts to arrive. Same as ever, really.

[Lurker]

You just spread some newspapers in the grass and wait for the peanuts to arrive. Same as ever, really.

:haha: Do they still give that thinly sliced raddish/ginger combination dipped in lime water and salt? That used to be so yummy scrummy. Boy was it fun to carry a newspaper everywhere and reside your rear everytime you needed space to sit. And yes I have been to Bengal club at Saktchi Dhondy though my intentions were not very religious I must say. :nervous: Nothing beats a young Mom carrying her little kid, 2-3 years old, and both mom and kid putting their hands together infront of the Maa Durga Pratima. It is hard to express.

[theguyinallblue]

Bengalis have still kept alive the tradition of Durha Puja....wherever they have gone... Here in Delhi...Bengalis are in sizable numbers..and their Durga Puja Pandals are always a thing of attraction for Non Begalis .... i have seen many southern Indians..and Punjabi Sardars offering prayers at C R Park Pandals..