Jodha Akbar Music Review

After a long wait and unexpected delays, here comes the latest offering from A. R. Rahman (aka arr).

The album opens with Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah which will virtually take you right to the battlefield! Bugles, heavy drums and percussion, chorus that sounds much like a war-cry, all together create such an environment that makes your feet tapping and your heart beating with an adrenalin rush. Wait till you hear the mind-blowing percussion before the second antaraa. Also, the progression from "Chan Chanan Nan Nan" to "Marhaba Ho Marhaba" is really catchy. A perfect introductory song for the mighty Emperor Akbar. "Jeetna Kahen Hum, Utna Kam Hai; Tehzeebon Ka, Tu Sangam Hai.". Akbar's efforts to bring two cultures together, are aptly captured in words here by Javed Akhtar. 

• One thing I am a little confused about is: how the King is addressed as "Tu" in this song, as in "Tu Shaan-E-Hindustan". When it comes to showing respect, Urdu language is actually very particular about the emphasis on politeness (called takalluf or aadaab). Addressing someone, who is not extremely intimate, as "Tu" is considered informal and even derogatory. [source]

Jashn-E-Bahaara stole my heart at the first listening. Javed Ali is at his best. Lyrics by Javed saab are just awesome. The opening words "Kehne Ko" adds very imaginative irony to the fact that love is considered a joyous celebration, but love itself is bemused ("Ishq Yeah Dekh Ke Hairaan Hai") by that because there seem to be many shades of pain along with the colors of joy ("Chhupa Hai Koi Ranj Fiza Ki Chilman Mein"). I think this song has all the ingredients and potential to work very well with the masses.

• The lines "Ishq Yeah Dekh Ke Hairaan Hai" reminded me of Gulzar's "Aye Hairat-E-Aashiqui" from Guru. 
• Also, the starting chords (some Arabic/Persian version of acoustic guitar?) of this song sounded somewhat similar to the lines "Tinak Tinak Tin Tara" from "Imli Ka Boota" song from Saudagar movie (Music was by Laxmikant Pyarelal). The tunes are not identical though, there's a vague similarity, which I am pretty sure, is totally accidental.

Arr has always wowed me with his Sufi Qawwali type songs: "Piya Haji Ali" from Fiza, "Noor-Un-Ala-Noor" from Meenaxi, "Zikr" from Bose, and "Al Maddath Maula" from Mangal Pandey. Here's one more which belongs to that "Sufi cannon" of arr gems, Khwaja Mere Khwaja. Although, I have to confess that this song didn't leave a lasting impression on me (when I compare it with the other songs mentioned above) from first few hearings, I am pretty sure that this song will grow on me slowly, like an aged wine! 

• This qawwali is very well suited for this movie, especially because Akbar was a devout bhakt of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. [source] 
• Arr seem to be working hard on his Hindi pronunciations, as it seem to improve with each Hindi song he sings. However, there are some flaws, like how he pronounces chhaaya for example, that I am not sure if it's because of his singing style, or because of the fact that his native language - Tamil - alphabet, lacks the letter chh.)

Add Mira's devotion and pang of separation to Radha's passion for Kanha and you get the recipe for the next devotional song (bhajan) Mann Mohana. Bela Shende's pleasant voice is very well suited for this bhajan. The set-up of this song and minimalist musical arrangement is pretty similar to the songs from Water.

My pick from the album would be In Lamho Ke Daaman Mein - probably because I am partial to Sonu's honeydew voice and flawless pronunciations and also to arr's knack for fusion songs. How wonderfully arr has combined Javed saab's Urdu poetry, with Arabic instruments and style, with Hindustani classical alaaps in between, with choir-ish interludes! I loved the part where Sonu sings along with the chorus "Kyon Hai Yeh Aarzoo, Kyon Hai Yeh Justajoo...". 

• Notice how Javed Akhar has carefully used Urdu words (pakeeza, qalma, fariste, falak etc.) for the lines that are written for Akbar (who, as we all know, was a muslim), and used Hindi words for the lines that are written for Akbar's hindu princess Jodha (samay as opposed to waqt, kaaya as opposed to jism/badan, prem as opposed to ishq). Kudos to Javed saab!
• This choir based interludes gave me deja-vu feeling and reminded me of the - much milder and mallow - chorus "Donston Se Joothi Moothi" that breaks out in between antaraas of another arr classic: "Chupke Se" from Saathiya.)

There are two instrumental versions in the album, which are quite good (especially the Oboe Instrumental piece). 

Overall, Jodha Akbar is another great album by arr. An instant classic. I have been continuously listening to these songs since last few days, and I can't get enough of it. We had to wait really long for the release of this album, but it was completely worth it!

Having said that, I am not very sure if this is going to work well with the masses or not. Two concerns comes to mind: (1) Some songs (especially two devotional songs) are only for ardent arr fans, and (2) The wonderful Urdu poetry by Javed Akhtar would be difficult for many to understand - and this can hinder the overall catchiness of the songs.

Here's a complete track-list [source]:

Song	Singer(s)
Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah	Mohd. Aslam, Bonny Chakravarti & chorus
Jashn-E-Bahaara	Javed Ali
Khwaja Mere Khwaja	A. R. Rahman (Lyrics: Kashif)
In Lamhon Ke Daaman Mein	Sonu Nigam & Madhushree
Mann Mohana	Bela Shende
Jashn-e-Baharaa	Instrumental - Flute
Khwaja Mere Khawaja	Instrumental - Oboe

A timeline of political & social events in INDIA AFTER GANDHI

I recently finished reading a fascinating, comprehensive book “India After Gandhi” written by respected scholar and historian Ramachandra Guha. 

Below I have tried to capture most of the significant events that took place in India in and after 1947. I have tried my best to capture most of the events, at least the ones that are mentioned in this book. This, by no means, is a complete time-line.

1947

•  India gets Independence form British rule on 15^th August. (The date is chosen by Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, as it was the second anniversary of the day when Japanese army surrendered to the Allied force in the 2^nd World War.)
  
• Pakistan is created by partitioning India. Millions die in clashes and religious conflicts between Hindus and Muslims and especially Sikhs and Muslims.
• Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Prime Minister of Independent India
• Travancore (the first princely state to question the right of the Congress to succeed the British rule) finally decides to accede to Indian Union after C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, the chief advisor and diwan of Travancore is attacked by a man.
• Bhopal (Hindu majority, Muslim ruler) and Jodhpur (Hindu majority, Hindu ruler, but because of its proximity to Pakistan the king was alluded by the idea of getting better terms from that Dominion) also follows Travancore’s example and signs the instrument of accession.
• Junagadh’s Muslim nawab (ruling chiefly Hindu population) gets acceptance from Pakistan to join the Dominion, but due to obvious popular agitation, ten days later the nawab (Sir Shah Nawaz) hands over the administration to India. (A referendum was held in February 1948, resulting in 91% voting in favor of acceding to India.)
• The Hindu maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh signs the Instrument of Accession after several thousand armed men (mostly Pathans from Pakistan) invads his state from the North. India, in turn, sends its troops to fight with the intruders. (It was Mountbatten who suggested that it would be best to secure Kashmir state’s accession before sending troops.)
• A delegation of Naga National Council (most autonomous among the tribes in North-East) meets governor of Assam to discuss the terms by which Nagas can join Indian Union. Nehru reiterated that they could get autonomy but not independence.

1948

•  Mahatma Gandhi is shot dead by a Hindu chauvinist and an RSS member from Maharashtra – Nathuram Godse on 30^th January.
•  Gandhi’s death reconciles the bitter relationship between Nehru and Patel, which could otherwise have significant negative consequences for the nation.
• India sends troops and took control over the State of Hyderabad (85% Hindus, but army, police and civil service were dominated by Muslims). This becomes easier decision to make for Patel after Mountbatten’s departure from India.
• India decides to take Kashmir issue to UN.  But as UN supported Pakistan’s position, Nehru immediately regrets his decision.
• Sheikh Abdulla (pro-India and Nehru’s close friend) becomes the prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Pakistan and India battles in the later months of 1948, India recaptures Dras, Kargil and Poonch.
• Jaipal Singh (president of Adivasi Mahashbha) gives his presidential speech and asks for speedy creation of Jharkhand. (He speaks of how “British imperialism” is being replaced by “Bihari Imperialism” for Adivasis after independence.)

1949

•  India becomes a full-fledged republic on 26^th January. This date was originally chosen by Indian National Congress in 1930, when it passed a countrywide resolution of celebrating last Sunday of January (26^th) in support of purna swaraj.
• To Nehru’s annoyance, Rajendra Prasad who was close to Patel and had wider popularity in Congress, (not C. Rajagopalachari who was the Governor General and Nehru’s friend) becomes the first President.
• Nehru visits US for the first time. His visit is widely covered and publicized by American press, but his meetings with the US State Department went nowhere.
• A popular movement forces the maharaja of Manipur to join with India. After Manipur merges with India, the territory is designated as “Part C” state. (It has no popularly elected body and is ruled by a chief commissioner who reports directly to Delhi.)

1950 

• The constitution of India (with 395 articles and 8 schedules – it’s probably the longest in the world) goes into effect in January. The most influential (out of more than 300) members of the Constituent Assembly were: Nehru, Patel, Rajendra Prasad who was the president of the assembly, the chairman of the Drafting Committee B. R. Ambedkar, a Gujarati polymath K. M. Munshi and a Tamil advocate general Krishnaswami Aiyar.
• Nehru criticizes China’s invasion and annexation of Tibet, while being careful of not “overdoing” the criticism. Patel urges Nehru to strengthen defence, but Nehru thinks that attack from China is unlikely.
• Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel dies.
• By this time, more than 500 “centers of feudal autocracy” had been acceded to India. Patel’s achievement owes hugely to his secretary V. P. Menon (a Malyali from Malabar) who was the chief draftsman of princely integration and its first chronicler.

1951

•  Respected Gandhian J. B. Kripalani forms KMPP (Kisan Majdoor Praja Party).
• American congress debates the food request from India, while Soviet Union sends 50,000 tons of wheat loosening its frosty relationship (due to CPI in India) in early last few years.
• A disciple of Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave begins his Bhoodan movement (which would eventually obtain more than 4 million acres from zamindars.)
• Nehru and Ambedkar make several attempts to pass the (liberal) Hindu Code Bill into law but the opposition was considerable within Parliament as well as outside of it. RSS was amongst the many groups that fiercely opposed it.

1952

• First general election in independent India, which chooses to move straight into universal adult franchise. (Chief Election Commissioner is Sukumar Sen)
• At that time, 175 million Indians were aged 21 or more, and 85% of them could not read or write.
• 60% of the total registered voters exercise their franchise in what was termed as “the biggest experiment in democracy in human history” by Sukumar Sen.
• Congress receives 45% of the vote and wins 75% of the seats.
• The Akali Dal leader master Tara Singh (originally Hindu, later converted to Sikh) is arrested again for making “inflammatory” speeches during election. He started making claims that Sikhism was in danger and insisted on having a separate nation for his religion.
• After the election, Andhra movement (statehood for Telugu speaking people) becomes strong again.
• A man named Potti Sriramulu begins fast until death. Nehru ignores this. Sriramulu dies on fifty-eighth day into this fast, pulling huge reaction from Andhra public.
• Several months after Potti Sriramulu’s death, after damage to the state property runs in millions, a new state of Andhra Pradesh is carved out of Madras state.
• The situation becomes worse in Jammu after Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee’s death. Mookerjee (who left Nehru’s cabinet to form Bhartiya Jana Sangh) dies in jail after trying to enter Srinagar against state government’s will.
• Naga National Council’s chief Angami Phizo meets with Nehru, but Nehru is adamant about not giving independence to Nagas.

1953

•  Sheikh Abdulla is dismissed from National Congress and arrested after the rift broke between the two segments of the party: one pro-India and the other pro-independence of Kashmir. Ghulam Mohammed (famously known as “Bakshi”) becomes the new pro-Indian populist prime minister of Kashmir.
• Naga National Council leaders start collecting arms, organize “village guards” and go underground. Police raids suspected areas further alienating the villagers. Indian Army’s presence considerably increases in the area.

1954

• By this time, India has total 40 embassies around the world. (The goal was set by Nehru five years ago, after he personally supervised the creation of Indian Foreign Service.)
• India officially recognizes Tibet as a part of China, and Nehru visits China for the first time.
• French finally gives up its territory Pondicherry to India.
• Nehru visits the site of Bhakhra (Sutlej river) dam to formally initiate the project. At this time, the 680 feet dam was the second highest in the world. (Only the Grand Coulee Dam on Colorado River was higher.)
• The first IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is inaugurated by Nehru.

1955

•  After 18 months of intensive work, The State Recognition Committee submits its report with recommendations about redistributing the areas (into states).
• The new states based on languages come into being. (Although Nehru was opposed to the creation of states on lingual basis, it was inevitable after SRC’s report that further strengthened the popular will.)
• Hindu Marriage Act and Hindu Succession passes into law. The radical changes in Hindu laws pertaining to marriage & inheritance were mainly the work of Nehru and Ambedkar.

1956

•  In a colorful and well-attended ceremony, Ambedkar converts to Buddhism in Nagpur. Many dalits joined him in the conversion.
•  (Six weeks later) Ambedkar dies in December after months of ill health, diabetes and complications thereof.
• The newly formed Naga Hills Force is on full scale war on the Naga Hills – not getting any coverage from both Indian and International press.

1957

•  Second general elections are held in India. Thus, India “certifiably” joins the league of democracies. Sukumar Sen is still the chief election commissioner.
• Slightly less than 50% adult Indians votes out of total 193 million who registered to vote.
• Mrs. Indira Gandhi becomes Nehru’s official hostess during the election campaign.
• Since S. P. Mookerjee was dead and Jayaprakash Narayan had abandoned politics for social work, Congress gets a comfortable majority in the parliament (371 seats).
• Congress faces regional challenges: In Orissa Congress is strongly opposed by Ganatantra Parishad (local landlords), in Bombay by Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti and Mahagujarat Parishad (both fighting for separate states), in South by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), In Kerala by Communist Party of India (CPI).
• The victory of CPI in Kerala is noteworthy. The first chance for communist to govern a full-fledged province in a large country. E. M. S. Namboodiripad becomes the new chief minister of Kerala.
• The Mundhra scandal (large investments were made by state owned Life Insurance Company in a private first in Kanpur owned by Haridas Mundhra) makes the first serious dent in Congress’ image of Gandhian austerity.

1959

•  The first molten iron comes out of the blast furnace in Bhilai, Madhya Pradesh where Russians and Indians worked shoulder to shoulder to lay the foundations of iron industry in India. (The Germans built one plant in Rurkela, Orissa and the British in Durgapur, West Bengal. America didn’t get any such agreements.)
• Mrs. Indira Gandhi is elected the president of Indian National Congress.
• Nehru’s government succumbs to popular sentiment and dismisses Kerala’s Communist government.
• C. Rajagopalachari (a.k.a. Rajaji) launches a new political party, Swatantra Party.  (He firmly believed that there should be an opposition group within the Congress, but his proposal to do so was rejected by Congress.)
• Dalai Lama crosses the McMahon line and enters the territory of India, making the Indo-Chinese relationship even more bitter and resentful.

1960

•  The states of Gujarat and Maharashtra come into being on May 1^st. Bombay gets allocated to the latter.
• The Naga people’s convention presents a memorandum to the prime minister demanding a separate state of Nagaland within Indian Union. With Naga question successfully internationalized (by the fierce leader A. Phizo), Nehru succumbs and declares that a new state Nagaland will be craved out of Assam.

1961

•  After waiting for 14 years for a peaceful solution with the Portuguese colony, Nehru’s government decides to “liberate” Goa. Indian troops enters Goa and successfully finishes Operation Vijay.

1962

•  Congress retains its majority in the general elections (361 seats out of 494).
• A “phony war” that had been going on since 1959 becomes real when Chinese army invades the eastern (northeast frontier area south of McMahon line and north part of Assam and western (Aksai Chin area south of Sinkiang and east part of Jammu & Kashmir) sectors. Indians were unprepared for this. V. K. Krishna Menon is finally removed from the post of defense minister.
• Surprisingly, Chinese announce unilateral ceasefire. In NEFA they pulls back to the north of McMahon line and in the Ladakh sector they retreat to their positions before these hostilities began. (By this time, according to Defence Ministry’s statistics, 1,383 Indian soldiers got killed, 3,968 became POW, and 1,696 were still missing.)
• In the aftermath of the war, DMK (headed by C. N. Annadurai) dropped its secessionism. It no longer wanted a separate country, but it did want to protect the culture and language of Tamil speaking people.
• The state of Nagaland is created.

1964

•  Nehru’s illness becomes sever. He persuades the party to return Lal Bahadur Shastri to the Cabinet. Shastri becomes the de facto prime minister.
• Jawaharlal Nehru dies. Gulzarilal Nanda is sworn in a acting prime minister.
• Congress Working Committee finalizes on Lal Bahadur Shastri as Nehru’s successor. (Other contenders were: A Tamilian K. Kamraj, the congress president, and Morarji Desai, an outstanding administrator from Gujarat who made it clear that he wanted the job.)
• China tests a nuclear device. Dr. Homi Bhabha gives a talk on All India Radio suggesting that India should develop a nuclear deterrent of its own.

1965

•  As 26^th January, 1965 approached, opponents of Hindi geared up for action. (The constitution that went into effect in 1950, gave fifteen years of grace period when English was to be used along with Hindi in communication between center and state. After 15 years, Hindi would prevail.)
• After several protests in Madras, appeals signed by leading politicians of the time (from Madras, Bengal, Mysore), and resignation of two union ministers, Shastri gave in and declared that (a) every state will have the right to do their own business in language of their own choice, (b) inter-state communications will either be in English or accompanied by an authentic English translator, (c) non-Hindi states will be free to correspond to the Center in English, (d) in the transaction of business at the Center English will be continued to be used, and (e) Indian Civil Services examination would continue to be conducted in English.
• Sheikh Abdulla, while returning from his trip to Mecca, stops at Algiers and meets with Chinese prime minister (who also happened to be in Algerian capital). He is taken under arrest as soon as he arrives at New Delhi.
• A conflict broke over a salt marsh in Kachchh desert which was claimed by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan (president – Ayub Khan) used their American tanks successfully, forcing Indians to withdraw some 40 miles.
• In the late summer, Pakistan army starts off Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir to invoke rebellion in the region. As the rebellion did not get materialized, they condemned Operation Grand Slam in Jammu. Indians head straight for Lahor (whether Lahor fell or not remains a disputed question.) Both sides claim victory.
• Shastri becomes the first prime minister to increase the budget for agriculture. (Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan.)

 1966

• By this time, only 1.77% of senior administrative posts were occupied by low-caste Indians, 8.86% of clerical jobs and as many as 17.9% of posts of peons and attendents.
• Shastri and Pakistani President Ayub Khan meet in Taskent along with the Soviet Union Prime Minister Kosygin, and signs “Taskent Agreemetn”.
• On the same night Lal Bahadur Shashtri dies in sleep, of cardiac arrest.
• Gulzarilal Nanda is (once again) sworn in as acting prime minister.
• Congress president Kamraj endorse Indira Gandhi’s name. But Morarji Desai decides to contest for the leadership.
• Indira Gandhi becomes the second woman elected to lead a free country (after Ceylon’s Sirimavo Bandarnaike).
• Mizo National Front (which first sought a separate state and then a separate country) launches uprising against Indian government.
• The government decides to devalue the Rupee. The exchange rate (earlier pegged at $1 = Rs. 4.76) became $1=Rs. 7.50.
• Punjab and Hariyana stated divide. Cahndigadh remains as capital for both.

1967

• Fourth general election since independence.
•  Congress retains majority, but the % of votes decline from previous elections.
• In 22 of the 75 constituencies in Kashmir, Congress candidates are returned unopposed, after the rival’s nomination papers gets rejected.
• P. N. Haksar, a Kashmiri Brahman, then the deputy high commissioner is London is asked by Indira Gandhi to join her Secretariat. (Since then, until 1973 he remains probably the most influential and powerful person in the government.)
• After the banks were nationalized, Mrs. Gandhi turns to abolition of the privileges of the prices.

1969

• One of the worst communal riots after independence takes place in Ahmedabad on Mahatma’s 100^th birth anniversary. More than 1000 people die.
  

1971

•  The Prime Minister calls for the election 14 months ahead of its schedule (astutely disassociating the general elections from the elections of the state assemblies).
•  The size of the electorate in nation’s fifth general election: 275 million.
• Mrs. Gandhi’s Congress (I) wins the election with comfortable majority.
• India starts hosting training camps for Bengali guerrillas (known as “Mukti Bahini”) preparing them to wage a war against East Pakistan army.
• Early December Pakistani bombers (under general Yahya Khan) attack airfields all along the western border, and simultaneously 7 regiments are attacked in Kashmir.
• The war lasts little less than 2 weeks. The Indian army moved to Dacca from four directions, and formally recognizes the Provisional Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Pakistani troops surrender.
• By this time, sex ratio in India is 931 women to 1000 men. While 39% of males can read or write, but only 18.4% of females can.

1974

• Students in Gajarat lead a movement, named Nav Nirman, demanding the dismissal of the state government, which was quite notorious for corruption. (Chimanbhai Patel is the Chief Minister of Gujarat.) The movement becomes violent, and Gujarat comes under “President’s Rule” as a result.
• The Republic of India acquires a chunk of territory that previously constituted the quasi-independent state of Sikkim. (Previously, Sikkim was ruled by is hereditary monarch but it was politically and economically dependent on India.)

1975

• Indira Gandhi becomes India’s first Prime Minister to testify in court (for the hearing of a petition filed by Ra Narain who had lost to Mrs. Gandhi in the Parliamentary election in 1971, the petition alleged that she won the election through corrupt practices).
• On 26^th June, state of emergency is declared in India. Many opposition leaders, including, Jayprakash Narayan, Morarji Desai, are sent to jail. Sanjay Gandhi becomes Prime Minister’s close associate during this time of crucial political importance.

1977

•  To the surprise of Mrs. Gandhi’s political opponents, she announces that Parliament was to be dissolved and elections were to be held. (Precisely what or who persuaded the Prime Minister to end the emergency? Remains a mystery.)
• Congress faces a wider wash-out in the North, but performs somewhat well in South. For the first time in the nation’s 30-year history, a party other than the Congress (Janata Party) would govern at the Centre.
• The “grand old men” behind Janata Party – Jayprakash Narayan and J. B. Kripalani – chooses Morarji Desai for the post of Prime Minister. External affairs department goes to Atal Behari Vajpayee.
• DMK’s 10-year rule comes to an end. M. G. Ramachandran’s (MGR) charisma and charm brings AIADMK victory in the state elections.
• Under pressure from the backward caste’s lobby within Janata, Morarji Desai appoints a commission to examine whether reservation should also be extended to the jobs in Central Government. The commission was headed by a politician from Bihar, B. P. Mandal.

1978

• Jimmy Carter comes to visit India, the first US president to do so since Eisenhower.
• External Affairs minister Vajpayee visits Pakistan and charms the hosts, the dictator Zia-Ul-Haq included, who thought that Vajpayee as a Jana Sangh man, would be anti-muslim and anti-Pakistan.

 1979

• Morarji Desai resigns after Janata Party splits into three parts: headed by Morarji Desai, Jagjivan Ram and Charan Singh.
• Jayprakash Narayan dies after the disintegration of Janata Party.
• Charan Singh is sworn as Prime Minster, but a month later Indira’s Congress (I) withdraws support, which forces a mid-term election.

1980

• Mrs. Gandhi, now sixty-three, returns to power as a result of the mid-term election.
• Sanjay Gandhi dies in a plane accident. He did three loops in the air, tried a fourth but lost control. Due to this, Mrs. Gandhi’s elder son Rajiv Gandhi, feels increasing pressure to enter politics.
• By early 1980s the movement in the tribal state of Jharkhand takes more militant form. Naxalites activists, arrested during the emergency but released afterwards, makes their presence felt in the tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh. The Asamese Nationalist movement (originally born out of hostilities between Asamese and Bengali speaking people in Asam) acquires gigantic proportions.
• In Punjab, when Akalis were dismissed and Congress took power, a group of students meets at the Golden Temple and proclaims an independent state of Punjab. The republic is named Khalistan.
• The state of Gujarat was convulsed by clashes between forward and backward classes.
• After Janata Party was routed in the elections, its Jana Sangh members broke away to form a new party – Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) – to represent and advance he “Hindu” interest.

1982

• A great film actor N. T. Rama Rao (NTR) forms a new regional political party, Telugu Desam, which stands for “the honor and self-respect for the 60 million Telugu speaking people”. A year later, he will be sworn as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
• Sheikh Abdulla dies, and Farooq Abdullah takes his father’s job.

 1983

•  After years of terrorism and killings, President’s Rule is imposed on Punjab. And Bhindranwale (an obscure preacher) takes up residence in Akal Takht at the Golden Temple.
  

 1984

• Attacks on Hindu and some Sikh civilians become more frequent in Punjab.  Major General R. S. Brar is summoned by the Prime Minster to lead the operation to rid the Golden Temple of terrorism.
• The Operation Bluestar finishes successfully after death of (government estimates) 4 officers, 70 soldiers and around 500 terrorists. Outside Punjab, many people appreciated Mrs. Gandhi’s strong and necessary (if belated) actions, but this left a collective wound on the psyche of Sikhs (even those Sikhs who previously opposed Bhindranwale).
• Indira Gandhi is shot dead by two of her Sikh personal bodyguards.
• Violence follows Mrs. Gandhi’s death, more than 1,000 Sikhs dies in Delhi alone. The police simply looked on, or sometimes even actively aided the looting and murder.
• In the worst industrial accident in human history, 2,000 people die due to the release of MIC (methyl isocyanate) in Bhopal. It came from a pesticide plant owned and run by an American firm, Union Carbide.
•  18^th general election in Indian takes place in December.

 1985

• Rajiv Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister after sweeping majority in the parliamentary election with more than 400 seats.
• The first budget by Rajiv Gandhi’s government (Finance Minister: V. P. Singh) seeks to liberalize trade sector. Licensing regime is simplified, with crucial sectors such as machine tools, textiles, drugs and computers are deregulated. Curbs on assets of individual companies are partially lifted, and rates of corporate and personal income tax are reduced.
• In the famous “Shah Bano verdict”, the Supreme Court dismisses Mohammed Ahmed Khan (Shah Bano’s ex-husband) and confirms that Khan would have to continue paying Shah Bano monthly allowance. (Khan’s argument was that according to Islamic Law he was responsible to pay allowance for only three months. SC invoked section 125 of the Criminal Procedure code, whereby a divorced woman was entitled to claim an allowance from her former husband if he had taken another wife – as Khan did – and if she had not remarried – as was the case with Bano.)
• Reliance experiences growth rates unprecedented in Indian industry. Through the 1980s, the company’s asset grows at an estimated 60% per year.

 1986 

• Succumbing the pressure from Islamist lobby, the government introduced a Muslim Women’s Bill (which eventually became law) in Parliament that sought to overturn the Supreme Court verdict, by taking the Muslim personal law out of the purview of the Criminal Procedure Code.
• The government of India signs a peace agreement with the leader of Mizo National Front. By its terms, the MNF rebels lays down their arms and government says it would grant full statehood to Mizoram. (The model here was the agreement of 1975 in Kashmir when Sheikh Abdullah came into power in similar fashion.)
• The district judge of Ayodhya (in Uttar Pradesh) ordered that the locks be opened to permit worship at a small Hindu shrine, which was located inside a large mosque (known as Babri Masjid) built in 16^th century by a general of the Mughal emperor Babur.
• In Bengal, the Nepali-speaking people in Darjeeling hill area begins asking for a separate state under the leadership of former soldier Subhash Ghisingh. Eventually, the prime minister persuades him to accept an autonomous hill council rather than a separate state.
• In Tripura, tribal activists begins struggle against the Bengalis who had migrated in large numbers after the partition.
• To tackle the resurgence of terrorism in Punjab, a new chief is brought in K. P. S. Gill.

 1987

• Episodes of Ramayana started showing in January on national telecast (Doordarshan). Estimated viewer-ship is 80 million.
• Bad monsoon causes famines in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa and many other parts of the country affecting about 200 million people by one estimate.
• Rajiv Gandhi is asked by Sri Lankan president, J. R. Jayaverden, to help mediate the conflict - a bloody civil war between Sinhala majority and Tamil minority. As many as 48,000 soldiers are eventually stationed in Sri Lanka. This became very unpopular especially among the Tamils who always thought that India was on their side.
• A storm breaks out over the revelation that commissions had been paid to the middlemen in a deal involving the sale of the Swedish Bofors guns to the Indian Army. V. P. Singh leaves the cabinet as well as Congress.
• Studies show that class (still) strongly overlaps with caste in India, where the truly disadvantaged continues to be Harijans or Scheduled Castes. (For example, a survey in Karnataka reveals that 80% of the SCs living in countryside and as well as more than 60% of SCs living in towns are below the official poverty line.)

 1988

• India tests its first surface-to-surface missile, capable to attacking targets that are as far as 100 miles away.
•  V. P. Singh’s party Jana Morcha is merged with the old Janata Party to form Janata Dal, and becomes the focal point for anti-Congress sentiment.

 1989

• Rajiv Gandhi visits China – the first prime minister to do so in last three decades.
• Congress faces serious challenges in the General elections from: Asom Gana Parishad in Assam, Telugu Desam in Andhra Pradesh, Akalis in Punjab, and from the Hindu right – Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress wins only 197 seats, down from more than 200 from its previous tally.
• The general elections of 1989 were the first in which no single party won a majority.
• V. P. Singh is sworn as the head of National Front government, with the left an BJP choosing to support it from outside. (Singh becomes the second non-Congress prime minister of India, who, like his the first, spent most of his life in Congress.)

I had to end the timeline at 1989, as the events after that are only sparsely captured in this book. (The reason is that, as Guha says, it’s always becomes very difficult to remain impartial while analyzing events that are more recent. Guha explains in his book, “Those who write contemporary history know that they are not addressing a passive reader of text placed in front of him. The reader is also a citizen, a critical citizen, with his own political and ideological preferences.”)

 

Changing status from H-4 to F-1 in the US

Recently (October 2007) we applied for a Change in Non-immigration status for my wife. And I just thought I should share some information with someone who might be looking for it.

My wife entered in the US on H-4 visa in May 2007, after getting married with me. (I am on H-1B visa.) After coming here, she wanted to pursue Master's degree in Architecture. She could, in fact, study while being on H-4 visa, but there were some drawbacks in doing so: She would not be able to work (part-time on campus, or full-time internship etc.) if she's on H-4 visa, and (2) She would not become eligible for OPT (Optional Practical Training, which allows students to work for any employer, without requiring any sponsorship, for one year after the completion of studies) if she studies while on H-4 visa. You have to be on a Student visa in order to become eligible for OPT.

There's a form called I-539 that the applicant has to submit to apply for change in non-immigration status (this is the same form that one would submit for extension of non-immigration status. You can go the the following link and click on “Immigration Forms” to download I-539 form: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usci. The filing fee is $300 (as of January 2008).

Here's a list of all the documents that we submitted (sent by FedEx) to the service center:

1. Copy of non-blank pages from applicant's passport. No need to send copies of empty pages.
2. Applicant's original I-94 (front & back) Upon approval you'll receive a new I-94 card which will reflect your new F-1 status.
3. My (applicant's sponsor) Bank Statement/Proof of funding (notarized) The balance should be more than enough to cover the studies and living expenses.
4. Financial Support Statement (signed by me, notarized) This is where the sponsor (if any) puts in writing that he/she will take care of the applicant's studies and living expenses.
5. Copy of my I-94 (front & back)
6. Copy of my I-797 (H1-B approval notice) This is important, because if H-1B visa holder has maintained a legal status in the US, that means that the applicant also have maintained his/her status.
7. Copy of my I-129 (Petition for Non-immigrant worker)
8. Copy of our marriage certificate
9. Original I-539 application form
10. Original Student copy of I-20 You will receive this I-20 back reflecting the new status.
11. A Cover Letter This is where you would mention your purpose for applying for change of status/further studies. You can mention here that you have no intention to stay in the US after completion of your studies (remember, unlike H1-B, F-1 is not a dual intent visa), you can also re-affirm here that you will maintain your status as a full time student.
12. Check of $300 made payable to USCIS

We submitted the application on October 23, 2007 (receipt date) and the case was approved on January 10, 2007. The F-1 is valid for the entire duration of her studies (specific date is not mentioned). Her original I-20 was returned with the approval notice (I-797).

Once the application is filed, within two weeks you'll receive a receipt issued by the service center. This receipt will have your case number that you can use to check the status using the following link: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/index.jsp. You might just want to create a customer portfolio account and add your case number. You can enable the e-mail notification option so an e-mail will be sent to you every time there's any change in the status of your application.

The sequence of Hindi alphabet

Have you ever wondered if there's any specific reason why the Hindi alphabet follow a particular sequence?

The overall sequence of all alphabet has a specific order. The order of the letters depends on the place (in the mouth) where it is pronounced. The sound of the letters in the alphabet start from the back (deep) of the throat and steadily moves upwards & outwards to the front of the mouth (towards lips).

क ख ग घ -- back of the mouth (i.e. velar)

च छ ज झ -- mid-point in mouth (i.e. palatal)

ट ठ ड ढ -- back in mouth with tongue curled (i.e. retroflex)

त थ द ध -- touching teeth (i.e. dental)

प फ ब भ म -- from closed lips (i.e. bilabial)

So when one speaks Hindi alphabet, the sound (of the letters) constantly moves outwards starting from the bottom of the mouth and ending towards the front of the mouth. Isn't that fascinating?

And that's not all. Each group of letters above (usually grouped in four), are also arranged in specific sequence. Take first four letters for instance: क ख ग घ.

क -- non-voiced, non-aspirated

ख -- non-voiced, aspirated

ग -- voiced, non-aspirated

घ -- voiced, aspirated

Definitions: A consonant is called "voiced" if, while pronouncing, it makes the vocal cords vibrate. And the consonant is "aspirated" if it produces a strong burst of air with the sound. You can put a candle in front of your mouth and pronounce ka and kha to see the difference.

The same sequence (non-voiced/non-aspirated to voiced/aspirated) follows for:

च छ ज झ

त थ द ध

... and so on!

Talking about Hindi alphabet, I found that there is some confusion between the sounds of: झ and ज़, and also between फ and फ़. Note the difference between the pronunciations of these letters below:

झ – /jha/ pronounced with the tongue touching the roof of the mount (palatal) as in झलक, मुझसे

ज़ – /za/ pronounced without the tongue touching the roof of the mount (like a whistling sound) as in मज़ा, ज़ख़्म, ज़िंदगी

फ – /pha/ pronounced from closed lips (aspirated sound) as in फूल, फिर

फ़ – /fa/ pronounced with the lower lips touching the upper front teeth (aspirated sound) as in फ़रेब, बेवफ़ा

Not everyone realizes that the original Hindi alphabet don't have the letters ज़ and फ़. These two letters are (among others like क़, ख़, ग़) borrowed from Urdu. Note that these letters are specified by using standard Hindi letters but placing a dot (.) at the bottom. Because of this confusion between standard Hindi letters and borrowed Urdu letters, some standard Hindi words are mispronounced (most of the time by replacing standard Hindi sound with the borrowed sound). For example: फिर is sometimes mispronounced as /fir/ instead of /phir/. Other words that come to the mind right now are: ग़ालिब, ग़म, खुदा.

Comparing English with Hindi, there are couple of distinct features I have noticed: Standard Hindi does not differentiate between the following two sounds:

/v/ -- voiced labiodental (pronounced with lower lips and upper teeth)

/w/ -- voiced labiovelar (pronounced with rounded lips)

Because of this Indians (including me!) sometimes have difficulty in differentiating these two sounds. (For instance, wine and vine become homophones.) Other major distinction is: in Hindi प, त, and क are always non-aspirated. But in English, /p/, /t/ and /k/ are always aspirated. So the word tiger is (mistakenly) pronounced as /tiger/ instead of /tʰiger/.

More information on Hindi language can be found here (Wikipedia link).

No Smoking - Movie review

No Smoking is a “self service” movie. You have to try and figure out the story and the message by yourself. The movie is not likely to work well at the box office since we are so used to being served (spoon-fed) in Bollywood, where everything in the movie has to be clear and easy to understand. Metaphors and symbolic references are quite rare and frowned upon in our film industry.

“I hope the movie finds its audience” says Anurag Kashyap (the director) because he knows that for an average Joe it’s going to be inconvenient (and in some cases, impossible) to come out of those explain-me-everything and I-am-here-only-to-be-entertained mind-sets.

This is a bold and quite “arrogant” movie that refuses to spoon-feed the audience. It’s like when someone throws you into the water and expects you to learn swimming without any help. You either swim, or drown. There’s no third way out.

The movie is full with many metaphors and surrealistic moments.

- The protagonist's name "K" is a reference to (Anurag) Kashyap – the director himself.
- The bathtub is a symbol of worldly comfort, and ciggaret of freedom. (You have to choose between these two. In the dream sequences K constantly leaps for his ciggaret/freedom and gets killed by the soldier. Towards the end, when he decides to go for the bathtub instead, his freedom is sacrificed and that kills his soul.)
- Initially you see K smoking in his bath-tub, which indicates that he has both: worldly pleasures and his freedom. He is having dreams (or, nightmares) in which he has to choose between these two.
- The two fingers that K uses to smoke his ciggarets, are also the same ones that Kashyap uses to write his movies.
- The dream sequence in Russia is a reference to Stalin’s dictatorial Communist government – violation of personal liberty.
- The secretary and wife both played by Ayesha Takia are two different and opposite characters. The wife is a self-determined & strong individual while the secretary is submissive (she follows orders unquestionably and takes out K’s shoes in one scene.)
- “Cigarret Shashtra” is a reference to social orthodoxy and conservatism.
- K arrogantly talking to himself in the mirror (“Hi, I am K”, “Nobody tells K what to do”) is reference to Martin Scorsese classic Taxi Driver (the immortal sequence “Are you talking to me?” by De Nero).
- There is a reference to Vishal Bhardwaj, Gulzar and also to Fidel Castro. I felt that the former was forced and shallow though. (“Bidi jalai le ke Vishal desh mein…”)
- Baba Bengali’s threat of hurting or killing K’s family members is probably symbolic reference to the fact that K’s smoking hurts his family (both emotionally and physically as in his brother’s case).
- In the last scene, K is shown quiet and composed for the first time in the movie. He has quit smoking. Baba Bengali has won. But K’s soul is gone. We see that his fingers are cut – which is probably a way of showing the fact that his soul is now cut off from himself.
- The cinematography, lighting, background score and song lyrics – the overall ambiance of the movie is “dark” which gels with the melancholy theme of the movie.

The movie actually takes off when K plunges into the water in the custody. His soul and his body take two different but coherent journeys after that moment. The soul experiences bizarre moments and try to find ways to continue smoking (i.e. stick to his individual freedom.) But finally in the battle of K’s soul and his mind, the mind wins when K chooses to opt for the bathtub (instead of ciggaret) and not get killed by the soldier.

There are obvious flaws in the movie too. I think Kashyap has tried too hard to not spoon-feed the audience. He ended up making a movie that lot (or worse, most) of the people will not “get” completely. I doubt if there’s anyone except Kashyap himself who can claim to have understood the whole movie. But may be that’s the idea. May be that’s way this movie was meant to be.

This is probably the first time in Bollywood when a director made a very “personal” self-referential movie. Through K’s character, Kashyap talks about his own frustration and anguish (with the industry). In order to understand the analogy, you would have to know some background of Kashyap. This movie is from a director who is still waiting to get green flag from the censor board to let his first to movies released (Paanch and Gulal). It’s a movie from the director who had to unwillingly make several cuts in his last movie (Black Friday) to get censor board’s approval. It’s a movie from the director who felt as if his liberty to make movies (in the way he wants to make them) is taken away from him (as if his fingers with which he writes his movie were cut!). And that’s the central theme of this movie. How a person has to sacrifice his own self(ish) desires in order to follow the societal norms. And how that comes at the cost of your own personal soul! (By this, Kashyap is not saying that smoking is good. He makes this very clear before the movie begins. “A thousand people stops smoking everyday. By dying. Smoking Kills.”)

This is a movie that bothers you, provokes you, makes you think, it’s like a jigsaw puzzle that you try to put together even after (and especially after) the movie is over.

I loved this movie for its libertarian theme, style, wonderful songs, witty dialogues, bold and unusual way of storytelling.

PS. Two great quotes from two great philosophers (Socrates and Plato) are shown before the beginning credits:

“To be is to do.”
“To do is to be.”

You are defined by your what to do. Your actions define you, not your looks.

Jab We Met movie review

Jab We Met is very enjoyable. After a long time, we have a fabulous romantic comedy.

The plot is not original, but the script is well written. A big part of this movie is on Karina's shoulders and she carries it really well. She rocks! This is probably her best performance so far.

Two songs are very melodious and with nice poetry: Aaoge Tum (Music: Sandesh Shandilya, Lyrics: Nida Fazli?, Singer: Ustad Rashid Khan) and Tum Se Hi (Music: Pritam, Lyrics: Irshad Kamil, Singer: Mohit Chauhan). They are well placed in the movie. The placement of other songs could have been better though. They don’t move the story forward but don’t do much damage to the flow either.

Some moments in the movie were really touching and well executed: When Aditya accepts that he’s in love with Geet and says “Yes, I like you a lot, but hey, that’s my problem!”, when during their second stay in a (this time literally decent!) motel she says something like "Kitni stupid hoon main, is liye meri ye haalat hui hai" and starts crying, when Geet finally realizes what her heart wants, a train passes in the background and she feels "jaise koi train chhut rahi ho…”

Imtiaz Ali has grown as a director after his first movie Socha Na Tha (which was quite likeable). The opening sequence: when Aditya leaves his cell phone and car keys and walks into the streets dropping his tie on the sidewalk, was very impressive.

I am looking forward to Imtiaz Ali’s next movie.

--------------

Also, I highly recommend Manorama Six Feet Under and Johny Gaddar to everyone who likes off-beat movies. Both are very well-made and well-acted movies in genres that are almost absent in Bollywood nowadays. The former is a Bollywood noir set up in a remote village in Rajasthan (spectacular visuals). And the latter is a suspense thriller, in which the audience knows who the culprit is, but the actors in the movie don't, and the movie is about how they find it out! Look out for pop-culture references to the movies from 70's. There are so many.

Unfortunately, No Smoking, on which I had high hopes (especially because of the names that are associated with the movie - Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar), didn't get any good reviews. It looks like Anurag Kashyap has broken bridges with so many reviewers that many of them are reviewing his attitude rather than his movie. (Read Khalid Mohammed's review in Hindustan Times, you don't need an expert to figure out that he has personal grudges for Kashyap and that's all he talks about in his "movie" review - bad director, bad person, very arrogant, how stupid yada yada yada...) I still haven't given up on the movie though -- I will watch it as soon as I can.

Yahoo Driving Directions in India

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You can go to Yahoo website to get driving directions between two cities in India. It seems a tad slow, it's definetely not perfect (works well between two cities only), but it's a great start.


Here's the link: http://in.maps.yahoo.com/

Note that directions include landscapes (turn left past Bharat Petrolium, turn right past Andhra bank etc.), which are unavoidable because we don't have names for all streets, do we?

Enjoy!

Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich

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Although I am not a conservative, as a libertarian my favourite presidential candidate is the Republican representative from Texas: Ron Paul.

I definitely don't agree with all of his plans and policies (that I know of). Also he might be too old and doesn't look like the "strong leader" that US is looking forward to have as a President, but I think Paul is the candidate whom I dislike the least. As one of the South Park episode has succinctly put: you have to make a choice between a Giant Douche and a Turn Sandwich!

Here's a snapshot of some of his beliefs and actions:

- He opposes, and have always opposed, Iraq war.
- He wants USA to be out of UN and other such international groups.
- He believes in: Abolishing Federal taxes, dismantle Federal reserve and get back to god-backed currency.
- He supports Gun Ownership.
- He says no to US interventions in other country's internal affairs.

Here's a link to his web-site: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Giuliani, Romney and McCain are currently the forerunners at Republican presidential nominee race, but it looks like none of these candidates can win an election against Clinton. In fact, any Republican presidential candidates seems very likely loose election against Clinton.

Senator Clinton, who is considered a socialist by many people now, wants the Government to "take over" Health Care system. It looks like by increasing taxes, she would go on a spending spree if elected as a President. She must be stopped! But unfortunately if looks like no one will be able to do that.

I am not a US citizen, so I don't vote here, but being in this country for several years, I have my emotional investments in next year's presidential election.

My job at MTC

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I am currently working as a Business Analyst at a major telecom company (let’s call it MTC). This “Business Analyst” title can be expanded as Statistician/SAS Programmer/Predictive Modeler and can be expressed as “Data Miner” in general. There are about 15 members (including one director and 4 managers) in our group named Customer Analytics. At MTC, we are known as "Modelers", and belong to the Marketing branch of the organization hierarchy.

In a nutshell, we do data mining, statistical modeling and clustering & segmentation which enables us to make business predictions that can help the marketing group to take business decisions.

Let me briefly talk about the need for Business Analytics in a telecom company.When a telecom company acquires a new customer, they have to spend money. This spending includes everything they have to do for getting a new customer: advertising, giving subsidies on handsets, additional network capacity to accommodate the new customer calls, more care center representatives needed to handle calls to the company etc. It takes months before MTC can recover from the acquisition spending for each new customer and start making money from that account. If a customer leaves the company after, let’s say two months, the company actually loses money. (Even the early contract termination fees can not balance the loss in revenue.)

Moreover, it's cheaper and easier to retain an old customer than to acquire a new customer.

Thus, while trying to attract new customers, telecom companies are always more concerned with retaining the existing customer base.

Here’s where the role of our group comes into the picture. MTC needs to know which customers are 'more likely to leave', and when they are likely to do so. If we knew that, then the Marketing group can take necessary actions to retain those customers. To find out whom to contact, and when to contact them they depend on us. (On our predictions based on statistical models, to be more specific.)

Our job is to study the customer history (cell usage, call details, demographics, late payments, purchase patterns etc.) and look for behavioral patterns that can explain what triggered previous MTC customers to leave. Based on the historical data, we build Statistical (predictive) models using SAS. These models can be applied to the current customer base (whose behavior is known to us) to decide which customers are likely to leave (in, let’s say, next two or three months).

After the very interesting phase of data discovery, modeling and prediction, comes more challenging task. We have to present our model to the Marketing managers (decision makers) and explain them what’s going on with our customers. Obviously, we have to present our findings in such a way that they are easier to digest for a non-technical marketing folks. The marketers will take this result and run various campaigns (offers, incentives) to retain those customers. In doing so, they will be spending millions of dollars, so our results must be: (a) as accurate as possible, (b) meaningful, and (c) actionable.

This Churn/Risk Modeling is one among the many other things we do. Here are some scenarios in which the seek help from our group:
− The company launches new products and they need to know which customers they should target. So we will build a model that predicts which customers are more likely to respond to that specific product related offer. (MTC has millions of customers, so they can’t go and target all customers. We need to find out which customers will be most interested and target them to increase our ROI.)
− The company wants to identify which customers are more valuable (profitable). To get the holistic view of a customer; in addition to look at “what’s the customer worth as of today” it’s necessary to look into the future and see “what’s the potential value of the customer” too. Using various statistical modeling techniques, we can predict (a) future tenure, and (b) future revenue stream of a customer. (Interestingly, when you call the customer service, your “value” decides which call center will handle your call. A call from a low value customer might get transferred to international call centers, while a high value customer will get to talk with a US based call center. Also, if you decide to terminate your contract, your “value” can heavily restrict how much you can negotiate on contract termination fees.)

The use of data mining and statistical modeling is, of course, not limited to telecom industry. Think about an insurance company that wants to identify which customers are likely to be frauds, a bank or credit company that needs to know who is likely to close the account or which transactions are likely to be fraudulent, a pharmaceutical company that wants to identify which drug component is likely to affect as a remedy on a decease while developing a new drug, a giant retailer that needs recommendations about which products they should keep together in the store (which products do customer buy together?), or an online retailer (like Amazon) that gets help from data mining to come up with recommendations for next purchase.