FARMERS - THE BACKBONE OF OUR SOCIETY

 Food is a factor which is very necessary for humans to live. And who are the people who provide us with this much needed food? It is, of course, our farmers. 

Farmers play a very important role in our lives. The vegetables, fruits and pulses that they grow are used in every dish - from the most fanciest dish, to the most commonly eaten one. If there were no farmers and the appropriate food was not to be grown,  how could we live?

     

The farmers work selflessly for us, day and night, and thus make up the backbone of our society. 

When a farmer's crops are harvested and ready to be sold, a middleman buys it from the farmer first. Then, that man deposits the yield to the market. From all the money which is paid by the customers for the supplies, only a little part of it is given to the farmer, the man who has worked so hard to grow the crop well and the rest is kept by the man who bought it from him! Is this justice? 

Agriculture depends completely on nature. If there is a lot of rain and floods occur, the farmer's crops suffer. If there is no rain and droughts occur, then also it is his crops which will suffer. Thus, a farmer cannot be sure about how his yield is going to be in a particular year.   

But, for us, be it drought or rain, we get proper food all the time. It is all because of the efforts of those selfless farmers all over the world that we are this healthy and well.

Since these kinds of situations have started occurring, farmers are quitting agriculture and moving to the towns and cities in search of a better occupation. So, it is all up to us to keep them happy and well.

Also, our second prime minister, Shree Lal Bahadur Shastri has rightly said. "JAI JAWAN, JAI KISAN!"

                                             

Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar was born on 28th September  1929 at Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Her parents were Dinanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti Mangeshkar.

 Her siblings are Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, Hridaynath Mangeshkar and  Meena Khadikar.  Asha Bhosle is also a great singer like Lata Mangeshkar.

  Her singing career was inspired by the legendary singers, K L Saigal and Noor Jehan. And now, she is the greatest playback singer of our country. Her first classical stage performance was at the age of 9 years. Her first Hindi film song, ' Pa Lagoon Kar Jori Re ' was from the film 'Aap Ki Seva Mein' released in 1947.

As an actress, her first Marathi film was 'Pahli Mangala Gaur' [1942] and her first Hindi film was 'Badi Maa' released in 1945.

Lataji's favourite colour is the soothing white, her favourite season is winter , her favourite time of the day is dawn and she is passionate about diamonds. 

She loves to rejoice Diwali with her family and friends. Mumbai, Paris and London are home to Lataji.

She is an ardent fan of Cricket, football and tennis. Photography and cooking are close to her heart as favourite hobbies. 

Madan Mohan, S D Burman, Shankar-Jiakishan and Lakshmikant- Pyarelal were her favourite music directors. She made an excellent pair while singing duets with the greats like Mohammad Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Mukesh.

In 1969, she was conferred upon with the 'Padma Bhushan', subsequently with the ,Padma Vibhushan, in 1999. In 1969, she had refused to accept the Film Fare Award , for the noble reason that henceforth new talents should be considered for these honours. In 1974, Lataji's name was included in the Guinness Book Of World Records. 
  

In 1989, she was honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award and on 21st March 2001, she achieved the highest civilian award of the nation, the Bharath Ratna.

Some of my favourite songs of Lata Mangeshkar are:
1. Aye zindagi usiki hai [ Anarkali ]
2. Rasika Baluma [ Chori Chori ]
3. Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha [ Unpad ] 
4. Aye Mere Wathan Ke Logon [ Patriotic song ]
4. Dil hum hum kare [Rudali]

Lataji is a legend and a big source of inspiration for millions of youngsters like me.  

Anuja Kamat- Raag Yaman

Ms. Anuja Kamat is a young singer. She has produced and anchored many interesting videos explaining how classical raags are used for composing film songs. Her ability to sing while explaining is very special. This video was made to see whether Raag Yaman [Kalyani in Carnatic music] has some influence on new Bollywood songs. These are the songs mainly from the '90s to the current age.

Ms. Anuja Kamat

Ms. Anuja Kamat says that she remembers her childhood when she listens to these songs and now, after learning music, notices that many of the songs are set on Raags. She also notices that 2 of the songs are based on Raag Yaman. The songs are given below:

1.Ghar se nikalte hi
Movie: Papa kehte hain
Year: 1996

A phrase in the song is on the swaraas '' Pa Re Re Ga'' which are the swaraas that tell that a particular song is based on Yaman.

2.Aaye ho mere zindagi mein
Movie: Raja hindustani
Year: 1996

By the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, with Bollywood music, popular music, which we call POP music's craze had also increased. Anuja Kamat says, that with POP music, an experimental song was composed, which introduced a very talented artist, who is not only famous in POP music, but also in the field of Bollywood and classical music.

The talented artist is none other than Shankar Mahadevan Ji. You could also have guessed the song by now, and it is Koi Jo Mila To Mujhe , from the album Breathless, from the year 1998. She noticed that the third phrase which tells us that the song is based on Yaman was found by her in the song.
''Ga Ma Da Ma Da Ni Da Ni Sa'' are the swaraas for the phrase.

Yaman has a tradition that, when  you go in the Aaroha [ ascending order], when we sing after the swaraa 'Pa', we omit it. For example, ' Ni Ri Ga Ma Da Ni Sa'. We don't sing it like ' Ni Ri Ga Ma PA Da Ni Sa'. This is the uniqueness of Raag Yaman.

Did you ever imagine that there could be a dance number based on Raag Yaman? It's not a classical dance form, but a dance in which the steps are in western style. The song is -

Pyaar Zindagi / Hey que sera 
Movie: Pukar
Year:2000

In the song, there is a phrase, which is typically based on Yaman, and is like having Yaman in a nutshell!

Now, we talk about a film-maker who is a music director himself. And, he is Sanjay Leela Bhansali Ji. Anuja Kamat also told that she had observed that in every movie of his, at least 1 song will be having the influence of Raag Yaman. Some of those songs are given below:

1.Jhonka hawa ka
Movie: Hum dil de choke sanma 
Year: 1999

2.Yoon shabnami + mashallah
Movie: Saawariya
Year: 2007

3.Hameshaa tumko chaaha
Movie:Devdas
Year: 2002

4.Aaj ibaadath
Movie: Baajirao masthani
Year:2015

5.Laal Ishq
Movie: Geliyon ki raseela Ram leela
Year:2013

Most of Sanjay Leela Bhansali Ji's films are intense and Yaman is not an intense Raag. So, to bring the intensity , in place of  Shuddha Rishab, Komal Rishab is used. Also, a new raag is created by doing this and is called Puriya Kalyaan. Immediately , the intensity increases. 

I really liked Anuja Kamat's videos and the videos are really informative on music. One of them, which I liked the most is ' ONE SONG SUNG IN DIFFERENT RAAGS' . Start viewing her videos for more!

This is the video about which the blog is written on⇧.