Ep6 The Lifeline Of India And That Magical Sparsh Of Sai Paranjpye
Release Date: 08/30/2020
Ep 10: What India Gave To The World & The Incandescent Talent Of Renu Saluja
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
When we speak about India and its relationship with the world, we often focus on what we have received from the world. But what about what we have given to it? This doesn’t get covered as much. Even when it does, we go to the extremes. Either we were a vishwaguru or our only contribution is ‘zero’. Is there a more nuanced view? That’s what we explore in this episode. What have we given to the world? From the stories of our mythology that have parallels in Persian and Greek myths, the versions of Ramayana and Mahabharata in Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia, the spread of Buddhism from...
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Ep 9: Swanand Kirkire On Popular Culture & S.P. Balasubrahmanyam - A Voice For The Ages
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
Aimless conversation is therapy. It is good for the soul. We drifted a lot in this episode. Because we had Swanand Kirkire as our guest. With Swanand we wandered all over the cultural landscape of India – the bylanes of Indore and its usal-poha, the ragas of Kumar Gandharv, the social commentary of Dada Kondke films, the multi-faceted genius of B.V. Karanth or the forgotten lyricism of Kamlesh Pandey. Swanand’s genius stems from his deep immersion in our popular culture and it shone through in this 2-hour long conversation. What also came across was his honesty, his conscious engagement...
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Ep8:Food In Our Lives & Mallika-e-Ghazal Begum Akhtar
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.” - Oscar Wilde Good food does that and more. We talk about food in this episode – its salience in our celebrations, its magic in evoking memories, being a marker of our identity, in experiencing the divine and as an expression of love. There’s no stopping our appetite to talk about food. From Gandhi’s letters and Vivekananda’s wanderings to Naipaul’s distaste and Rushdie’s memories, in the chaats of Assi Ghaat, the mahaprasad of Puri, in films like The Lunchbox and Maya Bazaar – food is everywhere in...
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Ep7 Finding Art In Bureaucracy & The Renaissance Man That Was Salil Chowdhury
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy. —Franz Kafka We don’t take such a dim view. There’s more to bureaucracy than the dreary reign of rules, files and approvals. We discuss the portrayal of bureaucracy in popular culture in this episode. We talk and talk – of the dry humour in Yes Minister, about Kafkaesque nightmares, on the satire in Krishan Chander’s Jamun Ka Ped, about Harishankar Parsai’s vyangya, of Madna in English August or Travancore of T.S. Pillai and the darkness in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. Bureaucracy didn’t bore us, for sure....
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Ep6 The Lifeline Of India And That Magical Sparsh Of Sai Paranjpye
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
Trains. Watching them, travelling in them or waiting for them. Trains offered us an escape. Watching the world pass by through its windows, the fleeting glimpses of incomplete lives outside or falling asleep to their rhythmic sways. We discuss trains and the long journeys we made in them.
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Ep5: The Voice From The Sky And The 'King of Forest' Among Composers - Vanraj Bhatia
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
“I'd sit alone and watch your light My only friend through teenage nights And everything I had to know I heard it on my radio” (Radio Ga Ga: Roger Taylor, Queen, 1984) We couldn’t agree more. Radio was our friend. It united us. It forged our national identity. And it brought the world to our homes. It is often said politics, films and cricket are what bind India. Radio made that cohesion possible. In today’s episode we talk about Radio and its profound impact on our society. The iconic mournful signature tune and its history; the sabha on the eve of our independence, the legends who...
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Ep 4: The Variegated Shades of Truth And V.K. Murtyh - Guru Dutt's 'Eyes'
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
Twain wrote: “The Lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse, man's best and surest friend, is immortal, and cannot perish from the earth.” We examine this immortality of the Lie and its bete noire, the Truth, in today’s episode. The legend of Ashwathama, the contribution of Dharmvir Bharti to our intellectual landscape, the unreliable narrator of Andhadhun, the straight-as-an-arrow Dharmendra in Satyakam and the lies in the fiction of Premchand and RK Narayan – we look for the role of deception and honesty in all of them. Is truth...
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Ep3: Rains In Our Culture And Mangesh Desai - A Forgotten Legend Of Indian Cinema
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
Rains! The smell of the wet earth. In today’s episode we discuss rains in our culture. From Kalidasa, Tagore, T.S. Pillai to Raj Kapoor, Ramsays and Mani Ratnam. We discuss the influence of rains in our books, films and songs. In spotlight, we turn our attention to an artist who Satyajit Ray called indispensable. We close with our usual recommendations on what we are reading, writing and listening to these days.
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Ep2: Migration In Our Popular Culture, Jaidev and A Surprise At The End
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
02 August, 2020
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China in Indian popular culture, Haqeeqat and Manohari Singh
Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai
In this first episode, Pavan and Subrat talk about their backgrounds, China’s presence (or absence) in our popular culture, the legendary instrumentalist of Hindi film music, Manohari Singh, and what they are reading, listening and watching. They talk about how China appears in films like Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani, Haqeeqat, Bhool Na Jaana and Neel Aaksher Neechey. They discuss trivia about the combination of Madan Mohan and Kaifi Azmi, the ensemble cast and the roles of Bhupinder, Balraj Sahni and Jayant in the making of the Haqeeqat. They consider the invasion of Chinese martial...
info_outline“Mother, I sit by my window for hours on end,
And watch the long trains rumble past”
(Trains, Humayun Kabir)
Trains.
Watching them, travelling in them or waiting for them. Trains offered us an escape. Watching the world pass by through its windows, the fleeting glimpses of incomplete lives outside or falling asleep to their rhythmic sways. We discuss trains and the long journeys we made in them. The books we read in them, the books that featured them, the songs, the films and the legends about trains. It is said trains are the lifeline of India. That’s true. But they also carry its soul. In this episode on trains, we travel through Kipling, Ray, Theorux, Dev Anand, Prem Nazir and Gandhi to understand their role in our popular culture.
In spotlight we feature a trailblazer whose work in radio, TV, plays, children’s literature, films and documentaries left a deep imprint on our cultural landscape. Sai Paranjpye is a national treasure and her rich and varied body of work must be celebrated more. We talk about what made her unique in the pantheon of great Indian film directors.
We end the show with our weekly reading, watching, and listening recommendations.
Episode Highlights:
- 00:00 to 20:00 – Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Toofan Mail, Gandhi
- 20:00 to 40:00 – Theroux, Railway Platform, Dev Anand, Kizhakke Pogum Rail
- 40:00 to 60:00 – Ray, Nayak, Sonar Kella, Ijazat, Oudh legend
- 60:00 to 80:00 – 27 Down, Ladies Coupe, Moondram Pirai, Johnny Gaddar
- 80:00 to 100:00 – The Burning Train, Train to Pakistan, Rahman, Bunty Aur Babli
- 100:00 to 120:00 – Sai Paranjpye introduction, background, NSD, Sparsh
- 120:00 to 140:00 – Chashme Buddoor, Katha, Doordarshan days
- 140:00 to 150:00 – Disha, Saaz
- 150:00 to 160:00 – Recommendations
नमस्ते दोस्तों!
कोरोना का दौर जारी है और जिंदगी की जद्दोजहद भी। सड़कों पर भीड़ नजर आने लगी है, और ऐसा लगता है कि जिंदगी वापस पटरियों ं पर आने की कोशिश कर रही है, पर यात्राएं अभी भी बंद है खासकर लंबी यात्राएं। कोरोना के दौर से पहले भारत में जहां 12000-15000 ट्रेंस रोज चलती थी, और करीब ढाई से तीन करोड़ रोजाना के यात्रियों के साथ भारतीय रेल अपने आप में एक ट्रांजिट नेशन बना हुआ था, वही कोरोना के दौर में रेलों की गति को विराम मिला है, और यात्रियों की संख्या में भारी कमी है।
ये समय जब यात्राएं ना के बराबर है, आइए आपको इस बार एक लंबी यात्रा पर ले चलते हैं। भारतीय रेल ने किस तरह से एक राष्ट्र के निर्माण में अपना योगदान दिया है और किस तरह से रेल यात्राओं का जिक्र हमारे आम जिंदगी के संदर्भों में आता रहा है। इस बार साहित्य, सिनेमा और संगीत और हमारी जिंदगी में में भारतीय रेल के संदर्भ पर बातचीत और उससे जुड़े कुछ किस्से कहानियां।
स्पॉटलाइट में जिक्र सई परांजपे का जो हमारे समय की एक बेहद महत्वपूर्ण महिला फिल्मकार हैं । सई हमारे दौर में ह्यूमन सिनेमा की पैरोकार हैं और उनकी सरल फिल्में, ना सिर्फ हमें हंसाती गुदगुदाती हैं, वरन अपनी संवेदनशीलता से कुछ महत्वपूर्ण विषयों पर बेहद गंभीर टिप्पणी भी छोड़ जाती हैं। इस बार बात सई के रचनात्मक योगदान की
और फिर साथ में इस हफ्ते का नया सुना-पढ़ा-देखा, अपनी अनुशंसाओं के साथ
आइए, इस सफर पर हमारे साथ आपका स्वागत है।
LinkOuts:
Books
- Kim by Rudyard Kipling
- Bhowani Junction by John Masters
- The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
- A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
- Ladies Coupe by Anita Nair
- Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh
- Raavi Paar by Gulzar
- The Lost Decade by Puja Mehra
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Sai Paranjpye autobiography (Marathi)
- Two books on Shailendra: compiled by Indrajeet Singh
Films
- Railway Platform (1955) by Ramesh Sehgal
- Half Ticket (1962) by Kaildas
- Sonar Kella (1974) by Satyajit Ray
- Sparsh (1980) by Sai Paranjpye
- Chashme Buddoor (1981) by Sai Paranjpye
- Katha (1983) by Sai Paranjpye
- Disha (1990) by Sai Paranjpye
Music