Musical Lenses Featuring Lata, Kishore, Manna, Hemant and many more

The last week and the weekend were spent in absolute ecstasy: listening and choosing music of the golden era of Hindi playback singing.
There is magic in these songs and now that I have created webpages that is a mini-collection of sorts, I now have two wishes:

a) that more people listen to these - both those who understand Hindi and those who don't
b) that these songs find their rightful place in world music.

Today, if you search music in Internet you will find Beatles or other pop-music at the top of the heap. I do not deny their rightful place, but is there any reason why Lata, Rafi, Kishore, Hemant, Manna, Asha should not rub shoulders with them.

So, here is a request. Please visit the webpages I have built. Give me your suggestion to make it more attractive. But more importantly,spread the word. Please tell at least 10 people you know to visit these webpages, and they can tell 10 more and so on ...

Here are the pages:

25 songs from the Nightingale of India: Lata Mangeshkar
25 songs from a musical maestro: Manna Dey
21 songs by Music Directors singing their own composition
25 songs from the minnows of Hindi Playback

You can rate the songs you like best. I hope you enjoy listening to these songs as much as I enjoyed creating the webpages.

The Sachin Tendulkar Factor

Everyone who has once held a bat in hand seems to have an opinion on the Indian cricket team. So here's my two bit:

The reason why Indian batting order collapse after a great start involving Tendulkar is because Tendulkar is so good. This may seem to be a cock-eyed logic but hear me out ... Because Tendulkar is so good, and because he bats so effortlessly when he is in full flow, the rest of the batsmen in the dressing room think that the pitch is playing true and that it is a batsman's pitch. They ust be going, "Arrreee! Sachin has hit 3 sixes. Wow! I will go and smash the ball all over the place." Unfortunately, they get it wrong and they fall flat on their respective faces. The sad part is that there is no lessons learnt.

I think it was Rahul Dravid who got it right. In one of the interviews, given quite some time ago, he said something to this effect: Watching Sachin at the other end is a great experience. Of course, you need to be careful. You cannot play like him. So, you play your game.

So, here is my advise to the Indian batsmen: Recognise your strength and play to it. Let Sachin play his game. You play yours.

By the way, this applies to daily life too.

My 50 Squidoo Pages

Finally! This is one milestone that I was aiming for, for quite some time. With the lens on the book review of the book Mother Pious Lady I managed to hit the 50 Squidoo page mark. And did one better: the lens on the Assyrian Lion Hunt in the British Museum makes it the 51st. Please visit these pages and let me know what you feel about these.

The Indian Museum

Sad, but true. Not many Indians like visiting Museums. Though every largish city in India has one. The Science Museums are usually visited by children as part of their trips organised by school, but that's about it. The museums that are related history and culture are given a pass.
Now you may argue that this is not true. That you have visited the museum in your city. Possible. But how many times did you visit that museum. Once? That's not good enough. Museums have so much to see that one, or two for that matter, visit is never enough.
The museums in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata are world class. The Government Museum in Chennai is absolutely fantastic. And so is the Indian Museum in Kolkata. Those living in cities such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata are lucky. They can visit these museums as many times as they wish too. Others who get to visit these places only a few times in their lifetimes can only take satisfaction by looking at the photographs they would have taken. Here's my set that I took at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. Did you know that the Indian Museum in Kolkata has an Egyptian Mummy? Go see my pictures.

Mother Pious Lady

Sometimes knowledge is packaged in a certain way that you would not grasp its utility unless you actually encounter it. So it is with this gem of a book: Mother Pious Lady by Santosh Desai. Packaged as a current affairs book, it is actually a gold mine for advertisers and marketers. I can see it as the basis of thousands of advertisements and marketing initiatives targeting the existing and for years to come. Actually Santosh Desai can make more money if the book is sold free, and he charges per advertisement based on this book.
Oh! You are not a marketing chap? But I am sure you would like a book that is witty and hilarious. I am sure you would also like to know the mind of the Indian middle class. Or better, you grew up as one but only recently moved up the ladder, thanks to the Indian success story. Nothing like curling up with this book and losing yourself into nostalgia. An occasional chuckle helps!
Want to read more? Check out the book review.

Bodh Gaya: Photo-Lens

A few of you may have noticed that the list of World Heritage Sites visited has an additional entry - The Mahabodhi Temple. Yeah, I finally visted Bodh Gaya. You can find lots of pictures and some details in my 'photo-lens on Bodh Gaya: Land of Enlightenment.

Let me know what you think of the pictures.

Indians in Business Novels

That Indian characters are increasingly finding a central place in Business Novels is a sure sign of Indians having arrived. At least in Harvard Business Review Press books. However, if the author is not very conversant with the culture, it could lead to some awkward situation. Especially, when the culture in India is as varied as it is.

In the otherwise delightful and very knowledge-imparting business novel,What I Didn't Learn in Business School by Jay B. Barney and Trish Gorman Clifford, Vivek Chatterjee (the almost central character) is "a native of India with a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkley."

Stereotyping is to be, of course, expected. "Turns out that Vivek and I [Justin Campbell - the central character] had something in common. He was once a good cricket player, and I once saw a cricket bat."

But what I found very amusiing is the following extract:

Bill entered the room with his hand extended and a smile on his face. Vivek was closest and introduced himself.
"Hello, I am Vivek Chatterjee And these are my colleagues Justin Campbell and Gordon Lee." Bill turned to Vivek, quickly withdrew his hand from the handshake, brought the palms of his hands together, and bowed slightly.
"Namaskar."
Vivek did the same and responded, "Namaskar."

Hmmmm... I think the authors have heard that Indians greet each other with a Namaskar or Namaste and they wished to show how culturally senstive they are. I have never seen Indians in formal business meetings greeting each other in this manner, and I have lived here all my life! The real life Vivek Chatterjee would have been equally amused.

Please don't get me wrong. I immensely enjoyed the novel. I would rate it as high as The Goal. It has the same quality as the Goal that makes you want to read it again and again. The theme is gradually elaborated and you feel as if you are part of the whole experience. Also, at the end of each chapter there what are called the Reflection Questions. Meditating a while on these questions could be a learning experience. I was very impressed with was the Reading List that is the end of the novel. Very neat list.

I really wish the authors come up with a series of Justin Campbell novels so that, along with Justin, we too discover "How Strategy Works in the Real World."