Aparna Hights and beyond : Reflections on 5 years in the neighborhood

April 2019:  We decided to relocate to Hyderabad and my search for a place near HITEC city began. As our ancestral house in the old city was too far away, I used my friends apartment at Aditya Heights as weekend hub and started looking near by. One day my friend took me to the terrace and showed a tall white building on botanical garden road. That was Aparna Heights but it did not register in my mind then.

 I got a few leads from Lanco Hills to Serene County to Hill ridge springs and had a list of houses to visit on the weekend. As there was a break between my appointments,  I decided to unwind at  Botanical Gardens. It had a calming effect and I felt I should look for a place in the vicinity. I resumed house hunt and passed through the the botanical Garden road.

chotaa sa ghar hogaa badalon ki chhaon men

A tall white building towering the surroundings and literally touching the clouds caught my eye. I realized it was the same building my friend showed me from Aditya Heights. The construction style with semi-circular edge to the balconies, transported me to the  buildings depicted in Vintage Bollywood movies. Images of apartments on Marine Drive flashed in my mind.

Sights of Axis bank and Heritage adjacent to the building  brought me back to reality. I realized that I didn't miss the practical angle in this dream sequence. The thought that we needed to balance the needs of a 3 generation household with connections across the city influenced our decision.

Oct 2019: Move to Aparna hights

na baadlon ke chhaon mein, na chandni ke gaaon men

magar ye ghar ajeeb hai zameen ke kareeb hai

ye tera ghar, ye mera ghar, ye ghar bahut hasiin hai

It may not be the most up scale place nor the grandiose community where you need  to drive to perform every small chore. Its a cozy place, small enough where you can connect with every neighbor and large enough to take advantage of economies of scale and afford the  facilities that gated communities offer. The size and location give it a down to earth feeling and immediate connect with the outside. 

The first year at Aparna was tough on us as we had to deal with the deaths in family followed by covid induced lockdown. All this meant that we could not experience the true glory of Aparna hights in the first year.

It was during the lockdown time that blogging thrived. Some of the earliest connections I made here were active bloggers, Kaushik Iyer and Raj Chellappan. 

The first person who invited me to his place was Sanjay Gooty. We had lot of common points including spending our formative years in Old City and several years in US. No wonder that when we were recently rehearsing "aarambh hai prachand", Sanjay was the chosen one to record the session. Yes, in 5 years we not only experienced the vibrancy of the community but started embracing it. 

One of my close friends suggested that we should choose opt for a gated community in Hyderabad and I feel we made the  right decision. Aarohi's social skills have improved over the years and she spends very little time on the phone. She has friends in very block and more. Sushmita also has found a good social circle. We also interact with parents of Aarohi's friends. I discuss a variety of topics with Animesh while our daughters are at play.

Apart from enjoying the warmth of the community, we started loving the neighborhood. Botanical Gardens became a weekend destination and eventually a daily routine for me. The chirping of the birds made me explore the less travelled trails.

ye kaun hansta hain phuulon men chhup kar

bahaar bechain hai kis ki dhun par

kahiin gumgum, kahiin rumjhum jaise naache zamiin

suhana safar aur ye mausam hasiin

A long walk interspersed by birding added an element of intrigue. The "Call of the Coucal" was arguably the most enchanting. I travelled into the woods following its calls every time but it used to fly away before i could take a shot. One day the garden was less crowded due to overnight downpour and there it was perched on the treetop.

Sightings of birds ranging from the Rufous Treepie to  the Oriental Magpie Robin made me yearn for more. The tranquility of garden in the early morning with chirping of the birds set the perfect mood for a hectic day.

Being an avid music lover meant that I scouted for concerts happening near by and came to know about Tatva arts. They organize concerts around the city and Botanical Garden happens to be one of the their regular venues. I had the pleasure of attending many concerts there. I exchange notes on concerts and other events happening in the city with Kaushik Iyer. Pandit Motiram Pandit Maniram Sangeet Samaroh being held over last few years at CCRT Madhapur is one such event where we have been regulars.

The vibrant community and thriving neighborhood is an essential ingredient for providing work life balance and a sense of calm to busy life.

Epilogue: 5 years down the line, the skyline has altered. Few tall white buildings have cropped up and the tallest of them is no longer Aparna Hights. However that has not diminished the pride of place it has in the neighborhood or the special spot it has in our hearts.

Music Lovers and Birding Pals : Parallel lines meet

My Favorite Diva's have been compared to Nightingale, Kokila and Skylark owing to their sweet voices. And from "Main ban ki chidiya" to "Koyal si teri boli"; our film music has embraced the usage of metaphors evoking birds.

No wonder that during my daily walks in Botanical Garden, I started gravitating towards the chirping of birds. I soon came to know about the most active group in town, Hyderabad Birding Pals (HBP), who current weekly bird walks. Ameenpur Lake, has lost its past glory due to construction in the vicinity, but its still one of the best spots in the vicinity of twin cities. 

Just before the destined meeting spot I took a wrong turn. A group of people beckoned at me. At 6:00 am in the morning at a deserted sport, who else but a bird enthusiast would turn up. I hadn't spoken to any of them before but they rightly guessed that I was one of them. We  had a few quick introductions followed by exchange of phone numbers.

I mentioned that I had been to a few wild life safaris and felt that it was a matter of pure luck. After a lot of effort, spotting of tigers remains elusive unless you go in the middle of scorching summer to Nagpur area, which is challenging with a young kid. Birding is much more rewarding and you can build it into your daily schedule. Murty Joka mentioned about his interest in Photographing historic sights and talked about his recent visit to Badami. Suman recounted his own experiences.

Our host and founding member of HBP, Hari Krishna soon arrived. He mentioned that he had hurt his leg. These walks are driven by passion of a few individuals and Hari braving his injury  and moving ahead with the event is a testament to that. The Ameenpur one was #458 in this journey. Soon a group of members dressed in Camouflaged Khakis and heavy gear joined us. Cameras, Lenses, Binoculars, Tripods; they had it all.

Hari enthusiastically pointed out " Indian Paradise Flycatcher". Others nodded, and swung into action to capture some good shots.

We maneuvered through some stones and undergrowth to reach the edge of the lake.The lake had dwindled with encroachments and construction in catchment areas. However it was still deep and vast allowing lot of fishermen in boats going for a morning hunt. We could see "Storks" and "Pelicans" perched on top of poles and everyone reached out to their gear.

We explored different stretches of the lake and sighted many more birds. A "purple Sunbird" was seen fiddling around on a bikes handle and Hari quipped " It probably was surprised seeing its image in mirror". I felt that I was the odd man out with just my mobile phone camera. I wanted to broach the topic of good camera for beginners, but Thirumal bet me to it.

Oh you should go to Haridas market quipped Suman. Soon technical specs of cameras, trusted vendors and markets, filled the air. This was music to my years. It was so similar to music connoisseurs referring to Chandni Chowk or Chor Bazaar to search for records and take the names of record collectors in hushed voices.

Whenever he saw a bird flying in the distant horizon, Hari would ID it with the help of his binoculars and call out the youngsters in the group to have a look. Few HBP members came with her kids and I was surprised to see the knowledge and photography skills of the younger members barely into their teens. Suman was in awe of the shot of a  'Great Cormorant" and asked "Did you shoot it at 250"; Pat came the reply "500".

The next hour was spent spotting "Pied Bushchat" and some other birds. Murty Joka captured good shots of "Barn Swallow" and "Asian Koel". It was getting warm by now and time to wrap up this Bird Walk. It was an unforgettable experience birding and interacting with other members of HBP.

I realized that while most of the members don't do this for a profession, their expertise in identifying birds and knowledge of the equipment is nothing short of professional. 

Looking forward to more such trips and hoping I have a long association with HBP just like the music groups.

Musical Musings in Mumbai

That elusive trip to Mumbai finally happened. After a last minute cancellation last year, we decided to play it by the ear. Hence we didn't publicize it and a few friends got missed out. A couple had to drop off.

Hopefully next time we will have a bigger music session. Thanks to Pradeep Asrani for pulling this off. The drive to the venue, NSIC, was a picturesque affair through the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. By the time I arrived, Pradeep and Anil Hingorani were in deep conversation.

Anil mentioned that he was staying at his cousins place temporarily as his apartment was under renovation. Nishant had earlier informed me that he was going to be late as was supervising work in his apartment. Pradeep updated that Archisman had gone to Kushal's house and they were coming together. Considering they were at the opposite ends of the city, I was wondering if Archisman's house was also under renovation and he temporarily relocated to south Mumbai.

Soon they joined us and Archisman quipped that he took local to South Mumbai to beat the traffic and came with Kushal. Nishant finally arrived and was greeted by Anil, "what's happening". Pat came the reply "I am busy with work and learning Sarangi". We lamented the diminishing use of Sarangi in contemporary songs.  

The topic shifted to our friends and family from abroad who are visiting and a common thread was that they had fallen sick. One reason was attributed to the pollution levels in Mumbai owning to construction. Thankfully we moved from discussion about construction to constructive discussion about music. So many memorials are being made in honor of our music personalities. I said that I had taken a picture of SD Burman chowk in Khar and Anil mentioned that he visited the Lata Mangeshkar park in Nagpur. The various areas in Mumbai where Chowks have been named after music personalities was recalled.

With Pradeep at helm, there was talk of movies from 30's and 40's and the pioneering work of  New Theatres. Pradeep recalled the influence of their music on the later generations. 

HQ Chowdhury's (HQC) book on SD Burman was debated at length, partly in the context of Surjit Singh asking why Ritu Chandra was not listed as a co-author. We concluded that Ritu was properly credited and HQC was an authority in SD's music from pre-bombay era. This is where the book scores over the other books on SD. The musical atmosphere and the different musical families; Boral's, Das Gupta's were given ample coverage.

Pradeep mentioned that his music cutoff was mid 60's prompting Anil to say that he listens to contemporary music. Anil recalled how he was swayed to the music of Bobby as a teenager. I wondered how Pradeep could have missed all that music and perhaps he was already in Dubai. Pradeep said he was very much in India and in fact he attended Pankaj Mullick's funeral procession in Kolkota.

Archisman recalled the heavenly experience when he attended Hemant Kumar's funeral procession where every house hold played a song of Hemant da.

Anil's love for 50's Lata, and her body of work with Anilda, CR etc is well documented in Latanjali and other RMIM posts. He likes music through the 70's with exceptions. Archisman quipped that he and Shankar had coined a phrase to capture Anil's tolerance range: from Anna to Annadaata given his soft corner for CR as well as Salil all the way up to 70's. Kushal noted that Salil considered Annadata to be his finest soundtrack.

Anil added that while its generally true, he doesn't have high opionion of SJ-Rafi post Jungli; Mukesh post early 50's except Salil etc. I pointed that Rafi sounded really good even in some post 70's songs like Shankar Hussain. Perhaps these were recorded earlier. Archisman added about songs from a Bappi Lahiri film that sound like they are from early 60's or before. Must have been "baap ka maal" was the consensus.

Archisman recalled my previous visits to Mumbai and in one such trip he almost reluctantly accompanied me to Moti Lalwani's house.  I added that this was my first trip to Mumbai after December 2014. 

While talking about our association over the decades, we quipped on the changed in technology.

Kushal recalled one Eureka movement when he could finally make his own custom CD's. Archisman added his experience after he purchased a double deck dubbing tape player. I added that I recorded same song on the side of the tape so that I don't have to rewind and revealed that it was "phaili hui hai sapnon ki baahen". Pre recorded tapes had the recording tab broken and I quipped that I added "adhesive tape" and dubbed music of Guide over Michael Jackson's dangerous. The pleasure of using a pencil to spin mangled cassette was fondly remembered.

Kushal added how some lost Hindi movie tapes were recovered from Pakistan. Those MM and Esquire labels on VHS were recalled with nostalgia. Pradeep recalled how he shipped several VCD's from Pakistan through a friend. We also talked about our common friend Khawar Sohail Siddiqi and his love for Bhajans.

We talked about several music lovers who have vanished of late. Parag Sankla was one prominent name. Archisman said that he is in touch with Aditya Pant. Jayaraman's name inevitably came up and we talked about offline interactions of him with RMIMers.

While we were wondering when the next RMIM meet would happen, I suggested that Mumbai may not be a bad idea. Pradeep said that only downside is that we cannot visit national film archives, which is why he was floating Pune. He recalled his and Kushal's visit there recently. Archisman added that if we give advance notice, we can always have an RPM record listening session in Kushal's music room. By visiting Kushal's place one can feel music history all around as its surrounded by buildings where Jaikishan, Suraiyya and other luminaries once lived. 'Jab chali thandi hawa" was picturized on the roof top next door. 

On that note of meeting soon with the prospect of a session at Kushal's place we parted. As several of us were heading to the northern suburbs, Nishant dropped us at Mahalaxmi. Anil, Archisman and myself hopped onto the local and the discussions continued.

Here's wishing everyone a happy new year, and hoping that we will have more such meets this year.

Swar Sandhya: An evening of classical music with Srivani Jade

 

I have been a regular follower of Tatvaa arts,  but other committments meant that my attendance was only confined to the concerts in my neck of woods, Botanical Gardens. Kachiguda was at the other end of the city but I had to make an exception. Srivani performed "ai ri aali piya bina" at the 2005 Portland RMIM Meet and while I was not there in person, I could visualise the impact. 

The cosy auditorium at Badruka College was filling up as I reached the venue. Gajender Shewalkar, one of the founders of Tatvaa called upon several dignitaries to light the lamp. Tatva's efforts to hold concerts at 75 venues to commemorate 75 years of Independance was very well received.

Srivani started by striking a chord with the audience, and talked of her Hyderabad connection.

And as she started speaking in flawless hindustani, it just confirmed that the Seattle native remains a true blooded Hyderabadi :) Feedback to the artist is important she began, "vo hamari koshish par chaar chaand lagaa dete hain". Chaliye ham ek do chaaad lagaa dete hain !

While introducing Rahul Deshpande on Haromoium and Manoj Biswas on Tabla, she recalled her long association with them. 

She choose Marwa, a Sandhya Kali raag to begin the proceedings. The time of the day when the day meets the night is a perdiod laced with restlessness she continued " bechaini kaayam rakhne ke liye shadaj ka istemaal hota hai". Parameshwar ka sumiran set the perfect tempo for the evening.

Srivani then talked about her Guru ji, Pandit Parameshwar Hegde and presented his compositon "he chandra chuda madanantaka shulapane".

She then presented a raag in Carnatic Paddhati; Raag Vijayanagari and added that it has elements of both Madhuvanti and Shivaranjani. Engaging the audience is very imporant and Srivani promoted us to guess the taal for her following number with an aalaap " sakhi aayenge more saajna". She went on to add that this was taught to her by her Guruji. 

The song that got the audeince onto their feet was the Dadra; Koyaliya mat kar pukaar. This was the penultimate song of the event and set the mood for the finale. The concert ended with a Meera Bhajan, "main to saanware rang raachi" also composed by Pt. Parameshwar Hedge, 

That summed up a special evening for me. It was also a very nostlagic trip to that side of the city. Tourist Hotel and Kumar theatre were frequent destinations during my growing up years and I was happy to be in the surroundings after such a long time. 

The call of the mountains

It has now become a routine to spend last few days of the year amidst nature. As our marriage anniversary falls during this time, we have one more reason to end the year on a high.

It was back in September that we zeroed in on Dehradun as it was within driving distance of Delhi and several hill stations were in the vicinity.  The idea was to visit NCR and then travel by road.

While I was exploring the various options, I saw a message on our community group about Saffron Vacations. I contacted them and our trip was finalized within a few days. We had to make changes to the literary at the last minute as Omicron started spreading. We cancelled NCR trip and flew to Doon.

The Jolly Grant airport nestled between the foothills of Himalayas was the perfect appetizer. On way to mussoorie, we covered the Dehradun Zoo and enjoyed glimpses of wild life including leopards that were ready to pose ! By the time we took Rope way down to Bhatta falls and finished boating in Mussoorie lake, it was late afternoon.

Stay at Sterling mussoorie was one of the highlights as we could get fantastic views. The balcony was the perfect spot to soak in the evening sun and observe the sun sinking behind the Shivaliks.
The next morning we got up early to Savor the sunrise. The balcony of the hotel reception gave us a clear panoramic view of the hills, and a dash of orange and red illuminating the sky. The hotel also had various other activities including birdwatching. As the mercury dipped below freezing after sunset, we used to end our outings early. The games room was a big bonus as we could engage Aarohi in the evenings.

The next day we covered Kempty falls, mall road and Gun hill point. What we saw at Gun Hill was only a sneak peak of things to come. Apart from site seeing, we took pictures in traditional Garhwali attire.

Our journey back to Dehradun started the next morning. We checked out of the hotel and took a detour to Dhanaulti. As we were negotiating the sharp bends and and go up the Garhwal range, the moment we were hoping for hit us. Right in front of us, we could see white lines on a blue canvas.

The words of the song “ye kaun chitrakaar hai” started echoing. The lofty snow clad peaks were in full display; from Gangotri group to Nanda Devi they were all there. Several of the peaks like Swargarohini, Banderpoonch have references in Ramayana and Mahabharata. Badrinath and Kedarnath are also in the vicinity. There is so much packed in those ranges that it is Geography, History, Mythology and Theology all rolled into one. The snow tops touching the white clouds gave an ethereal feeling. I was flooded with Memories of school days where we used to identify most prominent peaks on the map.  

There are several other points of interest here including a nature walk in Eco Park and hike onto the top of Surkanda Devi temple which we skipped as it was challenging with a small kid and chilly weather.

Once we were back in Dehradun, we just relaxed and celebrated our marriage anniversary by a visit to the temple and a shopping trip. The exotic Spanish boutique hotel Marbella, added a romantic touch to the day. Christmas trees, lights and Santa Cap ensured that Aarohi found something special wherever we went. 

It was a truly memorable trip and we are eagerly looking forward to the next expedition in the new year.

Down memory lane with P Suseela

As the legendary singer turns 86, here's a recollection of her songs laced with fond memories..

 neevunDedaa konDapai, naa swami..

The divine voice of Gaana Kokila, P.Suseela, literally transports you to heaven and you feel the presence of god.

I had first heard this song  in my Maternal uncles music collection. This collection was the biggest early influence in shaping my interest  in music and I have been a fan of the legend since then.  "mooga manasulu"(remade in Hindi as Milan) got repeated playtime in our household.

My family was partial to it as it evoked strong nostalgia of growing up on the banks of river Godavari and of course the music of KV Mahadevan was a standout.

Nostalgia for me though is growing up in old city of Hyderabad . So I pick another KV Mahadevan song,  picturized in Gyan Bagh Palace. The palace is residence of Dhanrajgirs,  who were richest bankers in the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad.

mutyamanta pasupu

During school days I had gone for a family function. All of us kids surrounded the youngest one and started playing with him. He was just starting to speak and when we asked his name he said Ramesh Naidu (that was of course not his name). I wondered who is Ramesh Naidu and was told that he is a national award winning composer.  I developed an instant linking for the Suseela number from his classic score for Megha Sandesam.

aakulo aakunai 

Those were the days when western boundary of the city was Banjara Hills and perhaps the only reason you would travel further west was for a picnic to Golkonda Fort or Gandipet Lake. Watching movies meant travelling to the heart of  the city (Abids) till Konark theatre in Dilsukhnagar came up. One of the earliest movies I recall seeing there was rerun of the classic "Gul-e-bakavali katha". The following song was among the highlights.

Suseela is accompanied by Ghantasala here.

nannu dochukonduvaTe

Saluri Rajeswara Rao is another legendary composer whose brought a classical touch to the songs.

vinipinchani raagale

My interest in her songs increased due to an interesting incident in college

Our Electronics Head of Dept, Dr. Sastry,  told us about his experience when he was evaluating the practicals. 

A student got the circuit diagram correct,  but the Prof. struck it off and gave a zero. On being questioned, the professor pointed out that it was not "grounded". The student retorted "Sir, if you assume  "ground" is there then isn't everything correct". Dr. Sastry told him the story of movie  "Donga Ramudu" where the hero wants Chicken curry. But he is served plain rice with a live chicken tied before him. He is asked to eat looking at the chicken and feel that he is having chicken curry. After listening to the story , I saw the movie and got hooked to this song... 

anuragamu virisena

The honey laden voice made me longing for more and I started exploring further. Adi Narayana Rao's composition from Suvarna Sundari became an instant favorite.

piluvakuraa alugakura

Anjali Devi literally became Suvarna Sundari after this and the movie was remade in Hindi with same starcast and the the tunes reused.

An even earlier movie of  Anjali Devi features a duet with Vyjayanthimala where P Suseela  playbacks for the latter.

sundaranga maruvagalenoy

That is just a sampling of my favorites from Telugu and Suseela has equally impressive body of work in Tamil, Kananda and Malayalam. That calls for another article, perhaps another day another time but I will leave you with a stunner from the tamil movie Parthiban Kanavu.  Suseela with AM Raja lip-syncing for Vyjayantimala and Gemini Ganesan.

idhaya vaanin

Asha Bhonsle - Birthday Tribute

While we were watching the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Aparna, we couldn't help notice that people from various parts of India have completely embraced the festivities. 

 It so happened that our friends from the society were visiting. We were talking about the melting pot of Indian Culture and discussion soon turned to Blogs and music. And I realized its been a while since I penned my thoughts. Here's celebrating the recent birthday of legendary singer, Asha Bhosle. She turned 88, on September 8. 

 I grew up being biased towards Lata Mangeshkar. Constant exposure to Hindi Film songs of the yore meant that watching songs picturized on the Heroine in Lata's voice and on the vamp picturized on Asha. Having developed a preference for the pious over sensuous; soft over loud and Indian over western meant that the elder sister always had the edge. But things changed as I explored Bengali and Marathi music. I also became much more receptive of western music. That is when I realized that the younger sister is no less. In fact Hindi music lovers are unfortunate that the softer side of Asha hasn't been tapped enough. 

 Without further ado; here are some personal favorites that showcase her mastery. In Bengali, she has done justice to all the Genres; Rabindra Sangeet, Aadhunik Gaan as well as Film songs. 

 1) aakashe aaj ronger khela 

 This beautiful compositon by Sudhin Das Gupta occupies a space which in my mind has been Lata's domain, and I sometimes wonder what could have been if Asha got more such songs in Hindi especially on the leading ladies of the black and white era. Also if Sudhin Das Gupta was in Hindi films, his path breaking works would have probably gave him as much accolades as RD Burman. 

 2)  aay chole aay

 The orchestration has a Salil Chodhury touch but remains very original. 

 3) It was during my teens that I got introduced to Rabindra Sangeet accidentally. I was tuning the radio and caught a melody in an unfamiliar language. And the love affair is still strong. 

 eso shyamolo shundoro

 Marathi: 

 1) Lets begin with a divine song from the diva ! 

 panduranga kanti

 2) When I first came across this song, I couldn't help listening to it in a loop. I contacted Dr. Suresh Chandvankar and he explained that this is based on Raag Desh. Since it is so steeped in the classical idiom, I could appreciate the melody even though I didn't understand the words. 

 ruupaas bhaLale mi

 Asha Bhosle was accompanied by Sudhir Phadke in that song.

 3) The next composition is by Sudhir Phadke's son Shridhar Phadke from the album Rutu Hirawa. From the effervescent title number to the Poignant "maajhiya mana zara thamana" the songs cover the gamut of emotions. Its tough to pick one favorite but I will settle for "saanjh ye gokuli" because it just paints a picture.. 

saanjh ye gokuli

 Finally its the turn of Hindi. 

 1) A very uplifting song which I typically use to greet friends on Diwali. 

 deepak se deepak jal gaye

 2) This Gaud Sarang piece just blows you off. The piece-de-resistance are the taans at the end of the song. 

 leharon men jhuuluun

 3) Asha brought joie de vivre to her songs, and Ghazals are no exception. Her collaboration across the border; Ghulam Ali and Faiz in this case showcases that music has no boundaries.

yuun sajaa ke chaand

jo dil ne lai badli to maddham hui har saaz ka rang.. 

 On that note, as this article fades into the vacuum of space; I am looking forward to the next celebrations in our community.