पवारांच्या लिला

सत्तेपासून पैसा आणि पैश्यातून सत्ता ह्या तंत्रात तरबेज असलेल्या पवारांनी कोणतेही बहुमत नसतांना काॅंग्रेस सोबत १५ वर्षे आणि सर्व त्यांच्या योजनेसारखे चालले तर ही ५ वर्षे सत्तेत रहाण्यात यशस्वी होतील.

२०१४ च्या निवडणुकीनंतर भाजपला न मागता पाठिंबा द्यायची तयारी दाखवून शिवसेनेला कात्रीत अडकवले. ह्या सर्व प्रकरणात शिवसेना ५ वर्षे सलत सत्तेत राहले जे पवारांच्या फायद्याचे ठरले. २०१९ च्या निवडणुकीनंतर अजून भाजपा आणि शिवसेनेला आपल्या तालावर नाचवत पहिले भाजपाला तोंडावर पाडले. अजीत पवारांनी शपथविधी पवारांच्या सहमती विना केली असेल हे मानण्यात मराठी माणूस खुळा नाही. पवारांना नक्की माहिती होते की भाजपा बरोबर सत्तेत राहले तर दुय्यम भुमिकेत राहावे लागेल. सत्तेतून पैसा मिळण्याची संधी तर नाहीच नाही. पण शिवसेने सोबत सत्तेत राहले तर सत्तेचे सुत्र आणि सुकाणु हे दोन्ही त्यांच्या हातात. पवारांच्या लिलेत भाजपा आणि शिवसेने मस्त फसली आणि सत्ता आपल्या ताब्यात घेतली ती पण तीन नंबरचा पक्ष असतांना!

नुकत्याच दिलेल्या मुलाखतीत त्यांनी नवीन लिला दाखवली. मोदी आणि शहा त्यांच्या वक्तव्यावर भाष्य करणार नाही हे त्यांना नक्की माहिती आहे. पण शिवसेनेला संदेश देत आहे की भाजपासोबत आम्ही कधीही जावू शकतो. गेल्या दोन वर्षांत त्यांनी अशा काही गोष्टी शिवसेनेकडून करून घेतल्या जसे अर्नबला अटक, कंगनाचा बंगला तोडणे, राणेंना अटक की शिवसेना आणि भाजप ह्यांची भविष्यात कधीही युती होणार नाही. 

ह्या लिलेतील नुकताच घटना म्हणजे विधानसभा अध्यक्ष निवडणूक. पवार आणि ठाकरे दोघांनाही ते पद कॉंग्रेसला द्यायचेच नाही. त्यात कॉंग्रेसमध्ये ह्या पदासाठी कोण ह्यात सहमत नाही. मग खापर कोणावर फोडायचे. ते राज्यपालांवर फोडले. इतका वर्षांचा प्रशासकीय अनुभव असतांना असे नियम राज्यपाल संमत करणार नाही हे समजण्याइतके तज्ञ ते नक्कीच आहे. ह्या खेळीतर कॉंग्रेस आणि शिवसेना दोघांनाही चितपट केले. ठाकरेंना राज्यपालांना ठाकरी भाषेत पत्र लिहायला लावले.  शिवसेना आणि राज्यपाल आणि पर्यायाने भाजपाचे संबंध अजून खराब केलेत तर कॉंग्रेस पदाविना हात चोळत बसला. येत्या वित्त अधिवेशनात ते पद कॉंग्रेसला मिळवायचे असल्यास निवडणूक हा एकच मार्ग आहे. पण निवडणूक हे सरकार पडण्यास कारणीभूत होऊ शकते हे पवारांना नक्की कळते. पवारांची पुढील लिला काय असेल ते पुढे बघूच पण सध्या तरी ते भाजपा, शिवसेना आणि कॉंग्रेस ह्यांना आपल्या तालावर नाचवण्यात ते यशस्वी होत आहेत.

सतीश गुंडावार

१ जाने २०२२

आगे भी जाने ना तू

https://youtu.be/Cm2MqoCvTw8

हे १९६५ चे गाणे म्हणजे अर्धे शतक जुने! संगीतकार रवी ह्यांच्या प्रकृतीच्या अगदीच भिन्न. हे गाणे पण तसेच म्हणजे गाण्याचे कोणते अंग बघायचे?

Prelude ची सुरवात trumpet आणि rhythm guitar ने केली आहे. २० सेकंदानी rhythm guitar आणि lead guitar ची मेलोडी. त्यानंतर येतो आशाताईंचा रेशमी आवाज जो गाण्याचा प्राण आहे.

गाण्यात लांब लांब तीन interludes आहेत. तिन्ही interludes एकमेकांपासून पुर्णपणे भिन्न. पहील्या interlude ची सुरुवात violine च्या दोन group ची counter melody ने सोबत lead guitar आणि mandolin ने शेवट. दुसरे interlude तब्बल ५५ सेकंदांचे! हे interlude गाण्याचे धृवपदच आहे. सुरुवात सुंदर saxophone ने नंतर mandolin आणि accordion ची जुगलबंदी आणि नंतर violine ने शेवट. तिसरे interlude saxophone, mandolin आणि गायिकेच्या आवाजाचे मिश्रण.

तब्बल ८ मिनिटाचे गाणे string section, brass section आणि wind section पुरेपूर. गाण्यात कोणतेही ताल वाद्य नाही. Rhythm साठी फक्त rhythm guitar चा उपयोग. 

गाणे राग पहाडीवर आधारित आहे म्हणतात जे ह्या कानसेनाला कळण्याइतके ज्ञान नाही. पण western orchestration वर भारतीय गाणे म्हणजे fusion चे उत्तम उदाहरण. 

आणि आता ४० वर्षांनंतरचे हे गाणे ऐका आणि सांगा.

https://youtu.be/-6Y8hMyEoV8

😁😁😁

दिल की नजर से नजरों के दिलसे

बऱ्याच दिवसांपासून एखाद्या गाण्यावर लिहावे असे वाटत होते.  पण शोधून अश्या गोष्टी मिळत नसतात त्या समोर येतात. आज सकाळी रेडिओ लावला आणि हे गाणं लागले.

गाण्याचे संगीत पाश्चात्य असले तरी भारतीय सरळ चालीवरचे fusion. गाण्याचे मुख्य वाद्य अकाॅर्डियन सोबत मेंडोलिन, व्हायोलीन, ड्रम आणि डबल बास एवढीच वाद्ये. Prelude व्हायोलीन आणि अकाॅर्डियनच्या सुंदर counter melody ची आहे. ती ऐकताच गाणं ओठांवर येते. गाण्यात ड्रम आणि डबल बासचे साधे rhythm सतत वाजत आहे. Interlude मध्ये व्हायोलीन आणि अकाॅर्डियनची अप्रतिम गुंफन. अश्या ह्या पाश्चात्य पार्श्वसंगीतावर  लतादीदी आणि मुकेशचा तलम आवाज. छायाचित्रण कृष्णधवल असले तरी पडदा राजकपूरचे राजबिंडा रुप तर नूतनच्या सोज्वळ सौंदर्याने व्यापून टाकले आहे. 

शंकर जयकिशनने संगीतबद्ध केलेले. सुमीत मित्रांची जादुई बोट अकाॅर्डियन पडली आहेत. शैलेंद्रची अद्भूत रचना *दिल की नजर से नजरों के दिलसे* असे सर्वांग सुंदर गाणं. आज राजकपूर ह्यांचा वाढदिवस आहे. त्या निमित्ताने जरूर ऐका आणि आनंद घ्या.

सतीश गुंडावार

१४ डिसेंबर २०२१

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

https://youtu.be/t8vDu-C7u1Q

The Forgotten War

The wise people have ironically defined history as a story of wars written by victor. Therefore, history is not written whenever peace is prevailing in the world. In other words, war is the permanent reality of the human race. This may be the reason we forget many important wars or they go behind in our memory. The Vietnam war is such a war. We do know it, but we are in the process of forgetting it. I say that the Vietnam War is the mother of all current conflicts in the world.

The objective of this blog is not to write on the history of the Vietnam war but its ecological, economical, civilizational damage on the world. However, it is important to share a brief history of the Vietnam war for proper correlation between the war and its damage. The period is very long. It starts from 1920 to 1990. Therefore, putting this history in a couple of pages is highly impossible. If you are really interested, then watch “The War in Vietnam” by Ken Burn and Lynn Novick on CBS TV. There were three Indochina wars during this period. But I will briefly cover only the first and second Indochina war because the objective of this blog links to those wars.

Immediately after World War I, Vietnam started requesting USA, France and UK for self-rule. The USA was then openly favoring demolition of European colonies and self-rule. Ho Chi Minh wrote a memorandum to the President of USA for self-rule. But the USA didn’t want to annoy their friend France and did not respond to his memorandum. Ho Chi Minh visited various European countries to garner support for independence of Vietnam during that period. But to his disappointment, he soon realized that self-determination, human dignity, human rights, human liberty of western world is just hypocrisy. Ho Chi Minh, a strong nationalist, realized that armed revolution is the only solution for the independence of Vietnam. He was then attracted towards communism and went to Russia for training.

During World War II, the Japanese army defeated French colonial power in Vietnam and ruled Vietnam for a short period. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh had already returned to Vietnam. He saw an opportunity for the independence of Vietnam. He garnered support from locals and started a guerilla war against Japanese forces. They defeated Japan on 2-Sep-1945. He declared independence and named it the ‘Democratic Republic of Vietnam’. But this independence was short lived. France once again attacked Vietnam, overthrew DRV govt and restored French authority just after 20 days (22-Sep-45).

The first Indochina war was fought between Dec-1946 to Jul-1954. Ho Chi Minh’s communist guerilla defeated the French army on 7-May-1954. The USSR and China actively supported them. Vietnam and France held Geneva conference for peaceful resolution during Apr to July 1954. France was determined to divide Vietnam after their humiliating defeat. They forced Vietnam to accept partition of Vietnam at 17^th parallel on 21-Jul-1954. The agreement had a reunification election after 2 years. Therefore, Ho Chi Minh accepted the agreement. But France, USA had different plans in their mind. Ho Chi Minh and his communist party controlled North Vietnam. USA and France installed puppet President Ngo Dinh Diem who was Catholic Christian in South Vietnam. Diem was a devout Christian. He treated the majority Buddhist very badly. He did not agree for 1956 reunification election. This is what European power wanted.

From 1954 to 1964, the USA had presence in South Vietnam. But their role was limited to advisor and no participation in direct fight. They had deployed thousands of military advisors to South Vietnam. During these ten years, communist guerillas in South Vietnam (Viet Cong) organized guerilla war against the South Vietnam army. Viet Cong was actively supported by the North Vietnam army. South Vietnam witnessed many coups during this period and there was no visible progress on the defeat of the North Vietnamese communist government. Americans were so convinced of the Domino Effect (if one country fell to communism, then all the surrounding countries would fall to communism) that they felt it is their moral responsibility to support South Vietnam and defeat communist North Vietnam. Now, American wanted to take a direct part in the action. They wanted a reason for it. It is alleged that North Vietnamese boats attacked American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin on 2-Aug-1964. A 2005 American document shows that it was constructed reason. American engagement in actual action started from here. US President Lyndon B Johnson assured Americans that defeat of North Vietnam is imminent. American had a lot of overconfidence in their military power/capability and refused to understand with whom they were fighting. Ho Chi Minh’s men had already defeated the Japanese and French army recently.

Viet Cong had already penetrated every city/town/village of South Vietnam. American fascination for Catholic Christian ruler in South Vietnam alienated the Buddhist majority. Viet Cong already had dominations from North Vietnamese by now. They planned a major offensive on the US and South Vietnamese army. They were secretly planning it for months together. On 30-Jan-1968, they orchestrated simultaneous and surprise attacks (Tet Offensive) on 100 cities of South Vietnam. 85,000 Viet Cong guerillas and North Vietnamese regular army took part in it. Ho Chi Minh and his men were ready to sacrifice 10 Vietnamese for 1 American. They were determined for independence of their mother land. Whereas American soldiers were completely clueless. They did not know why they were fighting in Vietnam. The Tet offensive completely demoralized the South Vietnamese and US army. Frustrated US army entered in Son Tinh district of South Vietnam on 16-Mar-1968 and raped and killed thousands of unarmed civilians and women. This unfamous My Lai massacre turned common American’s opinion against their government. Antiwar sentiments increased in America. Lots of protests started across America for opposing US presence in Vietnam.

Richard Nixon won the Presidential election in Jan-1969 on antiwar sentiment. Meanwhile Ho Chi Minh died in Sep-1969 at the age of 79. Americans slowly started troops withdrawal in 1969. Meanwhile, the Paris Peace Accord was signed on 27-Jan-1973. This ended US involvement in Vietnam officially. Ironically, Henry Kissinger received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 for the Paris Peace Accord. Who and how and why people get the Nobel Peace Prize is an independent subject of investigation. However, the US took almost 2 years to evacuate Vietnam. The US Ambassador ran away from their embassy rooftop on 30-Apr-1975. The USA left Vietnam with a lot of humiliation. History repeats! The USA ran away from Afghanistan in similar fashion! Agony of Vietnam did not stop here. It continued till 1990 although it was merged in 1975.

As I said earlier, the objective of this blog is not the history of the Vietnam war but what catastrophe it had inflicted on Vietnam. The key strength of Viet Cong guerilla tactics was underground tunnels. The Vietnamese were convinced that they can’t defeat superpower France and the USA in face-to-face combat. Therefore, hit and run was the best suited guerilla tactic they first used against France in 1940. They used the same tactic against the USA. Estimated 200 KM of underground tunnels were built till 1960. These tunnels were well equipped with ammunition storage, kitchen and hospitals. They were sometimes 3 tiers in the ground. They were suited for the size of Vietnamese. But bigger sized westerners could not dare to enter it. These tunnels proved decisive in the Vietnam war. The American army was not trained in guerilla warfare. Therefore, the US Army used their muscle power to crush the Vietnamese. Vietnam had thick forest and Viet Cong (and North Vietnamese regular army) were hidden in the tunnel network. The US army sprayed 45 million liters of Agent Orange across Vietnam. Agent Orange destroys vegetation on spraying. The US sprayed 28 million liters of Napalm for burning vegetation. As if it was not sufficient, the US army deployed 150 Rome Plow tractors which destroyed approximately 1000 acres of agricultural land and forest. It not only killed Vietnamese but killed a large number of wildlife (tiger, elephant, bears, leopard etc) and extinct many species of animal and vegetation. 50% mangroves were destroyed during this war resulting in typhoons and tsunamis for many years. Rice production reduced dramatically during American occupation to create artificial famine. Toxic chemicals (Dioxin) entered the food chain resulted in a high rate of cancer. Thousands of birth defects such as Spina Bifida, cerebral palsy, physical and intellectual disability, missing or deformed limbs were observed up to the next 4 generations of Vietnamese. When I was reading this, I immediately remembered Saddam Hussein. He was hanged as he used Mustard gas against his own people (Kurds). Who was punished for America’s war crime? Agent Orange and Napalm not only affected Vietnamese but also Americans. American soldiers used empty barrels of Agent Orange and Napalm for bathing, storing and cooking. Affected soldiers filed a case against Monsanto and Dow Chemicals (suppliers of these chemicals) in US courts and received huge compensation. But Vietnamese did not get any compensation from these companies till date.

Similar to these tunnels, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese army had a unique supply system which is called as Ho Chi Minh Trails (see above map). These supply lines were passing through Laos and Cambodia. The US army conducted massive bombardment on North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to destroy Ho Chi Minh trails and tunnels. Estimated 16 million ton of ammunition used in the Vietnam war as compared to 2.1 million in WWII in Europe and Asia by the US army. This is 8 times of WWII in a much smaller area! 2 million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos alone which is 1 ton of bomb per person! 0.5 million ton of bombs were dropped on Cambodia and remaining mostly on North Vietnam. Today Vietnam has 30 million bomb craters with 3 meter diameter. They are infertile now. Vietnam still does not have resources to clear these bomb craters.  Toxic chemicals and bombardment destroyed 4.5 million acres of forest and agricultural land which is almost 5% of the total land of Vietnam. Over 2 million Vietnamese took refuge within the country and an equal number of people became homeless.

The peak size of the US army was 500,000 in Vietnam. But over 1.5 million Americans took part in this war over 20 years. Total 3 million Vietnamese killed with millions wounded in this war. 58,000 US soldiers killed, 150K were wounded and 21K were permanently disabled. The US spent 168 Billion Dollar in the Vietnam war which is 1.4 trillion today. The USA inflicted such an unprecedented destruction not only on Vietnam but also on their own people.

America’s humiliated defeat in Vietnam did not bring any wisdom to American policy makers. They wanted to take revenge on the Soviets who helped the Vietnamese. The US got that opportunity in Afghanistan. Many people believe that Islamic terrorism started because of Afghanistan war. If that is true, then the first terrorist organization should have been born in Vietnam. The hidden war between the US and Russia started from the Vietnam war is continuing till date.

But what do we Indians take lessons from war in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sahel?

·         Violent minorities can create a civil war situation in the country if the majority is silent spectators.

·         Every citizen must strongly believe in Nation First. If the small section of society invites foreign power to solve their internal domestic problems, then this is the beginning of destruction of the country. See where Syria, Libya, Iraq are today? They were prosperous and rich countries a few years back.

·         External power will never solve internal domestic problems. They will first destroy infrastructure, industry, agricultural land and forest. Vietnam could not reach their potential till now. Syria, Iraq, Libya will take another 50 years to achieve their earlier state if war is stopped today.

We have recently seen that the govt of India had to bend and agree to unrealistic demands of miniscule minority because the majority were silent. See anti farm bill or anti CAA/NRC protests. The protestors are putting all the efforts to attract international support. We have seen how international wasted interest groups supported these agitations. It is just one instance of foreign intervention in India’s internal matters and our Shining India, Make in India, World Pharmacy, Superpower India will go to dust.

 

Satish Gundawar

25-Nov-21 

Media Watch 21 Nov 21

Pakistan was shipping some radioactive material to China. The ship was intercepted in the international waters, made to park at Mudra port in Gujarat. Radioactive material has been confiscated.

Similar to Brexit in UK, Texit movement is gaining ground in Texas, USA. People of Texas wants breakup from USA.

Belarus has created refugee crises for Polant. Belarus is allowing refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc to enter in Belarus and then provoking them to cross Polish border.

France has changed the color of their national flag silently. Minor change but people realised it very late.

Civil war situation in Sudan and Ethiopia. Partition of Sudan happened of religious ground. But both Sudan are not peaceful. Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed got Nobel prize of peace and now charged of genocide.

Keep a watch on Turkey for some more months. Erdogan will do some stupid things like few days back he asked many European and American ambassadors to leave Turkey.

Sharad Pawar had been very sympathetic to Naxals since beginning. Central govt transferred cases of Elgar Parishad to NIA just before MVA govt formed in Maharashtra for obvious reasons. Now why did NCP home minister allow encounter of Milind Teltumde? Think!

Danger of Corona has not gone. Europe is facing forth wave. Germany, Netherlands, Poland have huge spike in cases. Russia, China are also in trouble. Hence, vaccination is the only solution. Wear mask, social distancing, sanitizer is must. Take care of yourself and your loved ones🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Where Have You Taken My Congress (कुठे नेऊन ठेवली माझी काँग्रेस)?

Today is 2^nd Oct and India is remembering two of her great children Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Today, they must be asking a question to their fellow party members, “Where have you taken my Congress?” They are not the only one, but the rest of India must be puzzled with this question.

The recent turmoil in Punjab puzzled even very senior Congress leaders like P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibbal, Manish Tiwari etc. Who is taking the decision in the Congress Party now? Many political analysts say that making Siddhu as Punjab state president and removal of Amarinder Singh as CM was Rahul’s decision. But I feel that it was Priyanka Vadra’s decision. She might have forced ailing Sonia Gandhi to execute it. The Gandhi family deliberately disturbed their most stable and performing government in Punjab. I always felt before 2019 that Priyanka is Congress’s trump card against Narendra Modi. She will revive Congress if responsibility is given. But nowadays, I feel that Rahul is more capable than Priyanka.

The Congress party has completely failed in state after states in surviving their government. In fact, they had given their governments to BJP on the golden platter in states like Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry. BJP is replacing them wherever Congress is at second position and taking second position. BJP has successfully done it in Orissa and West Bengal. They will do it in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the next election. But the irony is that Congress is celebrating their own defeat in West Bengal and happy that BJP could not win West Bengal. The Congress govts are in trouble in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh due to power struggle within the party. The Gandhi family is completely clueless on how to handle it. Why is it happening? Is Sonia unable to control the tantrums of Rahul and Priyanka? I do not know what the real answer is. Group 23 is unaware of it. Then how would the common citizen know?  

I partially agree with Kanhaiya Kumar that the Congress party must be saved. In short, he is also agreeing that Congress is in trouble. But I feel that it is in the interest of the country and democracy that there must be a strong opposition party at the center. At this moment, only Congress is capable of doing it. They say power goes into the head and corrupts the men. There is no guarantee that BJP will remain a non corrupt party for a long period. BJP can still get a person like Shankar Singh Vaghela in future.

The following figure shows my belief in the political spectrum in India.

 

Figure 1: Political Spectrum of Indian Political Parties

India’s left politics is crowded and its vote share is eroding. However, left space would be there in India. The centrist votes are now taking a firm position. The extreme criticism of Narendra Modi and constant attack on Hindutva/RSS is galvanizing this polarization. They are either moving towards left or right. The centrist space is rapidly shrinking in India. But my personal opinion is that it is leaning towards center of right i.e. BJP

The Congress Party has been shifting their leftist, socialist shades very frequently. Mr. Nehru started the process of moving from the Centrist party to the left leaning party. But Mrs. Gandhi accelerated it in her tenure. Nationalization of banks, LIC, airlines business happened during their period. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi started understanding the benefits of liberalization and moving towards the right. Mr. Narasimha Rao and Mr. Manmohan Singh brought Congress once again to the center. It benefited India.   

 

 

 

Figure 2: Shifting Red of Congress

It is beyond my imagination why did Rahul Gandhi bring Congress very close to the left? He is criticizing each economic policy, defense policy. He is very vocal in criticizing all big industrialists and painting them as if they are looting India and they do not have any role in the economic progress of India. The communists have been sending their moles in Congress since independence. Krishna Menon, Nurul Hasan, Mohan Kumaramangalam, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Jayanthi Natarajan, Jairam Ramesh are few examples. Now Rahul Gandhi has brought fresh and young leftist to Congress i.e. Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mewani.

India’s king maker states viz. Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), West Bengal (42), Bihar (40) and Tamil Nadu (39) make up 249 (~46%) out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. I call MP (29), Karnataka (28), Gujarat (26) and Rajasthan (25) as Saffron states (~20% of seats). Although Congress has been steadily declining in Kingmaker states, they still have sizable voters in Saffron states. They have good support in Maharashtra, Kerala (20), Assam (14), Jharkhand (14), Punjab (13), Chhattisgarh (11) and Haryana (10). In short, Congress has sizable voters in ~240 to 250 Lok Sabha constituencies. No other opposition party has such strength. Therefore, Congress has a moral responsibility to emerge as a strong opposition party. If Gandhi family is not taking this initiative, the voters will force other Congress leaders to take some strong decisions. What are the possible scenarios?

1.       Gandhi family understands the need of a strong, active, hardworking and performing president of Congress party and make a way for some good candidate. They will still control the party behind the curtain. They can adopt a model similar to BJP. Everyone knows who controls the BJP even if J. P. Nadda is president. The Gandhi family needs a very good advisor like Ahmed Patel immediately to implement it. They will have to make tactical move towards the center. They can’t win without attracting Hindu votes which are steadily polarizing.

2.       Many political analysts feel that Congress will split vertically. It would be interesting to see whether Group 23 splits it. Amarinder Singh will soon form his own regional party. My view is that many Group 23 members tried their luck in the BJP. But the BJP did not heed them.

3.       TMC and AAP started seeing opportunities in the weak Congress. They started encroaching in Congress space. AAP already started it in Punjab, Gujarat, Goa and Uttar Pradesh. TMC feels that they have an opportunity of taking over Congress votes in Assam. They have already started expanding in Tripura and Goa.

4.       Group 23 will not split the party. But they will leave Congress and join erstwhile Congress parties like NCP, TMC, Amarinder Singh new party, YSR Congress etc.

Only option 1 will prove a viable option for fighting against BJP. Let’s hope wisdom prevails on the Gandhi family and take steps towards Option 1. Otherwise, as many political analysts believe, Congress Mukt Bharat (काँग्रेस मुक्त भारत) will be a reality by Mar-22!

 

Satish Gundawar

2-Oct-2022 

जा रे जा रे उड जा रे पंछी

https://youtu.be/YTMxRVtgLy4

ह्या गाण्याच्या कोणत्या अंगाकडे लक्ष द्यायचे हा मोठा प्रश्न आहे😁😁😁

६० वर्ष जुने गाणे आहे. चार मिनिटाच्या गाण्यात ४८ सेकंदाचा prelude जो पुर्ण पाश्चात्य आहे. Symphony style चे. संपूर्ण गाण्यात भारतीय ताल. हिंदुस्थानी गायकीच्या मागे opera style चे violine. Melody आणि counter melody चा उत्तम वापर. Interlude मध्ये saxophone नक्कीच मनोहरीदांचा असणार 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻एकच तक्रार...interlude परत परत तेच वापरले 😭

कृष्णधवल चित्रीकरण असले तरी दोघांमधील दुरावा प्रभावी उतरवला आहे. त्यात माला सिन्हा आणि देवानंदचा मार्मिक अभिनय..

गाण्याचा भाव आणि त्यावर लतादीदींचा सोनेरी आवाज. माझ्या पिढीपर्यंत तर हे गाणे जीवंत आहे. पुढची पिढी पण हेच ऐकणार हे निश्चित.

सलिलदा आणि लतादीदींचे अनंत उपकार गेल्या अनेक पिढ्यांवर आहेत 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

वक्त वक्त की बात

https://youtu.be/Cm2MqoCvTw8

हे १९६५ चे गाणे म्हणजे अर्धे शतक जुने! संगीतकार रवी ह्यांच्या प्रकृतीच्या अगदीच भिन्न. हे गाणे पण तसेच म्हणजे गाण्याचे कोणते अंग बघायचे?

Prelude ची सुरवात trumpet आणि rhythm guitar ने केली आहे. २० सेकंदानी rhythm guitar आणि lead guitar ची मेलोडी. त्यानंतर येतो आशाताईंचा रेशमी आवाज जो गाण्याचा प्राण आहे.

गाण्यात लांब लांब तीन interludes आहेत. तिन्ही interludes एकमेकांपासून पुर्णपणे भिन्न. पहील्या interlude ची सुरुवात violine च्या दोन group ची counter melody ने सोबत lead guitar आणि mandolin ने शेवट. दुसरे interlude तब्बल ५५ सेकंदांचे! हे interlude गाण्याचे धृवपदच आहे. सुरुवात सुंदर saxophone ने नंतर mandolin आणि accordion ची जुगलबंदी आणि नंतर violine ने शेवट. तिसरे interlude saxophone, mandolin आणि गायिकेच्या आवाजाचे मिश्रण.

तब्बल ८ मिनिटाचे गाणे string section, brass section आणि wind section पुरेपूर. गाण्यात कोणतेही ताल वाद्य नाही. Rhythm साठी फक्त rhythm guitar चा उपयोग. 

गाणे राग पहाडीवर आधारित आहे म्हणतात जे ह्या कानसेनाला कळण्याइतके ज्ञान नाही. पण western orchestration वर भारतीय गाणे म्हणजे fusion चे उत्तम उदाहरण. 

आणि आता ४० वर्षांनंतरचे हे गाणे ऐका आणि सांगा.

https://youtu.be/-6Y8hMyEoV8

😁😁😁

Burning Sahel

What comes in our mind when someone asks us countries which are affected by terrorism? Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan correct? What comes in our mind when someone asks us about terrorist organization? Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, Hamas right? We think of India, Israel when someone talks about countries who are fighting cross border terrorism. But we hardly think of Sahel, region of Africa, which is also badly affected by terrorism and civil war. This may be because this region is extremely poor, has less business potential, marginal diplomatic relations. Or many may think that black people not worth of human rights. Or it is far away from India and hence unrest in Sahel does not affect us. Someone may say that not aware of something like this happening in Sahel as media does not give any coverage. Believe me we are not the only one. The whole world is ignoring Sahel as they hardly have any economic interests in Sahel region.

Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea are part of Sahel region of Africa. If you look at the map, there are other countries such Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Congo who are also facing terrorism or civil war.

·         Mauritania is ~100% Sunni Muslim country. It has single party government and history of military coup. Mauritania is victim of cross border terrorism due Islamic insurgency in Algeria since 2005. Terrorist organizations from Mali are also attacking Mauritania.

·         Mali’s economy is based on gold. It has 90% Sunni Muslims and 5% Christians population. Mali has single party pro socialist government. Islamic jihad started in northern part of Mali (Azawad) which is closer to Algeria. Algerian terrorist organization instigated northern people to overthrow socialist govt and establish Sharia law in Mali. The fight between govt forces and terrorist organization started in 2012 and still going on.

·         Burkina Faso: Extremely poor country with 63% Muslims and 23% Christians. It has Marxist leaning socialist government mostly governed by Christians. North of Burkina Faso which has border with Mali and Niger has extreme issue of cross border terrorism. Burkina Faso does not have resources, and courage to fight back. Terrorist attacks started in 2015 and still going on.

·         Niger’s economy is based on oil with 99% Muslims. Niger has checkered history of one party socialist govt and military coup. Niger is victim of cross boarder terrorism. All countries surrounding Niger are affected by Islamic terrorism. Terrorist organizations from Nigeria, Mali, Libya and Algeria use Niger as transit and safe location. Niger does not have means and resources to counter this.

·         Nigeria’s economy is based on oil with 56% Muslim (mostly in North) and 44% Christians (Mostly in South). Nigeria is multi party federal republic. Nigeria had both Christian and Muslim President till now. However, wealth is concentrated mostly with Christian. Notorious Boko Haram is from Nigeria. Northern Nigeria has Sharia law implemented and Boko Haram now wants to implement it throughout Nigeria. Islamist jihad of Boko Haram started in 2012 and still going on killing and displacing thousands of people in Nigeria and surrounding countries.

·         Chad’s economy is based on oil. It has 52% Muslims (mostly in North) and 44% Christians (Mostly in South) population. It has multi party Presidential system. The Presidents have been elected from both Christian and Muslim. However, it has been ruled by Idriss Deby since 1990 till 2021. The civil war between northern Muslims and southern Christians is going on since its independence in 1960. Northern Muslim has constant support from Libya and Sudan in Civil war.

·         The partition of Sudan happened in 2011 due to politics of oil and religion. Northern part is still called as Sudan and has 97% Muslim population. The southern part is called as South Sudan with 65% Christian and 6% Muslim population. The partition of Sudan is result of civil war between Muslims (North) and Christian (South). Sudan is an independent subject in itself. Insurgency, terrorism, fight between Sudan and South Sudan is still going on.

·         Eritrea is completely different than rest of Sahel countries. It has long history war with Ethiopia. Both Eritrea (63% Christian and 37% Muslim) and Ethiopia (63% Christian and 34% Muslim) are Christian majority countries. Ethiopia is one of the largest landlock country. Eritrea would have given them long coastal line. Eritrea was Italian colony till 1941. British took over Eritrea and kept under their administration until 1951. British and American gave this territory to Ethiopia as a reward for Ethiopia’s support during WWII. The civil war between Eritrea and Ethiopia broke in 1961 and continued till 1991. It can be called as communists gorilla war as Communist countries actively supported Eritrean in this war. Eritrea became an independent country in 1993. Understandably it has leftist, socialist one party system with Isaias Afwerki as its president since 1993. No elections held since 1993. Interestingly, Eritrea supported Ethiopia in Tigray war in 2020-21.

·         Senegal is the only country which could protect themselves from cross border terrorism and civil war. It has 94% Muslim and 4% Christian and is multi party secular state. Casamance region of Senegal is Christian majority and had given trouble to Senegal in past.

Other countries in the region such as Algeria, Congo, Morocco have similar story of cross border terrorism and civil war. There are some observations in Sahel.

·         Most of the conflicts, cross border terrorism and civil war started after 2011 when Arab Spring started in Africa and West Asia. Arab Spring movement in Egypt and Libya and civil war in Algeria are major contributors in unrest in Sahel.

·         5 countries (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Eritrea) out of 9 are/had communist regime. Remaining 2 countries (Chad, Nigeria) have multi party presidential system. These communist countries were relatively peaceful until Arab Spring in 2011 and Colonel Gaddafi was running socialist government in Libya.

·         In short, Islamic terrorism is fighting against leftist/communist rule in Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger (and in Algeria) to establish Islamic State (Sharia rule). Indian communist should note this.

·         ISIS and Al-Qaeda started losing their control over Iraq, Syria and Libya after initial success. These groups have started moving towards Sahel region. Most of the terrorist organization are local but proudly declare their allegiance with ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

·         Military of these countries is very small, poorly equipped, lack of modern training and motivation. Since Sahel was prominently France colony. France takes more interest in counter terrorism efforts in Sahel. US, British, Italians or UN forces have some presence.

Now five countries viz. Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger (communist regime) and Chad  have joined their hands together to counter cross border terrorism of Sahel (G5 Sahel). France is actively supporting them in training, equipment etc. But peaceful Sahel and north Africa is a distant dream.  

 

Satish Gundawar

5-Sept-21

Will USA’s Wisdom Prevail?

I had written a blog “Anarchy of Democracy” in Jan-21 and written that US President Mr. Ronald Reagan made a historical speech in the British Parliament on 8-Jun-1982. He said “We must take action to assist the campaign for democracy. Foster the infrastructure of democracy, system of free press, union, political parties, universities”. US was doing exactly same in Afghanistan since 2001! All Human Development Index viz. Life Expectancy, Women Education, GDP, Per Capita income, Electricity to Citizen and internet penetration increased multifold during US experiment of democracy in Afghanistan. But who is USA to impose democracy on Afghanistan? Was Ashraf Ghani’s govt popular, whether Afghans wanted Ghani’s govt or Taliban’s govt? We need to ask these questions. After, Americans ran away from Bagram airbase on 2-July, Taliban started their campaign aggressively and captured entire Afghanistan in 45 days! They did not face major resistance. Afghans welcomed them at many places, Afghan govt forces deserted and joined them. This indicates that large number of Afghans wanted Taliban govt and they have it now. USA spent over 3 Trillion Dollars for experiment of democracy which has gone to drain now. President Trump realized that Pakistan is milking them. The cost of Afghan war will impact on American economy very soon. He took wise decision and declared that US Military will be withdrawn by 11-Sep-21. Will newly found US wisdom prevail in other parts of the World? USA’s NGOs (and social media platforms) are directly responsible for instigating Arab Spring in 11 countries in 2011. Civil war is still going on in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq etc. Let’s see what is happening there now.

·         Libya is homogenous with respect to race, ethnicity, and religion. 97% Libyans are Sunni Arab. Therefore, it is easier to resolve and stop the civil war. Libya is now controlled by three groups. Government of National Accord (GNA) based out of Tripoli. Libyan Nation Army (LNA) and House of Representative (HOR) based out of Tobruk. Southern Libya is controlled by Al-Qaeda, ISIS. Al-Qaeda and ISIS are already marginalized in Libya. The major fight is between GNA and LNA/HOR. GNA is UN recognized government whereas LNA is headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. USA says that they do not have any presence or intervention or interest or role in Libya. But Khalifa Haftar is US citizen and his family still lives in USA. Saudi Arabia, UAE are supporting Khalifa Haftar and are close allies of USA. If USA instructs Saudi, UAE and Egypt to stop supporting Khalifa Haftar, civil war will stop very soon. Let Libyans decide their own fate.

·         Syria is complex country as it has different races, ethnicities and religions. Sunni majority country is governed by Alawite (Shia) minority. Four distinct groups are fighting with each other. Syrian Govt forces, National Defense Forces of Syrian Christians and Shabiha (Alawite Shia) private army is Alawite Shia camp. Free Syrian army (FSA), defected Sunni soldiers of Syrian army is second camp. Terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, Al-Nusra, ISIS is third camp. Ethnic Kurds has Syrian Democratic Front (SDF). They have formed independent state Rojava in Northern Syria in 2013. All these 4 camps have fought with each other. US government is supporting FSA and Kurds with arms, ammunitions and training. US Army directly attacked Syrian govt forces (Alawite camp) in 2017. In mid-2018, Trump has announced that they want to remove Dr. Bashar Al Assad’s govt. However, Trump administration suddenly announced withdrawal from Syria in 2019. But they never evacuated completely. They are still there. Although they completely abandoned Kurds, they are still actively supporting FSA.  Currently they have over 1000 soldiers in Syria. If USA completely withdraws from Syria, the civil war may not stop completely. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Iran and Russia would be still active in Syria. Let’s hope Biden withdraws completely from Syria and forces Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop supporting FSA. Iran and Russia support Assad’s regime. They would jointly handle Turkey properly.

·         Iraq is also equally complex as it has different races, ethnicities and religions. Sunni majority in eastern Iraq, Shia majority in southern and western side and Kurd majority in north of Iraq. Shia majority country was ruled by Saddam Hussein (Sunni Muslim) for long time. American army invaded Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein. US banned ruling Baath party and disbanded military after collapse of Saddam’s regime. The political power balance shifted from Sunni to Shia. It fueled civil war, political instability, widespread corruption and sectarian conflicts. The sectarian conflict is mainly between Govt forces (primarily Shia), ISIS (Sunni terrorist groups) and Kurd forces (Peshmerga). Major US forces were withdrawn in 2010-11 after establishment of democratic Iraqi government. But rise of ISIS triggered international intervention (The Global Coalition) led by US including NATO forces, European Union and Arab League in 2014. Iraqi govt forces, Global Coalition and Peshmerga fought together to defeat ISIS and Al-Qaeda. They were defeated in 2017. Approximately half a million Iraqi are killed in civil war since 2003. Today Iraq has democratically elected govt comprises of all sectarian groups but dominated by Shia. This is peculiar country where US and Iran are supporting Shia govt. But today Iraq has become power struggle ground for Iran and USA. Now President Biden announced withdrawal by this year end and will not participate in combat operations.

Libya, Syria and Iraq were governed by mix of socialist and communist dictators for long. Although citizen’s liberty was curtailed by these dictators, all of them had very good human development index in education, healthcare, women freedom, per capita income etc. There is one common observation in these three countries. When US and NATO forces attacked on them, they destroyed their oil/petroleum infrastructure, roads, airports etc. One wonder why did they do that? One more common observation. One section of society invited, welcomed foreign forces to overthrow existing regime. They did not get any benefits, but they helped in destroying their own country. Now they are repenting.  

USA had played a game of democracy in many countries like Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, (other countries where US instigated Arab Spring), Afghanistan, Sudan and Latin American countries such as Cuba and Columbia. They miserably failed everywhere. Their intervention did not bring in true democracy. On the contrary, these countries went into civil war, infrastructure is destroyed completely, high unemployment, high child mortality, reduction in literacy rate, very high inflation, people become poorer.

USA should stop following President Regan’s dream of democracy. They should realize that democracy is just not way of governance, but it is way of life. Every race, ethnicity, religion, culture is not compatible with democracy. There are many prerequisite and conditions before a nation adopts democracy. The wisdom they showed in Afghanistan should prevail in Libya, Syria and Iraq and withdraw honorably at the earliest.

Satish Gundawar

18-Aug-21

Watch these international events carefully

1. Mass graves found in Catholic school in Canada. Approximately 800 unmarked graves of children have found. Native Canadians have burnt 8 churches till now as a reaction of it. Vatican has refused to apologize for this.

2. MBS has refused to recognize Hadith (few) as religious text as they were written after 250 years from dealth of prophet.

3. Israel open their embassy in Abu Dhabi.

4. Tigray genocide in Ethiopia by Nobel laurel (for peace) PM Abiy Ahmed.

5. Regime change in Israel and Iran. Both have extreme religious leader as head of the state.

6. American started withdrawal from Afghanistan. They vacated their main airbase from Bagram.

Last but not least 😜

7. Donald Trump is back 😃

Satish Gundawar 

3-Jul-21

Who is Controlling USA Today?

I am in dilemma while writing this. Because we Indians deeply believe in "सर्वे संतू निरामया". Therefore, I am nervous while writing on someone's health. But when it comes to health of US President, then it impacts entire world.

I was very surprised when Americans elected Joe Biden as their president. They generally select smart, good looking, young, good orator as their President. But Joe Biden is 78 years old. He is the oldest President in the history of US. He made lot of funny mistakes during his presidential campaign. But he was finally elected.

His health condition has come to forefront in US media once again. One video was viral in March. Biden fell down three times while climbing Air Force One.

Ronny Jackson, former Whitehouse physician and senator is insisting that President must go through Cognitive test.

Donald Trump is already talking about mid term polls.

Let's hope that President Biden is in good health and he will deliver the best as world leader. He has started JCPOA which was stopped by Trump. He accelerated American forces withdrawal from Afghanistan. He had fruitful summit with Putin. He also accelerated vaccination program in US. He got appreciation from none other than Putin. All these events do indicate that he is very much in control.

But, if this rumor has iota of truth, then who is controlling USA? President Kamala Harris? That is what he called her in one of his public speech 😜

Satish Gundawar

9-Jul-21

Is Taliban threat to India?

Will Taliban reach our western border? If likely, then when?

Will Taliban attack on their friend Pakistan? Possibly, then when?

Will curse on Afghanistan be over after Taliban takes over control? Last 40 years, they have some foreign forces or other on their land. 

These are some of the questions come to mind when Americans started evaluation from Afghanistan.

Why is it morale booster for Taliban?

The way US forces left Bagram airbase on last Friday 2-July is very shameful. They ran away taking their heavy arms and ammunition in dark. They didn't even inform their new commander and Afghanistan authorities. They put off electricity and just ran away!

Taliban has already captured 30% of Afghanistan. Afghan govt forces are deserting and crossing over border or surrendering to Taliban.

The target date of evacuation for NATO forces is Sept 11. But it is likely that they will even runaway before that.

Taliban will takeover Afghanistan in next 2 months. Who is laughing? China, Pakistan, Russia? 

Will terrorism, massacre, fights stop after that? Probably NO.

Afghan tribal lords will try to retain control over their territory. This may keep Taliban engaged for some more time.

Will Taliban attack Pakistan, if Taliban removes all their opponents? Answer is likely. Why?

They don't have any interest in Pakistan. All these terrorist organizations have one common. objective i.e. Ghazwa-e-Hind. Taliban will do it for this objective which Muslims couldn't fulfill in last ~1400 years! 

Who will be happy, if that happens? China will get readymade opportunity to put their forces west of India and closer to many east Asian countries.

If China does not take any interest in Afghanistan matters, which is very unlikely, then Taliban will be on our western border in next 6 months.

In short, Chinese or Taliban forces will be on our western border in next 6 months... I wish I am proven wrong

Satish Gundawar

8-Jul-21

I had written above on 8-Jul. Many were believing that Taliban would take over Afghanistan by December. But the inevitable has arrived much earlier than expected. It is just matter of time Afghanistan will be controlled by Taliban. 

Many people are criticizing USA for their withdrawal. I think US realized their mistakes and understood they can't change Afghanistan into a modern state. Therefore, it is better to get out as quick as possible. 

We Indian must know what is Taliban? Taliban means Student. Student of what? Student of Deobandi school of Islam. Where is Deoband? It is in UP, India. It means India has contributed directly to create this mess.

After American and NATO forces withdrawal, Afghans are actually killing Afghan. Will it stop post Taliban controls Kabul? Very unlikely! 

As written above, we should expect those events to happen. 

In short, our western border and Kashmir will see enemy even sooner than expected. China and Pakistan will accelerate that process. What would be India's response then?

15-Aug-21

Who is Correct in Sheikh Jarrah?

Dispute in Sheikh Jarrah actually resulted into war between Palestinians (of Gaza Strip) and Israeli forces in May-21. The court verdict, which was delayed due to tensions between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in West Bank, is about to come now. I will throw some statements. You need to draw your own conclusion.

1.       Israel was declared as independent country in 1948. West Bank was Jordanian territory till 1967.

2.       During Jordan’s rule in West Bank, Jordanian govt forcefully evacuated Jews from their properties and distributed those properties to Palestinians. But Jordanian govt never transferred property rights to Palestinians. Many Palestinians are living in such properties since 1950.

3.       Israel occupied West Bank during 6 Days War with Arab countries in 1967. Israel has not officially annexed West Bank into their territory unlike Golan Heights. But Israel had military rule on West Bank since then.

4.       Jordan stripped off Jordanian citizenship of Palestinians in 1988. Since then, Israel established semi-civil authority on entire West Bank. Palestinian Authority is a different subject.

5.       Israeli parliament passed a law that Jews can claim their properties in West Bank which was taken away by Jordan in 1950.

6.       Jews filed many cases in Israeli courts claiming such properties back. Properties in Sheikh Jarrah are few of them. Many Jews have already won similar cases in other parts of West Bank.

7.       Jews who are claiming these properties have documentary evidence that these properties belong to them. But the current Palestinians occupants of these properties do not any proof that Jordanian govt has transferred property rights to them.

8.       West Bank is occupied territory for UN and many countries (Including India) recognize that.

9.       Can Israel impose their rules on occupied territory? As per UN resolution, international laws are applicable in occupied territory. But Israel has passed the law that West Bank will have Israeli court’s jurisdiction.

10.   Palestinians of West Bank says that it is occupied territory and hence Israeli court does not have any jurisdiction over West Bank. International laws should prevail here.

Finally, who should get these properties you think?

1.       People who owned them till 1950 and was taken over forcefully by Jordan. But property ownership never transferred to Palestinians by Jordan.

Or

2.       Palestinians who are living in these properties given by Jordanian govt in 1950 but they do not have any proof of ownership.

Whether law should prevail or Humanitarianism? Who is correct in Sheikh Jarrah Israeli courts or Palestinian people?

 

Satish Gundawar

4-Aug-2021

Pegasus Spying Episode

Yesterday the opposition parties rocked parliament on Pegasus spying issue. We need to understand some of the facts.

1.      Every sovereign country has some surveillance system or other. They will use it for internal and external security of their country. Nana Patole recently said that his own govt is monitoring his movement.

2.      Pegasus is ethical spyware and designated as weapon system. Its sale is controlled by Israeli government. It is not very clear whether Government of India has bought it or not.  

3.     Let's assume India has it. India’s responsible investigation agency must be owning it. It is impossible to know that on whom government is using it. Even Israeli government and Pegasus will not share this information. Therefore, I can’t believe Amnesty international and wire can have such information.  

4.       Understand who is sharing this information.  Amnesty International who has been expelled from India for antinational activities. The wire is known leftist propaganda website.  Most of the other actors of this leak are those people who have played active role in destabilizing Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen etc.

5.       They very well know that the names shared by them can’t be validated. They also know that Government of India will not say Yes or No on those names.

6.       What opposition parties want is to share classified information which no govt will share. They are colluding with breaking India forces and creating this drama.

7.       My strong belief is that nothing is private nowadays in cyberspace. We don't know so many spyware may be sitting on our own mobile. We don't know who is observing us. They can be state actors or rogue elements. When you install any mobile apps, most of the apps asks complete access to your mobile including photos, contacts, SMS, location, and email. Many of us will give complete access blindly.

You should not have any doubt that the state is observing you. Remember Kapil Sibbal forced all social media companies to give the feed to India when he was IT minister. Indian Government has all the information what you put into WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and email. Just hold on! Not only Indian government is collecting such data, bid daddy USA is also collecting such data for entire world. I had written earlier on this. All these social media giants are giving feed to US government. US’s NSA has set up huge facility in Utah to collect this information. It is in public domain. Please read my blog (https://smgundawar.blogspot.com/2014/02/privacy-is-my-right.html)

Satish Gundawar

20-Jul-21

इलायाराजा

 

(टीप: ह्या ब्लॉग मधील गाण्यातील बेस गिटार फक्त headphone ऐकू येईल. मोबाईल फोनचा speaker किंवा earphone मध्ये अजिबात ऐकू येणार नाही.)

'मिठाचे माधुर्य' हा ब्लॉग लिहतांना बेस गिटार बद्दल खुप वाचले. हिंदी चित्रपट संगीतात harmony १९५० पासून दिसते. पण सुरुवातीच्या काळात चेलो (Chello) आणि डबल बेस (Double Bass) ह्यांचा वापर harmony म्हणून दिसतो. साधारण १९७५ च्या सुमारास बेस गिटारचा वापर हिंदी गाण्यात सुरु झाला. असे म्हणता की चरणजितसिंग ह्यांनी प्रथम हे वाद्य हिंदी चित्रपट संगीतात वापरायला सुरुवात केली. मागच्या ब्लॉग मी टोनी वाझ आणि RD वर केंद्रित करण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. पंचमने हे वाद्य कसे अफलातून वापरले ते मागच्या ब्लॉग मध्ये लिहले आहे. तसे बेस गिटार सर्वच संगीतकारांनी वापरले पण मला बप्पी लाहिरी आणि इलायाराजा ह्यांनी केलेला वापर फारच नाविन्यपूर्ण वाटला. बप्पी लाहिरीकडे टोनी वाझ ह्यांनी वाजवले आहे. पण समीर रॉय ह्यांनी प्रामुख्याने वाजवले. समीर रॉय बद्दल विशेष माहिती मिळत नाही. इलायाराजा ह्यांच्या हिंदी गाण्यात प्रामुख्याने टोनी वाझ ह्यांनी वाजवले आहे. पण त्यांचा दक्षिणेतील वाद्यवृंदात बेस गिटार कोण वाजायचे ते माहित नाही. तसेही दक्षिणेतील संगीतसृष्टी माझ्यासाठी blackbox आहे.

इलायाराजा ह्यांचा पहिला हिंदी चित्रपट कदाचित सदमा असावा. त्यांचे कोणतेही गाणे काढले तर त्यात बेस गिटार आहेच. त्यांनी तो जवळपास सर्वच गाण्यात वापरले. त्यांचा आणि पंचम ह्यांच्या बेस गिटारच्या वापरात बराच फरक आहे. तो ऐकूनच समजू शकते. कॉलेज मधून बाहेर पडल्यानंतर त्यांचा पहिला चित्रपट बघितला तो म्हणजे शीवा. त्यातले 'आनंदो ब्रम्हा' (https://youtu.be/5SfrJKeV5p8) हे गाणे त्यावेळी खुपच आवडले होते. त्याप्रकारचे संगीत मी कदाचित पहिल्यांदाच ऐकत होतो. गाण्याचा intro बेस गिटारने सुरुवात होतो. संपूर्ण गाण्यात बेस गिटारच melody आणि harmony सांभाळत आहे. 

१९९०-९१ च्या सुमारास पुण्याच्या फर्ग्युसन कॉलेजमध्ये भारतीय चित्रपट महोत्सव होता. आम्ही मित्र तिथे गेलोत. माझा एक मित्र म्हणाला की आपण 'अंजली' हा तमिळ चित्रपट बघितलाच पाहिजे. ऑफिस मधून लवकर निघून संध्याकाळी ६ वाजताचा शो बघितला. तमिळ चित्रपट असल्याने बेताचीच गर्दी होती. तो चित्रपट बघून बाहेर आल्यावर डोकं सुन्न झाले. चित्रपट कळायला भाषा कळायची गरज नव्हती. त्या चित्रपटातील सर्वच गाणे उत्कृष्ट आहेत. कदाचित हा एकच चित्रपट असेल ज्यात कोरसचा वापर संपूर्ण गाण्यात केला आहे.  त्यातले एकच गाणे इथे देत आहे. ‘अंजली अंजली’ (https://youtu.be/kEBpHsVisT0). ह्या गाण्यात बेस गिटारचा वापर rhythm साठी वापरला आहे. पण माझी विनंती आहे की ह्या चित्रपटाची उर्वरित गाणी जरूर ऐका. ह्या चित्रपटाची चर्चा पुण्यात एवढी झाली की चित्रपट महोत्सव आयोजकांना अजून २ special show लावावे लागलेत. पुढे हा सिनेमा हिंदीमध्ये पण डब होऊन आला.

जो संगीतकार गेली ४५ (१९७६ पासून आज पर्यंत) वर्षे कार्यरत आहे आणि आजही तितकेच लोकप्रिय आहेत. असे इलायाराजा कदाचित एकटेच संगीतकार असतील. जवळपास १००० च्या वर चित्रपटांना संगीत दिले असले तरी फक्त १४ ते १५ हिंदी चित्रपटात त्यांचे संगीत आहे. कमल हसन ह्यांच्या 'हे राम' चित्रपटातील हे अगदी वेगळे गाणे. ‘जन्मो की ज्वाला’ (https://youtu.be/N01fQ4I6UaA) गाण्यात पियानो आणि बेस गिटारची counter melody आहे. त्याच्या चिनी कम ह्या चित्रपटाची सर्वच गाणी उत्कृष्ट आहेत. अमिताभ बच्चन आणि तब्बू ह्यांचा सुंदर चित्रपट सर्वांनीच बघितला आहे. त्यातले Title Song ‘चिनी कम’ (https://youtu.be/WGG8ObpHEow?t=15) ह्या गाण्यात very strong baseline आहे. 'जाने दो ना मुझे जाने दो ना' (https://youtu.be/88LD0Gn_Fjc) हे गाणे पण तसे title song सारखेच आहे. पण ह्यातली बेस गिटार, पियानो आणि लीड गिटारचे मिश्रण ऐकण्यासारखे आहे. अजून एक अमिताभ बच्चन चित्रपट म्हणजे पा. ह्या चित्रपटातील ‘गुम सुम गुम’ (https://youtu.be/ElBkxw30YgQ) हे गाणे ऐकले की अंजली चित्रपटातील गाण्यांची आठवण येते पण बेस गिटार आणि लीड गिटारचे मिश्रण सुंदर आहे. ह्याच चित्रपटातील ‘उडी उडी इत्तेफाक से’ (https://youtu.be/ABN0t4cukLk) ह्या गाण्यात बेस गिटार चा वापर rhythm आणि harmony साठी सुंदर केला आहे. अमिताभ बच्चनचा विषय निघालाच तर त्यांनी शमिताभ ह्या चित्रपटातील गायलेले 'पिडली सी बाते' (https://youtu.be/bH4BwIlcnK0) कदाचित त्यांनी गायलेल्या गाण्यातील सर्वात सुंदर गाणे असावे. तसेच ‘बंदर की डुगडुगी’ (https://youtu.be/5mVlrIsbCVI) हे मुंबई Express ह्या चित्रपटातील हे गाणे म्हणजे pure bass guitar special म्हणावे लागेल. 

इलायाराजा ह्यांनी गायक नसलेले लोकांकडून पण गावुन घेतले. अमिताभ बच्चन आणि कमल हसन ह्यांची गाणी ऐकली असतील पण पंकज कपूर कडून जागते राहो ह्या सलील चौधरी ह्यांनी संगीत दिलेल्या 'जिंदगी ख्वाब हे' हे गाणे नवीन पद्धतीने (https://youtu.be/2ZU684l2sCs?t=19) गावुन घेतले. ह्या गाण्यातील बेस गिटार ऐकण्यासारखा आहे.

त्यांनी संगीत दिलेल्या सदमा ह्या चित्रपटावर जर लिहले नाही तर ब्लॉग पूर्ण होणार नाही. त्या चित्रपटातील अंगाई ‘सुरमई अखियोंमे’ (https://youtu.be/XvJX9BqoU0U) आजही घरोघरी आई आपल्या बाळांना झोपवण्यासाठी गाते. सुरेश वाडकर ह्यांनी गायलेले ‘हे जिंदगी गले लगा ले’ (https://youtu.be/8A30PWazxMU) पण सहज गाता येईल असे आहे. ह्या चित्रपटात टोनी वाझ ह्यांनी बेस गिटार वाजवले असे ऐकले. ह्या चित्रपटातील इतर गाण्यात पण सुंदर बेस गिटारचा वापर आहे. ती गाणी पण जरून ऐका.

इतका गुणी संगीतकार असून त्यांची हिंदी गाणी रसिकांच्या ओठावर सहसा असत नाही. कदाचित त्यांचे संगीत थोडे symphony थाटाचे असते. जे सहज गुणगुणता येत नाही. गाण्यातील prelude आणि interlude सुद्धा सहज गुणगुणता येत नाही. हे सुद्धा कारण असेल. असे असले तरी चोखंदळ रसिकांनी त्यांना नेहमीच दाद दिली आहे. आनंदाची गोष्ट म्हणजे ह्या वयात पण ते तेवढ्याच उत्साहाने संगीत देत आहे. त्यांना दीर्घ आयुष्याच्या शुभेच्छा!

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