Indian Ocean- Pure, earthy, unadulterated music

The song ‘Maa Rewa’ captured the imagination of youngsters, especially college students. It is a perfect combination of traditional lyric and music composed with traditional and Western musical instruments. Indian Ocean, the band that composed the song was started in the early 90’s and is one of the best Indian fusion bands.

The band has a unique style of composition and the lyrics of the songs, range from conventional to shlokas and traditional ones. ‘Hille Le’, a song from the album ‘Kandisa’ has lyrics that are traditional and were written by Gorakh Pande, a renowned poet. Other songs of the album include ‘Maa Rewa’, ‘Kandisa’ (a song in Aramaic, a language spoken by the Jews),’ Leaving Home’, ‘Khajuraho’ and others. 

There are few albums composed by Indian bands with such a variety in terms of lyrics and style of music. Jhini, another album whose title song was based on Kabir’s verses, was similar in terms of experimentation. The band also released a live album called Desert Rain, which was moderately successful.

The band has composed a few tracks and the background score for the controversial film, ‘Black Friday’. The song ‘Bandeh’ from the album was a huge hit. They have also composed a couple of songs for the highly acclaimed film, ‘Peepli Live’. Remember, ‘Desh Mera Rangrezia Babu’.  

Rahul Ram, the vocalist, is a dynamic personality and has a degree in Environmental Toxicology from Cornell University, USA. He is also an ornithologist. As a social activist, he is actively involved in the ‘Narmada Bachao Andolan’. His diverse experience reflects on the style of music of the band. He, along with Asheem Chakravarty, composed a song, ‘Yaara Maula’ for Anurag Kashyap’s film ‘Gulaal’, which is a satire on regional and caste-based politics. Asheem died in 2009 after a heart attack.

The band released ‘16/330 Khajoor Road’ recently. It is a free online album. The band members were frustrated with label contracts and as a sign of protest released it in this unusual format. ‘The Best of Indian Ocean’, as the name suggests, is a compilation album comprising their greatest hits. 

Learn English on the web

English is the most used language on the Web. According to Internet World stats, English rules the roost on Internet with over 536 million people using English while Chinese comes second in the list with over 444 million people using the language online.  Internet is not only awash with websites in English but also with websites for teaching English.

There are websites where people can learn English online and improve their writing and speaking skills. British Council is running a website http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org that is dedicated to teaching English to non-native speakers of English. It is one of the few websites that provides with text, audio and video content for users to improve language skills.

It has several grammar exercises which provide learners to understand online lessons well. The website also has regular podcast soaps in which learners can learn right usage and pronunciation of English words. Such shows include Word on the Street, Big City Small World, The Great Britain, etc.

You must have heard people speaking the same English words differently and it happens when English is not their mother tongue. The Chinese will not speak the way Indians speak and Africans will pronounce words differently from the Spaniards.

There is a Speech Accent Archive http://www.accent.gmu.edu/ that provides over 1500 recordings. The speakers in these recordings come from countries where English is the primary language—USA, Australia and Britain; and also from countries where it is not such as India, China, Iraq, etc.  Steven Weinberger, a Linguistics professor at George Mason University, has developed this archive for users to know how people from different parts of the world pronounce similar words differently. 

Several other websites teaching English serve different purposes. Talkenglish.com teaches speaking basics and teaches users what to say and how to say in different situations.  Phrases.org.uk provides users with thousands of English phrases with their meanings and origins. Vocabsushi is a website to improve vocabulary and teach learners the right usage of words used in the day-to-day world. Elllo.com focuses on listening skills.

Examenglish.com trains people for TOEFL, IELTS and other similar exams. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has a website for teaching English and the website also teaches how to teach English. The most popular programme of the website is ‘6 Minute English’ and the shows can be downloaded as a pdf or mp3 file.

Circus - slipping into oblivion

Circus is something that we now generally see in movies. At one time it was a popular form of entertainment and a circus in town meant lots of crowds. But how and where did it all start?

The circus probably started in Rome, (though some historians feel that it began in Greece), in the gigantic Circus Maximus.

This was a stadium that was more oval than circular, though the latter is the shape to which the word ‘circus’ refers.


It was used mainly for chariot races, and it was very different from the circus that we know it today.

The modern circus came into being when in 1768, an English trick rider called Philip Astley discovered that because of centrifugal force, it was quite easy to stand on his horse’s back while it galloped around a ring. He began to travel widely in Europe, spreading the idea of a circus and building many himself.


But though circuses began to appear in many countries, they were mainly restricted for over 60 years to equestrian acts. Skill in horsemanship still continues to be the main feature of a circus.

It was not till the early part of the 19th century that Isaac A. Van Amburg introduced wild animal acts into the circus. He is believed to be the first man to put his head in a lion’s mouth. In 1859, Jules Leotard invented the familiar flying trapeze.

Gradually the circus began to include acrobats, sword swallowers, fat ladies, giant dwarfs and, of course, clowns.

Clowns

Thick white paint all over the face, nose like a large red cherry, bright blue eyelids that climb half-way up to the forehead, green, or purple or orange fuzzy hair standing out from the sides… clearly this is the face of a clown.

But did you know that no two clowns can look completely alike!

This is because each clown owns a distinct ‘face’ and no other clown in the world is supposed to copy it!

Tights

All circus performers wear tights, but they came to do so only by accident!

In 1828, Nelson Hower, a bareback rider in a circus, was dressed, as was customary then, in a short jacket, stockings and knee breeches.

One evening, however, Hower’s costume for the performance failed to arrive in time and he was forced to go on with the show wearing only his long underpants.

This turned out to be so comfortable and easy to perform in, that he adopted the tights as part of his circus costume. Soon, he was followed by other circus performers

Love, a great benediction

There are two types of love. One, where no effort is needed, not even rationality.  Second, where you think and think again, know whom you want to love and why. Both may look alike in the beginning.

The first one has to vanish one day, sooner or later, by any reason mostly due to lack of flexibility in partner’s attitudes.

The other aspect of love is permanent. It’s a hard exercise, needs a high order of discipline, sacrifice and with no expectations, no need to talk about it. It needs to just keep loving.

Love is so much an integral part of life that we cannot do without it. But we cannot see it. We cannot see our emotions as well. It is our competence to handle these two essentials of our life, without any suffering, as the offspring of love.

Music in China: It is changing – slowly

Almost everything, including music ,in China is controlled by the government. However, after the liberalisation of the economy, the country has seen a surge in hip-hip and other such Western genres. However, the change is limited to big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu.

According to Chinese mythology, the founder of music in the country was Ling Lun, who made bamboo pipes tuned to the sounds of birds. During the new culture movement of the 1910 and 1920, several musicians and music enthusiasts travelled to Western countries. They learnt Western classical music and experimented by merging it with traditional music.

Symphony orchestras became popular in major cities. The influence of Jazz was notable and instruments like saxophones, xylophones and violins were used widely. Some renowned musicians of this era were Lu Wen Cheng, Li Jinhui, Zhou Xuan, Qui Hechou and others. However, after the successful overthrow of the Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai Shek by Mao Tse Tung, Western music was more or less banned. 

The Maoists considered pop music as a denigrator of  traditional music. The Maoists, during the historic Cultural Revolution, emphasised revolutionary music, which were songs set to the tunes of traditional music and the praise of the Communist movement and Chairman Mao.

After the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre, this form was somewhat changed and the tempo of the songs was  increased. This saw a remarkable change in the type of songs, which were fast paced and were meant to instil a sense of patriotism and loyalty towards the Communist movement.

The death of Chairman Mao opened new avenues in the field of music. The Chinese  began  interacting with the West due to limited liberalisation of  the economy. Genres like rock, black metal, death metal, hip-hop and others became popular among youngsters. Cui Jian is considered the father of Chinese rock. 

China has changed and is growing at an amazing pace. The choice of music has also widened, yet, performers are not allowed to sing against the government or, in some cases, on love and other such popular issues.  

Arrange flowers well

Flower arrangements should be simple and look natural. It is not necessary to see symbols in the arrangement of a few twigs and flowers. Regard  flowers as flowers, twigs as twigs and buds as buds.

         The flat arrangements, flowers stuck on corks and plastic cushions and placed in saucers look unpleasant to the sensitive eye, especially if they are put below the eye-level. The best idea for a lovely flower arrangement is to choose a tall vase of a colour that can accentuate the prettiness of the flowers. 

        Black would be the best. If a dozen long stalks of roses are put in a black lacquered vase and placed against a blank wall, the room would take on a loveliness difficult to describe. In a cream vase, place two long branches of mauve bougainvilla with their leaves removed. Avoid the mixing of varieties of flowers as the crowded bazaar look that results would only be vulgar.

            Do not keep the flowers where they receive strong winds or sun. The corner near the window side of a room is usually a good spot for flowers. The number of vases depends on the size of the room. The eye must fall on the flowers and rest there. 

            The table or the high stool on which the flower vase is kept should have simple lines. Do not keep flowers in a room that holds a cluster of paintings, printed draperies and works of art, for against a cluttered up or gaudy background the flowers lose their dignity and their character.

            Treat the flowers with respect. The part of the stalk that sinks in water should be stripped of leaves, or else the leaves rot and give off an odour. Some flowers stay alive and fresh for about a week, but the lower flowers on the stalks wilt, and hard chlorinated water can be softened by adding a teaspoon of flour or oats.

        Avoid keeping over-fragrant flowers and those with heavy pollen in the bedrooms, if you are susceptible to allergic troubles. Bougainvilla is the best for a pale-pink bedroom, because this sturdy bloom creates a youthful atmosphere. Roses in silver bowls or crystal vases look good on dining tables.

            

Do you talk when you need to listen?

Of the four skills involved in effective communication—listening, speaking, reading and writing, listening is the most important. It is crucial to listen carefully because we spend more time listening then doing anything else in our waking hours.

 More significantly, the quality of our listening greatly affects both the personal and vocational dimensions of our lives. Our ability to listen directly influences our friendships, our family relationships and our efficiency at work.

Unfortunately, few people are good listeners, as hardly any attention is paid to the development of this skill. On the contrary we receive subtle influences that provide early training in non-listening.

Children are exposed to a steady diet of anti-listening advice. We often come across things like “We do not listen to those things in our family”, “Don’t pay any attention to him “, “Pretend you haven’t noticed”,” Do not take it so seriously.” 

 

Our schooling is equally responsible for inculcation of ineffective listening habits. In most school systems, rigorous training is given to reading, speaking and writing; however there are no proper training programmes for the development of listening skill.

So powerful is this training is this training in anti-listening, that people rarely comprehend what exactly is involved in effective listening and most confuse it with mere hearing.

In reality, the two are strikingly different and it is important to understand the distinction between the two. While hearing is the ability to perceive sounds with the ears, listening is a combination of hearing what another person is saying and an involvement with the person who is talking.

To quote the words of a leading ‘guru’ of effective communication, Professor Drakeford “hearing is a word used to describe the physiological sensory processes by which auditory sensations are received by the ears and transmitted to the brain. 

Listening, on the other hand, refers to a more complex psychological procedure involving interpreting and understanding the significance of the sensory experience. One can hear what another person is saying without really listening to him”.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that 75 per cent of oral communication is ignored, mis-understood or quickly forgotten mainly because of poor listening. All too often the speaker’s words go into one ear and immediately move out of the other. This improper listening is responsible for the tussles we so often witness between interpersonal relationships. 

In fact, the so-called generation gap is largely a result of this casual attitude to listening. We find teenagers often complaining that their parents only hear them talk. Many conflicts and misunderstandings at the work place also crop up primarily due to ineffective listening.

For an overall improvement of our listening ability we should be on guard not to be inattentive and must pay special attention to avoid interruptions and roadblocks in oral communication. There is little doubt that improvement of listening skills would help us to lead a more fulfilling life, both on the personal as well as the professional front.