The Silence within

Its peak winter in Melbourne and early morning of Wed 29 May 2019, and so far it’s the coldest day this year. I am at home midweek which is rare.

Just relaxing, after a very busy period at work and home, and doing nothing. Although I do this (i.e. doing nothing) very often from early childhood, I found a name for it, it’s called *Niksen in Dutch.

To explain Niksen, I recently wrote this... “While trying to achieve a lot in life by single-tasking, eating balanced healthy food, being active with at least one sport, and meditating to be mindful, we have missed on the benefits of just being idle (doing nothing, thinking nothing)...” So I am just staring out at my backyard, with a cup of hot tea, doing nothing, thinking nothing…

It’s pretty cold and windy outside, and so far it was very grey with dark clouds… And slowly the winds have pushed the clouds away and its bright sun. It’s a feeling as if the dark clouds of worry and doubt within me have been blown away and the vision till horizon is clear.

The flock of birds flying look like rockets shooting, I think they are enjoying the winds pushing them without much effort. The weeds and tall tufts of grass in the backyard are waving and announcing their presence, and I never realised they grew up so much.

While it's windy and noisy and cold outside; I am in a still, silent and cosy warm living room, and further within me it’s still more silence and peace. While things are still turbulent at work and life, within my heart I can see the weather changing. I can see the buds of spring inside, although it’s still mid-winter outside. I can see the positive change coming…

The Silence within me is assuring that one stage of hard work and struggle is coming to an end with a vision of positive change and development in the horizon...

Niksen – Refer - https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/05/learn-how-to-do-nothing-with-the-dutch-concept-of-niksen/

Mahtab Syed

29 May 2019

Melbourne

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A tribute to the best singer India has ever had – Lata Mangeshkar

I have been getting a thought from last many months…It’s 01 Apr 2016 and I decided to write it today.

One day Lata Mangeshkar will not be there with us. How will the billions of her listeners feel that day ? How to describe that loss ? Can some singer ever come close to her talent ? Probably never…

Its very easy to describe the emotions we feel when we listen to her masterpieces. But if one has to describe her as an artist, what superlatives will one use ? There are no words to describe her, and the easiest way is to say that she is the epitome of a singer, an artist who is the incarnation of “Saraswati” the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, wisdom and learning.

Lata Mangeshkar was not born as a “Saraswati”. You can imagine the effort, passion, dedication and perseverance needed. Her singing career started in 1942 which is 74 years away as of today in 2016. It has taken more than 50 years of focused practice to attain this incarnation of a Goddess, to attain this Nirvana. Well this is how one becomes Buddha… Its focused practice for many many years…

As a teenager I was not able to recognize her voice in the famous songs. Because each song was sung in a slightly modified voice and intonation, mimed for that particular artist in the film. E.g. song for a teenager sounds like a bubbly teen, and a song for a mother has the intonation of a mother’s love and pain, and like the voice of the artist who mimed this song. This particular quality needed by a playback artist is unique, and there are very few who are masters of this art. And many understand this complex art by how Lata Mangeshkar performed it.

Listen to the confident voice of Lata Mangeshkar singing for Madhubala in the classic 

Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya - Mughal-E-Azam - 1960

To improve her diction of Urdu, Lata Mangeshkar took Urdu classes for many years. This is the quest for perfection which made her the Lata Mangeshkar we know today. Hear the part when she sings, “Parda nahi jab koi khuda se, bandon se parda karna kya”. (Means “When its not hidden from God, what’s the need to hide it from the moral beings…”) Hear and feel the confidence…

And this prayer…Allah Tero Naam - Hum Dono - 1961

And a romantic song… Suno sajna papihe ne… - Aaye Din Bahaar Ke - 1966

And the super romantic song of a determined teenager…‪Tere Mere Beech Mein - Ek Duuje Ke Liye - 1981

And a soulful gazal…Jaane Kya Baat Hai Neend Nahi Aati Badi.. - Sunny - 1984

And a mother’s heart ripping cry… Luka Chuppi - Rang De Basanti - 2010

The strumming of guitars, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice for a mother and A. R. Rahman, will melt your heart away…

Yes, one day this legend will be no more with us… I dread that day… India will come to a pause that day…

Like billions of listeners, I am thankful to Lata Mangeshkar for giving us such songs, which we are still hearing from last 60 years, and will continue hearing for centuries more…

Mahtab Syed

Adelaide, 01 Apr 2016