To be happy or not- the ball is in your court

“I lost my fingers due to burning. I used to live in Khaira village and there was no hospital. I am suffering from this condition since 20 years. One day a man in my village told me about a hospital in Wadala. I went there for the treatment. Since then, the pain is less. The doctor told me that there is no treatment available for my condition and it is non-communicable. If I touch you, you will not be affected. This condition does not stop me from anything. I love to cook. I make chapattis, mutton and fish. Fish is my favorite. Earlier I used to go to catch fish but now I have stopped. One of my legs got injured while fishing and it is still in the recovering phase. I am alone in my home but I don’t like being alone, so I come here (Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) every morning from Monday to Saturday to beg. This the only source of money I have. My husband died 20 years ago. He had no savings. I earned and married off my two daughters. I am 70 years old and my daughters are 40 and 30 years old. They rarely come to visit me. They cannot help me financially as their in-laws are against it. Today a woman gave me ‘dhokhla’ so my dinner is done and I will not cook today. In evening I go back, watch television and then go to sleep. I know there is a lot of struggle but what can I do? I try to remain happy and enjoy the rest of my life,” says Budibai
.

Budibai outside CSMT

Where there is a will, there are 100 ways

"I lost my eyes because of swimming. I am from Satara. I shifted to Bombay in 2009. I am currently working with a firm in Kurla. I love swimming and I used to swim a lot in Satara. In villages there are no swimming pools so you have to swim in rivers and wells. The water in these sources affected my eyes badly. Till 2009 I could see a little bit and I had color perception but after 2009 my vision automatically decreased and now I am completely blind. Doctor told me that blood circulation has stopped in my eyes. Even if I get them operated, it will be worthless. But I am still trying to find a cure for this, lets hope for the best," says Ganesh.

PS: I was standing near one of the ladies compartments (Mumbai local) which is adjacent to the handicap compartment. I saw this smartly dressed man coming from a far distance. He stopped exactly at the handicap compartment. Curious to know how he did it, I struck a conversation with him. I would have loved to talk to him more but our conversation was interrupted by the arrival of his train.

Me and Ganesh at Kurla Station

“THE PROCESS WAS ABOUT GROOMING A SINGER TO BECOME A DANCER AND AN ACTOR”: SULAIMAN

Umrao Jaan doesn’t need any introduction. It has been produced in Bollywood twice. The courtesan character is remembered by the aesthetic performances of Bollywood actresses Rekha and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in movie Umrao Jaan in 1981 and 2006 respectively.

It is the first time that Umrao Jan Ada is presented to the audience as a musical. Premiered in Mumbai on May 21, 2019 the musical is currently being performed at Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. Renowned music composer duos Salim Merhant and Sulaiman Merchant who are the producers and composer of the musical, talks about it and the diverse nature of music, in an interview held at Xavier Institute of Communications:

      You both are known to have worked on hundreds of movie scores, soundtracks and even musicals and now Umaro Jan Ada. How different have the process and experience between the try genres?

Sulaiman: There are so many verticals and all come down to one thing which is music. Whether we create a background score for a film, an advertisement for a television commercial or a musical, at the end of the day everything is music. You cannot say that he is a Gujarati or a Marathi at the end we are all Indians. What is interesting is challenging ourselves to create new ways for people to consume music.

Salim: As composers when we go abroad, we listen to musicals and always wonder maybe if we can do a musical, we can do magic to it. We are creating avenues so that we keep contributing to music.

How did the journey of finding the perfect actor went for Umrao Jan Ada since the actor need to know how to sing, dance and act?

Salim: When we decided to make Umrao Jaan Ada I had my eyes on Pratibha. She is a fantastic singer and she understands ghazals which is a big genre in which we were dwelling into. We did still have the audition process and went through it. I knew Pratibha must pull up her socks when it comes to acting and dancing. We want to put an influence of Kathak in our play, but I know it is a musical and singing was a great part of it.

Sulaiman: The process wasn’t about auditioning but the process was about grooming a singer to become a dancer and an actor to be able to deliver dialogues and that was the challenge not finding the girl.

We all know about the demise of the legendary Khayyam Saab and we know you were very close to him. You have worked with him for Umrao Jaan Ada, the musical. Can you please tell me how was your experience working with him and his impact on your entire understanding of music?

Salim: Khayyam Saab means a lot to us because when we were growing up, we started with western music like rock. But our first exposure to film music was Umrao Jaan, Khyyam Saab music. I got attracted to this album. It has the simplicity that makes you start liking it. I met him three months ago and we talked about Umrao Jaan, Kabhi-Kabhi, his relationship with Asha ji and Lata ji and three hours went by quickly. There was so much to talk about, and the most surprising thing was that he remembered everything even at the age of 93.

Which other cities you are planning for the musical?

Salim:  We are planning for Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Over the years your music has shown us how diverse and dynamic it is. How do you make the choice of instruments that would suit the overall feel of the song?

Sulaiman: As soon as you are reading a script you start imagining the color and that’s how 

we start picking instrument and composition. In the modern era there are many different 

instruments you can pick that creates the magic that is required to create a timeless melody. 

For a classical instruments hearing or imagining a song with the instruments is important. 

Thinking that there will be a sitar or a sarangi to add texture and quality to the music is 

important to select a classical instrument.

ACJ Entrance exam and Interview

Asian college of Journalism has its entrance exam every year. It offers diploma and post graduate diploma. I am coming back from Chennai after giving the interview. Before sitting for the exam I had many questions in my mind regarding the type of Entrance exam question paper and the interview process. I googled it a lot but I didn't find any satisfactory answers. Since I have experienced both the stages I want to share it with the aspirants about it.

The entrance exam of ACJ is kind of moderate. The english part is easy. The GK part has 100 questions. I wrote the exam on 28th April,2019 so I prepared the general awareness for just the last 3 months but the questions were from 2018 current affairs also. So be prepared for it.

The results are announced on their website. You will also get a mail regarding it. The interview is scheduled for the people who cleared the entrance exam. They provide you the provision to change your interview date. The interview happens in 2 slots 8:30 -13:00 and 13:30 -18:00 . 

Coming to the main part the interview is a panel of 4 people. There are 4 panels A,B,C and D. The full cycle of interview ended at 12:00. 

I was in Panel D. My name was second last in the interview. Before that, one of the faculties check out our documents. You don't need  to carry original documents. Photostat of the documents is fine. They just wanted to have a look at the documents rather than checking it. 

Everyone is called one by one. My turn came around 11:30. The interview lasted for about 10-15 min. There were 3 male and 1 female interviewer. The lady asked me why I wanted to join the course as I am from a technical background(Btech). I talked about Ravish Kumar in my answer as I admire him. The next question was regarding the interview of Ravish Kumar with Rahul Gandhi. They asked me about the interview and whether I liked it or not. What are my views about it. After that, they asked me did Rahul Gandhi likes mango(sarcastically). To that, I answered that it is only loved by Mr Modi. 

The next question was about the apolitical interview of Akshay Kumar and Narendra Modi. They asked my views about it. They have a paper with them which have all the details which you have filled in the application.

 So the next question was about my hobby. They asked me what I read. I told them about the current novel that I am reading "The Accidental Prime Minister". They asked me to give them a brief about the book followed by questions on Manmohan Singh. I told them that I haven't followed politics that much during his regime but I can tell them the content what is in the book.

I told them the economy of India was better in UPA1 regime. Then in the 2nd regime, there were many corruption cases which destroyed Manmohan Singh's image. To this, they cross-questioned me about this government's economy. The previous day only I read an article about the new GDP system that has been introduced by the current regime so I told them about it. I was not clear about it very much. I said that the base year for GDP calculation is changed and the MCA21 has been used. To this, they asked me about what is MCA. I had no idea about it so I told them that I don't know. They told me that MCA is Ministry of corporate affairs.

They asked me about the NSSO report of GDP. I didn't remember anything so I said I don't know. They told me that the current GDP calculation consists of many shell companies. They also asked me about the NSSO report on unemployment. I told them it is the highest that India has seen. 6.8% to be precise.

Then they asked which newspaper published it. I told them that I didn't know as I have read in an article in TheWire. 

The next question was about my cultural involvement in my college. They asked me about my theatre experience. They also asked me do I play kabbadi now. At last, they asked me about the hostel accommodation and if I would like to ask any questions. 

I was also asked if I am applying for some other colleges also. I told them I have applied for Xavier's. They told me to wait for 2-3 days for the result. They also asked which will I take if I am selected in both. I told them I will go for ACJ for sure.

Word of caution- don't say things which you have no idea about. They will grill you about whatever you say. You need to have knowledge about it. The interview panel will not ask anything different. They will question whatever you say to test your knowledge. So all the best everyone and give your best shot.