50 Years of ” Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo “

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           FEBRUARY 10 , 2013           00.20 A.M.

50 years ago on January 27 , 1963 , a cold day in Delhi , Lata Mangeshkar rendered a song and created history. No Indian can ever forget that song and apart from our National Anthem and National Song , this song became the third most revered song in the history of independent India . Till date no live concert of Lata Mangeshkar ever got completed without rendering this song . The song in question is ” Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo , Zara Aankh Me Bhar Lo Paani …….. ”

Lata Mangeshkar as a young woman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo“  is a Hindi patriotic song written by Kavi Pradeep and composed by C. Ramchandra commemorating Indian soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War of 1962 . Kavi Pradeep was reportedly moved to compose the song by accounts of casualties of the war.

Noted Hindi Poet and lyricist, Kavi Pradeep, (1915-1998), in late 1930s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This song was performed live by Lata Mangeshkar at the National Stadium in the presence of 1st Prime Minister of India  Jawaharlal Nehru at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on account of Republic Day , 26 January , 1963 , just two months after the end of the war. The song  moved Nehru to tears. Almost entire Hindi film industry was present on that occasion .

Republic Day (Photo credit: Doddamalluraprameya)

Jawahar Lal Nehru (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eminent film producer and director Mehboob Khan came with the idea and requested Kavi Pradeep to write a song for the occasion . Kavi Pradeep wrote the song and C. Ramchandra was entrusted to give the music . Lata Mangeshkar was the only obvious choice as a singer . She initially declined the song because she was not on good terms with the music director C. Ramchandra . Later on she was persuaded to sing the song and the rest is history .

All of the artists and technicians involved with the song — including singers, musicians, music director, lyricist, recording studio, sound recordist — and later, lyricist Kavi Pradeep pledged the royalty of the song in perpetuity to the War Widows Fund.In 2005, the Bombay High Court asked the music company HMV to indicate a lump sum payable to the Army Welfare Fund from the song’s royalty proceeds.

I am producing the full Hindi song in Devnagari script .

लता मंगेशकर

============================

ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगों तुम खूब लगा लो नारा
ये शुभ दिन है हम सब का लहरा लो तिरंगा प्यारा

पर मत भूलो सीमा पर वीरों ने है प्राण गँवाए
कुछ याद उन्हें भी कर लो जो लौट के घर ना आए
ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगों ज़रा आँख में भर लो पानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो कुरबानी

जब घायल हुआ हिमालय ख़तरे में पड़ी आज़ादी
जब तक थी साँस लड़े वो फिर अपनी लाश बिछा दी
संगीन पे धर कर माथा सो गए अमर बलिदानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो कुरबानी

जब देश में थी दीवाली वो खेल रहे थे होली
जब हम बैठे थे घरों में वो झेल रहे थे गोली
क्या लोग थे वो दीवाने क्या लोग थे वो अभिमानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो कुरबानी

कोई सिख कोई जाट मराठा कोई गुरखा कोई मदरासी
सरहद पर मरनेवाला हर वीर था भारतवासी
जो खून गिरा पर्वत पर वो खून था हिंदुस्तानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो कुरबानी

थी खून से लथ-पथ काया फिर भी बंदूक उठाके
दस-दस को एक ने मारा फिर गिर गए होश गँवा के
जब अंत-समय आया तो कह गए के अब मरते हैं
खुश रहना देश के प्यारों अब हम तो सफ़र करते हैं

थे धन्य जवान वो अपने
थी धन्य वो उनकी जवानी
जो शहीद हुए हैं उनकी ज़रा याद करो कुरबानी
जय हिंद जय हिंद की सेना
जय हिंद, जय हिंद, जय हिंद

This iconic patriotic song completed its Golden Jubilee on January 27 , 2013 . I was traveling on that day and thus missed the chance to post my blog on that historic day . After my return to Mumbai , I was engulfed in the vortex of activities and thus lost few more days . But I am happy that I would be posting the blog today .

In my institute Vidur’s Kreating Charakters , I always try to keep my students posted with such anecdotal facts of Indian cinema . It is one thing to claim to be the best acting school of Bollywood or to be the best acting academy of India but trying to be the same is very taxing . And so – called best acting classes of Mumbai fail on this account .

Today as I am posting this blog , I vividly remember the fervour this song created in those dark days of India’s history . This song came as a morale booster for the battered and bruised nation called India . Lata Mangeshkar , poet Pradeep , music director C. Ramchandra and the entire team behind this song shall always be remembered by this grateful nation . And yes , we shall also remember the flawed utopian ideology of Jawahar Lal Nehru and his Congress for the humiliating and inglorious chapter of our country’s history .

[ Some portions of this blog is taken from Wikipedia . My thanks . ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

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50 Years of Cuban Missile Crisis

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           OCTOBER 30, 2012           00.45 A.M.

Year 1962 in general and October 1962 in particular is permanently etched and engraved in my memory for two historical events . First is Chinese invasion of India and the second one is Cuban Missile Crisis .

I was 10 years old boy living in Deoria , Uttar Pradesh . My adolescent mind was getting awakened to the happenings of the world . I was curious . I was eager to gather knowledge . I was fascinated by the twists and turns of history . And these two epoch – making chapters of history opened in front of my eyes . I will write a separate blog about Chinese Invasion of India . Let me concentrate here on Cuban Missile Crisis .

 

U.S. reconnaissance photograph of soviet missile sites on Cuba, taken from a Lockheed U-2 spy plane following the Cuban missile crisis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile (SS-4 in U.S. documents, R-12 in Soviet documents) in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Two main protagonists of the drama are now gone . J. F. Kennedy , the then President of U.S.A. got assassinated and Nikita Khrushchev , the then Premier of U.S.S.R. was deposed and subsequently died a natural death . But Comrade Fidel Castro , the then President of Cuba is still alive . His brother Raul Castro , who held parley with Nikita Khrushchev , is now President of Cuba . Let me unveil the incidents of the crisis , which might have escalated into World War III .

 

John F. Kennedy meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

EXCOMM meeting at the White House Cabinet Room during the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 29, 1962. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The Soviet Union sending nuclear warheads to Cuba followed the 1958 deployment by the United States of Thor IRBMs in the UK (Project Emily) and Jupiter IRBMs to Italy and Turkey in 1961 – more than 100 US-built missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. After provocative political moves and the failed US attempts to overthrow the Cuban regime (Bay of Pigs, Operation Mongoose), in May 1962 Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. During a meeting between Khrushchev and Raúl Castro that July, a secret agreement was reached and construction of several missile sites began in the late summer. These preparations were noticed, and on 14 October an US U-2 aircraft took several pictures clearly showing sites for medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) under construction. These images were processed and presented on October 15, which marks the beginning of the 13-day crisis from the US perspective.

The United States considered attacking Cuba via air and sea, but decided on a military blockade instead, calling it a “quarantine” for legal and other reasons. The US announced that it would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba, demanded that the Soviets dismantle the missile bases already under construction or completed, and return all offensive weapons to the USSR. The Kennedy administration held only a slim hope that the Kremlin would agree to their demands, and expected a military confrontation.

On the Soviet side, Premier Nikita Khrushchev wrote in a letter from October 24, 1962 to President John F. Kennedy that his blockade of “navigation in international waters and air space” constituted “an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war”.However, in secret back-channel communications the President and Premier initiated a proposal to resolve the crisis. While this was taking place, several Soviet ships attempted to run the blockade, increasing tensions to the point that orders to US Navy ships to fire warning shots and then open fire were sent out. On 27 October a U-2 was shot down by a Soviet missile crew, an action that could have resulted in immediate retaliation from the Kennedy crisis cabinet, according to Secretary of Defense McNamara‘s later testimony. However, in the event itself, Kennedy stayed his hand and the negotiations continued.

 

The engine of Lockheed U-2 which has been brought down above Cuba in Museum of the Revolution in Havana (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

Nikita Kruschev letter to President Kennedy stating that the Cuban Missile Crisis quarantine “constitute[s] an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962,when Kennedy and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for an US public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba. Secretly, the US agreed that it would dismantle all US-built Jupiter IRBMs deployed in Turkey and Italy.

 

Adlai Stevenson II shows aerial photos of Russian missiles in Cuba to the United Nations Security Council in the presence of USSR ambassador Valerian Zorin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I am quoting the events of the crisis from Wikipedia . Because , though I vividly remember the crisis but day-to-day events in chronological order have been almost obfuscated from my memory .

While I was sitting in the office of my acting institute Vidur’s Kreating Charakters , I suddenly remembered those fateful days and decided to write a blog on the topic in the night .

I still wonder , what would have been fate of the world in general and India in particular , had the crisis been not diffused in 1962 ?

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

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25 Years of Statehood of Arunachal Pradesh

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           SEPTEMBER 29 , 2012           10.45 P.M.

During my childhood , I had known a part my country , which was called NEFA . It came to national prominence during the India – China War of 1962 . Nathu La Pass and NEFA [ North East Frontier Agency ] became household names and our concern for this far off and neglected part of India was so great that we felt that we all are resident of NEFA . This erstwhile NEFA is now known as Arunachal Pradesh .

A Locator map of North East Frontier Agency in 1961. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before India – China war , I used to know only one province of North East India and it was Assam . Assam was a huge state of India in 1950 . Barring Manipur and Tripura , all the other provinces of present day North East India including NEFA were part of Assam . Map posted below bears testimony to this .

Map of Assam in 1950

During British era this whole region was rules as a part of Bengal Presidency . Province of Assam came into being in 1874 . NEFA came into being in 1955 , though it was part of Assam .  It ceases to exist now . NEFA is now re-christened as Arunachal Pradesh and came into being on February 20 , 1987 as a state of India . Itanagar is the state capital .

Location of Arunachal Pradesh in the Map of India

Itanagar – Capital of Arunachal Pradesh

So in a nutshell from 1954 to 1972 NEFA was part of Assam . On January 20 , 1972 it was separated from Assam and became Union Territory . On February 20 , 1987  it became a state of India . So it completed 33 years as Union Territory and it now completes 25 years as a state .

Present day Arunachal Pradesh is divided into 17 districts for administrative purposes .

Tawang Town with The Monastery

Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is the Buddhist religious place and is the birth place of HH 6th Dalai Lama .

The Birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama

Simla Agreement between British and Tibet in 1913 – 1914 established the boundary line between present day Arunachal Pradesh of India and Tibet . Sir Henry MacMohan drew up 890 km long MacMohan Line as the border between British India and Outer Tibet . Chinese representative had no problem at that time but now China refuses to accept MacMohan Line and claims all of Arunachal Pradesh as her own province .

 

Map of the British Indian Empire from Imperial Gazetteer of India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

The Survey of India had published a map in 1937 showing MacMohan Line as the official boundary . Even if you try to forget all the mythological links of present day Arunachal Pradesh with Mahabharat and it being the abode of MahaRishi Parashuram and it being the mythical kingdom of Kundinpur , which belonged to Rukmini’s father and it being the place , where Krishna Bhagwan came and married Rukmini , still the fact remains that from 1937 to 2012 , Arunachal Pradesh has 75 years of existence with India . If you consider the signing of Simla Accord between British India and Tibet in 1913 – 1914 , then this existence extends to 99 years .

In February 2012 , Arunachal Pradesh completed 25 years as a province of India . Irrespective of what China says , Arunachal has its links with India since Mahabharat days . And God willing next year Arunachal Pradesh will complete 100 years of its existence with India .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

www.vidur.co.in

www.kreatingcharakters.net

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