Raga Bhatiyar - Since morning time..

The Bhatiyar Raga, one of the more beautiful yet simple ragas I've heard is on my mind today since morning..

Knowing zilch on the grammar of Hindustani Classical music doesn't help when it comes to understanding the finer points, but so many of the Raga based songs that I discover are some of my all time favorites amongst the popular songs, and linking them to the raga, definitely helps, well atleast for me..


The details just for the more musically learned/inclined, even though there are dozens of epages on the subject.
Thaat ( Major Classification) : Marwa
Time of the Day : Dawn
Aaroha ( Ascending Scale) : S-r-S,S-m,P-G,M-D-S'
Avaroha (Descending scale) : S'-r'-N-D-P,D-P-m,P-G-r-S
Pakad (Generally accepted phrase) : S-D,m-P-G,P-G-r-S



Here is my R&D on the raaga ( Limiting to only the songs Ive heard before)..


Starting with one which any Doordarshan old timer would know.. The Rashtirya Saksharta ( National Literacy) Mission's "Purab Se Surya Uga" rendering of Kavita Krishnamurthy.. I think the raga fits fantastically to the cause and even to its video theme. It has both shades of the early morning freshness, the lively chirping and excitement for the day/future ahead, as well as undercurrent pining for something or the melancholic acknowledgment of some event that has gone by or is yet impending..

Purab Se Surya Uga

Here is Manna Dey's "Eki Apurba Prem" , one of my top favorites of MD songs.. q

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The last is the correct ( classical) representation of the raga by Kankana Banerjee ( which I found on the net)

Bhatiyar by Kankana Banerjee

A few glimpses of Switzerland

One of the long distance trains at Oerlikon Station..









Chess Boards at the Community Area.. It was fun to be able to see 8-10 games being played together.. Most of the people though were regulars .. but you could occasionally catch a father teaching his 6 year old a move or two..








The less said the better... the Adult theater just opposite my hotel..
And it always had a FULL HOUSE board in the evenings when I walked back from office..










Just Outside the Lucerne Art Festival... I couldnt get the tickets for the last show before my train back to Zurich










One of the performance areas at the Zurich Steet Parade.. Its supposedly the biggest walking parade in the world. Pretty nice experience, though I didn't want to venture out much after sunset...










Looming mountains, the bluest skies, cascading clouds, towering trees, tiled rooftops, lush carpet meadows, gurgling brooks, shiny pebbles.. this has it all












On the way to Mt. Titlis , Switzerland. My
excursion on the only weekend I had..













Still a long way to reach the top... There were three different ropeways to reach the destination and the most suprising thing was that.. they had traveller's instructions written in Hindi !!

Not bad.. not to mention that the Indian National Anthem could be played alongside others at the summit.









Office Desk.... Just after office hours... so dont mind the dim lighting..











The bull outside our Office... - The building's aptly named "Toro"













An inspection done before Mallya clinched the deal... The Spyker'07











Another view of the beautiful landscape..

Some verses from schooltime..

Trying out my first transliterated post , with this Hindi poem "Hum Panchhi Unmukt Gagan Ke" translated literally as "We birds, of the open skies". This is by SumitraNandan Pant , and I guess we had read this somewhere in our 7th-8th class school course books, and is probably one of the only 2-3 I remember still...

( Attempted translation will follow later.. )

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के ....

हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के,
पिंजर बंध न गा पायेंगे,
कनक तीलियों से टकराकर,
पुलकित पंख टूट जायेंगे ..

हम बहता जल पीने वाले,
मर जायेंगे भूखे प्यासे,
कहीं भली है कटुक निबोरी,
कनक कटोरी की मैदा से ..

स्वर्ण श्रृंखला के बन्धन में,
अपनी गति उड़ान सब भूले,
बस सपनो में देख रहे हैं,
तरु की फुंगी, पर के झूले ..

ऐसे थे अरमान कि उड़ते,
नील गगन की सीमा पाने,
लाल किरण सी चोंच खोल,
चुगते तारक, अनार के दाने ..

होती सीमा हीन शितिज से,
इन पंखो की होडा-होडी,
या तो क्षितिज मिलन बन जाता,
या तंती साँसों की डोरी..

नीड़ न दो, चाहे टहनी का,
आश्रय छिन्न-भिन्न कर डालो,
लेकिन पंख दिए हैं तो,
आकुल उड़ान में विघ्न न डालो

- सुमित्रानन्दन पन्त