Tag Archives: Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Ten of my Favourite Songs of Dissent

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(And some related emotions, not all dissent. Defiance, inspiration, perseverance, etc).

Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy. An elected government has to be held accountable. If it gets the bouquets for the good it does (which, by the way, is simply the result of it doing its job), it must also be ready to face the brickbats for when things aren’t done properly. When corruption, misuse of public funds, manipulation and other maleficence comes into the picture, a government that shrugs off responsibility, refuses to apologize or take effective measures to mitigate the impact of the problem—must be taken to task.

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Ten of my favourite ‘classic poem’ songs

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Several weeks back, a two-day festival called Dilli ka Apna Utsav was organised in Delhi. As part of the festivities was a heritage walk led by my sister, Swapna Liddle. This walk took us to buildings and landmarks associated with the poetry spawned in Delhi: famous venues for mushairas (like the Ghaziuddin Madarsa and the Haveli Razi-un-Nissa Begum), or places which were once residences, even if only briefly, of famous poets (Ahaat Kaale Sahib, Zeenat Mahal, Ghalib’s Haveli).

What connection does all of this have to Hindi cinema? Just that it got me thinking of the links between Hindi film songs and classic poets. I can’t think of too many classic poets (except Mirza Ghalib and Meera Bai) who have been made the central characters of Hindi films, but the works of famous poets crop up every now and then in Hindi film songs. Sometimes in their entirety, and very well-known, too (as in most of the songs of the Bharat Bhushan-starrer Mirza Ghalib).

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