On the delights and dangers of keeping a diary

The important of being honest

HC stays Ulhasnagar demolitions

The demolition of 30,000 buildings in Ulhasnagar has been stayed for 18 months by the Bombay High Court. The people of Ulhasnagar, which includes me, can now breath easily.

I feel sorry and sad about people whose buildings were demolished or partially demolished. Hope they will soon be rehabilitated.

Thank you IBNLive , for breaking the good news.

The news story is here.

Book Festival

I went to Strand Book Stall Book Festival, at Sunderbai Hall, near Churchgate Station, last Friday. I purchased the following books:

1. The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbs
2. Cocktail Time by P.G. Wodehouse
3. Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse
4. Ladies Coupe by Anita Nair
5. The Heart of India by Mark Tully
6. How to be Good by Nick Hornby
7. Howards End and A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
   

The diary of Jon Kelly

Jon Kelly, who is 25-year-old, was told six months ago by doctors that he had a 4cm tumour in his brain. In these extracts, which have appeared in the Guardian, from his blog, Jon tells the story of the surgery that saved his life - but also changed him for ever.

The Guardian article is here .

The Blog of Jon Kelly.

Jungle rule: Lovers flogged to death

In a Jharkhand village, a couple was flogged to death as a punishment for allegedly having an illicit relationship. Shocking ...

Link to story.

Mahrashtra Govt steers clear of HC, leaves 855 buildings out of ordinance

Mahrashtra Governor S.M. Krishna signed into law on Saturday, January 14, 2006, the ordinance to regularise illegal structures in Ulhasnagar. But there is a crucial change: it will not apply to the 855 buildings whose demolition was ordered by the Bombay high court.

Read the full story here.

Yaad Aa Rahee Hai, Teree Yaad Aa Rahee Hai ...

Today is the 12th death anniversary of great Rahul Dev
Burman, also known as Panchamda. It is twelve years
ago that R.D. Burman left us on January 4, 1994 in the early
morning hours. Panchamda has left more than thousand of
songs composed for about three hundred movies, and
hundreds of unfinished melodies. For me not a single day
pass without listening to wonderful and magical
compositions of R.D. Burman. The songs composed by
Panchamda are timeless. Just listening to them
is sheer pleasure. He was ahead of his time.
He gave new dimension to Hindi film songs. His
compositions have perfect balance of rhythm
and melody. One could not find a rough edge
in his composition.

Panchamda was the only son of equally famous
Sachin Dev Burman. The contribution of both of them to
the popularity of Hindi film songs is just immense.

It is indeed sad that Panchamda has become more
famous after his death. From 1987 till his death in 1994,
Panchamda composed music for few films. By the time
1942 - A Love Story's music was released in 1994
and was appreciated and applauded and was also
awarded with various awards, it was too late. Panchamda
got only three filmfare awards -- for Sanam Teri Kasam,
for Masoom and for 1942 -- A Love Story (posthumously).
He should have got more
and more such awards. At the national awards he was
completely ignored. It is sad very sad. Now his tunes are
being remixed. For me it is painful to hear those remixes.

We Pancham Bakhts have Yahoo Music Group, which
has 1176 members, to share memories and discuss
music of Panchamda. It has thousands of postings. It was
started by Vinay P. Jain, who is one of the Param Bakht of
Panchamda. Vinay also has an excellent
webpage about Panchamda. The fans
of Panchamda are scattered all over the world. In Pune
every year on 4th January and on 27th June (birth
anniversary of Panchamda), a programme is held at
Tilak Smarak Mandir. The persons who were fortunate to
have been closely associated with Panchamda participate
and share their experiences, and also to re-create the
magic of Panchamda.

Thank you Panchamda for the music ....

An excellent tribute to R.D. Burman has appeared
in today's Hinudstan Times. The link to the article
is here

Police custody for Mumbai rape accused

Very shameful ....
Police custody for Mumbai rape accused. Two persons involved in this ghastly incidence are residence of Ulhasnagar. It is scandalous.