The Way We Were

T,

Send me the complete script of the movie`` Tera Kya Karoon Banjaran?`` by email;

Cave dweller indeed, HAH

Love

B

Reva,

Hi Girl, how are u?

Love

S

Reva:

...am a cave-dweller in T.O...

banjaran:

...read this as a philmi dieelOgh tera kya karooN banjaran (add suitable scenario, backgroud, music )

;)

lve

t

Hi Sucheta . . . after partition, when the Bad Guys grabbed our land, we Maliks like the other Indians, those in the US, adopted the rest of the country as our own. So, I like a place, I adopt it. Goa as a shippie and subsequently and Chorla thanks to the legends therein. I think you should head for wildernest/swapnagandha yesterday, incidentally. Adios, veeresh

Reva,

Great to see more of you here. Will send a long mail in a couple of days. Still in the UK.

You, my dear, have to see a lot more of Goa with me.. promise? Let`s try and explore some more..

Will tell you more about T in the mail (no worries, T!) hope you are reading this.

Take care for now. Love

S/banjaran (!)

Dear Veereseh,

With a name like Mullick, how come you are from Chorla?

Have a brochure of Swapna Gandha and been planning to go there. Maybe to watch the monsoons in June?? Briefly met a young guy (owner/manager) when he was on a promo to Goa.

Gimme a mail when you are coming next. Will surely get together. These Karachi/Lahore Chowkies seem to think we Indians don`t know how to live it up! Ha! :-)

Cheers

Sucheta

Goa!

Mine is a small village on the old smuggler`s route via Chorla Ghats between Belgaum and Ponda/Goa. Drive up to Swapna Gandha, there is an ecotel there called Wildernest run by a Gentle Giant King Neptune . . . like me, an ex-Seafarer. . . his house cocktail was designed by me, consumed in large volumes while getting burnt in his infinity pool . . . 2 parts beer, 1 part kokum sharbat with a piece of koum floating at the bottom . . . at 3500/- per couple all inclusive . . . Goa!!

so who should I be listening to? banjaran is a great name tho`

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so perhaps you should be kinder. where does T live? and why won`t he come to India? can sense some stories here, perhaps best-selling ones?
Sucheta, this is a great place to meet! how are you doing?
how are the babies?
There are Goa`s and Goa`s. Yours is a romantic, dream-scape, I think I`ve seen a not-so-rosy side.
Revathy

REva,

Don`t you listen to T. I don`t think I have his `addy`. No matter what, don`t send your books to him, that way he will never come to India!

Take care all.

Banjaran

Reva:

...don`t you listen to the banjaran;)...send it by snail-mail...look forward to reading it...get my addy from her tho`...

lve

t

Thanks, Revathy. You brought back memories not only of my own youth and listening to Paul McCartney, but also of my daughter`s wonderful rendering of `Yesterday`, which won her standing ovations and moved audiences private and public to tears. And, yes, how little we oldies know of the bittersweet yesterdays that a 16-year-old can anticipate even if her tomorrows are before her.
Ram

My Dear Revathy,

Wonderful to read your great piece here. And also to read the interactions here. I am not surprised that they all like it.

The mutual friend you have with Temporal is yours truly. That`s my way of saying thanks again for introducing me to chowk.

Hang on to those books |REvathy, we shall make T come to India!!! And then you can give them in person!

For all of you.

There is a great group of jazz (and golden oldies) music lovers in Goa and the time to enjoy it when it is pelting down with rains. Nothing like some good food, some better drinks, some fabulous music (with loads of people joining in..) and the greatest of them all, some very dear friends. What a combination.

Take care all. And Revathy, thanks for the article. Sorry I couldn`t call before leaving Bombay.

Sucheta

Thrilled that you all liked this piece. There are so many people one could have mentioned... there were several 60`s boy bands (horrible phrase!) Brothers Four, Four Freshmen, Four Preps, who sang the most harmony-filled songs. I love Take 5, and most other Brubeck, especially when Paul Desmond takes over. Not all Nat King Cole, sorry, Autumn Leaves and Fascination, yes...
But my god, one can go on picking out songs and singers.
To `T`

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please let me have your address, shall send you `Six.` Just have a few copies left.
Who is mutual friend?
Thank you all again, for lovely sharing.
Revathy

Thank you for this refreshing article, in the midst of interacts on short visits by pontificating Indians, including the humbled self, behaving like Columbus discovering America and/or India.

On music . . . one number which always but always helps me get things back into perspective is Take Five by Dave Brubeck.

The saxophone, the semi unrelated beat, the background bass, and the sheer joy of being able to hear it again and again, when happy, sad, reflective, hyper.

Try it, for those who haven`t placed it as yet.

There are other favourites too . . . but Take Five is my best.

This was beautiful. I love jazz too. Used to listen to it a lot once but not so much any more. Though two songs which still send a shiver down the spine are Billie Holliday`s Strange Fruit and Nina Simone singing I Loves You Porgy (``don`t let him handle me with his hot hands. . .``)

Ella Fitzgerald bohat pyaara lagti thi. Anything Goes, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Miss Otis Regrets, Something`s Gotta Give. There was an innocence about her singing that was quite delightful.

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking
Now heaven knows,
Anything goes

A few years ago, Clint Eastwood made a movie (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil) whose soundtrack was a reworking of the jazz classics, a Johnny Mercer songbook, so to speak. Paula Cole sang Autumn Leaves really well. Kevin Spacey made a spirited attempt at That Old Black Magic. Eastwood himself tried singing Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive but that didn`t work too well. What was sweet though was Cassandra Wilson singing The Days of Wine and Roses. The soft, lingering melancholy has a way of melting your heart.

The days of wine and roses
Laugh and run away,
Like a child at play . . .

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I like the way your article tenderly pays tribute to the memories.

``Our own lives may have lacked the implied self-destructiveness, the enduring of the unendurable, the flirting with disaster (we actually had normal, healthy, happy girl lives), then why that glad, unrestrained reaching out? Of course it had something to do with the books we read, the movies we watched but it felt as if the music we listened to had all the answers to the secrets of adulthood.``

I know exactly what you`re saying.

Warm wishes,

Aamir

Revathy:

...and nary a mention of nat king cole?...ok you are forgiven...;)

lve

t

ps: a mutual friend mentioned your book...how can i get me hands on a copy?