Phir Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

I am sure no Indian from my generation would ever forget the "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara" song that was first televised on Independence Day of 1988 on Doordarshan immediately after Rajiv Gandhi's address to the nation. The film was produced by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, an initiative by the Ministry of Rural Development to promote public awareness. This first-of-its-kind film featured popular Indian achievers from all walks of life from musicians to sports persons to artists to film personalities. The film portrayed a beautiful amalgamation of diverse Indians and successfully captured the imagination of Indians at that time.

That gives me reason enough to feel excited when I heard the news that the song is now being recreated in 2010 as part of Republic Day celebrations. The Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad has since been disbanded and the initiative has been taken up by television channel Zoom TV (which IMHO is quite strange, given that I consider Zoom TV nothing more than a Bollywood gossip channel). Apparently it seems to have gotten the blessings of I&B ministry given that I&B minister Ambika Soni will unveil the song on 25th January.

I have read reports suggesting that the video would feature Indians of the new era.

Sports persons that have made the cut are Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal, Baibhung Bhutia. The film would be rather incomplete if it did not have any cricketer feature in it. At a minimum, I'd like to Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid/Anil Kumble (both from Karnataka), Mahendra Dhoni and perhaps Saurav Ganguly. Representation from Hockey (Dhanraj Pillai is the only one that I can think of) is also a must - after all it is our national game.

On the acting front, Amitabh Bachchan stamps his authority by being the only individual to be featured in both versions of the song. He'd now be joined by his beta Abhishek and bahurani Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Not to be left far behind, best friends Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan are in. Soha Ali Khan will snatch away the glory from Bachchan Sr. if she makes it to the video - Not many people know that little Soha featured in the original version alongside father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Representing the youngistan generation are Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and apparently even Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi Anuskha Sharma (Wonder why?!?!)


Artists would be represented by AR Rahman, Zakir Hussain, Shreya Ghoshal, Shiamak Dawar, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Sivamani, Gurdas Mann, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and more.

On a personal front, I would have loved to see achievers from other walks of life, like business, media, social workers, politicians also to have featured in the video. That would have served a holistic purpose of the song. Another idea would have been to give the composition of the new song to AR Rahman considering the magic that he has worked with Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram.

Here's hoping that the new version is one up over the older one albeit these being big shoes to fill in.

Leaving with a few video links courtesy youtube.





And this is the "Buland Bharat Ki Buland Tasveer" Ad. I am including it here since indigenously manufactured at the time of license raj era, Bajaj Scooters really was a case study. BTW, Bajaj last month announced that it would no longer be manufacturing Bajaj Scooters.

2010, India Vacation, Small businesses

Another year goes by. There wasn't much happening in 2009 apart from the move to Seattle and all the add-ons that come with a move. Spent a better part of the year in office given that the workload was heavy. Hoping against hope that 2010 will be a better year at work - It will only get crazier.

Have resolved to be a bit more regular at blogging. Will try for sure. Much like the risk that T20 poses to test cricket, I must concede that the 140 character microblogging at twitter has caused a loss of words and thoughts many a time.

Vacation in India was very good. Remained in Bombay almost throughout the 5 week period except a 3 day trip to Mahabaleshwar. The weather in Mahabaleshwar was pretty awesome (ranging from 10 to 20 celcius throughout). However I have now decided that from next time onwards, there wont be any more outings. Spending the same amount of money and energy, there are many ways to enjoy within Bombay itself.

Another noticeable aspect that I observed this time (although it isn't anything new) is the way in which small homegrown businesses run and flourish. Having seen the markets in the US where customer-is-the-king mantra rules the roost, it is shocking to see the apathy with which many businesses treat their customers. It appears as if "I dont care for you because I have too many other customers waiting in the queue waiting to buy from me at my terms"

Although it may be an oversimplification or exaggeration of market state, it does get really tempting to start and run a business in such an environment; all the more so because starting up a small business in the United States is no easy deal and the odds of succes IMHO are pretty low given the risk involved. I am not discounting the fact that starting up a business in India is also with risk and as the owner of the business, you are expected to, at times, run the show 100% i.e. do all that it takes to keep the show running. And when I say, all-that-it-takes, it means an all encompassing role - Do the most basic grassroot or mundane task with complete devotion, fervor and sometimes even ending up doing it more frequently that you'd like.

But what you can make-do without is a complete lack of innovativeness. Given the size of the market in India, you need not have a totally unique idea that no one else has implemented. You can start a business with exactly the same idea. As long as you get your implementation right odds are that you will end up having a good business; and if you are that lucky son-of-a-gun then you get volumes at a price point higher than your competitors.

Enough said for now. Will try to post more often this year. Lets see.