Since morning calming thoughts have been flirting with my mind. First one came as soon as I stepped out for a walk. I started feeling strongly that someone has become very protective to me. There were thoughts, but negative and repetitive thoughts had vanished. I could first time feel how relaxing it is to experience that state.
This is the best thing that could have happened to me, ever.
The other day I was traveling by Mumbai local, returning to Andheri from Grant Road station. I had gone to see a film for my work. Train was a bit crowded but luckily I found a place to sit. Soon it was going to be very crowded, since it was a Virar train.
Suddenly I heard a voice trying to say something. Firstly I felt he was pleading for people to give him place to move in so that he could come in. May be he was going to last station. You know some young guys block the entrance to get the breeze on their face. With a little struggle owner of the voice reached inside and I realized he was a salesman. He was asking for place but not how a co-passenger would ask for. These people are licensed vendors, who carry their ware in large bags. When they find adequate space they display their ware after doing the vocal tricks, which means the introduction to the product. They have to attract people’s attention with a witty sales pitch. They have made up their own dialogues, which they speak in a very funny and attractive way. They all are a bit of actors. They must make the passengers look at him, then look at the product held in his hands lastly they must find the price of the product surprisingly cheap.
So he started:
“Ladies and gentlemen, please look this side.”
“Friends just a minute, look this side.”
“Thank you. Here are Samsung earphones in the original boxes.”
These days everyone owns a mobile phone and most of them own a smart phone. Out of hundreds of passengers some ten may be in need of changing their earphones. So it is a good chance that in one compartment, four or five people will end up buying one.
“Dear friends can you guess the price of this good looking piece? If you go to a shop, store or a mall you will pay not less than 200 or 250 for this. But our company due to its business deal is selling for not 200, not 100, but only 50 rupees. You can see it. Hold it in your hand; even check it on your phone. No cost for seeing and checking. Please confirm that it is working and you like it, before you pull out your wallet.”
In an open challenge and trust, he held out 5 boxes to unknown people, out of which 3 people bought the product.
So, I realized his business works on smart talk, a working product and below reasonable price tag.
It has been raining cats and dogs. Weather had cooled down due to that. Just 3 days back the ceiling fan used to be on fast speed, but now on just one. In fact Gautam had kept an extra covering on his bed… just in case.
He likes to… or rather has to or must at his age go for regular walks and exercise well. Health is most important responsibility at this stage of life. Actually health would be most important at any stage in life. We must do everything to keep body functioning normally, optimally. Keep body weight and shape within limits. If body weight slides up a little, it exerts pressure on the knees to carry the body around. Knees and ankles are ever ready to give support or go along with Gautam if he wants to walk for an hour or jog for half an hour. If he wants to do Yoga, all his joints are ready to go along. They would stretch, get pulled up vertically, sideways or squeezed down to their limits happily. It is because they have been provided with the right kind of nutrients within them.
Stomach stays happy because Gautam eats right kind of food in right quantity and on right times in the day. He has never stretched patience of his liver, kidneys or other digestive systems by consuming hard liquor very oily or fried stuff over a long period.
Gautam loves to watch life. He notices what people do for their jobs and then analyses it. Like the other day he was traveling in the train and saw this salesman. That man had got inside the crowded train carrying a rather heavy bag on his shoulders. He then made place for himself by requesting others to give him place and pulled out various things out of the bag to display in his hands. He attracted attention by speaking in a witty style to passengers. He out stretched his body to hand over the product-packets to many people. Gautam realized his memory was very good also. He remembered how many packets he had handed over and to how many people and where all were they sitting. If anyone wanted to see the product, he moved to him and gave it to him. He was also very organized. He collected money from the people who bought the item and put it inside neatly. He gave change to people who gave bigger notes, all very efficiently…
Gautam felt that using the body for work has double benefit. The salesman had impressed him. He was earning money while his body was exercising physically; his brain too was being alert and calculating. He was also kind and soft spoken to all. May be it was the need of the job, but which meant he has capacity to stay decent to unknown people. He talked to all with a smile, he met.
What other qualities do we want in a person?
An idea is born
‘Who said what’
This is done in order to save some snippets of my life, involving various persons who were, some still are and many will remain integral part of my professional or personal life. I have done it for myself to save these memories. I titled it ‘Amarcord’ as it is one of my most favorite films, directed by Federico Fellini… and yes Amarcord (Italian) means ‘I remember’.
Here we go:
“I am going out for some time. My son will come to take the milk from tomorrow.” (Pitaji)
“Don’t go to school today, ‘pitaji’ has expired. We are going to Allahabad.” (Mummy)
“When you were playing you looked just like your father in many angles.” (Om chacha)
“He was very angry, when you were combing your hair. He abused you.” (Debu)
“You have just come here and you already got a letter. He opens the letter and without even looking at its content shows its blank surface and laughs. He had sent it himself to check the address.” (Awtar Kaul)
“11.45 pm. Did you eat dinner? No? I will take you for dinner. Come with me. Sitting in the taxi he said, ‘Taj’.” (Awtar Kaul)
“Man on that table is staring at me. I am going to give him a dirty look.” (Awtar Kaul)
“Don’t disturb him. He is a serious man.” (Awtar Kaul)
“If anything happens to your mother, I will not be responsible.” (My father)
“I can shed my blood, if required, to bring him back.” (My brother)
“Some girl somewhere must be praying in a corner, to get a crazy person like him (me).”(Bhabhi)
“I will bring you food and medicine, because I already had chicken pox. It will not affect me.” (Kapil Chandra)
“I have not spoken about this to anyone; but then, you are not anyone.”
“Let me show you the charts I made for my presentation.”
“If you want to meet, then come over.”
“Why there is so much difference between mixing of your documentary and diploma film?” (Robin Chatterji)
“The diploma film is mixed like a professional.” (Robin Chatterji)
“If I and Mr. Sharma were to eat soil from the moon, we might become taller.” (FTII teacher, S B Thakar)
Jaya, “Why is this Hanuman ji so thin?” Me, “May be this ‘moorti’ was made when he was 19.” (Between Jaya and me))
“Did he say he never got drunk? Doesn’t he remember, he was so piss-drunk that he peed on the floor of our hotel room, we were sleeping in?” (Vishnu about Narendraji)
“Your single handed recording got a standing ovation.” (Narendra Singh)
“Here is Rs 135.50 for 2 months of shooting. Sign the voucher.” (Prod Manager Raja Kaka in Naaz office)
“No, right now I cannot afford to give you anything other than your salary.” (Dev Saab)
“Ek second ho gaya bhaiyya!” (Dev Saab)
“Sir, your judgment and analysis of the films was excellent. We learnt a lot from you.” (Bhaskar)
“I liked your ‘drinking tea’ shot. It came out very well.” (Brit woman film maker)
“Here, I got this for your son.” (Mahesh Bhat)
“This is put on record that you are the one who recorded this.” (Javed Akhtar)
“You have to be more responsible.” (Amit Khanna)
“Now you are responsible for welfare of our company.” (Amit Khanna after Havan in which I sat for Plus)
“Whoever has eaten little parts of different ‘mithais’ is surely a connoisseurs of sweets.” (Murali)
“Some people know how to eat.” (Indu)
“You people have taken away one of our daughters.”
“Don’t worry about that (choked), give it to mummy.”
“He became very happy when he was talking to you. His eyes were shining. You should call him once a week at least.” (Pushpa Chachi)
“He is a show piece, a Badminton champion and a gold medalist from our Institute.” ( R S Chauhan to his friend)
“You must be the cutest recordist.” (Zeenat Aman, Nepal)
“One night Waheeda came to my room. We chatted” (Fali Mistry)
“Call me ‘mamma’; no not ‘ok mamma’; no not ‘Nadira mamma’, just ‘mamma’.” (Nadira)
“How dare they spread such obscene rumors? I took care of a very sick boy and they say…”
(Nadira)
“Whenever superior sound and production is required, call him.” (S Kak)
“Kahiye ji, kaise hain? Kaisa chal raha hai apka kaam?” (Raj Kapoor on steps of entry to office)
“You should not use this recording in the film… but then you are a professional. May be you will record it without getting any noise and then use it.” (Raj Kapoor)
“You are right. Even in our camp all were surprised to know that this song was written by Hasratji. The song clearly has a stamp of Shailendraji.” (Randhir Kapoor)
“I saw you on the bus stop. You were too engrossed in gaping at a girl.” (Vishwa)
“Don’t go to Nariman Point for Pritish Nandy’s interview. Just now a blast has occurred in Worli, cover that instead.” (Plus office on phone, 12 March ’93)
“Even that you are not doing.”
“‘Cut’, hi Arun. Ok, let’s go.” (Shabana)
“Shall we go Arunji?” Habiba
“After a film is complete, no one meets again. Funny business.” (Hema)
“Arun I am using your name for me in this film.” (Dev Saab, Anand aur Anand)
“This is a very prestigious show. I want every breath recorded.” (Geeta Kak)
“You should wish very carefully.” (Seema)
(4.45pm, Saturday, 14 Aug, 2010)
kamladevi high school
rush in change into uniform and meet ravi sir
pay my fees 1100 for grading
5.15 pm melvel sir starts
punches
kicks
shikodach
punches
kicks
lie down stomach sit ups
shikodach
punches
flying kicks
knuckle push ups
palm pushups
shikodach punches…
at this point, i was about to loose my stamina totally
30 min later we were made to sit
in a few mins poonam miss took a smaller group out on street
only brown belts
i was in that group
we did jog mawashi geri
elbow crawl, duck walk, bunny hop
knuckle push ups
squats, kicks and
palm push ups…
i was dead tired
miss told me to step aside and rest
i did that
towards the end caught up breath and joined them again
entered the school hall after 30 mins
katas
gek sada ich
gek sada ni
saifa
sanchin ni
chief guest checked my arm strength
miss punched me in the stomach…
finally it was all over
we were asked to sit
ravi sir spoke
chief guest spoke well for long
gave the certificates away
and ARIGATO finally happened at 8 pm
reached home at 8.45
checked out my soiled uniform and clicked its pix
Censor Certificate
TITLE: EK MUSAFIR EK HASINA 35MM LENGTH: 4470.38 METERS CC#103550
CARD#1 FILMALAYA Presents
CARD#2 Joy Mukerji Sadhana in
CARD#3 Ek Musafir Ek Hasina
CARD#4 Starring: Dhumal Rajendernath Siddhu Kamal Kapoor Malika Jagdish Raj Gyani Master Aziz Sulochana Chatterji Chaman Puri and Shyam Chatterji
CARD#5 with Jankidas Narbada Shanker vajid Khan Ravi Kant Johny Bimal Raj Kailash Kapoor Nazir Kashmiri Tiwari Baba Khan K Billa B H Mukerji Abhimanyu Sharma and Tommy the dog
CARD#6 and introducing: Neer Sameer
CARD#7 Play Back: Mohammed Rafi Asha Bhonsle
CARD#8 Editing Supervision: J S Diwadkar Edited by: S E Chandiwale
CARD#9 Art Direction: Souren Sen
CARD#10 Make up: Dada Datar Hair Styles: Mrs. Green
CARD#11 Costumes: Jaggi Tailors Noor Beg Esquires Ltd Madam Pompador
CARD#12 Dances: Satyanarayan Parvati Kumar Suresh Sam Aron
CARD#13 Scenario: K A Narayan Dialogue: Miss Q Hyder
CARD#14 Lyrics: Shevan Rizvi S H Bihari Raja Mehdi Ali Khan
CARD#15 Production Executive: Lalit Mukerji Production Secretaries: Vilas Mhobe S Lahiri
Studio In-charge: B K Mukerji Prodcution Managers: Arun Sen Gupta J G Kapoor
CARD#16 Exploitation Controllers: V K Dikshit Surjit Ahuja Publicity In-charge: V S Kamal
CARD#17 Processed at Famous Cine Laboratories, Tardeo Bombay
Produced at Paramount Studios, Andheri Stills: Lunar Photographers
CARD#18 Chief Assistant Director: Padmanabh
CARD#19 Assistants:
Direction: Suresh Issar Suresh Bedi
Photography: Pushpal Dutta D K Prabhakar
Sound: Kapil Divecha Dipak Mazumdar S Mohinder Dalvi Mumtaz
CARD#20 Assistants:
Music: G S Kohli
Art: Shib Shanker D A Pai
Editing: D A Samant Ravi Palankar J M Sunder
Costumes: Mohammed Sakharam
Production: Ranjit
Makeup: Janu More Laxman
CARD#21 Business & Exploitation Chief: Prabodh Mukerji
CARD#22 Audiography: Ishan Ghosh
CARD#23 Director of Photography: Fali Mistry
CARD#24 Music: O P Nayyar
CARD#25 Story Screenplay & Direction: Raj Khosla
CARD#26 Produced by: S Mukerji
Film starts with war sequence. First dialogue by Rajendranath. (Some dialogues: jis cheez ka ilaj na ho uski fikra nahin karni chahiya / kabailee jinhone Kashmir par hamla kiya, reference of Baramula)
SONG#1 Bahut shukriya badi meharbani by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhonsle on Joy Mukerji and Sadhana (in scene child actor)
SONG#2 Aap yoon hee agar hamse milte rahe, dekhiye ek din pyar ho jayega; aise baatein na kar o haseen jadugar mera dil teri baton mein kho jayega by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhonsle on Joy Mukerji and Sadhana
SONG#3 Mujhe dekh kar aapka muskarana, mohabbat nahin hai to phir aur kya hai, Mohd Rafi on Joy Mukerji (mujhe tum begana keh lo ya phir diwana, magar ye diwana jane dil ka phasana, banawat mein dil ki haqeeqat chhupana…mohabbat nahin hai to phir aur kya hai… / khayalon mein khoyee khoyee rehti hi aise, mussawir ki chalti phirti tasvir jaise, ada ashiqi, ye nazar shayarana…
SONG#4 Hamko tumhare ishq ne kya kya bana diya, jab kuchh na ban sakey to tamasha bana diye Mohd Rafi on Joy Mukerji (Sadhana in scene / jalwon ki bheekh phenkne wale ki khair ho, parda hata ke dekhne wale ki khair ho, ban ke bhikhari ishq ne daaman bichha diya…)
SONG#5 Tumhein muhabbat hai hamse mana, batao iska suboot kya hai; ye haath seene pe rakh ke dekho na poochho iska suboot kya; by Mohd Rafi and Asha Bhonsle, on Joy Mukerji and Sadhana.
SONG#6 Phir tere shehar mein lutne ko chala aya hoon, phir wohi ishq tera phir wohi dil laya hoon, by Mohd Rafi on Joy Mukerji with crowd on boats; in scene, a very young and dashing Kamal Kapoor.
SONG#7 Meri nazarein haseen aise tum ho haseen, by Asha Bhonsle on Sadhana trying to revive Joy Mukerji’s memory
SONG#8 Udhar wo chal chalet hain idhar hum jaan lete hain, by Asha Bhonsle on unknown actress, cabaret in night club. Sher: kyon aag lagati phirti ho, jab garam hawa se darti ho; dil pehle jala ke khaq kiya, ab thandi saansein bharti ho?
SONG#9 Iran humne dekha dekha hai cheen humne; lekin kahin na dekha tumsa hassen humne; koi bhi jab dekha tere muqabale ka awaz tujhko dee hai aye nazneen humne; o yaar zulfon wale dildar zulfon wale, zulfon ne mujhko mara ghamkhwar zulfon wale…
Film ends on Joy Mukerji and Sadhana in house boat.
 | Arunoday on Mortal Men Immortal Melod… |
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Arun Chalisa 
