Chhota Pegs

I woke up early this morning to be reminded of one of Rabindranath Tagore's most beautiful songs, " মেঘ বলেছে যাব যাব". (Thank you Monobina Gupta.)   Here's a link to the song , sung by Indrani Sen.  Here's  another , sung by Debabrata Biswas. But the links above will clarify what Problem No. 1 is with renditions of Tagore. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the songs are sung with the most dreadful instrumental accompaniment. What lovely voices Indrani Sen and George Biswas have, and how these and other voices are ground into the dust by the sentimental cacophony of the sitar/sarod/violin that often accompanies them, not to mention that absolute bane of Rabindrasangeet, the harmonium .  In passing, here is an example of how it might be done . It won't go down well with everyone, but there's definitely something there. I'll even take this Bollywood-style number .  And then there is Problem No. 2. I find the translations of Tagore generally i...

It is refreshing (though slightly alarming) to see that my occasional  and much-beloved correspondent, the voluble Parakeet Ghost, is a free speech fundamentalist.  I'm not. But this week my vocal and mental faculties are fully employed elsewhere. Therefore, I'm handing it over to the Ghost Who Talks,  permitting him to eloquently squawk below (or perhaps more aptly for the occasion, to engage in free screech). Confessions of a Fundamentalist By   Parakeet Ghost I am a free speech fundamentalist. Let me explain. Free speech is often supported because it is seen to produce good results. It creates more informed citizens and voters. New and useful ideas emerge from the cacophony of voices. Problems attract the attention of decision makers more quickly. Amartya Sen famously argued that famines tend not to occur in democratic open societies because news of a crisis spreads fast. The problem with a purely   instrumental   view of free spe...