I am "SHER"locked!!!

Dear readers

“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

One of the most famous quotes by one of the most famous and celebrated detectives of all times. Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

My introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes goes way back when I was in school. Being from a Marathi medium school meant I had some difficulty and apprehension when it came to English literature. But in my house at Dadar I was literally surrounded by all types of books Marathi as well as English. I am a voracious reader. But still my inclination was always towards reading Marathi literature. As I see back, because of that fear, I was missing out the entire magic world of English literature. So my father, being a Marathi medium student himself, used to tell me stories about how he developed habit of reading English and how he used to check the unknown words using dictionary etc. What I starkly remember is him telling me about this fantastic story called “Silver Blaze”. And I thought “Okay. Let me give it a try”. 

Unfortunately my enthusiasm melted in no fewer than 2 pages as I kept looking in the dictionary for the unknown words. I gave up. Luckily I came across a Marathi translation of Sherlock Holmes stories by Bhalba Kelkar and Bha. Ra. Bhagwat. And wow!! I was totally mesmerised.  It had a huge impact on me. I even tried thinking like Holmes (unsuccessfully of course). I read those books at least 5 times so as to remember what happens in every story.

Years went by. I started learning Science and Mathematics in English for the first time since my 8^th standard and full coursework in English in my HSC. Slowly the apprehension about English began to get converted into a fascination, curiosity and desire to master it. “La lingua pura” as Dan Brown puts it in Angels and Demons. Another landmark came when I started preparing for GRE. I may not have gone abroad for studying but learning all those difficult words surely helped to improve my command over English language. With this armour I revisited my dear Holmes once again and god I enjoyed it. I could see why it became so popular. What a masterpiece it is. It showed me how logical thinking could change the way you look at simple things. “You see but you don’t observe”. Absolutely. Can you remember number of steps to your house? I don’t know how that will help you. But it shows you that there are so many things happening in your surroundings. You are just not well equipped to appreciate them and you need to train yourself in those awesome powers of observation and deduction. Somehow methods Sherlock used to employ seem to be applicable to daily routine as well. Anyways I went on and read all the stories including the short stories as well as full novels. Now, not all the stories are good. But still to think in such a diverse way revolutionized the detective genre of literature. Someone like Agatha Christie (a subject for another article) went on to explore the psychology of criminals via the grey cells of Hercule Poirot. Now a days we see so many detective shows, police shows on television but I can definitely say in some way or the other you will be reminded of the pioneer of these techniques, our beloved hooked nose detective, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

It is not at all surprising that so many adaptations exist for this fictional detective. It’s a dream role for many actors and it has been played over past decades by multitude of fine actors who bring in their own interpretation of Sherlock. My three most favourite are Jeremy Brett, Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller. Jeremy can be considered as quintessential Sherlock being a part of many short stories and movies and portraying the character to the finest details mentioned in the book. Benedict stars in TV series “Sherlock” which can be said as new age adaptation of old stories, where Sherlock uses all the new tools modern science has to offer. But the basic science of deduction remains the same. Johnny Lee Miller stars in an American version of Sherlock Holmes in TV series called “Elementary”. In this Sherlock is a recovering drug addict and to get over the addiction he consults with NYPD. I love all these 3 portrayals. The cases are varied and it is fun to guess beforehand who the culprit will be. Happiness is when your guess is correct. All Sherlock lovers and lovers of Mystery genre in general must have felt the thrill of being right. And that’s what Sherlock does to you. It takes you away from the world you live in. It makes you stretch your imagination. It makes you feel irritated when your guess goes haywire. It makes you fall in love with notable enemies too (Remember Prof. Moriarty). Most important of all it gives you immense joy and happiness to read or see your favourite detective solving the crimes which seem impossible to ordinary people. The character of Dr. Watson teaches you value of friendship, courage, loyalty and provides a big contrast for the eccentric personality of Sherlock. All in all once you watch it or read it you are going to like it. 

We went to United Kingdom in 2011 for a family trip and was I interested in Big Ben? No. Was I interested in Madam Tussauds? No. Was I interested in Buckingham palace? No. Any guesses?? Yes. It was visiting 221B Baker Street. It’s an important junction for many tube lines. We went to Sherlock Holmes museum, put on Sherlock Holmes hat, pretended to smoke his pipe. It took me right back to my childhood. It was a great feeling.

I still read it sometimes when I am bored. I know why the dog did not bark or I know what’s in the sixth Napoleon or I know what the speckled band is. But I still read it and feel the thrill that I felt while reading it for the first time. Why?? “Elementary Watson. Because I am SHERlocked” 

Mihir

My experience with the recording of song!!!!!!

Dear Readers,

As the title of the blog indicates I am planning to share some of my memorable moments and experiences and I think I’ll begin with this particular experience which gave me an immense joy. Probably I’ll never be able to experience it again. Here it goes.

Every year Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) organizes Drama competition among all the employees of BMC. One of the entries for this year’s competition was KEM hospital. Since last three years I have come in contact with lots of people from KEM hospital (which is a topic for different article) and some of them have become very close friends. Among those, there are two very talented doctors Dr. Adwait Godse and Dr. Raghavendra Ramdasi (We call him Prasad). Adwait was playing an important character in this drama which was based on the concept of poetry therapy. Prasad, apart from being a neurosurgeon, is a very talented poet much like Kusumagraj and he composed a beautiful song for this drama specially. He had a tune in mind based on Rag Des and it was decided to record the song. Now the question arose about accompaniments and singer. One of KEM’s undergraduate students Siddhi was asked to sing and I was asked to accompany on Tabla. Prasad came to my house that evening. We fixed the tune, practiced it once and went to T9 studio, Mahim for recording the song around 7.30 pm.

My first reaction after entering the studio was, “Oh wow!!! We have entered a different world”. Before this I always wondered how the entire process worked out. This was a real chance to experience it first-hand. First the song was recorded in Prasad’s voice with Beats per Minute sounding like “Click” in the background. At that time I realized how difficult it was to sing in a fixed rhythm and trust me you can go wrong if you miss even half a bit. All the mistakes that we make while singing casually, without realizing, seemed to magnify in the studio. Anyways after 2 takes it was called “Ok”. Now it was my turn to play Tabla. So I entered the sound proof room where I was supposed to sit and arranged the Tabla. The studio engineer, Elton, instructed me as to how to proceed. I was supposed to play Tabla based on the earlier recorded track in Prasad’s voice along with Clicks. To my pleasant surprise it was “One take Ok”. Still to be on the safer side we recorded the Tabla again. Wow!!! What a great feeling it was. I simply cannot express that in words. One thing I never thought I’ll be able to do in my life was suddenly accomplished. Next day we recorded the actual song, this time in Siddhi’s voice. She finished the recording in like 15 minutes like a professional singer. Once this was done there were 3 layers of the sound track Siddhi’s vocal, my Tabla and background harmonium and tanpura. Elton mixed these 3 layers with the help of a software (which is apparently really expensive), adjusted the fine notes, added some reverb, basically optimized it and finally the song was ready to be used in the drama.

Me with the composer Dr. Raghavendra Ramdasi (Prasad). Photo credits: Dr. Adwait Godse

All in all, it was a really thrilling experience for me. It gave me a new insight into the world of recording and sound. And as the song was based on Indian Classical Music, for me, it was like icing on the cake!! I hope I get to attend and even play in some more recordings if time and luck permit!!! And let me say this, if you get such an opportunity don’t let it go!!!!

Mihir

The First Post

Dear Readers

I am attempting yet again to write a blog. I initiated a blog called "Connoisseurs of Happiness" with my good friend Surahit some time back. But since he moved to Germany to pursue his PhD he is not able to write regularly. Same is the case with me. I am on the verge of finishing my second year of PhD and things are starting to get harder, challenging and demanding. But hey, that's why I signed up for this. The thrill of research, teaching, publishing, patenting and what not. 

Yet it is my belief that you can get stuck in your routine very quickly, even get attached to it. Your life can become mundane and monotonous in no time if you don't take efforts. I have seen this happen all around me. And I simply cannot live like this. 

Taking a risk of self appreciation, I can say that I have varied interests. Apart from research I mean. That includes food, friends, music, reading, acting, performing, teaching and what not. I consider myself really lucky to be able to explore so many things at a go. People ask me these questions routinely. "How do you do all these things?" and I search the answer again and again. But with no luck. I don't know how I find time for all the things...May be I have great friends who are even more good at multitasking...I don't know. Only thing that I definitely know is I personally like to explore these things and yes....I am curious about the world.

A few years back I was not at all like this. I mean I still liked doing all these things. But my world view was bit stereotypical. I was very good at studies and still managed to do co-curricular and extra curricular activities nicely. Still I was not open minded. Whenever someone used to ask me something which was not in my comfort zone the first answer that came to my mind was always "No". Without even trying. 

When I came to Mumbai I realized that this attitude is taking me nowhere. I must change myself and be able to enjoy (or at least try) new things rather than ruling them outright. I was fortunate enough to find friends who were as dynamic (May be more) and as ready to explore things as you can get. And now after spending 5 years in this beautiful city I can definitely say I have given my best. I made so many friends, I gathered experiences for life time and now I think I am mature enough to share them with all of you..That means whoever reads this blog. Lols.

The articles which will follow are recollections from my memories and my perspectives and experiences as the name of the blog clearly indicates. These are my avenues of happiness and ultimately I believe your goal should be that. Being Happy. Being Content (Not complacent). Think beyond the worldly and materialistic attachments and find happiness in small things which may not be expensive but cherished. And if this blog can help you find your happiness then I will be very happy for all of you. As Sant Dyaneshwar says in Pasaydan.."जो जे वांछिल तो ते लाहो" ...Let everyone get what he/she wants....I wish you all the happiness in the world...Its raining outside. Go and enjoy the Monsoon. Cya. Take care.

Mihir