All said and done, it feels good to reach a milestone. The Hindi films of yesteryears used to celebrate Silver Jubilees, Golden Jubilees and even Platinum Jubilees. Till the time films started running for 5 years and later on the counting came to be done in crores earned, not weeks run.
For this musiblog, this is the 25th edition, so it can be considered equivalent to Silver Jubilee of Random Thinking. So, making today's edition more of a celebration, I thought it fit to explore songs of hindi films, which are about numbers, which are arranged to have mathematical importance.
To a mathematically-inclined person, it would appear that the Hindi film lyricists had mathematics on their mind while writing these songs. Being an engineer, mathematics is my favourite subject, so it thrills me discover songs which represent a pattern.
So, here goes...
The earliest mathematics that a child learns is to count from 1 to 10...or more. The songs fitting the bill are many, but the most remarkable song , I think, is the Kaifi Azmi song in Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). The maths teacher writes the numerals on the blackboard, but instead of simply recounting them, she send across a poignant message to the budding minds. this is what education is supposed to achieve. The oneupmanship and the resultant loss of esteem is so beautifully captured through numbers.
The count-up-to-seven song was picturised on Johny walker in the unlikely voice of Kishore Kumar in Sanjog( 1971) The occasion was an office picnic and the game of musical chairs for the ladies.A bespectacled Amitabh Bachchan and a tough-looking Mala Sinha made the cast of a film with a good concept, but indifferent presentation. The Anand Bakshi song, however, serves our purpose and thus, finds a place in today's blog.
The next lesson that the kids learn is ...you guessed it right, Tables or pahade.
Generations and generations have struggled to memorise the tables, so that they can spill it out when required. Most kids hate the mugging of tables. Without their heart and soul in them, ironically kids are supposed to learn them "by heart" !
In Hindi films there have been many songs depicting tables, mostly of 2, being simplest and more suited lyrically. The first time the table of two was used in the film Dil Deke Dekho ( 1959). A thinly-disguised Shammi Kapoor and a Rock-and-Roll band combine with Majrooh Sultanpuri's "do ekkum do, do dooni chaar" to recite musically the whole of "do ka pahada", upto 20. Though it was the least popular song of the album, it finds a place in this anthology.
Surprisingly, 40 years later, in a religious-mythological film called Jai Maa Vaishno Devi , there is a table of two, disguised as a bhajan, sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. It really amazes me how creative the lyricists can get. This one was by Naqsh Lyallpuri.
Next are the fractions which the children have to learn and figure out how much of the cake they'll get if it is divided between their friends. The iconic song in this category was none other than the Kalicharan ( 1976) ditty written by Inderjeet Singh Tulsi and sung by a child with estranged parents on the stage in a school function. Through the song, the incessant division is indicated, leading to fractured houses, neighbourhoods and society at large.
So, the child grows up and encounters more difficult topics in Mathematics. Algebra, Geometry and Calculus. Normally, Hindi film lyricists do not venture to weave a song on such "difficult" areas. However, some of their songs can be interpreted to reflect the mathematical concepts.
There have been songs on Geometry ( Lines being referred in songs such as "rekha or rekha, jabse tumhe dekha" or "rekhaon se maat khaa rahe ho") , Algebra ( Quadratic Equations explained as "meri baat ke maane do, jo achcha lage wo apna lo, jo bura lage usey jaane do" ) and Calculus ( concept of Instantaneous value clarified as "pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyar kar le").
Then there have been direct references to Mathematical terms in the lyrics ( "hindi mein algebra chhaan, VIP underwear baniyaan by Gulzar in his a aa e ee, masterji ki aa gayi chitthi in the film Kitaab, alpha-beta-gamma ka chhaalaa by Swanand Kirkire in his "saari umr hum, mar mar ke jee liye" in 3 Idiots, "digital mein sur hai tarasha" by P.K.Mishra in his 'telephone dhun mein' in Hindustani and finally, "Fibonacci wala spiral" by Priya Sariaya in her 'Beat pe booty' in The Flying Jatt !
When Anil Kapoor, in Ram Lakhan, belted out the anthem of the con-men, One two ka Four, four two ka one, little did he ( or lyricist Anand Bakshi) realise that what is being sung is actually a solution to the expression (5y-2x)/2
f(x,y) = (5y-2x)/2
f(1,2) ka 4
f(4,2) ka 1
The lat word was, however, spoken by none other than Manoj "Bharat" Kumar when he proclaimed that the discovery of Zero is by India and no progress in the world would have been possible but for that Zero !
Here's hoping to roll out many more episodes of Random Thinking, with your encouragement and support.
For this musiblog, this is the 25th edition, so it can be considered equivalent to Silver Jubilee of Random Thinking. So, making today's edition more of a celebration, I thought it fit to explore songs of hindi films, which are about numbers, which are arranged to have mathematical importance.
To a mathematically-inclined person, it would appear that the Hindi film lyricists had mathematics on their mind while writing these songs. Being an engineer, mathematics is my favourite subject, so it thrills me discover songs which represent a pattern.
So, here goes...
The earliest mathematics that a child learns is to count from 1 to 10...or more. The songs fitting the bill are many, but the most remarkable song , I think, is the Kaifi Azmi song in Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). The maths teacher writes the numerals on the blackboard, but instead of simply recounting them, she send across a poignant message to the budding minds. this is what education is supposed to achieve. The oneupmanship and the resultant loss of esteem is so beautifully captured through numbers.
EK ne poochha, tum ho kaun us ne kaha mai sirf SIFAR, ek ne socha mai bhi kya sabse chhota aur sab sach, mil gaye dono ho gaye DUS
The most popular song in this sub-genre is , of course , was the Tezaab song by Madhuri "Mohini" Dixit. Ostensibly a counting of numbers, it is actually counting of dates of a month, so it goes up to 30, with all the trappings of a foot-tapping masala number. The Javed Akhtar song was a rage and continues to regale the viewers with the latka-jhatkas !
Generations and generations have struggled to memorise the tables, so that they can spill it out when required. Most kids hate the mugging of tables. Without their heart and soul in them, ironically kids are supposed to learn them "by heart" !
In Hindi films there have been many songs depicting tables, mostly of 2, being simplest and more suited lyrically. The first time the table of two was used in the film Dil Deke Dekho ( 1959). A thinly-disguised Shammi Kapoor and a Rock-and-Roll band combine with Majrooh Sultanpuri's "do ekkum do, do dooni chaar" to recite musically the whole of "do ka pahada", upto 20. Though it was the least popular song of the album, it finds a place in this anthology.
Surprisingly, 40 years later, in a religious-mythological film called Jai Maa Vaishno Devi , there is a table of two, disguised as a bhajan, sung by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. It really amazes me how creative the lyricists can get. This one was by Naqsh Lyallpuri.
The third instance of the "do ekkum do" refrain was in the 2003 film Darna Mana Hai, a collection of horror/suspense/macabre stories also had the table of Two, sung by children, thankfully. This Abbas Tyrewala creation is a more realistic song , but set in a dark mood film takes the fun out of the "pahada"
There have been songs on Geometry ( Lines being referred in songs such as "rekha or rekha, jabse tumhe dekha" or "rekhaon se maat khaa rahe ho") , Algebra ( Quadratic Equations explained as "meri baat ke maane do, jo achcha lage wo apna lo, jo bura lage usey jaane do" ) and Calculus ( concept of Instantaneous value clarified as "pal bhar ke liye koi hamein pyar kar le").
Then there have been direct references to Mathematical terms in the lyrics ( "hindi mein algebra chhaan, VIP underwear baniyaan by Gulzar in his a aa e ee, masterji ki aa gayi chitthi in the film Kitaab, alpha-beta-gamma ka chhaalaa by Swanand Kirkire in his "saari umr hum, mar mar ke jee liye" in 3 Idiots, "digital mein sur hai tarasha" by P.K.Mishra in his 'telephone dhun mein' in Hindustani and finally, "Fibonacci wala spiral" by Priya Sariaya in her 'Beat pe booty' in The Flying Jatt !
When Anil Kapoor, in Ram Lakhan, belted out the anthem of the con-men, One two ka Four, four two ka one, little did he ( or lyricist Anand Bakshi) realise that what is being sung is actually a solution to the expression (5y-2x)/2
f(x,y) = (5y-2x)/2
f(1,2) ka 4
f(4,2) ka 1
The lat word was, however, spoken by none other than Manoj "Bharat" Kumar when he proclaimed that the discovery of Zero is by India and no progress in the world would have been possible but for that Zero !
Here's hoping to roll out many more episodes of Random Thinking, with your encouragement and support.
3 comments:
Kya thought hai bhaijaan!
You are really creative...
Thanks Shreesh and Reshma ji for the kind words
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