A Year in Flight - MPA Turns One

On May 30th, the flight of my fancy flew past it's first landmark - one whole year of flapping it's wings in cyberspace.

When I had started blogging last year, it was one of those sudden whims that suddenly consumed me and lo behold a blog was born with just 24 hours of gestation. It was hurriedly (and may I add sloppily) put together. The temporary name was a convoluted one - 'In the footsteps of my wanderlust'. Wanderlust, or the quest for the exotic, the mystic and the unknown has accompanied me ever since I remember. Nature, music, astronomy, religion, history, geology- the topics that I wish to discover this nectar in are diverse. The blog was meant to be a vehicle to explore all those and more. It came at a phase in my life, where I was going through a period of intense introspection and there were a lot of questions, thoughts, emotions and equations circling in my head. I wanted to sort them out using the method that works the wonders for me - putting it down on paper.

But then as our friend Robert Burns had observed a few centuries ago, the best laid plans don't always follow the road map they had set out with. And my blog like my mind just went wandering off its own path. A year later it looks nothing like I had intended it to look. The name is now 'Man Panchhi Albela' and it has been living up to it's new name with vigour. It is airy and flighty and talks about whatever whim has caught my fancy for long enough to generate a post. The equations and questions of last year have resolved themselves and new thoughts buzz in my head now. In some small way all those thoughts have found a place in my writings during the past year though they never managed to corner a complete post as I thought they would.

A one year landmark is a good excuse to indulge in the activity that comes rather naturally to me and I have been doing it consistently on this blog - analysis/paralysis. So then here are some observations and discoveries.

• 41 posts in a year, 38 of which were in 2008. 2009 has been a fallow year. The main reason is that I am off a job and have been travelling etc. Blogging is a guilty pleasure in the current state of affairs.
  

• Much as I would like to believe otherwise, I just have to accept the fact that music is the most motivating of my fancies. Most of my posts are on either music or cinema and it is of little surprise that those are also the posts that attract maximum feedback.
  

• The most popular posts, based on the number of hits and comments are

1. A New 'Bond'
   
2. Dev Anand at 85 - Triumphant!

As is apparent, in this universe, there is James Bond and then there is Dev Anand!

• The posts closest to my heart are on the subjects that I had intended to explore in the first place. Predictably, they haven't got much feedback. That is a woe that is common to most regular bloggers. The writings that attract most attention aren't usually the ones that they value greatly themselves. These are my ignored but cherished droppings.
  

1. The God in Small Things
   
2. The Heat, The Mosquitoes and New York Times
   

• The post where I expected a good discussion, but it did not happen was the series on Guru Dutt. This was probably the most serious, focused and academic writing I did last year. Given the proclivities of the people who visit my blog regularly, that surprised me, albeit only mildly. Remember I told you it was academic? : Guru Dutt: Genius?

• Search statistics tell me that most people who land on this blog are searching for mp3 of songs or for information on musical personalities - Geeta Dutt and Manna Dey, SD Burman etc. all have fair representation. But the real star of search related hits on MPA has been a candidate who appeared on this blog for her virtue of being a non-entity - Kalpana Kartik. She has grandly proved my notion of her being forgotten by history absolutely wrong. Ever since I did the article on her - there are a minimum of 5 hits a day on her name(with or without Dev Anand). Yesterday an optimistic soul reached my blog searching for 'Kalpana Kartik new film'! I must say Dev Saab has a solid reason to feel kicked with life. Even at 85 years the juicy details of his love life have so many seekers!
  

• Two series have been introduced here on MPA. The first is the List series that comprises of lists on a common theme(mainly of songs!) and the other is the Song of the Day series that highlights a song that has caught my fancy.
  

• MPA introduced a new feature of creating a reader's community. Please click on the 'Follow' section on the left bar to become a part of the community and recieve notifications.
  

• When I started out, I knew who exactly would visit my blog (they were all people known to me). But MPA has been in auto-pilot mode for a while now. Most people who visit the blog are now from places where I have no acquaintences and I am also getting used to the fact that unknown people are actuallly reading my thoughts. I would invite my regular reader to drop me a line so that I can get acquainted with them (and their blogs). Blogging is afterall nothing but connecting with kindred souls all over the world.
  

As I start Year 2 in flight, I am quite optimistic about continuing this blog, despite the lull in activity. The whole thing was certainly not a passing fancy the urge to write always returns. I thank all my readers and friends who have written in to the blog or to me personally with their valuable suggestions. I continue to look forward to their visits and comments.

As I set my sights on new horizons to span in Year 2, I leave you with another addition to the Song of the Day series. It is the song that inspired the title of this blog - 'Man Panchhi Albela'. The nightingale Lata Mangeshkar does the honours here to a sprighty and flighty tune created by the maestro who was as sprighty as this composition - Sachin Dev Burman. The lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi speak the language of all the dreamers in this world. -Paon mere dharti par meri nazar chaand ko choome (पांव मेरे धरती पर मेरी नज़र चांद कॊ चूमे). For the poetry enthusiasts, I would like to turn your attention towards the meter of the song. It is quite imaginative and unusual.

Lyrics

man panchhi albela taaron ki nagari mein jaaye

mat poocho kisi laaye khabariya

man panchhi albela...

nayi nayi pehechaan hai uska naam na jaana maine

mein kaise kahun mera kaun sanwariya

man panchhi albela...

paanv mere dharti par meri nazar chaand ko chuume

nazar chaand ko chuume

paanv mere dharti par meri nazar chaand ko chuume

mera aancha ude hawaon mein mera tan jhume man jhume

kaisi uljhi najariya

man panchhi albela...

kya jaadu yeh kaisa tona yeh to samajh na aaye

yeh to samajh na aaye

kya jaadu yeh kaisa tona yeh to samajh na aaye

itna jaanu uski dhun par thumke naache gaaye

yeh man pii ki gujariya

man panchhi albela...

man panchhi albela taaron ki nagari mein jaaye

mat poocho kisi laaye khabariya

man panchhi albela...

nayi nayi pehechaan hai uska naam na jaana maine

mein kaise kahun mera kaun sanwariya

man panchhi albela...

हिन्दी

मन पंछी अल्बेला तारॊं की नगरी में जाए

मत पूछॊ किसकी लाऎ खबरिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला...

नई नई पहचान है उसका नाम ना जाना मैने

मैं कैसे कहुं मेरा कौन सांवरिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला..

पांव मेरे धरती पर मेरी नज़र चांद को चूमे

नज़र चांद को चूमे

पांव मेरे धरती पर मेरी नज़र चांद को चूमे

मेरा आंचल उड़े हवाऒं मे, मेरा तन झूमे मन झूमे

कैसी उलझी नज़रिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला...

क्या जादू यह कैसा टोना यह तो समझ ना आए

यह तो समझ ना आए

क्या जादू यह कैसा टोना यह तो समझ ना आए

इतना जानू उसकी धुन पर ठुमके नाचे गाये

यह मन पी की गुजरिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला...

मन पंछी अल्बेला तारॊं की नगरी में जाए

मत पूछॊ किसकी लाऎ खबरिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला...

नई नई पहचान है उसका नाम ना जाना मैने

मैं कैसे कहुं मेरा कौन सांवरिया

मन पंछी अल्बेला...

Lyrics courtesy

http://thaxi.hsc.usc.edu/rmim/giitaayan/files/rmim0400.isb