Aakaash Bhora

Another salud to Dadi Baba...

[Major Scale]

|| S S , , S S , , ||
|| S S N(lower) R ||
|| M M M M P / M ||
|| M M M M R , P ||
|| P P M2 P M2 P D ||
|| P S R R G ||
|| M P M G R P M2 P D ||
|| P R S , , S , , ||

Omkara Title Track

S R G G G / M , , G S S
S R G G , G / M G , S S
G S , , S S
R , , S S

S R R P , M G R S
S , , S S
R , , S S

Of course, [Major Scale] :-)

Choo Kar Mere Mann Ko

The 2nd line is probably wrong... :-(

[Major Scale]

G G R S N(lower) R
N(lower) S R R G M P S
P P P M G M D
N N N N N D N S(high) S(high)

Ekla Cholo

This time, a salud to the Great Dadi Baba of Bengal.

|| S R S N(lower) N(lower) S R P M G ||
|| R S R M G R S ||
|| M , P P P , M , P P P , M , P N D P M G R ||
|| S R S N(lower) N(lower) S R P M G ||

Aaj Ki Aanondo

Another decode, another salud to Satyajit Ray!

This one from Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne.

|| S R P , M G R ||
|| S R S , S N(lower) S ||
|| S N(lower) S R ||
|| S N(lower) S R ||
|| S N(lower) S G , ||
|| S N(lower) P(lower) R ||

Censorship of Media

I recently watched Indiana Jones : The Temple of Doom and then read that it had been banned for "racist portrayal of Indians and overt imperialistic tendencies".

No wonder, given the kind of weird things shown in the movie. The Monkey Brain Pudding was just a little too much Mr.Spielberg!

I think the government or the agencies that are in charge of judging content have an unenviable task. If we are talking about an elected body/government in a democratic setup, this body faces a dichotomy.

On the one hand, they do not wish to go in the way of the Firemen in Fahrenheit 451 (or the Ministry of Truth, in Nineteen Eighty Four) and burn or obfuscate anything that is even mildly 'uncomfortable' to the state.

On the other hand, they cannot embrace absolute freedom of expression because, especially governments are responsible for the well being of all their citizens, be they men or women, be they of different races, ethnic groups.

In the ideal setup, these agencies, according to me, should err on the side of being liberal rather than being too totalitarian. This will often mean dealing with difficult situations when media/content offends certain sections, but in the larger interest of maintaining a free and open society, I would always argue for this path.

In general, the concept of media control can be divided into two parts. Control of media/content for minors and control of content or media for adults.

Where media for minors is concerned, I would advocate the already excellent rating system that is in place today. Impressionable young minds should certainly not be subjected to violence and other disturbing imagery. Although, this too is a form of control, I would argue for it because the content is not being made permanently inaccessible. The minors in question are simply asked to defer the usage of content until a more appropriate age.

The more complicated issue is control of content for adults. Here, as I have argued already, I would prefer a liberal approach. In fact I would go so far as to recommend that the government or the agencies in charge of media control take a much more collaborative approach to this issue and engage the society in a dialogue instead of making unilateral decisions on issues.

If the producer of the media is found to have created content with an honest intention, he/she should be allowed to present it to the public and then a dialogue should be allowed. A dialogue such as this would benefit both parties. The creator can explain the rationale for his content and also, if the content is offensive to certain people, understand what is at the root of this disagreement.

Such an approach is far better than blanket bans on media. China has been blamed for censoring parts of the Internet and banning several movies on Tibet (Seven Years in Tibet, Kundun) because the concept of a free Tibet is considered unacceptable in that country. This is exactly the kind of bans that I would argue against. Media, be it print, cinema or audio has the power to transform people's thoughts. It would be unfortunate if media would be fettered in chains rather than being allowed to fly about freely and enrich minds.