An Antakshari To End All Antaksharis

An Antakshari To End All Antaksharis

Antakshari is a typical Indian (I guess) game which almost everyone in India must have played at some time or other in their childhood. This traditional game which must have kept the folk songs alive through centuries received a great boost in past few decades as film music proliferated and provided the players of Antakshari a veritable treasure-trove of songs. This is a game which is a great leveler, anyone and everyone can participate on an equal footing, young ones with the recent trendy hits and the golden oldies with their khazana of old forgotten songs. 

The traditional form of Antakshari used to be like a timeless test which would go on for hours at end and I remember spending an entire train journey on a family trip spread over a few days battling (solo, that too) relentlessly against two very determined ladies who refused to give up. I had to bring out all my resources and managed just about to hang on.

But in these days of ODIs and T20s, the classic format has given way to a few modified versions which take into consideration the time constraint on players and exciting fresh variations. As a result the Antakshari has morphed into a totally different creature, a heady blend between the traditional form and a music quiz. As a result the Antakshari of earlier years which hardly required a referee, now requires a savvy organizer who can design interesting formats and provide the contestants with a far more complex challenge. The audio and video media have added new dimensions to the game and made the game infinitely more interesting. The variations it can take are only restricted by the imagination of the organizers.

So when a maestro like Manohar Iyer arranges an Antakshari, you can be sure that it is going to be a treat for the spectators and test the contestants to their limits. Manohar is a walking encyclopedia of Hindi film music. Throw any song at him and he comes up not only the film from which it is taken but also the lyricist, music director, the year it hit the theatres, the banner under which it was produced, the lead pair on whom it was filmed and quite likely tell you some notable incident which took place during the making of the film. Manohar runs an institution called “Keep Alive” formed and nurtured by him with a religious zeal for past 20 years now, for music is nothing short of a religion to him. 

Keep Alive, as the name suggests, has made it a mission to keep the old Hindi film music alive for the older generation and in the process also introduced the melodies from past to the younger generation. Keep Alive holds regular programs, each one with its unique theme, like songs by a particular singer or a music director or a lyricist or from a particular era in Bollywood filmi sangeet. Given his penchant for bringing out forgotten gems of past, each program of Keep Alive has at least 3-4 songs which very few (read probably no one) in the audience have heard before, googlies and bouncers that are totally unplayable.  

So one can only imagine what to expect when he organizes an Antakshari event and has to approach it with some amount of trepidation.

Look at some of the rounds in the last one he organized.

Round 1 : Geet Gaata Chal:

Normal traditional antakshari round with a twist - the older the song the contestant comes up with, more points he gets e.g songs from films released in:

 1931 - 40 : 30 points

                              1941 - 50 : 25 points

                               1951 – 60 : 20 points

                              1961 – 70 : 15 points

                              1971 onwards : 10 points

Round 2 : SHABD ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam :

Contestants to sing a song starting from a word picked at random.

Round 3 :   Hum CHAR Mein Jalnewalon ko Chain Kahaan :

The contestants are to guess a song given four words from the mukhda of a song in random order.

Round 4 : ANGREZI Mein Kahtaa Hoon Ki …..: (Buzzer Round)

The clue is the translation in English of a mukhda of a Hindi song for the contestants to decipher.

Round 5 : DHUN Saybaa DHUN :  (Buzzer Round)

Clue will be prelude music of a song played by artists on instruments – contestants have to guess the song  / mukhda.

Round 6 : Ek SHER Sunataa Hoon Main : (Buzzer Round)

Many songs are preceded by a couplet; contestants need to identify the song from this clue.

Round 7 : Hum Bane Tum Bane EK DOOJE KE LIYE :

The clue will be a star – pair and the contestants will have to sing a song from any of the films starring this pair.

Round 8 : CHHUPNEWALE SAMNE AA :

Mukhda of a song will be played for the contestants to identify names of films hidden in the mukhda.

                   

So you get the idea. No freebies here. The contestants have to really know their stuff if they have to get anywhere. Add to that the negative points to wrong answers on buzzer rounds and the teams can very well end up in negative territory (as did my team – in not one but two Finals). Manohar is also a strong believer in Prevention of MRTP Act (Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices) and tries to ensure a level field by insisting that the contestants are cast in teams of 3 members picked at random, so that the teams may be balanced to the extent possible.

He is organizing one this week for Girija Sharma Memorial Foundation on 26^th January at Mira Road.  Those interested in attending or participating, please contact sharmasheelkumar@yahoo.com or whatsapp 88981 79325 or 88981 75768. Some small admission fee shall be charged to cover refreshments to be served for all those attending. As a finalist in last two editions I would surely have loved to attend but alas I am about 13,500 kms away as the crow flies. (Given the distance I guess only crows from Krypton are likely to manage that!)

All Hindi film music lovers are welcome to participate or at least be a part of audience to savour the proceedings. Be warned that knowing Manohar, he will make a few changes to the format to make it more interesting. 100% Enjoyment guaranteed.   

 LazyBee

23^rd January 2017.

  

And The Darwin Award Goes To.....

And The Darwin Award Goes To.....

Charles Robert Darwin is known for his contribution to various fields such as geology, biology, biogeography, invertebrate zoology, and of course for his theory of natural selection which has made him a household name like Sir Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein.

His voyage on HMS Beagle which lasted for five long years (1831-1836) and took him around the world gave him insights for his famous book On Origin of Species. His work also won him the honour of having 120 species named after him (probably the most that any single scientist has) and a whole city, Darwin, the capital of Northern Territories in Australia, after him.  So if there is an award named after him one would expect that the award celebrates the one central point of his theory, “the survival of the fittest”.

Ironically, the criterion for the Darwin Award is stated as  "In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long term survival”. Well, in a way, it does fit the Darwinian hypothesis that only the fittest survive and thereby pass on their genes to the next generation, if only in a slightly oblique manner.

In keeping with the criterion laid down, the awards are given (mostly) posthumously and the requirements are also very clearly spelt out:

1.       Inability to reproduce: The nominee must be dead or rendered sterile by his actions so that he does not leave descendants (at least subsequent to the event). With current advances in science, this might become tougher in future as a survivor could possibly pass on his genes through IVF, cloning or some other technology, so Darwin awards use a test called “desert island” test which looks at whether or not the nominee would be able to reproduce if left alone on a desert island with a fertile specimen of opposite sex. I guess that settles it rather neatly.

2.       Excellence: The chosen method of self annihilation should be foolish, unique and sensational; common cause of accidental death like smoking in bed does not qualify, foolish it may be, but unfortunately not unique.

3.       Self-selection:  The cause of death should be chosen voluntarily by the person himself or herself. Accidental death due to someone else’s folly will not get you a nomination mind you.

4.       Maturity: The candidate must be above the legal age to get a driver’s license i.e. at least on paper be mature to make his / her own decisions. A mentally unstable person is also not eligible for the award.

5.       Veracity: The incident must be verified. A large number of historical incidents are therefore out of purview of the awards as they have not been adequately verified.  

There are a few provisos which make a deceased ineligible for a nomination. For example if the act of self-destruction also happens to kill a healthy by-stander who would otherwise have been able to reproduce, such acts are frowned upon and the deceased will lose his claim to a Darwin.

The awards website www.darwinawards.com is full of details of how creative people can be to (unwittingly) qualify for nominations or awards. A look at a few of the nomination winning feats will hopefully teach us what not to do to earn a nomination to a Darwin.    

 Top Gun?: In Illinois, a police officer accidentally shot himself to death. A colleague of his, a veteran with 20 years of experience was re-enacting the scenario for the benefit of other colleagues.  And guess what? He forgot to empty his service revolver before he set out to do the re-enactment and promptly shot himself in stomach. He died on his way to the hospital thus qualifying for a nomination to a  Darwin on his own.

Horseshoe for Goodluck? : Robert, a daredevil stuntman rigged up a homemade rocket-parachute contraption and sped on a jet ski over Horseshoe Falls at full throttle. His plan was very simple, fire the rocket as he went over the falls which would take him clear of the water, then pop open the parachute and gently float down to the river below where he would be picked up by the Maid o' the Mist tour boat. But Robert had not reckoned with the effect that excess humidity would have on his equipment. The rocket didn’t fire and the parachute failed to deploy; the only part of his plan which worked to perfection was the pick-up by Maid o’the Mist. The snag was he was quite dead by the time he was pulled out of the water. Robert was married but had no children, making him a perfect Darwin contender.

Trick or Treat? : A college student wanted to show up as Dracula for Halloween. To add a realistic touch, he put a pine board down the front of his shirt so he could "realistically" sink a knife into the board and pretend he was transfixed by a vampire-killing stake. He either overestimated the strength of the thin pine board or under-estimated the sharpness of the knife. He tried to hammer the knife in the board. So far so good, but the stroke of hammer caused the sharp blade to split the soft wood and bury itself in his heart. He staggered from his dorm room into the Halloween party. His friends carried him to the hospital where the medics treated him but that didn’t do any trick. He received a posthumous nomination for a Darwin. I don’t know if Count Dracula can count this the deceased among one of his many victims.

Tongue-Tied Teenager ?: Snakes have this peculiar habit of flicking their tongues out periodically which is actually their way of smelling. The snake’s tongue draws in a sample of air which would contain some of molecules of scent given off by a prey. This scent tells the snake where to find its next meal. One doesn’t know whether this particular teenager knew this for a fact or not but when he found a rattlesnake flicking its tongue at him, he (the teenager) took umbrage and wanted to get back. He picked up the rattlesnake by the scruff of its neck held him in front of his face and stuck out his tongue. It is not reliably known if this particular rattlesnake was totally rattled or if it is considered rude in accepted rattlesnake social etiquettes to stick one’s tongue out to an elderly rattlesnake, but the outcome was that this said rattlesnake bit the said teenager’s tongue. The results as far as the two parties engaged in this time-honoured kindergarten game of “ if-you-stick-your-tongue-out-at-me-I-will-stick-mine-out-you” were radically different. The said teenager dropped the said rattlesnake in a hurry and the rattlesnake which had had enough of this silly game anyway rattled away in even greater hurry.  The said teenager, however, found that his tongue which had been the recipient of a close encounter with rattlesnake had swollen to enormous proportions and which in due course of couple of minutes choked his windpipe and immediately put him high on the list of most promising nominees for a Darwin.

Big Bang Practicals 101: High among the high treason acts in history of the world is the Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the British Parliament along with King James I, in 1605. The plotters wanted to overthrow the protestant rule and ring in a catholic reign. Guy Fawkes, who was one of the 7 main plotters was caught with a pile of gunpowder right in the basement of Westminster. A few of his fellow conspirators escaped and were tracked down to an inn where they decided to make their last stand. They had a large cache of gunpowder with them and were hopeful of making a last ditch stand worthy of their religious zeal. Unfortunately the gunpowder was wet and needed to be dried properly. The masterminds laid down the pile near a fireplace so that the heat from fireplace would help them dry the powder a tad faster (remember they were shortly to be under fire from King’s men). They didn’t take into consideration the fact that fireplaces do sometimes splutter and throw up embers which essentially tend to follow some trajectory of their own. One such ember found a resting place on the top of the pile of gunpowder. That was the end of the last stand the plotters were planning to make. Unfortunately since Charles Darwin was born a couple of centuries after this incident, this event did not receive a citation for a Darwin but an honourable mention it surely deserves.       

LazyBee

8^th January 2017