Immortal Books

In the initial years of his career, M.F. Husain took up odd jobs like painting movie hoardings, landscape painting, and even designing and building toys. He was born with an extraordinary talent and creativity. He based his works on ideals that refuted old school of thought and broke the convention. He was a modernist and an active member of the Progressive Artists’ Group that believed in taking the less trodden paths in life and art. His spark as an artist was first seen when one of his paintings won him an award at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society.

No one would have then believed that this hoarding painter would, one day, go on to become the highest paid painter in the country. No one would have imagined that his humble beginnings would take a magnanimous shape later in time, and that his artworks would be auctioned and sold for millions of dollars. But that happened.

MF was not only acclaimed as a painter but also recognized as a printmaker, photographer and filmmaker. Through the Eyes of a Painter, his first film made in 1967, won him a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. He also made Gaja Gamini, starring Madhuri Dixit, which didn’t do well at the box office, but did earn considerable critical acclaim. He also made Meenaksi: A tale of three cities. He was a movie aficionado, which is evident from accounts that state; he had watched some of the greatest hits of Hindi cinema multiple times. It was his fascination for films and for film actresses like Madhuri Dixit, which he does not shy away from accepting. His ‘love’ for Madhuri Dixit, he used to say, is the ‘love’ a son has for his mother. In her, he saw his mother…

He received the prestigious Padma Bhushan in 1973 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1991. He was given the Raja Ravi Verma Award by the Kerala Government. He was among the top 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World. He was happy and successful, but for the controversies that kept eclipsing his happiness, all his life. Continue reading »

Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg aka ‘Rube Goldberg’ was born on 4th July, 1883, to a Jewish couple – Max and Hannah Goldberg, in California, United States. His father – Max Goldberg, was a police and fire commissioner of the city of San Francisco. Rube graduated with a College of Mining degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1904, after which he began working as an engineer for the Water and Sewers Department of the city of San Francisco. He realized that engineering was not his calling, and quit his job at the Water and Sewers Department to join ‘San Francisco Chronicle’ where he worked as a sports cartoonist. This was the beginning of Rube Goldberg – the cartoonist, who eventually became one of the most famous cartoonists in the world. Given below are more of such interesting facts about Rube Goldberg’s life which will help you trace his life as a cartoonist.

•Rube Goldberg quit his job at the San Francisco Chronicle to take up a job at the San Francisco Bulletin wherein he worked till 1907.
•In 1907, he moved to the city of New York wherein he drew cartoons for five different newspapers – including some big names like the New York Evening Mail and New York Evening Journal.
•In his stint with editorial cartooning, which began in 1938, Goldberg worked as a political cartoonist for The New York Sun, The New York Journal and The Journal-American.
•He produced several cartoon series – most popular among which were Mike and Ike, Boob McNutt, Lunatics I Have Met, They all Looked Good When They Are Far Away, Foolish Questions, etc., which brought him all the fame in the United States.
•Rube Goldberg was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the Best Editorial Cartoon for his cartoon ‘Peace Today’ – his satirical take on the development and use of atomic weapons.
•Other that the Pulitzer Prize, Goldberg was also awarded the Gold T-Square Award (1955) and the Banshee’s Silver Lady Award (1959) for his works.
•As an author, Goldberg wrote two popular books – How to Remove the Cotton from a Bottle of Aspirin (1959) and Rube Goldberg vs. the Machine Age (1968).
•He was the first cartoonist to have his work exhibited at the National Museum of American History in Washington in 1970.
•A ‘Rube Goldberg machine’ refers to a device which is deliberately made in such a manner that it would do even the simplest of task in a complex way. In 1931, the Merriam-Webster dictionary adopted the term ‘Rube Goldberg’ as an adjective for accomplishing something simple by complex means; and that is no doubt the biggest honor that a person can get.
•Rube Goldberg died on 7th December, 1970, at the age of 87, and was cremated at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York. Continue reading »

In olden days, Juchizn was the term used for yodeling. This word holds different meanings like ‘it’s a boy’ and ‘it is dinner time’. Yodeling is basically a technique in which the singer alternates between natural tones and falsetto pitches. The technique of switching between chest voice and head is the core of yodeling. Head and chest voices are referred to as registers that produce sound. There is a point in the process of singing where chest and head voices overlap each other. Those vocalists capable of controlling their voice at this very point can master the technique of yodeling. One also has to have the ability to fluctuate his/her voice in order to yodel properly.

Different Forms of Yodeling
Although yodeling originated in the Swiss alps, it has spread to other parts of the world. Yodeling has blended very well with polyphonic singing of Pygmy people from Africa. It has also spread its roots in the African nation of Zimbabwe where yodeling is accompanied by the musical instrument, Mbira. Krimanchuli technique of the Georgian traditional music also makes use of yodeling. The Persian form of yodeling technique is known as tahrir. Yodeling can also be found in other traditions of the world along with those mentioned above. The Aborigines of Australia, natives of America and even the Chinese practice yodeling in some form or the other. Interestingly the North American tribes had developed their own technique of yodeling. It is therefore, argued that native American tribes practiced yodeling before the Europeans came to their land. Yodeling is often compared to the practice of scat singing of jazz music. In scat singing, the vocalist improvises over a particular syllable. You can learn how to yodel under the guidance of an expert. Continue reading »

I’m sure all of you have seen a harp, whether in reality, on the television or Internet or pictures of it. At the first glance, it looks roughly like a right-angled triangle with curved sides mounted on a short, straight base. The ‘hypotenuse’ side of this triangle, i.e., the longest arm is usually straight or slanted but never curved, unlike the other two arms. When made to stand on its short base, vertical strings fill up the space inside this triangular frame and these are tightly stretched from end to end to produce musical vibration when strummed in the perpendicular direction by an instrumentalist’s fingers. Following are some more facts about harp:-

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First things first, let’s take a quick look at the harp’s origins. The harp is one of the few musical instruments to have been originated in the prehistoric era and which still remains among us in more or less the same form in which it was first created.
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More often than not, the roughly triangular frame of the harp is made of wood. The strings are stretched between the soundboard, which is the slightly slanted and uncurved arm of the entire triangular frame, and the curved, often elaborately carved, top.
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Apart from the soundboard, a harp is made up of the base, column (the straight hypotenuse perpendicular to the base), neck (the lowest point in the curve of the topmost arm of the frame) and the tuning pins at the conjunction point of the strings and the upper arc.
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There are primarily two major types of harps that are used for concerts, solo and symphony performances – pedal harps and lever harps. Pedal harps are the typical concert harps and usually have a number of pedals at the base which are used for changing notes and for switching keys. Lever harps, also known as folk harps and Celtic harps, are floor harps that do not have pedals. The former type of harps have around 41-47 strings while the latter may have just about 20-40 strings.
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The harp, a major Irish musical instrument, is the political symbol of Ireland.
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Harps are not confined to European culture alone. Engravings and paintings inside tombs of various ancient Egyptian pharaohs depict numerous figures playing harps.
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•As friendly as a black lab.
•As sleepy as a bear.
•As tall as a Sequoia tree.
•As pink as a flamingo.
•As brave as a lion.
•As brown as a berry.
•As quiet as a mouse.
•As sharp as a razor.
•As fat as the Pentagon.
•As slow as a snail.
•As fast as a cheetah.
•As annoying as a pesky bug.
•As silly as a clown.
•As hot as the sun.
•As hot as the Sahara Desert.
•As musical as a hummingbird.
•As fat as a blown up blue balloon.
•As stubborn as an untrained dog.
•As loud as my brother who is always screaming.
•As smart as Albert Einstein.
•As white as my great-grandmother’s hair.
•As loony as my sister when she stands on the tire swing at home.
•As fierce as a tiger that was asleep in his cage until my brother pulled his tail.
Simile Examples in Poetry

Life’s Pearl of Wisdom
Here and there in oysters fall,
A single grain of sand.
Producing later a lustrous ball,
In a fisher man’s hand… ~ Michael P. Johnson

Moon Poetess
Hands flicker, the smokes hurries
And insignia like ice blows in appearance
So seated and commanding twisting joints.
Powers, so she use and sleep… ~ Ebi Robert

Role Model
A role model is someone
Whom you always want to be.
Someone who gives you hope
When you are down… ~ Kholekile Monakali

If you thought these similes were interesting, then take a look at: •Examples of Similes
•Simile Examples
Simile Examples in Literature

My love is like a red, red rose, that is newly sprung in June. ~ Robert Burns

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate. ~ Shakespeare

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore… ~ Poe Continue reading »