Good Economics,
Risky Politics
Defying the pressures of politics, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has come forth with a bold, hard budget. He has committed the Government to a slew of daring economic reforms through this year's budget. But, beyond the initial euphoria generated by sheer promises, lies a rough road to fulfilling them. Will the pressures of coalition politics and an irrational Opposition allow him to deliver?

Interview:
Yashwant Sinha
"It is my budget,
not the PMO's."

Smeltdown
The NDA Government handsomely wins a vote moved by the Opposition in the Lok Sabha against the privatisation of Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), but it should now start worrying about the poor response to bidding for strategic partnership of public-sector units.

Progress Report
With an overwhelming response from readers, the CARE TODAY society had funds flowing in from all quarters to aid it in its efforts to help those rendered homeless and jobless by the devastating earthquake of January 26.

Reeling Estate
Gujarat is witnessing a strange phenomenon with the two hands of the Sangh Parivar, the RSS and the VHP, earning public goodwill and the BJP leadership finding itself in the hot seat over links with the building mafia.

Bust to Dust
International outrage doesn't deter the Taliban militia from pushing ahead with its plan to destroy historical statues, including the 2,000-year-old Buddha statues in Bamiyan.

Piecing the
Ahar Puzzle Excavations of sites from the 4,500-year-old Ahar culture provide clues to the link between the Harappans and their predecessors.

MUSIC: MUSINGS

Reverberations
Colours Of Romance

There is more to Holi than just bhang, gulal and pichkari. Few other festivals have as much by way of music as this festival of colours. The songs are usually in the dialects of the Hindi heartland-like Brijbhasha, Bhojpuri, Avadhi and Khariboli. Falling as it does towards the end of Phaagun (spring), Holi songs are exuberant with romance and frolic. Also called Hori, these songs can be set to different musical forms from the weighty Dhammar to lilting Thumris, simple folk ditties and even film music. Many of the traditional Horis retell the love pranks of Krish-na-Radha and their passion. It is thus not at all surprising that most music companies have special albums dedicated to Holi songs.

Among the latest Holi albums to hit the shelves in music stores are Mega Music's Holi Hai, Sony Music's Holi Aayi Re, and Venus' Saat Rangon Ki Holi. Then there are some vintage bests like Music Today's Holi and Sony Music's Bura Naa Maano Holi Hai.

Sony Music, with two albums based on folk music, risks being charged with recycling as both are permutations and combinations, albeit with some new, but similar tracks, thrown in. Produced for the occasion by Shubha Mudgal, many of these are based on the songs compiled by legendary theatre music composer Mohan Upreti. In Holi Aayi Re, Mudgal has also included Dholna, her hit from Pyar Ke Geet (Rajshri). But what stand out are Jaspinder Narula's Main to khelungi and Rasbhari Hori and Himanshu Joshi's Rasiya ko naar banaao ji and Mohan girdhari. Manish Khullar's voice in Aaj biraj mein Hori re rasiya is worth a hear too.

Traditional lyrics adapted by Mudgal find their place on Bura Naa Maano, a well produced album, it makes use of the instruments traditionally associated with this genre like daph, chang and dhol which add variety to the aural texture.

Venus has released two not-so-original albums, Saat Rangon Ki Holi and Holi Ke Din with Aamir Khan's picture prominently-and inexplicably-displayed on the jacket. Holi Ke Din is a cover version of 10 film songs, sung by Sudesh Bhosle, Abhijeet, Sonali Vajpayee and Anupama Deshpande. Give a miss to Saat Rangon Ki Holi.

HOLI HAI Mega Music Rs 35	HOLI Music Today Rs 75	RANG BARSE HMV Rs 35
HOLI AAYI RE Sony Music Rs 45	BURA NAA... Sony Music Rs 60	HOLI KE DIN Venus Rs 35

If your taste veers towards the classical, then you would do well to get Music Today's Holi, a collection comprising Horis sung by well-known Thumri singers Shobha Gurtu, Lakshmi Shankar, Girija Devi and Shubha Mudgal. Gurtu's Aaj biraj mein Hori re rasiya is an enchanting item in this Hori-phagun repertoire. A good buy.

HMV's Rang Barse is again a collection of 12 Holi songs from Hindi films to set your feet tapping during Holi get-togethers. Not to miss are the Kishore Kumar-Lata Mangeshkar duet from the film Kati Patang (Aaj na chhodenge) and Shamshad Begum's Holi aayi re kanhai from Mother India. A must for film music buffs.

- S. Sahaya Ranjit

MetroScape
Personality Matters Those behind the Grasim Mr India contest think it is one up over other male pageants.
But is it?
more...

Looking Glass

Mumbai: Swarovski Boutique

Delhi: Colours 'n' Spice

Delhi: Mindscapes

The Keoladeo National Park Sanctuary in Bharatpur gets an unprecedented number of migratory birds due to the dry spell last year. But experts feel another drought could be disastrous, writes INDIA TODAY's Supriya Bezbaruah in
Despatches.

"The only obvious competition is in bhangra," say the Pakistani duo of the music group, Strings, in conversation with INDIA TODAY's Sonia Faleiro in
Interviews.