DailyOh! Why Jyotiraditya's father paid rent to stay in his grandpa's house to how The Burning Train song gave Asha Bhosle a tough time

Hope you had a good Holi. This year though the celebrations were kept low because of the coronavirus scare. For those who had self quarantined themselves yesterday to duck both Holi revellers and Covid-19, Jyotiraditya Scindia turned out to be a saviour. People stayed glued to the TV to see him join the BJP or say something about quitting the Congress. He did neither. He said “happy Holi” instead.

Scindia joined the BJP today alleging there was corruption in the Congress and affirming he trusts in PM Narendra Modi’s abilities to deliver. Take that with a pinch of salt, we say.

You do know that Jyotiraditya’s father Madhavrao Scindia was once part of the Jana Sangh and that the BJP was born out of the Jana Sangh. So, Jyotiraditya’s aunt Yashodhara Raje Scindia called her nephew’s move to join the BJP as ghar wapasi. Of course, she also added that she was extremely happy about this ghar wapasi. But ‘ghar’ has been the cause of a bitter feud in the Scindia family. To be honest, it isn’t just ‘a ghar’,

Jyotiraditya and his aunts Yashodhara and Vasundhara Raje Scindia are locked in several property disputes with the properties spread across the country.

Jyotiraditya’s grandmother Vijaya Raje Scindia, famously known as Rajmata, who was one of the founders of the BJP, was not on good terms with her son Madhavrao. In her will, she declared that all her property should go to her daughters instead.

This was no ordinary tiff. It couldn’t have been. Estimates suggest the combined worth of the properties owned by the Scindias runs into Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1,000,000,000,000). Just a dinner set owned by Yashodhara apparently costs Rs 1.54 crore. We wonder what food served in that dinner set tastes like. But coming back to the dispute, the differences were so great that Madhavrao had to pay a symbolic rent to stay in the Jai Vilas Palace built by his grandfather, Shrimant Jayajirao Scindia, in 1874.

So angry was Rajmata with her only son that she wrote in her will that Madhavrao should not be allowed to perform her last rites. So, who performed her last rites? Madhavrao Scindia.

That happened because Rajmata’s personal secretary Sambhaji Angre, who was tasked to look after the last rites, had not read the will. His wife Rajeshwari Devi, who was one of the three custodians of the will, gave Angre the will only after he returned from the cremation. So, it is often said that Rajmata’s last wish remained unfulfilled.

Now, there is no way of knowing if this was indeed her last wish. Between writing the will and dying, she could have had many other wishes too. Who knows? We don’t.

Anyway, the Scindia family and Jyotiraditya Scindia’s move to join the BJP hogged much of the limelight on Holi, which we told you saw muted celebrations because of the coronavirus.

Britain’s health minister Nadine Dorries has self isolated herself because she has tested positive for Covid-19. You may call it ironic, but then no one ever said a health minister will not have health issues. Six people with the virus have died in the UK, which has a total of 382 cases. In India, we have crossed the figure of 50 with 60 confirmed cases so far. If you want more updates on the spread of the virus in India, read this.

But we were talking of Britain where the number of cases has gone past 300.

It is not common for politicians world over to give out their health records — till they can’t hide it. Britain’s very own Prime Minister Winston Churchill hid from public his health condition. Now, the whole idea of letting the public know about a leader’s ailments is to make them aware about whether a politician, if voted to power, is in a condition to govern. Many don’t govern anyway so you might say, “Why the heck should we care.”

We get that.

Anyway, let’s go back to Churchill. So Churchill, who was known as Britain’s Bulldog for inspiring Britain and much of the rest of the world through World War II with his strength and certainty that the Allies would defeat the Nazis, suffered a mild heart attack in December 1941. This would be okay had it not been in White House. The British PM was struck with the heart attack while he was in the White House to meet US President Franklin D Roosevelt right after Pearl Harbor.

In 1949, Churchill lost sensation in his right arm and leg while he was in France to rest and paint the French Riviera. While there, he suddenly lost sensation in his right arm and right leg. Back home in Britain, people were told that he had "contracted a chill while bathing".

In 1951, he suffered another stroke, this time impacting his left side. The stroke happened while Churchill was hosting a dinner in honour of the Italian PM. It was the time of Cold War, so those in power decided the news must be kept a secret. The press knew about the stroke but agreed to not let people know. What’s remarkable is that Churchill kept serving through all his ailments. Some say it was his lust to hold on to power.

But then who wants to lose her grip on power?

Whether you have power in your grip or not, ensure you have a grip on your health. Now more than ever. But have you ever wondered where did the word health come from? We did. So we got digging and this is what we came up with.

When the English language was born in the 1300s, the Old English word ‘hal’ evolved into three words: ‘health’, ‘whole’, and ‘holy’. So at one point all three words meant more or less the same thing. Some may argue, it is true even today — being healthy means being whole, which is like being holy. That is a spiritual question, we say. We can rather tell you about Holi, which was yesterday. Today, our Word Of The Day is health.

From family feuds and health concerns, let’s take you to Bollywood. And the news from Bollywood is that the 1980 movie The Burning Train is being remade. Jackky Bhagnani and Juno Chopra have announced that they would be remaking the film. Juno’s dad Ravi directed the 1980 movie and his grandfather BR Chopra produced it.

The last movie Juno remade was Pati Patni Aur Woh, a remake of the 1978 movie. Now, we are all for creative freedom and people’s right to make and remake, also remake the remakes, but after what Juno did to Pati Patni Aur Woh, we can only say, Juno, “spare us”.

But talking of The Burning Train, do you remember that song Meri Nazar Hai Tujhpe?

Listen to it before we tell you more about it.

So, the song was shot on Hema Malini and Parveen Babi and is a blend of Indian and western patterns. Asha Bhosle had a hard time switching from one style to the other. If such a song is to be recorded these days, it can be recorded separately and mixed. Back then, however, it wasn’t possible. It took time for Asha Bhosle to satisfy RD Burman but eventually she did succeed.

On that note, we will say goodbye to you for today.

We will be back tomorrow.

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