Hindus

"You are arguing like a third class lawyer in a mofussil (district) court....[and then snapped saying] Bring me the medicine I will take it."

"Why should I take your treatment? Do you treat the four hundred million of my countrymen free, as you have come to give me free treatment."

"In this province...we have...refugees coming in a state of mental excitement which enables the careerist politician to get hold of them and utilize them for various types of propaganda against the government and the Congress."

"We have the ability...and if, with our faith in our future, we exert ourselves with determination , nothing, I am sure, no obstacles, however formidable or insurmountable they may appear at present , can stop our progress...(if) all work unitedly, keeping our vision clear, and with a firm grasp of our problems."

"I will only do so...if there is no party interference. I must be free to chose my Minsters on the basis of merit and ability, rather than party membership."

"Cultivate the company and friendship of people outside your community, and come to know them as well as your own. The understanding and appreciation that develop from such social contacts is the best way of removing inter-state differences, and makes life richer and more interesting."

"When a job, whether it is generally regarded as important or not, falls to my lot to do....it assumes importance immediately as far as I am concerned. I cannot rest until it is completed…whatever service I have succeeded in rendering to the nation is due, mainly, to this attitude and outlook of mine with regard to work"

"I asked at another address to think for themselves, and find out for themselves, how to get over their difficulties. The difficulties are always there-they will always be there, and I am glad that there are difficulties, for they excite the imagination and the intellect, and you can then find out the means by which you can solve the problem"

"My young friends, you are soldiers in the battle of freedom- a freedom from want,a freedom from fear,a freedom from ignorance,a freedom from frustration and helplessness....By dint of hard work for the country, rendered in a spirit of selfless service may you march ahead with hope and courage...Remember in this dynamic world you must go forward or else you will be left behind..."

"Develop your personality, so that you may leave your individual mark in whatever sphere you are privileged to serve"

"Swaraj, will always remain a dream unless the people are healthy and strong in mind and body. They can not be so unless mothers have the health and wisdom to look after the children properly"

"“My friend (Finance Minister of Pakistan) states that there has been no case of persecution or oppression in East Bengal. Will he kindly tell us whether it is not a fact that house searches had been made in Jessore, Dinapur, Pabna, Meharpur, Barisal……”"

"“It is no use belittling the fact that people are coming from East Bengal to West Bengal because they find life in East Bengal intolerable.”"

"Along with independence of India from the British Colonial rule|colonial rule, physical and mental development of masses is necessary for rebuilding the nation"

"Independence from the colonial rule will remain a dream until and unless the people of India are healthy and strong in mind and body."

"My young friends, you are soldiers in the battle of freedom-freedom from want, fear, ignorance, frustration and helplessness. By a dint of hard work for the country, rendered in a spirit of selfless service, may you march ahead with hope and courage."

"If we exert ourselves with determination, no obstacle, however formidable, can stop our progress.""

"She is a dreamer... she lives in her own world. She imagines a lot of things that suit her psyche as an actor. She is a very genuine, warm and a very sensitive person... And no denying the fact a very good learner. It has been an amazing experience to work with her; she is a perfect actress."

"Rekha is a rare gem....if only I had a suitable script for her, I would cast her without any delay"

"She was just awesome, it was a privilege to act with her"

"She was the most versatile star of her generation… And unmatched in handling comic roles."

"Hindi cinema’s only woman of substance, of late who enthralled the audiences and others with that air of mystery and intrigue while remaining a top heroine for more than 10 years is Rekha."

"I admire her and she is the one actress I look up to. I love her unforgettable films like 'Khoobsurat'. She's a living legend."

"She has a perfect nose, pretty eyes and the best part is that she does her make-up on her own. She is in perfect shape. I just love her and adore her. I think she should have a wax statue at Madame Tussaud's"

"There is no one in the industry to compare with Rekhaji as a beauty and as a performer... she is so good. For me, she is the perfect style icon. Jitna chamak unke face par hai, kisi ke chehre par nahin (the glow on her face is incomparable)."

"There was a special 'Rekha Diet' compiled by Chunky Pande's mother, Dr. Snehlata Pandey. Her looks and style are copied throughout India and she even has her book (on yoga and exercises) called 'Rekha's Mind and Body Temple' (1983). She has remained a mystery and what keeps her a legend is that how she has kept it intact so beautifully. She is a complete Jane Fonda."

"Rekha is a diva... In fact, the term diva (in India) was coined for Rekha. The way she has metamorphosed herself from what she was when she came into the industry is mind blowing... She has worked on her language, body, diction, everything and apart from that she's a fantastic actress."

"She is enigmatic... because she is hard to get She only moves in a small circle of senior film people and she shuns the media. That's also because she is a tragic figure with failed relationships... none of which succeeded, so she has withdrawn into herself. The only place she is now noticed is award functions, which are also picked and chosen. But she still doesn't give any interviews."

"Rekha is nearest to the parallel of Swedish actress Greta Garbo... they both came from poor backgrounds and climbed great heights... As an artist she was first noticed in 'Ghar' and after that she was no more termed as only a voluptuous artist in Hindi cinema because then came films like 'Khubsoorat' and 'Umrao Jaan' that set her apart,""

"Rekha, a photogenic girl with seductive eyes, languished in insubstantial roles. The audience was floored when there was a swift change in her screen personality, as well as her style of acting. She paid painstaking attention to her make-up and acting technique. She improved her dress sense and recorded albums to promote physical fitness. What Jane Fonda did for aerobics in America, Rekha did for yoga in India."

"The celebrated Hindi film actress has a cult of personality surrounding her that is unparalleled among other actresses and is often the subject of particularly fascinating urban legend."

"Rekha fashioned herself as an actress with a signature look very different from her early years as a struggling actress. This transformation was often referred to as as that of an ugly duckling. In interviews and film magazines Rekha claimed that she had achieved this by changing her lifestyle, healthy eating practices, and doing yoga. Soon she had inspired a whole fashion trend and had film magazines raving about her affair with Amitab Bachhan. Such publicity added to her image as a symbol of seduction and glamour. She was seen as a woman who could challenge patriarchal norms by remaining single and being famous."

"She would be the darling of the masses for years to come."

"How is this dark, plump and gauche actress ever going to make it?"

"It was my first chance to rub shoulders with the immensely talented Amitabh Bachchan and we went on to become a super hit pair"

"After reading the script, I had a strange feeling that I had Umrao in me. And the film created history.… I gave a performance which is one of my personal favourites."

"My teaming with Amitabh taught me many practical aspects of life and the film world. He’s one of the most versatile actors of Indian cinema."

"The real turning point in my life came when I performed my best in Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan. After reading the script, I felt I had Umrao in me — the character influenced me so much. I put my soul into each minute aspect of my performance. I was thrilled when I won the National Award for Best Actress for Umrao Jaan."

"My teaming up with Amitabh Bachchan in Do Anjan earned me fame as an intense actress. Then it was Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Khubsoorat in 1978 that established me as an actress of repute."

"I was called the ‘Ugly Duckling’ of Hindi films because of my dark complexion and South Indian features. I used to feel deeply hurt when people compared me with the leading heroines of the time and said I was no match for them. I was determined to make it big on sheer merit."

"For a woman to be complete, she has to be a blend of Paro and Chandramukhi [the two women who love Devdas. I feel that I am that woman."

"I don't relate to all this in exactly the same way that John [McLaughlin] does and yet we all meet at the same points eventually, can't find a label for it, but I know what it is when I get there. It's funny, you know, sometimes the way I experience the music is with a total involvement with doing feel the music getting better and better, and gradually it becomes like a light at the end of a hallway, and I just want to get there as quickly as I can to see where it's going to go."

"For me, I can still say music is God, music is the face of God. That's everybody, that's the hearts of men. And that's important to me. But that's not the way everybody sees it. And, of course, what happened in interviews, especially in collective interviews, was that people would ask me questions and I would talk about development and ideals, about which I already have talked too much this afternoon, and these questions would be posed to the other musicians and they would say, "We don't want to feel that way at all, we're not into that.""

"I heard a John McLaughlin record and it was all like acoustic guitar, and it was jazzy, and I was like 'oh yeah yeah yeah'. That's weird, but appropriate for an opening act, you know, with acoustic guitar. And we'll come out blast away, and the Byrds will come out with a million hits. The second gig was in Cortland, and I made the mistake of watching them, and I ran back to the dressing room, and I said, 'you guys gotta see this guys', and so we all watched, murmuring like, 'Oh my God, they're like monsters. They're just like'. It was crazy, it was like, 'oh my'. It just made us seem like we were caught between technicians that were way beyond us and non-technicians who had like a million hits."

"John McLaughlin. He's the one, that's the killer. You might hear anything; that's because John has the knowledge."

"A musician is like an ear for humanity, just as a painter is like an eye for humanity. The sounds somehow exist in a different sphere, the musician listens, and brings them out for the world. There's the mystery: that someone can hear something that is essentially soundless and make it into sound."

"An audience is just a mirror of what's happening on stage, and if what's happening on stage has love in it—real feeling and conviction and strength and purity—then we are truly reflecting them, because it is their own nature that is coming back. Everything is. The music is. For me, the only barriers in music are the barriers in the musician and in the equipment he has to use. If a musician has no barriers within himself, then there are no barriers within his music. His only battle is with the problems of expressing his true nature against the difficulties of the real world—the limits of his amplifiers and his guitar or his piano or whatever, the limits the outer world places upon the natural perfection of the spirit."

"...The music was evolving with society, and society, if you recall, there was a narcissism that entered society in the 80s. Saturday Night Fever, you know, hey! This whole LOOK, the LOOK about things, and the look almost became more important of the content..."

"There's no record industry, and so musicians I know, because I get mail from young musicians, I mean, they're really just struggling to survive, because they're not gonna get a record contract! So what are they doing? To survive? Like I did? I mean, okay I drove trucks, and sold caviar and repaired instruments just to survive. But in the end, you know, I'm in the studio, you know, recording rock music, pop music, whatever! Whatever gives me money to put in my, you know, food in my mouth. And so there's a lot of great musicians today, they're just looking for a gig! And what are the gigs that are going around? The gigs with pop bands or with smooth jazz, funky jazz, you know, a lot of this kind of cliched music. I'm sorry to criticize it like that, but I grew up with Tony (Williams) and you know Miles (Davis), (John) Coltrane, and real things, where there's blood all over the floor, blood all over the stage, that's what the passion's all about."

"I practice all the scales. Everyone should know lots of scales. Actually, I feel there are only scales. What is a chord, if not the notes of a scale hooked together? There are several reasons for learning scales: one, the knowledge will unlock the neck for you -- you'll learn the instrument; second, if I say I want you to improvise ofer Gmaj7+5, then go to Eaug9-5, then to bmaj7-5 --well, if you don't know, what those chords are in scale terms, you're lost. It's not all that difficult, but you have to be ready to apply yourself..."