I was reading the biography of James Herriot this morning. While describing his childhood, author Graham Lord quotes from 'Murder, Murder, Polis', a collection of Glasgow street songs compiled by Maureen Sinclair. Kids often sang songs to eliminate (or choose) the 'it' in a hide-and-seek game during the turn of the previous century. One song went thus;

Eeeny meeny macka racka
Em oh dominacka
Alla backa sugaracka
Om pom push
Obviously, my eyes lit up and I scoured the net and discovered many web pages that contained references to this ditty. It has also been used in a TV show in the UK. I wonder where C. Ramchandra heard it and how it inspired him to compose his most famous tune.

(c) Arun Simha