The P Space

Twenty20

2007-09-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

We did it, dint we??? like my good friend Parthan said through a mesage... Chak De INDIA!

Getting truly blue...

2007-09-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

I said it once and i say it again... just trust the Indian Cricket team... its just blind trust and oodles of optimism that works with them...

Go Boys...

ok...

2007-09-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

here and there
this and that
now and then

Fwd ... Good one, dont delete...

2007-04-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

The following pearls of advise might help anybody who happens to chance through this space...

"Don't take any decisions when you are angry

Don't make any promises when you are happy..."

Courtesy : An SMS forward by my close friend and official chauffeur Mr Shantha Raju...

Music connects... again...

2007-04-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

It has been almost three years for me in Bangalore, apart from a little bit of working knowledge that is essential for day to day life, i really never bothered to learn the local language. I did not make an attempt to speak it because if communication is all that was required then my mother tongue works like a charm in this city so does Hindi to a large extent. Even in college most of my friends were Malayalees, Tamilians or Hindi speaking... so that left really not much practice scope for Kannada... or maybe i dint know many of them. Even the odd Kannadiga i knew were all mixed breeds, Kan+Tam or Mal+Kan... very rarely i ran into TelKans... but in Bangalore Tel and Kans are like sugar and milk... you cannot seperate them at this stage. Interestingly, whenever an "outsider" comes to any city the first that can grab his attention to the local flavour is the films and the other cultural hulabaloo of that city. This art has been mastered by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. And this goes a long way in teaching the vernacular to all the imports into that state. Unfortunately this means for me was shutdown by mushrooming of Multiplexes as soon as i landed here, not that i really go to theatres for movies but even when i went i went for the national language films ( Sorry Elromal, couldn't resist that one ! ).

Now almost after three years, my love for Kannada is growing by the day... and the magic is all courtesy one song from a movie called Mungaru Male. The song " Anisuthide Yaako Indhu " has been haunting me for the past two weeks. I found myself looking up the internet for Kannada portals and songs till i finally managed to pull this one into my system. The song set to tune by Music Director Mano Murthy was sung by Sonu Nigam. And his voice can give that slow melt down feel to any song... oh. yeah... the video of the song was destroyed a bit by the inane expressions and the pseudo Shahrukh movements that they tried putting on some flabby but pleasant guy. And i really dont know why that girl was so conscious of a camera in front her, maybe it was the clothes they gave her.

Now suddenly, the language of Kannada is no more an alien entity to me. I find my computer speakers blasting this one track over and over again. And each time this happens i can almost touch the Kannada all around me. Its fun...

This feeling happened once with Tamizh ( now made Elromal proud ) too when i was going through the Ayyayyo Ayyayyo Pudichhirikku song phase... I really wanted to give up everything else, get a beach side apartment in Chennai and settle down in the Tamizh Film Industry... which i may still do... given other preferences in life.

Always associated the Language of Kannada with Yellow...

Realize

2007-04-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Certain people just don't realize

Some people find it difficult to get more direct

Certain people still do not realize...

Underdogs...

2007-04-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

Even as the nation is yet to come to terms with the fact that the Indian cricket team is back even before their relatives could mail them as to what they wanted from the Carribeans, our not so flashy neighbours seem to be doing pretty well for themselves at West Indies. Not only are both of them in the Super 8 league but they are also giving the other hot shots a tough time over there.

An SMS joke blamed ( in lighter vein of course !!! ) our late Prime Minister Mrs Gandhi for the creation of Bangladesh, but their performance this time around in the World Cup is absolutely no joke. They may still be buckling down to the pressure exerted by the big guns but there is no argument on the fact that they are playing like the possessed. They must have surely come to prove a point to the rest of the teams and they could have done no better than send one of the most favourite teams from the sub continent back home. Actually now when I look at the performance of Bangladesh in the World Cup with other teams i feel that there is really no shame in losing to a side as committed as theirs. In fact, if our heroes are done with swallowing their pride and are ready for some rationale, then they should look at "weaker" sides like Bangladesh or Ireland and take a leaf out of their book of what playing for the country or for a goal actually means.

Having said all this, the latest Pepsi Gold ad is by far the most slap-on-your-face ad that i have come across. And i think only if something like that happens can we actually say that 1983 was not just a one off incident.

Tied down...

2007-03-04T05:01:00.000-08:00

The only time that i find myself totally quiet and not uttering a single word is during the two or three hours that i am writing an exam... even if i finish my paper earlier, there is some eerie force that prevents us all from making the slightest squeak.

Exams must be really great... Nobody was able to achieve the task of shutting me up for so long apart from them.

All over again

2007-02-27T06:07:00.000-08:00

2020 starts... all over again

Many new faces, some old.

Will we recreate the magic???

:) Of course

To a better you...

2007-02-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

I do not despise him
I despise his way of dealing with them...
I was left scot free, so was she.
For the same error, smaller in magnitude
I felt happy, i felt like a WHO?
To a better you

He has openly discriminated,
He wants the respect,
We will give it to you.
Let go of the whip and brandish
a sword instead...
Kill us, let us not be...
Tyrants were worshipped, so will you
To a better you.

"I can make you beg" he said,
yes we said, here, not everywhere
I have a way...
Cant you see you are going astray???
You are dust... be at my shoe.
God is with us now
So hard does it strike you???

Be loving and we will love you
To a better, a far better you...

:(

2007-02-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

Certain issues are best left unresolved
Certain things can never evolve
An agreement has to be reached with life
Only then can the frustration solve

Must come from within...

2007-02-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Tired with the atrocities of Hutch on their poor customers, wherein according to my good friend they are "gradually cheating" customers ( sounds to me like slow poison for some bizzare reason ) i decided to shift to Airtel's student plan. I had made all the preliminary inquiries an prima facie the plan seemed to be a refreshing relief.

I reached the Airtel office around 7:30 PM this evening. It was chaotic, it was extremely crowded. New connections, old ones being revamped, migrations from Pre paid to Postpaid and vice versa. All these processes involving lot of paper work, nearly a score people at each desk and each desk manned by girls of not more than 25 years of age under the stern supervision of their boss. It was getting really hectic for them and one could clearly see the inexperience on their side once they were faced with such a massive crowd and all their requests. I really felt for them... even as i offered to take charge and ask the customers to follow the Q system, i could hear sighs from the girl manning the desk i stood at. " Its 7 45 ya... i need to get home... di sheegrhram vaa. " I could do nothing but feel bad... As for the Q i realized i was being very idealistic. Amidst all this ruckus one guy, probably in his mid twenties requested for a Student Special SIM card. Now this offer is relatively cheaper and reasonable compared to any other mobile offer that is given by the big telcom service providers. As would be the case this offer was most in demand. Now, our guy fills up the confirmation form, is polite enough to attach his photo on it... he seemed in a hurry and was trying to hurry up the lady at the counter too... now as the heading of this post would suggest, he gave them a fake ID proof of him being in some institute. It would not take him more than a second to fool the girl at the counter given her current situation and the kind of work demand that she faced in the coming minutes before she could call it a day...

She checked, he got caught... was politely asked to leave or take the regular plan... For some reason i couldnt help it and a smile came on to my face...

I got my number too. But what i carried more is a feeling that i cannot seem to gulp down. What would that guy get out of cheating that girl??? Is it so difficult to live and let live in this country of ours???

Lets Chat...

2007-02-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

Almost towards the end of the day i receive a call from M. He says, lets plan a group chat tomorrow as there's no college ( probably he assumed we would have nothing better to do on this forced holiday ). As most maverick things do, even this thing did spread pretty fast and gained momentum. I told L and V ( he never turned up, guess we don't intellectually stimulate him ) and left it at that for the day and retired...

Next morning i did take the lead of implementing the idea, a decision that dint take much time to get questioned later on by my intellect. I informed L and so charged he was that he invited the rest of them ( i dint expect that wide a variety of guests ). So we had L to begin with, R joined us, then T than S the two surprise elements R2 and N came along even as L cordially invited everyone. I felt like his only daughter was getting married. Somewhere amidst all this chaos M the creator of this highly "successful" plan stepped on to the red carpet accompanied by some really abominable sounds that were perceived by different people in different ways... a few not fit to state before a family audience.

What followed next were some pale and lackluster attempts by the two men who had taken charge to enliven the morning for everyone ( a good coffee would have sufficed someone felt ).
But i fully applaud the efforts of M and L who thought if getting the group together. As the conversation slowly moved from one pointless banter to another, in a desperate search for some "spicing it up" our budding journalists much to my aghast did the obvious. They began to probe into the personal relationships of others and the only thing missing were the tags of "Breaking News" or Exclusive... only on this channel". At this point one of the more busy body members finally decided to take leave and started a parallel conversation with me at the futility of the on going conversation.

Kudos to M as he tried everything in his kitty to keep the conversation buoyant but the interest of the members was slowly waning away and there began a series of personal digs at various members of the group. S kept silent all through this hungama, she never liked words uttered in futility. I knew what she was going through and finally as was expected, she begged to excuse herself and left. The act caught like influenza and slowly T wanted to leave too which meant that R2 would follow suit soon. I think i rejoined the chat room at this point and saw that this effort by M was really going nowhere. I felt bad for him, but he sure needs no one's sympathies. I felt no one was really listening to L and all people wanted to do was snub him... The chat turned into personal digs embarrassing R and this time she went into hiding for sometime... T left, R2 ditto, not able to see the pile of cards fall away like this M too left uttering something that meant we were all supposed to make it up to him. i was once again left with L and R. the conversation for the first time moved to something concrete . About how to beat the bandh and get L's dad home ( i hope everything works out well ). An abrupt break from L caused me to fret...

Mobile buzzed. L : Hey power cut... I got disconnected man...

I signed off...

Shady's Back!!!

2006-12-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

I have been away for sometime from the world of blogging. Not because i was that busy that i could not devote five minutes to the computer, no, i sit in front of it the whole day... dont get scared yet, i do nothing productive, i play Roadrash, because i always lose NASCAR. I was away because i dint know what to write. I was having a writers block, because i never was one.\

But now, because i could not get myself to disobey the orders of a budding army man currently in the United Kingdom i have to fill these pages with trash again much to the annoyance of Blogger.com. I will not have anything substantial to write. The topics that interest me are Shahrukh Khan's new KBC contract (like i will get a part of his fifty lakhs per episode... sigh) or the new song that Amitabh Bacchan sang or the Sanjay Dutt conviction case. Being a total Hindi cinema freak, i will not sound or feel any different from ZOOM channel or a Times of India supplement, but read me nonetheless...

Will make me feel good.

Courtesy MTV

2006-10-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Why is the graveyard so noisy???

Because of all the Coffin...

Hiya!!!

2006-10-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

You've Got Mail... Good movie, Watch it...

Why???

2006-09-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Why do all Remix music videos in particular come with oodles of sleaze and scantily clad mannequins in the name of heights of aesthetic creativity???

Its Alright...

2006-09-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

At certain times I feel it is ok to stand up against authority... I might sound really frivolous here, but it actually gives a person a sense of deep self respect and confidence, but this magic works only when the conviction in one's own self is 100%, probably I am not saying anything new, but thats not the point. The point is there is nothing wrong in looking eye to eye with a figure of authority and reasoning things out. They might not now, but sooner or later they are bound to see your point, because you believed what you said and you stood by it. That figure of authority could range from your own parents to your teachers...

Stand up and speak if you feel you are right... Don't get subdued or muffled... You are the only person losing there...

Simmy's Back...

2006-09-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

... And the SIM card starts working at 12:00 AM. He says its good to be back...

My Mobiles are Jinxed...

2006-09-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

For the past two years at about the very same time my mobiles just decide to die on me. I say mobiles not because i carry more than one in my pocket always, no i am not that rich or that busy but because i have changed two handsets till now for no obvious fault of mine.

My cousin last year gifted me a Nokia 3220... It was a wonderful change from the drudgery of 1100. I was extremely elated. That very night he called me up and the sweet chap that he is said i am to use this phone till the next time he came to India, and then he would give me a Nokia NGage. Till this day i never complained about the fact that he never came, so the Ngage just followed suit. Sorry i got carried away, so as i was saying, i was happily flaunting my 3220 in the college the next day only to realise that it was a marvel only to me and that it had hit the Indian markets at a time when probably i dint even know that mobile and cellphone were synonymns. Nevertheless i was very happy with the new phone and for almost a fortnight texted my cousin in Dubai daily, thanking him for the gift. One fateful day as i was messaging a good friend of mine, the signal bars on the left side of the screen on my mobile plummetted down into the abyss and disappeared right in front of my eyes. I passed it off as a normal snag, restarted my phone. Once, twice, thrice, no... Oh no... Shucks no. This cant happen. I ran to the Nokia dealer. They said they needed to keep it over the weekend. I was to leave town that night. I said please now. They said NO. I said its alright, give me my phone back. On my way back, taking my driver's advice i gave it at some random shop dealing with mobiles down the road. I saw an autopsy of my phone right in front of my eyes within a couple of minutes. He kept dismantling it and putting it back... No avail. I got the sense of it, my gut told me all this phone requires is a decent burial... After tinkering with it for almost an hour he gave it back and said, i can do it... parts have to be ordered from Bombay... err... Its ok. Give me the phone back i said. In the moment of desperation i ran back to the Nokia Dealer... He opened it again... Glared at me. One staight question. Did someone else open this set... err... yes said i. The mother board has been changed, so has the battery... We wont repair it now... Everything has to be changed to genuine parts. It will cost you Rs 4500 ( i thought only computers had a mother board). I cursed my impatience and the driver's expert advice. I took my phone and said to myself, i might as well buy a new phone with the repair money...

I had resolved that i would live without a mobile... It was good, almost for four months. A twist in my fate made me take another phone almost five months later. This time it was a Nokia 1600 bought with my mother's hard earned money.

Today, the signal bars disappear again. Deja vu??? Yes. Thoroughly so. I thought this handset has conked out too... No. This time my woes are courtesy Hutch. The SIM card gave away...

What???

Never knew this could happen too... I will have to spend some happy moments at the Hutch Shoppe tomorrow...

Cough, Sneeze and Back

2006-09-10T00:44:00.000-07:00

Throat infection took me by surprise as soon as i came back from Pondy, which would be a week ago. I had not been a bad boy there... No cool drinks or ice creams... I guess it just paid me the annual visit.

But today, finally after a week of 'mycins and B complexes i am back in action... a little controlled though.

As a mark of celebration. I went and had a haircut... A real shearing.

Dont ask me why...

Off to Pondy !!!

2006-08-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the Cultural Team of our college will start off to Pondicherry for JIPMER's annual fest, Spandan.

I can see it in the eyes of all the team members, its a dream come true for them. Everybody wants to be a part of the Cul Team. And why not??? Its an instant mantra to name and fame on Campus, if you're in the Cul Team you exude talent, thats the notion, and most of the times its true. The team just cannot wait to get there... The college has a legacy of winning there... We've been bringing the trophy home for the past 11 years now, yes, in a row. The team wants the legacy to continue. I want it to...

I had been to Pondy even last year. Its really good. I do not know about the competition there, nor did i really care about the Overall Trophy, the best part is how a bunch of 60 odd people really come closer to each other over the span of a week. I made some really good friends last year. They continue to be good buddies this year too though they passed out of college. Such are the bonds this trip facilitates. I would advise everybody to make the most of this aspect...

I am really looking forward to get onto the bus, after that, it will all just be a dream of six days...
I will look back and smile at those moments in life. I am sure...

Goodnight Moon

2006-08-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

Current Obsession :- The music of Shivaree, Voice of Ambrosia Parsley

Where did i listen to them? :- Kill Bill 2 OST, Goodnight Moon...

They called their album :- I Oughta Give You a Shot in the Head
for or Making me Live in this Dump

My ( not really needed ) rating
of her voice and the music of
the song :- 9.99/10*

*Nobody is perfect...

Means a lot to me...

2006-08-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

A Post on Naresh Rao Sir's blog... I felt really happy... Would just like to share it...

Friday, August 04, 2006

worthy wait

straight from the heart
today i was absolutely entertained. the josh on stage left everyone flushed with excitement, wanting more. one could not have asked for a better end to the month long buzz on campus-darpan was affecting each and everyone, some in different ways. i wish i could have had the privilege of sitting through more of the events than just debate and indian music- indian dance and mad ads, for starters.
Dhoom shook the audi with wholesome entertainment. i could see the way each of the members enjoyed the music they were playing. shocked and pleased to see Robimon sway with the the beat. of course, phani dominated the stage with his performance that had girls swooning in their seats- no wonder phani is so famous in christ. leo, mathews and the rest supported and encouraged the efforts of others on stage. all in all, an experience to write home about.
p.s. loved the way phani discoed to 'its the time to disco'.

posted by naresh rao @ 7:43 PM

Judge, Me?

2006-08-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

For some funny reason the BBM department picked me as a judge for their music competition for their college fest VISTAS. I had to be there to judge the instrumental(what???) solo event, a solo singing event (ok, this sounds more like my field of activity).

I walked into the auditorium feeling extremely "small", for the very simple reason that i am one of them... i am a student too... and coming to technicalities i know what my music is worth and how much i know technically. It was extremely belittling, humbling rather...

There were around three to four participants in both the categories. As soon as i was presented with the tabulation sheet, i suddenly realized that i had never judged anyone before on the basis of their performance... nor did i want to now... I do not know, its strange, all the participants must have come there with a lot of hope and they surely did perform to the best of their ability. Whys hould someone judge them. I know this is a very silly argument as the worl always wants to pick the best. But still, i felt like a butcher sitting there.

I myself have participated in a lot of contests, won several prizes... but this side of the competition is sure tougher than the performing side. I was totally objective in my marking of the performers... It was easy on me since there were glaring differences between the good ones and the bad ones... Then again. What is good, what is bad?

Regain...

2006-07-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

It was any other Sunday morning, i looked at the my mobile to check for the time, 7:30 it showed. I had resolved to sleep till 10, a resolution that i normally make on all Sunday mornings but am never able to successfully complete it because of a counter resolution that my mother made that she wouldn't let me sleep past 8:00.

I cant say exactly but i think fifteen minutes later, i heard the doorbell ring, i was sleeping on the sofa in the living room and i least bit liked the idea that i might have to open the door as proximity demanded me to. I just pulled my blanket over my face and waited for one of my parents to accomplish the task. My mother probably realised the futility in waiting for me and opened the door. I could not for a second believe what i heard after the door opened, she shouted in an affectionate voice... She called out to me and said, look, wake up... --- is here. I didnt believe it. Why should he come here? Am i so sleeping like a log that i do not understand the difference between dream world and reality. Suddenly, i felt sleep has way too much control over the human mind. But, as i slowly peeped through my blanket, He was there, he was unfastening the laces of his shoes. He came in and smiled at me... it was still a dream. I got up from the sofa, came to my senses fully. Yes, he had come...

A few months ago, my mind would not have been so flustered at his sight. Infact it would have been rather tuned to his arrivals at any point of time. He was a close friend, a dear one. My parents loved and still love him. I loved him, like him now. He was almost like family. He ate, slept, shared here. Not a least bit of uncomfort. My mother takes that extra care to see that my friends feel totally at home when they are here. I guess even he liked his stays over here. I was well on my way of findig a lasting close relationship. A friendship that could probably last.

I dont know when it happened, never understood how it happened, i dont even know if the cause was me, him or someone else who could not bear to see us together. Our friendship, understanding ceased to be the same. We did not talk much initially, even if we did there was an underlying, subtle skirmish in it that both of us felt evidently. Why is the question i always kept asking myself. Should i have gone and confronted him? Sorted things out? Should i have asked him as to what in me bothered him now? He never was the same again, he never came and talked to me, even if it was to tell me that he dint feel the same about me anymore. Maybe matters could have been sorted out and we both would still have the company of a good friend? The relationship reached the brink of disappearance slowly. The frail relation never ceased to bother me. Does it bother him too?

His visit today happened when it was probably falling off the cliff. I felt good, charged when i saw him here today. Probably this is a fresh lease of life for our friendship? He dint speak much... but he spoke like the person i knew. I was always waiting for one opportunity to reciprocate, i did.

I had liked him then, i still like him... it has always been easy for me to do so... Maybe its a bias.

A Spark

2006-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Its really amazing to see the power that one spark has

It can kindle and rekindle relationships

It can cause a mighty riot to occur

It can lead the lightless to hope

It can burn you down before you know...

Is it a Skill???

2006-07-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

The same message. Communicated by two different people on two successive days.
The first day everyone feels like kicking the life out of the messenger. Next day the same message conveyed, but this time one feels like going up to the messenger and kissing his hand...

Probably thats why communication has been termed a skill in this modern era... all this while humans thought it came to them naturally...

Were they wrong???

The Beginning of the End...

2006-07-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

Today, after two weeks of discussions, debates and deliberations, the band unanimously decides on the songs that are to be performed for Darpan. I go through "funny" feeling when the selections of songs happens. I've been feeding my body on Indian music for the past fifteen years, but when it comes to rattling out the names of songs, the mind hits a roadblock after uttering names of two songs that one wouldn't even dream of singing in the bath, leave alone perform on stage.

Finally the songs list came together and all egos in the band room satisfied, a rare occurence that... Satisfying jamming session...

Doe Eyes...

2006-07-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

This is what me and BluePlush did in class today. We decided to write a poem and dedicate it to Bhav... This is how the process went, i would write the first line, blueplush would write the following line without looking at the preceeding line. So i wrote line 1, blueplush wrote line 2, me 3... ok now you know how this poem got composed... This is how it goes. Just hope Bhav liked it...

Doe Eyes

After all i knew, she was the enchantress

Like i even care; Whatever

whatever she said, i wanted to hear,

What an eye opener.

I feared she dint like me,

A star beyond the horizon.

She just had to pass, for me to smile

oh my!!! I'm flattered.

What She does, could NEVER be wrong...

there she goes, there she goes again.

will the mesmerization ever end???

Someone's, jealous of her for sure

And she will always come back.

What???

2006-07-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Without God, I cannot
Without me, God will not...

I found this quote on one of the table calenders at my place this evening... What does the second line mean... It sounds very boastful of humankind to say that, atleast i felt that...

You have a different interpretation?

Flash Back...

2006-07-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

Final year of college.
The Band met again for this year's talent hunt rehearsals...
My year always started like this...
Suddenly i get this tingling feeling in my spine...
I know the road ahead...
Its all going to be a span of a blink...

The boy, His mother and the Football

2006-07-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

My mother had sent me out to buy a packet of salt from the shop in our township. I felt the biting chill on my face as soon as the metallic doors of the elevators opened at the ground floor. I rubbed my palms against each other and walked on. The cold winds suddenly seemed to increase as soon as i entered the park which falls on the way to the shop. Something i saw in the park made me look up to the skies and say, Thank You God for creating the wonderful person called Mother.

A little boy, was playing in the ground, was playing football. I observed the ball from the time his foot hit it, i followed its parabola, it landed at the feet of a lady, in mid thirties probably. She could not play football, probably the lady was so frail and gentle, she could not even properly move her feet to deal a hard kick to the ball. Yet, she tried. It was a small joy that she had to give her son. He was shouting from the other side... "What is this? You cant even kick the ball? Ashwin kicked it harder you know?" I said to myself, little does the boy know the awkwardness the mother must be feeling. She wasnt meant to kick the ball the way the boy's friend, or whosoever Ashwin was, did. It was really cold throughout... Yet, the mother played. Ran alongside her son.
Their play continued...

Trying my hand at Photography...

2006-06-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

This amateur attempt at Photography is dedicated to the meeting and association that I had with Sunny Joseph sir on the sets of Kamli... Looking forward to being your student and working with you sir. Thank you for everything...

My First Shot... Life Itself

2006-06-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

My first feature film shot, Screen space with Nandita Das... God is kind and life generous...

Thank you God...

Erratic Writing...

2006-06-01T01:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you everybody and myself for putting up with my erratic writing schedules... please put up for another month... after which i shall entertain you all again...

Habitable Again...

2006-05-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

After a long time, my room looks neat and clean again. It had to, after all the external factor that works best to get my room tidied had graced my humble abode today... Just hope that the neatness lasts beyond a week... Would be an achievement in itself.

Song for the moment...

2006-05-21T03:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago when he said in an interview to NDTV that he has tried to keep the music as close as to the human spirit and has tried to render the songs soulfully, i just flipped the channel. I mistook "Kailasa" by Kailash Kher to be yet another Indipop album, it isn't. I was truly apolegetic for my action that day after i heard the song Teri Deewani from that album...

A tune like that to be composed... like A R Rahman says, needs to have a divine intervention. A song cannot be rendered like that, unless there is a "Junoon" or mad passion for music...

Dont miss the album. Really soulful renditions...

Thank you God for bestowing me with the gift of Music...

Ace It Guys...

2006-05-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

This post is specially dedicated to all my seniors from the JPEng and FEP gang...

Thanks a lot for all the fond memories guys... Thank you Christ College Cul-Team for making the Pondy trip so memorable...

Special thanks to Vicky, Joe, Ajay, Gargi, Unni, Sapna and her orange oranges that made my dessert after lunch on a couple of occassions... And Thank you to each and every one of you for being a wonderful set of friends...

All The Best for your exams... Ace Them...

Keep In Touch...

The Mother of all...

2006-05-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

As I was preparing for my Sanskrit exam that will happen tomorrow, I began by cursing the syllabus... It was all so vague, too many names, that could put tongue-twisters to shame. Too many dates to remember and not one scholar throughout my notes has seconded the opinions of another scholar. Everybody seems to be an authority on The Ramayana or The Mahabharatha and everybody seems to know Kalidasa or Dandin or Veda Vyasa better than they knew themselves. Could be a slight problem for the students when they study.

Hence, what was to follow was that I got onto this train of thought with the book open wide in front of me, gazed out of the window and in a short while I was reliving all those eras through Buddhacharitam or through Sundara Kanda in The Ramayana. Shots of B R Chopra's Mahabharath began flashin in front of my eyes. Nitish Bharadwaj who played Lord Krishna remains to be my favourite TV actor.

We really had a rich legacy, most of the concepts discussed by these poets and writers are surfacing yet again today and we are worshipping them like they are very novel and looking to foreign sources to learn more. All we need to do is look back. It has always been difficult for me to study Sanskrit as a language, its more interesting and captivating to read it as a documentation of facts, as history. There is so much that can be known if not learnt through the texts. Economic conditions of our country, the different political systems, societies that existed then. Its too intriguing. Ever thought of The Mahabharatha as a wonderful piece of Political saga?

Probably i would have enjoyed the writings and the concepts a lot more and spent some more time on this entry had it not been for the burden of the exam tomorrow...

Are they really like us???

2006-05-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

I was watching the movie "Shark's Tale" last night. I know its just a movie but a really funny thought crossed my head. Must have crossed many a head out there too. Wasn't the movie very "human". In all aspects. It made me really think, are even those fishes and other sea creatures filled with all the wanted and unwanted thoughts like us?

Well... I thought all other animals and beings were much more simpler, not that they dont have their share of problems, but still simpler... Arent they???

Characters...

2006-05-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is purely my own indulgence and might not mean anything to the readers... Still if this post evokes some responses, kindly do send them in...

I am just listing out my ranking of a few characters in films that have been portrayed and which are really close to my heart... They are in the order that i rank them in...

1) Sunil (Shahrukh Khan) - Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

2) Karan (Siddharth Narayan) - Rang De Basanti

3) John (Breckin Meyer) - Garfield

4) Akash (Aamir Khan) - Dil Chahta Hai

5) Jehangir Chaudhury aka Raja - Mr and Mrs Iyer

:) Its Bangalore Again...

2006-05-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

For almost a month now this city has been burning like a furnace and this is extremely unusual of Bengalooru. I would stop by saying, someone my mother knows had a heat stroke and fell sick. Unheard of in this place. But, testing times seem to have come to an end. Thank God!

Rain has been lashing the at the city for two consecutive evenings now, it gave me joy when the rooms of my wall became moist again. They are always like that, but suddenly they dried up a month ago. It felt like a river dried up. The temperatures have come down to normal Bangalore temperatures... Everything suddenly feels nice... Hope the weather continues. I am bringing out my good 'ol red jerkin...

Arrived... yet again...

2006-05-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

I have exams from tomorrow. For all my mother's questions for the next two weeks my only answers would be. " I have nothing to say", "No comments please", Work has begun, its being done, Lets see."

Thank you politicians, such timely answers would have never struck me...

Too Many Thoughts...

2006-05-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting at my computer for the past one and a half hour and reading random blogs. The world is so small, people right on the other side of the world are thinking exactly the way you do. Some have gone ahead and posted a lot of candid stuff about themselves, you get interested, read on and then suddenly, "Hey thats happened to me too", but when something happens to us we feel its happened only to us and the world is still moving on. Now we know, its happened to someone else too. Some posts that i came across really tickle the nerves, those writers sure knew how to give someone a good laugh, thank God that i chanced upon them. Some blogs were about different institutions and the stories connected with it... pretty educative if you happen to trip over an institution that interests you. Some blogs were very formal and literary in nature, it was like reading a text book, dint want to fall asleep so skipped them. Then there are those that are pretty grim, most of the posts in them are extremely serious. Found a few solutions to my own thought in a few of them.

You must surely be thinking i have all the time in the world to do all this... well, if i find good reads like this by chance as i did for the past two hours, i do have all the time in the world. And whats more, the experience was enriching, entertaining intertwined with humour and educative...

People in the world... Blog Away!!!

Heartfelt Thanks...

2006-05-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

I had not been keeping well for the past few days, am a bit alright now. I was alone at home on these days as both my parents have to go out for work. I felt terribly bored on the first day, tried listening to music, tried reading books. Nothing worked. Then i understood, i was craving for some company. Hmmm. Instinctively i picked up my mobile phone and sent an SMS. With this person i was dead sure the reply would be in the positive no matter where he was in the world. I sent the SMS, got a confirmation that he's coming. An hour later, he lands up at my place with a carton of Tropicana juice. Small gestures matter a lot, especially when people are looking forward to them...

Thanks a lot Romal :) I will not say anything more, i feel the emotion will get diluted.

Rewind...

2006-05-05T08:24:00.000-07:00

Ahh... I am so happy right now that i thought i must put this here because i know the memory of this incident will give me immense joy sometime later when i read it again. I was going through the box in which i have dumped all my tapes. When did i buy all this stuff. With Discmans and iPods at my disposal i had not even looked at this box for years now. As i was picking each tape i came across different tapes. Mostly tapes of Bollywood films, each one must have played a hundred times in its era, but i chanced upon this one tape, "Hawa Hawa" by a Pakistani artiste called Jehangir Khan. The album got released when i was five and i remember dancing to the tunes. It was in the late 80's early 90's time. The time when Disco culture was taking over. Played the tape again, ahh raw, pure voices, live percussions, haunting guitar bits... Lovely... I remember the time i was in Calcutta as a kid, all these song were a rage and played throughout the night in the Pandals during Durga Puja... Rewind...

I felt this before...

2006-05-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

You feel very sad at the demise of someone. They are in no way related to you. You havent even seen them face to face ever. But even then, there is a sense of deep sadness, a lacuna that cant be filled. It happened to me when Kalpana Chawla met her tragic end, i remember crying. Weeping bitterly. I had seen deaths of high profile people on television after Kalpana Chawla's death... but never was it the same.

It happened again... yesterday... with the demise of Mr Pramod Mahajan. I was never interested in politics, can daresay i'm apolitical. It doesnt matter to me which party rules us. They are more or less the same. But, when i was faced with the fact that he was no more... i felt that same pain again, the same sense of loss.
Why? Is it some sort of a connect with these people?

May his soul rest in peace and may his family always have the Blessings of the Almighty God...

T Episode

2006-05-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

Took a cup, poured water into it, put it in the microwave for a minute, water heated to my satisfaction, put the tea bag in it... ahh that mellow colour slowly fills the water like dye fills clear water. Added two heaped spoons of sugar to it. stirred it well and dipped the bag again for that "strong chai". Sipped, sipped again... Aila! Yeh Kya...? koncham vigorous dipping happened or rough stirring maybe. Looks like the bag tore... tea leaves all over the serene waters in the cup like pilgrims bobbing in some holy river... Aiyyo. Where did mom put that strainer now?

Study Time...

2006-05-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

A week of contemplation, two days of psychological preparation, an hour of warnings and threats by mother, 5 messages of prodding... I have finally started studying today. Cant assure you of the quality though... Low concentration spans when it comes to academics... ( Say its global phenomenon and boost my morale)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...........

2006-04-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

29th April, 1:00 AM. I fall asleep
29th April, 6:00 PM. I wake up.

There was a short lunch time awakening at 2:30 PM...

Missing

2006-04-26T23:43:00.000-07:00

The only being that i really miss now that i am in Bangalore is Prince the pup... man he was sweet. He really made me love pets. Now i know why pets mean so much to their owners. Thanks for all those early morning wake up calls Princey boy...

My city has changed...

2006-04-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I left the city in the summer of 2004 to join a college in Bangalore. I kept my annual visits to the city happening. But this one has shocked me the most. Whats happened to it? Its ten times more crowded. The traffic, can put other metros to shame. Malls have sprung up like mushrooms after rainfall. There's a whole western wave happening in the crowds of the city. People are changing rapidly. No more are pub owners complaining of lack of night life in the city. Streaks and Punkish hairstyles are the "headlines" of today. Hyderabadi hindi, the flavour of the city has lost its charm among the youth. Its English now. I used to tell everyone... there's "something chaste" about my city... thats what makes it different... is it still there???

I have a new friend...

2006-04-17T09:45:00.000-07:00

Initially he snarled, growled and dint want me anywhere around. He never let me sleep in the nights for the first few days, woke me up at five in the morning. In the most disgusting way, he just pulled my blanket off me. But as days went by and i became a regular feature at my aunt's place, i am no more a stranger to him. Now, Prince the pup loves me i think. Much to my yeech and yuck, he licked me this morning(yeah, now i get woken up like that). There's no more worrff urrff when he sees me at the door. I taught him something new today- successfully. How to jump over me while i'm laying down on the bed. Hope he doesnt try it on anyone else. A miscalculated jump could mean a sanction imposed on treats for Princey boy... I'm going to pester mom to buy me a doggie now...

Kid Thing... Bling Bling...

2006-04-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, i have had the opportunity to interact with so many kids, say 4-7 years of age and the thought that comes to me now... ah... just fill the world with them. I wanted to shoot a small docu-ad at a school in Hyderabad. So, driven by this impulse i board the bus from Bangalore to Hyderabad...

As luck would have it, there was a little girl maybe of 4 or 5 in the seat before mine. As soon as the bus started, probably bored by her mother's company she stood on her seat, turned around and decided to get all pally pally with me. We became friends by the time the bus took the next turn. As if some barrage had broken, started a wave of questions. Why do you go to college while my dad has to go to the office?, why should this bus go so fast?, the bus is not my house, how does it have a TV then(this volvo did have one!). The company was out and out entertaining...

Then, i go to this school the next day to shoot the docu and as i have already prepared myself there was this sea of kids out there... ah... these little ones are smart. The way they respond to the camera is just brilliant, they could give any professional actor a run for their money. Of course, one does have a tough time getting them to stop "performing". A little one even came up with suggestions to make him look better on screen. He wanted his face to be dabbed with talcum powder... ha ha, talk of an early start.I had fun shooting with those tine tots...

Just hope the film turns out good...

We've Arrived...

2006-04-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

I totally agree that i'm a total sucker for Bollywood and the stars in it... They are an integral part of my life... But now, it gives me all the more reason.

I dint even know there existed a band called Code Red till i watched a Asha Bhonsle interview on MTV recently... Code Red? Asha? Yes peoples. She recorded a track with them called "We Can Make It"... Man... who says Indians cant take music global? Asha Tai has also to her credit the Freddie Mercury Award for Art...

Ahh... just a caution guys... if any ardent English music fans are reading this, dont blame me if you find many "indianizations" in the track mentioned above. That and her voice is what made me love that song in that first place...

Indians Rock... I love India...

Happens, scarily quite often...

2006-04-06T15:55:00.000-07:00

Not a wink of sleep last night. No not even dozing off for a moment and then snapping out. Tried hot milk, relaxation music from the iPod... no, system is immune to all that i guess. What is the body keeping awake for? How can it not feel weary?
Usually the cause is worry... a very bad habit of mine to keep thinking of all possible and impossible things. Very frankly, last night the mind was almost thoughtless... very tranquil i must say. Maybe its the heat that dint allow me to sleep. Maybe the mind is excited for some reason. But, i cant feel it, i dint notice some excitement creeping in and then the mind getting activated. This once, the mind just dint respond to the night fall, the day just went on i guess. Yes, thats what it was probably. An extended day.
4:30 in the morning. Not the least bit groggy do i feel... the body does feel rested.

She makes sense...

2006-04-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

Alicia Keys, her song Karma, "What goes around comes around, what goes up must come down." Think about it...

Know your machines well...

2006-04-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Cool breeze, 11:32 PM, your car is whizzing past the other slower vehicles, you look to your left and then you look at her nimble hands searching for her favourite music from the CDs strewn on your dashboard... lovely feeling. Now hold that thought

There's nothing better than this empty ring road, wishing the bike could hit faster speeds, suddenly you feel that the wheels are an inch above the ground... Hold that thought too...

You wake up one morning, switch on the computer, log on to your mail box. Download an attatchment from a good friend in anticipation that there's a surprise waiting... Trash all the thoughts now

The car might just break down, the bike could do the same. the attatchment could have a virus or a worm or a millipede... Life suddenly comes to an abrupt halt. Know your machines well, make them listen to you, not the other way around.

PS : To Gautham(YH). Thanks a lot for repairing the system buddy. Hard to imagine life without computers. Alas, i'm yet another victim

I love the feeling...

2006-04-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

You're entire day seems like you've been left on Pluto and your last oxygen cylinder is about to run out in another Plutonian minute... Just then you receive an SMS, the normal any other day hello, but the person who sent it to you could mean a zillion more cylinders of oxygen to you. Smart, that the person is realises that something is wrong with you. Offers to come down to your place. You meet the person after the siesta. You Thank God that you still are on earth, and so is that lovely person...

Finally... The Break has happened...

2006-04-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

Always, since i was made a Prince in the story(cant remember the name man...) where the princess is supposed to kiss the frog and the frog turns into a charming Prince... i wanted to be on stage. The applause that follows a performance comes next only to God and my mother. Being on stage for me is something divine, i dunno, its a connect with someone up there... I have this mantra... its a little selfish i know, God looks upon every single person in this world... but i feel HE has an eye reserved, only to watch me... all that i do. HE knows the child in me, the clown in me, if there is someone serious inside me and might not have surfaced, then HE is still in the process of creating that facet. So, i always wanted to act, be a part of the stage, savour the applause, the love and adulation of people. No matter how modest some people try to be about it, it doesn't happen... I will only be modest about the work that i do on stage, be it singing or acting, not the later happenings. Its a high that is extremely grabbing. Its addictive.

I never knew when the tryst with acting would start, in a bit of a serious way. And i really thank God for the way it started. I loved the experience. Shall never really forget the summer of 2006. The play 2020 certified something that was in my system all along. Like Shahrukh Khan says, "There is no magic to acting, apart from being able to deeply observe and absorb. Take it seriously as far as the professional part is concerned, beyond that... dont". Yes sir, thank you for those words. Would like to share screen space with you someday. Inshallah. Just hope i am that blessed...

Thank you God...

Thanks for the Break Guys... Log on to. www.theatrecapital.com

Aadat...

2006-02-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

Jal is amazing... Kaun kehta hai kam umr mein kaamyabi nahin milti. To quote their lyrics... " Ab tho Aadat si hai mujhko aise jeene mein..."

Phinally I'm mobalwa agayne...

2006-01-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

Haan tho like this it happened that i bhas na, luking phor a phunwa... I had taken a dessission that i bhill nat take a phunwa... but then kaa karenge upparbaala na gabe a situasun ke had to take it. Tho i began to ask all my mitr logan ke bhat serbhis bhill i aapt phor... some say Saarookh hai na and some said phallow the kutta... haan tho me and my phrend bent to the phunwa ka dukaan and that dukaan ka chokra started angrejee mein badbad... tho hum bole... daim phool... ek accha sa chalne waala phunwa bataa... awaaj aani chahiye. So phinally the phellow undestud hamri baat and gabe a chikna sa mobilwa... phor connecsun... batai tho rahi, he said ab kutta hi theek rahega sir, rang bhi badlai diye... Hum bole theek hai. Aagaya haath mein phunwa. Ka samjhe?

Sick of being Sick

2006-01-29T04:38:00.000-08:00

Common cold seems to have taken an uncommon liking towards me and i have to have the most vulnerable throat in Bangalore. The slightest drop in the temperature triggers off these events... in the order that i put them in.
1. Slight throat pain and irritation
2. Cant have food that night because the throat hurts badly
3. Nose blocked, frequent trips to the basin during the night for sneeze... sneeze
4. Some respite thanks to my nasal drops.
5. Temperature and body ache by morning.

We Know Koramangala byheart now

2006-01-23T19:22:00.000-08:00

My good friend and me... yet another try... to acquire a license... What more can I say?
This morning i realised that even the perros on those streets have begun to recognise us and dread the aimless car going round and round...

Ride on the memoreez wave

2006-01-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

Its absolutely amazing how songs can lift you on a way and take you into the past. Everything then, thats related to the song seems so tangible. The surroundings,smells and the whole atmosphere is just recreated all around you. I was listening to this song called Long train Running by the Doobie Brothers and was immediately transferred onto that plush green lawn cheering for the invincible Local Vocals. Damn... they really rocked. If you want to experience something like this all you need to do is pick any song of your choice which you might not have heard for sometime but have memories attatched to, plug in your earphones, darken the room(optional) and then just close your eyes (compulsory whether or not you followed the earlier step)... and then if the magic doesnt work... probably your walkman, CD player or iPod needs some charge.

Thought i should tell you.

2006-01-20T07:13:00.000-08:00

If you people are ever bored, tired, disgusted, frustrated or totally fed up with life... i suggest you keep away from this space for sometime...