Monday, December 31, 2007

The End

It is 2008, well almost. It is 2008 back home though. Funny situation! The time lag never seemed so big. A complete year crossed over in it!

1. Sarvana Bhavan

An authentic Chennai restaurant. This is the best Desi food I have had here. We actually changed trains, walk a few miles - to reach there. The food is fresh and tasty!!!

2. Madam Tussauds

I don't need to say anything about this. Lots of 'explicit' poses and pictures happened :-)

3. The Bucket List

A very simple - amazingly acted out and scripted movie! Nothing 'great', but definitely good enough.

4. War Pigs

I don't know what fascinated me the most- the broken rhythm, the deep heavy bass, Iommi's thundering (literally thundering) riffs, Ozzy's haunting voice or just marvel the composition. I heard it for the first time on 'The Ozzman Cometh'. It was not the version released originally - but that's the best. It is called the Basement Tapes, as far as I remember. I used to listen to it again and again and again- all the time sometime in 2nd year of my engineering. My mom, neighbors, their children - were convinced on one thing. I may not be crazy all the time, but at that point in time (the song going on a repeat frenzy for hours)- I definitely was crazy.

Me and Dixit (my roomie) got hooked on to heavy metal by an album called 'Nativity in Black - Tribute to Black Sabbath'. Those days we were experimenting with music - 'If you cross my path I'll make sure you feel my wrath'...kind of times.

The lyrics are anti war, one of black Sabbath's best. If you ask me now - well I don't identify with them as much as I used to. But, yes as far as this song is concerned - Wow! same old feeling. Going into a repeat mode.

38 years after it was released - it is like a foundation stone for heavy metal. Well respected and followed and copied.

\m/ \m/

YouTube live video



Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of deaths construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait till their judgement day comes, yeah!

Now in darkness, world stops turning
As the war machine keeps burning
No more war pigs of the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
All right now!

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Drifting away in NY

It was one of those days, where you don't bother to even try to decide on anything. Walk out and seek. That's what we did. With a map in our hands - we walked into New York.

1. Brunch...Oops Lunch actually

With the time lines being followed with due diligence - we ended up having lunch instead of the planned brunch. Why? Well we spent a lot of time researching Shreesanth's antics on the Cricket ground watching YouTube videos. It was fun anyway. Some time back a friend of ours, obviously a keen follower of the game, had provided us with an insightful answer to a question thrown at her.

How many days does a Cricket Test Match run?
Ans - Hmmm ... 30 days?

Reaction - blank and shocked faces.

Ans (Contd.)- Ok, but I am sure it runs for more than week. I have 'seen' it myself.

We finally had to settle on 7 days. God we pray for mercy Please Let her go!

2. MAD

We started for Museum of Modern Arts - but then like our brunch - we missed this too. So we landed up at the Museum of Art and design (MAD). It was quite unique. Some of them looked (that's all an untrained eye can do) rubbish. Some of it looked breathtaking! Different themes, mostly dark and deceptive were laid out. I enjoyed it thoroughly (real thorough - when my friends waited for at least 30 mins for me to come out of the place )

3. Boys boys boys


8 guys fought with all they had in them, at the Sports Center at Chelsea Perkins, along side the Hudson river. Bowling, Speed Hockey, Dance, super fast basket ball... and off course with a Budweiser here and there.

4. Drifting

There are no lyrics. This song was forwarded to me on YouTube by Yaya long back. Today I was showing it to Patty's friends. The guy creates real magic with the guitar. I won't say much - just enjoy the YouTube Video

In the same room, smart in blue and Clouseau

  1. Webcam. I love webcam... its almost like being with the person you're chatting with.
  2. My new blue top... its simple and smart, and almost hides my tummy... and it gives me an opportunity to wear my new halter too.
  3. Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther series... he's just too adorable. How can anyone not love the bumbling, clumsy man?

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Hurray hurray its a holi holiday!

1. The Code is broken... :-)

A long awaited communication channel has opened up. It works better than any instant energy drink.

2. Books, music and movies...

NJ public library is not one of the best libraries in the world, but it is right next to my house. coming from India - the facility of borrowing twenty books for a month and seven CDs, at a time for a week - for free is a luxury.

3. Virginia waale aaye hain

Patty and Co. have arrived. They will be staying here for the new years. They don't have much of a plan, as usual. So we will have to figure out ...as we go ahead...

4. Like Old times

Sridevi's house is full of people. Some sleeping on the bed, some on the couch, some on the carpet... it is looking like a hostel room now. I don't mind the carpet, that much :)

5. Ethiopia

I get to eat in a famous Ethiopian restaurant in NYC. Somehow, we get there on time and place is very small and cozy. It is highly rated by Zagat. I have no idea about where is the country placed on the map. Meskerem is the name of the restaurant.

6. Here comes the Sun

This is a song which gave me the goosebumps, quite literally. I had liked it always, but when I 'saw' it getting 'created' in front of me in LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, I didn't have words to describe my emotions.

It was like one of the most beautiful moments ever. I have been to quite a number of musicals and shows (mostly in India), but this has to be the best. Yes, it being based on the music of The Beatles has created that bias in me, but still it was out of the world. Highly recommended to anyone visiting Vegas. This Intro will give you a glimpse (may be), into how it would feel to be sitting live and breathing, while such magnificent visuals are getting displayed in front of you.

The preview starts with 'Here comes the Sun'. The hearts starts to beat faster as soon as you see the chain of lights enter the stage. The acoustic guitar starts strumming and then comes the Sun - full of lights and drama.

The YouTube video might show you Lennon, but then he didn't contribute to it. He was recovering from an accident when Harrison wrote it. Harrison was quite disturbed and busy those days - with a number of issues. One day, during that tough phase, when he was relatively relaxed - he had visited his then good friend Clapton's house. While strumming on Clapton's acoustic guitar in his garden- he wrote the song. It came in their muti platinum album - 'Abbey Road'




Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Life-force, flurry and back to school please...

  1. Dharana is back. And she won't stop talking. Its as if the whole place is alive again.
  2. After we have decided we're not participating in the bay-decoration competition at work, at the last moment we decide we are (mostly because Dharana makes such a fuss, and no one has the heart to refuse her..) So there's suddenly brainstorming sessions being held, and a flurry of dicussions and then hectic activity that goes late into the night, to decorate our seating area. The theme we've chosen is Candy Land. And when we finally leave for home at 2:30 a.m (yes!!), we have quite a few of our artefacts ready. My major accomplishment has been two large trees which grow candy
  3. Working late into the night, with craft things, trying to create pretty things. There's art and craft material lying around everywhere - coloured paper, thermocol, cardboard, paints, brushes, glitter... A lot more people turn up to help, than I'd ever expected, and there's some 10 people working as if possessed. And I'm suddenly so excited and am enjoying myself so much, making all the stuff, that I want to go back to primary school and make all my craft projects all over again...

Beep Beep...Back again!

Hopefully the problems have been cured permanently. BTs over the past few days as I start again...

1. I sleep and I rest and then I sleep before resting again... :)

That's how the past few days have been. Laziness has never been so beautiful. She is actually dancing all around me. I don't know when was the last time I have been so lazy. Is it Christmas or is it just me or just is the year end (just rolling over to the next some how).

2. Weather God had mercy (and I missed it yet again!)

For the past few days it has been a pleasant weather. I know I haven't seen very much of it, but whatever I have - has been good.

3. Boxing Day

Ind-Aus series started on the boxing day. I have been waiting for it for a long time. Too many articles have been read, millions of interviews have been viewed and countless ultra-intellectual verbal battles have been fought. Action time now, Boys! Get on with it...

4. My own very solitude

After frantic schedules of traveling, meeting people, taking pictures, recording amusing tit bits... finally some time alone. Which has led to some sole (oops Soul) searching. It is yet to come of any use but the process has started. Trying to even out the edges which have popped out lately...

5. Old Friends

This is one of the most expressive songs I have come across. Listening to it - is like watching a movie. The words come so naturally- so simple and deep. A real good feeling, comes inside- heals you, protects you and leaves you happy and wanting.

Their harmony is just perfect. The voices appear to have been made to give each other company. Would you believe - they have acted together in 'Alice in wonderland' and their formed their first group and called it - 'Tom and Jerry'!!!

Rolling Stones magazine ranked Simon & Garfunkel at No 40, on their list of 100 greatest artists of all time.

The last paragraph of the song - is strangely rarely found on the internet lyrics websites.




YouTube Video


Old friends,
Old friends
Sat on their park bench
Like bookends.
A newspaper blown though the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes
Of the old friends.

Old friends,
Winter companions,
The old men
Lost in their overcoats,
Waiting for the sunset.
The sounds of the city,
Sifting through trees,
Settle like dust
On the shoulders
Of the old friends.

Can you imagine us
Years from today,
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange
To be seventy.
Old friends,
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears
Time it was
And what a time it was,
It was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences,
Long ago it must be
I have a photograph,
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Stress relief, back to the book and shaadi.com

  1. Getting a heavenly back massage and another equally divine head massage. The masseuse's expert fingers knead my back muscles and all my stress is released... it's pure sensual pleasure...
  2. Coming home early so that I have, after what seems like an age, a couple of hours to read... The Golden Compass seems to be a promising companion over the coming few days.
  3. Soumitra has some very interesting observations to make about a leading matrimonial site and the people whose profiles he sees there.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Togetherness, cause for concern and picture perfect

  1. I meet up with Manjiri and Sameer at Barista. Its good catching up. And its even better seeing them together. They have that quiet air of being together and so much comfortable with each other.
  2. Shenoy surprises me by getting me a chair. I pretend to get a mild heart attack.
  3. The pictures that I've taken on the trek have come out beautiful. I love my camera! None other is good enough... the clarity is super amazing, and most of the times, what I imagine is what I get in the frame - the camera doesn't limit me, my skills do... so my pictures will only get better with time :-)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Hamlet, trekker and grandeur


  1. The charming little village at the base of Makarandgad. Its a typical Indian village, where most residents are farmers. There's are fields, and stone houses and haystacks. There's even a charming little school, where the children come in early to clean their school everyday. We reach there at about 7 am, but the village has woken up long before and everyone is already at their chores. The air is clean and envigorating, and though we've only slept for a few uncomfortable hours on the bus, we are all braced up and raring to start the trek.

  2. The immense physical effort the trek demands, and I deliver. For experienced trekkers, it isn't a big deal, but for us novices, it turns out to be huge test. Half-way down the trek, I'm quite ready to give up, but somehow manage to keep going and complete the trek. And somewhere I also find the energy to play a long, boistrous and energetic game of antakshari on the journey back home. Its a feeling of huge satisfaction, when you can command your self to keep going when you feel you can't anymore...
  3. The view on the trek is amazing. The Sahyadri ranges are majestic in their beauty. The sky up above is a clean azure, and the peak that we're headed up to rises grandly into the sky. lower down on the mountain, the vegetation is thick, and the foliage varied. As we head higher, the trees lessen in number, and there's grass dotted with pretty little flowers. The sense of quiet and space that the place gives me is overpowering.

No posts :(

I have decided to not to write about the weekend. Primarily because the text editor of the blog doesn't seem to function properly. I have to use proper HTML syntax to write here. I will write when I figure out - how other people are successfully posting on it.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Anticipating adventure, support and yawwwwwn

  1. All day, I look forward to the night, when we start for Makarandgad, for our trek tomorrow... I've been wanting to go for a trek with the trekkers club at work ever since I started working here, but have only managed it this time... I'm so thrilled about it! And even more so about the excellent photographing opportunities that I'll be getting. Maybe I'll get to see the sunrise!
  2. For the trek, I'm supposed to carry my own lunch. I forget to tell the maid to prepare it and as has become my routine, I come home from work really late. But Rashmi's there, and she quickly prepares rotis for me - doesn't even let me help.
  3. Taking a hot shower after coming home from office. Washes away the day's stress, and leaves me all warm and drowsy... my eyelids are drooping even now... But I mustn't sleep - the cab will be here in a few mins to pick me up, and we'll be off for the trek! Yay yay! yawwwwwn....

Friday, December 21, 2007

Not so funny, hot, wicked situation

1. She was all Hot and mustard ( how my ears failed my eyes and my buds failed my stomach)!


I don't know why I am tempted to write this as a BT. It was lunch time and I hadn't got any lunch from home. So, I decided to ask a colleague - 'What's the best way to have a veg sub at Subway?'
Now that i think of that moment, I tell myself - 'I should be more attentive'.

Anyway, I did order and got my prized lunch (haven't eaten anything for breakfast and the chilly winds I had to cross to get my lunch ..."this better be good").

More than eager to eat- I started with a big bite. Something seemed to be wrong. But then I have a problem. The nerve ends at the end of my taste buds are a bunch of lazy bums. They never seem to convey the message fast enough. Either there is an issue with competency or the technology used by God in my 'taste' area - was outdated.

Whatever the case may actually be...I kept eating (big bites followed). There should be a feedback system actually from the taste nerve center to the stomach nerve workers association - STOP giving the poor guy Hungry signals!! This doesn't seem to be good enough to be even called- 'bad'. But alas, it did not happen- and me in my hunger ate the whole thing.

Eventually the Taste buds did write to me - 'Well Sir ...as you can see ...there may have been a slight mishap- the signal line was overloaded by the stomach workers association and they wouldn't let us in...and then they had this special letter of recommendation... highlighting - no breakfast ...EAT fast...so Sir you see - it was not exactly our ...."

On further investigation it was revealed, that the whole problem started when my dumb ears failed to listen to my colleague - "Be careful... they put a lot of sauce, if you don't tell them specifically" ...and they didn't inform the Eye Alert Force... and as always - my eyes were busy absorbing the beautiful beings around me.

And because it was unknowingly a sacrifice to appreciate beauty - this turned out to be a BT.


2. Get Out!

I decided - enough was enough. I am human- I don't have to be careful about work all the time. I can be foolish and hence I can go back home (and not feel guilty till monday). So I just walked out early (quite early actually). The Mp3 player singing in my ears ...I have a wicked smile ...la la la ...la la... :-)

3. Not Funny at all but not quite Bad

For the first time - I come home really early and my dear roomie has locked me out. He is not going to be back for the next 4-5 hours. It was not funny. It was cold - I was hungry - had been thinking of heating something and eating. Actually the problem is - my Roomie - Mr. Sanket Kudav hasn't had the time and significantly strong emotional drive to get a copy of my keys (which are missing their original owner now, I am sure) made - for the last TWO damn months!!!

Any way, i thought for a moment and then called an old friend - to check if she or her husband were home. As it turned out - they were. I was relieved. I went there- and got the much needed attention and care. They are really sweet- totally lovable. We have like a millions of topics to discuss and fight on. After being fed properly - emotionally and 'stomachly', I went back home. I didn't have to cook - as I was full :-)

So it was actually good that I went there. We made some weekend plans, which seemed to be perfect with my plans - of not having a exhausting time.

4. 'Fake Plastic Trees'

There is something about the English, that is not there anywhere in the World. No, I am not kidding about their bla bla bla 'stuck up' bla bla bla ...all that. I am talking about - their Music and Literature. Boy, they have the best blood running in them, as far as these two things are concerned (Please, lets not discuss other things like sport or Wars etc.- the discussion invariably will go to a different plane)

Radiohead is what I am going to talk about. They are a 21 year old English rock band. I used to like them, but never quite understood them until a few years back. I used like their singles like - Creep and Karma Police. It used to play in the bars and pubs quite often, and everybody like it (and so did I).

The thing with Radiohead is - they are pretty much original and they have been in the overlap of a lot influences their career- guitar-driven rock, electronic, some mix of Jazz. Heavy and most of the times quite not so obvious lyrics. Thom Yorke - the lead vocals, has a unique Falsetto. His voice is as different as Radiohead's music. He seems to just get lost in the song. He doesn't sing it - he lives in it, just like Robert Plant (Led Zepplin). I know not a fair comparison- but the guy is really talented and has unique style of singing. Ok, lets take Chris Martin (Coldplay) as an example. This is a more fair.

"Fake Plastic Trees" is often seen as a turning point in the band's early career. It is also placed at #376 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

There are a few songs, which lift your spirits. This is not one of them. There songs in which you find comfort, like a cover over you - protecting you, when you are in a particular state of mind. This is not one of them. For me, this is one of those weird songs - that pushes me to write. It brings you back images - of days like ... when you were walking down a lonely street and thought ..."Maybe I will write about it sometime". What did I think I will write about - a torn white plastic bag. It was floating around in the street. There was nobody there, except me and to watch it float in the winds.

I wrote Insignificance after listening to this song. There was this unfulfilled need and restlessness- to write about that plastic bag. After I did, I was at peace with the song and could enjoy it normally.

Here are the lyrics and the Video:-

YouTube Video







Her green plastic watering can
For her fake chinese rubber plant
In fake plastic earth.
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plants
Just to get rid of itself.
And it wears her out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out.


She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns.
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins.
And it wears him out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out.


She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love.
But I cant help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out.

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted,

Lazily rolling and flying around

Lazy day today ... unshaven for quite a few days now... there was disinterested look on my face throughout the day...but then a quiet day...you need that...specially when Holidays are coming!!! :)



1. 'As you Like it'

Not many people in Office today. Holiday time!!! A lot work can't be done - because the people who are not there in the office, are actually needed. What does that mean? - less work for those who are in office :) (in some wicked sense - I like it)





2. 'Rolling'



The roll over effect of the previous day surge in work enthusiasm - helps. I do some pending work - personal and office. A lot that was pending for a long time gets over. Feel lighter baggage now.





3. 'Given to Fly'



Pearl Jam. Well what can I say about them. My first Love affair with a band. When I listened to 'Ten' with my eyes closed late into the night, alone in my college days- something happened deep inside. Something released inside. Seattle - boy I would love to go there. Grunge stands for raw, anti-theatrics, distortions, heavy sludgy guitar... lyrics full of ...angst, loneliness, rejection...to be it gave vent to the rebel inside... I totally identified with it! seems like it was coming from inside. I am not a very huge fan of Nirvana but.... PJ - I have everything that they have ever sung. Eddy Veddar- the most intense voice I have come across.





Given to Fly is a song from one of their lesser popular albums (there we go again). I used to love revising for my exams listening to this. My roomie - Dixit...used to hate me for this. He used to be tensed before the exams, and I didn't quite help, by playing the music loud and thundering.





The picture that comes to my mind when I hear this song (for all these years)..is of a Man- high up in the sky...flying over the mountains, over the high rising trees. There is fog and smoke (from probably a war) in the sky and he flies through it- fearless and brutal in his intent. It starts slowly...rises slowly...then come the drums... and then comes Eddy ...slowly it keeps rising...and then it flies off... goes into a climax... 'A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw....' ..The video is in Argentina - he actually uses some Spanish words in the song ...and also speaks in spanish (reads it out actually)...to start with...





YouTube Video






He could've tuned in, tuned in


But he tuned out


A bad time, nothing could save him


Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out


He got up outta there, ran for hundreds of miles


He made it to the ocean, had a smoke in a tree


The wind rose up, set him down on his knee





A wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw


Delivered him wings, "Hey, look at me now"


Arms wide open with the sea as his floor


Oh, power, oh





He's.. flying


Whole


High.. wide, oh






He floated back down 'cause he wanted to share


His key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere


But first he was stripped and then he was stabbed


By faceless men, well, fuckers


He still stands





And he still gives his love, he just gives it away


The love he receives is the love that is saved


And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky


A human being that was given to fly





High.. flying


Oh, oh


High.. flying


Oh, oh


He's flying


Oh, oh

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Not so duh.., go home and khoya khoya chaand

  1. After spending a whole day agonizing over a problem that I'm finding too complex to solve, I realise at the end of the day that others are also as much at sea about it, as I am... I'd almost begun to believe I'm the duh-est of the lot!
  2. Dharana pings from the US when she sees I'm still online, with a "Go home! why aren't you going home... ghar jaaaaooo" She used to say this everyday when she was here in India, and I realise that I had kinda missed this statement of hers (among others). Get back fast, girlie, it's getting boring in office with the neighbouring seat empty..
  3. Finding the exact lyrics of Khoye khoye chaand ki.. Now, I can sing along, as I listen to it over and over again, wihout missing anything. I realise its the poetry that has really attracted me to this song... such words deserve a better music. But then I love the timbre of Swanand Kirkire's voice in this song... My favourite lines from the poem:

kyun apane aap se khafa khafa jara jaraasa naaraaj hai dil

yeh manjilein bhi khudahi tay kare, yeh faasalein bhi khudhi tay kare

kyu toh rasto pe phir seham seham sanbhal sanbhal ke chalta hai ye dil

kyun khoye khoye chaand ki firaaq mein talaash mein udaas hai dil

Masala

A day full of unusual mood swings...distractions from work... emotional upheavals ...hard talk... relief... last hour slog to finish pending things ...and finally a dinner with a joyful couple...


Just like a masala movie... had everything...emotions, drama, a fight sequence (almost) and a happy ending!




1. "No"


The word 'No', never seemed more important. Anxiously waiting for the answer- hoping it wouldn't be Yes. Alas, it was a 'yes' :(


Still I don't give up ...discussions, negotiations, plain talk, hard talk, clarifications, elaborations ... and then finally it came. "No, ....."



2. "Focus Tanmoy Focus"



It struck me at 4 pm, that I haven't done enough for the past few days. No one is complaining, but I feel terrible inside.

'One of these days, I will have to sit late and finish it. Only if I had the will to swim against the waves'


I start to swim, but the water is cold. I am not motivated enough to work. So, I go down for a smoke and watch people leave. All are happy to go home, smiling and satisfied.
I say ..."Why the Hell not me?!"


I go back inside and start working. Get a call from a dear friend. I had not met her for a long time. The couple says, they will wait for me and then leave for dinner and that excuses won't work. I get 1 hour to finish as much as I can. The target does wonders and I end up surprising myself. Demons that I had postponed for days, crumble and vanish easily!

Maybe, I did have a faint smile, as I left the office but, the best part there was - there was absolutely nobody to notice it!



3. 'Nostalgic movie masala ladies fingers'



Curiosity over how bad could have been Sawariya?, discussion over why they had to show nudity in Beowulf ?, old college talk, good movie websites, and rubbish humor in a movie called 'Angrez'...that I am told ..."you HAVE to watch!"...amidst well cooked ladies fingers...


The best part is the reason why we ordered 'ladies fingers'... tomorrow it shall be a test for me and my roomie... 'let's see if can generate a better taste!'


I am confident... from the recent success with my new mastery ---The Cauliflower diaries...



4. 'Rain'


This song is by an English band called 'Uriah Heep', formed in December 1969. They are sometimes jokingly referred to as the 'Beach Boys' of heavy metal. They are pretty much melodic behind their heavy sound.


I think early last year, for a long time I had nothing much to do. Whenever I was in my senses, I used spend time looking for good music. That's when I discovered the powerful lyrics, loads of creativity blended in melody, soulful vocals and range of influences... I concluded they were somewhat Deep Purple...somewhat Led Zepp...and somewhat Extreme.


This song really defines how I felt, sometimes when I used to sit up on the bed near the window. Rains in Pune can be a mess, but this song gave it a different look. Again as always - this song is not one of their most popular ones ... but to me one of the deepest. I also like 'What should be done', 'Sweet Loraine', 'Why', 'Easy Leaving' (that's the popular one), 'What's within my heart'...


I love the simplicity in the music and the profound emotions in the lyrics... 'raining inside'... hats off!!


This is the Video and the album cover - 'The Magician's Birthday'. There are better versions of the song - but this is the best available on the internet currently.


YouTube Video










It's raining outside

But that's not unusual

But the way that I'm feeling

is becoming usual



I guess you could say

The clouds are

moving away,

away from your days

and into mine



Now it's raining inside

And that's kind of a shame

And it's getting to me,

a happy man



Why should you want to

waste all my time

The world is yours

but I'm mine



Rain rain rain in my tears

Measuring carefully my years

Shame shame shame in my mind

See what you've done to my life


Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Good start and beanies

  1. Tanmoy's first ever post on my blog... the post is so happy and colourful, and he seems to have had so much fun writing it...
  2. Refilling the bean bag... the beans run helter skelter, and we run behind them. The bag's nice and fluffy again

Yuuuhooooo!!

Yuuuhooooo hoooo hoooo!!



I get to write on Rashmi's Blog.




(Jumping and dancing. No, I am still in my formal wear and I never intended to wear bright colours for this act )


:-)



I have been regularly reading this blog ever since it started. I can see it has been a successful adventure for her. So here we go ...my first set of BTs (they will vary in number, though I shall try and keep the Standard deviation to a minimum)




1. 'Before Time'


I come early enough to prepare for my morning meeting. I am attentive and creative :-)




2.'Mere Blog pe guest-author banega kya?'





Before going off to sleep, Rashmi asks me to contribute to her blog. My first reaction is "Oh Shoot! Now, I have to be correct with my grammar and spellings. Can't get away with it here, on her blog." Off course I never mentioned it to her. What I did do is pester her with :- 'Why?' and 'What will I write?' and 'I may forget to write' and 'You will have to order, I can't process polite requests'. So, finally after a one of the millions of intentionally started arguments that we keep having, I conceded - "Haan".




3. Happy Holidays, Lora D.


I find a packet of sugar coated Pretzels on my desk, as I enter my office. A snowman grinning, and poking out his plastic nose, behind the red ribbons - conveying "Happy Holidays, Lora D." My client manager took the pain of dropping it off, before I came to office.






4. 'The Sweetest Thing'




My BTs will end with a song everyday :-)



It was 1976, when a few Irish teenagers formed a band called U2. After almost 31 years, 22 Grammys, 170 million albums worldwide...they still ROCK! (far far far away from being Over and done)


The song was written by Bono as an apology to his wife Ali Hewson for forgetting her birthday during The Joshua Tree sessions. At her request, proceeds from the single went to her favorite charity. I know there are much better U2 songs. But this one really picks me up from the dumps - anytime !!! It has such an amazing and simple start. The video is really funny and 'sweet'. Bono making faces throughout.




YouTube Video





My love she throws me like a rubber ball

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

But she won't catch me, or break my fall

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

Baby's got blu skies overhead

But in this I'm a raincloud

You know she likes a dry kind of love

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing




I'm losing you



Oh oh oh, I'm losing you yeah

Ain't love the sweetest thing

The sweetset thing




I wanted to run, she made me crawl

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

Eternal fire, she turned me to straw

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

You know I got black eyes

Buy they burn so brightly for her

Mine is a blind kind of love

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing




[I'm loosing you....]




Blue eyed boy meets a brown-eyed girl

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

You can sew it up

But you still see the tear

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

Baby's got blue skies overhead

But in this I'm a raincloud

You know we got a stormy kind of love

Oh oh oh the sweetest thing

And now we present...

Everybody, please join me in welcoming Tanmoy to this blog.

Tanmoy is a very special friend and will be a guest-author for this blog for the coming month (and more if he so wishes, and is prolific enough)... he will of course follow the theme of Life ain't THAT bad..!

I'm soooo looking forward to a double dose of 3BTs everyday :-)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

On duty, musical treat and funny man

  1. On my way to work, on a landscaped piece of land, a stork stands in the light drizzle by the side of the fountain. I idly wonder if any babies have been delivered in Magarpatta city today..
  2. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on Zee Marathi.... The final rounds of the competition have started and the three finalists are all so good, that it's difficult to say which one's better than the others... So each episode is an absolute treat for lovers of Marathi music. Saily Panse, one of the finalists, was especially very rivetting today, each of her notes very pure and very true.
  3. During each episode of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, the audience waits for Avdhoot Gupte's comments. He always has something funny and interesting to say and is so endearing.

Citrus perfume, small hope and self-invited

  1. Even after washing my hands after eating a very juicy orange, my fingertips have a tangy, citrusy smell to them...
  2. When I had almost convinced myself that I might not be visiting the US any time soon, I get some news which lifts my spirits and makes me hope again...
  3. Alok, a very very dear friend is marrying his long time girlfriend... the best thing is that the wedding will be in Pune in feb, so I've already invited myself to it

Monday, December 17, 2007

Hep, side business and fit

  1. Rashmi (not me, I know another one too... and she happens to be staying with me for a few days) gets a hep new hair cut and super-pleaased with it...

  2. Getting rid of a year's worth of old news papers - I sell off a whole nineteen kilos and earn a hundred rupees :-)... now suddenly there's plenty of space under the bed, where they previously sat.

  3. Meeting my cousing Shruti, who's come down from the US with her two boys, to visit her parents. I'm envious of the way she's maintained her slim figure and how fit she looks! But then, to give her due credit, she is a fitness instructor there, so she couldn't really be unfit herself, could she? But she definitely is a reminder for me get off my butt and into shape!

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Pajamas, where are the heroines and soft skin

  1. Because I haven't been feeling well, I take half a day off and come home... I'm just so drowsy by the time I reach home that I quickly change into my pajamas and head straight to my bed... the soft duvet is so comforting, and in no time, I'm into a deep, sweet sleep.
  2. Watching a very well-made report on NDTV which tried to analyze why there are no heroine-oriented movies in current hindi cinema. The female lead is mostly a prop, a stunning one, no doubt, but the question always is 'Who's the hero?'...
  3. Inspite of the cold and the dryness, my skin is well protected and feels nice and plump because of the cold cream that I'm using... I just love the feeling I get when immediately after a hot bath, I massage the cream in - clean, soft and fragrant