September

Ok, this was meant to be my first full fledged blog posting using an iOS device. (a)JM.

September, my most dreaded month had almost, on a couple of times lived unto its notoriety. But I'm forced to change my opinion now. It was bad timing, all the while, for 4 years or so.

Apart from sunny days after a rainy/cold spell in September, (though I am not supposed to say this having been out of India for 3 Septembers), my (current) usual rendezvous with influenza, risen petrol prices, there is really nothing much I can find to complain about September. Alright, I know I'm being too picky. But I already said, September isn't too bad after all :)

On the contrary, its a little productive ;). Our lab facility was inaugurated just a few days back. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to reveal much on my (personal) webspace. But it was something big, and it went on well.

Life's as usual, with busy and interesting spells packed in. Learning experience never ends, guess that is how its like being in the academia. I'm surprised with the speed things are unfolding though. Life's changing gears, maybe similar to the Q7's 8 gear transmission, need to catch up to the speed.

Have been out of reading for a while now, had a really busy schedule. Just started reading Bill Bryson's A short history of nearly everything. This, (you'd know if you've read) is probably the only book of this kind that'll ever come close to being actually p-r-e-s-c-r-i-b-e-d for a curriculum. I mean, its so novel-like. To top it all, its like a sequel to all those history channel videos I've always been fascinated about. Please read it.

That's a wrap for now, will keep the blogworld updated about my next favorite month coming up. Even when it was more than 2 months away, it already boasted of the Metallica concert on a special day followed by my trip to Roorkee. Lets just hope it doesn't fail like September did :)

Au revoir!

The Amphibian

Amphibians. The class of vertebrates that are capable of living both in water and on land. Two radically different scenarios. Why were they made?


There were animals that could just stay on land, there were the ones that could stay in water, swim in all their glory. But, why were, (If I may?) organisms that could exist both on water and land created? Pardon my ignorance, but even if there are human inventions of that kind, they have not been as popular as the Car or the Ship.


The human mind is programmed to do so much more than what is actually done. When entities like amphibians have existed since the Devonian period, much earlier than the human race, merely the human mind should be much capable, rendering everything else pale in comparison. If amphibians were bestowed with a complex body structure that enabled them to stay on either media with equal aplomb, the human mind, over period of time of course, realised that humans couldn't do it and developed accessories and apparatus instead.


The human mind. So creative, yet so destructive.


For reasons unknown to me, a large section of people restrict the potency of the brain to just what is most obvious, what is easiest to do and what the general human perception is. Mind you, it is again a perception devised by the same human mind. While I agree with the principle of doing one thing and sticking to it throughout the life in order to better it over due course of time, it, sometimes sounds monotonous to me. What is more exciting to me is when you can squeeze in enormous amounts of work and creativity in quite a few areas and still, deliver. 


I'm not saying that its an individual thing. The human mind has seen enormous amounts of creative waves in the form of Leonardo da Vinci, who, wiki says, was an engineer, mathematician, artist, musician, painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, scientist, anatomist, cartographer, botanist, writer and geologist. Phew. Now, I'm not sure if wiki is to be believed as a credible source of info, but I remember having read somewhere about his inventions. Giving benefit of doubt to the great artist, I'll take it that atleast 7/8ths of that is true.


Now, I know I'll invite a lot of flak because there are people who have proven their worth in their fields, without insulting their field or other fields. There are numerous people who have proven time and again, that with determination and passion, anything can be achieved. Maybe my perspective toward life is different. But let me reiterate, my potency is not very different. I believe that in a small life of 60 years, if you'll have to look back, there should not be an iota of remorse for not having done something, especially if that something is dear to you. There'll be many things dear in life, which is again a perspective, and purely a matter of choice.


Which is why I envy the amphibian. I'd not say they don't have enough commitments or responsibilities. I'd say they have theirs, I've mine. But I don't think they'd have a complex mind, as complex as their body structure. Welcome, the human mind. The supreme entity that creates problems, emotions and at the end of it all, resolves everything.


P.S. Its very tempting to check this for mistakes, but for the first time, I'm posting it without (re)reading.

The myriad LIFE

I don't miss writing blogs anymore. To say I have a lot of written record now is an understatement. I write for myself, exclusively, stuff that I won't publish, whenever I feel like it, away from the public eye. I've a progress checker haunting me every 15 days to make sure I don't deviate from my goals. Sounds really mechanical and robotic. The only respite is since the person who keeps track of all this is myself, I decide to cut some slack. Sometimes.


But the thing with life is, you'll have to really go with the flow. Its slightly contradicting. You need to live life to the fullest, do what you love to do. Enjoy and live for the moment. On the other hand, its just one life that one knows of that has been 'gifted' by some entity. Pack as much as possible in one life and make it awesome. We live just once. There's really less time to get bogged down by trivial things, that are by themselves, a part of life itself.


Though the latter perception helps one go about crazily and do a lot of stuff, the reality of everything being real dawns down, at a point, manifesting itself as a fleeting thought or as a temporary phase of being low.


I mean, there are really times when even favourite songs or classy quotes fail to inspire. I don't know if I can talk for the general public or just a few insane people like me, or for just me. But, something, somewhere will always be ready to inspire. That'll come in the form of a novel, or Chitraji's songs, for now, for me. Well, again, its probably a perception. Things don't go as per plan. We (I'm sure I can generalise here) as humans, showing our greed in every possible facet of life would want to plan for a lot of things, and we do it to such an extent that even if we are lucky enough to lead a more than average life, we still get worked up about a silly thing. Maybe this is how life is, maybe things getting added up, its upto us to filter and decide what is really worthy of getting worked up.


All said and done, life's still beautiful, and making it remain so is entirely on us. Looking at the big picture helps, maybe sometimes, when you are probably looking at getting inspired by something. Very likely, it'll seem like something trivial. Rather, you are on the right track, if it seems so.

Dream

Dream. Fantasy. So far apart, but still have some bit of a dangling semblance.


Felt the bulging need to mention fantasy here, as I'm in the middle of reading The Lost Symbol, a novel in the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown, for the second time. Not that I loved it so much, but frankly I don't remember if I do. Read this at around the same time I read the Six Sacred Stones and was terribly upset with Matthew Reilly for having not finished the novel in one book. I mean, are you even allowed to do such stuff with a fast paced thriller? Anyways, The Lost Symbol reading started, again, after a minor tiff with a friend if it was on par with Angels and Demons or the Da Vinci Code. I'm yet to find out.


Back to dream and fantasy, I can think of a few things, songs in particular, just by the mention of the word 'Dream'. It was the song presented by Susan Boyle in Britain's got talent, in 2009. The first time I saw the video, I was surprised like anybody. But I don't remember being rude, like most people in the audience. Although, what I remember vividly is emoting more than the audience there. It was the voice, I guess, but more than that, it probably was the song structure, the powerful vocals backed by the soft piano keys, an abrupt key change right in the middle of the song that hits you like a gong, the brass here and there. Here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp7ARm2Lwdo. If someone would sing like that and look like that, I'd marry her. Not Susan Boyle, the babe from Glee, whatever it is, an album or a band or whatever.


The other thing that I'd love to emulate would be Dream on, by Aerosmith, which I think I've missed performing by a whisker. The opportunity came to me when I had never heard of Aerosmith, which is really sad. I really doubt if I'd be able to do justice to that song, but what are dreams for? They make you feel good.


Dream. Wonder how this word came into usage. The terminology itself would incite a lot of praise and harangue from me at the same time. Its my dream to own a Lamborghini Aventador. Its my dream to be on stage with my band and perform to our own numbers. Its all a dream. I freaking hate it because its a dream. Is it fantasy? Not yet.


Its all still possible. By all, I refer to my other dreams too. But as a fiercely closed person as I'm, going close to reveal 2 dreams in public is as far as I would ever go, even if I'm heavily drunk. The last time I remember being drunk, though , I edited an official letter for grammar for a friend, and the other time, I drove an Accord, with 3 other people, and reached home safe and sound. Hell, I'm a person who eats only half of the stomach's capacity on a regular basis, so I would surely know how to drink 'in capacity', which is the farthest I'd take it. To call me 'in control' would be nothing but a gross understatement.


So now, back to the Dream. In certain facets of life, from as much psychiatry I know, one can fantasize. There's nothing wrong in fantasizing and feeling good about it. But the dream is nowhere about merely thinking and feeling good about it. A Dream is a challenge. A Dream is an inspiration. A Dream is what pushes you to the hitherto unknown avenues of your own lifestyle. As rightly said by one Mr. John Updike, 'Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.' It is so persuasively inspiring that even if you would want to brush aside your Dream, which is really, a foolish thing to do, you'd then brush it back and put it back on track.


The human mind is limitless. There are no restrictions enforced by anybody or anything on it, on the thought, I mean. The closest anything can get, in terms of being free, would be a bird, till it lays eggs. In the practical world, it gets a little tricky trying to achieve what one dreams of. There might be instances when one assuages oneself reminding that its after all, a Dream. But, it IS a Dream. Something that YOU need to work to make sure it IS yours.

AR Rahman - Bangalore

The most noteworthy event of this month, hell, I'd say even of my life was attending Rahman's concert, for the third time, in my life. I remember the chills and unexplainable joy I'd experienced standing in the rain, with Shankar Mahadevan and Rahman's jugalbandi on Ghanan ghanan, years back at Palace Grounds. None of the emotions changed later in 2010, when I attended his concert in Houston. Only the mouth went wider with amazement as to how on earth 'an Indian composer can pull of a show of such magnitude', to quote myself from twitter.

When I learnt about the concert happening in Bangalore again, it reminded me of the chills, the emotion all over again. I knew I would not be disappointed, I wasn't. Not with the songs, or singers or the set or the lighting. But, to an extent with the sound guy. I'm sure a lot of attention would have been paid to it, he probably had a bad day. 

The concert as a whole, was awesome. I'm probably very fortunate for having seen two concerts organised in such a grandeur. Cancel probably, a la VW. I'd expected the song line up at Houston to remain the same, more or less at least. It took me entirely by surprise. 

The show started off with Yelelo, the lines from Roja, immediately inciting a thunderous applause and bursting out of all pent up emotions, sending chills everywhere, influencing the tear glands to a great extent. In short, nothing in the world mattered anymore, and everything but for the song, the voice and the man seemed infinitesimal.

Quickly, the stage setting changed, the dancers came out, the songs were unleashed at a rapid pace. I was amazed by this new line up of singers (again), couldn't really come to terms with how beautifully they carried themselves and performed, not compromising at any time on the vocals. It was style. It was panache, clubbed with dedication and practice, that was evident. Maybe it was the taskmaster too. :)

Yayire saw a complete makeover. So did Tanha tanha. Man mohini was fused with Tu muskura. Chukku bukku raile was hard rock and was fused with Petti rap. Anjaana was sung by the man himself, so were half a dozen other songs, such as Rehna tu, Dil se, Tere bina, Meherbaan, Yeh jo des hai tera, Gurus of Peace, etc.

I realised (again) how pure Javed Ali's voice is. Just the line 'tum se kyaa maangu main, tum khud hi samajh lo' from Arziyaan was enough to make me watery eyed. The other line up consisted of Shweta Pandit, Harshdeep Kaur, Neeti Mohan, Vijayprakash, Suresh Peters, Remo Fernandes, Sivamani and a bunch of super talented, amazing singers and musicians, apologies for not knowing their names.

I reiterate, I don't think there can be any composer who can make songs like Mukkala and Khwaja mere khwaja. Like Pappu can't dance saala and Uyire uyire. Like Vande mataram and Kismat se tum. Like Thirakaatha and Bombay theme. Like Oruvan oruvan and Piya haji ali. This, is all possible with total submission to the music, to the divine entity and faith, in work. Success not reaching the head is also what which can make things happen. When I listen to Rahman's songs, more than his voice, his composition, his innovative ideas, his choice of instruments or singers, which would take weeks to settle in, its the immense dedication that I can listen to. Its the submissiveness that I can listen to. 

Such a great person. Such talent. Didn't hurt me when it poured in Bangalore a few years back, almost canceling the concert. Didn't hurt me when a few people said, 'How come Rahman doesn't sing in his concerts? It was such a waste of money, Rahman's concert and only other people sing!'. Didn't hurt me when people commented in Houston that Rahman should not perform SOUTH INDIAN songs. Likewise, it doesn't hurt me when a composer of the stature of Ismail Durbar, a great composer himself, who dared to create his own style, makes a statement saying the Academy awards were bought. Like I said, I'm in the phase where in everything else apart from the man, his music and his voice seems just infinitesimal. 

Hats off to you, Rahman Sir, for your music, for your perspective toward life. May you perform many more times, in Bangalore and elsewhere; may you win more accolades; may you come out with great albums that would set benchmarks for years to come.

Jai Ho!

And April marches too!

The sheer amount of joblessness when I was in the US, made me ponder, and at times, discuss with my room mates as to what my schedule was when I was here, working, trekking, performing and jamming, something that would serve as food for thought, at times, now that I'm back. Life's not much different now. :)


April probably was the most eventful, till now, since I started working. Lot of travel, lot of fun.


When I boarded my flight to Bangalore, I was very happy. One, that I'd made a decision and was getting back to my home, and the other, that I'd never ever have to make such an arduous long journey again, ever in my life. Little did I know that I would be wrong. Its for no reason whatsoever that it is said that one wouldn't know what is in store.


I was supposed to go to Chicago, for a 2 week training. This came across hardly as a shock, compared to what would happen weeks later after the decision. My US visa was rejected. To attribute it to my hair, the officer didn't even look at my face. To attribute it to some immigration laws, I fail to understand the fact that the officer who cancels my student visa doesn't bother to inspect my documents and denies me a visa. It was hilarious, actually. None of the 3 of us who were supposed to go got a visa. Needless to say, I didn't meet a single person since then who wasn't surprised.


A trek with my friends is something that eluded me since a long time. When I had come here during my vacation, it didn't look like a big deal to me, something that I'd repent for a very long time after I'd go back. I was thrilled when we all decided to go on a trek, albeit for 2 days, near Dharmasthala, Karnataka. We camped just next to the waterfalls, a few feet just before the falls would take a 250 feet vertical drop. The closest I could go was maybe 20 ft away from the cliff. Hell, my head was reeling just by seeing people standing and sitting at the edge. But the scenic Western Ghats compensated totally for what I would boldly say was one of the most energy draining treks of all. It only made us think how important food and water were. I think, subconsciously, it provided inspiration for a new song that I recently wrote.


The farthest I travelled till now on road was from Bangalore to Pune and from there to Nashik. The sleeper, in my opinion was a notch comfy than the train. Stayed at Nashik for about 2 days. I'm involved with fire research. We burn things and then extinguish them :P. Only, there are standards that tell us how to burn and how to put the fire off. Had the sun been a little more intense, I'd have become the raw material myself for a fire test. But, all's well that ends well. The training programme seemed too short for a travel of 1000+ km on road.


Can't help but notice (again) how fast time is flying. It seems slow sometimes too. I'll be meeting my brother tomorrow, after 3 and a half years. I don't know if that is a long time or a short time, 'coz I don't see anything having changed.


Anyways, I'm off. See you all soon. :)

March! (pun intended)

Barely. Just Barely.
I'd almost given up, and to augment my laziness, the internet responded a little slower than usual when I'd almost closed the page till the familiar layout showed up :). I must really stop treating blogs like a last minute bill payment, honestly!

But with gym, music, work and other mission'S' (:P) that I'm trying to scrape through, (still), none of them have become regular as yet. Guess I am losing my managing skills or the travel takes the most of my energy. A 3 day workout (at least) has probably seen light of the day (week) a couple of times. Music classes, which I'd been planning since a long time ago, will have to wait till I get back from The US of A.

Oh yeah, that reminds me that I didn't mention. The wholly ugly process of the US visa! I never even had a wildest dream that I'd go through the dreadful process again. Have heard about a lot of rejections off late, will get to know about mine in less than a week now.

Haven't been able to meet a lot of friends, haven't been able to record stuff, haven't been able to keep up promises, haven't been able to meet a few of my goals, but I should say, I'm loving it. I mean, all this happens at breakneck speed. More so, coz I work on Saturdays too. So technically, its just one day in a week that I get to do the most, and people say try and concentrate on one and accomplish it, but I say, I live once, let me try my hand at all of it, as long as I enjoy doing it.

The horrible part of all the 'missions' is the hair washing part, which, simply put, I've no idea how I'm managing with the temperatures going as high as 35 odd, and all the traveling. Well, so far so good. The day I decide I have had enough, there are loads of compliments coming in, so, I believe its ok!

Anyways, I'm off. Hope the next blog wouldn't look as forced.