I had the most horrific auto ride to work. More than an hour thanks to some drivers with amazing "driving skills" and zero common sense. And Himmesh screaming nasally in the background.
I thought of it as an opportunity to catch up with pop hindi music. Alas. 'Twas more than I could take. I just told him to shut it after a while.
What was interesting is that I could see clear traces of "inspiration" in the "music". For one song started off and I thought to meself, "That's Queen, that is! Another One Bites The Dust!". Yeah. The baseline is *ditto*. Wonder if he thought of it himself :-/
Anyways, moral of the story: I gotta get my own car!...
Friday, November 09, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Krikkit!
I know I've made a lot of fun of cricket and cricket watchers in the past: Utter waste of time ainnit? But but, Twenty 20 is neat. It's short and quick and watching anything in a stadium has a charm of its own!
Just this afternoon, as I battled with a hangover, Krishna says that we have tickets to the match! So, we spend the evening standing in line outside the stadium trynna get in. ... And just as the first round of "Chak De India" started playing, we managed.
Running up the stairs into the stands, the bright glowing green field was a sight! And Braboune (spelling?) stadium is a really cool place. The pavilion is built like a castle with flags over the place!
We were quite close to the red bunch of dancing girls. Pathetic dancers all of them :P ... but we'll gloss over that. The stands were totally afire as the Aussies crumbled! "Uttapa Served Hot" was probably the coolest banner I've seen in a long time :D
The victory was the queerest bit. Suddenly, someone's hit a six, and there was a fraction of a second where no one understood what was happening - and suddenly everyone was on their feet and fireworks were in the air :)
Oh and we did come on camera for a while! (Or atleast we hope we did :P) And to top it off, after a victory was a trip to Mondy's :D
I really never expected to have this much fun, least of all in a cricket match! But in retrospect it does make sense. Twenty 20 is geared to be pop. And plus, India did wallop the little Aussies. I guess you could say that hindsight is always Twenty-20 :P (Shamelessly stolen off a paunchy old punster :P)
Just this afternoon, as I battled with a hangover, Krishna says that we have tickets to the match! So, we spend the evening standing in line outside the stadium trynna get in. ... And just as the first round of "Chak De India" started playing, we managed.
Running up the stairs into the stands, the bright glowing green field was a sight! And Braboune (spelling?) stadium is a really cool place. The pavilion is built like a castle with flags over the place!
We were quite close to the red bunch of dancing girls. Pathetic dancers all of them :P ... but we'll gloss over that. The stands were totally afire as the Aussies crumbled! "Uttapa Served Hot" was probably the coolest banner I've seen in a long time :D
The victory was the queerest bit. Suddenly, someone's hit a six, and there was a fraction of a second where no one understood what was happening - and suddenly everyone was on their feet and fireworks were in the air :)
Oh and we did come on camera for a while! (Or atleast we hope we did :P) And to top it off, after a victory was a trip to Mondy's :D
I really never expected to have this much fun, least of all in a cricket match! But in retrospect it does make sense. Twenty 20 is geared to be pop. And plus, India did wallop the little Aussies. I guess you could say that hindsight is always Twenty-20 :P (Shamelessly stolen off a paunchy old punster :P)
Begging Bowls
Have you ever gone begging? (Possible reactions at this point are: No! and Ewww!)
Well, in accordance with the World-Wise view that "Everything Should Be Tried Once" (Note the Capitalization), we decided it's time to try our hand at begging. God, we're IITians. We oughtta be good at begging right?
So, that's that. Guitars in hand and a handy begging bowl (guitar case) on the ground, we started singing. Right in the middle of Galleria! :D
KP and Freshie playing guitar. Me posing.
Lookie who's there! Saaajid. The Lookah :P
Artistic Pic.. The "Beggars Galleria"
Loook! People gave Monnneyyy!!!
So, we had some awesome guitaring by Freshie/Sophie punters. And some great singing by KP. Vishnoi and I hung around like the *professional* lukkhas that we are ;)
Good times. Good times.
Well, in accordance with the World-Wise view that "Everything Should Be Tried Once" (Note the Capitalization), we decided it's time to try our hand at begging. God, we're IITians. We oughtta be good at begging right?
So, that's that. Guitars in hand and a handy begging bowl (guitar case) on the ground, we started singing. Right in the middle of Galleria! :D
KP and Freshie playing guitar. Me posing.
Lookie who's there! Saaajid. The Lookah :P
Artistic Pic.. The "Beggars Galleria"
Loook! People gave Monnneyyy!!!So, we had some awesome guitaring by Freshie/Sophie punters. And some great singing by KP. Vishnoi and I hung around like the *professional* lukkhas that we are ;)
Good times. Good times.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Left vs. Right
It's long been thought that people are governed by one side of their brain. Left-brain thinkers are thought to be logical, practical types who are good at math and science; whereas right-brain people lean toward the fantasy and feelings of life, often turning out to be artists or big thinkers.
An article from Australia's Herald Sun has a mind-bending quiz that attempts to show you which type you are. So which direction is she spinning? Supposedly, by concentrating, you can "make the dancer turn the other way". I saw a clockwise spin, and try as I did, I couldn't manage to get her to turn anti-clockwise. Supposedly implies that i'm "Extreme Right Brained".
... Kinda interesting to see who got what :) ... Do tell whether you saw her spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise and if you could get the switch!
An article from Australia's Herald Sun has a mind-bending quiz that attempts to show you which type you are. So which direction is she spinning? Supposedly, by concentrating, you can "make the dancer turn the other way". I saw a clockwise spin, and try as I did, I couldn't manage to get her to turn anti-clockwise. Supposedly implies that i'm "Extreme Right Brained".
... Kinda interesting to see who got what :) ... Do tell whether you saw her spinning clockwise or anti-clockwise and if you could get the switch!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Hariyali
Hariyali, Greenery, Flora, etc. : An encounter with mud, trees, earthworms and rain :)
We also had free "hearbal" chai :P
We also had free "hearbal" chai :P
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Killing Fishes
Picture: Killing Fishes. Made it ages ago. Though I'd post it. Open it up and look at the bottom right corner.
Bye bye.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Flipped
The first question I got asked at office today morning was: "Did someone beat you up?". Ofcourse, he was joking, but that was just an indication of how "beat up" I looked.
What actually happened was a lot more frightening. And more exciting in some ways too. (I mean... getting beaten up is *really* no fun.)
It had rained pretty heavily all night and this dinky little auto was speeding down the road. Suddenly a stupid-silver Indica cuts across from the other lane! The auto-driver tries to brake and turn and ends up skidding badly. The auto touches the divider and flips! I kid you not - the autorickshaw actually turned over the side. But we were barely travelling at more than 10 Kmph! It literally just touched the damn divider and flipped.
The whole sequence was insanely scary. Have you ever been in a flipping autorickshaw? It feels like a roller coaster gone horribly wrong. And there's this thud and sheech as it comes to a stop. Also kinda shows how unstable autorickshaws actually are.
Luckily no one was injured. I did hit my left hand on something in the whole chaotic incident and that hurts a bit. But other than that - nothing else.
Within moments, there were people swarming all over the place! One chap got a bottle of water, others turned the auto upright again and there was no shortage of people asking "Aap theek ho na?" (Perhaps trying to start a conversation to find out what happened I think :P) Mumbaikars are *really* helpful when needed.
I'm still shaking a bit - but also really glad to be absolutely safe. That Guardian Angel of mine has been doing an ace job. :)
Now lets go get some coffee...
What actually happened was a lot more frightening. And more exciting in some ways too. (I mean... getting beaten up is *really* no fun.)
It had rained pretty heavily all night and this dinky little auto was speeding down the road. Suddenly a stupid-silver Indica cuts across from the other lane! The auto-driver tries to brake and turn and ends up skidding badly. The auto touches the divider and flips! I kid you not - the autorickshaw actually turned over the side. But we were barely travelling at more than 10 Kmph! It literally just touched the damn divider and flipped.
The whole sequence was insanely scary. Have you ever been in a flipping autorickshaw? It feels like a roller coaster gone horribly wrong. And there's this thud and sheech as it comes to a stop. Also kinda shows how unstable autorickshaws actually are.
Luckily no one was injured. I did hit my left hand on something in the whole chaotic incident and that hurts a bit. But other than that - nothing else.
Within moments, there were people swarming all over the place! One chap got a bottle of water, others turned the auto upright again and there was no shortage of people asking "Aap theek ho na?" (Perhaps trying to start a conversation to find out what happened I think :P) Mumbaikars are *really* helpful when needed.
I'm still shaking a bit - but also really glad to be absolutely safe. That Guardian Angel of mine has been doing an ace job. :)
Now lets go get some coffee...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Contact
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.
Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy alone?
Wise words from wise men.
Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy alone?
Wise words from wise men.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Sky-Surfing
Learning to fly -
No, you haven't got wings.
Taking off:
It's the hardest thing
A sun-sailed life,
The weight of the wind,
A panoramic view
Of Nights in white satin
But once you fly -
When you're so high,
Coming down:
Is the hardest thing
No, you haven't got wings.
Taking off:
It's the hardest thing
A sun-sailed life,
The weight of the wind,
A panoramic view
Of Nights in white satin
But once you fly -
When you're so high,
Coming down:
Is the hardest thing
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Music Without a Head
Elvis, The Beatles, The Doors, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, The Eagles and countless others. Every generation had it's superstar, it's own hero. But now, there's just a void.
Even as music sales go thru the roof, there is a growing feeling among music lovers that something has died. The soul of music has been slowly killed by the corporatisation of music. Sure, big labels, big events. But little else.
Because no one cares about music, people like Himmesh try their hand at it. The rest of the world isin't much better, with Paris Hilton and other "socialites" coming out with albums. Everyone believes they know about music. But writing lyrics, which is at the very core of music, is not something everyone can do.
Just the other day, I heard a song which went "You're my mindblowing mahia..." KP summed it up best when he said, "I know that the quality of music has diminished, but I didn't know that it was dead!" In history, the less that is written about today's music, the better.
The void is filled by nostalgia. The older ones survive on their songs. They, ofcourse, sneer at today's music. The youth, unable to understand what to listen to, turn to old records. We listen to the same music that our parents did!
In all this, the real loser is us. We have no songs to call our own. No rock anthems. Just a load of irritating bullshit. Really. We have everything nowadays. But we don't have good music.
Even as music sales go thru the roof, there is a growing feeling among music lovers that something has died. The soul of music has been slowly killed by the corporatisation of music. Sure, big labels, big events. But little else.
Because no one cares about music, people like Himmesh try their hand at it. The rest of the world isin't much better, with Paris Hilton and other "socialites" coming out with albums. Everyone believes they know about music. But writing lyrics, which is at the very core of music, is not something everyone can do.
Just the other day, I heard a song which went "You're my mindblowing mahia..." KP summed it up best when he said, "I know that the quality of music has diminished, but I didn't know that it was dead!" In history, the less that is written about today's music, the better.
The void is filled by nostalgia. The older ones survive on their songs. They, ofcourse, sneer at today's music. The youth, unable to understand what to listen to, turn to old records. We listen to the same music that our parents did!
In all this, the real loser is us. We have no songs to call our own. No rock anthems. Just a load of irritating bullshit. Really. We have everything nowadays. But we don't have good music.
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