the day we met over coffee

Have you seen Saif’s new ad for Lays. I am talking about the one with Rajasthani background. If you are a regular visitor and user of raaga.com then you must have found something familiar there. When I saw that ad for the first time, I got confused. There is similar music in this ad and citibank ad on raaga.com. Did people behind Lays’ ad steal music, that too from raga.com? Or was it the other way? Worst, but most probable, did both these steal it from somewhere else? Very puzzling indeed…

Then I listened to the same tune in my Pandora. Clearly, ad film makers in India have been following interesting music from around the world.
Here is the info about song.

Song: the day we met over coffee
Album: Aquarian Moon
Artist: Osunlade

Listen to the song. It’s simply superb.
I wonder if the ad filmmaker taken necessary permissions to use the tune. Expecting raaga.com to ask for such permissions is too much.

Try Pandora for many more such nice songs, specially if you can not download lot of music. More info about Pandora: pandora
If you want I can share my Pandora stations with you. You need to create an account there and then you can share stations.

how far would you go to save the one you love?

"Mujhe aapse ek mehatvapurna baat kahni hai,” Behroopia tells Zeenat. He is high on alcohol. He knows he needs it, for only alcohol can give him the courage. He has done the mistake of loving Zeenat. Truly, love does not follow any rule. He gathers all his courage and tells Zeenat about his feeling. Zeenat does not say anything then.

Next morning Behroopia apologizes for his behavior the previous night. She goes and hugs him. Nothing is said. He understands, he has got his reward. It was jadoo ki jhappi. It was love. A love that is much more beyond the comprehension of physical world. Some call it emotional relation while many others name it as spiritual. Whatever, but surely it is not earthly. It is Meera’s love for Krishna.

This and many more such touching moments make watching Dor an experience to cherish. Dor is not a candyfloss boasting of higher notions of love. It’s a simple story woven across universal theme of love and relations. All the emotions mixed and matched to such an extent that you cannot separate them.

The story revolves around three characters- Zeenat (Gul Panag), Meera(Ayesha Takia) and Behroopia(Shreyas Talpade). Each character is complete in itself.
Zeenat is an independent self-assured woman who does not fear to go any length to save her man. She has a never say die attitude which makes her go to Rajasthan in search of Meera. She fights against all odds.
Meera on the other hand is a simple and conventional girl. She follows the traditions of his family without any fail. She enjoys life in whatever way it comes to her.
Behroopia is a joker. He is humorous, witty and charming. He has a very big heart and is very loyal friend.

They are not Jai-Verru, or Laila-Majnu kind of character but people around us. People - full of strength and weaknesses. You can be like anyone; sometime you can be like none too.

Gul has looked simply superb as a simple Himachal girl. Aisha has a innocent face and suits for the role of a sweet Rajasthani girl. Shreyas is the icing on the cake. He is impressive with his mimicry. No big star cast but really talented actors are the strength of the movie. It is fast paced narration, strictly guided by the storyline. Background music adds to the theme of the story. Amazing camera work, I envy the troupe that got the chance to stay in Majestic Rajasthan and Beautiful Himachal.

It’s a must watch. Nagesh Kukunoor surely has a recipe for beautiful movie. He has done it again.

Check the website for Dor at www.dorthefilm.com

I got too much life...

Come and hold my hand
I wanna contact the living
Not sure I understand
This role I've been given

I sit and talk to God
And he just laughs at my plans
My head speaks a language
I don't understand...

a thousand words

life as I see it

in my Dad's footsteps

Bhopal - few memories remain

democracy

I shall try to share some of my favorite photos from flickr. Keep checking this place and http://prits-eyes.blogspot.com

Comedy Plays in Bangalore

BIG B (Indlish Comedy)

Nov. 2 & 4 (Thu & Sat), 7.30pm
&
GHALIB IN NEW DELHI (HIndi Comedy)
Nov. 3 & 5 ( Fri& Sun.), 7.30pm

RANGA SHANKARA
36/2, 8th Cross, JP Nagar, Bangalore
Script & Direction: Dr. M. Sayeed Alam
By Pierrot's Troupe, Delhi

About Big B - India's first ever play in broken English, with more than 45 shows to its credit. About two Hindi-speaking brothers. Trying to come to terms with English – with the difference between 'being well' and 'being in well', the difference between 'nighty and 'dark', the difference between 'Gilli danda' and 'Baseball'.

About Ghalib In New Delhi - Witty, hilarious and satirical, wit(h) more than 170 shows to its credit. Its all about Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib taking rebirth in 'New Delhi' in 2006 with his customary beard and moustache. He is instantly recognized, too. Well! As Laden's uncle, Asli Saddam Metro train ka Naya driver and what not. Watch out the transformation of Mirza's "Dehli" into Manmohan's "Delhi" in this contemporarily historic play.

About Pierrot's Troupe: The least pronounceable and the most pronounced troupe
About the Writer-Director: A veteran (of many plays), aged 35
About the Cast: Highly sarcastic.
Tickets Rs 150/-
Available at Ranga Shankara from Oct. 28 (11am to 6 p.m.) and on the show days. Phones: 26494655, 26494656
For Details, tele Booking, Corporate Booking, Bulk Booking and Online booking contact: 9448088247 (Bangalore) 9810255291 (Delhi, 9810460366 (Delhi), 011 26391075 and/or pierrotstroupe@yahoo.com

rural crafts bazaar

[click on the picture for a large view]

-For Bangalore people...

music for the soul

Karunesh, Talvin Singh, Outlandish, Enigma, Tabula Rasa, Steve Roach … the list goes on. These are the faces of new age music. I don’t know if I can classify their work as Fusion or Lounge music. But, certainly, they have created some of the best fusion compilations of the recent times. Be it Buddha Bar series or any of Karunesh’s collection, they have a peculiar feel in them. Sometimes earthen, sometimes rustic while at other times the most contemporary. Their music has influence from every part of life. Karunesh’s melodies are adaptation of Zen philosophy while Outlandish relies on Sufi and Persian symphonies. Indian folk music is also very prominent in work of these people. Punjab by Karunesh is undoubtedly one of the best compilations done by not-so-classical artist. By not-so-classical I mean artist who are not truly classical. These people may not have the knowledge of all the ragas in music but they certainly have the knowledge of soul of music.

Where else can you listen to Mrudangam, Ghatam, Dhol, Bansuri, Veena, Santoor, Tanpura, Sarangi and many more such classical instruments? We associate them with the classical singers and artists but these new age musicians have revived these age-old music instruments. People for my age would hardly know about all these amazing things, if Karunesh and others had not used it.

Whenever you are searching for some peace, try listening to some of these, you will feel like in heaven. I have been doing that for long time. My day starts with them and ends at them.

This is my prescription for a cheerful day and peaceful night.

I am really thankful to our own DJ Enigma aka Ankit, Mr Microcontroller Sharma and SJ – the party guy, for showing me the beautiful world of trance and fusion music.

music of soul

They are undoubtedly the kings of background score in Bollywood. No, I am not talking about Jatin Lalit. I am surely not.
Ok let me give you some hints.
Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi,
3 Deewarein,
Darna Mana hai…
Can’t guess? Ok some more hints…
Iqbal,
Being Cyrus,
Dor,
Still no answer? Ok last few hints…
Hum Tum,
Dhoom,
Kaal,
Dhoom 2

Rang any bell?
If not, I am sure you are ardent fan of Himesh. If you love good music, there is no way you could have missed music of this talented duo.
I am talking about Salim Merchant and Suleman Merchant of Salim Suleman fame. This duo has to its credit some of the best music in recent years, be it the background score or the soundtrack. They are the Badshahs of background music.

Background music is one of the most neglected areas in Bollywood. Moviemakers almost always ignored the importance of good background music in an effective storytelling. I cannot recall any director except Raj Kapoor who worked hard on the background score. He had an uncanny taste and understanding for music, and it was apparent from his choice of music for his films.

In recent era, Ram Gopal Verma, with his new style cinema, shows some promising work. Be it Bhoot or Darna Mana Hai, the background score in his movies has been really good. Sarkar cannot be tagged as classic without its background music. The feel of the movie is enhanced n-folds because of its background score. Some of the new age directors also have similar approach towards Background music and it is good for Bollywood.

Yesterday I watched Dor. It was a superb experience. Nagesh Kukunoor has always worked hard on his movies. Every minute detail is chalked out well. As most of his movies do not have songs and dance, due attention is given to background music. Iqbal, 3 Deewarein and Dor could not have been what they are without their background music. Especially Dor has shown the changes good background music can bring about in a narration. It is just amazing music with no nasal crooning singer or deafening sounds. It’s the sound of nature, the class of our tradition. Music is really worship of some god, and this movie has shown us results of exactly the same. Hats off to Salim Suleman for the superb work.

As I am writing this post, I am listening to the music from Being Cyrus. Listen to it sometime. You will surely relate to what I am saying.

ps: Most of these background scores are not available commercially. You can listen to them at the official websites of the movies. I wish music companies incorporated background score also in the music releases.

diwali memoirs

For me the most memorable Diwali would be one in my first year of BE. I had come to Bangalore to pursue my degree, and this was the first time I went home after my admission. The troubled journey in train and bus could not dampen my spirits. The excitement of spending good time with family kept me up the whole journey. Diwali celebrations were no different from the usual ones at home. But the time I spent there was a real quality time. I recall some of the events:

1. I watched Asoka with one of my cousins. This guy also had come back from his college for the first time. My mom was furious when I was out of home for over half a day.
2. We went to Sarafa on Dhanteras night. There is nothing special in that; most Indorians do that. But I did it for the first time. I lived in Indore for 3 years but never bothered to visit Sarafa on this auspicious occasion. But this time, though I was there only for 5 days, I visited Sarafa and enjoyed it royally Mom was wondering if I had come home to stay with her or to roam around in Indore.

Another Diwali I clearly remember is one when I was in class 8th. I used to be very enthusiastic about crackers that time. I would make sure that we go to the wholesaler and get the best deal in crackers. They used to be in place even before Dhanteras. Everything would be planned. I would have fully chalked out plan about how I would burst them in coming five days. There would be allocation done for each day and there would be some backup also. This Diwali was memorable in one more thing. I had just acquired a test for instrumental music. I got some cassettes from my uncle and had planned to listen to them over the weekend. Then one novel idea popped up in my mind. I planned to enjoy the Diwali morning in a classic way. As soon as I came back from Laddoo Chadao function, I went to my room. To get the classy feeling, I burnt the most fragrant agarbattis and then put the music. What peace!

Vaise, this year also I tried music. I put on best of Karunesh and enjoyed them the whole morning. It was superb experience.

diwali contiued...

It’s 5:45 AM and I am about to reach the temple. It’s Diwali today and there is function of “Laddoo Chadao” in the temple. This function is an age-old Jain ritual of celebrating the Nirvana of Bhagwan Mahaveer. I am going there to attend the function.

I have just reached and am about the park my vehicle in front of the temple. Suddenly one uncle-type man shouts, “don’t park it here, go there.” Which direction is he pointing to? I surely have no clue. Still, I find some other place for parking and leave my vehicle there. I have met first character of the day. I shall call him Mr. leader of the society. He thinks that he is the only person in the world who cares about others. anyways, forget him, I have come to temple, not to meet him.

I enter the temple and do the darshan. I am not saying Pooja, because certainly it’s not my cup of tea. People, in all colors and sizes, are coming in big or small groups. Families are entering together. It’s duty of man in the family to take care of smaller kids, while the ladies are busy doing Pooja.

There are many youngsters here. They are in the best of their attires. Loaded with the latest cell-phones and accessories. While everyone is concentrating on Pooja, they are trying to look or some other 'Pooja'. We surely have a ‘religious’ generation here.
Oops, they have not yet wished “Happy Diwali” to each other. It’s high time they do it. So, in mid of one shloka, one of them moves and comes close to his friend. The friends meet and exchange wishes. “So what plans for Diwali?” next question pops up in their conversation. “Oh, today… lets see. For now finish the ‘Pooja’ here and then go for breakfast. Its too early in morning for me. Mom did not let me eat anything before coming here. After breakfast lets see. You have any plans?” first one says. “No yaar, even I am planning the same,” replies the first. What a desperate situation. Even I am feeling hungry now.

One more uncle type man comes into picture here. He is trying to make sitting arrangements for everyone. He must be the host. Ok, this is not some party, but he is still the host. How? Arre! He is another leader for the samaaj. He has to take care that everyone is comfortable.
As the traditions involve offering Laddoos to the God, now this uncle has to arrange for the Laddoos. He takes two of those youngsters, who are still making their plans, to the storeroom and comes back with the Laddoos. Then he goes and distributes it to everyone. He looks so satisfied, as this time laddoos are of very good quality. His smug face is the proof for that.

There is this guy standing next to me, who does not look very happy with the laddoos. The ghee in the laddoos is making him uncomfortable. Not that he has to eat that laddoo, but just because he has to hold it for another 15 minutes or so. One guys next to him is in the similar expressions. Surely they sympathize with each other, and to distract their mind of laddoos they start talking about the job and office. Have you ever tried talking about your job in a temple? Try it. What an experience!!

There are some uncles and aunties who are trying hard to show their religiousness. They are chanting shlokas in the highest of pitch; I pity the people standing next to them. But it is people like these who make the Pooja possible; otherwise people like me, who can just lip-sync, won’t be able to do the Pooja. Anyways, I know that I can not stand anywhere close to them, so I am standing in one corner and doing the ‘Pooja’.

Finally the Pooja gets over and there is one loud cheer of “swahaa”. It is an indication that now we can offer the laddoos to the God. Oof what a relief. First thing in everyone’s mind is to go out and wash his/her hands. Finally we have finished the rituals. One more year over, next such event will come only next Diwali.

You may ask, what am I doing there. I am just observing everyone. I finished my Pooja in five minutes. And I know that is all I know about Darshan/Pooja. I have to stay there till the end so I started observing others. At least I am not disturbing others. Sometime observing others is lot of fun.

diwali

“So, how do you North Indians celebrate Diwali?” asked one of my “South Indian” friends.
“Oh! Diwali, it is our biggest festival. We do lots of things,” I said.
“Like what?” she asked again.
“We prepare lots of sweets for the occasion, lavish lunch and dinner is cooked. We clean and decorate our homes. We do Pooja and then burst crackers. We visit our relatives and Elders,” I blurted out in one breath.
“But, those all even we do here. So what is so different and special about your celebrations?” she was not yet satisfied.
“Arre! We do it on a grand scale. We do it religiously. We make 20 kinds of sweets.. blah blah blah…”I uttered some crap. I knew, I was talking crap. For, I was thinking about something else. Two things to be specific:

1. Why was she so adamant on finding the difference between the two cultures? “You north Indians” or “your celebrations” these words were too irritating for me.
2. Do I really know how do we celebrate Diwali?

I thought about the second question. No doubt, Diwali is the biggest festival for us “north Indians.” Do we really have a specific way of celebrating it? No, it can never be one standard(I checked IEEE also). How we celebrate it varies from place to place. Or actually, to be more specific, it varies from family to family.
There are some old believes and customs that form the core of the festive spirit. I clearly remember them from the essay I wrote in class 6th. Following are the significance of 5 days that constitute the Diwali festival:
1. Dhan Teras: Day of money. Decorate shops and business premises. Shop (specially metal).
2. Narak Chaturdashi: Take bath before sunrise and celebrate Krishna’s victory over Narkasur.
3. Lakshmi Pujan: Worship goddess of wealth. Start new business season, burst crackers.
4. Padwa: Start of new year. Govardhan Pooja and Annakut.
5. Bhai Dooj: Meet your sister and get the Tika done, eat sweets and pray for her happy life.

How many of us actually do all this? I never did. For me Diwali was a time of eating sweets, bursting crackers and chilling out with friends. That’s all I have done my whole life and I don’t think here in south I will do something different.

mera sirf naam hi joker hai..

Mera Naam Joker - 3

I knew the path I had chosen was not easy. Everyone takes the easiest path and I didn’t want to be like them. I was not one amongst them; I was special. Life became my companion in my noble mission. It was my friend, philosopher and strength. I would explore each and every moment of life. I would live every bit of it and try to figure the positive side of it. It was my sheer optimism that I could smile in any situation. Trust me those smiles were not fake. They were whole hearted appreciation of God’s gift to humans.

I accept I faked those tears most of the time. I pretended to relate to all your worries; I cried with you. But I was just mimicking those emotions. How could I live with so many broken hearts, so many scattered dreams, and so many worries? I just could not. So I forged your emotions. I did it just to assure you that I understand you and I would be there whenever you need. I never needed to sing “I‘ll be there for you,” thus. But I was always there when anyone needed me. You confided in me, told me your worries, shared your darkest secrets and went away. For you it was like a salvation, for me it was satisfaction. I was standing on the other side of confession window.

I did it tirelessly; I did it even when it was associated with my life. I was there when she came to me asking for a friend; I was there when she came to me expecting someone to confide in. I was there too when she came to introduce her lover to me. How happy she was. Looking at those content faces, I just could not say that even I loved her. She would have surely asked “are you joking?” and I could not have answered that. How could I tell her, “Only my name is joker, I am not a joke? I am a human too and I do have a heart. And that heart beats for you.” I just could not. I smiled and congratulated her. They too smiled. One more days work over. It’s appears so filmy. Trust me, that night I didn’t need to fake tears.

Sometimes I wonder what others think about me. Do they ever think of me as a human being, a fellow human being like them? I was always afraid that they would never understand me. They never got a chance; I never had the courage to explain to them. May be destiny was meant this way only. They come, I joke, and they laugh and then go home. I am back in my small world.

I don’t regret anything. I am more than satisfied with whatever I have done. Satisfaction of giving is much more pleasurable than any other worldly affairs. I am joker and would love to reincarnate as joker.

Till that time …

“Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan,
Iske Siva Jaana Kahan
Ji Chahe Jab Humko Awaaz Do
Hum Hain Wahin Hum Thhe Jahan,
Apne Yahin Dono Jahan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ......

Yeh Mera Geet Jeevan Sangeet
Kal Bhi Koi Dohrayega
Jag Ko Hasane Bahrupiya
Roop Badal Phir Aayega
Swarg Yahin Nark Yahan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ......

Kal Khel Mein Hum Ho Na Ho
Gardish Mein Taare Rahenge Sada
Bhoolenge Hum Bhoologe Tum
Par Hum Tumhare Rahenge Sada
Rahenge Yahin Apne Nishan
Iske Siva Jana Kahan
Jeena Yahan ...”

ps:
inspired by
• Mera Naam Joker by Raj Kapoor
• “Nahi Rakhta Dil Me” by Lucky Ali (album – sifar).

mera naam joker - 2

The course of my life changed that day; I acquired a new purpose in life. I changed that day. Only thing that didn’t change was that still people would laugh at me. I was still the source of smile for many; I had become a joker indeed.

My transformation from a kid next door to a joker had some interesting junctures. It was not a mere physical adaptation, but a more intense mental transformation. Emotions are the weakest link in human nature. I was filled with emotions too, I still am. But I had to take control of my emotional states. I would not be successful in amusing others if there is pain inside. With tears in my eyes, I could not expect to see smiles on others’ faces. Thus emotions had becomes hindrance in my cause. I cut them lose and decided to become selfless. I became my master.

continue...

no escape except within

Sitting quietly
Doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass grows by itself.
- A Zen Poet.

Zen is minimalist.
Sitting (Meditating)
Quietly (No chattering thoughts)
Doing Nothing (No GTD’s,no lists,)
Spring comes (All is cyclical)
And the grass grows by itself (Nature happens on its own and is effortless.YOU are not required).

The universe is governed by its own laws.
Nature,seasons,time,the sun,moon ,earth-all move on their own.
So Relax.Meditate.Work.Relax.Play.Relax.

Do everything with the zen approach to life.
Effortlessly.Quietly.Appreciatingly.Lovingly.

Taken from http://noescape.wordpress.com/2006/09/29/doing-nothing/

mera naam joker - 1

Remember me?

This is me – the joker; the ever smiling character from your favorite circus in childhood.
You have seen me laughing and crying in that small world of circus. Do you remember those moments? There were lions, elephants, bears, parrots, donkeys; all dancing to the tunes of their master – the ringmaster. There were skinny girls wearing skimpy clothes and doing back-breaking gymnastics with smile on their faces, there were tough guys doing dangerous fire stunts without any visible worry on their face. And then there was me. I would come every now and then, as a feeler between the performances. I would do silly things and everyone would laugh at me. My friends would hit me with a stick (it was a slapstick though; it dint hurt much) and still I would laugh and so would you. Then I would leave the center stage for others to perform and get lost in the darkness behind the curtains. You would go home with smiles on your face

I hope you remember, coz this is the only damn thing I did in my whole life. Those smiles on thousands of faces are the only thing I earned.

Let me tell you more about myself.

When I was born, I was like any normal kid. I loved to play with kids from my neighborhood. I used to play cricket, football and running games with them. We would play and fight. There was no hurt feeling though. At the end of the day, we all would go home happily. As the time was passing, we all were growing. And we were changing. We were surely changing, for I realized that everybody were not the same with me now. They would laugh at me; sometimes they would give disgusted looks. Its then I realized that I was different from them. I was not as tall as they were, I was not as beautiful as they were, and I was not as normal child as they were.

I asked my mom why everyone laughs at me. And they would say that all those kids had gone mad. They were not laughing at me but they were laughing at themselves. But I could read my mom’s eyes. I knew she was lying. There was pain in her eyes, and I knew that those kids were not mad; it was me who was not normal.

As the time passed, I got used to the feeling that everyone was making fun of me. I knew they were laughing at me. I did not feel that bad anymore. And this was the time when I took the toughest decision of my life. I knew others were getting pleasure by laughing at me. They were taking something out of me. I thought why not give them those smiles instead of them taking it from me. It was simple give and take relation. But the perspectives were different. I would get the satisfaction of giving others something. And thus I decided to become a joker. Now I would laugh and make other laugh.

I went to my other and told her about my decision. Again those eyes were wet. She asked me if I was joking. I said yes. Indeed joking was what I wanted to do. She smiled for a moment and then again turned silent.

Continued…

mein Sourav bol raha hoon...

"I am Sourav Ganguly. I hope you have not forgotten me," Ganguly says in a new advertising of cola giant Pepsi. This is part of the Blue Billion campaign.
Ganguly speaks further -"Whatever happened, why it happened, I don't know. I am practicing to come back into the team."
And then, as if striking a chord with his fans and reminding them of his much-debated joyous reaction at Lords where he swirled his shirt in the air, a poignant Ganguly says, "Who knows I might get another chance to swirl my shirt in the air".

Then, he reminds everyone of his notorious aggression on field, "In the field or out of it, I won't sit quiet. I will cheer the team and so should you."

In the end, he urges (or requests?) everyone to cheer for India and asks,"Apne dada ki baat nahi maanoge?"

What is the motive behind making this ad? Why did he do it?
Pain or lust for money. Or simply the goodwill. You never know.

Sourav Ganguly, the face of aggressive Indian Cricket, so called arrogant brat of early 90s, asking viewers if they have forgotten him. No we have not; we can never be able to do that. We don’t want to do that either. For, he is one of most successful captain for Indian Cricket. For he changed the way captaincy was done in Indian Cricket. For he lead the Indian team to its glory, and played a significant role in bringing it to its present level. He did a thankless and selfless job. Some of the side effects of all this actually became the cause of early exit from Indian Cricket.

Ganguly will always be known and remembered for his arrogance and aggression. on field or off the field, he has always been one tough guy. It's his presence in the Indian cricket that changed many aspects of how cricket was played and managed in India. He showed to the world that we are the strong nation in cricket both on and off the field.

Somehow, his attitude and bad luck lead to his downfall also. He crossed his prime time, his form deteriorated. Then frustration came, and finally the unforgivable mistake of figthing with the Coach and Team management. Paani me rahkar magarmachcha se ladai nahi kar sakte. An exit was unavoidable, only thing is that it could not be that respectable. He deserved much more that what he got.

Yesterday when I saw this new ad, I felt really bad. He looked like one old lion caged in a zoo. I felt as if he was complaining to us - look what justice they have done to me. There was only one thing in his eyes- Did I deserve it that bad? The arrogance and aggression which was trademark for his image, were nowhere to be seen. Either the director for the ad has done superb job or Ganguly has finally broken and changed.

I hope he did not do this ad for money. I remember Shahrukh told once, an actor has real short life. So I will do anything to earn as much as possible in this short life to make my future secure. I will even dance in shaadis and will not mind being a Bhand. That is the bitter truth. I hope, its not the same case with Sourav too. Let the pride and dignity remain the part of image millions of fan for you.

ps: That, Ganguly will not return to Indian Team, is my personal humble opinion.

Do you care?

Do you care?

Can’t answer this question naa? Ok, let me rephrase it in sub questions.
Do you care about others?
Do you care about others’ opinions?
Do you care about others’ opinions about you?

First one is the simplest of them; and answer to it is straight forward. We do care about others. Caring about others is one of the inherent tendencies in normal human beings. We live in a society and our support system is tightly woven around it. We care about others to make this society a better place to be in. Our lives are dependent on many other living or nonliving matters and thus by our natural survival instincts we care about all of them. Sometimes you will feel this is our selfish nature, at others you will find it natural.

Second question is bit trickier than the first one. Caring about others’ opinions is not something that comes natural to us. It becomes more difficult when their opinions contradict, or at the least does not match, with ours. Differences are inherent among two human beings. Opinions are something that depends on many things. What kind of environment did we grow up in, what is our present state of mind is like, what we read, what we talk about, what is our circle of influence like, what our past and present friends were like, so on and so forth. Anything, no matter how it is attached to us, or sometimes even if it is not attached, can have some influence on our way of thinking. To add to it, is our own perception of things. Then end result of all these being that each individual may have his own opinions which may be very different from others.

Only people who have the strength to accept the fact that people do have different opinions can care about others opinions. Caring can sometime mean respect while at others just simple ignoring. If you don’t go on fighting with others about their opinions on some topic, then you respect others opinions. In no terms, caring for others opinions just means to agree with them. You might or might now agree with others, and this is a different case altogether.


Third question is where all of us make mistakes. It’s really difficult not to remain fazed by someone else’s opinions about you. When they praise you, you feel proud and content. If they say something derogatory you feel hurt. These are two extremes. In the middle lies the situation where their opinions can not affect your life in any means. Something like how they think about you, or how do they rate your ideas, or do they approve your actions.

If you clear in your mind, all these things really do not matter anyways. But we have this bad habit of simply getting bog down by these. Before taking any action, we think a hundred times about what others will think. Most of the times others don’t even bother about our actions, but we would have woven a full plot about things to come. Most of our energy thus wastes in efforts to control our actions and thoughts, so that no one else has wrong or different opinions about us. Karma takes second priority there.

There is another twist to this. We all try to pretend to be unaffected by others opinions. Again this is another natural habit. This has more to do with our satisfaction, that we at least pretended to be unaffected by others, we do have a strong character. But in the inside we burn all our energy to care about their opinions. It’s just a feel good thing, not the reality. There are some people, whose opinions matters a lot to us, and we try to keep them satisfied every time. This is where we don’t remain what we are and try to be what others want us to be. Again the end result is weakness of our character.


The best situation would be the one where, without bothering about someone else’s opinions, we can stick to our opinions. If we can justify our opinions to ourselves, then we have achieved the ultimate knowledge. That day, we get the strongest of character.

********************************
What is Nirvana? "When hungry, eat. When tired, sleep."

live the moment

The Zen story goes of a man who, fleeing a tiger, jumped over a cliff to escape, grabbed a vine and hung suspended from the side saw another tiger gazing hungrily up.

In a moment of surre of the cliff. While the tiger pawed down at him, glancing below he saw another tiger gazing hungrily up.

In a moment of surrender, the man looked to a solitary flower growing from the cliff.

"Splendid!"

*******************************

Dad: Calvin, life is not always fair.
Calvin: I know life is not fair, bit why it can't ever be unfair in my favor?

jab dil hi toot gaya, ham jee ke kya karenge

I watched “K.L. Saigal - a musical play” yesterday. It was staged as part of ongoing theatre festival “Drama in October” at Ranga Shankara. Play narrated story of legendary singer Kundan Lal Saigal, in the form of a musical.

Theatre is one of the toughest forms of media. The story is narrated in live, with minimal technical help. What you see is what you get. There is absolutely no trick anywhere; no scope for mistake too. Actor toil their days and nights to prepare for performance of one night. Their effort fruit if they could portray the character on stage. The best of actors live their character and make the audience feel its life.

Yesterday was one such performance. Portraying Saigal, or rather living is no easy job. He being legendry adds to the pressure on the actor. But Uday Chandra was simply superb in his attempt. I have not seen Saigal, but I can surely vouch the fact that yesterday the performance was no less that Saigal’s reincarnation. Being a musical play, the actor was expected to be well versed in music. And trust me Uday had done his home work to perfection. He sang all the songs, no audio tape used throughout. Audience was mesmerized on his velvet voice and magical control over his tone. I am sure he must be a trained Classical singer, for this perfection is really hard to achieve.
The play narrates almost the whole life of Saigal, its ups and downs. For more than two hours, the audience was just traveling in past and watching everything as if a reality.

Tom Altar was narrator for the play, and he was as usual brilliant. His solid voice gives one classy touch to the play.

Great acting, superb direction and beautiful setup.

Only glitch was that it was too long for most of the audience. A play for 150 minutes is rare experience and thus everyone starts losing his patience.

Still, anything for such a memorable experience.

Play details on Ranga Shankara website

I'm with you

I'm Standing on a bridge
I'm waitin in the dark
I thought that you'd be here by now
Theres nothing but the rain
No footsteps on the ground
I'm listening but theres no sound

Isn't anyone tryin to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Wont you take me by the hand
take me somewhere new
I dont know who you are
but I... I'm with you

I'm looking for a place
searching for a face
is anybody here I know
cause nothings going right
and everythigns a mess
and no one likes to be alone

Isn't anyone tryin to find me?
Won't somebody come take me home
It's a damn cold night
Trying to figure out this life
Wont you take me by the hand
take me somewhere new
I dont know who you are
but I... I'm with you

- Avril Lavigne

Sacral Nirvana

Sacral - Of or relating to sacred rites; "sacral laws"
Nirvana - The state of peace and happiness in achieving freedom from the endless cycles of reincarnation. A state of freedom from pain, worry, and the external world.

Listen to "Sacral Nirvana" by Oliver Shanti. By chance I was listening to Buddha Bar -2 and I listened to this song. Since then, I am just hooked on to it.

Some more nice songs I have been listening last few days.

• Braveheart theme
• Gladiator theme
• Sa Trincha - smell of paradise
• Time Traveler by Rahul Sharma
• Incredible India by various artists
• Global Village by Karunesh

random ramblings

Hookah
Hookah is one of the fastest growing trends amongst today’s youth. In cities like Bangalore, even coffee shops offer you Hookah in various flavors. For most of the young lads, it’s the “in thing”; it makes them different from others. There is absolutely no check on who is using Hookah in any of these coffee shop, thus even 14 years olds are flying smoke rings. Next generation is really up to something; don’t know which direction they are going.

Nokia N series and Apple ipod
Again, They are style icons. If you want to remain trendy, they are a must. Everyone is showing off his or her jazzy cell phones and ipods. Aaj koi bhi cell keval baat karne ke liye nahi leta. Wherever you go, you will realize that they follow you better than Hutch.
Affordability is not a big concern anymore.

Extraa innings
Mandira is back. And this time, she has brought with her many more jokers. Charu is as usual irritating; he has lost all his dignity. Watching Ronit Roy and toehr female talking about cricket is like watching Sachin talking about politics or cricket. Set Max has gone insane. Please let cricket the way it is, don’t make a joke out of it.
Kerry Packer would be so happy to be dead today, Set Max has really made a circus out of his dream (what people used to call circus those days).

orkut, one call and then more...

Now this one is bit trickier and funny.

I have been blogging regularly for almost a year now. First it was at Yahoo 360 (I still maintain my 360 page) and then at blogspot. I never told my parents or my sister about it. They don’t live in Internet era so it would have been difficult for me to explain them about blogs. Its nothing extraordinary I do, so never felt like explaining to them also. All my trips, back home, have been really short so these all things just never bothered to figure in my talks. I never told them, they never thought about it; so it did not exist.

Few days back, one of my uncles found me on Orkut. He saw my profile and then mailed me. That mail was a big surprise for me. In the family of not so Internet savvy people, he had done something unexpected. I replied to it immediately. And then started looking forward for the reply.

Yesterday when I was talking to my dad, he told me that this uncle had called them and told them about my writing style. I dint have any clue of what my dad was talking. The mail I wrote to the uncle was more like a one liner (actually it was a scrap in Orkut terms). So there was no way he could say that I am good at anything. This uncle was not someone who would lie to my parents so I got really puzzled.

Then came the second call in the picture. Today morning my sister called me and asked me about the email. This time I took the chance and explained her about the scrap (or email whatever you want to call it). I explained her that I wrote just one-liner. She, then, asked me about some website where I wrote about my childhood. Now the thought flashed in my mind. I realized that actually uncle had seen my blog ( I have given link to blog in my Orkut profile). Everything was clear now.

Uncle had visited my blog and apparently he read I, me, myself…

My dad had told me that Uncle had talked for more than 10 minutes about my writing and stuff. Now I have some clue about what he would have told. My sister told me that mom was wondering what have I been doing writing about my childhood and life.

For one moment I find this turn of events funny but at other I feel sad. That entry had many things that my mom does not know. Things I could not tell my parents. Things that did not need to be told to them. Things that needed to be hidden from them. Its not that I have done something wrong behind their back, but just that they might hurt them.

I haven’t yet got a chance to talk to my mom after all these. I don’t know what questions will she have in her mind and what answer I will give.

One day I had to face it, I think my time has some.

Or may be I am thinking a lot, possibly uncle did not say anything important and my mom is just curious about my writing and blog stuff. Who knows!!

Sometimes I think there is Chironji Lal Khosla in each one of us. We all are running away from many things, we all lose our faith and digress from our values. I just hope that our end is same as his.

ps:
Chironji Lal Khosla: Watch “Khosla Ka Ghosla” if you don’t know who Chironji is.

run forrest run

6’o clock in morning.
By any standard it is too early for an IT guy to be awake. I am used to it though (I have some bad habits you know, getting up early is one of them). Outside it is really cold and chilly after last night’s mild showers. Inside, it’s so warm and comfortable in my blanket. Who the hell would want to leave the cozy blanket and go out?

But, yours truly, decided to go out. It is Thursday, the day for our ritual morning run in Cubbon Park. Thursday morning run - this idea is the brainchild of my manager and some of the enthusiastic souls in my company. Gather at 6:30 in Cubbon Park, Run for 40 minutes or so, and then head straight to a nice restaurant for sumptuous breakfast – this is the plan for every Thursday morning. Mind you the running is not meant for losing weight or something like that; we gain more calories in the breakfast than what we lose by running.

So I leave my bed and get ready for the ride till Cubbon Park. In early morning, roads are totally deserted. Riding in Bangalore can be fun too, I had never felt. But this ride was so comfortable and enjoyable.

We meet in front of the statue of Victoria and then head straight to the track alongside. Some of us are regular runners so they aim at running longer distances. Others like me are there only for small distances. I am a really pathetic athlete, just 1.4 km of run (that’s like 10 minutes of running) and I am tired. All my energy is drained out. I tried hard but could not run more. My legs are aching, breathing is fast. I know I have crossed my stamina limits. So I walk after that. I walk for another 3 km. In between I keep trying for run for small durations. So it was like 1 km run and then 300 m of running.

This way I walked/ran for about 40 minutes. When I was walking, only one thought was going through my mind. All the events from last Monday popped in my mind. I could see them clearly and think about the present situation.

Last Monday, I had gone with Shashank for his practice run. He does this regularly. That day he had asked me to accompany him for the 15 km run he was planning. The venue was outer ring road, time 6 0’clock in morning. Somehow we could not start at our planned time, and we started at 7 am. Shashank started running and I was on my bike measuring the distance. I had the water and juice supply with me, in case he needed. Start was very smooth. I would ride for 1 km and then stop to signal him that 1 more km is over; target is closer by 1 km now. After 4 km mark, I stayed behind him for some time so that I could watch him running. After one turn, I saw him standing on the roadside, breathing fast. He was trying to catch his breath. I approached him and asked about what happened. He said he was feeling some pain in the chest, breathing was not proper and he was feeling very tired. He recalled that last night he had late dinner and that had affected his body. It was too late also, sun had some out and that was also sucking the energy.

What do we do now, the target was 15 km and he had not covered 5 km still. I just said that leave it today, we will come back tomorrow and do it again. This was the simplest and the only solution I could think of at spur of the moment. But he had something else in his mind. He rested for five minutes and then said that he would do at least 8 km that day. I said ok and then we started again. Now I tried to follow him so that I can watch him more closely and can be there in case of need. Whenever the km mark was about to come, I would overtake him and then signal him. He would smile and keep running. Soon we crossed 5km, 6km, 7km marks. 8km mark was visible to me; I overtook him and then stopped. He came and saw the signal. He didn’t stop. I got the hint now. He was determined to do his full 15 km run. Now I knew what I had to do.

I just followed him, overtook and then signaled one more km. he was running very slow, looked very tired with each km, still he didn’t stop. In between we took break for water, some energy drink and to catch breath. And then he would start again. His shirt is drenched in sweat, his determination oozing out with every drop of it.

That day he ran for 16 km. at the first stop (after 4km mark) I never dreamt of this achievement. I had given up that time and thought about the simplest of solution of quitting it. But he didn’t quit. He challenged himself and did more than what he had aimed at. After the race he accepted that it was one of the toughest run in his life. I know, it’s his sheer determination that made him conquer all his pain and finish the race.

This Thursday I did 2 km of running, just thinking about his 16km that day. I know I will run 7 km one day. Every time I will feel tired, I will just think about that memorable Monday morning. I am sure; I will finish 7km easily.

"That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I'd just run across the great state of Alabama. And that's what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going." - Forrest Gump

death of a city

Very soon out lovely Bangalore will die and Bangluru (or whatever they will spell it as) will see the light of the dawn. What is there in the name? Call it anything this will always remain the same.

Bangalore- a city, which was dream of some ruler, the green beauty spot on otherwise barren Deccan plateau. Summer destination for many, paradise for the pensioners. Time changed, so did the people. New generation came and so did new habits. It became the pub city. Educational institutes attracted outsiders and thus came new cultural threads. And then took place the biggest event in the history of this city – the IT boom. Te city that was silent and peaceful throughout its past, saw the surge of people, jobs and money. Everything was unexpected, and, in the long run, this became Bangalore’s problem.

Outsiders flooded Bangalore for studies and then job. They brought with them new customs and ways of living. But this city was never ready for it. It tried its best to accommodate everyone. But the burden was immense. Infrastructure was never in place, neither they planned for it. Roads, proper residential areas were never thought of. Every thing just grew out of proportions, there was absolutely no planning and check on it. all the new development plans somehow ignored the expected growth in terms of population. It is os bad that today you see a flyover with divider on the top. There is traffic jam next to flyover. Posh residential areas have the worst roads. Number of road accidents is increasing day by day. Public transportation system is worse than you find any other metro city. Problems, problems and more problems.

Will changing the name help in any way?

i, me, myself

Goli tagged me. My assignment this time is to tell everyone about myself. Now this one is bit difficult, coz I don’t have 10-15 predefined questions to be answered.

Still let me try. So here I go…

• Pritesh – this word is a sandhi (join) of two words – PRIT + ISH. In Hindi PRIT means love and affection, while ISH refers to God. So as one word it means “God of love”. Actually in Hindi correct word would be PREET and then my name would have been Preetesh. But somehow my mom chose PRITESH. My dad sometime spell it as PREETESH , and I correct it every time.

• My earliest memory of my childhood would be one when I was 4 years old. As soon I was back from school., I would be riding my tobu cycle. My mom would make Roti Roll with Ghee and Pickle and give to me. I would ride the cycle in my home and eat that Roti Roll. Both of us happy.

I don’t know how, but that was the only time I enjoyed eating Ghee. Once that tobu cycle phase was over, my like for Ghee justr vanished. Till date I hate Ghee and many a times I puke if there is lot of Ghee in my food. Now days my cook keeps dry chapatis separately for me.

• I did most of my schooling in Hinds medium schools. My dad is in Bank and he gets transferred every three years or so. I have lived in really tiny villages (one was with a population of less than 4k). Expecting an English medium school there was impossible, so my parents got me admission in the best Hindi medium school. My mom would insist me on learning English at home. That was the only interaction I had with English for first few years of life.

• We built our first house when I was in class 5^th. I had to share my room with my sister. Having a room of my own was a real proud achievement for me. I would decorate and arrange it in my way. I fought with her a lot about these things, but in the end we both will be happy souls.

From that day, till now I tend to change room arrangement a lot. Every few months or so, my room will have some new arrangement. In hostel it was big fun convincing other roommates for the new arrangements.

• Most of my schooling was done in boys school. Only good Co-ed school was Saraswati Vidhya Mandir. Now this one is too good. This school is run by RSS so there are lots of strange and funny customs there. Guys were supposed to call girls as "Bahan" and Girls would call them "Bhaiya". There was a big Rakhi celebration also. As I was one of the most popular guy in class, that day I would come home with at least 15 rakhis in my hand. Till date I curse my popularity. I lost contact with most of the friends from that time. Still whenever we meet, we have blast thinking about all these moments.

• I was an obedient kid most of my life. I still am. But somehow as I grew up I started getting my own ideas about life. My time in class 10^th to 12^th would be golden age in this criterion. I started getting unattached from the religious and social believes of my family. I can’t say if I became an iconoclast, but I did start applying logic to everything. It was getting on my nerves sometimes. And then I decided to runaway from them. I got an opportunity to pursue my higher studies in Bangalore. This meant I could live my life my own way, away from all those things. I came here and started exploring life. I did things which I had never thought of. I am proud of them today. Only guilt is that I ran away from those things at home. I could not face them then, and still I find it difficult.

• Love and relations are two difficult notions for me. I did try to understand and enjoy them, but was not very successful. I had my good and bad times. Sometimes I think I am an emotional fool, at others I think I am a normal human. May be someday I will figure it out.

• Friendship is something which kept me going. My friends are my strength and today whatever I am; it’s because of them and of course my family.

• I am happy with life; I am contented with whatever I have got till now. I am proud of whatever I did till now and I will keep living my life my way. Let us see where I land up.

Now this is enough about me, for now.
According to customs, I have to pass this tag to someone. So here I choose those lucky people –

Desai: He is one guy who can inspire many. A true friend and lover.
Sapta: The Bengali chromosome. It would be really interesting to read about his life.

Gandhi...

Circuit yeh 2^nd October ko kya hota hai?
Bhai, vo to ek holiday hota hai. Vo dry day bhi hota hai.
Par vo holday kyun hota hai?
Pata nahi bhai, arre haan us din bapu ka birthday hota hai.
Bapu kaun re?
Arre bhai, bapu bole to mahatma Gandhi.
- This is India in 21^st century. He will be so happy to see it from wherever he is.

Happy Birthday Bapu…

I don’t know if I will ever understand his philosophy. But still…