26/1/2006: One heckuva Republic Day

Hey you guys! Belated republic day wishes to one and all … there’s nothing more refreshing than a national holiday on a weekday, what say

What a day it turned out to be… I got to do so many new things for the first time in my life. Got to feel the chill air of the night brush past my cheeks as I drove alone at 60 kmph towards home at 11:00pm in the night, not to mention driving past traffic policemen guarding the governor’s residence at the same speed and talking on my mob.

People, I am talking about republic day.. So u could guess the environment. .

Now you people must be wondering where I was coming from that late in the night, right? Hmm… let me spare you the suspense. I was @ Saarang, IIT-M’s cultural festival. They had arranged for a pro-show by the greatest trio in hindi film music and one of my personal favorites – Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. Although the pass burnt my pockets for a while, full paisa vasool … I was so elated to be there at the moment! Despite starting from my place about 2 hours earlier, the ride to IIT which might not take more than half an hour took me about an hour! My poor friends were left waiting at the entrance for about half-an hour. Thank god for my 2600, god knows where I would’ve been without you. I love you, my 2600.

It was my first ever pro-show and I had grossly underestimated the crowd… big time. The majority of the crowd was 20-somethings and probably a handful of middle-aged people and 30-somethings. Thanks to me, the very short queue to the entrance of the OAT [Open Air Theatre] was even shorter than usual. But thanks to a blessed soul, we were able to sneak into the beginning of the queue… muwahaha …

***Teal grins evilly***

As we approached the entrance to the OAT, which is btw, wide enough to squeeze in 3 blue whales simultaneously, the techies at IIT resorted to the not-so-technical methods of frisking every poor unsuspecting soul… as I approached the entrance, there was this poor bespectacled gal who was “inspecting” my bags contents, going – “you are not supposed to blah … blah …blah..” and was bright enough to shut up after swallowing my facial expressions … and the frisking of course, happened… “What’s in this pocket? Blah blah.. that pocket..”. Was terribly tempted to say “hand grenade” but did not want to psyche that poor gal out…she looked like she’d die outta a heart attack…

***halo hovers over the teal angel’s head***

Finally we got to the galleries… and got some great seats, despite my early arrival. Shanker did the inauguration with a rendition of “Mangalam bhagwan Vishnu …” followed by “Breathless”, a bunch of Kishore da oldies… Accompanying him were Mahalakshmi Iyer, Blaaze and this dude who kept screwing up the lyrics. Needless to say, they belted out tracks from Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Kal ho na ho, Dus, Bunty aur Babli et al. His renditions of alapanaas and swaras left everyone astounded. Me and my gang of friends screamed our throats hoarse and danced the night away … no, no despite 26^th Jan jinx, there was no earthquake because of my dancing

Drove home on my ever faithful neel, [blue activa] roads of Chennai as busy as ever.

This day will go down in my life history as a red letter day

Like I said, one heckuva republic day !!!!

Happy Republic Day India !

May god shower his choicest blessings on Mother India and her children. People today is India’s 57th republic day. May India always steer forward in the path of success and become a all pervading nation. Be a proud Indian!
Godspeed.

Aargh …. me tagged….

Thanks to Archie , now I am tagged!!!
But I’ve never been a part of such a chain blogger game before, so why not give it a shot, huh?
So, quoting from Archie’s blog, here are the rulezz of the game…

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been
tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

In my case Target is => Male.
Okie-dokie here goes the criteria for my perfect guy -

1. Should be really intelligent and have great common sense, not to mention really good and successful at what he is doing..
2. Should be the strong and silent type … i.e like Sid from Dil Chahta Hai
3. Should make me laugh till tears stream down my cheeks when i am really saddd. Great sense of humor is a must!
4. Should know to do housework and be decent at it. [atleast] . :p
5. Should love me for who I am and not anyone else…
6. Should be a great listener.
7. Can be gabby once in a while but I’ll be talking most of the time
8. Should be really tall …
9. Should be sensitive, loyal and romantic [2 an extent]
10. Should not be shallow or have any bad habits.
11. Should be very outdoorsy and dynamic, coz i love to travel
12. Should be very perceptive also…

Hmmm… the odds of me finding such a guy…. one in 10 million???? or maybe even lesser???
Now it’s my turn to put 8 people in deep shit … heehee … here goes:

• Dhinesh
• Hell’s Angel
  
• Jagan
• Vanilla
• Harish
• Gokul
• Bhavna Neel
• Komal Kanth

U2: Where will we be without you?

U2 undeniably has been one of the biggest pop rock bands in the music scene for decades together. Mixing some really insightful lyrics with great music makes U2 simply the best and obviously, unsurpassed. They have released 23 albums to date in a career spanning over 30 years!!!

U2 formed in Dublin in the fall of 1976 after 14-year-old Larry Mullen, Jr. posted a note on the bulletin board at his high school seeking musicians for a new band. From the group of hopefuls that showed up at Mullen’s home that first day, a 5-piece known originally as “Feedback” formed with Mullen (born October 31, 1961) on drums, Adam Clayton (b. March 13, 1960) on bass, Paul Hewson on vocals, and Dave Evans on guitar. Dave’s brother Dick also played guitar for a while, but left Feedback very early on to join another Dublin band.

Feedback quickly changed their name to “The Hype,” and began rehearsing on weekends and after school as often as possible, forming genuine friendships and developing an undeniable chemistry in the process. After nearly 18 months of rehearsing, the band’s big break came at a talent show in Limerick, Ireland, in March 1978. With CBS Records’ Jackie Hayden judging, U2 (they had just changed their name again) won the contest, earning a £500 prize and impressing Hayden enough to be given studio time to record their first demo.

Thus began the musical journey of U2. The “U” in the name incidentally stands for Ulster, a place in Northern Ireland. U2 is as popular for music as well as the active social services rendered by the lead singer, Bono. Bono has been a part of much charitable collaborations. Remember “Do they even know its Christmas time at all?” by Band Aid in 1985? Ya, there was Bono, Sting and a bevy of stars. They have been able to perform some historic concerts in venues like Berlin, Sarajevo. And of course, every one knows the deal with Bono and his penchant for making political statements. Bono has been the steering force for many campaigns like – Drop the debt, Make poverty history and One [which involved research for HIV/AIDS].

They have given the world some amazing songs and have gained immortality through music. I simply am hooked to them. I even remember the 1st ever track of their’s that I’d heard, which was “Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me” and is my eternal favorite. My other all time favorite is “Electrical Storm” which was featured in the U2’s great hits 1990-2000 album, along side “The hands that built America” which won a Golden globe award in January 2003 for best original song, and was also featured in the OST of Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York”.

But that doesnot mean I dont like the other tracks! I love them all and blogger might not be able to provide ample space for me to describe how much I love each and every track of theirs. I am also hooked to “How to dismantle an atomic bomb”.

U2 also performed in the historic Live 8 concert, which I was lucky enough to witness, at least on television. Looks like Bono is making full use of his celeb status, for something useful. Because whether people agree or not, any initiatives taken by individuals will more than often go unnoticed, but celebrities have the power of demanding attention. And Bono demands attention, and we oblige without protest!

For those who donot know the members, let me have the honor of introduction:

• Bono, born Paul David Hewson [the dude who is squatting] – lead singer.
• Larry Mullen Jr., [extreme left] drums and the punyavaan who was the catalyst in forming this gr8 band.
• Adam Charles Clayton, [extreme right] bass guitars and keyboards.
• Edge, born David Howell Evans [between Larry and Adam] – guitarist and vocals.

Nothing is what it seems

In this life, my dear you will see

What you get is not what you seek

Despair will engulf you in complete

And leave your existence mild and bleak

For what one strives to do, they cant

For what one wants to do, they wont

This is the part in which we will hear

The never ending –“no, no, no and don’t”

Nothing is what it seems, my dear

For aims and goals unfulfilled

With diligence and obstinacy you step forward

While life hauls you towards the rear

In this life we learn

In this life we love

In this life we fall

In this life we give into strife

If you think you know what lies ahead, think again

The cosmos has a different plan

May be scheming to put you in pleasure

Or plotting to put you in pain

When all your efforts go in vain

What do you come to see?

In this life, you may try too hard

But nothing is what it seems

The weekend lover

Scene is set in a classroom .. well ventilated … transparent glass windows give room for a view. A view of the lush green college gardens right behind which lies the sports village [a fundoo way of saying 'Playground']…. camera whizzes past all of the above and finally stops abruptly. The realms of an arbitary classroom can be glimpsed at a distance … Slowly the camera inches toward the classroom which holds 63 extremely bored students… goes toward the board where Mr.Ilicha Vaai [a.k.a Cheshire Cat] takes DSP.

So called “DSP” class => a grand listing of all his achievements .. interspersed with big broad grins … then back to gloating and boasting again…something about how he got a gold medal for a paper he never prepared for … not to mention how his mom shares her birthday with the independance day!!! blah blah blah … his non-stop-nonsense fades in the background …..
Now focus shifts to last but two benches where a young girl gazes out of the window, waging war with her eyelids which are trying to come together in a holy union… she only wishes I.V would become invisible once in a while so that she could cope with the bloody disaster this class was. I.V was not only modesty personified, but also understanding. HE would not take class because he realises that the students would have umpteen issues to discuss about… or rather like he refused to take class even if one person spoke…

Coming back to our dashing heroine… she grimaces at I.V and takes out her DSP notebook … flips to the last page and pens her first really good poem titled – “When boredom strikes”… Only after penning down the words that seemed to have possessed her fingertips does she realise that she has a decent knack for poetry and also come to discover that she’s started to miss weekends.

This post of mine is all about weekends and how much i miss them ,surely as most people do. Where I live, most engineering colleges are located in the outskirts of the city – along the “IT Highway”. So the commute takes about an hour [one-way] given peak traffic might take even one and half. By the time we are back home it’s about 6 pm. 5 days drag on incessantly … then comes saturday and sunday. An invigorating breath of fresh air. We meet up with friends and go to movies, beach etc. Then comes Sunday night – accompanied by the grand realisation of -

1. record work
2. assignment
3. internals
4. all of the above

all due for Monday. [Phbbt!!!] . Man, I loathe Mondays!!!!
Have you guys observed this fact? Long long ago, so long ago [when we were kids] we were so foolhardy about the whole concept of weekends. It didnot matter to us because we played through out the week. Only as we get older do we realise how precious weekends and holidays are. Especially now After starting my first week of project work i realise how weekends must be cherished. Sob!! Sob!! . The weekend lover syndrome is acutely present in my sister’s case as well. She’s about 4 years older than me. Initially I thought , well she must be loving her work. Maybe she does , but the passion for weekends is about 10 times stronger in her … I used to take weekends for granted … now i look forward to weekends like anything!!! I truly empathise with people who work 5 days a week … I’m going to be doing the same real soon

Aah .. its a beautiful saturday morning ladies and gentlemen. Go out and party, for the forthcoming week aint too faraway.

Bittersweet Symphony

Hey ppl… i was brainstorming for quite a while to blog about something … at this point i am outta ideas .. [creative fountain in maintenance ... once fully operational will come up with superb posts as usual ] Okies, i was kidding about that .. any way i was in absolute exhilaration when i was finally able to download this gr8 song i’d heard from eons ago … of course where i live such music and lyrical depth more than often goes unnoticed. There was this excellent song by a group called “The Verve”.. dunno how many of you have heard of it. Their sound is very similar to that of Oasis. An awesome band, but split up recently as the lead singer Richard Ashcroft wanted to pursue a solo career. Incidentally, Richard Ashcroft performed this track with Coldplay … Chris Martin had beckoned him on stage and certified this song as one of the best tracks ever !!! Coldplay fans .. take note. Btw, all of this happened in the Live8 concert … which also featured some excellent performances by the leading artistes of today.

This song was a part of an album titled “Urban Hymns” released in 1997. It goes something like this :

Bittersweet Symphony:

‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You’re a slave to money then you die
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down

You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah,
No change, I can change
I can change, I can change

But I’m here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I’m a million different people
from one day to the next

I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I’m on my knees yeah

I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there’s nobody singing to me now
No change, I can change

I can change, I can change
But I’m here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I’m a million different people

from one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can’t change

I can’t change
‘Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money then you die

I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the things meet yeah
You know I can change, I can change

I can change, I can change
But I’m here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I’m a million different people

from one day to the next
I can’t change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can’t change my mold

No, no, no, no, no,
I can’t change
Change my
No, no, no, no, no

It justs sex and violence melody and silence
It justs sex and violence melody and silence
I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
It justs sex and violence melody and silence

I’ll take you down the only road I’ve ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down

Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been down?

Most people who listen to music always appreciate lyrics that escape the reality and monotony of life … but these words are too good!!!

An Unbelievable Start

Hey people wake up! 2006 has dawned upon us … between the gap of 26th and 1st so many things have happened … wat do i pen down 1st? Let me start from the most recent occurrence , a.k.a New Year’s eve …
I happened to spend the new years eve beside the gandhi statue and the clock at the signal in Marina beach .. something I thought I’d never ever do … but neverthless did The ambience was really cool … it was not just the gullij crowd that one might expect .. but a lot of families had shown up tooo … imagine beach road bottlenecked with traffic .. went for a long drive from 11:00 to about 11:45 .. then reached the clock area and waited … people stood with balloons and stuff. [could say this is was kinda like Chennai's times square ... except there was no Father Time as such..] Chennaiites have become more outgoing than ever!!! Shockingly, more like. En route home, we passed via Luz corner and it was busy as ever .. Chennaiites will be scoffing and saying “When is it ever free”, for the information of others … the locality formerly mentioned is one of the busiest in Chennaipattinam … the cooolest metro.

This year has gotten off to a rocking start …

Rolling back to 3 days earlier despite the exam fever that surrounded me and my peers, I was able to visit my favourite temple, the Varasiddhi Vinayakar temple in Besant Nagar, where I was able to catch a great kutcheri by Professor V.V.Subramanian who is a reputed violinist … and amazingly enough , he was playing “Entaro Mahanubhavulu” which is my favorite Pancha Rathna Kriti.
Got home a l’ll late that night, but time well spent. This is was because Carnatic Music Season is going on here and I was unable to catch any kutcheris [i.e 'concerts'], meanwhile Maargazhi maasam is still going on … but one battle still continues … between Sudha Raghunathan and Rage Against the Machine.
Surprised? Bewildered?
The battle is for the loudest track .. and can say .. will wage for as long as I live. While I play “Wake Up” by Rage Against the Machine in my comp full blast on my platinum speakers … My Dad will play Sudha Raghunathan’s rendition of Thiruppavai turning up the volume dial till “Wake up” is engulfed completely by – “Ezhundiraai …” …. “Wake up” … “Ezhundiraai”…[infinite loop]
“Wake up” Vs “Ezhundirai” …. For those of you blinking and wondering wat the hell i am talking about , let me say …. as per tamil calendar, Thiruppavai, a collection of songs sung in praise of Lord Vishnu will be sung early in the morning … some songs with the word “Ezhundirai” in it, which means “Wake up” in Tamil…
I remember [eons ago] from my Lady Sivaswamy days , a bunch of middle-aged people would assemble outside the Kapaleeshwarar temple and sing the Thiruppavai … a tradition long lost. Anyways, people are all about resolutions, and I have not made any as such. I have taken some firm resolves but no resolutions … So how was your new yr’s eve?
I am sure it was a rocking one … get back to me with all the details.
It’s good to be back people !!!