melancholy

Many a times
I feel I am the sky
vast and infinite
holding the universe
within my arms
yet surrounded
by a dark void
The sun rises
as the moon fades
into a distant dream
alas!
my life is
just a vicious
monotonous cycle
can only fathom
of an escape
by closing my eyes.

still scribbling

have patience, they told me
but how could I?
for my curiosity knew no bounds

stay calm, they consoled me
but how could I?
when my destiny was raging a storm

be cautious, they warned me
but how could I?
fear was unheard of...

FREE is a four-letter word!

Random scribble

The unbearable stench
of a dry summer
dissolves into oblivion
I can almost hear the pulse
of a distant thunder
yearning to set ablaze
As the gentle breeze
now begins to tremble
The forecast
that was never meant to be
screams out
of the calm night
Here I lie awake
in anticipation
that the first drop
brings forth
a new aura of hope
to wash away
my tears of loneliness
The hope
of a promise long forgotten..

More than 3 hrs on the phone????!!!!

Starting from 10:26 p.m. right upto 1:40 a.m.... I surprise myself... I hate talking on the phone for such a long time... but this one...hhhmmmm... I couldn't get enough.. yeh dil maange more...it's just that the charge drained off and there was no way I could charge it at that time of the night...too many obstacles...

To set the record straight, the earlier record was also with the same person... ;-)

I love my Butterscotch!

Smitten by Movie Mania

It was raining movies on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!

Cruising by the Gateway!

One of my favourite things in the world...to just go for a boat ride at the gateway. I specially like the part where the boat leaves the shore... Feels like all my worries are drifting away... after about half an hour when the boat returns the shore , an elation sets in.. of a fresh beginning!

No dream ever too small

Sizzled out!

Am not much of a chocoholic, but treat me a Chocolate Brownie Sizzler at Newyorkers and I’ll die a million deaths.

I HATE Pigeons

Primarily for four reasons:
1. I can never get the spelling right at the first go.
2. They make a weird sound which reminds me of gastric trouble.
3. No matter how hard you try, they are too stubborn to move (especially when they perch themselves at my balcony)
4. Even if the world may refer to them as symbol of love or messenger of peace for that matter, for me they are harbingers of shit.

Hot PIP(E)ING breakfast.

This is puttu predominantly a breakfast item savoured by the sinners from God’s own country, yours truly! It’s made of rice flour and grated coconut, steam-cooked in the pot-pipe vessel. Water is boiled in the pot and the filling is dumped into the pipe shaped part. When vapours begin to come out of the top of the pipe, you know it’s cooked.

As a side dish you have an option to choose between banana, black chana (gram) curry or a paapad. I prefer banana. And it’s a must to eat it hot otherwise it gets too dry and hard.

Wake me up, Sunshine!

That’s the sight I get to see first thing in the morning. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Gotta be more disciplined!

Have to pull up my socks... Here I am finally interacting with the best teacher there could ever be, but damn! I don't do my homework.

Musical score #113

Love is a Four letter word:-D

With all the fuss about St.Valentine’s day, thought I’d take the road less traveled. Find below my favourite picks for anti-valentine songs. The whole idea was provoked by Vh1 this morning. Well since quite a few days, there was a major problem in the cable network reception at my home. It was sorted out last night. Every morning, my brother is in charge of the remote control. So he is tuned onto the news channel. The minute he leaves I jump onto Vh1. They have a morning classic rock session. But today was not the case. It started off with My heart will go on…Gosh I thought Titanic was the worst love story ever…4 hours…Damn! (No offence to the huge fan following) the song that followed were I will always love youuuuuuuuuuuu (Whitney Houston), Now and Forever by Richard Marx (still bearable) and then the dreadful Nothing’s gonna change my love for you… Talk about overdose of love… Without further delay, the songs I mentioned earlier:

The revengeful lover
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
-Nirvana

The haunted lover
Every breath you take, Every move you make
Every bond you break, Every step you take
I'll be watching you
Every single day, Every word you say
Every game you play, Every night you stay
I'll be watching you
-Sting

The confused lover
No, I don't wanna loose you, But I don't wanna use you
Just to have somebody by my side. And I don't wanna hate you
I don't wanna take you But I don't wanna be the one to cry.
And it don't really matter To anyone anymore.
But like a fool I keep loosing my place
And I keep seeing you walk through the door.
There's a danger in loving somebody too much
And it's sad when you know it's your heart you can trust.
There's a reason why people don't stay where they are
Baby, sometimes love just ain't enough.
- Patti Smith & don Henley

The desperate lover
So I cry, I pray and I beg
Love me love me
say that you love me
fool me fool me
go on and fool me
love me love me
pretend that you love me
leave me leave me
just say that you need me
Love me love me
say that you love me
leave me leave me
just say that you need me
I can't care 'bout anything but you...
- The Cardigans

The rational lover
You must understand though the touch of your hand
Makes my pulse react That it's only the thrill of boy meeting girl
Opposittes attract, It's physical, Only logical
You must try to ignore that it means more than that
What's love got to do, got to do with it
What's love but a second hand emotion
What's love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken
- Tina Turner

Stay away from me

Do not get in touch with me.
You disturb my mind big time.

Hold your breath for heartbeats!

That was the welcoming note for the concert tonight..112 to keep the count running. And what a concert man!! All-time legends were performing:
Ustad Zakir Hussain... Tabla
Vikku Vinayakram… Ghatam
U Srinivasan…………Mandolin
Selva Ganeshan………Kanjira
Siva Mani…………….Drums
Shankar MAhadevan..Vocals

Went with Neelofer and Deepika and we had a great time. Even before the concert started we were having a gala time. There was a war waging right in front of us. The deal was that the seats were available on a first-cum-first basis. The row ahead of us that could roughly seat around 15 people was being occupied by only a guy and a girl sitting at each end. Apparently they had reserved the seats for their friends who had not reached the venue yet. Therein reached a family of around 7 and began to occupy those seats. Now is when all the excitement started. Cat-fight in its true element. The girl who had reserved the seat was an NRI with an accent, mind it. The argument provided by the family was that they were already there and they could occupy the seats. But then our NRI babe wouldn’t agree to that as it was unfair as she had reached well before time to reserve them. Where are your friends asked the old man. They are out parking. All 14 of them? Hhmmmm … point to be noted, I say. I am an NRI, you know. So what? Well out there, we have better manners…(this was amusing) So why did you have to come all the way to India, you might have stayed back there… Neelofer and I were bursting out …Hillarious..
All said and done, 3/4th of the family managed to occupy the seats and from somewhere another family came and took over as well… At the end of it all, who was politically correct??... hhmmm Good question, Neelofer… Are you always this smart or do you do it just to impress me?;-)

Don't blame me..

Accidents have a way of nailing me down.

Life in the fast lane

On one such cold night in Mumbai

There's only so much bad news can a human being take one day at a time.

While most teach, only a handful inspire

My violin class has now received a brand new lease of life with the arrival of a new teacher. The entire time that I have been learning violin, never ..I repeat NEVER have I felt so inspired. In the entire one hour that he took the class, I hardly played a 2 minute piece. What was most important about this class was the basic fundamentals that he cleared out. Something as trivial as why is the violin held the way it is held. How much pressure should be applied on the bow and why should it be applied. I came out of the class having attended the first day of my real violin lesson. Why didn’t he come earlier? But better late than never…I can’t wait to attend the next class.

And I never stop learning…

Last week I made a trip to God’s own country, my native place. Ironical isn’t it? A sinner with roots in the God’s own country… well well well… it’s a strange world we live in… So here are a few lessons I learnt from my trip:

ACCIDENTS BY ITS VERY DEINITION HAPPEN UNWARNED, DEAL WITH IT!
Never underestimate the sharpness of an unfamiliar knife
No matter how fast you run, a squirrel will still be faster than you
Do not put your face into a fire with tresses untied
A lotus can bloom in clean water too
It’s better to walk in the fields barefoot
Control your hunger pangs
And last but not the least…
Not everything that lands onto your head is a sign of good luck

I'll be back ...sooner than soon :-D

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I think I know when I'll be back again
Oh, baby, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I'll tell you now, they don't mean a thing

Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, oh, let me kiss you
And close your eyes and I'll be on my way

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I think I know when I'll be back again
Oh, baby, I hate to go


Just a matter of one week...

Food for thought!

Came across the following as a forward...Makes sense so put it up
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.

I am so happy, I feel out-of-this-world

I am so happy, I could jump and reach out to the sun
I am so happy, over the ocean I could run
I am so happy, I could spread my wings and fly
I am so happy, I could tear apart the sky
I am so happy, I could compose a thousand melodies
I am so happy, I could script a million movies
I am so happy, my joy knows no bound
I am so happy, my feet won't touch the ground
I am so happy, I want to unlearn everything
and make room for more joy, ecstasy, elation, delight and sheer frenzy!

Am gearing for yet another Rockstar to grace my home in a few months :-D

Congratulations Sherly!

One of my very dearest friend delivered a baby girl on 15th Jan... (will soon dedicate a poem... have something in mind) Wish I could hold her in my arms...but she is miles and miles away... Come to think of it...Sherly's sister's son was the first new born kid I ever held... It was very unnerving... but now am pretty much a pro... I better be... bundle of joy is expected in my family this year :-D

Back in the hi-life again!

Have been frightfully busy... not that I am not right now... but just that I miss blogging..

Happy Birthday, Bong-Shell!

It's tough to describe what you mean to me...
Just couldn't gather the right words,
So I thought I'd let E E Cummings do the honours...
He has brilliantly captured the essence that I wanted to express:

I carry your heart with me
I carry it in my heart

I am never without it
anywhere I go you go, my dear;
and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling
I fear no fate
for you are my fate, my sweet
I want no world
for beautiful you are my world, my true
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
here is the root of the root
and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart
I carry it in my heart

Rajdhani - Royalty Defined!

The other day I visited Rajdhani after a very long time. By far it is the best joint to savour vegetarian food. They specialize in Thaalis. Apart from the food, what I found most interesting is the hospitality of the staff. It's like a buffet system, but just that you don't have to help yourself, the waiters will serve you. Believe me when I say they pamper you to no end. Royalty is THE word. There are around 7 to 8 waiters tending you. Each is given the task of handling some 3 to 4 dishes. Now they do not converse with each other at all. They just raise their hands and indicate the number to be served at any particular table. Very unique and interesting, need I add.

A new dawn has come...

As seen from my window at 6:47 am Jan 1st, 2008

The year that was...

Simply floored by the series

There's more to come..Watch this space!

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

My brother enlightened me about this term.
Apparently it is the longest word in the English language.
It's an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust.

He was on a roll, and also told me about another term
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Popularized by the movie 'Mary Poppins', it's a nonsense word meaning Fantastic...also called supercalifragilistic... hehehe Am lovin it!

To do or not to do...

Do I want to??
Positively Negative.

Do I have to??
Not Really.

Is there a way out?
Always.

Will my actions lead to complications??
Quite Possible.



Finally, will I take the plunge??
Yes, but with a cold heart!

Oh honey! this ain't sweet

My house is being infested with a swamp of bees.

Aao Guess Karein (Let's try to guess)

Spotted this sign board of a shop during my weekend trip to Poona. For those who do not follow Marathi, it means Oh Mommy....

Can you guess what this shop could possibly be selling??

Spoooooooooooky!

The other night I had been to a theatre with two of my friends to watch 1408. Awesome movie by all means. Supposed to be a Thriller. Had me glued to the edge of the seat all along. As if the movie wasn't spooky enough, the atmosphere of the theatre added to the drama. Only 8 people in the 300-odd seater movie hall. Both of my friends were having a whale of a time watching my reactions. One of them even went to the extent of scaring me at regular intervals. Must admit moron's timings were bang on! All said and done... came out of the theatre content and satisfied of having seen a real good movie in a long time...Three Cheers to Stephen King!!

Am now officially a Google Adwords Professional

Scored 82%

Ardh Shathak!

Please do not disturb!

The examination-study is in session..sigh...

I desire...

I ain't scared enough.

It's been a long time since I scared the hell out of myself. So when I heard rave reviews, I jumped right out of my seat to watch it, come what may. Even went to the extent of begging for a pen drive to take the movie home. So there I was , creating the perfect ambience. Time: 11:15 p.m., Location : My bedroom (locked). Pitch dark and purposely had drawn out the curtains to add on to the spooky effect.

30 days of night has been filmed in an Alaskan town that has to spend a full month without sunlight. A rather cool concept and a unique setting. Just imagine, you wake up from your sleep and it's still dark....A great start when the sun begins to set... rather good, creepy, impending sense of dread... then the vampires attack and the film eventually dies a slow death, all thanks to stupid plot developments.
Anyways, to cut the long story short, the main drawback of the movie was that the movie's just plain NOT scary. Come to think of the vampires, they sure are pretty intimidating. Since if they spot you, there's a good chance that they are gonna rip you into little pieces with their teeth. But no frights, whatsoever.

A friend with weed is a friend indeed!

One of my colleague's friend was in Amsterdam during the October fest wherein he visited this particular joint where they actually serve pre-rolled joint..

A sure-shot add-on to my dream destinations.

You move on, you learn..

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn
You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn

My love let me down.

Man! it hurts like hell.
Pain is too small a word.

Strange

A strange kind of silence slowly creeps
into the dark ruins of my mind
a kind of silence that’s almost deafening
bringing back to life, the memories I’ve left behind

Memories of an era gone by
memories!! Why can’t they just die
no matter how hard I try
they just keep coming back

all they do is haunt me
i desperately need to break free

And all of a sudden, out of nowhere
There you stand, with a queer stare
Those deep eyes so intense
That scream an unspoken silence

I so deeply yearn to know
What lurks behind that faded smile,
If not mine, let me just be content
By making your life worthwhile

But wait! I look around, what do I see
A million other faces, just like you and me
Strained by agony and disparity
Slowly drifting towards insanity

Is it really a mind game
Or is it something, nobody wants to name
No wonder, destiny is held responsible
Anytime, anything turns terrible

It’s a strange world that we live in
Every deed is deemed as an unforgiven sin
Each word is met with a scornful eye...

Sunday blues!

Happy Birthday Mr. Mojo Risin!

The world on you depends
Our life will never end
Let's swim to the moon, ah ha
Let's climb through the tide
Penetrate the evenin' that the
City sleeps to hide.
Oh, what can I do.
You make me real, you make me feel
Like lovers feel.
You make me throw away mistaken misery
Make me feel love
Make me free.
I found an island in your arms
Country in your eyes
Arms that chain us
Eyes that lie
Break on through to the other side
Not to touch the earth
Not to see the sun
Nothing left to do, but
Run, run, run
Let's run
Time to live
Time to lie
Time to laugh
Time to die
Takes it easy, baby
Take it as it comes
Time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out of role
Riders on the storm
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die.

Examination Blues!!

It seemed like eons had slipped past me since I ever took an exam. Well today was the day of sweet realization. Had my violin preliminary exam. And guess who were among the panel of distinguished judges?? Louis Banks (a very sweet chap.. a bit witty and tricky but helpful nonetheless), rather stern Sharon Prabhakar and Joe Alveraz. It was a long wait till I was called in. As opposed to me and my good ol’ pal Dhaval, all the other students were busy practicing and revising. We couldn’t as the violin sounds the loudest and trust me, it’s way too difficult to play it softly. As if that wasn’t enough there were these students practicing percussion with their drum-sticks. The faster they played, the higher went my blood pressure. In a fit of frenzy nervousness, called up my friend for distraction. He suggested an awesome idea which had me in splits in no time. Think of their percussion board as the face of the person whom I detest the most. So wouldn’t I want it to be hit harder with all the force? Well…that did it for me...and the very next minute I was called in the examination hall. Confidence was written all over my face. I would not bore you with all the nitty-gritties, but at the end of my exam, Louis Banks remarked… Good, Very Good..Keep it up and Practice!! :-)

Stomach this!

Our office is about to start a canteen service (LUNCH only). Today was the first day. Vegetarian food was the order of the day. Pav Bhaji, Onion Pakoras (which is missing from my plate), Salad, Tava Pulav and a sweet. Economically it is viable. Rs.40/- but as far as taste is concerned, I have tasted much better stuff at a still cheaper rate. But then again, I don't intend to be a regular. Let's wait for tomorrow when non-veg is served.