NYC - The Greatest City on the planet!

Its hard to place a finger on the energy in NYC - the city rocks ... literally! It takes a lot for me to say this but I think I shall go out on a limb and actually say it – “NYC is the greatest city on the planet! It truly is the big brother of Bombay!”
The subways, the music @subway stations, the energy, the people, midtown comics, the bull, the ferry, the statue, large billboards, building sized movie posters, the lights, the bright colors, the BMW bridges among other things truly make this city great. Sure, unlike Bombay you really can’t walk on the streets at any time of the year – it does get frikkin cold in winter – but the spirit is the same.
I always connect when I’m in the vicinity of NYC – I somehow feel safer and happier … I know that sounds screwed up but hey that’s the way it is!
This time around, D and I actually took the subway during rush hour to actually get a feel of it – honestly for someone who’s traveled in the local trains in Bombay, this is wayyyyyyyy to orderly … even easier than taking the local trains during off peak hours in Bombay.
And the live music and acts on every subway station makes it really interesting. Here’s some of the stuff we saw this time …
These twins playing some superb Spanish stuff … Gipsy Kingish (videos here & here)
This group of three dancers performing (video)
Grand Central (video) – OMG – this place is prettier than many of our airports! How I would love to sit here in the morning and watch the suns rays seep in through the vents.
Times Square and thereabouts
And more …

There’s still so much more to see and do … all in good time.
Some visuals from this time around ...










An quick draw by Rosh at the end of our pictionary session ... more on that later!

Why do we stand at the doorstep and talk?

I’ve always noticed this. Its never – get-up from the couch, say-your-goodbye’s,grab your coat and stuff, walk to the door, open it, walk out and hear the sound of the door closing behind you!
There’s always the assemble at the door – the huddle – where the last bits of most interesting conversation are had … nevermind that it’s the end of the day and you’re standing while its cold outside or that the stuff you’re holding is heavy or that you're standing in an awkward position holding the door! (or even that mom is asking you to step in and be comfortable!)
Can’t understand it – can’t stop it – don’t think I want to either!

More Food Please

At the risk of being called a foodie by a dear friend (who christened me so because of my craving for vada-pav!!), I shall nevertheless venture on this topic ;)

For a long time, each time someone would ask me about good restaurants in Raleigh, I would promptly reply – “The Irregardless café” – Sure enough this is a great place to dine and even dance on weekends. (altho dear one did not find time to visit it this time as well!)

But in the recent past we have discovered some excellent dining in the area …
A quick survey by Soumya and Preethu revealed this excellent restaurant in Raleigh - ShabaShabu. Do NOT miss this if you’re in the vicinity – Thai/Lounge/Sushi. Already been there twice and have recommended to juntax.

Thanks to De-Silva for introducing us to this awesome Greek place – Xios – great food, great ambience – loved it.

Thanks again to De-Silva for introducing us to Pao-Lim This awesome Chinese place which can be called Indo-Chinese – awesome food and psssst … they serve hidden “gobi Manchurian” – the dish is not on their menu but with a wink and the secret password you shall be treated :D

Shucks I’m hungry now!

Right under my nose! Kollektiv

For being such a big Karsh Kale fan and wanting "desperately" to watch the master play live - I've always been looking at the wrong place for gigs! All the while the answer has been riiiight under my nose - Kollektiv - the brainchild of Karsh (if you didn't figure out the heavy K flavor already ;) )and a meeting place for all these geeks (and psst they're about to release an album too)
And they have this page on myspace which has some cool musik AND more importantly - all their gig schedules! And both these pages have excellent streaming music which I suspect is going to be the meat of the forthcoming Kollektiv album!
If you think I'm kicking myself - you bet I am! Have been within hours of NYC and DC and have missed all the good stuff in the last couple years! aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh!
time to get back to Broken English!


Update
The Kollectiv home page has some seriously good streaming music!

Tilda

D and I were browsing thru the movie listing when we glanced upon the name “Tilda Swinton” (for Narnia) and we couldn’t help loffing at the name Tilda … needless to say, the next few minutes were spent imagining funny names right out of the keyboard!
The secret kid (the one that you don’t want others to know about) would be named “sysRq” … go figure!
My favorite - geeks would name their twins as “page up” and “page down”!

Brokeback Mountain

Somebody please help me understand what’s all the fuss about this movie – me thinks that brokemyback mountainofpain is a bloody waste of 2 hours and 14 minutes!
I desperately need a rerun of the Hulk to regain respect for Ang Lee!

Broken English Review

Today - May 19 – a Sunday – after 8 hours of back to back project meetings in school … :P – driving back home – tired and thinking of the tasks to complete and e-mails to send before going to bed – D suggests that we check our mailbox – oh yes! We forgot to check it yesterday and USPS does work on Saturdays! Sure enough there was this small package in the mailbox – Now I have heard of miracles and have also seen some – and am at a loss of words (which doesn't happen much) on how a CD that is slated to release on March 21st is sitting on my desk on May 19th – I know I per-ordered it and stuff … but this is unfrackinbelievable!
Be still my beating heart and also those green and burning hearts outside – as I write I am on my fifth run of Broken English! Need I say more?
As promised this album is extremely unlike GOD’s previous works (read previous two albums) – there’s vocals … on almost every track … and with complete lyrics too  - almost a Sawhney twist to album – but way better – awesome++ for lack of a better word!
As usual the first track is not one of my favorites … a good track with haunting vocals by Vaid (of course!). But the fun just begins from 'Manifest' and keeps building up before leaving you on a high with the aptly titled 'Rise Up'!… I won’t spoil it for those still wanting a virgin experience – but GOD has done a lot more (and more) in this album.
Unfortunately my plans of locking myself in the car and listening to the album got shot when some pricks broke into my car and stole my radio few days ago :( - I hope their engine seizes ... and their hood rots and falls off when its raining - among other things! ... sigh ... but then all that's in the past
So am with my trustworty headphones and computer ... Right now – I’m really loving Broken English … and every beat of it!

SXSW

I'm eating my heart out ... Austin - why do you have to be so far! The master a.k.a. Karsh Kale is performing this Friday (03/17) @Austin for SXSW - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhh!
lucky bastards those who will be able too see him play live ... and more.
But hey - thanks to SXSW, I'm actually able to hear the first track from Broken English - some trade-off ... but nice nevertheless!
Aayaand I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they actually capture the event on video like they did in 2005 - that would be soohooperb!

As for my hiatus - well spring break rolled by and we spent 6 days with dear friends in the vicinity of the greatest city on the planet - NYC! Lots More on that later - right now am stuck in the deluge of work - bleh!

Update (03/19)
Since Cho2 protested so vehemently about me calling it "Austin City" as opposed to Austin (the talks about renaming Bombay to 'Bombay Bubblegum City' convinced me!) - I have updated the post accordingly. Cho2 does have the rights to claim Austin to be her city! :)

Google Doodles

Well ... I have been diligently saving all the Google Doodles in my "GooglePics" folder for the past ummmm ... 3 years or so. I've felt bad for the times that I've been too late to save one of them ... Just recently I was sad that I did not save one of the Winter-Olympics doodles when D showed me where all the doodles that have "Ever" been up are kept ... right under my mouse ... on the Google web-site! dang. dang. dang.

And its interesting to read about the dude who makes all these doodles for us :)

Me Want

Minority Report type touch screens!
Thank you Brij for pointing this one out ... can't wait for it to happen :) - the multi touch screen

And very very interesting comments on the post too.

Ajit - My first Google Video

This is in reference to my earlier post on Calcutta
Late December 2005 - Walking in the vicinity of Park Street – on some innocuous street in Calcutta – I see this dude sitting on the pavement with a bunch of painted greeting cards by him – reminiscent of the “painting-on-a-leaf” greeting cards that are sold on the streets of VT (wish I had one of them right now!) – anyways ... Curious as ever I asked him if he painted those cards. He replied with a sense of pride that he not only painted those cards by hand but he actually used his “hands” for painting them – no brushes used here! I asked him how long it took him to paint one and he replied without a pause – “three minutes”!
Next - we crowded around him to watch him in action and sure enough, our jaws were on the pavement a couple of minutes later. Heck – he was almost half done by the time I pulled out my camera and started recording! And I don’t take too much time to do that! Take a lookie here – my first google video upload – superb stuff!
Asked him to sign on the card – Ajit – amazing Ajit!
Sure enough we bought most of his cards on display – at an unbelievable price of Rs.10 each!!!
Hmmm … art is soooooooooooooooooo cheap in India! I can not even imagine how much Ajit could make if he commercialized his works … food for the MBA thought!









and pls ignore the glitchy scans.
The Man - Ajit -

And thank you Brij for these 2 pics ...

A Cruise with a View

After listening to the details and reading Arvind's posts and viewing most of his pictures on his (?) Mac - made mental note that we need to be on a cruise sometime. And wham appears Tony O' Driscoll describing his cruise - sweet timing!
Why not go on a cruise with some live music on it as well ... even Dave Matthews Band live would do! Yes - this is definitely on the radar now :)

Funny would be putting it very seriously!

Lots and lots of things happening in the past few days - have been unable to post something sensible amidst all the activity and all the questions (read buying decisions) ... more on that later before I digress.
Thank You Brij (again) for pointing this one out.
This post has to definitely be the funniest post I have ever read - had me laughing off my chair - almost a Calvin effect! And his latest post is funny as hell - couldn't control my laughter (loud) reading him describe Venkatesh Prasad! ROTFL!
Way to go Sidin ... you're as funny (or more) as Douglas Adams ... nice.
and the dude has quit his job to pursue a writing career - now that is something - will watch out for his book.

Paritrana

(from the official web-site)

PARITRANA
the Political party for the Bharat of the 21st century.

The meaning of PARITRANA:
(Trana) means the act of relieving a conscious entity from the state of distress or pain. However, this relief may not be of permanent nature. (Paritrana) is the complete relief implying the end of the very cause of distress.

Thank You Pu for pointing this out. In the recent wake of discussions on Rang De Basanti and awakenings - this has provided a whole new sense of pride ... with a turbo-boost!
Paritrana - as Pu puts it are the Yuva in real life - hats off to them.
Having people with such prolific academic backgrounds from prestigious IIT's and the likes, risking their "assured high-flying careers" to take up the challenge facing us all is worth more than a mention and a few thoughts.
Intersting article here
Paritrana's official website.

I'm a mixed bag of overwhelming feelings right now ... more on this later!

Wild-Life

Casual chat with a dear friend – wandered off into the days when she used to work for wildlife preservation and she snapped back saying that she was actually working for us! How very true! How easily we forget that by saving our ecosystem we are essentially saving our sorry butts!

Which got me thinking – we’ve got it all wrong! “We” are the wild-life on this planet – Mankind (women included!) is the wildest species on the planet … destroying or gobbling up everything in sight! And the audacity – to call the civic (for lack of a better word) and balanced creatures as “wild-life” – huh!

Arrogant, pompous, conceited bastards – that’s what we are – wild-life!

Karsh Kale - Broken English

Karsh Kale is releasing his 3rd album titled Broken English on March 21 2006.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
the countdown has begun - I can feel the excitement in the air ...
as the master gets ready to deliver his third installment after Realize and Liberation.
And Thank God (and everyone else) that I am in the US - no mind-numbing 60-day agonizing waits for it to hit the local Planet M's!
And there's that reviewing community which gets the sneak previews of all this wonderful stuff - dang! someday ...
but for now -
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
Now where's that pre-order button ...

Yukon Ho!

A calviN and HobbEs database exists! The ultimate transmogrifier - suuuuuuperb stuff!
Thank You Sibin (again) for the rays of light!

Roobaroo Translation

In reference to my earlier post here, I finally moved my butt and took a shot at translating this wonderful song. Warning - this is a "prose" translation, not a poetry translation (D's working on that) - a lot of nuances of the song/poetry are lost in translation - but hey ...

aye saala
Dude ...

abhi abhi huaa yaqeen ki aag hai mujh mein kahi
hui subaah main jal gaya
suraj ko main nigal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2
I just realized that I have a fire inside me somewhere
Its a new morning and I am aflame
I overpowered the sun
I'm face to face with light


jo gumshuda-sa khwaab tha voh mil gaya voh khil gaya
who loha thaa pighal gaya kichhaa kichhaa machal gaya
sitaar mein badal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy
I have found my lost dream and it had started to blossom
It was a block of iron before but now it has melted, stretched
And has transformed into the melodious strings of the sitar
I'm face to face with light

(dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara) - 2
The fog clears and I can now see my open blue skies
I can see new paths and journeys ahead of me
If you could be my traveling companion
Match your stride with mine …

aandhiyon se jaghad rahi hai lau meri
ab mashaalon si bhad rahi hai lau meri
naamo nishaan rahe na rahe
ye kaaravaan rahe na rahe
ujaale mein pee gaya
roshan huaa jee gaya
kyon sehte rahe
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy – 2
My ardent desires fight with hurricanes
My ardent desires burn bright like torches
I don't care if I disappear without a trace
I care not if these caravans no longer exist
I soak in the sunlight
I am radiant and alive
Why keep suffering?
I'm face to face with light.

dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy – 2
The fog clears and I can now see my open blue skies
I can see new paths and journeys ahead of me
If you could be my traveling companion
Match your stride with mine…
I'm face to face with light.



Roobaroo Chords
The Chords for this song are extremely simple - A Repeating pattern of A,D throughout the song, except for A,E in the "dhuaan chata ..." part. The strumming is a lil tricky though - am working on that!

Update (2/17/2006)
Thank You Brij for pointing out the mistake in the lyrics. Have corrected it and also adding the "official" lyrics from the CD sleeve. Also including Khoon Chala which deserves a separate post for itself. Pssst - I'm headed to the cinema for my second helping tonight.

Malgudi Days

The Malgudi Days website for the fans :)
Thank You Sibin for pointing this out - and all the Malgudi Days links on your post.
I guess its time to e-mail those folks @padamrag asking for the Malgudi Days DVD set!

pondering on Rang De Basanti ...

Still unable to take the movie out of my mind – D and I keep discussing on how we as individuals can really help the cause in India which is nothing short of a freedom struggle. An excellent post by RonitaDutta on Rang De Basanti resonated with our thoughts. Like Ron says, the generation Y effort should not become another Naxal Bari movement which more or less failed due to the inability of translating ideals to practical goals.
I myself do not know too much about the Naxal Bari movement but the point resonates … and very loudly – we need to convert ideals to practical goals – tangible goals which can be achieved and/or measured.
With that perspective, D and I seem to be on opposite corners of essentially the same bench, admittedly a confused one! There doesn’t seem to be much clarity on the issue – do you become radical and put *everything* at stake or do you play tactically – do your bit in your community, in your organization and your immediate circle of influence?
Tough answer – very very tough. Which side do you take? You do love your family – your job, your wants, your desires – face it – we *are* human! The classic dilemma of "I want to help but I don’t want to be a Bhagat Singh or a DJ and I don’t know what to do!"
My two cents say that we need all the help we can find – but only difference is that this can not be a uncoordinated effort – it has to be a multi-pronged attack and there has to be a tangible solution – solutions could be as simple as – the police station in my locality will be responsible enough to provide the proverbial “bang-for-the-buck”!, or that the school in my backyard will treat all students equally – race or creed! ... ... ...
This is a situation where everythingness is one – small pieces will have to be tied on to form larger pieces!
Yes there would have to be a radical wing – the Bhagat Singh’s and DJ’s which will provide the wake-up call when needed – but running shoulder to shoulder with them would be the tactical wing – the young entrepreneurs, the money-makers who shall strive to gain access within the trenches of political powers – the power-makers who would strive to provide stability to the youth by means of education (education and not literacy!), jobs and direction – the thinkers who would try and mould the minds of future on what lies ahead and what needs to be done – on the benefits of being honest! Maybe Karan and Aslam could have stayed away from the radio-station … to stay alive and harness the rage of the population into a revolution – maybe using Karan’s dad’s wealth as a useful tool – who knows … like I said there is no single solution …

And the one powerful tool that we yield today is the power of information – and we have to leverage this as much as possible - we have be like an army of ants with the difference that each of us ants will be able to communicate to any other ant instantaneously – with the power of broadcast of course! If there is one thing that will shape the future of the world, it will be the ease of sharing and broadcasting information – revolutions are going to get smaller and more ferocious! Of course that also means that there has be a sense of urgency and a lot of co-ordination … nobody said that this is going to be easier!

Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi

A movie I've been wanting to write about for a long long really long time now, but I need not now - coz Sarat does justice (and more) in his latest blog entry - here - thank you dude!

Official site of the movie.
IMDB Review

I really don't like these posters, except for the Red&Black backgrounds in each of them - I fail to comprehend why the posters are so so so unlike the movie!

Sarat moves over

before hell froze over :)
Yep - Sarat is blogging now - http://saratm.blogspot.com/
His old stuff has not moved to his blog - but its still there.

I guess marriage does bring about a new(er) perspective to things!

SuperBowl 40

My first superbowl!
Yaaay! Not really! My first superbowl was not quite what I expected – maybe it was all the hype or maybe it was the sagging Rolling Stones on stage at half-time – dunno! Never did like that band … even when they were young – which must have been a hundred and sixty twelve years ago! But I digress …
Seattle Seahawks vs. the Pittsburg Steelers – not a big American Football fan, I was naturally inclined towards the Seattle Seahawks – besides, Seattle I could identify with, Pittsburgh … naaah! The game was quite interesting although the feeling in my gut told me that it was rigged! OMG – I said it! That’s right – sue me!
All the referee calls for the SeaHawks were wrong and the Steelers had a “hand of god” kind of touchdown which never really was a touchdown! But then I’m a novice in American Football – so who am I to comment!
But the whole event was not-at-all-impressive – it seemed very plastic and commercial and fake. I had more fun watching the superbowl commercials on google video today than I had watching the event! Maybe it’s the skeptic in me … or that I’m biased … or maybe I’m just bloody right!
And for the uninitiated - SuperBowl is the biggest American Football "world" championship (played only in the US!), and not a giant Bowling Competition ... altho it might very well be!

The Da Vinci Code

25 January 2006 - Not the movie - the day I completed reading the book! Yes ... a book! Its been years (almost 10) since I picked up a book (without pictures) and read it end to end. It feels great to be reading again - and it does bring back the sweet and painful patience game, while you wait for the next page/chapter!
As much as I enjoyed reading, I think I shall postpone picking up another book (a big one i.e.) for a few months - till at least I am out of school! The Reading Bug is around me - I can feel it - its just a matter of time ... I'm excited :)
Oh, the book - awesome - Can not wait to go to Paris now :) I know some of the purists out there (that includes you Sarat :P) may say that the book is crap and lacks depth, but hey - its good fun! No wonder its being made into a movie ...
For now I guess its going to be my Nat Geo's and my ever faithful Comics :)

What's the Good Word

24 Jan 2006 - Its 7pm - I’m sitting in class – listening to the answer I just blurted out and how the professor rehashed the same answer in his words or rather in *a* word
Its one thing to be succinct and another to be able to summarize it in one word! And I personally believe that Americans are quite adept at that – naturally. They are able to come out with superb solid words for even mediocre things!
A classic example is the kind of names they give their abysmal cars – you don’t see a Honda, Toyota or even a BMW come up with names like Firebird, Trailblazer, Thunderbird, Mustang and the likes – now those are super solid names for fast cars … unlike City, Camry, Z3 – they seem more like flowers or science experiments! Leaving aside the Ferrari and Lamborghini, thanks to their animated logos, I struggle to think of a single superb name for a fast car from outside of the US! Eclipse, Celica … probably not!

This guy is seriously funny!

No I'm not talking about President Bush or his State of the Union!
I'm talking about Jeremy Clarkson. His comments on parkering (which incidentally is a car review) had me almost falling out of my seat in class ... laughing!
Brij calls him the king of sarcasm, but I think he is beyond that - he's quite articulate with his words ... and funny as hell! Seriously!

the movie ...

follow up to my earlier post on Rang De Basanti

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra – the man behind the lens … shows me some aspects of our capital and thereabouts that make me want to drive down those roads (and chopper rides!)
This movie is one of the few few really few movies where I was antsy – every bit of the interval – I could not get the previous 90 minutes or the impact of it out of my mind! I was at a loss of words! Bluffmaster had impressed me a few weeks ago and promised that smooth directors are here to stay – transitioning crapola Bollywood into classy Indian cinema – but this effort went even beyond that!
The Actors –
Siddharth Narayan – need to watch out for this dude – he’s played this rich cynical kid who thinks that all is lost with India – not a very tough role to play but he’s done a brilliant job – really impressive
Kunal Kapoor – I really loved him Meenaxi (the only thing I liked in that movie for sure!) – and he continues to impress. Impressed with his acting.
Aamir Khan – here is an actor who seldom fails to impress! I like Aamir a lot but I’m not a die-hard fan or anything like that. This one scene in the movie where he bursts out crying – says it all – definitely one of the best actors around!
Atul Kulkarni – plays his usual self – fine actor – fine performance
Sharman Joshi – good comic relief – although was overshadowed by everyone else around him!
Khoon Chala – still can see the picturization of this song – my hair stood on its end! Brilliant stuff.
Roobaroo – still am coming to terms with the way this song was shot – awesome, yet left you wanting for more …
Superb stuff … all credit to Rakeysh. His camera work is superb – gives you an “sitting out there” feel – love it. Could see shades of the camera motion in Battlestar Galactica out there! His direction is classy – a seamless blend of Shyam Benegal and James Cameroon (albeit the special effects).
Farhan Akhtar impressed me with Dil Chahta Hai and then even more with his followup Lakshya.
Rakeysh definitely impressed with Aks, but he goes miles more with Rang De Basanti – here is a director who finally delivers a movie with all the fun … and a story!
Cannot wait for his next venture …

and yes - the movie still keeps me awake sometimes - making me think about what I should be doing for India.

Rang De Basanti

walked out of the movie-theatre an hour ago and still am all wired up. In short - the best Hindi movie I have seen in recent times - .
simply loved it - and every second of it.
more on this after I am done chewing on a few things ...

Great Videos and Hari Om

Gung-ho on India (as usual) and esp. since its around Jan 26, I looked for some videos by Bharatbala and co. and am assimilating them here -

Jana Gana Mana - The sweet rendition by Rahman and the rest of the Indian maestros.

An awesome link that Hemant sent - here -

Ranjot Barot’s rendition of Vande Maratam - here -

A good representation of Vande Mataram - here -

Incidentally, Bharatbala has also made a movie called Hari Om. I was not aware of this one and stumbled on it (as usual!). I was aware of the tajmahal movie that he was working on (I suspect he finished it!) but not this one. Seems to be a promising one ... and somewhat on the lines of Before Sunrise - one of my favourites.

Happy Republic Day

A Happy republic day to everyone – January 26 – the day the greatest democracy in the World was constituted!
But let me put on my skeptical hat for some time –
Granted it is republic day and everyone is gung ho about it – I too am – I love to parade the Indian flag and feel great about it. But what are we really celebrating? This is the day our constitution was born – one of the best written constitutions in the world I am told – awesome – even if this was mentioned in the innumerous “India is Great” e-mails floating around – lets suppose it really is the bestest in the world! … It still exists only on paper!
We all seem to unanimously nod to the fact that India has great rules but pitiful enforcement!

So then why stop short of all the gung-ho about Republic Day. Why not earmark this day to take stock of all the shortcomings of our system … especially on our enforcement front! Not to point fingers at anybody but rather to simply generate a feeling that India is a democracy – by the people and more importantly “for” the people – its time we stood up and demanded our rights! Nothing more … nothing less.
A system where politicians with criminal records are not allowed.
A system where there are legal provisions to prosecute “guilty-as-charged” corrupt politicians.
A system where the people can look to the police for help.
And someday a system of self-governance … among other things!
Not that these things are far-fetched or unrealistic, but that it is our right and we should at least realize that – big step!
Lets take stock (at least today) on what has changed since the last time.
Happy Republic Day.

Hindi Song

Brij put up some nice links for Hindi Songs lyrics - amazing the kind of stuff people put up on the internet!


Then as I was looking for something (as usual) I ran into this site for Inspired Indian Film Songs - really surprising some of the songs I found there! Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik we all know, but to see so many famous RD and Rahman songs ... well ... maybe its time I stopped getting so anal about my compositions!

Roobaroo

My recent favourite song – from the movie Rang De Basanti.
Roobaroo - Persian for “face to face”. The tune is definitely catchy (I’m no stickler for lyrics!) but the lyrics (yes – that’s me) are awesome! Very very personal and inspiring. Needless to say - another masterpiece from A R Rahman. D and I keep humming this tune and debating over the meaning/order of this song.

We hear that the movie is out in India - will watch is as soon at it hits Raleigh - before reading any reviews or opinions about the movie! A Rakesh Mehra movie (of Aks fame) - am quite certain its going to be goooooood.
In fact the album is wonderful - highly recommended by me (for whatever thats worth!)
There's another inspirational track in the album called "Khoon Chala" (Blood Runs) which delivers the message that "a Generation Awakens" - sung by Mohit Chauhan of Silk Route fame - superb track.
Nuff said! - before I make this an official Rang De Basanti album post - I shall stop my rambling :)
Back to Roobaroo ... Will translate the meaning and post it … soon (with D’s “HELP” of course). Until then here goes …

Roobaroo Lyrics - :
aye saala
abhi abhi huaa yaqeen ki aag hai mujh mein kahi
hui subaah main chal gaya
suraj ko main nigal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2

jo gumshuda-sa khwaab tha
voh mil gaya voh khil gaya
uulon hathaa pighal gaya
kichhaa kichhaa machal gaya
sitaar mein badal gaya
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2

(dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara) - 2

aandhiyon se jaghad rahi hai lau meri
ab mashaalon si bhad rahi hai lau meri
naamo nishaan rahe na rahe
ye kaaravaan rahe na rahe
ujaale mein pee gaya
roshan huaa jee gaya
kyon sehte rahe
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2
dhuaan chhataa khula gagan mera
nayi dagar naya safar mera
jo ban sake tu hamsafar mera
nazar mila zara
ruu-ba-ruu roshni heyy - 2
aye saala - 4

Harga blog

Was asked to read about Andrew Hargadon for one of our classes – interesting chap. Liked his views on innovation and Technology brokering. Then hopped over to his blog where he made an interesting point on new technology – He says – “There is a subtle and fleeting moment early in the introduction of new technologies when society shifts from viewing these novelties in terms of their nearest existing analog and starts seeing them for what they are!” – very very true.

His recent post Toys In The Attic is super-interesting. I myself am guilty of at least three potential computers in mine :P

Need to read this guy's blog more often!

Niladri Kumar and his Zitar

That’s what he calls his 5-string electrified sitar and is in the process of patenting. It has a pick-up and is plugged into a Boss GT-6 guitar effects processor - a rocker's delight!
Had the good fortune of watching him play his zitar live at the first ever Bangalore Habba in 2003-2004. His performance - MIND BLOWING –
Watching him sitting centre-stage with the likes of Fazal and Taufiq Quereshi, Karl Peters, Louis Banks and play like he did … the guy is a genius.
Unfortunately not too many albums of his out there … available in the shops i.e. – we truly live in an age of bhangra and techno … its unbelievably hard to find albums of Indian artists.
Update – Its impossible to find CD’s of Colonial Cousins or Silk Route – they don’t make them anymore – so if you have them or know someone who has them – hang on to those CD’s friends! That’s how bad the situation is!
Getting back Niladri – his album Sitar Gaze is wonderful (still waiting to get the CD back from Sarat) and am listening to “Kali’s Son” – sweeheeeeet works. Plis listen if u can – and yes – do let me know if you find more of his works.
Rock on Niladri & Zitar.

Sticky Post for Recent posts

Indianism
Assimilation is in our culture
Iamback!
Hand Rickshaw
Best City In The World
Calcutta-Trip
All in a Day's work
Smell Of Bombay

Indianism

http://www.kaustubh.com/indianism.html
Sounds cliché but hey I liked it … thanks to Kaustubh Prasad of www.kaustubh.com fame – again stumbled over this while looking for some info on Pankaj Awasthi.

Heck it's actually a word - dictionary.com defines it as – “Devotion to or preference for the people and culture of India.” Among other things … of course!

Assimilation is in our culture – our Nature.

was looking for Pankaj Awasthi and stumbled onto http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/
from there I stumbled over …
The Asians are coming
Kapur says – “Assimilation is what is great about Bollywood. Because India has been conquered so often, assimilation is a part of our culture. It's also the strength of the philosophies of India, the strength of hinduism: it refuses to define itself. Western cultures are more stone, eastern cultures are more water. Water doesn't define itself, it just keeps flowing.”
I concur.

Shekhar has some interesting posts
Sound So Pure
Juhu That Once
Us Immigration
Masturbating In

Iamback!

Iamback!

from a hectic and fun trip to India. 5 weeks - 5 states - 7 cities - 3 weddings - lots of eating out - lots of driving - lots of shopping - sunsets - beaches - temples - trams - buses - families - friends - emotions ... and much much much more.
Lots of things to write and so little time!

and oh, a recurring update - Bombay does not have one of the best sunsets in the world - it has THE BEST sunsets in the world - period!
random pics from the trip ...

Indian Marriages - a miracle!

Indian Marriages – I guess its always a bitter sweet symphony! Its amazing how things work in Indian marriages – nobody seems to know the order of events and details except one man – the pundit-man!
And still everybody is about doing their stuff – amidst all the chaos. Its almost like an event-management disaster waiting to happen! I write this after being an integral part of 3 marriages – yep 3 different ones (and different people) - in less than three weeks! Harsh-Aparna, Sarat-Sally and Pranav-Dipti – all in a few days!
God seriously loves my country!

The Hand Rickshaw

Calcutta still has the hand rickshaw mode of transport – a 2 seater pulled by hand. Knee jerk reaction – “no way we should ever climb one of those … its cruel to the drivers”. Soumya made a very very interesting point – “then how would they earn money?”
“wouldn’t it be better to use their services and tip them better so that they can afford to buy a conventional cycle-rickshaw or better!”
excellent point – the next day mom and I took the hand rickshaw back to the hotel – it was a very short distance and we paid the chap twice the amount he asked – all very nice – but we pretty much felt each and every bump on the road! The damn thing does not have any shock absorbers or the sorts! Heck it pretty much has cart-wheels – no air cushion in the wheels here!

The best city in the world

Bombay at night. 3 January 2006.
The best city in the world – looks its best at night … unfortunately! But amidst all the marriages, food, family and friends, we did manage to slam in a purely impulsive 6 hour drive – New Bombay to Sion to VT to Gateway to Marine Drive to Malabar Hill to Worli to Dadar to Ghatkopar to New Bombay – 80 kilometers of gooooooooood sights from 9pm to 3am. Needless to say - we did have a good pit-stop at GK (Sion) for a splurge of paani-puri, samosa, pav-bhaji and the likes. Would have loved to have Canon's pav-bhaji but that will have to wait ...
Strangely, each time that I pulled out my camera they turned off the lights!
11:55pm - at Gateway adjusting my camera to get a sweet pic of the monument and suddenly everything becomes dark! Things suddenly seem unsafe and we leave the place 
2am – at SiddhiVinayak – am adjusting the camera to get a nice closeup of the Gopura and they turn off the lights!
Seemed like the pattern for the night.

But it’s always boatloads of fun to be in Bombay – we had tea at 1am on Marine drive sitting on the wall – nice. The city never sleeps! Really.

Heck, we almost crashed into someone’s house at Malabar. In all eagerness to view the Queen’s necklace from the top of the hill, I pulled the car onto the curb – when we heard anxious voices screaming “stop”! a couple more feet and we would have been on the terrace of one of the houses and probably crashed thru the roof – what seemed to be the curb was actually the roof of one of the houses! Really Close shave!
Wonder what would have been the first few words exchanged if our car had drooped thru their roof at 2am! “Some tea?” … probably not!