Yahi duniya hai to aisi ye duniya kyun hai...?

A conversation from a couple of days ago..

"Me (looking at a 3-4 yr old kid playing at a little distance): That kid is sooo cute!
P1: Good that you are not a catholic!
Me:Why?
P2: If you are a catholic and you say that, it will be interpreted as you might be interested in sexually abusing the kid.
Me: ?!?!?!
P1: You know, priests in churches are not allowed to have any sexual relations with a woman and so they have to find a way to fulfil their desires.
P3: In fact, in some countries like in UK, there is a law that if you do a job associated with children, for example if you are a school bus driver or so, you have to get yourself registered with some legal authority so that in case there is an offence, it is known who to be suspected. "


not much more to say, really!!!!

questions...

The 'whens' and the 'wheres' and the 'whats' and the 'whos' and the 'whichs' are normally quite easy to answer. On most occasions, 'hows' are not that difficult either. The questions that, if attempted to answer, have a potential to kill are the 'whys'!!

Aaj ka gyaan

Do not say you trust someone unless you believe their lies just with as much assurance as you believe their truths.

Technology is a big-time robber

Emails/chats ne chitthi ka maza loot liya.. Aur ab facebook/twitter ne dheere dheere blogging ka... all the people who used to blog regularly are happy posting one-liners on facebook/twitter these days.

I guess/hope blogging will/should still survive.

As a revolutionary step, lets not post stuff on facebook/twitter at least for a while :D

..And life goes on...

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/books/20segal.html

Erich Segal ... a person who is and will always be fondly remembered .. and most for that so very powerful line... "love means you never have to say you are sorry"

Dekha hai zindagi ko, kuchh itna kareeb se....

We perhaps need to sit and revise our principles every once in a while to know whether our understanding of things is right... almost like we need a medical check-up every once in a while to know if our body is functioning right.. and this 'medical check-up' is needed more and more often as we grow up..

On a different, though related, note I sometimes feel like our current generation is growing older at a much faster rate than the previous generations. With no disrespect to anyone, I think today's generation of people in their twenties understand many aspects of life perhaps better than people twice their age.... and I am not talking about the technical know-how of things but the philosophical aspects. I so hope/wish/want that I am wrong in this conclusion because even though some might be proud of this, it seems to be against nature. I wonder what the reason is... is it because of staying more away from the home/family..is it because money comes by much easier and the day-to-day life is more comfortable so that you have time to think about other things... I am not sure. I am not sure. But this is not good. It is almost like, as one of my friend puts it, sublimation [:D] i.e. direct transition from bachpan to budhaapa. There are people in their twenties suffering from something the symptoms of which seem like mid-life crisis. And there are yet others who are even faster.. they are already done with this 'mid-life-crisis' while still in their twenties and now have come to terms with the dullness of life and are at peace with it. It is sad. No wonder so many people have started growing gray hair in their twenties. No wonder people are having heart-attacks in their twenties. Why do we want to stop running and start walking slowly and cautiously when physically we are still capable of running?

On another different (i don't know if related or not) note, I somehow am reminded of this song from a kid movie Rahul...

"Give me a song to sing
Give me a bell to ring
Give me a toy to play
Give me....a heart....to stay"

God, why do we want so much..

...triveni...

Aaj haath ki lakeeron se kuchh shikaayat si hai
Kuchh zyaada lambi hain, kuchh zyaada chhoti

Kaash cut-copy-paste ka option in mein bhi hua karta..

Weird dream last night...

I dreamt that I had, while traveling, left my bag somewhere and gone to the toilet and when I returned, my passport was not there in the bag. And the rest of the dream was just about the struggle of trying to find it until I got fed up and woke up :D

Any interpretations, anyone?

Chess in real life

There is an old story that goes like this.

"A chess amateur decided to play chess against two grandmasters. he challenged them that he would either win at least one of the games or draw both. And he won the challenge.

This is how he did it. He started playing simultaneously with black pieces with the first grandmaster and white pieces with the second grandmaster. Each time the first grandmaster played his move, he duplicated this move on the second chessboard and then waited for the response of the second grandmaster and duplicated it on the first chess-board . This way he was bound to win one or draw both."

Sometimes we try to apply the same strategy in real life. Of trying to face different fronts of life with 'black' and 'white' pieces and copy the moves of one to the other. But we 'fail' if we do so. At least, mostly so.

Do you know where the catch is? This is what I think. The catch is that there are no draws in real life and besides, it is very very difficult to distinguish between winning and losing. And even if we do manage to distinguish, we would never be able to find fully black or fully white pieces. They will all be grey... maybe different shades of grey.. but hard to distinguish again.

Quote of the day

"Extreme laughing and extreme crying are hard to distinguish mostly... it is like approaching the same point on a circle from opposite directions" - Divesh :D

random once again...

Ek mahanubhaav ne kaafi arse pehle farmaaya

"Woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go, before I sleep
And miles to go, before I sleep"

Ek aur mahanubhaav ne lagbhag usi samay farmaaya (too lazy to check the exact dates)

"What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare"

Ab kya kaha jaaye. Baatein to dono sahi lagti hain. Waise bhi dono bade log hain. Sahi hi bol rahe honge. Lekin dono baatein sahi hone mein kuchh mushqil si lagti hai.

The only logical way I can (or probably want to) come up with to be consistent with both the above is to make promises about 'staying in the woods' so that I could keep my promises while I 'stand and stare'.

-------------------

Yun to kaha karte hain hum ki

"Dil jo bhi kahega, maanenge"

lekin

"Aaj phir dil ne ik tamanna ki, aaj phir dil ko hum ne samjhaaya"

-------------------

'It's only words and words are all I have' ... if only they could 'take your heart away' ....

-------------------

Am going a little crazy over the last few months, as you can imagine from the last some posts on the blog including this one. No, it isn't too much work.. just generally, it is in the air :D. A much needed break coming up. Coming home in 4 days time for about 4 weeks. So, this is the last post of the year. Next post, next year. Till then, wishing all readers a very happy beginning to 2010. May all of you find lots to cheer about.

-------------------

This is the 99th post on this blog. The logical conclusion is that the next post will be the 100th. Hence, it has to be special. It will be. Watch out.

...Raat ye bhi guzar jaayegi...

Yun kabhi kabhi sochta hoon

Ki kyun ye waqt itna tez bhaag jaata hai

Yaad aata hai

Wo befikr bachpan
Jab raaz koi kisi se rakhna na tha
Kab kya karna sahi hai ye jaanna na tha
Hansi ko vajah ki zaroorat na thi
Aansu koi bekhabar behta na tha
Duniya mein jab koi bura lagta na tha
Ranj koi do pal theherta na tha

Yun lagta hai jaise kal hi ki baat hai

Yaad aati hai

Wo bindaas yaari
Jab galti ko galti koi samajhta na tha
Shukriya ada karna jab zaroori na tha
Jab laaton se tod diye jaate the darwaaze
Privacy naam ki bala ko koi jaanta na tha
Kuchh kehne se pehle jab sochna na tha
Jab wafaon pe shaq koi karta na tha

Yun lagta hai jaise kal hi ki baat hai

Yaad aata hai

Wo ek pyaara saath
Chand lafzon mein jiski gawaahi na ho
Khushnuma sa wo ek ehsaas tha

Yun lagta hai jaise kal hi ki baat hai

Yun kabhi kabhi sochta hoon
Ki kyun ye waqt itna tez bhaag jaata hai

Phir khayaal aata hai ki
Shaayad meherbaan hai ye
Jo guzar jaata hai
Kisi anchaahe mod par theher jaata
To najaane kya hota!!

PS: If the title doesn't make sense, don't bother :)

Muskaan - Life is beautiful: Part 1 [fiction]

It was 7 AM on a cold November morning. The alarm clock rang. She leapt her hand out of the blanket and turned the alarm off but kept lying on the bed. It was an off day from work and she did not seem to be in any sort of hurry. She lay there staring into nothingness. Her thoughts in that moment were such a muddled set of emotions that she would have had trouble describing that herself. She wondered what a simple and innocent girl she had been just a few years ago. It had been a simplicity that was evident in her entire behavior and everyone seemed to know her so well that they could make out what was on her mind even without her having to say that. And suddenly, in such a short span of time, life for her had come such a long way that she wasn't even sure any more whether she knew herself well.

While being amongst all these thoughts, she got out of bed. After getting the bed back to being its neatly arranged self, she went on with her morning chores. After having a bath, she sat down to say her prayers. While she did not believe in any religion, she had always believed in her God and had prayed Him ever since she was six years old. Her prayers, however, had changed with time. Today, she just prayed for mental peace for herself and the well being of her family. Her innumerable dreams and her enthusiasm to achieve them had almost become extinct with time.

After eating a little bit of breakfast, she headed towards her book shelf. Books were one thing that, albeit only occasionally, could still make her happy. As she went to the book shelf, she caught sight of a piece of paper stuck just above the book shelf that had a quote by Clifton Paul Fadiman written on it, “When you re-read a classic you do not see in the book more than you did before. You see more in you than there was before”. This helped her make her decision. She decided to read an already read book. As she browsed through the already read books. she stopped at Leo Tolstoy's huge 802 page classic Anna Karenina. As she looked at the book, her mind immediately ran back to an old pleasant memory and her face lit up with a bright smile. A smile that was characteristic of her name that had so fondly been given to her by her father the first moment he had held her smiling self in his hands. A smile that had been a characteristic that described her personality till only a few years ago. A smile that was a rarity in the present.

With the memory and the smile still intact, she sat down to read the book. Soon, she was totally engrossed in the book. Hours passed by one after the other. She did not even feel any urge to eat lunch. She continued to read for 8 hours.

At 6 pm, the door bell rang. She was a little surprised. She was not used to having visitors on holidays. As she opened the door, she heard seven voices singing in chorus, “Happy Budday to you, Happy Budday to you, Happy Budday dear Muskaan, Happy Budday to you”. It hadn't occurred to her during the entire day that it was her birthday. She had turned twenty-four today. This was the first time she had forgotten her birthday ever since she had known what birthday meant. Anyhow, her friends had brought a birthday cake, snacks and other stuff to eat/drink. They ate and chatted and laughed and sang throughout that evening and had a great time together. Or at least most of them did.

After seeing her friends off at her gate, she went back to her room and sank in her chair. A thought process that had been building up during the entire evening began to take its toll. She wondered, “There was a time not so long ago when I would have almost danced with joy on seeing my friends give me a surprise birthday party. Today things are so different. Here were my friends who had cared to me and gathered here to make the day special for me and all the while, I was just putting up fake smiles and laughter and waiting for them to leave so that I can again have my solitude back. O' God, why have I changed so much. Why have I changed so much.” A tear ran down her cheek. And another one. Within no time, she was sobbing helplessly. She shouted in frustration, “O' God, please help me”.
To her utmost surprise she heard a voice from behind, “Yes, my child. Put forth all your questions to me”.

Ten-tenenn

She had always been God's favorite child. This was God's turn to show His affections.

**************
to be continued
**************


PS: This is my first attempt at fiction. I might try more depending on how this one turns out. It can/will vary a lot from reality because I hardly know females for real and the only female I can claim to know very well is my mother (I should perhaps mention here that the set of people I love and care about is not contained in the set of people I know very well). Still, I wanted the protagonist to be a girl and I have my reasons for it. Of course, similarity to any person living or dead will be greatly appreciated :D

today..

...was quite a good day :)

Went to watch 'London Dreams' today and the experience was amazing. Naah.. it is not the movie.. but it was the first time I watched a movie absolutely alone in the theater. Yes, there was no one except me. I was told to sit wherever I want to.. and I am not sure why but momentarily I was thrilled .. probably because I felt as if I was the king of the place. That royal feeling is pleasing once in a while. Threw my jacket from a distance onto one of the seats at the back and then went on to place my ass on the next one.. college ke TV room waale din yaad aa gaye.. if only CL was here :( :)...

Besides all this royal experience and all, the movie was fine too. It had glimpses of Yaaraana, Rock On and Abhimaan at different levels. If only the songs were good enough, the movie would rank close to the former two probably. And Salman Khan, for once, was tolerable. I don't know if it is the age that has put some sense into him or was it the character that made me tolerate him but he was bearable almost throughout. Oh well, about the character, it can be well summarized by the opening scene of the movie which was something like this- the teacher at school was asking all the students what they want to become when they grow up, the kid who plays Salman as a kid answers, "Masterji, maine to bade hi nahi hona... bade hone mein bade lafde hote hain".. you know why I liked the character, don't you? :D ..

And though not as much as Ghazni, Asin is indeed adorable...

so overall, the movie, in my opinion, is worth a watch.

-----------------------------

After destroying the day after the movie whiling away the time doing random things, I decided to watch another movie,.. "wake up sid" .. this time on the comp, though in an average print.

This movie was absolutely adorable. Wait, did I use that word twice in a single post? I am normally extremely miserly with the use of that word. There is probably something special about the day so let us let it stay that way.

Is movie ke baare mein kya kahoon? Another "kid-like" character in the lead who manages to win the affections of none other than Konkana Sen, who in my opinion is the best actress bollywood has seen.. and seems like an extremely high maintenance girl... wait am I mixing the movie with real life here? Whatever.. I guess it was meant to be that way. :D

Well.. loved this movie and especially the last dialogue. Yes, it is a cliche but it is good to hear it every once in a while..here is what it will roughly translate to..

"Chasing our destinies, we often overlook a lot of little things. So, even if for a short while, just take your eyes off your busy schedule and search for that special feeling.. the feeling that makes the city you live in, the life you live even more beautiful... who knows you might also find a companion, and then all of a sudden you see that life is coming your way"

the world of movies continues to be pleasant.. as always..

PS: Wish all days of life could be summarized on the blog :)

...

It is high time I learn to get over my addictions. Quitting coke today.

Itni shakti humein dena daata, mann ka vishwaas kamzor ho na.. :)

I need a confessional...

When the batakh goes to falak

Was gtalking with a blog friend and together we came up with this crap that we proudly call a poem :D... as you can see there are no stanzas because we were throwing lines alternately ... and your being able to comprehend this depends on your RQ (randomness quotient)

dubluk dubluk publuk publuk paani me uchala ek batakh
phir padosi batakh se bola chal with me till falak

and in attempt to hold pankh to go till falak

poor batakh gaya ek khajoor ke tree pe latak

phir uski padosi batakh ne bola chalo plane me jaate hain

bekaar me kyu hum apne pankh hilate hain

agar pankhon ko denge hum thoda sa rest

to achchha kaam karenge wo in times of test

dono batakh baithe plane me

lekin seat belt fit nahi aaya
male batakh ka achaanak dil aa gaya air hostess pe

aur jab usne airhostess ho dekh ke seeti bajayee

to female batak ne use ek tamacha lagaya

phir aayi akal uski thikane

aur bina banaye koi aur bahane

usne female batak ko saara apna attention diya

aur is tarah unhone plane me falak tak safar kiya

at falak they found another bathak

pati patni ke beech ye "wo" kahaan se aa gaya achaanak

female batak ne ghoor ke dekha toward male batak

aur poocha gusse se, kya chal raha hai ye sab

mujhe kehte ho come with me till falak

and then koi aur is waiting for you idhar ab

male batak bola I don't know what is all this

aur apni loyalty prove karne ke liye usne diya female bathak ko kiss

is par female bathak ko aaya gussa

boli kya ek kiss kar dene se khatam ho jaayega tumhaari bewafaai ka kissa

batak bechara kya karta, itni daant khane ke baad

sochte sochte phir use aa gaya yaad

ki female batak ka gussa ho jayega khatam

usne kaha chalo dairy milk khate hain sanam

kyu ki dairy milk laata hai sabke face pe smile

isliye batak ne with a lot of style

bola ki kuchh baat hai hum sabhi mein

kuchh khaas hai zindagi mein

maana ki ye upar waali lines chori ki hain

par is moment par thi zaroori ye

ye sun ke aa gayi muskaan female batakh ke chehre par

and then they lived happily ever after

Reality/Practicality is severely over-rated

Goli maaro reality ko..
Ki reality bore karti hai
Dreams mein jiyega to hansega kallu, maama, kallu maama

Reality, path mein kaante laakh bichhaaye
Dreams to phir bhi bichhda yaar milaayen

Jitne bhi reality kar le sitam
Hans hans ke sahenge hum
Ye dreams na hongi kam, sanam, teri kasam

Reality to bewafa hai, har ghadi thukraayegi
Dream mehbooba hai, apne saath humko udaayegi
Day-dreaming.. ki ada.. duniya ko jo sikhlaayega,
Wo muqaddar.. ka sikandar.. jaaneman kehlaayega

A classic interview of Marat Safin

http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2009-09-02/200909021251925447125.html

While Federer is the phenomenon that has brought beauty to this sport, the sport would be less without Safin. Kehte to bahut log hain but Safin shows you how to live-life-king-size, on-your-own-terms. Kudos.

I would have highlighted the lines that I really liked from the aforementioned interview but the entire thing is a classic. Google for other quotes from the guy, too, if you like.

Something interesting

Received this very interesting forward (in italics below) a few minutes ago from a friend.

"The World of Interpretations: In a worldwide survey, conducted by the United Nations, the only question asked was: "Would you please give your most honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?" The survey was a HUGE failure because:

• In Africa they did not know what "food" meant;

• In Western Europe they did not know what "shortage" meant;

]• In Eastern Europe they did not know what "opinion" meant;

• In the Middle East they did not know what "solution" meant;

• In South America they did not know what "please" meant;

• In Asia they did not know what "honest" meant; and

• In the United States they did not know what "the rest of the world" meant! "

I don't know why but my immediate reaction to this was "I wonder if the 'ekta mein bal' philosophy could help produce the answer to this question if they try to answer it together". Probably that breaking-a-bundle -of -sticks-tied-together analogy does not quite work here. How very limited and applicable-only-in-certain-situations are the lessons that we are taught! How very open to interpretation they are! Sometimes I feel that all doctrines are just a web of words.

Dekh tere insaan ki haalat kya ho gayi bhagwaan

About 10 chess grandmasters including Vishwanathan Anand were in town for a chess tournament this weekend.

As it is I find the whole exercise of taking autographs a little weird, but what I saw was weirder.. A lot of people were taking autographs from Anand's wife...

...Iske aage hum aur kya kahen.

Kya karein kya na karein ye kaisi mushqil haaye..

I don't want to be responsible. I want to be reliable, though. But it seems like 'being responsible' is a pre-requisite for 'being reliable' :( ... Greedy me :D

"Thank You"

The place I live in is a nice place. People are friendly. People are 'helpful'.

This morning, I was running for the bus because it was about to leave in a minute or so. It is no big deal and I could catch the next one too but it would mean I would have to wait for 10 minutes. It is a common practice here that if someone sees you running to catch the bus, they press the button so that the door remains open. Someone did that for me this morning.

After about five minutes, the guy walks up to me and says, "You don't know how to say 'Thank you'. Don't you thank someone if someone helps you. It is not nice. It is not friendly". He was angry.

If you know me, you know I am very miserly about using the 'T' word and the 'S' word as I don't see the need but with strangers I do say those. This moment, in my absent-mindedness, I forgot.

While I do not blame the guy for saying what he did because he was at least honest about how he felt and it is the society that makes us so, this set me thinking for a while. Is that 'thank you' the only reason you help someone? Is that so necessary? Can we not be happy for 'helping' someone without getting the acknowledgment. And anyway, is a mere two words 'Thank you' enough to do justice to any act of kindness?

I read a quote sometime back by Swami Vivekanand which I liked a lot -

"Cut out the word help from your mind. you cannot help; It is blasphemy! You worship. when you give a morsel of food to a dog, you worship the dog as god. he is all, and is in all."

That is the reason, I always use the word 'help' within quotes. If I, as a giver, should believe in this, why should I not, as a recipient.

Jo kiya jaaye ek 'shukriya' sunne ki ummeed mein
Nahi chaahiye aye dost tera wo ehsaan mujhe

[Har baat pe shaayari maarne ki aadat si pad rahi hai :D]

The solitude of prime numbers

Just heard about this book written in Italian last year and which has already been translated in English. The context was this very cool analogy that it draws between prime numbers and individuals, which I put here in my own words, since I don't know the original words right now...

[Prime numbers are these stubborn creatures that are only divisible by 1 and themselves. They get lonelier and lonelier as they move ahead (reference is to arbitrary gaps between primes as their size increases). Even though they get lonely and far apart from the rest of their family, they always eventually find a companion who stays close to them (reference is to the twin prime conjecture).
The tragedy, however, does not end there. Even though these companions are very close to each other, there is this evil force between them that tries its best to keep them apart. (this, of course, refers to the even number between the twin primes)]

...and the absolute lover of analogies that I am, this already attracts me towards this book and I think I should get hold of it soon..

Roland Garros and Wimbledon

The news of the day is that Roger Federer has twin daughters. What would they be called? Any guesses? How about calling them Roland Garros and Wimbledon :P.. after all if Lallu Prasaad Yadav can name his daughter Kursi since she was born in the year he won the elections, why can't Federer? :D

Anyway, congratulations to him :)

How much more wishful can thinking get :)

Someone told me once that "Happiness" often sneaks in through a window you didn't know you had left open. And then I looked all around the house to find that open window. I was about to give up when I suddenly caught sight of an open window. All excited, I rushed towards it and in that excitement, I slapped the window and bang it went. Shut! I tried hard to open it but the magic window that it was, it would not open once it has been shut.

I wish there is another window left open somewhere. No, I am not looking for it any more.

-----------------------------------

I want

Longing to go
Memories to stay

Hope to go
Love to stay

but,


I am listening to this song right now :D

"Ek hi khwaab kayi baar dekha hai maine"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Dz9-GJobk

It is a funny thing about life that..

.. as you reap, so shall you sow.. and most of the times it is even unintentional.

Somehow life manages to make you do things you would have hated at a certain point of time..

Bommarillu

just finished watching this (Telugu) movie (with subtitles of course).. won't write a review here but just want to recommend it to those who like romantics... loved this movie, absolutely... and the female lead character, Hasini is a pleasure to watch... the kind of people i want to see more and more of (remember.. ek aisa jahaan hum banaayein :))!

and yes, I rarely watch non-hindi movies and have hardly watched about 20 or so of them with attention till the end ...

Kisi roz tumse mulaaqaat hogi....

...has been the slogan for 3 years now.. and finally the day has arrived.
Federer meets the history books today, and deservedly so. Finally, the 1st french open.. what a way to get to no. 14...

The Nadals and the Murrays and the Djokovics and the Del Potros.. watch out for the forthcoming Wimbledon... the greatest player in the history of the sport is coming at you to claim his favourite slam with the pressure off him for the first time in his career.. sounds dangerous, doesn't it?

While I do believe, he will win 3-4 more grand slams before he finally bids good-bye to tennis, even if he does not, one thing is settled. Federer is the greatest ever to have played tennis. Period.

And yes, I have always believed that good things come together.. so somehow have this feeling that times are going to change for me for the better in all respects.. so am off to celebrating the moment for now... cheers :)

Passion

Confused se the kuchh log mujhe baarish mein bheegta dekh kar
Aur main hans raha tha unke jannat ko chhatri se dhak lene par

Yaad aaya mujhe khud ka ek Einsteinspired quote kuchh puraana
Ki 'Passion looks just like madness to the observer'

:D

Vaada

Aaj kaha kisi ne ki hai karz ke jaisa
Har ek vaada jo bhi maine kiya hai

Khud se kiya vaada bhi hai karz hi shaayad, magar
Sochta hoon ki ye karz maine diya hai ya liya hai


PS: Today, on orkut ---"Today's fortune: A promise made is a debt unpaid."
Hence, the lines.

Khel

Tarsaana, aur phir achaanak se sab theek kar dena
Dekh ke ki tera banda thak ke haar jaane laga hai

Aye khuda dhoondh ab koi naya khel tu
Ki tera ye waala khel to ab samajh aane laga hai

The little prince

I read this story just now.... highly recommended. Without spoiling a lot, just quoting a few lines from the story. I have a pdf file so, in case you haven't already read it and are interested in reading drop a comment.

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is
tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

“You talk just like the grown-ups!” That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:
“You mix everything up together... You confuse everything...”


"When you tell grown-ups that you have made a new friend,
they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his
voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they
demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much
money does his father make?”


"To forget a friend
is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who
are no longer interested in anything but figures..."


"I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward and blundering. I did not know how I could reach
him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears."

A question

Why is the reference made to "genda phool" in the 'Delhi 6' song? Is there some special property of "genda phool" because of which it has been referred? Mostly it is rose/lotus that is referred to in songs/poetry. Genda phool seems to be quite a unique choice.

crap

"Har koi chaahta hai ik mutthi aasmaan
Har koi dhoondhta hai ik mutthi aasmaan"

but..

"Kabhi kisi ko muqammal jahaan nahi milta
Kahin zameen to kahin aasmaan nahi milta"

so...

if you find the earth slipping from beneath you, you know the reason...

Tag 3

I haven't written almost anything on this blog for quite some time and whatever little that I had, I wasn't sure how crappy it was.. even deleted a mini post yesterday. Want to get back to writing but nothing much to write about.. or maybe the right words aren't there.. So, a tag comes to the rescue.

If you have followed this blog for the last few months (I hope "the trio" still reads :)), you know what the title of the post means. Others... well.. figure it out.

So vibhav wants me to write about little things that piss me off. Just want to mention that most of the time I don't get pissed off but there are many things that can piss me off sometimes. Here are a few among the many....

1. Perfectionism - It is a disease and there are no two ways about it. If you feel uncomfortable seeing a tiny speck of dirt somewhere or are troubled by a comma missing in a text document, you suffer from this disease. It is hard to recover from it. The amount of effort it takes to make something 90% perfect is about one-tenth the amount of effort you need to achieve the remaining 10%. You have to be crazy to do that.

2. Niceties - Repeated use of "thank you" and "sorry" .. saying "nice meeting you" after meeting someone.. saying "take care" as a rule at the end of a conversation.. it is irritating. Yes, I understand that it has been programmed in the individuals so much that it is hard to avoid it but it is not fun. The attitude of 'being nice to everyone because you never know when you might need someone' sucks. Big time.

3. Misleading quotes - Especially those that are popular among kids. A stupid quote can have strange influences on kids. An example - "A friend in need is a friend indeed". If you don't get why I don't like this one, let me know.

4. The rise of expectations as you grow up -That you should behave in a certain manner.. that you should be responsible.. I don't enjoy it

5. Typecasting - Some statements that I keep hearing too often here .. "You are from India, you should like spicy food" or that "you should drink tea" or "you should feel cold" .. pleeeeeaaassseee.

6. In fact any kind of 'shoulds' piss me off e.g. even things like "you are boring if you don't like to travel"

7. Lying/Artificiality - Cliched, I agree. I hate it nonetheless.

8. Degrading the popular - Some people argue against any actor/player/artist/whatever who is the most popular just because he is the most popular. This is also a disease. This thing used to piss me a lot some time back and I have had loads arguments supporting Sachin/SRK/Federer. Not any more, though. Mostly I am able to passively enjoy arguments these days.

9. My weaknesses - Yes, they do. Can't help it. Won't give details, though.

The trio (:D) is already tagged.. so the tag does not pass........

zindagi

Deleted post reappears

Zindagi ko to hamesha hans ke kubool karte hain hum
Par zindagi hai ki soch soch ke kadam badhaati hai

Fitrat kuchh feminine si hai zindagi ki

:D

Khayaalon mein apne kuchh khoya sa hua tha main
Achaanak tezi se ek seb aaya aur tod gaya wo chain of thoughts

Aur tum kehte ho zindagi ke raaz dheere dheere khula karte hain

Tujhse naaraaz nahi zindagi, hairaan hoon main, tere maasoom sawaalon se pareshaan hoon main

Questions! Without answers!!

Why do we not understand others so well to realize what they want/mean/intend?
Why can't we just say out what we feel instead of expecting others to understand us?

Why do we not trust enough and start making strange assumptions when we don't get a reply to a phone call/message/letter/email?
Why do we expect people to understand us when we are just too lazy to reply to a phone call/message/letter/email?

Why can't we suppress our taste buds and eat healthy food always?
Why does all the unhealthy food in the world have to taste so bloody good? :D

Why do we not appreciate the concern/love/care of people around us and keep missing people who are physically far apart?
Why do we feel bad/helpless when some close friend around us says he is missing his old friends/family?

Why is it "distance makes the heart go fonder" when we are thinking about someone and "Out of sight, out of mind" when someone is (not) thinking about us?

Why do we expect people to behave responsibly after a certain age?
Why do we want to shun all responsibilities and stay a kid always?

Why doesn't everyone always remain a kid?

Why isn't everyone happy all the time?

Why does random blabbering feel so good?

Happy New Year

Hanste hanste, kat jaayen raste, zindagi yun hi chalti rahe
Khushi mile ya gham, badlenge na hum, duniya chaahe badalti rahe

Jambool

Jambool is hiring.

In times when the job market is going through an absolute low, this will be very good news for many, I guess. So, if you know of someone who might be interested and is good enough, just pass on the info. It might be a very easy 1500 dollars for you.

For more info, leave a comment here or on the blog post at the above link.. or write to
vikas AT jambool DOT com

...

An attempt at Triveni, that also reflects the current state of mind. Actually it is more the latter than the former. Gulzaar Sir, maaf karna :D


Kuchh waqt se zindagi kuchh bhatak si rahi thi
Najaane kahaan se achaanak aashiyaan mil gaya

Upar kahin kisi ko shaayad taras aa raha tha!

What Lata doesn't have and Asha does!

[Disclaimer: This post, I guess, is going to invite a lot of aggressive opposition. Let me make it very clear in the beginning that this post suffers from exaggeration which is the most fun part of any conversation :) .. might have a few personal remarks too, but then personal remarks against isn't too bad , is it? The probability that any of them is going to come to read my blog is almost zero. Also, Lata is one of my favourite singers .. she comes 4th on my list, after Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Shreya Ghoshal in that order. Aur aisa nahi hai ki I don't believe that everyone has a right to have their own choice etc etc etc, par bas aaj mood aaya hai bakwaas karne ka! ]

Log mujhse poochhte hain, why Asha is preferred over Lata. Kuchh gustaakh log to ye bhi poochh lete hain ki why Kishore and not Rafi. Koi batlaaye ki hum batlaayen kya? While even trying to the latter would be too much of an insult to Kishore Da, I will make an attempt to answer the first one. Just to seal the debate once and for all. At least seal my opinion about it. Mujhe tark right time pe soojhta nahi hai na, isliye likh dena achchha hai :)

So what does Asha have that Lata doesn't? Ok, lets start this way! What are the best Lata songs you can think of. I know it is hard to choose but here is a very small sample set of what comes to my mind immeditately - "Jab Pyaar kiya to darna kiya", "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai", "Aaj kal paon zameen par nahi padte mere", "Dikhaayi diye yun ki bekhud kiya", "Humne dekhi hai in aankhon ki mehekti khushbu", "Baahon mein chale aao", "Zindagi pyaar ka geet hai" (Note that I am not being unfair and these are among my favorites). While all these are absolute gems, I think a lot of other people deserve more credit than Lata for these - the sheer grace and the amazing expressions of the actresses on which they have been picturised make some of them very special e.g. "Jab Pyaar kiya to darna kiya", "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai", "Baahon mein chale aao" or the sheer brilliance of Gulzar and gang (i.e. the lyricists) is what makes these special more than the singing. Would these have been less special if Asha had sung them. I don't think so. I cannot think of any Lata song which can generate the Oh-my-God-I-can't-believe-this feeling just for the way it is sung. Not one. Kishore does that to me quite often. Asha does it so very often too. One should listen to "Ye hai reshmi zulfon ka... " or "Chhoti si kahaani se..." to get what I mean.

Maza nahi aa raha, nahi? Let's get a little personal, as we promised :D

Have a look at Lata's personal life section on her wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lata_Mangeshkar

What do you find about her personal life? This is what I find

"Lata Mangeshkar was born a Konkani Marathi speaking family in Sikh Mohalla, Indore, which then used to be in Central India Agency and is now in the State of Madhya Pradesh. Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a classical singer and theater actor. Her mother, Shudhhamati, was Deenanath's second wife. The family's last name used to be Hardikar; Deenanath changed it to Mangeshkar in order to identify his family with his native town, Mangeshi in Goa. Lata was named "Hema" at her birth. Her parents later renamed her Lata after a female character, Latika, in one of her father's plays, BhaawBandhan.^[2] Lata is the eldest child of her parents. Hridayanath, Asha, Usha, and Meena are her siblings in sequence.

Lata took her first music lessons from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical plays (sangeet naatak in Marathi). Her father's recitals and lessons left a strong impression on her, as did the songs of K.L. Saigal, who was her favorite singer and idol. Her formal education was limited to one day in the school. On the first day in the school, she started teaching songs to other children. When the teacher stopped her, she was so angry that she stopped going to the school."

Sounds quite boring. What did you say? "That's it!???" Exactly. What has Lata's life been about? What exactly? Singing, and singing, and singing. Some call it dedication? Their choice :)

Do you want to compare that to Asha's personal life. Here is the link. Quite eventful a life, right? Sample this

"At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year old Ganpatrao Bhosle (1916-1966), marrying him against her family's wishes. Ganpatrao was sister Lata's personal secretary. The marriage failed miserably. Her husband and in-laws mistreated her. After a few years of marriage, Bhosle was turned out (around 1960) by a suspicious Ganpatrao^[6] and she went to her maternal home with two children and pregnant with her third child, Anand. She continued to sing in films to earn money."

Infact there is quite a lot of interesting stuff you can find there on that link. Now, I don't intend to say that Lata should have eloped with someone while she was still a kid to be able to sing better but a job like singing is probably hard to do if you haven't experienced any emotion similar to what you are being asked to present. They don't write lines like "Ashkon mein jo paaya hai, wo geeton mein diya hai" for no reason at all.

Let me look at a few Asha songs that make me go WOW and think what would have happened if Lata would be singing.

Supppose Lata is asked to sing the song "Aage bhi jaane na tu...". She reads the lyrics and she is like, "Hey, what does this mean? What does this talk about?? Uncertainty? Where the hell is uncertainty in life. Is there anything else in life except singing? I think not." A better version for her would be something like "Aage bhi gaana gaoongi, peechhe bhi gaana gaati thi ... yahi zindagi hai nahi aur koi aarzoo" :D

Or lets say Lata sings "Mera Kuchh Saamaan....".. I am sure that if she would sing this song, it would sound like, "Hey, you stole some furniture from me.. Please return it back" :D

And she can't even attempt to sing "Raat Akeli Hai..". Simply impossible.

Or the out of the world songs "Chhoti Si Kahaani Se.." or "Justuju jiski thi.." .. talking of the feeling when desires go down the drain.. an emotion which might be a total stranger to Lata Mangeshkar. Not that she won't be able to sing these but the flair won't be there

Bottom line - Sur aur aawaaz to practice kar kar ke perfect kar leejiyega .. par nasha kahaan se laaiyega :)

And if it is just the voice quality and melody etc, you appreciate Lata for, you got to listen to Shreya. I get a feeling Shreya is better on that front. Not way better, but better. Just that she does not get the same quality of songs to sing, unfortunately. Now this might be a bit of a bias because of the kind of person Shreya is (or the kind of person I think she is :P).

Ok - kaafi ho gaya.. I am sure I am going to get some murder threats pretty soon :D

Ignorance is bliss

A strange kind of magic there was in that darkness
The pen was copying down on paper
The flights of my fantasy

Smiling, and enjoying myself thoroughly,
Unaware of the surroundings
I continued to write my poetry

I waited for that day,
When light will spread on paper
And I will see, and feel proud of,
The result of my creativity

And suddenly one day
Light came from somewhere
Excitedly, I looked at the paper
To see the reflections of the dreamy me

What then, you ask me?
Well, the paper was blank totally
The reason, as I realized after a little while:
The pen, my friend, had no ink

I laughed, till I .....

Bada sambhaal ke rakha hai us kaagaz ko aaj tak
Wo kavita jo kabhi likhi na gayi
Uske nishaan us kaagaz par aaj bhi nazar aate hain

Ye kissa kuchh ajeeb sa hai shaayad
Sunne waale kehte hain
Laane ko nayi syaahi
Aur likhne ko wo kavita phir se

Syaahi to zaroor mil jaayegi aaj bhi
Par un palon ke ehsaas ko kahaan se pakad laaoon,
Phir se

Ab to bas intezaar hai us andhere ka
Jo aayega phir se
Aur us kore kaagaz ko
Kavita bana dega phir se

Note to myself

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, I remembered these lines today.

"No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."

Don't even remember where and when I first read it and who they are from.. sometime way back, though. However I am pretty sure I didn't understand them till today and all I had noticed earlier was the "rhyme" in them. Wow.. poetry is one thing(probably the only thing) that I understand better today than a few years ago. Better only than myself though ... no big claims!! Some recent indulgences have really helped, it seems. I should start reading poetry again.

Aaj maine machhli khaayi

Galti se!

Aye pardes.. aur kya kya din dikhaayega tu?

Ek funda

Almost always:

- People understand you more than you think they do!

- You understand people less than you think you do!

That's good for you, right?

Perspectives

Have to attend a certain didactics workshop tomorrow. A workshop where they teach us how to teach! In preparation for it, they asked for this:

"Please bring along an object that is (or was in the past) important or meaningful to you for whatever reason.It should be a symbol that stands for something. We will use these objects in our round of introductions. Please choose carefully, and think about what you want to say about the object and about yourself."

I put that as my gtalk status asking for suggestions. Here are some of the "suggestions" I got from some friends. Apne reactions to kya hi doon!

1) "Take your degree :) .. it will remind you of your professional life"
2) "Take my pic."

3) "CD of old songs .. since a TV will be too big to carry"

4) "TV ka remote."

5) "Playing cards"

6) "Okay, Okay ... I am not objectifying :) but shreya ghoshal ki photo le ja. "

*Photo!!!!! Hey Bhagwan*

7) [Edit .. by a certain late lateef] so how did the didactic thing go. my suggestion would have been a pic of Shahrukh Khan or Federer

Random

I saw you today after a long time,
Thought of going over to you
Of making good old memories revive

But stayed back, fearing to face a familiar indifference
Yeah, maybe it wouldn't have been as bad
But then this "maybe" is necessary for me to survive


PS: too many words in the second paragraph .. someone has suggestion on how to shorten it and make it more rhythmic?

Escapism :D

God helps those who help themselves
God helps those who can't help themselves
God helps those who don't want to help themselves
God helps those who don't help themselves
God helps

So chill :P


Post taking off from a comment on the last one (to be taken seriously at your own risk)