Lafz, Khayaal aur Sapne (Words, Thoughts & Dreams)

Many a times I've unknowingly scribbled a word on my note-pad or a post-it while doing something totally unrelated(to that scribbled word)and perhaps, boring, like sitting in a long corporate meeting.

Those words became my inspiration for the following collection of words.

Lafz, Khayaal Aur Sapne
Kal din ka likha ek lavz
Aaj baar baar keh raha hai,
“Mujhe apne jumle se mila do
Varna panne se mita do”

Kal shaam ko aaya ek khayaal
Aaj dastak dekar bolta hai,
“Huzoor poora toh soch lo mujhe
Ya mila do kisi naye khayaal se”

Kal raat ka dekha ek sapna
Aaj din min bhi aa pahucha hai
Kehta hai,“Kahin jaane na do mujhe
Ek roz haqeeqat se milaana mujhe”

Inhin lafzon, khayaalon, sapnon se
Banti hai meri duniya
Aise hi kuch doston ke saath se
Kat bhi jaayegi yeh duniya


Words, Thoughts and Dreams (A rough translation in English)
A word written yesterday
Comes to me today and says,
‘Join me with my sentence,
Or, erase me from the page.’

A thought from last evening
Knocks today and says,
‘Think me to fruition
Or combine me with a new one.’

A dream from last night
Has come back in the daytime
Says, ‘Don’t let go of me,
Turn me into reality someday.’

Words, thoughts and dreams
Fill up my life with ease
With friends such as these
The world will pass by as a breeze

Dreamtheater

Last night was remarkable. Another first happened. I saw an entire movie in my dream and remembered each and every detail of it when I woke up. Dreams of such nature have come to me earlier but in a broken manner with my memory failing me when I would wake up.

It belonged to the genre of horror with some abstract elements thrown in. Interestingly, I was both, a part of the movie as one of the characters and a viewer in the theater, simultaneously.

What’s really amazing is the complete nature of the experience. Everything is etched in my memory. The faces of the characters, their expressions, their attire, the background score, the sound of rain falling on the leaves, the lighting, the setting, the smell and color of the flowers, even the exchange of dialogues and shot angles.

I also remember walking out of the theater thinking that it was a good movie that I just saw.

So, I woke up at 7:00 am and immediately scribbled down everything on a sheet of paper (which was a bill of some sort) lying on the bed-side table. I intend to turn it into a proper narrative and then let’s see.

The world of dreams continues to be intriguing, enchanting and entertaining.

My Favorite 10 - Movie Directors

A movie is the most complex medium of expression and a movie-makers job, extremely difficult. But something even more arduous is to shortlist Top Ten filmmakers of all time. Here’s my attempt at it.

*The list isn’t in any particular order of preference.

Ingmar Bergman (Swedish, 1918 – 2007)
My first exposure to Mr. Bergman’s craft was inside the darkness of a theater at FTII, Pune, some nine years ago. The movie was Wild Strawberries and it turned me on with its unconventional style of story-telling. Since then I’ve watched and re-watched all of his works.
His subtle and understated exploration of the human condition remains unparalleled.
As a tribute to the man, after he passed away, I had written a piece, which you can read here.

Akira Kurosawa (Japanese, 1910 – 1998)
Apart from giving many new techniques and styles to the world of movies, what really makes Mr. Kurosawa a genius, are the range of subjects that he chose and the perfectionism that he sought in each of his movies.
His subjects vary from a glorious take on Shakespeare (Throne of Blood) to an urban story of kidnapping (High and Low) to a story about a maverick doctor (Red Beard). As for the hunt for perfection, consider this trivia: In the final scene of Throne of Blood, in which the central character is shot by arrows, Kurosawa used real arrows shot by expert archers from a short range, landing within centimeters of actor’s body.

Satyajit Ray (Indian, 1921 – 1991)
Watching De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief changed a young Mr. Ray’s life and later, he went on to change the landscape & grammar of movies in India and putting it on the world map. The multi-talented Mr. Ray was easily the biggest creative force to hit India.
Once again, he chose varied subjects and was a stickler for perfection. In fact, he used to draw each frame of the movie before starting the shoot. Little wonder that he was a fan of Mr. Kurosawa. The Japanese auteur too, had great respect for him.

Stanley Kubrick (American, 1928 – 1999)
Mr. Kubrick was all about choosing radically different themes and executing them big. None of his movies are small. They are all meant for the big-screen experience in a theater. He will take you from horror (The Shining) to sci-fi (Space Odyssey 2001) to satire/comedy (Dr Strangelove) to a futuristic world (A Clockwork Orange) with equal finesse and his trademark feeling of enormity. This giant from the world of movies will always stand tall for me.

Alfred Hitchcock (British / American, 1899 – 1980)
Enough has been written about this master of a particular genre. Nobody did it better. And perhaps nobody will be able to do it better.
One of my all time favorite sequences is in the great concept movie, The Birds when the birds start assembling in the school playground for another attack while the kids are singing in chorus inside the classroom during their music class. What a build-up!

Francois Truffaut (French, 1932 – 1984)
The 400 Blows, Mr. Truffaut’s debut, defined the French New Wave and in what a manner it did so. This film critic turned movie director paved way other greats like Godard and Chabrol. The last sequence of another one of his masterpieces, Jules and Jim will stay with any of its viewer forever. Many contemporary good movies like Amelie, Eight Women keep reflecting this man’s impact. Unfortunately, he died at an early age of 52 due to a brain tumor.

Krzysztof Kieslowski (Polish, 1941 – 1996)
This movie giant from Poland had one of the most unique minds. It gets reflected in all his scripts and their executions. Take Three Colors in which he chooses to interpret the French motto of Liberty, Equality & Fraternity in his own unique style. Or take The Decalogue, wherein he gives his own interpretation to The Ten Commandments.
Apart from these popular works, he has many lesser known gems like No End, Blind Chance, Camera Buff…the list is endless.

Federico Fellini (Italian, 1920 – 1993)This man’s movies are a unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy and desire. He has given a lot to the world of art, movies and even journalism. The adjectives “Fellinian” and “Felliniesque” are synonymous with any kind of extravagant and fanciful image in the cinema and in art in general. As many of would know that the term “Paparazzi” comes from a photographer character in his masterpiece, La Dolce Vita.
Anybody vaguely interested in the world of movies cannot afford to miss Mr. Fellini’s autobiographical classic, 8 ½.

Roman Polanski ( Polish, 1953 – present)
Mr Polanski is another master of psychological thrillers (and sometimes horror). The Apartment Trilogy (Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby & Tenant), Chinatown and the latest The Ghost Writer just go on to prove this.
Despite going through a very difficult, controversial and a chaotic life (or perhaps because of it) he has continued to make some of the best movies of our times. Rosemary’s Baby remains one of my all time greatest horror movies.

Woody Allen (American, 1935 – present)
His landmark creation Annie Hall gets reflected in contemporary American sitcoms, almost 30 years after the movie was made. He almost never uses newly created music in his movies, opting for the ocean of compositions (varying between Western Classical and Jazz) which are already there in the universe. He has written some of the funniest plays and short stories of the modern times. He is an accomplished Jazz Clarinetist. He has won three Academy Awards and been nominated a total of 21 times. He is Mr. Woody Allen.

There are some other names that were in the short-list and I shall put them up in the comment box. Do share your list if you feel up to it.

Ek Aur Dopeher (Another Afternoon)

One afternoon, about a month ago, I ended up writing a few lines while having my third cup of Darjeeling. The words are in Urdu and I've tried to do a rough translation in English for my English-friendly friends.

Ek Aur Dopeher
Ek Aur Dopeher Chai Pee Pee Kar Guzaar Di,
Zindagi Ke Pannon Se Thodi Si Zindagi Mita Di

Gaadiyon Ki Gharr Gharr Sadak Se Aati Rahi
Shaam Yunhi Aa Aa Kar Jaati Rahi

Sooraj Apne Ghar Sone Ko Chala
Raat Dheere Dheere Jaagti Gayi

Shamma Har Kinaare Se Chamakne Lagi
Saara Sheher Ek Dulahn Sa Lagne Laga

Chalo Ab Hum Bhi Chal Kar Aaraam Karte Hain
Khaabon Ki Duniya Ke Nazaaron Se Milte Hain

Another Afternoon (A rough translation in English)
Spent another afternoon, between many cups of tea
Spent a bit of life from this Life of me

The whirring of the vehicles kept coming from the street
Evening continued to pass by

The Sun started leaving for its home
The Night started waking up slowly

Lights kept coming up from every corner
City had begun to look like a bride

Now, allow me to retire as well
To experience the world of my dreams

FM in Mumbai

I have fallen into a new habit these days. While driving to work and back, I listen to the various FM radio stations of Mumbai. Despite their perennially talking RJs (a couple of them are good) who sometimes play a few good songs (the quality of popular music has improved a lot in the last couple of years…a subject which deserves a separate post, altogether) here and there, I am beginning to enjoy the experience for reasons more than just music. Perhaps it’s one of those passing phases, but while I’m at it, let me put down ‘more than just music’ parts of it.

FM stations are one of the best ways to know the pulse of Mumbai. Ranging from traffic updates, to the recent auto-rickshaw strike, to the review of a recent movie release, to a political drama; they cover everything under the Mumbai sun (or rains, these days). You feel like you really belong to the city and moving with its superfast pace.

Then there are some RJs who just speak and do all the right things. The most notable one is RJ Malishka of Red FM. The mix of her finesse with the 3 languages (Hindi, Marathi & English), her presence of mind, her sense of humor and her vibrant energy levels creates a potent cocktail full of punch!

But, amidst getting the pulse of Mumbai and Malishka’s humor, I noticed something rather unfortunate. They don’t mention the poet / lyricist of the song anymore unless it’s a Gulzar Saaheb (as they address him). Whether they are worth mentioning (if it isn’t a Gulzar) is a subject for another discussion. The role of a lyricist (good or bad) in making a song is as important as the musician or the singer(s), so it deserves a mention. In fact, all of us would remember how it used to be (I’m sure AIR / Vibhit Bharti must be still following it) the good old days of radio... ‘Bol Sahir Ludhianvi Ke Hain, Sangeet S.D Burman Ka, Aur Gaaya Hai Geeta Dutt Ne. Film Ka Naam Hai, Pyaasa'.(Lyrics by Saahir Ludhianvi, Music by S.D Burman and sung by Geeta Dutt. The Movie is Pyaasa).

The Ceylon Years

It has been 21 hours since I left the charming country Sri Lanka for good, to start my third innings in the city of Mumbai. My life will go back to the rush of the big city. But the two years in the tiny, laid-back tropical isle has given me enough pleasant memories to remember, and pleasures to carry forward.

The friends, the food, the Sunday Jazz, the local Arrack, the frequent weekend trips to a pretty resort, the beaches, the easy smiles of the people, the polite air and life in the easy lane. All have become a part of me.

And thanks to the easy life, I picked up 2 great hobbies. SLR photography and playing the guitar...I could always sing, but now I can do it along with strumming the guitar. In fact, a day before leaving the country, I did my first professional studio recording of a song. It came out quite well.

Now, let’s see how the latest Mumbai innings go.

ps: thats a sunrise from the balcony of my ex-apartment in Colombo, taken by Nikon D 60, a few days before I left.

The Other Side Of Goafest, 2010 - Greed & Dirt

Goafest is the annual meeting of the Indian advertising folks to talk about their craft and give prizes to each other for excellence in creativity. This year, some came back jubilant, most came back tanned and everyone came back happy from Goafest. But, I know of at least two people who belonged to no such category.

Greed
10th April, Saturday afternoon. The free parasailing ride for the Goafest delegates was over by 5 pm. It was then that the cruise service (Jack Cruises) started making money out of it. “Six hundred bucks for each ride….come’ on, hurry up guys (I want to make as many 600’s as I can)”, said the leader of Jack Cruises.

In the resulting confusion, two people, a boy and a girl, rushed to the harness of the parasailing parachute. The man on the steamer (attached to the parachute), at the far end of the sea, started moving ahead, little knowing that there are two people on the harness, instead of the one (which is the usual norm). And perhaps, one not so harnessed.
Next, I saw the two people going up together (along with the pillion) and I said to myself, ‘This isn’t right…something is wrong.’

Seconds later, I saw the girl fall helplessly from a certain height that the sail had taken (approximately, 200 meters). I closed my eyes and reluctantly heard the ‘thud’ sound of a body falling on the beach. A sound, I shall never forget!

Last heard, Jack Cruises have been booked by the law for negligence. Law will take its own course, but I wish they are at least remorseful about what they have caused and accidents like this dont happen in the future.

And the girl is in the ICU, trying hard to recover. I hope she will be able to walk on the beach again.

Dirt
11th April, Sunday morning. The morning after the Goafest got over, I went to Dom’s Shack to have breakfast. I was early and the food wasn’t ready yet. While waiting for the food, I got into a conversation with a gentleman sitting on the next table who was having a cup of tea. I discovered that his name was Mr. Anthony Perera and he was the used to be the Director of Goa Tourism Board at one point in time.

The conversation revolved around how all of us (the advertising fraternity), come to the lovely Cavelossim beach every year, party hard and leave an unclean and messy beach behind. He thinks that soon this beach will also become dirty and messy like the north Goa beaches.

The man was also unhappy about the fact that there aren’t proper sanitation facilities for the 300 odd people who stay at the venue for almost a week to make the festival happen. This may cause harmful disease to spread in the area and can also affect the participants of the Goafest.

Mr. Perera’s concerns left me worried. I hope somebody from the Goafest organizing committee pays attention to this and keep things cleaner next year.

In The Stillness Of This Moment

in the stillness of this moment
i see a spider on the wall
telling me how often it has
crawled on them all

in the stillness of this moment
i hear a fan whizzing by
narrating the happy times
it has been whizzing by

in the stillness of this moment
i hear a song playing in my head
just for me and noone else
and for that lovely loveliness

in the stillness of the moment
everything stands still
to soak and suck as much as i can
from this life and its drill

A Sweet Deception

Yesterday, a Father was unable to witness his 8 yr old son perform various activities at the school's annual sports day. He was held at work. He felt bad. He also realized that if the son comes to know that his Daddy couldn’t make it, the little boy will be heartbroken.

So, he made a smart plan.

He managed to reach the son’s school just before the day was coming to a close. He intermingled with the crowd, met his wife and updated himself about the little boy’s antics. Later, he met the son and appreciated the little boy’s efforts.

Now, both of them are happy. And the little boy will perhaps always think that his Daddy was with him that day. Some deceptions can be sweet!

Humbled by Nature

Last Sunday, I had one of the most outstanding experiences of my life.

The southernmost tip of Sri Lanka is the best place in the world to see blue and sperm whales. It’s remarkable that the world didn’t know about it till 2008. And since then, a sleepy fishing village called Mirissa becomes alive with travelers from distant lands during the whale watching season, which falls between October and April. Many species of Dolphins are also sighted in the area.

About 25 of us from different parts of the world boarded a small boat from Mirissa fishery harbor at 6: 30 am and turned into Captain Ahabs looking for Moby Dick. The Organizers (Mirissa Water Sports Crew) had told us that Lady Luck needs to be happy with us for the whale-sighting to happen. The believers amongst us would have started off on a prayer or two.

The whales are usually seen at 10 -12 nautical miles (about 6kms away) away from the coast of Mirissa, which is about 2 hours into the ocean.

A dull hour and a half passed without any action except that some of us started to get sea sick. The sharp sun and the Titanic type rocking of the boat were adding to their miseries.

Suddenly someone cried, ‘Look there….Dolphin’. And the entire boat sprung into action. All sorts of cameras came out. Life came back in the form of these sprightly, jumping, spinning, happy Dolphins all around us.

I had seen Dolphins in the sea earlier but that totally paled in front of this experience. It was as if hundreds of them had got together to put up a performance for us which they have been practicing for a while. It was as if they were telling us that they are equally happy to see us.

In the span of next 45 minutes we saw some 3 species of Dolphins. Spinner, Bottlenose and Risso’ s The last one is a rare sight and smiles the most.

Then, we moved on to find the world’s largest living species. By now, I was beginning to get sea sick. I had never been in the deep sea and or this long in all my life.

An impatient fellow started yelling, ‘Where is the Whale’? Another pessimist one said in a thick British accent, ‘We maay not see it, after all’.

And then, one of the crew shouted, ‘Whaaaaale’. What I saw next will stay with me for the rest of my life. I stood there, in that rocking boat, completely humbled by nature, yet again.

That Sunday morning, we saw four different blue whales. The fact that I got six good shots (3 of them are here) of them on my newly acquired SLR, is the icing on the cake. The whales and the dolphins were its first few shots. What a start!

A Fake Act

Usually, I intend to keep this space free of my professional life but this particular episode of a blatant fake-act needs to be documented here.

A few weeks ago I had gone for a summit called ‘A Strategic approach to retailing for brand profitability’, as one of our important clients in Sri Lanka is in the business of Retailing. It was held in one of the 5 star hotels of Colombo and there were two retail masters (as the e-mailer had indicated) from India, doing the talk. R Kannan, President of RAMMS India (a retail solutions company) and Gopi Krishnaswamy, CEO of Insight Instore Research (another company doing the same kind of stuff with offices in India & Singapore) were the retail masters.

Though Mr. Kannan’s session was good but had nothing really revealing on the subject. But it was Mr. Krishnaswamy, the CEO of the Insight Instore Research, who had some really revealing insights.

Through a series of examples from his company’s experiences on various clients across the world, he started making some brilliant points. Examples like once his company, Insight Instore Research, tracked a shopper with a cartful of items, who abandoned the idea of purchasing them because of the waiting time of half an hour at the payment counter’. The point being made is that shoppers hate waiting in the queue.

A bell rang in my mind. Paco Underhill’s ‘Why We Buy’??? But then, I thought, it sounds like a common occurrence at retail stores and Insight Instore research would have perhaps tracked it.

For those who are not aware of Paco Underhill and his extremely interesting book called, ‘Why We Buy – The Science of Shopping’, it’s a very interesting book on the subject indicated by the title of the book. Mr Underhill is the CEO of Envirosell, Inc., a company dedicated to retail research. His clients include Gap, Hallmark, the U.S. Postal Service, Wal-Mart and Starbucks. You can know more about the man and his work over here. Now, thanks to a project for this retail client of ours, I had finished reading this book a week before this retail summit.

But all the subsequent examples put across by Mr. Krishnaswamy kept ringing the same ‘Paco bell’ until it turned into a loud cacophony of many bells (like the prelude to the song ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd) with the final example. It’s the famous example of a lingerie area in a clothes store not doing well because they had kept benches for the bored and waiting husbands, right next to it. (The point here being, the layout of the store is very crucial.)

Once again from Paco Underhill’s study (and mentioned in his book) being passed off as something found out by Mr Krishnaswamy and his Insight Instore research. Minutes later, I was out of the hall where this was happening.

Why? The gentleman could have easily mentioned the correct source of the examples while making the same point. Nothing would have got lost. While now, his image and credibility is lost in my eyes and the eyes of all those who will read this.

My Favorite 10 - Books (Fiction)

This one wasn’t easy either. It began with 54, came down to 17, and finally, it got stuck at 11. Similarity of the subject in two titles made things easy for me. ‘Brave New World’ lost to ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (my apologies to Mr. Huxley).

*The parameters remain the same as mentioned in the previous list. a) Its impact on me & b) Longevity

**The list is in no particular order and it.

*** It can change in 10 years time.

1. The Old Man and the Sea: Ernest Hemmingway, 1952
This eternal tale of human being’s undying spirit is short and hard-hitting. The plot is simple. An old fisherman wants to catch the largest marlin ever, one last time.

I have visited the old man Santiago’s life on three occasions and while writing this, I feel like making the fourth visit.

2. The Roads To Freedom Trilogy: Jean Paul Sartre, 1945 – 49
The plot revolves around Mathieu, a Socialist teacher of Philosophy and his set of friends. The time-span is between the Bohemian Paris of 30s to the end of World War II in Europe.

The first part of the trilogy, ‘The Age of Reason’ which talks about Sartre’s idea of freedom as the ultimate aim of human existence, remains a personal favorite. It’s one of those books which have affected me deeply and shaped my thinking in many ways.

3. The Outsider (The Stranger): Albert Camus, 1942
Yet another one from ‘Existentialism’ stable though Mr Camus himself always denied it. Yet another short and hard-hitting one.

And it begins with one of the best possible beginnings. A beginning that sums up the character and the book in just a few sentences, but still makes you want to read more. Consider this:

"Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. The telegram from the Home says: `Your mother passed away. Funeral tomorrow. Deep sympathy.' Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday."

This debut from Camus is worth many visits. He was just 29 when he wrote it.

4. Nineteen Eighty -Four: George Orwell, 1949
Set in the futuristic (1984) London, this classic dystopian novel depicts a totalitarian regime, which the central character, Winston Smith wants to rebel against. It gave the world many terms and concepts which are commonly used in English. Big Brother, Doublethink, Thoughtcrime and Newspeak have all come from here.

Closer to my profession, it inspired the famous 1984 commercial for Apple Macintosh.

5. Crime & Punishment: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1866
I picked up this one from a book-fair at the age of 14 because I had heard about it from the General Knowledge book. The title intrigued my teenage mind and the Russian book fair helped. It kept lying with me unread for years as I could never go beyond a couple of pages.

I got into it again at the age of 24 and this time the pages just kept flipping. It stunned my system with its depiction of mental anguish and moral dilemmas of the central character, Raskolnikov. He murders a hated and unscrupulous pawn-broker for money and also argues that by doing this, he is getting rid of an evil and useless person from this world.

I felt that Dosteyevsky analyzed human mind and heart like no other!

6. The Heart of the Matter: Graham Greene, 1948
This was the first Graham Greene book I read. It encouraged me to read other titles by him only to find out that this one is very different from his other works. Decoding differences between complex human emotions like pity, love, pity misunderstood as love, and pride, it’s a far cry from his usual political espionage novels.

The story revolves around a police officer, Scobie, his relationship with his wife and with a young widow. This Scobie has a feeling of pity for everyone and everything. In Greene’s own words, ' The character of Scobie was intended to show that pity can be the expression of an almost monstrous pride."

*I had a tough time selecting this over another Greene gem, ‘A Burnt Out Case’.

7. Tropic Of Capricorn: Henry Miller, 1938
It’s a raw, seamless, unbridled, flow of emotions and experiences. This semi-autobiographical sequel to the 1934, Tropic Of Cancer was banned in US until 1961. The absolutely no holds barred passages of sexual experiences were too obscene for those times.

However, there are some lovely general (read non-sexual) passages which turn the book into a masterpiece. For example, this memory from his childhood:

"What amazes me, when I look back on it, is how well we penetrated to the essential character of each and every one, young or old...The learning we received only tended to obscure our vision. From the day we went to school we learned nothing; on the contrary, we were made obtuse, we were wrapped in a fog of words and abstractions...What I am thinking of, with a certain amount of regret and longing, is that this thoroughly restricted life of early boyhood seems like a limitless universe and the life which followed upon it, the life of an adult, a constantly diminishing realm...The taste goes out of the bread as it goes out of life. Getting the bread becomes more important than the eating of it. Everything is calculated and everything has a price upon it."

Absolute free flow!

8. Mrs. Dalloway: Virginia Woolf, 1925
It’s about a single day but flows forward and back in time, in and out of character’s minds and the result is an extraordinary novel. At the core is an existentialist description of a bored and rich housewife’s attempt to throw a party, in a post World War I London. On the fringes are other subjects, one of which is the scariest description of mental illness and depression. Having experienced such a disorder at close quarters, I can completely identify with it.

Much later, Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours (also turned into a brilliant movie by the same name) paid a great tribute to the genius of Ms Woolf.

9. Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck, 1937
Once again, this was my first exposure to the genius of John Steinbeck and I turned into an immediate fan, reading almost all the other works by him. Perhaps because it’s the first that I read by the author, or because it’s so simple, short and profound, it remains a great favorite.

It’s a tale of two roaming ranch boys and friends, one smart and one not so smart, during the Great Depression in California. The tragic tale narrated in the brilliant Steinbeck style makes it an all time great for me.

*I also enjoyed the Gary Sinise directed movie with the same name.

10. Disgrace: J M Coetzee, 1999
An ageing Professor is broken to pieces before he finds some redemption in his forced acceptance of the realities of life and death. Set in post apartheid South Africa, it has its share of political conflict and situation of the country in the backdrop. But, it’s basically about this guy who has fallen to disgrace, and in the process learns to be a human.

One of the best usages of the language, English I’ve come across. Not a word extra yet conveys a universe!

One spends a lifetime with a book and I relived ten of those while making this list. I hope you like going through it and perhaps share your list.

My Favorite 10 - Music Albums

As the title suggests, this is the start of a new series called 'My Favorite 10' where in I shall be picking up 10 favorites from the various fields of art. The idea is to share my tastes with my readers and perhaps learn about their tastes. In this process, I may discover things that I have been missing so far.

Limiting it to a 10 isn’t easy by any standards, and this is where the task becomes challenging and exciting.

The first topic has to be about Music, more specifically Music Albums. And my parameters are quite simple:

a) The Effect it had on me: From shaping my musical tastes to the number of days the tape/CD was stuck inside my music system.
b) Longevity: Do I see myself enjoying them, 15 years from now?

*The list is in the chronological order of appearance in my life.

**This list might change in 10 years time.

1. Hum Dono – Jaidev, 1961
This one was a part of my growing up process in the form of a good old magnetic tape, played regularly by my music loving father on our mono National Panasonic cassette player. The classic duet, ‘Abhi Na Jaao Chod Kar’ (Don’t Leave Me Now) still remains an all time favorite and so does the best Bhajan (A Devotional Song) ever made in a Hindi movie, ‘Allah Tero Naam, Ishwar tero Naam’ (You are Allah & You are Jesus Too). This Jaidev masterpiece is an evergreen gem.

Give it to me anytime and it will spread a smile over my face.

2. Famous Waltzes - Johann Strauss, Jr., Composed between 1845 and 1899, Performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
This one too, was in the form of a magnetic tape in my house and would always make me happy whenever it was played by my father. Even in that Mono player, its rhythmic nature and multiple small little melodies in one composition would bowl me over. Compositions like ‘The Blue Danube’ and ‘Tales from the Vienna Woods’ have become legendary now, used (and abused) for many narrative purposes, from Movie Soundtracks to TV Commercials.

Today I have the same album in the form of a CD which often gives me a good company on the car journeys.

3. Raga Yaman Kalyan (Ae Ri Aaj Piya Bin) / Raga Darbari (Jhanak Jhanak) – Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Recorded in early 1980s
One takes you into an evening of pleasure; the other takes you into the depths of night. I am referring to the two Ragas mentioned above.

If I discount my father’s violin sessions, this was perhaps one of the first piece of Indian Classical music that fell into my young ears. Instantly, I became a fan of the man’s voice and singing. I still am.

4. The Dark Side Of The Moon – Pink Floyd, 1973
My first exposure to both psychedelic rock and Pink Floyd (no it wasn’t ‘The Wall’). Right from the beginning sounds of heartbeat, the album gripped me completely. I had never heard anything like that before. I still feel that nothing can begin in a grander fashion than this album With the sounds of the many alarm clocks going off at one time to the almost orgasmic singing of ‘The Great Gig In the Sky’, to the cash registers ringing, everything about was disruptive to my young ears. I must’ve been 14 or 15, then.

Later, when I got down to the lyrics, I was once again enraptured in the similar manner by this great work of art. Definitely worth many visits.
*Much later, I was lucky enough to watch the entire album being performed by Mr. Roger Waters himself.

5. The White Album – The Beatles, 1968
It covers all possible genres. It taps the potential of the three songwriters in the band to the highest extent. And one Disc wasn’t enough to fit in the amount of creativity they produced.

From the whispering ‘Julia’ to the screaming ‘Helter Skelter’ to the wailing ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, it has everything in it. The Beatles were breaking up but their music had reached newer heights at the foothills of Himalayas, where they were composed most of the tracks.

And, it can always make me that Himalayan high.

6. Blood On The Tracks – Bob Dylan, 1975
This came to me at a phase when I was going through a personal crisis of the ‘heart’ type. The most personal album of Dylan had my sentiments in it. It was as if, the man was singing my songs. It had me captivated for months
*This blog gets its name from one of the tracks in the album.

7. Sticky Fingers – The Rolling Stones, 1971
Well, this is a drug-laden album and I was into it then. It has country, it has blues, it has yearning, it has overdose and it has the essential Stones punch. The sad, drugged, stringy and extremely melodious ‘Moonlight Mile’ is the perfect way to end.

The fact that the Andy Warhol designed cover was one of the most controversial one just adds to the entire charm.

8. Rumors – Fleetwood Mac, 1977
This everlasting magic came to me through a windfall from someone who wanted to get rid of all his magnetic tapes as he had moved into the digital zone. (And, I’m glad he did so)

I had heard a few of the popular FM track before, but this album was a revelation, a sort of magic. The sophisticated compositions, the depth of the lyrics, the mix of the vocals, drums & the guitar, everything is perfect. Not a single track can be forwarded.

This essential 70s album will always work for me.

9. Astral Weeks – Van Morrison, 1968
I’ve been meaning to write about this one for a long time now, but I’ve always been successful. I am at loss of words when it comes to appreciating this surreal, seamless confluence of poetry, music and singing woven together. And Mr. Morrison was all of 23 when he created it! I will die peacefully if this is playing on my death-bed.

For a beautiful write-up on the album by Mr. Lester Bangs, the music journalist you can go here.

On a personal note, I found a precious friend while absorbing this album along with whiskey.

10. Kind of Blue – Miles Davis, 1959
Its slow, its gentle, its luxurious, it’s a lazy afternoon, it’s Kind of Blue. The finest Jazz album ever, by the genius who shaped the genre. And, the band helping him had stalwarts like Coltrane, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb and Cannonball Adderley. Out of this world!

One can just keep on listening to this one, day after day, year after year, life after life.

That sums up the first edition My Favorite 10. It’s rather long and I had a very tough time selecting them (leaving out one to include another). But I also enjoyed doing it and I hope you will enjoy reading it. And, do mention your favorite Albums.

The Colors Of Joy

It rained last evening. Windy, angular rains. I watched, mesmerized.

Minutes later, a half hearted sun sneaked up, adding colors to the Colombo sky and our hearts.

ps: pics taken from Nokia E 63

The Tinkerer of Rock & Roll

Neil Young swears by it and so does Slash. Joe Perry of Aerosmith has 50 of them.

I’m referring to the Les Paul Gibson, the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. Its creator Les William Polsfuss, also known as Les Paul died on 13th of August, 2009 at the age of 94.

He was also a musician, song-writer and an amateur sound engineer. Among Paul's other technological innovations were developments in multi-track recording, guitar effects and the mechanics of sound in general.

Here is how some of the legends from the world of music paid their tributes:

"Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed. He was the original guitar hero, and the kindest of souls. Last October I joined him onstage at The Iridium club in NYC, and he was still shredding. He was and still is an inspiration to us all." — Joe Satriani

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of Les Paul. His influence on my life, as on the lives of countless others, will be felt throughout eternity. It was an honor to know him and to work with him. I extend my deepest condolences to his family and will mourn along with musicians throughout the world." — Jose Feliciano

"Les Paul was a shining example of how full one's life can be, he was so vibrant and full of positive energy. I'm honored and humbled to have known and played with him over the years, he was an exceptionally brilliant man." — Slash

"Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it. His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll." — Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Paul was an inveterate tinkerer. In a 2005 interview, speaking on the subject of death, Paul, with his wry sense of humor said, ‘If where I’m going they have a harp, I’m going to amplify it.’

ps: Thats a 1959 Les paul Gibson. The first Les Paul Standard was introduced in 1959 and since then the model has remained unchanged.

pps: And this new look results from the desire of changing things, which keeps hitting me every now and then. And what better time to make this change than a birthday.

The Unfriendly yaari.com

A couple of months ago I got this mail (Type 1) in my inbox.

XYZ wants you to join Yaari!
Is XYZ your friend?
Yes, XYZ is my friend! No, XYZ isn't my friend.
Please respond or XYZ may think you said no :(
Thanks,
The Yaari Team

* For my non-hindi friends, 'yaari' means 'friendship'.

Unfamiliar to the ways of social networking sites and wanting to make the sad look turn into a smile (for I really thought it was a personalized message from XYZ), I ended up clicking (just one click) on Yes, XYZ is my friend! Little did I know that I had clicked on a 'public embarrassment' and a 'constant source of irritation'.

The result of the click was a window of yaari.com which wanted me to enlist by giving my mail id etc. that’s where I committed the greatest folly of my life. I enlisted.

A day later, I started getting mails (Type 2) like this.

dear meraj
I am a friend but do not feel comfortable getting into multiple groups like yaari and hence have not responded.
warm regards
PQR

What the overfriendly people of 'The Yaari Team' had done was something extremely rude. Without my permission, it generated a Type 1 mail and sent to almost everyone on my Gmail mailing list. Now, a) I’m not the social networking types and b) Even if I was, I would not be sending such a lame and soppy message to everybody on my mailing list.

The Type 2 mail hasn’t stopped since then (some have also accepted my fake invitation in the meantime). It’s like a monster that has been created because I got myself into the unfriendly ways of yaari.com.

Internet, with all its amazing positives has its share of flaws which can be extremely disgusting. I would request all my readers to be cautious about such unfriendly sites. I am.

Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009)

The opening bars of Billie Jean always make me feel like I’m getting into a disco (though I’m not much of a dancer) with the promise of a great night lying ahead. Thriller was one of my first music albums.

One of the greatest pop icons of modern times, Michael Jackson, died today at the age of 50. Speaking strictly for myself, I was never a big fan of the fellow’s music except for the album, Thriller which is a classic, and a few songs here and there.

He lived a strange life, surrounded by controversies, diseases and the many makeovers.
But, he (along with Madonna and Wham) made English popular music a mass product for a generation of Indians. Before him, English music was limited to a few urban audiences. After his album ‘Bad’, every kid was doing the moonwalk with a poster of BAD hanging from the wall of his / her room.

Starting at the early age of 5, musically, he drew influences from Soul, Soft Rock, R&B, Pop and Jazz. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice and had 13 Grammys and 13 Number One Singles. These are some telling statistics, indicating his role and influence in music and popular culture.

He will be remembered by many.

ps: for a visual tribute to the deceased icon, you can go here

Dylan's Latest

It’s not a classic alright, but it’s worth several whiskey-soaked visits. Together Through Life, the 33rd studio album from Mr. Bob Dylan once again displays his poetic genius. Its beauty, depth and the range of emotions grows on each hearing.

Musically, it has the same flavour as the last few albums (Modern Times, Time Out Of Mind), that of urban American blues. And his voice, gruffer than ever, adding the right character to the lyrics. Put some great guitar fills by Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) and soulful accordion sighs of David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) and the album surely has a very long ‘CD tray value’.

Poetically, the album is wry, caustic, sentimental, rich, wicked and very American . My favourites are, the sentimental ‘Life is Hard’, the conversational, ‘Forgetful Heart’, the violin laced (like the 'Desire' days), 'This Dream Of You' and the wickedly satirical final track, ‘It’s All Good’.

These last lines from ‘Forgetful Heart’ conveys the feeling of the ultimate defeat.

“All night long I lay awake and listen to the sound of pain

The door has closed through ever more
If indeed there ever was a door”

Or, feel the pain in the beautifully sung ‘Life Is Hard’.

“The sun is sinking low
I guess it's time to go
I feel a chilly breeze
In place of memories
My dreams are locked and barred
Admitting life is hard
Without you near me”

At 68, the man continues to be the greatest songwriter of our time.

18th May, 2009

On 18th May, 2009 the Sri Lankan Government declared its victory over the rebel Tamil Tigers after almost three decades of war. The streets of Colombo broke into celebrations, processions, flags, fire-crackers, drums. And, we were there witnessing probably the biggest day in Sri Lankan history. Many years from now, I shall be recounting this and saying, “I was there, experiencing the historical moment.”

Amidst celebrations, the cynics wait and watch on how the President and his Government find a political solution to the situation. But it was our house-maid, Karuna, who came out with real words of wisdom.

She said (in her broken English), “It is not nice to celebrate so much when so many people have died and been displaced in the road towards victory. People should also maintain five minutes of silence for all the lives lost in the process.”

I couldn’t help but agree.

Together Through Life

Yesterday, Pooja and I completed one year of marital togetherness and its been sweet, spicy and harmonious.

Interestingly, Mr Robert Allen Zimmerman, popularly known as Bob Dylan released his 33rd studio album called, 'Together Through Life' on 28th April, 2009. The album is already topping the charts.

A review of the album will follow soon.

Perhaps I should ask Pooja to review our 'One Year Of Togetherness'.

ps: thats us in the form of 'Happy Feet'