Rock scene in India

Maktub from Motherjane has raised the bar up further.. Indian rock scene is truly grand. No labels around. Well 'uck the labels. Bands are going indie these days and coming up with some truly awesome compositions. 'Kashmir' from Agni is by far the best rock song to come out in India ( Led zeppelinism). Pin drop violence, Zero, Junkyard groove are amazing. Vinapra from bangalore (Hindi rock) is awesome. Indus creed has always been good. The happening act is fusion. Violin, tabla and keyboards rule. Coming out of mainstream music scene takes guts, and these guys have it. Prestorika, PDV are heavy. And heavy it is. Heavy!! Superb

What is more interesting is their diverse backgrounds. Investment banker (new Agnee vocalist), MSc in Microbiology (Raghu dixit) and many more working in corporates regularly jam and make people crazy! Good stuff..

With many albums in the pipeline, the rock scene looks really great. Can't wait to catch some of them live..

The lost world

Happy new year to everyone. My friends from Gwalior - cool dudes forever. My best buds Bobby, Suraj and Kuttu (Hyd and kerala)

Few things cross my mind. Poesy, War and war, Poesy and War again

One war ends and another begins. At sunrise you get a view. At sunset you get a view, albeit a different one. Broken violins, perforated black boards, golden dust inside a burnt shoe, deserted streets, business at complete halt. Carnival of carnage. Third world violence a page turner for first world enthusiasts. At this point I have to quote Einstein.

"I am convinced that God does not play dice". If only its true.

The old man said 'I am old'. The rest say 'Go get groceries. War is on'. Rest is me. Me within me. Capsuled and colored.

_________________________________

Discovered gold. Few letters. A poet at heart. How can I come to terms with one who has been so structured and hard to face when all of a sudden I find his youth so adventurous. Love is a powerful weapon. Addressing letters to his 'lady love', calling her 'My eve'. Time changes everything. A complete change of character. Is this for real?

This world is too huge and too grand. Everything moves too fast. From the dirt comes beauty. I will stick to this thing.

'pester me with your unfeigned love'

'How is it R - in this self confidence of love, I have hope that my dearest one will hold candle with me without paddling her own canoe, Selfless - Sacrificing - Without bowing to the fragile charms of the world. Love is to love - not only in word but in deed too. This is love R. What do you say. Two loves should become one and clasp and make it to rise to its greater heights - There lies the charm and highest pleasure. Not in hiding love my dear'

Dad, 1st Jan 1983 in a letter to my mother

Am I not one among millions chosen to pluck the lucky of luckiest
Oh! how could it be - when would it be
Is it in the New Year 1983.

Dad. My Friend, My Guide, My God

Boney M

My father used to listen to this song all day.. rewind play rewind play.. like a zillion times.. awesome song.. moody but really soothing..

See the stars come joining down from the sky
Gently passing they kiss your tears when you cry
See the wind the summer blow your hair upon your head
See the rain, the falling rain, it's great
Still i'm sad

All my sounds my tears just fall into days
They are driving the night will find they are lost
Now i found the wind is blowing time into my heart
When the wind blows hard we are apart
Still i'm sad

See the stars come joining down from the sky
Gently passing they kiss your tears when you cry
See the wind the summer blow your hair upon your head
See the rain, the falling rain, it's great
Still i'm sad

Still i'm sad
Oh heart, i'm sad
Still i'm sad
Oh heart, i'm sad
Boney M - Still I'm sad

Breathe

Now you see, i would wait.. wait till all the butterflies go to sleep and have nocturnal dreams. You see what you have never seen and wonder how it happened. The coaster broke and the wind broke my windowpane. How did it happen? Or the politics of fear. One of those special moments you watch on television. Airplanes dropping food packets over ill-fated Afghanistan. Arundhati roy says 'does it not hurt the pride of a human being to hunt for scattered food and in the process getting shot by the taliban and stripped of all your wealth'. Big issues, big things. How can we choose to ignore all this. We are here to stay. Maybe all the belief systems should be changed. Oh that would mean changing the world map!

this moment till it lasts
i look at my watch
time would blow itself, i know
in a few hundred seconds
now my diverging dreams speak
little things, big things
we are here to stay

Viva la Vida

I feel so inundated.. Such a void inside my head, i'd rather run away to nowhere! Well, Coldplay's new album is out and is rocking all charts.. 'Viva la Vida' is awesome. Experimental work paid off. The title track carries with it the bands creative work, not to mention that it is the second fastest selling album in UK.

'Reign of love' is rendered in a very romantic way. Tops my playlist

Reign of love
I can’t let go
To the sea I offer
This heavy load

Locusts will
Lift me up
I’m just a prisoner
In a reign of love

Locusts will
Let us stop
I wish I’d spoken
To the reign of love

Reign of love
By the church, we’re waiting
Reign of love
My knees go praying

How I wish
I’d spoken up
Or we’d be carried
In the reign of love.

Adios IIITM

Exit is just a few hours away. How should i feel? What should i do? 5 years in this college.. now left with 5 fuckin hours.. I am so so glad to know many of the guys who were like strangers to me during my initial years.. It is just so good. Does this have to end? Starting tomorrow, i should be back to bed early.. no dhaba.. no labs.. (well the comm sys lab was like BELL labs to me.. :-)) no 'smoke groups', no more silly gossiping, no more soccer & TT, no more FORT sessions (I loved it.. even though it was a jus a wastage of time, it was awesome), no more crazy partying (last night was super cool.. ) ,no more majors and minors, no more photocopy business (5 years -- photocopy - Rs 731/- heheh )and no more friends to talk abt senseless stuff..

5th year was the craziest year of my life. I have had so much fun and learning.. Jus cannot forget all those discussions with chauhan, fort sessions with unniyal, silly arguing with ankur, great soccer moments with sanjeev,alok,pajji,nikhil,santosh, and also the entire AP clan of 2nd flr wing.. We rock.. lets rock again.. ultimate music session with dhruv a few nights back.. hehe.. u went crazy..!!

Yea yea.. am jus making myself feel better by saying 'Nothing lasts forever' baby..!! Its true.. Just don't think anything.. board the train.. leave.. jus leave.. My throat is getting choked writing this.. 5 years in this place was legendary.. Lets try to make the coming life the same..

As johney quoted in his blog "To a trained mind, parting is another new journey"

Eddie vedder, kurt cobain, A R Rehman still mean a lot.. they r super cool


"So let's take the good times as they go And I'll meet you further on up the road" -- Bruce springsteen

Adios amigos.. i hope we cross paths in life.. No more isolation.. All the very best..

Music heroes

“Rock is so much fun. That's what it's all about - filling up the chest cavities and empty kneecaps and elbows.” -- Jimi Hendrix

My personal rock stars. My first love in this college. My way to get high. I never felt alone knowing I am in the company of soothing but aggressive vocals, guitars and drums. My personal music heroes

Eddie vedder - No 1 on my list.. Unbelievable voice. Great charisma and also quite awesome! He once wiped his ass with a rolling stone magazine onstage as his picture was put on the cover without his permission.

Thom Yorke - Creativity unlimited. So cool. 'In Rainbows' is their best album. I just can't get enough of them.

Chris martin - He married a sex bomb. But still we r on good terms!! :P

Layne Staley - Why did he have to die?

Kurt Cobain - Why did he have to die?

Jimmy page - No match to his guitar skills..

Chris Cornell - Super cool. Why did he leave 'Audioslave'


let this land crumble down into tiny pieces of monosyllables
i still have the power to extend my hand
why do we talk about fate and destiny?
i just know i have the power to change everything

I just wish I get a chance to see eddie vedder play live! sometime in future.. :)

Where is my source?

how i know what is strange
before i save it from extinction
give me a peace sign
so i can hang it on my door

can i be at peace
knowing i have a pen to write
and a book to read
closing all shutters which threaten
to annihilate my own feelings

my life is but a glossary
indicating all supple movements of the past
as i face the present
to counter my judgements of the future

winter fog and summer dust
two companions i dance with
now a runaway recluse
but when i find my source
i will disappear

what shape was it?
when i felt i could touch
but i feared it would melt
and flow away from me
ahhh it burned me
just once i wanted to crash into it
and feel the pain of satisfaction
just once.. where is it?

where is my source? just once..

To yours

'Was there any ragging in your college. Have you taken off mustache due to ragging? Or was it a friendly suggestion by Seniors. Do let me know. I will buy a new shaving kit for you' - Fri, 15 Aug 2003

New found glory!

Final day of another month. 30 days have gone by without my attention. We grow wise by each passing day. Elements of perished moments keep haunting me at night. I am just an event driven system. I gauge my calibre every now and then. All these things push me harder and harder into a principle based realm. The basic principles I ought to follow pushing aside others opinions. Here I lay.

My final days in college, and I pick up new passions. Latest in the town is Nusrat fateh ali khan. Chauhan introduced me to his music about 15 days ago. Extensive reading about his life, music and his mesmerizing influence all over the world blowed me away. One connection between Nusrat and Eddie vedder. I am in heaven. They contributed to the soundtrack of 'Dead Man Walking'. Amazing music. Amazing voice. Its just amazing. New found glory!

Simple enough

Like thin smoke from the ash of 'my' cigarette disappearing into the Grey background in random directions, my mind wanders and puzzles itself in connecting sporadic emotions that I may say are inconclusive and unabiding in all forms; spare my recollection as they are few. Its hard to summarize, what? Everything I see. 437 pages of a novel, half filled bottle of water, my benevolent winter jacket, 3 cigarettes arranged triangularly, sun-bathed banana peels which appear like coloured geckos, spider webs silently decorating the interiors of my room. These are just a few. Our emotions are very random; atleast I believe so. Do we really profess to having a least bit of discomfort? They stimulate us to satisfy them. Thats a good job eh?

I think we should just explode. What can come out? blood mixed organs or noxious lies or informative secrets which were for so long buried under the hood of speculative stupidity. I'd rather open before everything closes. I follow where my foot takes me to.

a sunny day, as bright as i could see
this rise, same as yesterday, all i am is free
the sound, of which i hear some
fast and rhythmic, where from they come?
the hustle and bustle, this and that folklore
canaries of the south, away from the sea shore
trickery by the eastern sorcerer
invasion by the western conqueror
a quick splat from the muted gongs
the priests sat and sang their songs
standing in unison we clap we frown
watching the emperor descend down

Lost in translation

a quarter of your laughs
and half of my drum beats
tween your gaze and mine
its just a sullen dream

What does it take to say 'I feel found' ? I am real with music in my head. I am real when I play. My physical balance speaks the truth. I am real when I sleep. I am real when I write. All talks around me appears dreary and incomplete. I would rather be termed a vagabound with all the comforts. I'm blind, so I don't react. I'm not sure what to make of myself. With just 2 months remaining before the college saga ends, the purpose remains a mystery. A beehive with no honey heh..

Hell with it. 'Never use your brain when you don't react'. The spellcheck continues. Just like honey! Lost in translation

the bottle with my note reaches the shore
should i let in
a beam of million faces
i can then forgive the most cruel
and rejoice in the delight
of the most beautiful

?????

I get high when I put my body through some physical strain like soccer or tt or anything. Thought this would help me start running..

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."

- Emil Zatopek, 1952 Olympic Marathon gold medalist

Snow no?

heroic birds on twisted twigs
green anthems fragment my nonchalance
cutting my breath into tiny stories
the whole life becomes a mirage
snow white pebbles i collect
and rich, tough thorns i dread
distant bridges stitching those disconnected
all worth a dime dig out jewels

Snow in Baghdad after about 100 yrs! NYtimes says, "A welcome change of conversation for the Iraqis"

Hidden resolutions!

A very happy new year to everyone; grandma's, grandpa's, orphans, patients, singers, athletes, children, all my friends and my best buds Jose, Suraj and Shibu from hyd!

occurred twice, disapproving random dreams
deception flaring up, burying my sensual conscience
a molecule and an umbrella
swapping my spades with an extra drop of whimsical misery
courteous jittery with ice topping to make it look red
and because everything is just an illusion
I tame and turn frightening boundaries

I love all souls; everything is beautiful; just enjoy
I really hope so :)

January, here I come

I don't quite understand how things move fast. Or is this because of me being slow? Why do i feel homesick even after spending 5 years in this college? I always feel lost and moody the moment i board the train back to Gwalior. But in no time i get back to my own world where i take comfort in little surprises that lay before me, be it good or bad! I cannot explain the period i suffered from minor injuries that kept me out of soccer action. But no big depression on that part. Every thing's fine now.

We guys are finally leaving to Shimla today to spend new year eve. So to everyone, have a great finish to this year. January, here i come!

I just love this song. Enjoy

Starry nights, city lights
Coming down over me
Skyscrapers, and stargazers
In my head
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are
The waiting unknown
This dirty town was burning down in my dreams
Lost and found city bound in my dreams

And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting

Forget me nots and second thoughts
Live in isolation
Heads or tails and fairytales in my mind
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting unknown
The rage and love,
The story of my life
The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie

And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
And screaming
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
Ohh..
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting
Ohh..
Are we, we are,
Are we, we are the waiting

Green day

Crazy :)

found this on Postsecrets

Love at first sight!! :D


Permutation in music.. this is amazing - Longplayer

Fractured lines

I was so pissed off one day and this was the outcome!! No harm intended :D

"In all time and blood
I see nothing but pain and regret

My self being the source of wind
my fist talks and my mind preaches
till my blood evaporates
and my skin burns down
to nothingness

I wriggle like a worm
and my eyes blink like a snake
its poison all over me
waiting to inflict pain on others
and drain out all flesh and blood

My teeth speaks evil
plucking all known side
of humans breeding on this planet
like reckless soul awaiting
its turn in HELL"

ps: the word 'blood' is mentioned thrice!! heheh & this was about a month back in hyd

:-)

Its been a tiring 2 weeks for me.. not getting out of bed because of my sprained ankle really tested my senses.. but now I can walk again, but of course with a lil difficulty.. but its nothing compared to my friend Kushwah's injury.. "we all have our times - gud/bad " :))

We enter a new phase
where the most prevalent phenomenon
protrudes & crystallizes to shape you
As in intentionally groping in the dark
to touch everything that shines
and feel the physical existence
which otherwise is unattainable
to you and human reach

We enter a new phase
where method and logic pervades
the ever known ill-fated junk
of retributive dialogues within you that
starts to knock all doors in your mind
and you begin to prove your self love
and try to sell to one religion, one belief
one word, one principle, one second
we all adhere to in an uncontrolled
fashion to the highest degree of turmoil

Is this right?

one minute ecstasy, one inch relief
one step forward, one love grace
is this what I am after?
memories getting unlocked
what is done is being undone
all seasons, all strings
every hour, untitled prayers
untoward events, mixed feelings
rush of wishes which remain in my throat
bold directions, that region
that ends before it begins
marsh glow, harsh blow
stable and the brown horse
grass and the white rabbit
its better; seek beauty, no redemption
you contradict your own thoughts
land and the spin around us
hopping and circling the all
and you never believe the thing before your eyes
until you hear it say "it's true"