Breaking the break

After a really long time, here's something from visual poetry.

The release felt good, for a while.

Towards A Dumber Planet

I covet the Blackberry; simply because I think it will increase my efficiency in a lot of ways. Probably save on the time I spend in travelling and help me finish some work (not necessarily professional) in that time. But then I would probably be sacrificing on listening to music or talking to people at that time.

Thing is, the smarter our devices get, the dumber we become. :S

Genius Loves Company

I have always been an admirer of Ray Charles and Sir Elton John... individually. The other day I heard a version of 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word' on FM and both voices sounded very familiar. The version itself sounded much more empathetic than SEJ's original. Not very surprisingly, the RJ announced that this was the version from Ray Charles' Grammy sweeping album - Genius Loves Company.

So that's what I did. I got myself this album :)

Posting the lyrics of this awesome song....

"What have I got to do to make you love me
What have I got to do to make you care
What do I do when lightning strikes me
And I wake to find that you're not there

What do I do to make you want me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I say when it's all over
And sorry seems to be the hardest word

It's sad, so sad
It's a sad, sad situation
And it's getting more and more absurd
It's sad, so sad
Why can't we talk it over
Oh it seems to me
That sorry seems to be the hardest word

What do I do to make you love me
What have I got to do to be heard
What do I do when lightning strikes me
What have I got to do
What have I got to do
When sorry seems to be the hardest word"

I particularly love the 'soaring' guitar solo in the middle of the song....

Another One Bites The Dust

Another week gone by. Possibly one of the worst weeks I have ever faced in a long time. Started on a sour note on Monday. The damage continued in other ways on Tuesday and Wednesday. Had my schol. application rejected on Thursday and to top it all off, we had absolute chaos on Friday. Every other waking moment was literally peppered with small things that kept badgering, niggling, irritating and ultimately, frustrating us.

While it's easy enough to write off the week as a bad phase, I would rather look at it as another week of learning. All said and done, it has exposed some chinks in my armour, reinforced some of my beliefs and forced me to think in different ways of solving problems.

I pampered myself on Saturday; no, I didn't go ahead and gorge on delicacies or whatever. I stuck to sleeping... sleeping endlessly till I went for a walk in the evening with Arya. Basically, we went to sign up for these Sunday Yoga sessions at a nearby ashram. While returning, I mooted the idea of dropping in at Cine Wonder (the multiplex-mall near my house) for a movie. We decided to watch 'Black'. Absolutely terrific performances there by all concerned. I would recommend it pretty highly.

Some of the things that struck me about the movie were the cinematography - very un-Bollywoodish with every frame seemingly enveloped by grey. Kinda reminds me of Sly Stallone's 'Get Carter'. Another thing to watch out (or hear out?) for is the OST. Though bereft of songs, BLACK boasts of a terrific soundtrack which features a fusion of the East and the West. So while you have the strains of the Tanpura creating a divine ambience, the violins and the oft-used church bell tend to reach for a melancholic extreme. A truly multi-dimensional movie.

I also bought Velvet Revolver's debut album - Contraband. Recommended only for serious rock nerds.

Geez, I am already half way through Sunday!!! :((

The Death of the Song

I was listening to Uriah Heep's Come Away Melinda a few moments ago when I suddenly realized that I haven't composed a single song in almost one year. While that doesn't really surprise or upset me, it IS a reflection on what I have been upto.

Haven't played the guitar much during the past one year, whatever little I did play was too short to remember.

I am yearning to compose a song! Any lyrics/poem that I can put a tune to? :)

The Road Ahead

There are not too many roads down there in Konkan; the few there are, lead through the jungle. Most of them are mere walkways hewn over rocks and shrubs by passing tribals and animals.

We walked through those. Thankfully we didn't encounter any wild animals though we did examine a tiger's cave at length. The last tiger to inhabit the cave had been shot by our friend's grandfather. We didn't even get to see any old bones.

We swam a lot. At least we thrashed about in water for sure. In rivers, in streams and in the Arabian Sea. On a virgin, unspoilt beach with water so clear that you could easily see objects that were at least a metre deep. That included small fish and even crabs in some places.

But none of these took a toll on us. Even the rugged terrain with 90 degree climbs and descents, strenuous upward treks over miles and miles of rocks at midnight - all this, while carrying 20 kilos on our back... at least it ensured that we slept like logs, even though we slept under the stars with the cool earth for a bed and a pair of jeans for a pillow. The thrill of moving inch by inch over the walls of the broken down Gopalgadh fort, where a misstep meant certain death either by drowning in the sea or merely by impact on the rocks, easily offset the perils.

What DID get to me was the rough ride back home in a clattering, ear shattering 'Asiad' the pride of Maharashtra's State Transport service.

That was something I could have done without.

The pics will be up soon.

For posterity, the route was as follows

March 5
0745 - Thane
1250 - Chiplun
1500 - Hedvi
We visited the local temple and the beach.

March 6
1100 - Gopalgadh
1330 - Guhagar Beach
1520 - Velneshwar Temple & Beach
1630 - Navalaee temple
1700 - Musalondi, for a bath in the river
2345 - Someshwar temple

March 7
1130 - Narvan temple
1400 - Musalondi

March 8
0945 - Dodavali
1800 - Vashi
1900 - Thane

Hectic, but absolutely refreshing. The silence in these places is amazing. A silence broken only by the sound of crickets and the breeze through bamboo thickets. Vast unbroken stretches of skies littered with millions and millions of stars. All this in a place where electricity appeared barely 5 years ago (thanks to the Enron brouhaha - Yes, we saw the deserted ENPC project too) and where the mobile phone is no better than an alarm clock.

I managed to catch up on a lot of meditation and contemplation as well. Right there, in the middle of nowhere.

Next stop - Dwarka.

Leaving Tomorrow

The train leaves at 7.45 from Thane. Will alight at Chiplun at 11.50. The good times begin. Will be back on Tuesday evening.

Updates:
1. Finished 'Autobiography of a Yogi' last night. Worth a re-read.
2. Work is hectic as usual. No change on that front.
3. Confirmed my admission at Cranfield for Sept. Let's see if I get the scholarship now. Else, a new loop begins.
4. Arya joined us two weeks ago; one more step in the positive direction.


Oh hell, there are a few more. There is this post I need to write about the stuff I have been listening to lately. Next time.

Till then, adieu.