I lost the strand...

Been a busy week and a busier Sunday. Had a nice time at a colleague's engagement in the morning. Congrats and cheers to the happy couple. You guys look great together. The food was great as well (yeah yeah, that's why we all go :P); I gorged on the ras-malais :) Rosogollas top my list of sweetmeats, ras-malais come a pretty close second.

Couldn't go in for the Strand book festival today; things got a lil hectic and I had to give it a miss.

Thought of a poem sometime last night though.

P.S. Edited the link to the poem above - Tuesday, 8:41 am

Jacoblog

Listening to a beautiful track called Jealousy; the rendition by Sir Yehudi Menuhin & Stephane Grappelli. Ostensibly one of my first introductions to jazz. In fact, I believe I posted about it long ago.

Oh, you must visit Jacob's blog. Jacob is the son of a colleague of mine, based in NJ, US. And, Jacob is probably the youngest blogger in the world as well :)

So here's to Jacob, the lil angel. God bless him!

Mum-Bye-Blues

Booked the ticket. Bye bye Mumbai - Hello Bangalore on Sept 17. Joining office on Sept 19. Looking forward to it.

But it's gonna be bloody tough, leaving Mumbai behind.

Nostalgia Strikes

Was listening to Igor Butman's Nostalgie and ended up penning this.

Hey David, thanks for the music and congrats on the bike :)

Euronomics

After an extended weekend, I spent the whole day downloading and analyzing hordes of documents dealing with the European economy - where it is, where it's going, who's growing, who's buying what and what's gonna sell.

Interesting observations there - which I may share in Prategy at some time. But I have gone a lil nuts right now. I just might pay the rickshawallah in Euros tonight.

On second thoughts, I don't think I brought them today.

ID58

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

- Rabindranath Tagore in Gitanjali

Happy Independence Day.

Gadgadpakshi And Other Things

It was the first time I had ever kick-started any bike. And what a ‘Royal’ way to start!

I have coveted a Bullet for long and now I am finally a step closer to getting one. I applied for the Learner’s licence today; should be getting the final one in a month (unless the Europe trip manages to come up). I won’t be buying the Bird in Mumbai though. It makes more sense to buy it in Bangalore – my intended abode post September 2005.

Getting the learner’s wasn’t much of an issue, though the RTO guy took an inordinate amount of time with the girl standing in line before me. Most of this time was spent in flirting with the girl and staring at her chest; didn’t help that the girl flirted back. What surprised me was the ancient biometric technology at the RTO. After taking down my details, the officer took my finger and daubed it in ink and pasted my thumb impression over my photograph. As I stared at my own thumb print, distant memories of dermatoglyphics and Shankh etc awakened inside. I didn’t get much time to examine it though as there were others in queue.

Listening to Eric Johnson now, I need to learn to play Camel’s Night Out!!

And hey, I didn’t write those lyrics in my previous post. U2 did.

Starin' At The Sun

"....

There's an insect in your ear
If you scratch it won't disappear
It's gonna itch and burn and sting
You want to see what the scratching brings
Waves that leave me out of reach
Breaking on your back like a beach
Will we ever live in peace?

'Cause those that can't do
Often have to
And those that can't do
Often have to preach

To the ones
Staring at the sun
Afraid of what you'd find
If you took a look inside
Not just deaf and dumb
I'm staring at the sun
I'm not the only one
Who'd rather go blind

...."

I LOVE U2.

OST Time

It's OST day again.

Anyone who knows me for a while now is probably aware of my love for movie themes and this desire in me to compose an OST one day. And one day, I will. I have already gotten my cousin to sign me up for the movie he plans to produce and direct some time. He is an investment banker right now and I am an IT consultant. So what? :)

So I have been listening to OSTs the whole day. And as I type, I am listening to the amazing 'Warriors of Heaven & Earth' soundtrack - composed by none other than A R Rahman! This Chinese production features a rather unique song called Warriors in Peace, sung in Hindi by Sadhana Sargam. For the most part of the afternoon however, I was listening to Hans Zimmer's compositions - Mogadishu Blues and Hunger for Black Hawk Down.

A colleague forwarded me a set of photographs today - taken from behind our office last Tuesday - the day of the deadly deluge in Mumbai. Someone (please do let me know if it's you) else clicked the pics and sent it to her. I wish I had taken my camera that day.

Good Times Bad Times

Bad News: I managed to lose my cell phone on Tuesday (Tuesdays are NEVER good to me).
Good News: I managed to get a fully functioning brand-new, same number replacement within an hour (Kudos to the efficiency of the cops, Orange and myself!).

So my number hasn't changed (though it will, in two months). If you know my number and if I had your number, just send me a msg with your name so I can store it again.

Friday - I echo Morphie's thoughts on OGIF!

Gonna hit the sack now. Yeah, what a good boy I am :)

Mumbai - Rain Rain Part III

Where am I? Stuck at home. There is no chance of venturing outside, and definitely not as far as Andheri.

It's been raining incessantly since the past two days over here; with the briefest of let-ups when it drizzles. But, the steady pitter-patter against the sun roof is on. Some people would probably go mad by now, listening to it. In my case however, I almost enjoy it.

Reminds me of the visits to my ancestral house in Kerala. A very typical, old, Brahmin house; it was constructed in the style of a 'NaluKettu', with an enclosed courtyard in the centre. The courtyard (called Nadumittam) itself has a depth of about 2-3 ft, with an open roof above it, which allows the rain to come in, albeit restricted to that portion only; thereby not affecting the rest of the house. Whatever be the time of the year, it has always rained when I have visited Kerala. When it did, I loved to sit near the Nadumittam and read English classics - a legacy of my Ammachhan (maternal grandfather). The experience was only enriched by the sound of the raindrops hitting the Nadumittam creating their own soothing symphony.

And that's what I hear even now. Maybe that's why I love the rains so much.

I think I shall just hit publish, and hunt up that 100 yr old, dog-eared copy of Stalky & Co.

Thanks, Ammachha.