I am finally putting actions to my passion... my love for music is typical of the sort of passion a person acquires over time. I have grown up listening to a good mix of classical music, ghazals, light film songs and the typical dance numbers... enough to give me a self-induced understanding of what I consider good music to my ears.... But of late, I have been enthralled by the little nuances that make listening all the more pleasurable. I have started noticing the instrumentation to a great deal.. one the prime reasons ARR is my favourite music composer. The sheer ensemble of instruments he uses mesmerizes me... words of poetry give us meaning for the song, but the accompanying instruments is what touches the ear and reaches the heart and soul... Being in the Bay Area is the closest I could have been to being home.. be it family, childhood friends, chaat or bollywood movies at the multiplexes every other weekend... and come spring and summer, the opportunity to experience the soulful renditions of some of the famous sons and daughters of the Indian music fraternity.
I have attended two live concerts in the last 4 weeks. First was a classic combo of Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustad Zakir Hussain. Percussion always pricked my senses. Its what prompted me to take up Mridangam for a couple of years... I wish I could give an answer for not pursuing it.... The sharpness of a percussion instrument, the fact that its not what gives melody to the tune, but nonetheless completes it... I had never before seen either of these artistes perform live... Santoor, a part of the next set of instruments I enjoy, string... and tabla by the Ustad himself. To say it was blissful is to understate my experience... yesterday, I got to listen to Jagjit Singh. I have listened to my dad croon his songs totally unaware of the fact that he's listening to it on his headphones but subjecting me and mom to his unedited voice!!A small observation though.. I felt that at both concerts, a certain segment was a little light, a little easy going.... I am not sure if it was done specifically for the audience set since we are away from India or do these artistes perform the same way even if they are performing in front of a home crowd. Maybe I was so immersed into the music that I didn't want to lose the intensity of my listening experience... but all in all, I am glad I am finding this way of spending quality time experiencing something which goes a long way in enriching the way I feel about myself. Music touches my soul, makes it smile... :)
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Stocks
Got this through email... Courtesy Manyu...
If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Airline stock one year ago you would have $49.00 left.
With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.
With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.
It's called the 401-Keg.
and this is Sumeet's signature...
Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them, but they always come back together.
If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Delta Airline stock one year ago you would have $49.00 left.
With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.
With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left.
But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago, drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00.
Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.
It's called the 401-Keg.
and this is Sumeet's signature...
Friends are like butt cheeks.
Crap might separate them, but they always come back together.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Relationships...
Family, friends, teachers, bosses, colleagues... some relevant, others not so much, some fleeting, others not so much, some good, others.. well... lets say the lesser said the better.. but relationships... how does one enclose that word in actual life?.. psychology probably has some scientific explanations for it, but like with so many other things that are so inexplicable in life, a scientific description and explanation of relationship wouldn't hit me or anyone where it matters.. at the heart.. thats ironically so true, because it is the heart where a relationship makes its presence felt.. and I believe it probably is a very personal thing as how an individual may perceive it... as outward and plastic someone may be in appearance, somewhere, with someone else, he shares some thing different, and what distinguishes the other from you is the relationship... As my friend would aptly put it, this is as convoluted as only my talk or words can get..
I know a lot of people, but befriend only a few, and those who manage to cross that barrier between acquaintance and friends, become so dear to me that if I actually projected it in its entirety, it may suffocate them.. but there's so much that I've learnt, observed, experienced, cherished, admired and even envied with these people in my life, that sharing things becomes more than just opening your mouth and talking. I am sure there have been instances for all of you when just hearing someone's voice or what we call 'telepathy' transpired and you could connect with the person whom you wanted to or vice-versa.. it never ceases to amaze me as to how develops something like this.. you hear the tone of their voice or even the first word they type in a chat window and you are able to gauge what the mood of the conversation is going to be about...I think its wonderful that we get to experience something as fickle and yet so deep-rooted that it can't really be expressed with all but some special people in life.
Why I type this? Well, I guess you would know it depending on how well you know me... :) .... maybe I just feel needy and greedy for a...... life long.. relationship?? ;)
Random thought: I want to write something about music but I think there's just too many thoughts to type it out... maybe...soon
I know a lot of people, but befriend only a few, and those who manage to cross that barrier between acquaintance and friends, become so dear to me that if I actually projected it in its entirety, it may suffocate them.. but there's so much that I've learnt, observed, experienced, cherished, admired and even envied with these people in my life, that sharing things becomes more than just opening your mouth and talking. I am sure there have been instances for all of you when just hearing someone's voice or what we call 'telepathy' transpired and you could connect with the person whom you wanted to or vice-versa.. it never ceases to amaze me as to how develops something like this.. you hear the tone of their voice or even the first word they type in a chat window and you are able to gauge what the mood of the conversation is going to be about...I think its wonderful that we get to experience something as fickle and yet so deep-rooted that it can't really be expressed with all but some special people in life.
Why I type this? Well, I guess you would know it depending on how well you know me... :) .... maybe I just feel needy and greedy for a...... life long.. relationship?? ;)
Random thought: I want to write something about music but I think there's just too many thoughts to type it out... maybe...soon
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Home.....
The deal's come through... the builders and the society have agreed on mutual ground. Another high-rise society will stand and dot the skyline in the booming area around Diamond Garden... Shankar Niketan will be ground to dust.... I will never see my home again!!!!.....
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We moved in there when I was two, thus probably the beginning of my memory that I can trace back in my brain... I remember the sight of the garden from the balcony.. my mom walking me to school during LKG. A big move for us was when we broke the balcony , extended the hall, converted the kitchen into a bedroom and the second balcony into a kitchen. The typical modifications within the realms of a middle class family...I remember the uneven ground outside in the compound, often disturbed by the negligence the society showed to it because cars wouldn't some around in such a small area... I remember my happiness when during reflooring, they levelled out the stretch. It became the launchpad for my cycling trps as I kept the cycle near the back door. Depending on the number of boys around, cricket was possible on three parts around the building, The glasses we broke, the trips we made to the dilapidated dump next door to retrieve the ball ( you wonder how as a kid whenever and wherever you played cricket, there was always this one innocuous gutter or naala or bushy area where balls used to get lost? ) .. I remember the view from the terrace, the openness above diamond garden on one side and the distant sound of cars on the highway.....those new year and birthday party celebrations which were held up there, the vadaams (homemade papads) mom used to go up in the summer vacations and put for drying.... I remember those instances of power cuts when everyone used to come and sit out on the tank... the ladies addaa during the evenings and the quarrels we used to have with them about them sitting there during our cricket games..."Aunty aap 5 o clock ko mat aao, come after dark" .. ya right!! as if she had no better work than to come and sit down there at her own time and will....
I remember the weird way in which cars had to be driven in and out of the compound because of the location of the tank. I remember the amazement I felt when I saw mom carefully reverse it through that seemingly impossible gap... I remember the amazement on my dad's face when I started doing the same years later.... I remember the Sai baba photo on top of the address board, and the ayyappa bhajans that were held at the neighbour's place...
I can feel the couch, the bed, the cupboard, the shower,the computer desk, dining table and the kitchen in my own house... it was home, it was there, people came and went from our lives, dad changed jobs and locations, but for us 4, home was 2, Shankar Niketan.. it still brings a smile to my face everytime I write that address somewhere... something so materialistic, yet something that is so close to your heart.. I guess its why we call it... home...
Come later this year, as each of those walls crumble, I imagine a few of the residents there to shed a tear, I might, visually devoid of whats happening... the next time I go home, there wont be one actually....
A new one would be coming up in its place, time to turn a page in life I guess.... just that this page has thought me so much... I just feel robbed of a final glimpse... one final glimpse... at my home...
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. (did this to make you guys think about that sentence and let it sink in before continuing)
We moved in there when I was two, thus probably the beginning of my memory that I can trace back in my brain... I remember the sight of the garden from the balcony.. my mom walking me to school during LKG. A big move for us was when we broke the balcony , extended the hall, converted the kitchen into a bedroom and the second balcony into a kitchen. The typical modifications within the realms of a middle class family...I remember the uneven ground outside in the compound, often disturbed by the negligence the society showed to it because cars wouldn't some around in such a small area... I remember my happiness when during reflooring, they levelled out the stretch. It became the launchpad for my cycling trps as I kept the cycle near the back door. Depending on the number of boys around, cricket was possible on three parts around the building, The glasses we broke, the trips we made to the dilapidated dump next door to retrieve the ball ( you wonder how as a kid whenever and wherever you played cricket, there was always this one innocuous gutter or naala or bushy area where balls used to get lost? ) .. I remember the view from the terrace, the openness above diamond garden on one side and the distant sound of cars on the highway.....those new year and birthday party celebrations which were held up there, the vadaams (homemade papads) mom used to go up in the summer vacations and put for drying.... I remember those instances of power cuts when everyone used to come and sit out on the tank... the ladies addaa during the evenings and the quarrels we used to have with them about them sitting there during our cricket games..."Aunty aap 5 o clock ko mat aao, come after dark" .. ya right!! as if she had no better work than to come and sit down there at her own time and will....
I remember the weird way in which cars had to be driven in and out of the compound because of the location of the tank. I remember the amazement I felt when I saw mom carefully reverse it through that seemingly impossible gap... I remember the amazement on my dad's face when I started doing the same years later.... I remember the Sai baba photo on top of the address board, and the ayyappa bhajans that were held at the neighbour's place...
I can feel the couch, the bed, the cupboard, the shower,the computer desk, dining table and the kitchen in my own house... it was home, it was there, people came and went from our lives, dad changed jobs and locations, but for us 4, home was 2, Shankar Niketan.. it still brings a smile to my face everytime I write that address somewhere... something so materialistic, yet something that is so close to your heart.. I guess its why we call it... home...
Come later this year, as each of those walls crumble, I imagine a few of the residents there to shed a tear, I might, visually devoid of whats happening... the next time I go home, there wont be one actually....
A new one would be coming up in its place, time to turn a page in life I guess.... just that this page has thought me so much... I just feel robbed of a final glimpse... one final glimpse... at my home...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
:(
3 wickets in the last over of play???? :(( .. crap man!! I feel so damn disappointed... I dont want to write more... shit!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Every child is special.....
Here it is, late at night, before a working day... but I feel it is fitting that I put up this post before Santa's sleigh reaches the North pole after delivering joy to kids all over the world...
I saw Taare Zameen Par on friday, a yet another first day movie opportunity which surprisingly I have gotten only here in the US and never back home... I knew the movie would be good... Aamir Khan isn't my favourite actor, but his movies are something I enjoy... I liked a couple of tracks in the music album, and the general consensus with the music review was that it will hit you and grow into you once you see the picturisation and the essence of the track during the film. Come Friday and the nature of reviews I read from back home were a little different from a Hindi film's perspective.. one reviewer put it as a must watch for kids, parents and teachers, a lesson for life, said the other. Ofcourse performances were praised, but I somewhere felt the movie on the whole got caught on to these folks.
At 10 PM on Friday, as I sat sunk in my seat and covered my well-watered eyes with my palm before joining the audience in an ovation, I realised that this wasn't a movie experience I had ever had before. I love going to movies for masala entertainment and popcorn, but if there is a message in a movie and if it can be brought out this well, its worth what we call cinema. Again, I won't dwell too much into the actual dynamics of the movie itself, go watch it yourself, go watch it for the kids who've acted in it, go watch it for the happiness in the eyes of those parents of differently abled children when they watch their kids perform on stage. I find it extremely difficult to see suffering, so much so, that it deters me from going forward to help someone who is... I'd rather deflect it away from the person before he/she has to endure it in the first place.
Why this movie left such an indelible impact on me was because the way it showcased so many small things which we undergo on a regular basis, but are oblivious to its nitty gritty's because we are performing a chore and a responsibility. I came up through the education system in India where the emphasis was solely on studying, doing well and becoming something.. that something was invariably a doctor, engineer or CA.... I went through the process, excelled at most times, stumbled sometimes, but came out as one in a million on a conveyer belt from a production facility. I am not deriding the fact that I am an engineer, but somewhere I know a partly true but bitter truth, I did this because it was considered safe. Yes, intelligence helped me all along and I am happy to find myself where I am now, but as a person who dreams of going through the parenting process in India a few years from now, I wonder if I will be able to give my kids the freedom to do what they like. Or will they too, looking at peers and society around them, choose a path thats tried and tested?? I hope I can atleast give them the choice...
The way the message flows out of TZP, especially for parents, is quite compelling. The part when Aamir talks to the child's dad about his perception of taking care of kids and the example of the Solomon Islands, it hits you as hard as being there in first person, and not in third... thats why TZP is so special, I again reiterate, I felt like I was shown a glimpse into how life will question us as adults and parents outside of work.... brilliant movie.. almost Mani Ratnamesque in its impact... watch it!!
I saw Taare Zameen Par on friday, a yet another first day movie opportunity which surprisingly I have gotten only here in the US and never back home... I knew the movie would be good... Aamir Khan isn't my favourite actor, but his movies are something I enjoy... I liked a couple of tracks in the music album, and the general consensus with the music review was that it will hit you and grow into you once you see the picturisation and the essence of the track during the film. Come Friday and the nature of reviews I read from back home were a little different from a Hindi film's perspective.. one reviewer put it as a must watch for kids, parents and teachers, a lesson for life, said the other. Ofcourse performances were praised, but I somewhere felt the movie on the whole got caught on to these folks.
At 10 PM on Friday, as I sat sunk in my seat and covered my well-watered eyes with my palm before joining the audience in an ovation, I realised that this wasn't a movie experience I had ever had before. I love going to movies for masala entertainment and popcorn, but if there is a message in a movie and if it can be brought out this well, its worth what we call cinema. Again, I won't dwell too much into the actual dynamics of the movie itself, go watch it yourself, go watch it for the kids who've acted in it, go watch it for the happiness in the eyes of those parents of differently abled children when they watch their kids perform on stage. I find it extremely difficult to see suffering, so much so, that it deters me from going forward to help someone who is... I'd rather deflect it away from the person before he/she has to endure it in the first place.
Why this movie left such an indelible impact on me was because the way it showcased so many small things which we undergo on a regular basis, but are oblivious to its nitty gritty's because we are performing a chore and a responsibility. I came up through the education system in India where the emphasis was solely on studying, doing well and becoming something.. that something was invariably a doctor, engineer or CA.... I went through the process, excelled at most times, stumbled sometimes, but came out as one in a million on a conveyer belt from a production facility. I am not deriding the fact that I am an engineer, but somewhere I know a partly true but bitter truth, I did this because it was considered safe. Yes, intelligence helped me all along and I am happy to find myself where I am now, but as a person who dreams of going through the parenting process in India a few years from now, I wonder if I will be able to give my kids the freedom to do what they like. Or will they too, looking at peers and society around them, choose a path thats tried and tested?? I hope I can atleast give them the choice...
The way the message flows out of TZP, especially for parents, is quite compelling. The part when Aamir talks to the child's dad about his perception of taking care of kids and the example of the Solomon Islands, it hits you as hard as being there in first person, and not in third... thats why TZP is so special, I again reiterate, I felt like I was shown a glimpse into how life will question us as adults and parents outside of work.... brilliant movie.. almost Mani Ratnamesque in its impact... watch it!!
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