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This is where i am moving to, for 2010.

Hasta leugo, amigos.

Have a beautiful, blessed and victorious 2010.

आज कल ज़िंदगी .... मुझसे है कह रही
तू जो मेरी माने तो चल दीवाने सपनों की राहों में तू
सारी खुश्बुवों को सारी रोशिनी को ले ले इन बाहों में तू

अब है तू जहां दिन रात सारे नए है
आरज़ू जवान जस्बात सारे नए है
नए रास्ते है तेरे वास्ते क्यूँ रहे इन पनाहों में तू

ओह हो तेरे लिए नयी है ज़मीन नया आस्मां
लिख दे हवाओं पे कोई नयी दास्ताँ
तेरे लिए नयी है ज़मीन नया आस्मां
लिख दे हवाओं पे कोई नयी दास्ताँ

ज़िंदगी में दस्तक भी तो , दिल की सब खिड़कियाँ
खुल गयी हाँ खुल गयी
होटों पे जो जमी थी वो सारी खामोशियाँ
खुल गयी हाँ खुल गयी

कितने लम्हों ने मुझको जैसे हैरान किया
इतनी बातों ने दिल को आके है छु लिया

The party is over. Period.

These past 2 months

These past 2 months have been a joyful lot for me .... The year got off to an abyssmally bad start. But it is like god decided to throw in a consolation prize at the last moment :-) The music club at office has been getting together for practice these past one and half months and it is the last one weekend before the big night.
I have personally had a lot of fun in the practice sessions and will be looking forward to seeing how all our hard work actually turned out.

Plus got life's first promotion after what seemed like an eternity. At the end of the day , it felt like all of the fretting and fuming did not seem to be worth the wait. :-)

Hope the year ends well.

Happy Diwali :-D

எல்லோருக்கும் எனது உள்ளம் கனிந்த தீபாவளி நல் வாழ்த்துக்கள் !
दीपावली शुभकामनायें!

Wish you all a very happy safe joyous and prosperous diwali!
May this festival of lights beckon all the grace and success of the gods into our lives :-D

The one I could not complete

A bridge turns into a mere rubble
The rainbow no longer visible -
a burst bubble

The colors fade, banshees serenade
The inevitable bites its own tail
We deafen within our own wails

One edge of the rope holds on strong
One withers and dies away before long

The broken bridge was aghast inside
It's tears left it high and dry

________________________
________________________

Puppy love, perhaps?

There is poetry is my head, somewhere ...
my fingers cannot fathom the words.
Too much beauty in the atmosphere
Is this just a fleeting moment, so spurious?

That fuzzy feeling deep inside
That slight hesitance , to greet eye to eye
that whooshing rush into the heart
that lump , keeping the vox tied

Am I crushing for you?
Am going to even remember this in a month
or perhaps even two?
Would I still want to barge or bump into?

In a wide-eyed gaze, you make my day
When you walk towards me , I mentally slip away
But ma cherie
remember , this life is one sans guarantee

This may not be a song that I croon for you
The human heart of mine will not be subdued
So sooner than later you'll be gone long behind
and I shall be giggling over this , for a while !

Unnai pol oruvan!

Confounded Chaos of Conundrum

I search my world , but I cant find you.
You're standing there but I can't touch you.
Try to talk, but the words are just not there.

I can feel a sense of danger
You stare at me , like I'm a stranger
I'm paralysed but you dont seem to care. . .

The demons in my dream . . .

The I-Day tradition

First up, here's wishing all the Indians across the globe a very happy independence day!

Solace

What my fingers put down here
my mind could not mend
it is the regret of years
that the heart couldn't quite comprehend

Deep inside you, and your patient ways
My angst against the world, vanishes into a haze
At a brief moment, when I'd look into your eyes
That grin on your face, it would make me smile
For that moment alone, the crap would somehow die

Deep in your heart, you would patiently heed
to every single whim of mine, every need
Pushed me off to sleep while you still stayed awake
But there fate and cosmic math at stake

Puerile I was , Prudent I am
In fury I was, but numb is all I am
Only you , had the magic to make me smile
Only you, could make me laugh it all , awhile

And now, I cant reach to you no more
And yet, I yearn for you like never before
Thank you for setting me free, with grace
In your memories and your words, I will ever find solace.

Had a very 'Stranger in Moscow-ish' moment today. Here is the link to my most favorite MJ song of all time!

Of breaking and rutbreaks

And so it was foretold
the doom about the unfold
the pure of heart were to be poisoned
the bitter revelation of betrayal, envisioned

"Sure , why not?", they laughed it by
with a sarcasm so sharp, yet so dry
Neither of the two had thought of the bad
But one wasn't true, yet the other so glad

And so dragged on this tryst past many a fight
the one so true, held on with all might
The seers and prophets laughed, jokes galore
"Silly young lad! This shan't last no more!"

PS: Found this piece of crap while clearing my drawers at work.
PPS: This is nothing related to me or anyone else in my life.
PPPS: Poetry standards at all time low - this would be #37.

I sat I saw I survived!

When I had stated earlier that I would make optimal use of my weekend, I was not kidding!
I slept through most of my Saturday (aah) and then saw the masterpiece 'Yaaruko Yaaro'.
I sat.
I saw.
I survived.

If I survived this, I can survive ANYTHING!

A fun week

Today we had a dance and music club performance for 2 hours - it was a predominantly dance event with the music club providing fillers intermittently. We had loads of fun rehearsing as the equipment seemed far more co-operative this whole week, when we practiced during the first few hours of the day for the past 5 days.

And today, yes, the PA System f#$ked up.

Yes , this was expected.

No, we did not fret as much.

Yes, we had an awesome time.

No, the following week will not be so forgiving.
The calm before the storm . . . . @-)

Yes, I am going to make the most of this weekend! :-D

The end of an era

Last night, thanks to a good friend of mine, I was reminded of the fact that Michael Jackson's memorial services was about to start. I had never watched a live event on web cast . This was the first time.

I got a CNN link and they had collaborated with Facebook - so millions of people were watching the video on pane of the browser and updating status in Facebook parallely. The memorial service featured performances by famous artistes like Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie , John Mayer and Jermaine Jackson (MJ's elder brother). Usher broke down in the middle of the service (wonder why) and the entire Jackson family came up on stage and hugged him. Jermaine Jackson's rendition of 'Smile' was very touching. And as we all had expected the event wound up with 'We are the world' and 'Heal the world'. Tear filled goodbyes were bid to the true king of pop , and his daughter's sentimental , choked up goodbye had touched many hearts.

Most people in my generation would agree when I state that we listened to Michael Jackson's work a lot in our teens and still do. Who hasn't heard of 'They dont really care about us' or did not get choked up after seeing the video of 'Earth Song', or jived to 'Black or White', 'Beat it', 'Thriller' or 'Smooth Criminal'?

Even though he had a turbulent and a traumatic personal life , I have tremendous respect for the musician in him.And he will live in our hearts. Eternally.

RIP.

Michael Joseph Jackson
(August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Maktub

I say to you , it is written.
And by your hands, it is unwritten.
In those sacred moments , where
the creator walks through the creation.

JRO 2009

Needless to say , this post is about the June rock out fest 2009 - which was a 2 day fiesta of the best in emerging rock , that India had to offer. Having asked a few rock concert regulars after refrerring to the list of groups on both days , I ended up going on saturday (yesterday).

I reached the venue a little late , so I guess I missed out one group's perfomance ... I was there for the rest . Here is the list~

ABRAXAS from Pune

BLEED from Bangalore

BLOOD & IRON from Namma Chennai!

CRIMSON WOOD from Trivandrum

PUBLIC ISSUE from Namma Chennai!

SKRAT from Namma Chennai!

TOUCH WOOD from Namma Chennai! (never got to listen to them)

The first group I listened to was Public Issue. They did a good mix of Modjo's Lady , followed by an original of theirs , and also a MJ medley - which was pretty good! (Tracks included were Billie Jean , Black or white , Smooth criminal and they don't really care about us) . After Public Issue , it was Crimson Wood , who had won CRI (Campus Rock Idol) hunt.

These guys played some real good hard rock , and those who were not standing in the mosh pit (most people in the stands) were barely able to hear the lead singer , but their sound was edgy and quite good!

Following them was Skrat (who already had the crowd cheering loud for them) and they also played a lot of original tracks , which was well recieved by the crowd. Following these two were the real screamers.

Next up was Bleed from Bengalooru. (Again due to the feeble mic, the lead singer was barely heard from the stands) They also played a few originals and couple of covers too - Iris by Goo Goo dolls, Vindicated by Dashboard Confessionals and a mix of Another brick in the wall (Pink Floyd) and Take a look around(Limp Bizkit)

Abraxas and Blood & Iron were the only 2 metals bands from the line up (thank god!) I definitely could not understand a word of what each of their lead singers were growling into the mic. And I honestly wonder how they can talk after growling like that continously for like 30-45 min! May be I dont understand that genre , but I definitely don't appreciate it :-) (Metal lovers, no brickbats puhlease! Freedom of opinion , people!!!)

While the metal bands growled, I stepped out to grab a wrap which was uber spicy (never underestimate the indication of 2 red chillies next to a particular item on the menu) - and walked back to my place. Even before the other performers wound up , there were chants of - 'Mother Jane!' 'Mother Jane!' making regular rounds.

The grand finale was performed by Motherjane (duh!) . This was the first time I had ever heard these guys and I love their sound! (Baiju is GOD) Here were some of the tracks that they had played :

Chasing the sun

Maktub

Mindstreet

Broken

Karmic Steps

Fields of sound

Blood in the apple

Maya

I stayed on till the last song, the event got over at around 10:50 - 11:00pm. In between there was a hella lot of rain coming on and off. There were some sissies who ran to the sound control area's shamiana to take cover. I , for one, stay put and enjoyed it. JRO is known to have rains happening through out the venue - so this was no surprise. But it was a one of kind experience , and a great one at at that!

All about the Ahobilam Trip : Part 2

Mahanandi:

After a good trek and exciting , yet exhausting almost 2 days at Ahobilam, we headed to Mahanandi, which is home to Mahanandishwara (Lord Shiva) and is again , in the middle of nowhere. Here is how we got to Mahanandi ~

Ahobilam -> Aalagadda (Via bus)

Aalagadda -> Nandyal (Via bus)

Nandyal -> Mahanandi (Via bus)

What is special about this spot is the fact that there is a mysterious source of water which has been redirected to 3 pools within the temple premises - this water is said to healany sort of ailments. And the water is so clear and cool at all seasons through out the year!

But one thing needs to be mentioned here - those who are really fussy about the intake of food either be stocked with a good stock of bread butter and jam or take a mini electric cooker along with this trip , good food is impossible to find around here! After a night's relaxation at the feet of Mahanandishwara, we headed to Sri Sailam the next morning on the 6 am bus.

Note : There are only 2 buses to Sri Sailam from Mahanandi, one at 6 00 am and one at 3 30 in the afternoon. Sri Sailam happens to be in the Ghats sections so buses are not allowed late at night. Sri Sailam also happens to be a Tiger Reserve, btw.

Sri Sailam:

Sri Sailam is one of the most important pilgrimage places for Shaivaites in the world. It is one of the 12 places in India where Saint Adi Shankara had placed a Jyotirlingam. (He had done that in 12 places spanning across the length and breadth of India, and I have covered about 8 of the 12 B-) ) It was a 6 hr ardous bus journey from Mahanandi to Sri Sailam. But definitely worth the wait!

A number of legends have grown round Srisailam and its principal deities. Among them the most significant one is that Parvatha, son of Silada Maharshi is said to have performed penance, pleased Siva and made him agree to live on his body. This Parvatha assumed the shape of big Hill –‘ Sriparvatha’ and Siva lived on it’s top as Mallikarjuna Swamy. According to one story, Chandravathi the ruler of Chandraguptha Patana situated near Srisailam on the opposite bank of the river Krishna ran away from her father who made amorous advances to her went up the hill and settled down there with few servants. One day she found that one of her cows standing above a natural rock formation resembling the Sivalinga and shedding its milk over it. The princess in dream was informed that the piece of the stone was a self-manifested Linga of God Mallikarjuna and took to worshipping it. This story is mentioned in the Skanda Purana. Two sculptures of the Prakara Wall of the temple also represent this story. According to another story ‘Sri’ the daughter of a Rishi did penance, pleased Siva and got her name associated with the name of the Hill( Sailam ) which thereafter came to be known as Srisailam.

You will find the Lingam motif being used exclusively across this little town. Everywhere, as in Everywhere! Hoardings , Grills , random decoration in public spots. You will also find 30 - 40 feet tall status of Lord Veerbhadra, Lord Dakhshinamurthy and Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathy, Lord Karthikeyan and Lord Ganesha all together.

The main attraction of Sri Sailam is obviously Lord Mallikarjunaswamy and Goddess Bhramarambha sannidhi. Apart from that there are lots of tourist spots in and around , you could probably hop onto a share auto to watch them all. One of the many spots you would find is PHALADHARA – PANCHADHARA - where Saint Adi Shankara did penance and composed the famous Sivanandalahari here.

After a wonderful time at Sri Sailam , we boarded a bus and headed to Markapur , from where we boarded a train to Bellary to attend a family function.

All in all , a really good and satisfying trip!

All about the Ahobilam Trip : Part 1

So after much adue hype, hoopla, e-bookings, waiting lists and e-cancellations (I am yet to confirm whether IRCTC has reimbursed my moolah) we finally embarked on the trip that evaded us 2 times in a row. 3rd time lucky? Possibly.

On June 9th , exactly 2 days after I had shifted to my new residence - we were all set to leave the house for a week long trip that promised to be exiciting , exhausting , sweltering and scincillating all at the same time. I arrived home roughly 1 and half hours before the train's scheduled departure timings. We left home , hurriedly caught an auto and awaited the train at Chennai Central.

We took the Mumbai Mail to Cuddapah and reached Cuddapah at 4:30 am in the morning. (Unbelivably, I was up almost every morning that whole week at 4 or 4:30 am in the morning)

First stop - Ahobilam.

Ahobilam

Chennai -> Cuddapah (via train - this is where the train connectivity stopped)

Cuddapah -> Aaalagadda (via bus)

Aalagadda -> Ahobilam (via bus)

Significance: The Ahobila Mutt (which is very sacred for Vaishnavaites and Vishnu worshippers everywhere) and the Nava Narasimha sannidhis . It took us a day and half (almost 2 days) at Ahobilam to cover all the 9 Narasimha Shrines. Some snapshots of Ahobilam ~

The toughest shrines to reach are the Jwala Narasimha (be prepared for a steep 4-5 km uphill trek to reach the shrine itself) and the Pavana Narasimha (this is in the heart of the forest, as , in literally in the heart - our jeep got punctured 2 times and got stuck along the way and on the way back too!)

There is a spot uphill , further upward from the Jwala Narasimha shrine called the 'Ugra Stambham'. It is said that Lord Narasimha broke open from this spot when Prahlad called upon him. Here are some snaps of the Ugra stambham!

More to come ...

Kill(ed) Bill?

David Carradine of Kill Bill fame, was found dead in his Bangkok hotel room on June 04.

RIP.

Unwritten

I took an arbit quiz in Facebook - 'What is the theme song of your life?"and I got the result as 'Unwritten' by Natasha Bedingfield.

She happens to be the sister of Daniel Bedingfield (remember the one hit wonder "If you're not the one" from an album called 'Gotta get through this' ?) . I had heard this song of hers earlier that went something like "I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you " continously for like, 2 minutes (which, imho , was pretty moronic)

So I decided to lend a ear to this track. The tune is nothing out of the ordinary (typically pop)

but the words are pretty meaningful, and sung in a way that the words are stressed upon just as well.

Check out the track here.

Here are the lyrics - 

I am unwritten, 
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand 
Ending unplanned 

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words 
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in 
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah

Oh, oh

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines, oh yeah yeah
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way oh, oh

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words 
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in 
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips 
drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
the rest still unwritten

(Gospel)
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words 
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin 
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in 
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

I sat, I saw , I survived!

The thought of RCB beating the CSK in the much awaited semi final was recurring for a quite a few days in my mind. And to watch the way we gave away boundaries and sixes oh so generously to the RCB folks (who came in 8th last season) was a touching sight indeed. We chennaites are warm and friendly, to the extent of exhibiting this trait overseas as well. Until it was 30 balls to go - the match seemed like a nail-biter till the end. When it came down to 17 balls - the writing was on the wall. 

The Super Kings have been sent back :-(

To get over the horror (err ..ummm ...I may be exaggerating here!) and the heartbreak of the IPL elimination in the semis , I pushed myself to the ultimate endurance test.

I happened to watch this masterpiece of one of the icons of Kollywood - The pasha of poetry , the lion of lyrics . The one and only - Vijaya .T.R Rajendharr. After relishing every bit of the sentiment , the plot , the carefully crafted screenplay , I pen this post out of sheer stupefaction.

I could not pull up a poster of this 3 hr thriller, anyways here are a few shots of the same!

I sat.

I saw.

I survived.

The passage of rite

There are 2 months in the whole year, I loathe beyond all comprehension. You bit your nails down to the very last moment and at the end , like Chester once yelled - "In the end, it doesnt even matter!" (WTF) Somethings have definitely changed this time around though. I've gotten an enlightement that I should have gotten a long time ago - I am planning to keep this gyaan guarded with my life. :-)  I have decided to look at , and focus on other facets of my life that I find enjoyable which I am sure will not dissappoint even if I vest 80% of my week on it (Since I find it joyful, hence proved?). I have started to write a lot of stuff within brackets (Seriously wondering why , though)

Aging is inescapable. The faster you brace it, shrug your shoulders , say F#$k it and carry on enjoying your life, the happier you will be. Most things in life are relative and nothing in the world is worth working you up or bringing you down.

2 of my friends got married on May 7th - I happen to have known these guys for sometime now. Wishing R and R all the happiness in the world.

Here is a song that I particularly loved during my final year of college. My i-pod just played this in shuffle mode. Enjoy.  My 3 readers would've come to terms with the fact that my creative streak is at an alltime low - so I need not bother elaborating why. :-D

PS: The action figures shown in the video - are they 'Mobile suit Gundam' ?

Poem #35

i have forgotten what a sunset looks like
i dont know what an evening feels like
all i see is day and night 
nothing in life, ever , seems quite right

this is the life with colours denied
all save the dreaded blue

Prussian, aqua , teal , any hue
Navy, ink or turquoised

Decisions and steps taken, sans poise
daily we rejoice on gaiety's demise
face the very faces that we despise
Grow rich and poor, with the price rise

I wrote this over a span of 3 minutes over a chat with a college mate , though I would not consider it anywhere near my usual standards of poetry, I still put it here anyway.

There's nothing like breaking the rut of a blogger block :-D

:)

This song never fails to bring a smile upon my face :-)

Teal talkies : Dilli-6

The caption of the movie goes - "The journey within".  This movie is about yet another NRI who finds his true calling in his mother land.  But Rakeysh could've thought of a better person to act in the lead. Abhishek's american accent is pathetic. That's right. Pathetic. 

Some parts of the movie are really good , and yes there is comedy in parts. I am not going to deny it. The lead starlets have proved yet again that lineage of fame alone doesnt suffice ... Dont know how much of a response this movie has got, though. The music is amazing. 

A.R.R , need I say more? 

But songs have gotten very less of a showcase in the movie , especially 'Genda Phool'. 

Watch out for Abhi's pesudo DJ dance steps for 'Genda Phool', which I found particularly hilarious. :-P

I think Rakeysh started off making a funny movie , then decided to bring in some sobriety into the storyline ... and hence the whole kaala bandar funda!

Ok am not going to provide any spoilers , you can go and watch this movie if you still want to.

It just makes for good time pass. 

And yes, a definite dissapointment after RDB, definitely.

Some funny pictures!

Just when I thought I would put these up in my wordpress blog , the wordpress server conspires against that thought and brings that post down to this page! So I am going to let these pictures speak for themselves :-D

You can find places like these only in non-metropolitan areas . . . this was taken in Kumbakonam, an emerging city in Tanjore District.

Cool DRINGS , Anyone?

Why would I want to taste a shop? I dont eat bricks mortar or furniture !!!

Of madness and moderation

I still remember the first few days of DSL in my home. My elder sister was abroad , so no one to fight with for the computer. I was the undisputed queen of the internet and my parents weren't much enthusiastic about the world wide web. In the pretext of doing ground work for my final year project, I had wasted what I can safely surmise as eons of what could have been a productive span of time. :-)

Of course, what all happened during the final year and the year afterward were eye openers of their own kind. And until a while ago, I thought I was totally addicted to the net. I remember installing the Opera mini in my dad's mobile and browsing away to glory until the new ISP sent home a technician rather quickly. But for the past 3 weeks I was out of action for many reasons - grueling work (there were times I'd be round the clock at office), the ISP's idiotic infrastructure and customer services , and 1 week long requiem to my native place.

I would not claim that the past week has been a spiritually enlightening expierience, but there is one thing I would proclaim.
There is nothing like turning off your cell phone and going off the internet for a span of atleast 2-3 weeks. Makes you feel all fresh and rejunivated :-D
I am also aware that one out of the 3-4 ppl who would be reading this entry would firmly disagree with this line of thought, but what the heck.

One of these days, I am gonna go on a longer vacation to an exotic destination, and god willing, it should bring as much peace and joy to me :-)
(I wouldn't mind if it turned out to be more peaceful and joyful either ;-)

For the "silent followers", yes , the blog entry on the Kumbakonam and Tanjore trip should be posted in a matter of 3 to 4 days.

No particular motive prompted this entry of mine. Just a fleeting thought over an infinitesimal moment , and perennial weekend vettiness :-)

Blah blah!?!

Today's Orkut fortune for me - "What we think, we become (Please don't think you are a superhero and don't try to fly)"

And I thought I cracked the worshtesht mokkais on Planet Earth.

Sheesh.

Does someone actually get paid for writing lame stuff like this?????

Jeez-us!

Where's Teal?

My dear blogjunta- the ten odd ppl who subscribe to my feed and random blog hoppers, and also the nosy ones who come here with the vain hopes of getting a sneak peek into my life, i've some news. and some news. After literal renovation for pongal and parting ways with my former isp, I'll be outta action until the new isp sends home a technician to get me plugged back in. So will catch ya sometime next week. ps: bratman, this was posted via opera mini thro my mobile. ;-):-)

Resolutions, really?

It is that time of the year again .... where people think of ways to improve many aspects of their lives. (don't know why this doesnt strike them around the rest of the year) Many have a list of utopian resolutions, some just plain down to earth ones and some dont even bother to make any!

And of course, there are some who are so addicted to the whole idea of rule breaking, that they make resolutions just to breach them :-D (I happened to see this e-card while looking for a greeting to send to a friend, and yes, there are also people like this in real life!)

I spoke to a few friends of mine, and got their take on this year resolutions, most of them could be spotted on anyone's list:

• Wake up early
  
• Excercise
  
• Quit junk food
  
• Spend more time at home
  
• Reduce the typical 15hr daily ordeal at work
  
• Be better human beings

What matters at the end of the day, is how much we are seeking to stick to the list of these resolutions. How resolute we actually are. How determined we are to actually bring about the change that is so badly required in the monotonous rut of our existance.

I for one have already broken 2 out of my exhaustingly long list of things to be done for the year. Speaks volumes, doesnt it?

Hope you all have a wonderful year ahead, and lets see , if atleast one of the items in my list succeed, I would definitely consider this year to be a fruitful one.