I tell you, I am on a high whenever i hear those thumping songs, complete with glass-breaking drum-beats, earth-shattering vocals and lyrics from outside this world. I am not talking abt Linkin Park(at least not all their songs) or Metallica. I am talking abt songs which belong to a genre which most people can relate to and are not the exclusive to a cetain section of people who think its cool to swivel their necks at 1000 rpm and then give it a fancy name(HEADBANGING).
Music has got to have punch in it, the right instrument at the right place, the right lyrics treated properly with appropriate variations in tone, and some drum-beats which more than juss vibrate the membrane of our ears, they should reverberate our body and make us vibrate in resonance with their frequency. Music should deliver us from our worldly pursuits, make us forget our sorrows(or successes in that) and let us just be. Be who we ought to be.
When I hear such music, I juss want to dive into "it". Dive head-first into some place I dont where, but I juss want to fly into "it", and become "it" and then stay "it". If such music cannot excite you, then God only knows what can. If this is not orgasm, I dont want to find out what is. I juss want to stay here, and get dissolved in this feeling, its not exactly bliss, but whatever it is, there is no good or bad there, its juss there. We can't qualify it.
And when i see people who can dance to such music, their bodies in complete coherence with the music, now that is what should be called bliss. God has blessed me with two left-feet(and I am not saying this with a straight face). In other words, I cant dance, ohh..I am sorry did u say "dance", I meant I cant even put the "d" in dance. But when i see people doing the thing, their bodies so magnificiently twisting, turning and straightening (sorry couldnt think of better words) with the music, I feel as if God himself has come down to earth. Now, i want you to know that I am saying all this without the rapid gush of blood to any part of my body, and I am not drunk. I juss feel I get a high when i see an elegant dance to an elegant music, thats all.
You know, talking abt elegant things, I get a high even when i see Parli coding. I mean its flawless to say the least. Its like music to my ears. Ha!
Sunday, October 24, 2004
The rhythm
I tell you, I am on a high whenever i hear those thumping songs, complete with glass-breaking drum-beats, earth-shattering vocals and lyrics from outside this world. I am not talking abt Linkin Park(at least not all their songs) or Metallica. I am talking abt songs which belong to a genre which most people can relate to and are not the exclusive to a cetain section of people who think its cool to swivel their necks at 1000 rpm and then give it a fancy name(HEADBANGING).
Music has got to have punch in it, the right instrument at the right place, the right lyrics treated properly with appropriate variations in tone, and some drum-beats which more than juss vibrate the membrane of our ears, they should reverberate our body and make us vibrate in resonance with their frequency. Music should deliver us from our worldly pursuits, make us forget our sorrows(or successes in that) and let us just be. Be who we ought to be.
When I hear such music, I juss want to dive into "it". Dive head-first into some place I dont where, but I juss want to fly into "it", and become "it" and then stay "it". If such music cannot excite you, then God only knows what can. If this is not orgasm, I dont want to find out what is. I juss want to stay here, and get dissolved in this feeling, its not exactly bliss, but whatever it is, there is no good or bad there, its juss there. We can't qualify it.
And when i see people who can dance to such music, their bodies in complete coherence with the music, now that is what should be called bliss. God has blessed me with two left-feet(and I am not saying this with a straight face). In other words, I cant dance, ohh..I am sorry did u say "dance", I meant I cant even put the "d" in dance. But when i see people doing the thing, their bodies so magnificiently twisting, turning and straightening (sorry couldnt think of better words) with the music, I feel as if God himself has come down to earth. Now, i want you to know that I am saying all this without the rapid gush of blood to any part of my body, and I am not drunk. I juss feel I get a high when i see an elegant dance to an elegant music, thats all.
You know, talking abt elegant things, I get a high even when i see Parli coding. I mean its flawless to say the least. Its like music to my ears. Ha!
Music has got to have punch in it, the right instrument at the right place, the right lyrics treated properly with appropriate variations in tone, and some drum-beats which more than juss vibrate the membrane of our ears, they should reverberate our body and make us vibrate in resonance with their frequency. Music should deliver us from our worldly pursuits, make us forget our sorrows(or successes in that) and let us just be. Be who we ought to be.
When I hear such music, I juss want to dive into "it". Dive head-first into some place I dont where, but I juss want to fly into "it", and become "it" and then stay "it". If such music cannot excite you, then God only knows what can. If this is not orgasm, I dont want to find out what is. I juss want to stay here, and get dissolved in this feeling, its not exactly bliss, but whatever it is, there is no good or bad there, its juss there. We can't qualify it.
And when i see people who can dance to such music, their bodies in complete coherence with the music, now that is what should be called bliss. God has blessed me with two left-feet(and I am not saying this with a straight face). In other words, I cant dance, ohh..I am sorry did u say "dance", I meant I cant even put the "d" in dance. But when i see people doing the thing, their bodies so magnificiently twisting, turning and straightening (sorry couldnt think of better words) with the music, I feel as if God himself has come down to earth. Now, i want you to know that I am saying all this without the rapid gush of blood to any part of my body, and I am not drunk. I juss feel I get a high when i see an elegant dance to an elegant music, thats all.
You know, talking abt elegant things, I get a high even when i see Parli coding. I mean its flawless to say the least. Its like music to my ears. Ha!
Saturday, October 23, 2004
The God of Small Things
Well, I have had it now. Already sick and tired of it, but the last few days have been the last straw. I had to write it. Dont know how to say it, but lets face it, we Indians(and this includes me) are a brood of petty, rustic people brash in every aspect of daily life. And I mean every. What does daily life actually consist of. Lets try to see. Daily life consists of a number of activities which are hmm...trivial, to say the least. We hardly ever think about them more than once, like our relations with our peers at work or in the classroom, the way we shop, the way we talk to the bus-conductor...u get the point..i am talking abt those things which are very common, trifles actually. But it is in these things that the God of small things lies. We guys have over 1000 Gods in our country some of which we most ardently follow. So what if another God is added to the list? Well, we most often tend to neglect this God. We offer sacrifices to the other Gods, offer thousands of rupees to the temples and do all sorts "havans" to placate the angry Gods, but no, not the God of small things. He is constantly relegated to the bottom of the devotion stack. Now u may thing, is this guy nuts, how do we placate the God of Small things...after all we have never heard of it, apart from the fact that it is the name of a Booker Prize winning novel.
All I am saying is that we should be more careful and observant when we go about doing those daily chores which are of no importance to us. Its like when we are riding our scooter on a narrow lane, we should keep in mind the cyclist coming from the otherside. And if, while walking into the toilet we collide with someone, we should say sorry. And may be the next time someone asks us for coffee, we should "at least have the courtesy to say no", instead of keeping mum. Silly, bucolic fools thats what we are. We are most frugal when it comes to using the P word(please) or the T-word(Thank You) or the S-word(sorry), but some how we are recklessly carefree when it comes to using the F-word or the Hindi versions of it.
Somehow, no one thinks it bad, or even wierd. I mean what the hell is happening? Havent our parents taught us to say Please, THank you, etc when we were young? Where did all those things go. And the most striking thing is not that we dont sorry often, ohh...no ..no sir, the thing which raises my hackles is that the person on the receiving end also has no qualms abt it. He is as happy to be offended(if at all he is) as the other person is in offending him. I mean I saw a scooterist nudge a cyclist, so that both were disbalanced. They didnt even exchanged glances, the scooterist changed gears and was on his way. The cyclist got up back on his cycle and was on his way too. I mean its as if we have become calous, too used to things like this and accept it as our fate.
C'mmon you guys, we are not as bad as this. I mean this is a country where Kings used to leave this Kingdom and go and live in the jungles. They used to leave all their money, all their wealth, even give their lives to keep their word. Those were big things, these are trifles. We should know better than this.
All I am saying is that we should be more careful and observant when we go about doing those daily chores which are of no importance to us. Its like when we are riding our scooter on a narrow lane, we should keep in mind the cyclist coming from the otherside. And if, while walking into the toilet we collide with someone, we should say sorry. And may be the next time someone asks us for coffee, we should "at least have the courtesy to say no", instead of keeping mum. Silly, bucolic fools thats what we are. We are most frugal when it comes to using the P word(please) or the T-word(Thank You) or the S-word(sorry), but some how we are recklessly carefree when it comes to using the F-word or the Hindi versions of it.
Somehow, no one thinks it bad, or even wierd. I mean what the hell is happening? Havent our parents taught us to say Please, THank you, etc when we were young? Where did all those things go. And the most striking thing is not that we dont sorry often, ohh...no ..no sir, the thing which raises my hackles is that the person on the receiving end also has no qualms abt it. He is as happy to be offended(if at all he is) as the other person is in offending him. I mean I saw a scooterist nudge a cyclist, so that both were disbalanced. They didnt even exchanged glances, the scooterist changed gears and was on his way. The cyclist got up back on his cycle and was on his way too. I mean its as if we have become calous, too used to things like this and accept it as our fate.
C'mmon you guys, we are not as bad as this. I mean this is a country where Kings used to leave this Kingdom and go and live in the jungles. They used to leave all their money, all their wealth, even give their lives to keep their word. Those were big things, these are trifles. We should know better than this.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Measurements
Well as an engineering student, one is taught, among other things, ways and means to measure various entities, both natural or man-made. In fact measurements are on of the corner-stones of problem solving, atleast thats what the dean has been telling us in our Computer Controlled Systems course. So, in keeping with these facts, I often questioned myself as to how would one go about measuring (the completeness of) ones life, as in, where one is headed, how happy one is and blah blah blah. Somehow, I want to think that one can do such a measuring by observing some of the very subtle things in life. Now here is where I think you'll start saying..."Oh..what a kid this guy is..", but like it or not, i sometimes measure my life by asking myself if my nails are cut or not, if I am clean-shaven or do I look like a wretched, sick person, have i folded my bed properly, etc etc. I mean I know these are some of the most trivial things, which we wouldnt give a thought to more than once a day, if not more than once a week. But they are important nonetheless. May be because when I was young, I would get into the good books of my dad(as far as cleanliness was concerned),if i kept myself and my bed clean and well made. And it could be that the effect still lingers, but even so, I still feel that the above matrices could well be effective and wholesome when it comes to measuring the order in one's life.
But then is that all to life, just order and arrangement. Nahi yaar, so many other things, like, for example, happiness. So how does one go about measuring the happiness in ones' life. Tricky!!! At this point, I dont think it would be out of place to mention a line out of John Nash's speech at the Nobel Academy, Stockholm when he won the Nobel Prize in Economics, it goes something like this..."..in all my life as a mathematician, I have found that no formula, no equation is more important than the formula of love.....". So there, happiness equals the amount of love in one's life. But its not only love which one receives, its also that which one
gives. Both ways, it only adds to the happiness in life. But then I guess that would scaling down the whole issue, I mean thats not it, I mean one has gotta have a bit of other things in life too to be happy.
One cant survive on full-time love. There are many things(mostly worldy things, that which are material) which one craves for and must attain in order to remain happy. They arise more out of the way we are structured than the pure, chaste need for love, which is universal and without which one cannot go on even for a second. But one thing that I feel is for certain, is that we cannot compare the happiness of 2 people, it just cant be done. And it should not be done. One can only remain as happy as they will, but never as happy as someone else.
But then is that all to life, just order and arrangement. Nahi yaar, so many other things, like, for example, happiness. So how does one go about measuring the happiness in ones' life. Tricky!!! At this point, I dont think it would be out of place to mention a line out of John Nash's speech at the Nobel Academy, Stockholm when he won the Nobel Prize in Economics, it goes something like this..."..in all my life as a mathematician, I have found that no formula, no equation is more important than the formula of love.....". So there, happiness equals the amount of love in one's life. But its not only love which one receives, its also that which one
gives. Both ways, it only adds to the happiness in life. But then I guess that would scaling down the whole issue, I mean thats not it, I mean one has gotta have a bit of other things in life too to be happy.
One cant survive on full-time love. There are many things(mostly worldy things, that which are material) which one craves for and must attain in order to remain happy. They arise more out of the way we are structured than the pure, chaste need for love, which is universal and without which one cannot go on even for a second. But one thing that I feel is for certain, is that we cannot compare the happiness of 2 people, it just cant be done. And it should not be done. One can only remain as happy as they will, but never as happy as someone else.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Toilets
Well I have always wanted to write about the various toilets I have used during the past so many years. I kinda think that toilets tell a lot about the people who maintain/use them. Starting off with a public toilet in a shopping mall in Japan. Till date i havent see a cleaner toilet than that. The floor was so spick and span you could sit there and have lunch. The pot was even cleaner. In fact it begged the question, do the Japanese spent half their lives cleaning the damn things, or are they so "not-dirty"! But this toilet really didn't have even an iota of aesthetic beauty to it, it was just a plain ol' toilet which was extraordinarily clean. But one toilet which was complete with architectural finesse and interior designer made crockery was the one i used in a hotel in Mumbai. I mean such was the surprise with which i met the whole thing, i asked myself whether i had entered the right place. The sink was made of transparent glass, blown into a funnel-shaped article. The urinal was pretty basic, that is to say without any crockery, I leave it to your imagination to extrapolate.
One of the most ghastly of toilets i have ever come across was a battered, dungeon-like pigeonhole in the I.L. School(located in Kota, India). While i was a student at Bansal Classes working my ass off for IITJEE(which i cleared in my first attempt), we used to have bi-weekly tests at this school. At one of these tests I had to pee in between the tests. As bad fortune would have it, out of all the possible pigeonholes i could pick, i picked this one(it later turned out that other toilets of IL were better) and had the most disasterous of urinating experiences. After a while i realized i was pissing and vomiting at the same time.
Anyways, moving to a more pleasant experience, this one happened quite recently at a 7 star hotel in Bangalore(The Leela Resort). As one enters the toilet, you will be greeted (in an accent which seems a disconcorted, Karnatic-Englishish..really unique) by an attendant, do your business and he will offer you a towel from which to wipe your hands, that is in case you decide to wash your hands.
Well, talking about public toilets, the cleanest public toilet I have ever seen in India is the one right here in CC1 of IIIT-Allahabad. I mean i was so flattered to see it so clean and the crockery was so....what word do I use...glittering.
Among other toilets which i remember due to their uniqueness, one was the toilet on a gulf-air jet...yaar I tell u the flush was a vaccuum, and made a deafening sound. I got so scared, I thought I would be thrown out of the aircraft!!
One of the most ghastly of toilets i have ever come across was a battered, dungeon-like pigeonhole in the I.L. School(located in Kota, India). While i was a student at Bansal Classes working my ass off for IITJEE(which i cleared in my first attempt), we used to have bi-weekly tests at this school. At one of these tests I had to pee in between the tests. As bad fortune would have it, out of all the possible pigeonholes i could pick, i picked this one(it later turned out that other toilets of IL were better) and had the most disasterous of urinating experiences. After a while i realized i was pissing and vomiting at the same time.
Anyways, moving to a more pleasant experience, this one happened quite recently at a 7 star hotel in Bangalore(The Leela Resort). As one enters the toilet, you will be greeted (in an accent which seems a disconcorted, Karnatic-Englishish..really unique) by an attendant, do your business and he will offer you a towel from which to wipe your hands, that is in case you decide to wash your hands.
Well, talking about public toilets, the cleanest public toilet I have ever seen in India is the one right here in CC1 of IIIT-Allahabad. I mean i was so flattered to see it so clean and the crockery was so....what word do I use...glittering.
Among other toilets which i remember due to their uniqueness, one was the toilet on a gulf-air jet...yaar I tell u the flush was a vaccuum, and made a deafening sound. I got so scared, I thought I would be thrown out of the aircraft!!
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Captain's Log
Some men are born leaders, some have leadership thrust on them, and some become leaders by accident. I think i belong to the last class. And the accident, as told to me very brazenly by someone once, were my Adidas Shoes(soccer shoes). May be that was reason enough for them to make me the captain of the soccer team. But I think I started off with more enthusiasm than anyone else in my batch for this game, and spent a lot of time trying to coax people into playing this game so that I would have someone to play with. That their enthusiasm for it overtook mine later, is another story! The captain of a football team doesn't have as many responsibilities as does the captain of a cricket team, but somehow I felt people giving me undue importance. In my times as a captain, i haven't enjoyed a moment more than the time i lifted the IIIT-A Football tournament running trophy. We danced in mud, we played with it and ate at the swankiest restaurant in town and ate sweet-"PAN". I gifted the smokers of the team packets of cigarettes and treated the non-smokers at the canteen. No moment has been more frustrating than the helpless we faced at being beaten black and blue by an opponent whose supporters out-numbered us 2 to 1, when they were staring at the face of defeat. I haven't been more angry as a captain when a player accused me of corrupt practices, of playing politics against him when he was relegated to the last line of defense. I hadn't been that angry in a long time. I guess I have had to deal with a fair share of politics as well. The best way to deal with politics, I felt, was to do things honestly and with a clear conscience, and with good intentions. Sooner or later people will realize that you are no humbug and you'll have made you point. Out of all the multiferrous experiences i gained from being the captain, one that has left a lasting impression is that a leader has to be a good listener. He cannot and should not discount the views of others and always make space for their ideas and opinions. Especially in a team game, he has to ensure that he has good relations with the rest of the team. The team can do without players letting their game go down due to tensions within the team. I guess i really don't believe in the saying, the captain should lead from the front. I would rather like to believe that a captin should have no problems in letting others lead from the front. A captain is only as good as his team.
If there was one thing that I could change as a captain/player, would be to have stopped K.P. from going over the our supporters side and picking up a nasty fight which would cost both him and us dearly and change our lives for ever.
If there was one thing that I could change as a captain/player, would be to have stopped K.P. from going over the our supporters side and picking up a nasty fight which would cost both him and us dearly and change our lives for ever.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)