ARR Concert

I happened to attend the A R Rahman concert - "Jai Ho", which was organised in Chennai last Sunday. The venue was called Swarnabhoomi which was about 38 kms from Mahabalipuram. When we reached the venue at 5.30 pm, there were already around 1 lakh people swarmed there. I had never seen so many people together in my life. Even the distance of the venue from the city, could not lessen the spirits of the Chennaites.

The concert was scheduled to start at 6 pm but as we know that the Indian standard time is never to be relied upon, it obviously did not start on time. Also given the fact the Oscar winner Rehman and his team was to perform, the audience were expected to have sufficient amount of patience. 30 minutes passed, then 1 hr, and the wait continued. At regular intervals someone from amongst the crowd would start applauding and then others would all join assuming that applause is because ARR and team has finally arrived. But soon the noise would subside and everyone would look at each other with despondent expressions. When we were almost nearing the end of our tethers, the band finally arrived at 7.30 pm :-)

The concert started with song from Guru - 'Jaage hain der tak hame'. Ironically this song was quite in contrast to the actual situtation wherein it brought the audience back to life ;). One by one all ARR compositions in Hindi and Tamil were performed. The music was incredible and the artists nothing short of masterful at any point. The whole crowd seemed to be swaying with the tune.

Some of the very famous hindi compositions that were performed were - Khalbali, Roja, Bharat humko, Tu hi re, Dil se, Chhaiya Chhaiya, Kabhi kabhi Aditi, Delhi 6, Maiyaa maiyaa, Jai Ho and many more. It was a wonderful musical evening. ARR and team rocks!!!!

Our camera could not do much justice but some glimpse of the performance - the best we could capture from where we were seated.

Short Stories

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” ~Confucius

I love reading and I have a dream of owning a library with lots of books :-). There was once a time when I could read any book, be it a magazine, or a novel, or a comics, or a poetry. And I would read them at a stretch, till the book was over. But, of late, I have seen my patience slowly exhausting with respect to reading novels. I am just not able to continue reading them after a few pages. This made me quite sad that I may soon give up reading, which I definitely did not want to. So for a change I started reading short story books over the last 5-6 months and I found them more convenient to finish, taking as many breaks, without fear of losing track of the stories :-)

Some of the very interesting short story books that I read are:

#1 The Four Million by O. Henry - This is a collection of 25 short stories and I loved it for the unexpected twist at the end of each story.

#2 Short Stories by H. H. Munro (Saki) - Another good collection of witty short stories.

#3 The Old Man and His God & Wise and Otherwise by Sudha Murthy - These 2 books were quite inspirational as they were based on real life experiences of Mrs. Murthy over the course of her career as a lecturer, teacher and social worker. One would wonder, so many stories on real life experiences? Well, the author says "People often ask me how it is that so many interesting things happen only to me. To them I reply that in lifes journey we all meet strange people and undergo many experiences that touch us and sometimes even change us. If you have a sensitive mind and record your observations regularly, you will see your life too is a vast storehouse of stories." Isn't this true? These stories were quite thought provoking and does leave an impact on the reader.

#4 Short stories by R. K. Narayan - Especially enjoyed his stories on Malgudi days and the character Swami :-)

#5 Short stories by Rabindranath Tagore - Though the stories by Tagore were also good enough but each story had a sad ending. Maybe they reflected the true image of Indian society during the lifetime of Mr.Tagore, but the stories always left me depressed, and somehow I could not finish this book.

Have any other suggestions for short story books?

Freedom is not free..

....it never was and it will never be!! I read this idiom(or rather a reminder) inscribed on the walls of Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. I was reminded of it today as we commemorate another year of Indian Independence from the British colonial rule. We do feel proud to tell everyone about the heroism of our soldiers who lost their lives, and of soldiers who had struggled to recover what they lost fighting for our independence. Yes, ALL gave some and some gave ALL. Like many other nations, that was the price India paid for her dearly bought freedom.

While this day is celebrated across the country with great enthusiasm, the Indians abroad are also not far behind in celebrating this day in their own special way. One such grand celebration that I know of is happening in US in the MIT University at Cambridge. The whole i-day event is being organised by the Sangam committee of MIT and is co-ordinated by none other than my dear brother :-). The series of cultural events planned for this occasion are worth appreciating. While 73 guests have confirmed their presence for this event, the Sangam committee forsees more than this number attending the function. It feels great to see the diverse culture and glory of our country being spread all over the globe.

Proud to be an Indian. Happy Independence day!
Jai Hind!!

The Way I See It

I have always been fascinated by "The Way I See It" quotes on the Starbucks coffee cups. I was very fond of jotting them down whenever I went there to have my favorite "Chaai Tea Latte", or whenever I spotted them on websites. Came across my collection of these quotes today, safely locked in my laptop. While they made up for an interesting read, let me list down some of my favs, or rather, my Top 5:

#17 The world bursts at the seams with people ready to tell you you're not good enough. On occasion, some may be correct. But do not do their work for them. Seek any job; ask anyone out; pursue any goal. Don't take it personally when they say "no" — they may not be smart enough to say "yes." ~ Keith Olbermann

#26 Failure's hard, but success is far more dangerous. If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever. ~ Po Bronson

#61 Imagine we are all the same. Imagine we all agree about politics, religion and morality. Imagine we like the same types of music, food and coffee. Sound boring? Differences need not divide us. Embrace diversity. Dignity is everyone's human right. ~ Bill Brummel

#141 I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stumped by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word. ~ Augusten Burroughs

#208 I wish couples who desperately take every means to conceive a child would realize that adoption is a wonderful alternative. A child who becomes your child through adoption completes a family. Just as when you commit to your spouse or partner there are no biological ties, yet a family was formed. This child enters a family the same way! It is not blood and flesh that form a family, but the heart. ~ Michele Johnson

Ah...I miss reading these now, I wish we have Starbucks in India too!!

The Inserparable

Though we are apart
But we can never part
Destined to be together
Meaningless without each other

Together we have experienced
The sunrise and the sunset
Misty mornings and dark night
Silhouetted in a golden light

Amidst the hills and valleys
Along the bridges and rivers
Converting stones to milestones
We travel across several zones

In our adventure never-ending
We know not of our destination
But be assured, wherever I go
This journey takes you too

Moving in parallel, side by side
We know we can never meet
Yet always together, we define
The two tracks of railway line.

Mystic Banaras

“So you belong to the holy city of Varanasi famous for its temples and ghats!” is the common response I get when I tell people that I am a native of Varanasi. But, beyond ghats, temples, pundits, orange chaddars and wooden chappals, the city has much more that makes it so famous. Some of the other specialties of this city are:

1. The narrow by-lanes (commonly called ‘galis’) bustling with humans and cows in almost equal numbers.

2. Some of the famous galis, like the Vishwanath gali, are supposed to be a shopper’s paradise, selling everything from silk sarees to colorful bangles, wood and lacquer sindoor holder, traditional perfumes, brass statutes, hand-woven carpets, handicrafts, and the list goes on…….

3. The silk shops in banaras are not restricted to selling just silk sarees but a whole range of other products made of banarasi silk, to name a few – brocades, scarf, shawls, jackets, cushion covers and wall hangings.

4. There are a good number of eateries in the city but the most delectable are those fresh kachoris with aloo sabzi and the lip-smacking jalebis. Breakfast can’t be better!

5. The banarasi ‘chaat’ with its tangy and spicy flavor of chutneys is always ready to play with your taste buds.

6. The fragrant 'Banarasi paan' that is often added with aromatic essences such as that of rose and 'supari' seems to be a part of the cultural identity of the people there. Yess, “Khai ke paan banaras waala, khul jaye band akal ka taala……”

7. Monkeys and langoors can be seen in abundance in the city jumping from one terrace to the other. In fact, the Durga temple and the Sankatmochan temples are commonly called Monkey temples because of the huge number of monkeys there.

8. Some of the ancient festivals like Bharat Milap and Ram Leela are still celebrated in the city with traditional fervor and gaiety.

9. Kite-flying is another tradition of this city and every evening scores of kites of all shapes, sizes and colours dot the sky.

10. The common mode of transportation here is either manual rickshaw or auto-rickshaw which reminds of the age-old civilization.

Mark Twain once remarked about Varanasi that "it is older than history, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together." - How very true!!

Uninvited guests

One fine morning, two creepy lizards
Trespass my house with informal ease
Clawed feet stuck to concrete walls
With tiny beads of twin black eyes

How and why they made this entry
Definitely not been invited by me
Gulping ants and swarm of flies
They settle in my abode with glee

They seem to be playing hide n seek
In every nook and corner of my flat
Behind the wardrobe, up the attic
Beside the stairs and below the cot

In vain I try to distract myself
And keep them off my mind forever
But their swift movements all around
Always tend to raise my anger

It has been three months of their stay
I request thee, kindly vacate my land
There's much more in the outer world
Fresh air to breathe, horizon to expand.

After a break..

It has been quite long
Since I updated my blog
Neither time was a factor
Nor work was ever a clog

Many a times I lifted my pen
And made an attempt to ink
Trapped in a mesh of thoughts
Could not find the origin link

Joys n grief were there to share
But words were not enough
Silence had expressed them well
Scribbling seemed a little tough

But let me not give up my try
And pen down few lines today
As the common saying goes
If there is a will, there is a way!