the confused soul!

I too like to be loved

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:09:20 +0530

It was a cold morning and with gray clouds refusing the sun to warm the earth it was a fantastic day - to sleep. Suddenly I felt being dragged inhumanely. After a few seconds I was in air and then… THUD –I hit against a cold metallic surface. Blank.

Now before all these happened life was beautiful. As usual, I was sitting beside an artificial pool, my favorite spot, in one of the software companies in India which helps US grow. It had rained heavily the previous day which was evident from the mess around.

Since it was a Saturday morning the usual hubbub was absent. There were only a few people, the unlucky ones who had to forsake their weekend for work, sitting around a table drinking coffee- their elixir of life- talking, mostly cursing themselves for having taken up this job. I always wonder how many sacrifices a software professional has to make in his lifetime. For what? Nobody has the answer, interestingly even he.

Two people who looked identical, holding hot coffees in their hand, passed by giving me the glare that everybody gives. It’s been almost a year now and I am used to these stares, though I am still figuring out the ‘why’ part. It was just after this I was dragged! Oh well, if you have no clue about who I am and are wondering if I am yet another bored software engineer telling his sad story, let me introduce myself to you. I am a dog, but wait, I am not the tiny one with fluffy hairs or the famous one that appears on T.V. following you wherever you go. I am stray dog. Yeah, now I can see your face contort like you stepped on to cow dung. Why? Nobody knows, even me.

It is not that I was hated from the beginning. Since I was born inside a software company, I was loved initially - thanks to the various initiatives in the name of protecting animals. I was the ‘choo-cute’ one to the beautiful girls and their not-so-handsome boyfriends who had to reluctantly agree. And simply a cute one to the other normal people. They fed me, played with me and cuddled me. It felt like heaven.

It is eerily dark inside and the thing in which I am has started to move. When my mother tried to explain how rude humans were toward dogs especially like me who do not come from posh kennels, I suppose she knew this would happen to me eventually if I did not move from that place. Trusting the love that you showed I argued with my mother. Now I remember how hard she tried to convince me.

A year passed and I had grown into a healthy dog. The fully grown canine teeth were so sharp and pointed that it could easily go through thick flesh and punch a hole if required. This gave me a ferocious look. And the same people who loved me started to hate. For instance, a few days back I went near a girl who used to feed me biscuits. She was horrified at the sight of me and started screaming. I was puzzled. If at all I could speak she would have known that I did not mean to harm her but I was actually trying to be friendly as usual. But she misunderstood because of my appearance. Probably this is what you people look for. You are too much concerned about the outer appearance that you fail to or forget to understand the true nature of the heart. One’s physical appearance is of little importance when compared to the nature of his heart - etch this simple sentence in your mind!

Incidents like this happened so often that my mother’s words resonated inside me. She told me that the humans are good at giving hope and then cheat later on. Now everything makes sense. I understand what my mother was implying then. Everything she told me when I left her to lead an independent life comes to my mind. This is another fact that I wonder about you humans. We start to lead an independent life so soon. You with all your extraordinary powers cannot do it and prolong it as late as possible. Why? You might argue that the complexity of my life is nothing when compared with yours. But wasn’t it you who made things more complex?

Now when I am being transported to a care center where dogs like me are cared for, or should I say a care center which protects humans from dogs like me, I feel cheated. This is the first time I feel that way. And for someone like me, who is designed to love and serve the master always, it is difficult to understand what it like to be cheated. May be I will also get used it one day like you, but remember one thing no matter how cruel you were towards me I will still continue to wag my tail out of friendliness when I see you next time. I may feel sad for not being loved but that will not stop me from loving you back.

To love comes naturally to both of us, the only difference is that you learned how to hate and I do not wish to learn that. I’m not asking you to love us but at least care for us!

Yours faithfully.

"i.Visibility < others.Visibility says the manager! Damn! So what?"

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:46:02 +0530

“i.Visibility < others.Visibility says the manager! Damn! So what?”

- My_First_Appraisal_Experience

Happy Birthday God

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:04:00 +0530

God turns 46 today! Happy Birthday Musical Storm, the Rockstar A.R.Rahman!

Please continue to entertain us with your amazing music. Long live!

-one of the million Rahmaniacs!

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions. -Joey Adams"

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:02:00 +0530

““May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.
-Joey Adams””

We the Humans

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:25:00 +0530

It is believed by many scientists that the human race is the result of long-term evolution of many unicellular organisms that existed millions of years ago. So, from the time a group of unicellular organisms decided to get together and take a new form, we have been evolving over time, from probably an algae or a bacterium to what we are right now. Before we became humans we would have been a plant, an animal, a bird and all that one can see around. Later we became humans, who are considered as the pinnacle of creation. We, the ultimate creation till now, have a unique power – Sixth sense – at least that is what we are forced to believe. The power to sense things using the mind, with which we are able to discriminate things – good and bad being the most common of all discrimination. This is a boon as well as a bane in my opinion.

Ever since the universe was formed, even before there were living things on earth, there existed universal laws which governed all the entities of the universe. The laws were simple, easy to follow and logical. The nature updated these laws at different stages, as and when new species evolved, and according to the situation that prevailed at that time.

Some wise fellow rightly said, “The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.” All the creatures right from the first unicellular organisms, plants, birds, animals to the early human beings followed the laws of nature blindly and life was beautiful, till humans realized the greatest power that he possessed – the power of Sixth sense. When he started using the power bestowed upon him, i.e., when he started thinking, he started to tweak the laws assuming that it would help him better. On the contrary it made life which was simple more complex, not only for himself but also all the creatures in the world. This is why I think Sixth sense is a bane.

The ability to think brought in emotions – happiness, sadness, suffering, affection, disgust, anger, desire, jealousy, anxiety, boredom, disappointment, frustration, embarrassment, pride, fear, love, hatred, hope, lust, regret, horror, nervousness and many more. How complex! These are some of the emotions, there are many other emotion which may not have a definition as of now. One can also argue that animals have emotions too. Yes true, but not so many. Happiness, sadness, love, lust are some of the basic emotions that can be seen in animals. In plants it is even less. These emotions in man made life more complex. Man has not only forgotten to live according to the laws of nature but he has also started to go against it. Had he tweaked the laws properly in accordance to the laws of nature may be life would have been easier, better and more beautiful.

If we weigh the pros and cons of the various stages of evolution, in my opinion animals are at an optimum level. They are able to emote like humans but still live a life according to the laws of nature. They are able to do everything except what only we can do – think! Hence they seem happy!

Two things, either we have to use our power effectively, in a way useful to every thing on the earth or should not consider ourselves as humans.

Let’s hope that in future we’ll use our power with some sense and make life beautiful.

Ciao!

5 things that I badly miss

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:37:00 +0530

If Farhan Akhtar can sing a song on what he lost/missed in 7 days, why can’t I write about 5 things I miss since a year? Hence this post. The following is not an exhaustive list but something that I badly miss and want them back right now!

1. Mom’s tasty food: After having tasteless, unhealthy food for more than a year, I’ve even started to think- Should I eat? At times I wish that God did not give me this particular desire called hunger. If I don’t eat my body abuse me and if I eat my taste buds abuse me: that’s the sad situation I’m in. Now when I think of mom’s ‘then-tasteless-spinach-curry’ my brain sends signals to flood my mouth with saliva, indicating that it is longing for something good.

2. The warmth of my mother’s hug: Ah! I don’t even want to talk about that, it’ll make me very emotional.

3. Dad’s timely advice: which of course I hated at that time.

4. A feeling that someone’s waiting for you back home: These days when I return back from work since there is nobody waiting for me, I feel so lonely, worthless sometimes. Either my friends would not have reached or they would be sleeping. During those days mom would always be there at door step with a smile, a smile which can relieve you from any kind of sorrow.

5. Totally unlimited fun: Though life is not boring these days, the fun I had during those days, when there was no specific responsibility on my shoulders, is something that I’m missing right now.

Let me end this post with the hope that life will give me one more chance – the chance to grow up once again!

Alvida!

I’m back – If you like it or not!

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:47:00 +0530

It’s been almost two years since I blogged. And I have a very common, often heard excuse – No ‘Four-lettered-profanity’ing time. If any organization decides to present The Most Popular Excuse, this would win without any real competition. But actually when somebody says ‘I don’t have time’, one should interpret it as ‘I’m not interested’!

Two years in one’s life can be really long. Longer when you look back and realize how good it was than you really thought at that time and how well you could have enjoyed it! A lot many things can change in this time.

In this two years, I’ve started to earn – a job that I like? (Well you can expect a dedicated post on this topic! It’s a pretty important topic that it calls for due respect and importance!) Reality shows have become more unreal than ever. Bollywood and the other woods of India have started to compete with Hollywood, be it in technical aspects, quality of movies, steaming hot scenes(probably we have an upper hand in this category). Katrina Kaif is sexier than ever. India has a better stand in the world forum. Scams range from a few crores to lakhs of crores and any scam less than this range is laughed at and is not classified as scam. More Indians have started appearing in the Forbes list when more than half of Indian population still suffer and find it difficult to meet their daily basic needs! In short India continues to be the land of contrasts.

And two years is short to change certain things. I’m still entangled in the web. Indians are still crazy about cricket and cricketers even though hockey is still officially the national sport! The concerned authorities tried a lot to increase the popularity of hockey by sexy advertisements, also by forcing popular cricketers to watch hockey matches – nothing worked. Google rules the web! Politicians and many public servants continue to embarrass and trouble us by being corrupt. India-Pakistan peace talks remains unsuccessful. Kasab is still alive, having a very secured life than ever. Mohanlal, Mammooty, Rajni Kanth, Kamal Hasan and many other old Telugu and Kannada actors continue to play the lead roles in movies and the age of their actresses are less than half their age even now! On a very trivial note, I’m still single – not even a single girl has won my heart – even as I write this sentence and complete it with a dot.

Now, after straying a lot from the topic, let me tell you what I wanted to, I’m back – if you like it or not! Yeah! Why am I back? Wish I had a single reason but I do not. Some friends of mine encouraged me to write, I read a lot of books these days (at least more than what I used to before) and they induce me to write now and then, I am also trying to spend my time productively without wasting it by involving in brain damaging activities like watching television, sitting idle and the like.

The plan is to update often.

Till the next post, Alvida! …

PS: One of my friends has started to blog. About him in his own words, he’s funny and a useless idiot! Visit his blog if you care: Muskeetoh

Salute the brave hearts!

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:05:00 +0530

Hats off to the NSG commandos and the other policemen who risked their lives for us! Thank you so much guys. The Mumbai incident just proved that if we are united we can fight terrorism, no matter how fierce they are! Lets pray for all those who sacrificed their lives for us. We owe you a lot!

Hats off again!

Let peace prevail everywhere!

A charmer

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:30:00 +0530

One fine afternoon, I was napping, as usual. Suddnely!

Hit it. Hit it! Kill. Kill. There! There! Go. Go. Thud. Thud. Thump. Cling. Cling. Thud! Followed by a silence. Then, ”I think it is gone”…

This woke me up. I did not know what was happening. In that drowsy state I thought I was in some sort of a war zone. But my mom told me that our neighbour caught sight of a poor serpent and that they were behind that, trying to kill it! People know that snakes don’t harm them unless they do, but still they get terrified at the sight of a snake and, immediately want to kill it. Somehow the snake hid in a very comfortable place, away from its killers. Now that they know a snake is there in their backyard, they wanted to make sure that it is either killed or driven away. So, they decided to call a snake charmer and catch it.

I was intrigued. Can he catch it? Like we see in the movies? It was the first time I was going to see a snake charmer. I waited but unfortunately couldn’t see it since I had to go to my friend’s place. My dad like the rest who gathered there (there was a huge crowd, seriously) had taken the video of it.

This is what happened. This is what I saw. This guy comes in, enthusiastically. He had already become a hero – all were expecting him to catch the snake. He enquired my neighbour and they pointed to the location where they saw it last. He moved here and there. Made some skillful moves and pointed to a direction and said don’t go there the snake might be there. He placed something (the thing wasn’t clear in the video and dad also doesn’t know what it was) there. And after sometime, the snake came from exactly opposite direction! The snake charmer said, “See, didn’t I tell you it is there?”, pointing to the snake. (Dude everyone knows the snake is there, and that is the reason you are here). But nobody said a word. My neighbour wanted the snake and the others wanted some entertainment for that evening. Both got what they wanted, they were happy. He then caught the snake tactfully, skillfully, removed the poison and was posing for the photos. Lots of clicks. A new hero was born there.

The snake charmer absolutely charmed the crowd, I’m not sure of the snake. Hope he doesn’t kill it.

Live and let live (be it an animal or a human being)

Thanks.

A recent IM conversation

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:51:00 +0530

This is a part of the conversation I had with one of my friends Krishna Kumar aka Mappi, two days back. Have a look at it!

20:10

me: mappi.. wat is irony actu.. always had this doubt

Mappi: ummm

u say one thing

and something exactly opposite happens

kinda like

u say u can nvr be beaten

and when ur done saying it

ur on the floor

haha

me: oh ok!

Mappi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony

irony cannot be exactly described

hahaha

me: thats the irony part

Mappi: i was partly right i guess

direct opposite of the percieved truth best example of irony

i got was from a cartoon

haha

“so much a part of me and yet, I have to rip u apart”

^.^

me: hypocrisy is wat u said

rite?

Mappi: no

Mappi: hypocrisy

is different

hypocrisy is claiming you are something you are not

me: ok!

Mappi: irony

is close to the truth

but just not true enough

its something like

I believe I’m the strongest on this planet, until i got

beaten 2 secs later

haha

me: hmmm

Mappi: hypocrisy is saying I am as bad as K* at amrita

:p

me: hehe

Mappi: and yeah

another good example

u see droopy?

in tom and jerry kids?

me: yea

Mappi:droopy says, “I’m sooo happy!!!”

with a blank face

irony

^.^

me: hmm…

the word itself is confusing

Mappi: irony is so much a part of our life

yet we know very little about it

:p

the very fact that we are going to work in a software company

after studying mechaal engg

is ironic

^.^

me: hmm..

Mappi: yeah

u know what?

what we are discussing proves how jobless we are…

me: very true man!

Mappi: ironically, people might think we are pursuing a degree in english

:p

me: hehe

wat the hell are we discussin!

Mappi:irony

haha

…

This continued, to various topics like the movie QGM, existence of God etc., till my mother called me for dinner. I never thought I would chat on topics like “irony”! The sad thing is that even after such a long discussion I’m not sure what irony really is. It just shows how awfully jobless I am now. Thanks to recession,I reckon most of the engineering graduates are in similar condition. God save us!

Yawn!

Good night!

Life at crossroads…

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:53:00 +0530

Life, at times puts you at crossroads. You just can’t decide what to do especially when there are many options open before you, each alluring with its promise of success and happiness. You yourself have many dreams and on top of that other people- those who care and also those who don’t – opine. You are not sure which is correct- yours or the others. Believe me, it is tough.

People opine with respect to their right and wrong, their concept of success and failure, which is always subjective. They won’t know what exactly is good for you. When you decide on something, you take into account what is good for you and what is not.

By making your own decision, you are doing something that you want to and not what others want you to. Then again, making the right decision alone is not everything, what really matters is what you do after deciding. How well you execute your plan afterward. That is what makes something fruitful. Since you are following your dream and want to realize it somehow, you will give your one hundred percent.

At end of it you either regret your decision or feel content. But it was your decision… you wrote your own destiny, which is the most important thing. You did not live someone else’s life! Follow your dream- something which I did not exactly four years back and I regret that now.

This is my opinion. A lesson learnt from a decision I made previously. Life could have been different, had I learnt this earlier… if I had just given it a thought, then.

Does opportunity knock the door for the second time? Hope it will, for one last time.

Good day folks!

Entangled in the web

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:55:00 +0530

After my college, life hasn’t been beautiful. Lots of time to kill but there is practically nothing to do or that is what I feel. I’m just aimlessly idling in bed or in front of the computer, signing-in to the virtual world. That’s it. The only good thing that has happened during these days is that I’ve started reading books. Thanks to my friend without whom I wouldn’t have started. He influenced me in a sense.

Computer and internet play a major role in our lives these days. It has actually crept into our system that we are dependent on them so badly. Whenever I misplace something or finding something becomes difficult, I wonder if I had a google.com or a Ctrl+F shortcut key… This shows how dependent I am on computers/internet. I’m addicted!

On one hand these social networking sites help us to keep in touch with our pals but on the other it has also enslaved us. Like all the other technologies, internet has its own advantages and disadvantages. Unfortunately our human mind easily succumbs to the disadvantages. I don’t know whom to blame – the technology or my monkey mind!? I should find out a method to come out of this addiction. Is there any rehabilitation centre for these addictions?

Every night I say to myself, “Ok I should stop this. I’m not going online tomorrow”, but the first thing I do is that. I go online saying, “I’m just gonna check my mail. That’s it. Its gonna take few minutes.” Later I realise that it has been more than an hour, I’m not checking mails but I’m somewhere else, entangled in the web! May be I have a very weak will power.

Though being online, browsing and reading, downloading stuffs, chatting etc. have helped me a lot but it is taking away my sleep – sleeping at odd times. I’m missing all the fun in the outside world. I knew Obama was going to have a new pet even before he actually bought it but didn’t know that my neighbour died, I knew it only two days after! I also miss one or two odd cricket matches that I used to play with my friends. The casual talk with my family and friends. I used to do a lot in those days, not now! I miss them!

There should be a way out to stop this! But the question is, can I? Any remedies guys?

-A frustrated addict yelling for help.

Some Qs w/o As

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:54:00 +0530

Looking for answers to the following questions.

I’ve heard so many people talk about how great Indian culture is/was. But do they really know what Indian culture actually is?
What happens to the costumes -which are worth some thousands- that the actors and actresses wear in movies? Do they reuse it in another movie or keep it for themselves or are they auctioned? (I know there are crazy people dying to buy them).
Why are most of us only concerned about salary and not about the kind of work?
How is the new gay law going to ensure equality in India, as they say? What did they mean by that statement?
When the English doesn’t mind speaking erroneously, why do we Indians give more importance to English grammar?
Is there any reality behind the so called reality shows?
Is Google really spying on us and is it going to rise above everything and rule us one day? If you are not sure of what I am talking about check this.
What happens to our e-mail ids and social networking site profiles and all those online memberships, after we die? Who owns them afterward?

But, why am I writing this here when I’m sure nobody is even going to read this?

Alright now that you have read this, and before you declare these to be stupid questions let me ask you, do you have answers? Please let me know. Eagerly waiting…

Cheers!

Officially the last day…

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:57:00 +0530

…in Amrita School of Engineering. Four years went by so fast, especially the final semester. The initial days are still fresh in my mind. Had some wonderful experiences in these four years, both good and bad. Learnt a lot from this college. Today was the farewell day. Our juniors had arranged a wonderful function. Everyone had a great time – posing for photos with their friends, loved ones, teachers, pulling other’s legs and many other activities also. There were some wonderful miss you all speeches, musical treat by Joseph and Nakul (two persons whom I expect to be famous in the future) and some snacks to end it. Last few moments to cherish. And at the end of the day we really had fun! On this occasion, I want to thank everyone for making these four years memorable. Thank you guys!

Though officially today is the last day, tough times are ahead, especially the project review. Should work hard. Hopefully everything ends well!

In this post I’m trying to review a song by A.R.Rahman. The two...

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:16:00 +0530

In this post I’m trying to review a song by A.R.Rahman.

The two times Academy Award winner A.R.Rahman, our own Mozart has been reinventing the way music is being composed in the Indian film industry. He started a revolution which not only exposed western music to Indian music lovers but also made the West recognise the beauty of Indian music.

The song which I have taken now, Khamosh Raat, is from the Bollywood flick, Thakshak. This is a typical ARR album, consisting of songs of various genres. Some of the songs are originally from Tamil movies. It is a listener’s delight. The only off song is Toofan Ki Raat.

The song Khamosh Raat is a very soft, melodic song. This song is sung by Roop Kumar Rathod. The lyrics is by Mehboob. I find it hard to determine the genre of the song.

The song starts with the strumming of guitar. It seems as if the guitarist was learning to play the notes and Rahman recorded that. I have heard that Rahman records every sound that materialises in his studio during the recording session.

Slowly the singer starts. The tune seems simple. The song gradually picks momentum. When it starts there is no percussion as such, only jingles and backing up by guitar riffs, some bells and violins and a flute (for about a second). I love the part (1:27) when the singer sings Yeh Sachh Hai Ya Sapna!

The drum beats start slowly with jingles still continuing in the background-a typical Rahman style. There will be a base instrument which will continue till the end- here it is jingles – all the other instruments are added one top of the other. On the whole, a musical treat for the ear. This can be found in most of his songs if not all.

The tune of this song is simple but complex when one looks into its intricacies. In most of Rahman songs there will not be a set pattern. Usually it is like this- first stanza will have a tune, followed by a background score followed by the second and third stanza which will have exactly the same tune. But you cannot expect this in ARR’s song. In some songs he would have repeated the same tune, but no one would have known. This is mainly because of his layering- the way he adds instruments as the song progresses.

Coming back to the song, the singer’s voice is kind of husky which suits the mood of the song. The song progresses smoothly where drum beats and other instruments are added one after another.

After the first stanza there is a small BGM with Hawaiian guitar. It is simple. The tune after this BGM for the lines, Jhoonki Jhoonki Palkein Jab Uthi, I have no words to describe. Totally different from the previous stanza. You must listen to them- it gives a very distinct feeling. The tune makes the listener jump in joy (I was excited). A good orchestration can be found. It transforms from a somber to a pleasant mood. The sudden female chorus singing the swarams Sa Pa Pa Ma Ga Ma Ga Ma Pa… Ga Ma Ga Sa Sa Ri Sa Da Sa Ri is surprising.

As the chorus fades and eventually stops, Hawaiian guitar plays the swarams or tune which forms the second BGM. Everything except the pads comes to a sudden and unexpected halt, when Roop sings Jeene Ka Tha Hum Mein Dum Par Nahi Tha Koi Hum Dum. Good piece of poetry says my friend. You can hear the female chorus and the pads in the background. At about 5:23 the song reaches its high part (crescendo) with violins playing in the background. The Hawaiian guitar again plays the swarams in the background and when the song reaches the end, male backing vocal joins, singing the swarams previously sung by the female chorus.

The song fades out. You feel like listening to it once more? Go on, enjoy and try to discover subtleties which words fail to describe.

Cheers!

Good day folks.

PS: This is my first attempt in writing a review for a song as a whole. So please bear with any mistakes, especially technical terms. I would be pleased to read your comments.

Birthday Wishes to the music legend

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0530

Today is the Mozart of Madras A.R.Rahman’s birthday.

Birthday Wishes to the one who is considered as God of Indian music, Birthday wishes Sir.

One of the millions of Rahmaniacs,

Das

Ghajini – Music Review

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:06:00 +0530

Ghajini is obviously Aamir Khan’s most awaited movie of this year. The music was released on November 21, and the movie is expected to release on December 25.

Music is by A.R.Rahman and lyrics by Prasoon Joshi. This is my review of Ghajini.

Soundtrack consists of

1. Guzarish

2. Aye Bachchu

3. Kaise Mujhe

4. Behka

5. Latoo

Guzarish

This song sung by Javed Ali, is a soothing melody. The tune seems to be simple and is surely catchy. It has already become a hit. This song suits Javed Ali’s voice – good choice by Rahman. I guess this is equivalent to ‘Suttum Vizhi’ of Tamil version.

Remarks: Good melody.

Aye Bachchu

This song is sung by Suzanne. It is modern. The starting of the song sounds like ‘Mere Buddy’ from Bhoothnath, but I would say it is just a coincidence, because as the song progress you cannot find any similarity. And remember music is by A.R.Rahman – he never copies! It is obviously a dance number and i guess it is equivalent to ‘X Machi Y Machi’

Remarks: Modern.

Kaise Mujhe

Sung by Benny Dayal and Shreya Ghoshal, is a slow song. Is it romantic? (I’m not sure) The tune is not that simple. The orchestration is good. Shreya Ghoshal, though joins after half of the song, has done a wonderful job as always. She has an amazing voice which improves day by day! And Benny Dayal, why does he sound different every time I listen to him?

Remarks: Not so romantic but pleasing.

There is also an instrumental version of Kaise Mujhe.

Behka

This is sung by Karthik. It is stylish with lots of variations. Karthik is singing for Rahman after so many years. He has improved a lot. This song is totally different. The promo of this song had Aamir in six different looks! I guess this song is equivalent to ‘Oru Malai’ of Tamil version.

Remarks: A different Jazz.

Latoo

This song sung by Shreya Ghoshal is a peppy number. The melody is catchy. This song proves that Shreya Ghoshal is versatile. Oh man! She has an amazing voice. Nothing much to say about this song. I think this is equivalent to ‘Rasathulla’ of Tamil version

Remarks: Peppy number.

Ghajini is a commercial Bollywood album sans ‘Punjabi beats’ (that makes it different from the rest)! You cannot expect more than this for a commercial film. Guzarish has already become a hit and the rest I’m sure will become popular before the movie releases (more than a month left). This is obviously not Rahman’s best musical album but it will surely fit the situation. Listen to it as many times as you can and it will grow on you. Like every other A.R.Rahman fan I am waiting to experience that magical touch which is hidden right now.

My rating : 3.5/5

Buy the songs from T-Series Webstores.

Good Day folks!

India’s declining culture

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:09:00 +0530

I recently got an email (a forward) from one of my friends (Devettan). This made me realise how great our culture ‘was’.

Let me quote Lord Macaulay’s address to the British Parliament in 1835 regarding the greatness of our motherland.

“I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own , they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly a dominated nation.”

This was India in 1835 – the most prosperous, happy and peaceful country just before the British adopted this strategy and destroyed India. India was looted – not only her wealth but also the moral values, self-esteem which were more valuable (Indians were renowned for these).

As Macaulay said, our culture is our backbone – which is at stake now. Indian history shows that we have embraced the culture of all the invaders who ruled us. All cultures have both good and bad aspects, and it is up to us to adopt the good and ignore the bad. We Indians right now are aping the West. It is high time we realise the greatness of our culture and stop following the West blindly – instead take the good ones from them and improve our already great culture. In order to make India great again we have to bring back those lost values somehow. It may take time but we must do it.

We can! We Must!

Good Day!

A memorable test match

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:11:00 +0530

At the end of 5th day of the 4th test match, the scorecard reads

India 441&295

Australia 355 &209

Result India won by 172 runs

Series India won 2-0

What a memorable sight!

India vs. Australia, 4^th test match, is indeed a great match to remember. It was completely India’s, starting from day one. It was Laxman’s 100^th test match, Saurav’s (Dada) last test match, Sachin (God) made his 40^th century-first batsman to make 40 hundreds and Harbhajan (Bhajji) took his 300^th test wicket (3^rd Indian)! (So many individual records). And most importantly India registered an emphatic victory and also won the four test match series 2-0! This was Australia’s first series defeat since the 2005 Ashes tour of England. This win also pushes India to the second position in the latest ICC Test rankings and is only 13 points away from first. Don’t these make this match a memorable one?

In the Australian camp, everything went wrong. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether Australia has lost their aura. Questions have already started to rise about this un-Australian way of approach to the game. Cricket Australia (CA) has the reputation of kicking out players who don’t play well. So will this be Ponting’s last match? (I wish). We will have to wait and see. As Ian Chappell said, the upcoming New Zealand’s tour to Australia might help the criticisms to die out.

Anyways Indians played well and was rewarded. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is now with the Indian team after they lost it four years back on the same Nagpur ground.

Yeah! We beat the Champions.

Now all are eagerly waiting for the England’s tour.

A proud moment-Chandrayaan-1 enters moon’s orbit

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:12:00 +0530

Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned spacecraft mission to moon, entered lunar orbit today. This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the Earth’s gravitational field and reached the moon.

Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched on October 22, 2008 by PSLV-C11 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was an important phase for this Rs 386 crore moon mission. Experts say that about 30 per cent of unmanned moon missions of the US and Russia failed during this phase.

With today’s successful entry into the moon’s orbit, India becomes the fifth country to send a spacecraft to Moon, the other countries being the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said “It (Chandrayaan-1 entering the lunar orbit) will go down in the history of Indian space in golden letters. India now has a “big leadership position” as far as space is concerned.”

A proud moment for the Indians!

I’m proud to be an Indian.