Inspiring Brigade

Brigade Road, Bangalore – the young Bangy junta’s evening walking lane. Do find babes and blondes, clear Lee stickers on back of jeans and you may read or of course watch nice quotes on t-shirts. Guys from all over India messing there up. The national gen-X integration at its best.

Once upon a time, but not long back, when I was in Bangalore in my student days for project and I used to be there once in a while, and I too did stroll on the same road (but never without a genuine productive reason). And I thought, I will comeback when I start earning good money and have some friends of mine.

After 4 years, few days back, I was there again with Ma for shopping purpose. And told her that, when I used to be student here, I had thought when I would get job, will come there often with friends( to confess, possible with some good girls). We laughed, as the day never came.

Now in more than one year in the Bangalore job, not even a single day even on weekends, I could be there even I have several of good friends here.

In reality, where all those walking (hands in hands) wishes went off in air ? Looking back into the year, those weekends were dedicated to either my personal works (again same washing, cleaing, cooking and ironing) or Yoga Retreat ( 3 levels ) and FOLK classes at ISKCON and our Batulda group works.

The student did not get away from me ! I told Ma, that there is a student in me dying hard to sit in a class for hours again. Why ? There are two main possible reasons. First reason is my past decision to leave the conventional class education system after 10+2 and take up postal education left a vacuum of college or university student. The other reason is hereditary, when I am still seeing my Ma reading like a student and managing school accounts like a accounts student. And at verandah there is non-book reader, my father, immersed in new-papers for hours, picking each trivial news.

There remains such students in some persons,who are restless. I am not alone – there are more around me. Mom tells such people never feel grown up – they try to grow up as student forever.

Even after my 30 summers as well as winters, in the autumns, grew a student: who loves to sit on class-room benches after job hours. I am loving to get a little chance to be a student again for next few months. And I want to compete with most others, and want to feel happy when I do answer sometimes ahead of others. I want to make a special impression and of course I want to learn a lot. To say there is a feeling deep inside that I did not sit on the benches so consciously earlier.

Aha, coming back to main point of t-shirt blondie, to me, a chance, when I will stroll on the Brigade Road, hands in hands with a girl did never ever come. And the fact flows swiftly and when the wishes of Brigade Road do merge into the Wall Street, the student, keeps walking.

Filmfare !!

What to do when with Reliance net connection, the company is offering free subsription of Filmfare magazine for one year as surprise gift? Though there are few magazines, I do buy as per news/tech/artistic/business interests of mine. But I never bought Film magazines.

Everything happens for a reason. Not a bad idea for a bachelor to flip through star studded pages and updates on films !

Friendship and Looks

Friendship and looks, do they crash ever? I do wonder, why in the beautiful relations of friendship, the looks, even its ugly, is taken into consideration ever !

I have own unique looks like everyone around, and I would like to quote myself in eyes of two friends of mine, without their name hence permission from none.

Friend A, who does ‘appear’ as a gentleman.

“Aree taklu, aao ! ” ( Hey bald, come-in !) was his welcome sentence, when I entered his gate for the first time, when he was at home. Yeah, its worth to say that I have turned out semi bald. Later on, I had to bear his comments about my ‘formal dressing’ that ‘casual day’. He never knew that I did not had fine sports shoes and puma t-shirts on those days.

Later on I knew that it was not an intentional remark on looks, but his habit.

Even he have been with me for since a long time, he perhaps does not know me, that I am the rare breed of proud owners, of whatever looks, without a bit of inferior complexity at any point of time.

Friend B, who doesn’t ‘appear’ as a gentleman. And here goes the chat reproduction with him one night. He is in USA now.

12:50 AM he: aabhi tak online? ( Still online?)

me: nahi offline ( No offline, to add fun)

he: blogg lkh raha hay kuaa? ( Are you writing a blog)

12:51 AM me: haan (Yes)

12:52 AM he: tune apno blog mai aaik jagah flirt ke bare mai likha thaa ki tune kisi dost se puchaa and wo dost hasne laga wo gadha kon hay? ( You have written about flirting in your blog, when some of friend, strated laughing, who is this fool ? )

me: ha ha

12:53 AM he: mere bare mai to nahi thaa…kyonki shayad tune kabhi mere se bhi iis bare mai baat kiya thaa ( Was that instance about mine, as perhaps you have talked with me too about this)

me: haan wahi hai banda.. 🙂 ( yes, same is the person)

12:55 AM he: aare bhai maine shayad aise hin smile diya hoga tere bholepan and masumiyata me ( Hey brother, perhaps I have given smile on your simplicity )

me: haan tu hi mere bhai.. ( Yes, brother he is you)

he: tu bahut hi achaa ladka haay ( You are a nice guy )

me: comment dal de wahan pe..agar sach kahta hai to.. ( Put comment on my blog , if you are true).

12:56 AM he: idhar udhar ka load nahi lene ka yaar, likhen mai mujhe fight ho jati hay:) 🙁 ( Hey I cann’t do all these things, to write, I have to struggle a lot)

———– talk portion about family is removed ————
1:16 AM He: jo bhi hay, khush rhanene ka 🙂 and tujhe levis jeans pahane ki jarurat nahi hay:) ya fir reebok shoes tu jaisa hay bahut achaa hay wiase bande bahut kam hote hein dharati pe:) (Whatever, be happy. And you need not wear Levis jeans or otherwise Reebok shoes. What ever you are, you are fine. Like these guys are very less on the earth)

me: likh de wahin pe. ..kaas koi bandi impress ho jae . ha ha ( Write down these there only, may some girl get impressed,ha ha)

he: 🙂

He: chal mujhe abhi bahar niklana hay baad mai baat karta huin bbye aish kar:)
( I have to leave now, shall talk later,bbye . enjoy )

me: sure.. yaar . bye.. (Sure.. buddy.. bye)

Any Conclusion ?

Gratitude

Beyond all relations,
Beyond expectations,
Beyond despairs.

I found as per hopes,
Again ‘the words’-
That paid me.

Recalling again
the words of Baba –
“As a tree, Bend down,
when fruits are there.”

And today,
The path is clear,
Yes, transparent.

I bend down,
With all my gratitude.
Ah! its again ‘Friday’,
And I found it.
Thanks for showing –
The Path again.

Music for Life – 2 (Ghazals)

सुबह सुबह इक ख्व़ाब की, दस्तक पर दरवाजा खुला देखा,
सरहद के उस पार से कुछ मेहमान आये थे,
आँखों से मायुस थे सारे, चेहरे सारे सुने सुनाए,
पाँव धोये, हाथ धुलाए, आँगन में आसन लगवाये,
और तन्दुर पे मक्के के कुछ मोटे-मोटे रोटी पकाये,
पोटली में मेहमान मेरे, पिछले सालों के फसलों का गुड़ लाये थे ।

आँख खुली तो देखा घर में कोई नही था ।
हाथ लगाकर देखा तो तन्दुर अभी तक बुझा नहीं था,
और होठों पे मीठे गुड़ का जाय़का अब तक चिपक रहा था
ख्वाब था शायद ख्वाब ही होगा
सरहद पे
सुना है कल रात चली थी गोली,
स़रहद पे कल रात सुना है – कुछ ख्वावों का खू़न हुआ है ।

The preface of the song इक पुराना मौसम लौटा – in Marasim.

Year 1999, the one day in Air Force Station as a frequent guest of my friend, Subhash, from Haryana. And on a afternoon, I was lying comfortable on the bed. Subhash told me to hear a new cassette he bought and put it in the cassette player. I had listened only few lines. And it was enough capable to vibrate the dormitory. And the heavy solemn voice of Jagjit Singh, and so the waves vibrated my soul, leading it to somewhere. The Album was Marasim by Jagjit Singh.

Haath chute bhi to rishtey nahi choda karte..was the one of Ghazal there, and yes, where is Subhash today, I don’t know. He may be with his children at some air force station. And his memories are still with me. The connecting string to him everytime is Marasim.

I took out the lyrics leaflet out of the cassette. I read the urdu composition of Gulzar. Though at home, Pankaj Udhas was only to bring ghazal’s emotional touch and worth to mention “Ghunghru tut gayi”. And I think its real vibration matching airs around us that, I got friends with common interests, where ever I go.

And the ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh had an existence in pictures and timeless ghazals. It was a bliss to see the maestro performing at the live function here in Bangalore. Though organiser could have arranged the live performance in an efficient accoustic hall, hence to bring out the minute details of her unique style of fluctuating the vocal cord, that is audiable in the CD sound system at home.

Later on I heard about the private life of the maestro, when they lost their son, Vivek agee 21 years, I was really shocked, which can never be compensated to him by all his acquired fame and satisfaction. Whenever I hear Jagjit & Chitra singing together, I wish, may not God make any absolutely perfect couple, if there lies such a great pain to suffer in the completness. The couple’s dedication towards music is great, even after pain they tried to share the pain of lakhs of his fans with few more albums.

With due respect to his private life, I do wonder the reason behind of his unique rendition of inner human feelings in the air. And this is one way one can understand and share the pains of others. These poetic rendition comes out, when there is some untold, unknown pains lies within.

Ghazals have quite different essence and style than song. The choosen words of poetry, the weaving style to bring out feelings is the first lyrics expertise. Then the rendition, who delivers with a voice, that must have deep feeling of abstract 6th sense apart from all forms. To me hearing the poetic recitation of Ghazals proves to be the best thing for the solitory moments.

These are the companion of those feelings that waves into the sea of thoughts. Thoughts of relations, those tied forever, those broken up, those which could not be tied and all those which still binds the world with invisible strings.

P.S.: More than 6 years passed off and Subhash was out of touch, and the day I had finished writing this post, Subhash found me on Orkut after a lot of search. Is it just a coincidence or something unexplained ever !

Cool Vs. Cold Buddies

The unconventional trends regarding the dresses, behavior and languages get noticed easily and become objects of criticism by conventionally called cold (not cool) persons. The “cool” persons along with their cronies follow some unconventional trends due to influence of other cultures as experiments or to set themselves apart from the crowd. But sometimes these un-conventions become trend in long run. Dupattaless salwar suits and fitting jeans dresses were not very much popular with our parents or grand parents. Now in the 21st century it does not matter at all when the girls are wearing T-shirts and jeans. It is acceptable now. The accent of talking has also changed. In this cyber-era salutations are summarized by Hi – Hello. The sense of elder – younger is a rare thing. I think we are just the conventional resistors towards the non-conventions, which is taking place in the dress code as well as language. The transformers follow the non – conventions. We have accepted changes in some of the dresses and language compared to the past generations. We are fitting the measurements not measurable by them. So shouldn’t we be prepared to see more transformations in near future in our kids and grand-kids influenced by the powerful media and western culture and which will be beyond our control?

Sex, Technology and Police

Recent news of DPS MMS case, where the director actor duo of the sexually explicit movie are still to be arrested or questioned and on the other hand the arrest of the Avnish Bajaj, CEO of Bazzee.com, and the student who sold the movie on the site could puts our police system in a questionable position.
The legal selling of the material can not be justified, but what do we think when just searching the same on Google or Yahoo gives the same material in return free of cost? Are not they doing their business in India? Why not police takes any action for them? Why not the mobile operator be punished who allowed the transmission of such media across the Indian territory?
This whole drama revolving around money and sexuality needs a fresh thinking of our technological challenges regarding the transmission of such vulgar material over the net or such media.
Ok ,Avnish have supported police to track the culprit down. He may not have other way to escape the episode. But filtering the objectionable material for the specific territory is sure a challenge for the computer professionals as well as managers of the companies who are doing e- business.
Section 67 of the Information Technology Act (transmission of obscene material through electronic media) is quiet a useless law in practical sense. If we don’t get diversify our attention towards the premier educational institutions and their students in this episode, the whole matter needs fresh recapitulation of the IT Act of India and the role of Police in implementing it.