Once upon a time in India...

Under inspiration from Die Hard 4.0, a terrorist tried to get India down. Here's what actually happened :

1. He hacked all the CBI Networks.
Result : Nobody panicked, systems go down all the time in India, ppl just carry on cos they dont depend on systems anyways...
2. He then sabotages the nation's network of traffic signals and tried sending ppl into wrong lanes.
Result : Signals are never working, ppl drive on the wrong side all the time and nobody follows traffic rules anyways. Traffic simply regulates itself...
3. He then tries to sabotage a power station and create a massive blackout.
Result : Hey, the ppl in the city have already lived with 4 to 6 hours of load shedding, bring it on!
4. He then uses an air force fighter jet to blow up a section of road.
Result : Ppl are just so used to potholes, bad roads, construction work, closed lanes, they simply manage with whatever's left of it!
5. He realises all his plans have gone wrong and no-matter how hard he tries, he cant induce ANY MORE chaos. He desperately tries to escape with his trailer truck.
Result : Bcos he parked his truck in a no-parking, the RTO guys have put up wheel-locks on all his 18 wheels. Now he's really NOT goin anywhere!

He gives up, goes to the Himalayas and becomes a spiritual man...

An excerpt from 'Frasier'.

Daphne's trying to talk her family back home in england about a vacation they're all about to go on. They're giving her a hard time, and Marty's taking Frasier's case as well.

So Daphne asks him just as he's about to leave...

‎"Dr. Krane, Why is it so easy to love our families yet so hard to like them?"

I just loved it... Kinda sums a lot of things up!

Of crooked lines and anomalies...

By themselves, crooked lines dont make much sense... In fact they're probably totally useless in comparison to perfect straight ones...

But maybe, they could make perfect sense as the edges of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. If you didnt have some protrusions and some cavities, u wudnt have anything to hold the bigger picture in its place!

Tanpura / Tambura / Tambora - Call it what u want, its an amazing acoustic filler!

Heres something to fiddle with. Its a little article on the use of electronic tanpuras vs. real live ones, and also why its absolutely essential for every classical musician / trainee to know it perfectly by ear...

To sum it up, the primary points dealt with, in support of real live ones and against the use of electronics substitutes which are gaining good popularity, are the science behind the construction, minor tweaks to achieve tonal quality and the effect with which a real live tanpura can make or break any classical performance.

Whoever thought there was so much acoustic engineering put into the age old tanpura!

www.medieval.org/music/world/martin_est.html

What is compassion?

A little thought that flashed last night before i went to sleep...

Q. What is compassion?
A. Feeling the pain for someone else's bruised knee, inspite of having a fractured shin bone yourself...

I gotta feelin...

I told 'R' on new years, I had a gud feelin abt this year... unlike last year...

I felt that mebbe things were still gonna be tuff, but the stagnation that had crept into everything, in the past few years, wud start moving again...

Kinda looks like I'm right... lets hope for the best...

You cant even thank people...

Its an emergency situation. You are alone and you call on some people you really trust for help.

They arrive... They help... The tough times have passed... You are relieved...

Then u turn around to all those who came and say "Thank You very much for coming and helping me in this tough situation"

Then some of them say, "Why are you saying THANKS... we feel like we're someone u dont trust... like we're some strangers to you..." and the works...

OK... I get the point that they're being aggressively and dramatically Nice / Polite / Friendly / Any Others, but cant they just say "YOU'RE WELCOME... You can count on us anytime!"

Is it too much to ask for, if I want to express my gratitude?

Man vs. Beast

Man is like all other living animals. He has the very same instincts for survival and sustenance. Whilst animals are bound by their instincts and cannot really act against them, man doesn't always have to do the same.

He's not a beast... he doesn't have to be one. Whilst he shudn't be ignoring his instincts, he does not have to bow down to them. He has the gift of intelligence and discretion at his disposal. To differentiate between right and wrong, gud and bad, is what separates him from the animals.

You may not be able to control what ur instincts tel u to do, but u can very well stop from retracing ur steps back into becoming beasts, by using ur power of discretion to act against them!

Music vs. Lyrics

Through and through, with very few exceptions, i'm a MUSIC kinda guy... Not paying too much attention to the lyrics, hidden meanings and emotions they convey! I might pay attention to lyrics in very few cases like Pink Floyd or Pearl Jam etc. In my case the lyricist / songwriter is almost redundant.

I guess music touches u directly. Whilst lyrics have a barrier of language and comprehensibility, music is universal...

I tag all my readers to put in their opinion of music vs. lyrics!

(What do u pay attention to and why?)

Rock Bottom...

We're always worried about something... And related worst case scenarios...

Mebbe kinda like we're afraid of hitting rock-bottom...losing everything...everything we worked so hard for...everything we accomplished...everything we treasured so damn much...

But rock-bottom isn't all that bad u see... Cos nuthing is permanent and there's only one way to go from there...UP!

U learn a small but valuable lesson...ur confidence builds...U fight...U rise...U shine!

Always listen to elders...

And yet again, I learn something the hard way...

My Guruji told me, dont bend the strings on your sitar as yet... neither you, nor the sitar is ready for it...

I was feeling low... so took my favourite thing to cheer me up... Me music and me sitar... and in a fit of musical enthusiasm... I tried playing a very fast jhala and then giving a meend from Re to Pa...

The string snapped... have to wait till Saturday to get the strings replaced !

NOW I'm really depressed...

Cars and Bikes

Ok mebbe these aspects of human evolution are what I love the most, after music... Or mebbe at an equal level, depending on my state of mind...

Was just going thru an article by James May on the Top Gear website... He wrote some stuff about a CBR1000RR..

What we lesser mortals know just as a Fireblade...

Point being, ive had some debates with frnds on Bike vs. Car... and I agree that both are capable of taking you to amazing levels of mental awareness!

They can both give u the adrenaline rush and the overall experience, but they arent without their certain drawbacks...

1. Cars are much bigger and cumbersome to handle in traffic with their width

2. Bikes have a very very narrow, almost non-existent... safety margin (First person, third person experiences)

3. Cars are way to expensive to buy AND to run...

4. Bikes cannot corner as qucikly as cars can...

5. Cars are definitely preferable in bad weather...of any kind !

6. Bikes have an amazing riding position...

7. Cars have stereos !

8. Clutches and gearshifts are easier on the bike !

And so on n so forth... But the bike can give you a distinct experience that the car cannot...

Bikes are liberating ! No two ways about it...

Be it a 60 cc scooty, a 150 cc bike or a 1000 cc monster...Bike rides are liberating...

So much so, that after a long drive (in my car) I long for a small 5 min ride (on my bike)...

And long rides liberate too !

Looking forward to my next one ! Mebbe after the rains are over...(If they started in the first place, that is...)

And I dont mind havin a Porshce 911 Turbo or a Ferrari 430 Scuderia either !

Then and Now...

Tagged by the Great Lord M... Here Goes...

The nickname mom gave me as a kid...?
Ronu.

The nickname I have now...from mom, friends and colleagues?
RAVAN - Mebbe not Mom...

Any one thing I never understood as a kid?
Why did Mom have to carry cash whereas Dad used a cool plastic card ???

Any one thing which I dont understand now?
Finance

Any one thing I loved doing as a kid?
Reading

Any one thing which I love doing now?
Playing football, CS, my Sitar and my Bike...

Any one thing which I hated as a kid?
Drawing Sessions in School... Nightmares... Never Got it...

Any one thing which I hate now?
Meetings...Absolute waste of time... no conclusions at all...

Any one thing I heard dad say many times when I was a kid?
Stop doing this, else ur gonna get some thrashing...

Any one thing I hear dad say often now?
Ive been tellin u for weeks...Can u please do it ATLEAST TODAY ???

Any one thing which you did not understand about women as a kid?
They seemed pretty cool to me...

Any one thing which you did not understand about women now?
They seem to be everything BUT cool to me...

Any one thing you dreamed of as a kid?
being an Air Force Fighter Pilot...

Any one thing you dream of now?
$$$ and playing the sitar to a certain level of perfection...

I didnt quite know what it was to be tagged until the great Lord M explained it to me...

Hence , here goes a tag to all readers...

Alone - Listening to Music... Playin the Sitar...

Wid Frnds - Football... CS... Eating Out... Some Movies...

Wid Family - Concerts... Movies... Dinner... Music...

Wid Colleagues - Not much of TP there... But cud be cribbing abt da BOSS

Wid Boss - Trying to get my document approvals from him... He discusses EVERYTHING in the WORLD except WHAT im there for... Its His Idea of timepass !!!

When Travelling - Gotta be MUSIC!!!

When Working - Surfing the office internet for queries I had the previous night !!! I mean where else do you get such amazing download speeds ???

Of Humans and Gods...

As kids, ur parents are r Gods for you... They can do anything !

As you grow older these images start changing... You start to think differently and have an argument quite often...

Slowly you realise they're merely humans...with certain flaws...And not everything you thought they cud do, is possible!!!

As you go ahead towards more responsibility in your own life, there comes a point of time when you realise its not a cakewalk if atleast not a bed of roses...

And this is when you really really GAIN RESPECT for those MERE HUMANS, whom u call Mom and Dad...

Janfest - It was for real !!!

Amazing performances on both Sunday and Monday...

Loved it... Didnt realise how quickly time flew from 5.30 to 9.30 on sunday evening... Santoor by Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma was Surreal...

Next day went for my FIRST Sitar class... at the end of it felt my finers wud SNAP into two pieces... Hurts like Hell... And NOT AT ALL used to sitting cross legged for 2 hrs... Legs went numb every 10 mins... Wondered how I was gonna continue...

Then in the evening attended Sitar by Ustaad Nishaat Khan... I'm NOW looking forward to my next Sitar practice and next lessons... Really really waiting for it...

And Kishoritai Amonkar... If sound could be velvet... its her voice... And ABSOLUTE COMMAND on the recital...

These performances weer BEYOND entertainment... They were Divine... And probably thats how these artists approach it as well...

On another note, I realised Kishoritai Amonkar and Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma were beyond 70 yrs of age... Forget complex Santoor hand movements or Vocal control over 3 octaves...

At that age, it wud even be a miracle if I cud tie my own shoelaces or speak clearly !!!

Hats Off to them... They've kept this great art and legacy alive... The applause at the end of their performances isn't just for the great music they've given us.. its ALSO an acknowledgement of their tremendous sacrifice and dedication to their own arts !!!

Janfest - The Anticipation

Have been looking forward to this since almost 2 weeks now...Waited over a year for another classical concert...

But learnt so many things and found so many more brilliant little masterpieces on the way here... That probably makes the 2 weeks of anticipation, feel like 2 months now !!!

Kept running around here and there trying to find what was missing...Think this is it...

I hope I have ARRIVED at the starting point of the journey to my ultimate goal!!!

Of Pulaos and Khichadis

Not that we're unhappy with what life's given us... Always had what we needed...!!!

But sumtimes we feel we want something else... Then go our little rounds of khayali pulaos...
Doesn't take much... and they always come in handy... can make them... take them... as and when u please...

Even if its things as small as taking ur frnds who're comin from out of india for dinner... We can never be sure that they'd meet... or have the time... or wud want to come for dinner... no matter how much u'd WANT them too meet up...

But we can always make plans... and that we shall... and if one plan falls apart... we always have a next chance for another one...

So coming back to my original line... life's given us what we needed... like gr8 friends... but maybe not what we wanted... like fun times NOW !!! when we can really independently enjoy !!!

So maybe we dont get the tasty pulaos as often as we WANT them... but nevertheless... life's given us the plain old Khichadi... not all that exciting, but pretty nourishing and fills our NEEDS...

Biker Boys...

Well...a 4 day weekend and I really didnt want to waste it...atleast not completely.... But got stuck up with sum work and cudnt really push off for all 4 days either...

Then it struck me... Mutlax is the only one who's free... He loves riding his black pearl like i love riding my crimson tide... (For the un-initiated into biking... Black Pearl = Mutlax's Unicorn and Crimson Tide = My Red Pulsar) and we were planning a long ride since a long time anyways... So I thought... why not take off... just like that and check out lonavala on our respective bikes... we'll be up there, have some lunch and be back before evening...

Its best to have people who think like you and can adjust on the go... Who focus on the long ride and the bikes... Not too much fuss about anything else...(Which by the way is an essential virtue... in case you go off biking or backpacking... Dont crib about stuff you dont have... Feel and love whats there... in the moment...) We planned last night and we left of today morning...

And... WHAT A DAY... Checked the air in the tires n fuel in the tanks... all systems ready... and we pushed off around 10.00 a.m.... Just for statistics... covered 82.5 kms (one-way to lonavala) in less than an hour and fifteen minutes... Once we cleared panvel... the road was amazing... no traffic... no bad patches... just the greenery around and the infinite road ahead... Did 70 Kph at an average and crisscrossed the little traffic without much effort... on us or the bikes... Lots of high speed curves which u can take easily at 70-80 Kph... The Bor Ghat was another amazing experience and some curves did strain the bikes a bit... but was a gud experience... Reached Lonavala and ordered lunch... we had an hour to kill before the lunch was ready.. so we just went to tungarli dam and refreshed ourselves... Great food too at Joshi Sanitorium... Then again we pushed off on the journey home... back home by 3.00

Coming to one very important aspect of bike rides... never carry a pillion unless absolutely necessary... kills the feel and the agility of the bike... and since ur the one who's doing everything on the bike... the pillion will simply get BORED to death...

I still cant get that feeling out of my head... The snaking road... the tress rushin past... and the sweet humming of the engine.... I havent experienced anything quite like this... ever.... I dont know what it is about bike rides that u simply want to keep doing it again and again... And i'm damn sure that you wont get the same feel in a car...

Maybe its that freedom that you get.... ur not in a hurry to reach anywhere.... no things to do after u there... its just you and the bike... a lot of solace and getting back to urself... no other thoughts about anything at all, at the back of ur mind...

Its not the speed... its not the scenery... its not the destination... Its the freedom of the journey that energises ur mind... Yes... Thats what it is... Hope we go for many more...

No woman no cry..........

Once again i listen to a song..... and i like its rhythm n tune.... n go hunting the net for guitar chords.....Once again its a classic...... a phenomenal piece by an Inspirational Movement called Bob Marley.......Listening to it..... and reading the lyrics........ Im simply speechless..... And highly inspired.....

I got the chords and wanted to sing along..... hence went searching for lyrics........ And did i GET them or what.....

I really believe that the ones with real problems are the ones who never cry..... they know that crying isn't gonna take them anywhere.......... they gotta get up...stand up and FIGHT........ cos thats their only chance.... The ones who do crib......... simply don't have anything better to do.... they have NO REAL PROBLEMS......

The paragraph where Marley says " In this great future, you can't forget your past , So dry your tears, I seh. " and the entire song is an inspiration to those who've suffered and suffered BAD... that c'mon.... don't let circumstances take the best of you.... they might stop u in between..... but the best n only thing u can do is stop crying n keep going....

my fav lines out of this song being the second para.....

Then we would cook cornmeal porridge,
Of which I'll share with you;
My feet is my only carriage,
So I've got to push on through.
But while I'm gone, I mean:
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!

First two lines say a lot in a few words.......

They have very little with them..... even a basic necessity like good food is scarce........ but for goodwill and friendship.... they're willing to share whatever little they have..........

( How many times have we been taught this, that we gotta share,in good times and in bad..... and aren't we becoming more n more selfish by the day as we prosper ? )

In the next 2 lines.........More so...... hes down and out...... has got nuthin to carry him........ no material belongings.... no cars no luxuries........
just that his very feet will carry him through this phase............. and he simply cannot sit there cribbing...hes gotta push on thru.........
( Again the indomitable human spirit..... extremely resilient....... )

And once hes gone........ forever........ hes gotta encourage the women who've helped him survive.... to go on.......... Simply bcos... everything's gonna be alright.......... what else can u say to sum1 who's got nuthin goin right and life's fallin apart......


Its simply brilliant..... I dunno if anyone who hasn't really suffered that much pain in life could ever write a song like this.....

I wanna dedicate this song to all the women in my life............... who've helped me and inspired me in my bad times.......... and made me keep my feet on the ground in the gud ones............