Curse of the Satisfied-Unambitious-Youngster

It is vacation time once again. After 2 years at IIFT...this is the longest I've been home at a stretch having nothing to go back to. I have a job yes...but that doesn't start till forever...And my continuing lack of interest in "Yellow Newspapers" has made me rather apprehensive of joining any place that deals with the stuff that those papers are made up of.

So decided to get my act together and find something to do...result...I discovered I can't do a damn thing unless there's the proverbial sword hanging on my neck. One by one I started taking up stuff to do...only to discover that it is too easy or too difficult or too boring...

1) Cooking: Since I'll be staying alone in Mumbai once again, I decided I'll learn how to cook. Motivator: Still haven't shed the pounds I happily loaded on last time, having eaten out day and night for a month 'n' a half!

So did what logic dictated...started hanging out more in the kitchen much to my mother's delight! But alas! The honeymoon period with subzees and chhauks got over fairly soon.Reason: Everything in a Punjabi household seems to be made of the same key ingredients! How they end up tasting so awesomely different when my mother makes it beats me, coz all the dishes I made tasted identical...no matter what subzee I used...

2) Exercising: Try this. Sit on your fat behind for over a month...doing absolutely nothing...then suddenly decide one day that you are growing too fat...so undertake a month's worth exercise that day (Kya pata...Kal Motivation Ho Na Ho)....

Actually...Don't try it...unless you want to limp around for the next one week...rubbing sore shoulders...having lost any desire to exercise ever again.

3)Getting creative: By this I mean REALLY creative...what gave me the bug? Watching Disney Channel 24/7 ( or whenever I can get the remote in a male-domineering house)...

So anyways...took up scissors...and loads of paper...and created a big mess. Took up some cross-stitching too (found an Anchor Cross STitch kit from when I was 8 I think!)...Lost interest...the doggy I was embroidering is currently 1-eared, playing with half a butterfly next to half a flower...so much for persistence and getting things completed (what jazz we come up with to get placed..)

4) Reading: The ONLY place where I have found some success! Started off and finished "Who Killed Daniel Pearl" and plethora of other books! The Pearl tale got me hooked to my new hobby...

5) Cutting out obscure things from the newspaper: This is absolute FUN! Inspired by what terrorism is doing to our world...I started keeping a scrapbook of all terror related things and India's defence prowess (recently digressed to real cute Christiano Ronaldo cut-outs and "15-days-to-a-slim-you" tips)

Apart from this...and a lot of obscure dreaming about fighting terrorists, becoming a witch overnight or getting super powers...there's not much going on...

Call it lack of ambition ("X's son", "Y's daughter"...they seem to be slogging so much more in holidays! How dare they put ideas into my family's collective head?! Boring gits!)...or simply inertia...but I am at my laziest best these days...and worse...I don't seem to mind it (except for the yearning for strange adventures mentioned above)...sigh...Anyone doing any better out there?

So long...Farewell...

It is an exceptionally clear bit of memory I've got from back in school. Our family was going somewhere...and as we inched ahead painfully on the Sri Aurobindo Marg...my father pointed towards the right and said.."IIFT is there...good place for MBA in International Business". "Though IIMs are what one should aim for," he said in the same breath.Frankly speaking...I had no idea what MBA was...being more interested in Aeronautics, FBI, and Journalism as career options (alternated religiously between the 3)...but "International Business" sounded way cooler than only MBA..whatever that was...IIFT sounded a better bet than the IIMs :D

But then I grew older...not particularly wiser...and like all others decided that CAT was THE exam to give...and IIMs were worth dying for...IIFT was long since forgotten.

But there it came up again...T.I.M.E said it was a great institute...so zi dutifully filled up the form. November 20th...I went and messed up my CAT, and on 27th with the last bit of ambition and self confidence snuffed out of me...I gave the IIFT entrance.

13th December...I was dressing up for a wedding when my best friend called and blabbered excitedly.."You...IIFT...you...congrats!"....I nearly choked...
One thing led to the other...and I found myself entering the gates for the first time to pay up (had happily locked my car keys in...sigh...signs of what was to happen regularly).

The moment I entered...I felt like I belonged here...the campus was small..and no big grassy football field like the one I had back in college...but I fell in love with the place....and the love affair continued...2 years went by faster than ever.

From being the reserved girl...who had never been out of her house for more than a couple of hours a day...I spent many a night under obscure streetlights on campus...in order to study in peace!

At the end of the 1st Trisem...studies were no longer that important...and I had developed the knack of studying with 5 other people and plenty of activity in the room!

Time went on...friends were made...relationships changed...NEW friends were made...some were just discovered in the fag end of my stay...but I know they are for keeps....

Night life was discovered...from sleeping at 10 religiously...I realized that the star-lit sky is a lot prettier at 3-4 in the morning...walks then are amazingly educative...Delhi roads are amazing to drive on post 1 in the night...24/7 is a boon...CCD is heaven...Big Chillz is the ultimate gastronomic delight...the laptop is a necessity...as is music...there are tonnes of amazing movies that are a lot more educative than any book you've ever read...What people do does NOT define them...there is always more to them than meets the eye...

My first party at IIFT was the first such event I had ever attended! Never before had I seen so many drunk people together at once!

I realized the importance of differentiating between following one's heart...and simply bowing to peer pressure...

That watching movies is most fun when you are doing it on the sly in the middle of a boring lecture...

That ....
I can go on forever...

Life at IIFT has alas come to an end...and I know that these have been the best 2 years of my life...Loads to look forward to again...but these memories will be cherished forever :)

Illusion...

Retreat...for once...mentally, not physically...try being honest and nothing but honest for a whole day...try it...Just hold back and watch yourself from the outside...

How many times do you smile when you don't want to? How many times do you jabber away to glory...all cheerful at the face of it...but mentally cursing the person or yourself..it doesn't matter...

The illusion you create to the world in general...try ripping it apart...

It is hard...very hard...imagine not laughing at a friend's joke coz you never found it funny...and you decided to stand your ground today for once...is it his fault that he's hurt? ...not really...it's yours...you should have told him that in the first place itself...

Don't humour yourself...don't humour anyone else...for one day...just ruthless honesty...bring down the facade...

Imagine if you wake up one morning...in a strange land...where no one knows you...and you can reach no one...you have no one to justify anything to...no one to prove anything to...you don't need to pretend what you aren't (hard...considering by now the line between what you are and what you pretend has nearly blurred)...you don't have to worry about your basic food/water/shelter...just do what you have to...what will you do?

Maybe I'm talking nonsense...movies do that to me...always...

But I keep going back to that scene in Fight Club where Brad Pitt holds a gun to the guy's head and says what is it that you really want to do...(It doesn't work without a gun I guess...or my imagination is just no good)...I still come up with a couple of probables (sigh...number crubching doesn't figure anywhere in that)...but not sure...still not sure...

But maybe that's OK...I will take my time and figure it out...if the world seems to know where it is going...doesn't necessarily mean I have to too, does it? If what 100 people think is normal becomes normal for all...we are nothing but a bunch of robots then...the remote being the 100 that set the trend...

What if theirs' too is a facade...say Hello to mine...I'll say Hello to yours...without anyone knowing what or who they actually are saying hello to. Sometimes they may get a feeling that something is amiss...but it's much easier to pretend all is well and same as before than actually shaking the hornet's nest, isn't it? Who knows if you will ever recover from the stings?

So together we weave the grand illusion...and are happy to get lost in it...but try retreating...like I said before...maybe you'll find it hard to get enmeshed again...

Flashback...

It started with an unusal request...one of my closest friends from school had sent me an orkut invite to "Join the Sandwich Club". Memories came gushing back. I got transported to my middle school days...when the 6 of us ... "Mystery Club" fanatics... and solemn believers in the adventures of "Famous Five" and "Secret Seven"... spent many a glorious spring/summer/autumn/winter afternoon "snooping" around that famous Aurobindo statue in school... looking for clues...to what I don't know...(vaguely remember thinking that someone had changed the direction in which the statue was facing!).

We had our codes...we had our "club" notebooks...we loved the same music and danced away endlessly to the same songs over and over again! When a classmate sent me "Theme for a Dream" by Cliff Richard today... I was totally overwhelmed...because that was the first English song I had fallen in love with when I was 9 or something...The 6 of us used to lounge around in each others' houses on the pretext of working on some project or the other...and spend a considerable time listening to music or reading books that transported us into a fantasy land... where we created our own stories...

We dressed up for Halloween...blew up one of the gang-members' neighbour's electricity supply by sending a rocket there on Diwali (it was an accident...but we trusted the craziest girl of the lot to light the damn thing!). We fought too...but made up soon enough...couldn't stay apart for too long..

We dreamt big then...and refused to fall prey to the pseudo standards set by the world...

I miss them all...the pranks we played...the games we invented...the books we read... and most importantly...the standards we set for ourselves...

Time to awaken that child again...

Tujhe Sab Hai Pata Hai Na Maa....

"Main kabhi batlata nahi

Par andhere se darta hoon mein Maa

Yun to main dikhlata nahi

Teri parwah karta hoon main Maa

Tujhe sab hai pata

Hai na Maa

Tujhe sab hai pataaaa

Meri Maa"

I can't get enough of this song...and everytime I hear it...my eyes well up...I'm not alone...my friends have been listening to this incessantly and calling up their mothers long distance :)

You can't help but reminisce about the time when you lay all your trust in your mother, unquestioningly followed her advice...the word "rebellion" wasn't in your dictionary...she knew best, and wanted the best for you...you would go to any lengths to please her...and get rewarded with that "mummy" hug and peck on the cheek. You would do something small like getting her a small birthday gift with your saved up money, but she would reward you by cooking all your favourite food on your return from school, as though you had done the greatest thing in the world. When you had a bad day, she could sense it before you told her....When you got hurt, she cried...When you did well, she rejoiced for you...

She was there planning your fifth birthday as though it were your coronation...She sang to you when you couldn't go to sleep...She read out your favourite bed time stories a thousand times because you asked her to...She stayed up all night when you fell sick and did your work even when she was sick...Her world revolved around you...

But your world stopped revolving around hers after a while...She was the same...but you changed...You wanted to be treated like a grown up...when in her eyes you were still that newborn who looked up at her for the first time and gave a toothless grin...You wanted to be "independent"...when she still saw you as the baby who had to be protected from the big, bad world outside...You wanted to know the "facts of life"...when she still saw you as an innocent toddler...

After all the years of rebelling and fighting, you realize that she knows you best really...even better than you know yourself...She learns to accept you for what you are...and smiles when you come up with the next outrageous idea...because she knows it is only a phase...

You ARE still her baby...she has raised you as best as she could...she trusts you...as you trust her...and knows you'll be alright...

Mothers are the best....Here's a BIG *hug* to all of them out there :)

Musings

We go about living our lives at 1/100th of our potential…things don’t have much meaning any longer…life becomes a mere routine… habits...ours and of others… threaten to choke us…kill us from within. You desperately wish you could break the monotony…yet something holds you back from sitting down and identifying the real cause of your discomfort…you are waiting for something to happen…to make life seem worthwhile…yet you don’t lift a finger to improve things…If you DO lift your finger…it is to turn on the laptop or the TV, and lose yourself in some fantasyland, in dreams that are just … dreams…You watch a movie, hear some songs, and feel temporarily relieved of that dread you’d been experiencing. But now…you are back to real life…fantasyland got turned off the moment you hit the “off” button on whatever device you were using…and you are back to yearning for something special to happen in your life, lamenting the lack of excitement in your own life…forgetting that movies are nothing but our lives…with the boring parts edited out.

Idle mind is the devil’s workshop they say…but when you are overcome by that debilitating inertia…you start believing that even a devil’s workshop would be welcome to lift you out of the nothingness that you feel...you feel lost, cut off from the rest…emotionally and mentally….you no longer feel strongly about anything…you once again start envying even the jehadis…who may have lost all reason, but atleast are truly passionate about something!You are forced to open your eyes, get out of the self-obsessed mode, and look towards others around you…they did always seem better off…so what’s driving them.? Blame it on your mood at that moment…but you find that everyone’s just passing time…escaping life…trying to postpone that moment when they have to sit down and confront what they truly feel…who they truly are…and you once again go back into the cramped, self obsessed world of your own thoughts and feelings…having lost all hope in mankind.

It is in moments such as these, that Hitler, terrorism, imperialism, emergencies, earthquakes, do-or-die sporting events…all begin to make sense.I’m not a sadist…but can’t help feel wonder at what happens to mankind when such catastrophes take place.

It took a Hitler to wake up people to life beyond their individual routine existences, and stand up for what is right….It took being forcibly taken as slaves by a bunch of foreigners, for our country to unite as a whole….It takes an emergency in Pakistan to unite the people in an extremely fragmented country….It takes a ban on the press in Pakistan to finally hear the sane voices of the Pakistani middleclass…which always believed in the right things but loved to play it safe….It took a football match to unite Iraqis across the war ravaged country….It took a Tsunami to bring people together in the true spirit of compassion….It took a Kargil War to bring people across religions together in our country….It takes true hardships to bring out our heroes….It takes a curb on our freedom….to bring out the best creative forces in people….

Ironic as it is, it takes Hell…for people to realize that they can create their own Heaven.

Rain Rain Come Again...

It's raining.The wind blows...caresses your face...ruffles your hair...it's blissful to walk around in a weather like this. Unlike other times...the wind does not chill you to your bones...it just refreshes you...it's awesome!

The campus sports a clean look...the smog and dust has been washed away... it's easier to breathe...

And then you get back to your room...and snuggle inside your quilt...everything around you is quiet...except the pattering of raindrops outside...A few floors above, someone starts playing the guitar. I smile...that was all that was missing...

No Monkey-Business This....

I thought Symonds had taken it rather well..all the monkeying business that Indian fans had subjected him to. Guess I had over-estimated the Aussies...they have finally shown their true breed...uhh...colour...uh...is that racial?

For God's sake...you can cuss like a sailor on the field, go around saying the F-word as if it were a part of the cricketing terminology...but calling somebody a monkey is not done? Since when did white men get so racially insecure?!

Poor Bhajji...feel rather sorry for him...with his English...anything he says can be interpreted in 5 different ways...banning him would be abuse of sorts against him.

On a more serious note, everyone seems to be feeling rather let down by a team we looked up to for great cricket. Ponting, Clarke, Symonds...and sadly enough Gilchrist too...they are no longer our heroes. It is Cricket that has lost in the entire mess...the spirit of the game is just gone.

I don't know why it came as a surprise though...In the 2003 World Cup... the South Africans were quoted saying that the Aussies are nothing but a bunch of actors who've gotten down to playing cricket. Their extremely convincing and misleading appeals have been very much a part of their gameplan. The umpires however were not party to it earlier...unfortunately that's no longer true...The way Umpire Benson looked helplessly at Ponting as Ganguly stood his ground after being declared wrongly out, and then passed on Ponting's "out verdict" to our star batsman...he might as well have been a 12th man on the Australian team...it was ridiculous. Not to mention Bucknor (Last time it was Hair...sigh...endless torture).

And now Ponting has the guts to say that abandoning the tour would be "a little extreme"... Sure...Adding on 4 test losses wrongly to our record overseas would be alright, wouldn't it? Scoring centuries after being falsely declared not out a billion times and appealing like a maniac while holding the ball to the ground is perfectly alright, ain't it?

It kills me to see Ganguly walk out helplessly, mouthing "This is cheating" to a remorseless Benson, and Dravid grimacing "Not Again"...just when he looks like he's found his form...

Making dumb childish complaints against a bowler who you feel threatened from was definitely uncalled for from the so-called world champions. The ICC, having ignored our pleas, having overlooked evidence provided by India in the matter, having admitted that none of the umpires heard a thing and yet going ahead with the ban, and not having withdrawn the umpires who wronged us again and again...has proved that if there are any racists in the world of cricket...they will be found on their own Board...

Whatever the Aussies say and do is OK...they get verbal diarrhoea and talk crap incessantly...that's ok too...Is this some sort of immunity you win along with the World Cup or something?

Down with the Aussies and Down with the ICC. And hell with the tour.

PS: A certain Ms. Padukone does not seem to be having a very good effect on our Prince from Punjab....Amid all the controversies and wrong decisions...he managed to get out for a duck for real! Shame on him!

Here's To You Kaka!

It was June 13, 2006...when Brazil played Croatia in the first round of the Football Worldcup in Berlin. As a one FIFA-old toddler, I knew just the newspaper-heroes in each team (Being 2-FIFA old hasn't changed that really!)...and Kaka was one of them. Had never seen him play for Milan, didn't recollect him from FIFA 2002 even (apparently he played just 1-2 games against sidey nations...and missed out on the finals when Scolari decided to send him as a Sub coz the refree didn't see him wave from the stands!)....but he was one of the cutest players I had ever seen :D...innocent, boyish looks...Boy-Next-Door...that's all he was as far as I was concerned!(much to the disgust of my bro who could be heard muttering "Girls" with the greatest disdain :D)

But then he scored....it was a long range goal... he caressed the ball into the net with his left foot...it was a beauty....and I was certain I loved him after that!

2 years have gone by... since I first saw him score ... and am glad he got the Ballon d'Or!!

Definitely deserves it more than Christiano...who despite his dream run this time...will remain in my black books for what he did to Rooney in the last World Cup .... Though he is still one of my heroes in Man U... little complicated...

Silent Night...

It's 3:30 a.m. ... and I have just returned from a not-so-fruitful attempt at finishing a term project with a team mate who was as interested in it as I am(read...not at all)...especially after having overeaten at a cheesy heaven, where we had all gone for a friend's bday treat. It's cold...amazingly cold...and after a good meal all you want to do is crash!

Anyhow, what made me want to blog at this unearthly hour was my short walk from the computer center to my room...it was the most beautiful ever!

It is frigid...the temperature is around 4-6 degrees celsius...and the cold hits you as you try to hurry over to the nearest shelter (read under a thick bundled quilt in my hostel room!)...and then you look up...and find a clear sky, with billions of stars shining down at you...and for the next few moments...you forget the cold.

It is gorgeous!! You have to see it...feel it...to believe it. The campus is quiet....except some distant hum of buses/trucks doing their job...not a soul in sight...nothing except you and thousands of jewels in the sky...you can make out the Orion from its distinctive belt...and hundreds of other shapes...if you only stand still for a while...

The sky is clear...means it is chillier than ever...no cloud cover to warm the place down...but at that moment...you don't care...you feel one with the world...

But the moment passes by...you start shivering again...yearning for your cozy bed awaiting you..and you move on...promising the shimmering sky that you will be back tomorrow...

The Rainmaker

I have been told that I have an active imagination...which is good I guess...except all I use it for is to lose myself in whatever movie I watch or book I read(fiction mind you, hard to lose yourself in Fixed Income Securities and RBI manuals).

The Rainmaker got me today. I hereby declare myself a fan of Francis Ford Capollo and Matt Damon (Big surprise huh?) unto death. I don't care if the two have screwed up in other movies (have they?) or plan to do so in the future...I love them for the heart and soul they put into this one. Books are usually better...is what I have experienced...but I haven't read any Grishams...so no clue.

Justice...it is a highly abused term. Every time I hear this word, screams of "Kanoon andha hai" reverbrate in my head ( too many dramatic moments in too many dramatic movies). Real life cases that have gained notoriety over my 22 years have left me disillusioned and caused me to lose faith in atleast the Indian judicial system (Ok...I'll cut out on the drama...to be fair to them...maybe we never hear about the "justice served and man hanged on time cases"...sigh...sensationalism sells).

Coming back to the movie...the sharp execution...the characters brought to life by amazing actors...it was breathtaking! Matt Damon...his eyes...that teared up just enough at the right places...his boyish innocence along with that look of sheer determination...the fumbling of a newbie lawyer...and then collecting himself and going ahead with it...learning on the job...it wasn't overdone one bit...that would have killed it. He was perfect...

And so was Danny De Vito...as the faithful sidekick-cum-valuable teacher! All of them actually!
Loved the "Good", loved to hate the "Bad", even the "Ugly" (The "judge" who died...and the boy's father... it was amazing...when he's shown going to his "comfort zone"..the car surrounded by cats...with a drink in that brown paper bag...it forces you to wonder...and realize...that the old man wasn't always a good for nothing drunkard...he just couldn't deal with the fact that he might lose his son, and was distancing himself from him in the only possible way he knew...when matt Damon wraps up his son's photograph in a brown bag and gives it to him on his funeral...it is heartwrenching)

And you know what else I liked about it...for once...they didn't portray the protagonist as a superhuman. There wasn't any "grey"...it was all black and white. If you stand up for something...you go all the way...If you don't think you can handle it...back off and do what you can do best...without "sacrificing" your love and your life. Make a difference in the best possible way in the given circumstances. That's what Rudy did when he quit his practice and went and settled with the love of his life, teaching what he loved most...he didn't compromise on anything...his personal life...or his profession...

Famous last lines......"Every lawyer, in every case, crosses a line he didn't mean to cross. It just happens. And if you cross it enough times, it disappears forever. Then you're nothing but a lawyer joke. Just another shark in the dirty water."

Just made me wonder what lines I had crossed so many times that it didn't matter anymore...sooo didn't like the answer.

Yellow Yellow Dirty Fellow?

I may have broken a million laws with that title, but let me make it clear...I'm no racist.

But there was a ridiculous article recently about how "politically correct" nursery rhymes are doing the rounds..."3 Visually Challenged Mice", "Ba Ba Green Sheep" (all nauseous people should be protesting anyday against this one) and what not.

I mean, do we really have to do this and introduce kids to the whole idea of racism? It's like telling children to steer clear of drugs, booze and sex when they are 5 years old, thus getting them all the more interested in facts that can easily wait for atleast 10 more years (I'm old fashioned..).

The Brits especially are getting increasingly conscious of what they say lest they find themselves targetted by some hardline groups in the increasingly multi-cultural society that they are living in. I can imagine the torture the school teachers must be going through talking about:

• Colourful sheep to respect the sensibilities of the non-white, African-origin people
• An intact London Bridge so as to not cause panic attacks
• How "Polly Put the Kettle on" under adult supervision
• How Little Bo-Peep should have been in school rather than rearing the sheep
• How "Little Boy Blue" stereotypes "men" with "blue" in this metrosexual world
• How Mary's Little Lamb might have led to animal rights issues
• And how Georgie-Porgie should have been sent for juvenile detention for eve teasing

It sounds ridiculous and crazy! Can't babies sing along a few sweet songs without tearing them apart with dumb analysis!

And how come all the wrong rhymes make it into the rule books, and no one says anything against "Rock a Bye Baby"...one of the most evil rhymes written ever...whoever puts a baby in a cradle on a tree top, and talks about the bough breaking?! A maniac for sure!

Bas!!!!

Have had one helluva busy day today! After the party last night, draggin myself out of bed at 9:30 was bad enough...had to go to college to get my Degree and certificates and the reimbursement...ran from pillar to post, but the work got done!

Got back just in time for some lunch ( and some d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s. :D Bhelpuri from college!!! It is THE most amazing thing!)....and then had SIX HOURS straight of KILLING lectures! If there's one thing this college will teach us, it will be how to behave yourself when you are a hair's breadth away from having a mental breakdown. The guys who came were good ( not too sure bout the first one coz watched a movie right through the first lecture :P), but the second one (who spoke for four hours!), talked sense in fits and start. But most unfortunately, he loved the sound of his voice. At the end of the first 2 hours, when we couldn't bear the thought of listening to him anymore, and BEGGED for a break....he said, "Itni Jaldi? Abhi toh main warm up hi hua hun"...We were out of gas...took a break and came back ( out of sheer insanity!) for a second round of 3rd degree torture.

With still one hour to go, I began to concentrate hard at the projection screen, trying to burn a hole through it (Alas! I'm no Superwoman! :( )...didn't work out despite trying for ages...so gave up and started flipping through the newspaper discreetly...but everytime he looked at me...the paper used to be above table level at weird angles...till he finally told me to shut it.
Must have thought I'm bonkers...what with my intro in which I told him I wanted to learn about cross-cultural fruits ( meant to say hybrid ones !).

The day has FINALLY come to an end! Will watch the rest of "Rainmaker"...Oh I LOVE Matt Damon!

CHeerio!!

We like to Party :)

IIFT came alive once again!! Parties do that to us...ALWAYS :)

Symposiums/exams/fests...we are usually the dullest lot...rather the "we-don't-care" sorts ( given this time's Fest rocked after aaagggeeesss!)...the junta is NEVER enthused about anything....except parties and in a very different way ..placements :D

Tonite the "Lateral" candidates gave a treat on the occassion of having got jobs, and IIFT rocked once again!

The non-dancers danced in an alcohol-fuelled cheer....smokers lit up in joy at the strains of "sutta", the teetollars like us kicked and jumped around...if you make a fool of yourself...you can always say you were drunk :P

It is one of the last parties here....and God knows I'm going to miss this place like anything!!! The parties...the people...the bonhomie...damn it...even the drunk ones! They get drunk and silly...but in a very harmless sort of way!

Turning in now with very sore legs and a sorer throat...it's back to the grind tomorrow ( 3 friggin classes of the same subject)...but the fun I had today will pull me through :)

A.R.Rehman is God!

Among all my depressive posts earlier on in my other blog...I forgot to mention THE most awesome experience I'd had lately!! Got to see A.R.Rehman in concert!!!!!!!

The venue was like 15 odd km from where I live...so even though I love the man...I had no intentions of going. Fever 104 had been advertising about it for daaaaaayyyysssss....and I never bothered to listen...till....my mum called up to say that Dad had got hold of passes (worth 5000 bucks...we got them for free :D)...and there was no looking back ever since!!

The day dawned...can't remember the date...6:00pm we were on our way to THE concert in Raja Garden Grounds! As we went from pillar to post looking for Gate No. 2 ... I suddenly declared I wanted to go pee...much to the consternation of my parents.

Discovered a BPCL petrolpump close to "our" Gate, just to be told by a nice old gentleman that the loo was overflowing with...umm....never mind...too bad...I decided to exercise some bladder control and not think about water for the rest of the concert!

Once in...and having fought for our seats (DIlliwaalas love to "reserve" seats for their mamas, chachas, taus etc etc)...we finally settled down to what promised to be the most amazing concert ever!

It was Rehman Live in Delhi for the first time!!! And my First Concert of this scale ever!!!! It was electrifyingly awesome!!

It began...with Chitra singing...till the curtains rose...and there was Rehman...in all his finery...and that voice to die for....I got goosebumps BIG time....and it was nothing to do with the winter chill.

And so the show went on....with classics from Bombay, Roja, Rang De Basanti...and some South Indian movie which I could not follow...but loved the music anyways! Joining Rehman were Hariharan, Chitra, Kailash Kher, some Rajasthani dude, Naresh Iyer (the man who sang "Roobaroo") , some more South Indian singers,Sadhana Sargam and Neeti Mohan ( Channel V's Band Aasma was her claim to fame...she was singing less and trying to seduce more...a major put off).

The music was mindblowing to say the least! In between Sivamani took over! The man never ceases to amaze me!!

Even the winner of the Fever 104 Sing With Rehman Contest performed and was damn good and damn confident!! Had I been thrust on stage in front of sooo many people, they would have been carrying me away on a stretcher!

Anyways...the concert came to an end earlier than I would have liked! But Rehman made it unforgettable with his "Maa Tujhe Salaam". My bro who was at home studying for some exam...heard it through the cell :D I love technology :D

It was one helluva experience...Go Rehman!!!!!!!!

It's a Newwwwwwwwww Blog :)

Thought I'll restrict my agonizings and vague ramblings to my other blog...and and start afresh with some day to day things in here :)...You can take the person out of blogspot...but can't take the blogger out of the person :D

So here I go once again!!!

Cheers!