Colors of Life

Visits to the woods are

always pleasing to

the senses : the lush green

of the forest leaves ,

the boldness of the

wild flora, the smell of the

damp forest, the company

and the solitude

that the huge 200 yr

old trees provide,the chirp of invisible insects during dusk,

the bird calls during the dawn,and what not.

Magic seeds

Green Currency

Richer Hues

Quote Flash

Forgiveness follows from Love - naturally,eventually,and inevitably.

I must say,my college does look idyllic and tranquil(atleast visually!) at this time of the year,when its raining.And feels great,when the mercury dips concomitantly.Respite from the heat,n this year's summer was really hot wasnt it!

A blanket of mist decends over the campus,and devours the surrounding mountains.The entire place looks a darker shade of its colors.Brilliant.Not everyday do you see such sights in this part of the world!

A few photographs,courtesy Rahul's N92.

Down below is the view from my classroom.It was raining incessantly for 3 days.

People who visit the campus for the first time around this time of the year,sure get mesmerized.My first visit was a similar experience,one of the reasons i choose this college-the ambience.

(Recognise which classroom offers this view,Chiju na n Div? :) )

Indian Rain

The sky was overcast over the Village.Cinereous clouds were making their way inwards towards the city,descending down the leeward slopes of the mountain.

He was walking on the road,along the pavement,kicking at the little stones that crossed his tread. He had just left the college library,having read from the day's paper that the monsoon was several crucial weeks behind schedule,and that a huge water crisis was looming over the City.

"That was news to me",he thought wryly to himself.He knew drinking water was supplied once-in-four days to the residential areas by the City Corporation,and once in 10 days to some suburbs.The image he had seen of men and women of all ages standing in the long queue by the borewell-water tap at the end of the street ,as he was walking to his bus-stop that morning,was fresh in his mind.

Dark clouds have been passing overhead for a couple of days now,but not a drop of rain fell out from the sky,even by a mistake it would seem.The clouds were not yet ready to shed their load,as against the electricity board that was very enthusiastic to shed their's-a measure borne out of the power crisis the entire region was going through.

The wind was picking up in speed and in strength,and dry and dead leaves fell out of the trees lining the pavement.A sudden gush of icy winds made him hunch his shoulders,and slipped his hands into his denim pockets.

"Skawwounn kwouun knwouun",he heard the distant calls of the peacock,and wondered where in the vicinity it was hiding.He knew there were many peacocks around in the university campus,but had never seen one in full view.Being a day hop,he was envious of the hostel inmates who could see them during dawn and dusk,when they come out for a stroll.He bent his neck down to pick an aim to stamp out a dry twig a few paces ahead,and after some really quick calculation,expertly adjusted his steps so that he could land his foot on the twig on his next step.He liked the the sound of breaking twigs.

As the moment of truth was imminent,something wet fell on his neck. Fearing the worst (previous experience of having been a target for bird-shit),he tentatively touched it with the tip of his index finger.He retrieved his hand and held it palm upwards for inspection.It was just water.Just as he was starting to feel relieved,a drop of water fell on his palm.

As he was turning to look up at the heavens,a smile started to lift his face,as rain drops started kissing his face.

Cont'd...

Simply Rahmantic

Was listening to Kaise Mujhe ,from Ghajini.

Wow.Simply Rahmantic!

A beautiful,soul-stirring,heart-tugging,haunting melody from Rahman.

I dont know a word of Hindi,and typical of Rahman's music,transcends the barriers imposed by language and succeeds in evoking strong emotions within me,as only his music could.I know little of the technicalities in singing,but i can say that this is an extremely,extremely difficult song to sing(Chiju na,you re the singer..what do you feel?). One of those songs that when you try to reproduce on stage,could easily go horribly wrong.One of those songs that i listen to- eyes closed,in a quiet setting-when i want to calm myself down,or when in a nostalgic mood, or when thinking about love and relationships.

On the vocals,Benny Dayal has put his heart and soul into singing this song,otherwise could not have achieved this result. Not intending to belittle Benny,but Shreya Ghosal outshines him.Shreya's voice,especially her aalap towards the middle of the song,gives me a floating-fleeing,like a breeze spreading out,caressing,gentle and soft-evokes the image of a girl embracing her Love,reassuring her Love...the sitar following this part, simply tugs at my heart.

My friend translated this stanza for me.Wow.Honest lines.

Badle raate jharne aur nadi,

Badle ret ki tim tim.

Chhede zindigi dhool koi nahin,badle barkha ki rimjhim.

Badle ngi rituen ada,

Par main rahoongi sada,usi tarah,

Teri baahon mein baahein daalke,

Har lamha,

Har pal.

The song takes time to grow on you.On first-listening,would seem like an ordinary track.But One of the best from the great man!

A.R.Rahman.God Bless.

Climactic Year

Today,July 15,is the first day of my final year of u.g study.Crucial year.Looking forward to it with promise and optimism.

asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

Lead me from the asat to the sat.
Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

p.s: Woke up quite early today,which is saying something.Almost ready to leave for college.Am told the bus will arrive 10 mins earlier at my stop this year.Sure to catch it at the stop itself today.Positive start.

Choose your side!

Driving around the city is getting more difficult with each passing day. The almost exponential increase in the number of vehicles on the road does contribute towards this fact.But the chief reason - crazy driving on the streets - some drive as though they are on their own deserted private road,without consideration for the other vehicles on the road- hate them..worst fellows.No road sense.

When you overtake,choose your side :
(in this part of the world,we keep left)

Worst are the kind who try to overtake you on the left,even after you have switched on the indicator to signal the intent to turn left. Worst of the worst,are those who overtake you on the left when you are halfway into the turn already - forcing you to hit the brakes. People,know that the driver of the car cannot always see things on their left,especially when you are speeding to his left coming outside of a blind spot,when he is taking a left turn at a junction.

At a signal junction,i was on the very left of the road, with left-turn indicators flashing,and was leaning into the turn already when a guy on a bike suddenly came into my view from the left,where i was forced the jam on the brakes.And guess what,he did not take the left but proceeded to go straight.Impossibly, he turned back and mouthed profanity at me as he sped away.As if it was my fault. Maybe thats his way of showing gratitude that he was not under my wheels.Probably got his license through bribes,if he had one in the first place.Bless him.

(Getting a driver's license here in India is one of the easiest things to do - no testing your knowledge of the fundamental road rules,and the actual driving test for a car with the r.t.o involves you switching gears and taking a turn-the condition for a fail grade is that the vehicle must not jerk to a halt)

Here are some road safety authority rules for the uninitiated.

You may overtake on the left when

• You want to go straight ahead when the driver in front of you has moved out and signalled that they intend to turn right.
• You have signalled that you intend to turn left.
• Traffic in both lanes is moving slowly and traffic in the left-hand lane is moving more quickly than the traffic in the right-hand lane.

You must not overtake when

• You are at or near a pelican crossing, zebra crossing or at pedestrian signals.
• A traffic sign or road marking prohibits it.
• You are approaching a junction.
• You are on the approach to a corner, bend, dip in the road, hump-back bridge, brow of a hill or on a narrow road.
• You are in the left-hand lane of a dual carriageway or motorway when traffic is moving at normal speed.

You may be willing to take risks and die in the process,but spare a thought for the others on road,who do not share your enthusiasm for death.

Safe driving!

Couldnt forget it

Saw the poster of kambhakt ishq on a wall today,in spite of myself.

A phrase sprung into my head.

Kambakht Ishq := Garbage Bag.

Had to let it out.

(my comments on the movie,read here)

Terror and Awe

Saturn devouring his Son - Goya(1819-23)

This painting,Saturn devouring his son,of all the Black Paintings of Goya that i saw,i'd say is the most terrifing of them all. This terrible face of Saturn gives me creeps,raided my dreams a couple of times too.The ferocity of the violence,and the force of emotion that is depicted,and the illusion,the thought of it floating out of the screen at me,sends a shiver down my spine...phew..Goya,I salute you!

A Sense of Lingering Happyness

A usual day out

1 30 pm - Vas,Kc n I - An afternoon spent bantering on music and movies - an hour of fun trashing hindi flicks - laughed till our stomachs hurt - a cup of over-sweetened coffee at K.R.Bakes -

5 30 pm -Vas,Tp n I - an hour spent on buying a pair of shoes at Woodland's for Tp- booked tickets for Transformers next night show - Drank Half a glass of hot badam milk at Agarwal's(only a mouthful infact,Tp graciously drank most of my share->typical) - checked out discount sale at Lee - walked half the stretch of D.B Road -ogled at one particular chick with rather..um..suffice to say, eye catchy features( Vas n Tp were earnest)-

8 30 pm -home- cursed rams for not hanging around - watched an hour worth of youtube videos : veyron,maybach,crash tests - the guys left at 9 30 pm -a sense of lingering happyness - bought dinner for myself n mom -half an hour of television - about to hit the bed,with the hope of hitting the gym atleast tom.11 30 pm now.Chow.Again,a sense of happyness.

p.s : This is to Tp,who s leaving on a month long All-India trip(Lucky dog!) with his class tomorrow morning,who ll be missing such days (us included!) for the coming month . Safe Journey machi!

Expectorate in Public? Damn You.

Brilliant blue sky. Cool weather. Trees rustling in the wind. Mild Traffic . Pachai Nirame on the radio.

This was the setting(perfect!). I was driving my car along the Thadagam Road in the City,and stopped as the traffic light switched to red, near Avila.In front of me, a Skoda Laura was idling. I was just beginning to admire the immaculate shine on the car when its door opened from the inside - i could see a bracelet on the hand that was resting on the door handle,gold by the looks of it,and the guy's head peeped out,and bent low towards the road. Curious,i followed his gaze - what was the guy observing on the road?

Spppllllirrcchhhhh!!

A mouthful of tobacco or pan juice was squirted right onto the road. The guy wiped his mouth with a napkin,and dropped it right there. He closed the door,the signal turned green , and the car sped away.

As if nothing happened. I was careful not to drive over it.

Grose.

I held this paradigm : People in Skoda Laura are wealthy and educated - now its changed - only a sign of wealth and not necessarily a sign of education . That guy had not an iota of Civic Sense.( cliched but popular "civic sense ah? oru kilo enna velai" stereotypes)

Evokes the memory of the image of a guy spitting from the window of a bus onto the traffic below , and the verbal duel that followed, between the guy on the bus and the rather unfortunate guy on the bike,who was passing the bus by its side. Poor guy.

Disgusting.

Its everywhere,the 'gob' - railway stations,bus stands,pavements, cut-roads - i dont understand,why arent they feeling repulsive when they do it at such public places? Plus its poses a risk of spreading disease . A spell should be cast so that for those who spit onto public property,it should fly back onto their faces. Would serve them good.

Movie Comments : Kambakkht Ishq (2009)

Starring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, with cameo appearances by Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards.

Saw this movie(???) yesterday in the theatres. And what do i think about it? Let me tell you.

Overall : Cheap.Dumb.Tasteless.Trash.

Script : huh? Come again.. ?

Acting : Over re-acting.

Music : Doesnt catch your attention.

Point to Note : All-time-low of my visits to the theatres.

The only scene in the movie which evoked positive emotions in me was the Stallone-thrashing-the bad-guys-scene towards the end- an ephemeral feeling as it was.This is a remake of the tamil movie starring Kamal Hassan ,Pammal.K.Sambandam(2002),which i would say was 100 times a better movie than KI. KI stands for tasteless comedy (?? - or was that the idea ? - let me quote one instance : a guy farting into the face of the bride in a song sequence? ) , a "battle of the sexes" movie ( Akshay calls Kareena a bitch,and she in turn calls him a dog ,several times in the movie) (oh..appadi!).They ought to have a provision where the audiences are given their money back.

Verdict : Dont even bother seeing this movie,unless you are doing a thesis titled "The List of all Time Bad Movies made in Hindi " .

Akshay Kumar in an interview -i'm quoting from this source - " Akshay said that Kambhakkt Ishq is a family entertainer . He is happy that it had a good opening and that the audiences are loving it " .

A family entertainer it seems . Didnt know the guy was such an imbecile.

Flora

I feel flowers have high moral values- even if they could talk,i dont think they are of the type who would lie or be dishonest ; some are quite extravagent and illimitable in the shades of colors they exhibit, i think they are an appropriate mixture of humility,dignity and pride (seldom do you find these qualities in humans who think they are very attractive) .

Where flowers bloom,so does hope. Some photographs,by my Dad :).

(who is in the field of horticulture now btb)

Passion Flower (Family Passifloraceae)

The Purple Lily

The Okra Flower ( Ladyfinger)

A rose is a rose is a rose!

No wonder they say you can write a love letter with a bouquet of flowers!