blinded by the light!

A short trip to Pondicherry

2010-09-11T19:31:00.002+05:30

came to see Erisa at Auroville and hand him over all the guitar parts. My new guitar, yet unassembled, looks awesome. Another 2/3 weeks of polishing, fitting it should be ready for trials :) Not uploading any pictures yet, as body/neck/fretboard colors will go through some changes. I need to think of some creative artwork with the pickgaurd. The feel, weight feels great. Can't wait!

Took a bus overnight and reached early morning. Coffee at Le Cafe by the sea, and then made a deal with a hotel to rent out for half-day half-cost. Went over to Erisas soon after that. Came back late afternoon. I had to vacate my room by 6:30. Taking a train from Pondi later in the night. Lots of time to kill. Now sitting and sipping beer at a very nice heritage villa sort of a place (Le Club) and killing time.

things I want most now!

2010-06-05T00:17:00.001+05:30

hope, courage, faith, light, life, strength

to be or not to be

2009-10-22T00:15:00.003+05:30

"To be or not to be: that is the question
Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles .." [Some act, Hamlet, William Shakespear]

Arrrghhhhhh!

DIY Guitar!

2009-10-11T13:03:00.008+05:30

I thought I would redo my electric. Its a Taiwan made strat copy. And I thought I would use the body and neck and replace everything. Smart huh? So, over time, I got all the H-S-S pickups, keys, bridge, bridge, switches, pots etc through my friends and friends-of-friends from US. Now, as it turns out the bridge wouldn't fit in the existing body. Even if the bridge was made to fit (pegging the existing holes) then the fretboard is not wide enough towards the bridge and the strings would slip out! So? Options are to buy the body and the neck!! (build? far and few luthiers around!)And make do with the existing bridge in the meantime! Arrrrrrghhhh!

ah Westmalle!

2009-09-24T19:58:00.001+05:30

a couple from bangalore had gone travelling in europe and visited Brugge, where they stayed at a B&B. The owner is Kris, Erik's friend, who had come down to Bangalore early this year, and I had met up with him and girlfriend. Kris sent a bottle of Westmalle Tripel, as he knew its one of my favorite beers. The couple gave me a call upon arrival in bangalore, and I went and picked it up from their place. Now I am sitting in my house and sipping one of the most amazing beers in the world :)
Thanks Kris.

wishlist: places to see

2008-11-07T00:19:00.004+05:30

Angel Falls (sigh!)
Hangzhou Bay Bridge
California Academy of Sciences (maybe after 5 years or later)
Leh (sigh!)
Shimizu Mega City Pyramid (4/5 years)

(to be contd .. )

Death Valley, Mojave Desert, USA.

Anil Kumble retires :(

2008-11-02T20:17:00.004+05:30

Anil Kumble announced his retirement from International Cricket today! Suddenly, on the very last day of 3rd test match at Firozshah Kotla, against the aussies. I knew it would come soon, for his nagging injuries were slowly chipping off his greet, but had hoped that he would retire after England Series, with back-to-back series wins.
I have been a staunch supporter of Kumble. To me, he is the epitome of dedication, hardwork and integrity, the last-drop-of-blood fighter. The greatest bowler India has ever produced. Yeah! and despite all that, he is such a humble person.
And talking about Integrity, he never moved away from the face of his opponent, never gave an inch away, but never ever crossed the line or questioned of his dignity. The only time he was ever called by the match referee, was as captain of the team, in the sydney test match!
What a competitor! Even in this very test match, with broken finger he ran backwards to take a high catch, while everyone else was dropping dollies!
That he was no great fielder was beyond doubt, but none could ever question his commitment every time he dived hopelessly to stop a run! (He broke his finger in this match, setting the same example of competitiveness)

Take a bow for arguably the greatest cricketer India has ever produced.

All the best Anil, never will I have the peace of mind that you will come onto the attack and change the course of a game when India needs breakthroughs.

Youtube discovery: Sungha Jung

2008-08-17T18:37:00.005+05:30

I was looking for Joshua Redman's version of "Hit the road jack" on youtube, when I came across this.. by a kid called Sungha Jung

I stood cold for some time ..
also check him playing "canon in D" ..

3 day greenhorn!

2008-07-12T12:10:00.002+05:30

Well, within 24 hours of putting my last blog entry, I got msgs from a few colleagues. Are they connected/informed or what! So, right at this moment someone from office may be reading my blog! I hate you "Google"!! (not really) ..

anyway, in the past 3 days, I have tried to soak in as much as I can .. acclimatization!

Its a crazy, intriguing, religionistic/neologistic, sometimes non realistic, brilliant, friendly, chaotic, sincere organization!! Its a great balance that must be maintained. why! the two heads of the office have least hair on their heads! Although no such effect on the BD team!

Oh! I gotta update my vocab. SME is "Subject Matter Expert" not "Small and Medium Enterprises". Things like that. Even technological terms, on many occasions, went by me. I am going for a object bootcamp :) from monday .. it should be interesting .. also to get a feel of the dev community.

my new organization

2008-07-10T19:50:00.003+05:30

I have joined ThoughtWorks as yet another developer. Now, many of you might be wondering ...
1) I have never worked for professional services as such. Even while working for Agni and later Adea, I was into Product development. So this is a new experience for me.
2) I got little sick of doing R&D(s) year after year. Wanted to experience different things. Lets see how it goes. :)

Now why TW?
Well, I have never worked for big corporates. Although there are many things, which I fundamentally disagree with TW, I believe it still gives me an option to voice my opinions and at least listening to it. This was a fundamental reason .. freedom (of speech as well).
I hope it gives me scope for consulting and for more customer facing roles, as I would like to experience that, and think I have a flair for customer handling. All my old clients will vouch for my best intensions to bring in value onto work they are paying for, and thought I would make a good client advocat. :))
TW has a product division but of course they would want to make money through me by keeping me in Professional services. But I hope I have the scope of working with their product division in whatever capacity because I can bring value there, surely. If not, TW's loss! However TW's products are into dev community space, so its unlike any commercial product I have been involved with. I look forward to learn about building/selling products in that space as well.
I have more or less decided that the next product I want to take responsibility of building (concept to roll out), would have to be something I believe in totally and preferably mine! I had quite a few product development and management options in some of the big giants but I didnt believe in any of the ideas! Although I am sure I would have learnt a whole lot about product management and sales in completely different scale but ....

So amigos, here I am, in ThoughtWorks! And I hope, I am not branded as geek/techie/whatever .. because I am not! More laters ...

IPL 2008

2008-05-02T19:22:00.001+05:30

ongoing IPL reminded me of ..

"Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think Ill buy me a football team "
-- Pink Floyd, Dark side of the moon.

Rats!

2008-04-12T14:25:00.003+05:30

Uncle Sam is brooding, Mushi welting, Bharat Mata mahan.
Corporates wincing, KRV wreaking, Aishwariya mata zindabad!

What percentage of Indian population, do you think knows about the ongoing famine in Mizoram? Yes! in this era of prosperity and communication!
Mizoram and parts of Manipur, Tripura and Assam are going through “Mautam”. Mautam means bamboo death. Its an ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48/49 years in the wide and wild bamboo forests in North Eastern states and the neighbouring Myanmar Chin State. Melocanna baccifera, the species of bamboo, (cover 30% of Mizoram) flowers at one time, followed by seeding which artracts hordes of bandicoot rats, which multiply so fast, that they eventually turn to crops and stored grains! 1959’s famine saw creation of MNFF(Mizo National Famine Front) and subsequently an armed movement led by Laldenga.
And that this outbreak and disaster was eminent was well known in advance and as early as 2003/4 Mizoram Govt formed a special team for preparation. The problem is now wide spread. Even parts of Tripur and Manipur effected. 90 percent of crops and areas in Mizoram are already gone! Oh, in 2007 they burnt 230,000 rats and rupee 1 granted for each tail! Don't produce grains, buy would have been the logical question but the state is so poor and badly connected but still there's no excuse! (And Govt did nothing about informing people not to harvest Paddy in Nov/Dec!) Myanmar Chin state neighbouring Mizoram is also badly effected and resulting huge infiltration as well. This only adds to the trouble of already effected Mizoram and partly Manipur's economy whatever existent.

If not controlled and acted strongly and immediately, the situation is going to get really really worse. Manipur, Mizoram are going through enough trouble already and Tripura, which for the first time in so many years is really looking forward, can take a really bad hit! Prices are rising every single day!

I am also surprised that there has been very little action taken in this age of connectivity. The rest of India, even other parts of North East is hardly concerned about it. Why can't the Mizo youth come forward and spread the information, on TV, radio, newspapers and get the Govts, not just Mizo, but Assam, and at Centre take serious notice of this? Why not take to televised media, petition to whoever counts and reach out also through internet. The relief and rehabilitation and recovery work must be intensified aggresively like never before NOW! Monsoon will start in another two months, making it virtually impossible to reach out to distant areas! Hello, is there anybody listening? I don't want to hear about Deepika Padukone!

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mautam-march-2008-update/301459503

What can you do? Get information (more ground level the better), Validate, aggregate and publish. spread the news. But avoid confusion and be sensible; in hard times, emotions often override the brain! Validation - you do not want to spread any sort of misinformation or cause more confusion.
People need food, and the kind of nutritious food that can be easily stored cooked and eaten, without aiding to the rat population! If you work for a corporate or industrial house or university, you can talk to your HR department and see if they do something. Lots of organizations do .. or you can even try to convince them that it will look good on paper and publicity .. Whatever works!

http://www.idsa.in/publications/stratcomments/NamrataGoswami010408.htm

blackandblue!

2008-03-12T16:43:00.000+05:30

Ever been manhandled, beaten up? No, I am not talking about spanking from parents, brawl with a friend or foe, or a fight in a football match. I mean, on the street on broad daylight for no fault or reason whatsoever?

Today is 12th Match 2008.
I had to go Whitefield for a meeting starting at 8:00 am. Around 7:45/7:50 I was near Kundanhalli (near Marathalli, Bangalore) where I would take a left turn ahead to go towards Transworks/iFlex office and I kept to the left side of the road waiting for the signal. A car (old maruthi 800) coming out of a garage off the road and trying to squeeze in to the main flow, hit a motorbike stationary on my left side which caused the bike to get jammed against my car’s left . When I got out of the car, I checked a few bad scratches and small dents. The bike rider and the driver of the car were already arguing. Nothing happened to the bike because of its front protruding bar. The old car seemed badly beaten already to notice any difference. The driver of the car, a kid in his teens must be, with a slight beard spoke in Kannada and said the brake of the car is not working properly. I assumed the kid must be a helper in garage, and knew that would no way have any money for damage.

When the bike rider moved on, I asked the kid (first in my broken Kannada, and then turning to Hindi) how why he would even try to squeeze in traffic with bad brakes. The kid replied arrogantly in pretty decent Hindi, and part English that the damage would cost me nothing and tried to move away. I asked him to stop. The kid retorted in Kannada showering me handsome praising; and I said I will take note of the car number and give to the cop standing at the signal some 20 meters away or so. The kid threatened to throw a punch at me and I was taken aback, surprised at impudence of the kid; I caught his arm and asked him to come to the police when he was turning away and giving me gaalis all the while.

The moment I caught his arm, he punched at my face, caught my collar, dragged me below and in the process tore my shirt. I was too shocked to react, when I angrily got up, few others from behind suddenly joined in kicking, punching, stamping. I remember that I was trying to get up repeatedly and these guys kept on pushing me down and hitting me. I don’t know how long it was for, a min or more. I don’t even remember the other 2 faces, and I tried to block and retaliate in some blind daze and somehow managed to shout for police. The beating stopped and I stood up and tried to make some sense, and furiously trying to find a cop; one of the guys, a big fat one, returned and kicked me again from the back. My nose was bleeding, my shirt torn, my face, jaws, head, shoulders and back, legs and knees hurting badly, full of dust all over, cut inside my mouth now tasting of blood, it was bizarre; I was in a daze; Good-office-going people around, would not want to interfere of course; other than look with pity probably.

I got inside the car and drove to the cop, and told him the incident. I told him the car number; He asked to go and report to the police. Hmmm .. like Upamanyu Chatterjee, the only reason, I attempted civil services (I flunked), was on the thought that only becoming an IAS officer will shield the civilian from police harassments. I thought I would reach my destination and will probably have time to think and decide. Later on, I gave up on the futility of registering any case; also the fat guy seemed pro, in my bid to protect and lift myself from the ground, I remember this guy particularly trying to aim and hit my face and head, back and knees. This is not wrestle, a brawl .. this is done calmly and intension to maximize injury. Sooo.. whats the story, morning glory? Y! I took the beating and moved on!

I remember, probably early 2000/2001; once returning home late, I found the auto driver cheating;and when I enquired and arguments started, other auto drivers came forth and caught hold of the driver, mediated and made him apologize. Prosperity brings money that brings crime that brings down morality and mortality and somehow in the process, savages keep growing in number, getting bolder and ruthless and above the law.
“No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.” – Bob Dylan

How Indian am I?

2008-02-20T00:46:00.000+05:30

I speak Inglish. Getting by ok. No problems ..

and about Indian cultural heritage and inheritance of it? The way I look at it ... Culture is not something stagnant or impermeable. It soaks and merges and moves. (Maybe it mutates too!) India, I thought, defined that philosophy. Although these days, culture seems like "water sprinklers" in a garden. Its all good .. I am an ok Indian :) .. indivisible (1 ÷ 0) yet fractal.

Carnivorous cow eating trees????

2007-10-24T14:08:00.000+05:30

You gotta read this: Carnivorous trees grabbing humans and cattle and gobbling them up [... ].
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEK20071023040252

It happens only in India! :)

Stroke of luck?

2007-09-13T15:18:00.000+05:30

Airtel used to ran a campaign of guessing the score of innings. If you predict correctly then you would supposedly get a sum of [score] x 300 INR. On August 24, 2007, Ind Vs Eng, 2nd ODI, when India started batting, just for the heck of it, I predict that we would score 329 and send the msg to 8888. I soon got a reply from 8888, "this service is temporarily unavailable". I didnt bother till the end of 1st innings, when India scored exactly 329. Now, 329 x 300 = 98,700!!! But ofcourse I can never hold Airtel accountable because of the unavailable service disclaimer!! Someone up there, didn't want me to get the money! tch!

Mind is restless, O Krishna!

2007-03-27T12:36:00.000+05:30

It is turbulent, obstinate, hard to restrain!

"That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!"

Indian Ocean Live 16 Feb: SJCC Dhwani

2007-02-21T16:17:00.000+05:30

By 6:30 pm, I was in front of St. Joseph's College of Commerce, eagerly waiting infront to get the tickets for Indian Ocean playing at college's festival. Akshat and Sharan joined me and we were settled at center front of the stage. I paid Rs 50 for the ticket, must have been one of the cheapest IO concerts, no! Actually I have gatecrashed and jugad'ed a few!

In college festivals generally the sound ain’t ever great but IO always makes it somehow great. The set list included pretty much like the IBM show on 3rd Feb, (not in order)

Khajuraho
Boll Weevil
Jhini
From The Ruins: Was a the best song of the night for me. It was after a long time, I heard IO playing this at concert.
Hille Le
Bandeh – With the promo of the “Black Friday” hitting the music channels, crowd knew the song by heart and has turned to be big favourite amongst crowd.
Bharam Bhap Ke
Bulara – IO’s new song. Has a smooth lucid beginning on guitars by shusmit. It feels more of a “on the move” kind of feeling song. Like “cycling-through-the-aisles-of-paddy-fields” or like “climbing-up-a trek-with-a-spring-in-your-steps” kinda feelings. J
Asheem leads the song with others joining in soon. “Bula raha hain koi mujkho, bu-la raha hain koi .. “
The chorus is played over a really beautiful and interesting chord progression played down the entire fret length (sort of chromatic?) - “Per jameen pe, asmaan pe najar/per jameen pe, asmaan pe najar/PER JAMEEN PE, ASMAAN PE NAJAR/……….. “. It builds up like that. Very nice and fluid. I have heard the song twice so far, and the tune is swirling in my brains somewhere already. So it catches on quickly..
Kya Maloom
Ma Rewa
Kandisa
Kaun (Encore)

Parts of the crowd were well versed with IO songs. Fans like us who will go anywhere for IO concert. The environment wasn’t like the recent IIM concert, where they actually sang the opening verse of Kandisa in such unison and so beautifully in tune that Rahul just gave the cue. Wasn’t anything like that here but it was pretty good to see people instantly relating to Indian Ocean. For example, bunch of “rockin” crowd just behind me, were soon grooving to the tune, clapping, cheering. That’s the magic of IO, which you can instantly relate to it being an Indian. (People at Edinburgh will agree for more reasons! J )

Time passes by in a jiffy always in an IO concert. I can’t really have enough and it’s a short concert for me! We hung around for a bit after the concert to chat with Rahul. IO were going to play at my college, NIT Karnataka, (erstwhile KREC), next day. I was initially thinking about driving down to catch them play there. But urgency of work over the weekend restrained me!! Imagine what a pleasure and proud moment it would have been to watch IO play at the open air auditorium, SAC of the college!

Some info:
IO is going to be releasing new live DVD in 2 months or so. I am eagerly waiting for that also to see if my face somewhere figures J
IO has composed music and background score for a movie called, “Shoonya”. It has one song intermittently used in the movie in the background. The promo for the movie however will be the continuous song.
Shusmit is supposedly composing music for another movie called “road to ladakh”. (Unconfirmed!! Will verify)

Dikka chikka dikka chikka dikka chikka dik!

2006-12-18T20:14:00.000+05:30

In my 15/16 years of watching south Indian movies, I have never seen such brilliant solo performance. Forget all the gult, tam, mallu or kannada movies, never ever I have seen such spontaneous, enjoyable dance ever! And believe me, I have seen many. Vijay, Prabhu Deva, Chiranjeevi, or even the great Thalaivar .. forget all, Sreeshanth's performance outshined them all. Wow!!

I could not stop laughing for the next 30 mins. Man, the whole build up was just too much. Nel, who always has a thing to say to the batsman and never short of words, was in his elements! Sreeshanth ducked the previous short ball and Nel went right up to him, pounding his heart and shouted, "show me some heart". Sree told him to just go and bowl the next ball. Next ball, Sreeshanth charged down the wicket, hit Nel straight over sidescreen for six and did the most hilarious and brilliant jig you will ever see. This is a treasure. VRV Singh, the non striker, came to calm him down but Sree was charged. I loved the passion Sree wore. As if saying, "Take this, nai ...tengakola" :) ...Brilliant.

Its a mad mad mad world!

2006-12-12T20:36:00.000+05:30

Girls like to be mad! Numbers of girls with their nicknames suffixed/prefixed with “mad” in all online communities are astonishing! Even better are the self proclamations or confessions, "I am mad"!

Is it because they want to project themselves as crazy? Do they relate "mad" to being fun! I think they just like to behave mad! They want to be called “mad”. Crazy? Genius? Beautiful? Weird? Happy? Sad? Hmmm ..

Actually, the liking for the human race for madness is age-old. Madness is also close to Godliness. The witch-doctors always portrayed themselves as mad, some "raged sadhu baba/maa" supposedly see god when they go into fits of madness (especially in West Bengal!).

I remember seeing one Satyajit Ray movie, where in the end, it was meant that only the mad is the sane person!

Coming back to my initial thought. No wonder girls are so difficult to understand! And I love them mad! :)

cows have beautiful eyes

2006-11-15T16:59:00.000+05:30

No doubt! Absolutely. Between those pretty eyes they also have a brain, which I can't say for sure regarding the commuters, drivers (bikes, cars, buses, trucks ..) of bangalore (sorry bengaluru).

Consider this; 9:30 am, the chaos at madiwala junction. Up in the median, stands a cow, waiting patiently for the road to clear so that it can cross over to the other side and to gorge itself with goodies at the vegetable market! But it knows that crossing the road at the wrong time is harmful for itself, to the traffic, and to cops!! So it waits patiently for the road to clear up. Do you expect the same from any human in Bangalore? Nah!

Adugodi road; I am driving bonnet-to-bonnet to line of cars; from the other side comes a cop’s ambassador car (& a significant one as visible from the baton stuck in front), it comes out of the police station, which is across the other side and legally not permissible for cross-cutting, and tries to fit it between my car and the one immediately behind and accelerates so quickly in its endeavor that it hits my bumper. I pull over and stop, and the cop argues to indicate its my fault. The traffic cop on the road urges us to move on! A crow does not a crow’s meat! Nah!

Less said about the rest of the dog-eat-dog drivers the better!
coming back to my initial pretext; my college (erstwhile KREC) main building area was walled and the entrances had cow-traps. You know, the small crossings made of pipes over the pits, so that cows get their foot stuck if they try? The main building area was beautiful, with gardens, pretty flowers, creepers, orchids, shady trees which obviously cows loved so much. But we would always find cows inside. How? Once I came across one, who came right to the edge, got all its four legs together and leaped across just managing to evade the cow-traps! That would have been a clear 6 feet jump! Smart huh?

Iftar Party

2006-10-26T12:33:00.000+05:30

We had a gala Iftar party yesterday. Took off from office lil early to do the necessary shopping. Even better, Barnaba had brought some Zubrowka. The tradition continues. :)

dhikh-chakh

2006-09-05T13:08:00.000+05:30

As soon as someone tells you that a song is a "dhikh-chakh" one, you can immediately relate to a special genre! dhikh-chakh, dhikh-chak! Is there any other way to explain that? I don't think so. This word ought to be in oxford dictionary.

Who are the pioneers to really bestow us with this music? Hmmm .. the furthest I can remember, Gulshan kumar of is T-Series! Jhankar beats! Must be his greatest contribution to music, apart from Kumar Panu! heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey-hey, ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa .. dhikh-chakh, dhikh-chakh, dhikh-chakh! Oh! Truly astonishing. Mr. Himesh Reshmaiya, who turns me cold with his "himel" voice, and Mr Pritam, with his plagiarism are just carriers of the "bukhar", flag-bearers of "dhikh-chakh".

Imagine, Water scooter kumar (Akshay kumar) and Miss 38s, dancing to "dhikh-chakh, dhikh-chakh!" heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey-hey .. ahahaaaaa .. dhikh-chakh, dhikh-chakh!"

Jai-ho ...

Internet Information!!!!!

2006-07-11T02:23:00.000+05:30

Internet search engines ... and internet has long arrived! I use FireFox browser specifically because I can configure different search engines with it - Google, Lonely Planet Guide, Yahoo, Wikipedia, MSN, Amazon, BBC News, Creative Commons, Dictionary, EBay, Linked In, Market Watch, Webster, Technocrati, Infoseek etc. Just use a specific search engine for specific information, otherwise just use any generic one.

Since ages, whoever had the best(?) information, ruled. He was able to establish himself as someone knowing all, someone armed and powerful with knowhow! The psyche works this way– “if you do not know something, you do not understand something”. Has it happened to you where you have sat through, just listened, kept quiet, nodded your head because you haven’t had any clue what was being told and you just had to accept whatever was told? Otherwise you may appear as clueless!!! You doubt that the person is talking no sense but you do not have information enough to say anything convincing otherwise; you may still overpower a person with your personality, but he might have had the right info and you would be wrong completely, which you as a nice person would not want to!! In both the cases, as you see, info is vital!

Information can also be misleading and extremely erroneous and hence dangerous. People still have to understand that information available over the internet is subjected to scrutiny of being authentic and truthful. In online forums, it has become a common practice these days to give facts, information from Wikipedia –but people fail to read the very first page and the disclaimer of Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
“Because Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which in principle anybody can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in some very important ways. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while newer articles may still contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this in order to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation …”

Whats it for intelligence .. link between Information and Knowledge? Can Intelligence be there without knowledge? Aren’t they always evolving, and is it same for Information as well? Carl Sagan in Broca's wrote: “Most organisms on Earth depend on their genetic information, which is 'prewired' into their nervous systems, to a much greater extent than they do on their extragenetic information, which is acquired during their lifetimes. For human beings, and indeed for all mammals, it is the other way around. While our behavior is still significantly controlled by our genetic inheritance, we have, trough our brains, a much richer opportunity to blaze new behavioral and cultural pathways on short time scales. We have made a kind of bargain with nature: our children will be difficult to rise, but their capacity for new learning will greatly enhance the capacity for survival of the human species. In addition, human beings have, in the most recent few tenths of a percent of our existence, invented not only extragenetic but also extrasomatic knowledge; information stored outside our bodies, of which writing is the most notable example.”

Internet has given us the near endless source of this extra ‘Extrasomatic knowledge’.

I think human inquisition, investigation, rationalization, helps decide whether the info is true or can hold true; and that’s when it is passed onto his brain as knowledge.

That’s what we need to understand, Internet is a great source for information but we still must validate the correctness of the information. Hmmm ... sure! Has it not encouraged plagiarism? Reminded me of one comic incident in my old organization….

While working for a client, we were working on Capacity planning for a particular software solution implementation. For that we needed to tell the client how much hard disk space, memory and CPU usage, network bandwidth etc will be required. I prepared the document as part of our mandatory review process sent it to my superior and also reminded him to fill in some of his parts. Next day I get a mail which would give Gilbert’s classics a run. I of course could not make head or tale about it; but I was pretty sure that he could not have written that bullshit, so took the first sentence and did a google search. Bingo! The first link was for a whitepaper on Capacity planning (a PDF File). I read the first page, and it was ditto copied from there. I breathed easy because I was feeling sort of guilty of ever doubting his English!!! I of course didn’t say a single word knowing that I will never hear of it again, I finished the document myself and sent to the client.

Oh! Wonder if there is a “Internet for dummies” book! Must be sent to whoever responsible for recent blog blocking in India – to authorities, ISPs, media.

Qui?

2006-05-18T15:14:00.000+05:30

Walking down the street to work, more or less oblivious to what’s around; I am thinking randomly of work, home, friends or the latest issues in hand. A familiar face comes walking from the other side, as unmindful as I am. Suddenly I stumble: so does the person in front who stops startled on her heels. I have a vague recollection! I scratch my memory for the person's name. I am happy to see her(?), we exchange greetings “Hi! How are you? Long time!” Pleasantries done, I am running late. I exchange business cards, take a glance; and shove that onto the endless pit of my bag, midst of all other printouts, slips, receipts, cash bills, notes, etc etc! We bid adieu. “So long!” The face hangs around in my thoughts for a while but I have more important things to take care of now!! The day is long and the project is a critical one!

Later in the night, I think, “What was her name? Seems so long ago!” I would find the card in my bag, but ... too many things to shuffle through in there... I am so very tired after a hard days work! “Ah! Check later!”

The face sinks somewhere in the vast ocean of my cerebral cortex!

Tonight

2006-05-13T10:36:00.000+05:30

-- And later in the evening, as you lie awake in bed; smoke the days last cig, remembering what she said … "feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues, hey feeling good was good, enough for me … my eyes are tired, but not drooping dead, see you soon".

Something like that. Read this in Pecos! Wonder who wrote it?

Attack of the killer bees!

2006-04-13T15:13:00.000+05:30

I was attacked!! I just got stung (beaten?) by bees, mercilessly. Everything being closed today and confined to my house, and without any option I was in the kitchen trying to cook up some broth! Without any warning came buzzing the insects and they were all over me! I like to believe that I am a sweet person but not so to such ferocious of species! I ran helter-skelter, they were all over me. Some got stuck on my hair as I tried frantically to get them off me!

I took shelter in the bathroom, picking up a bed sheet on the way. Draping myself in that, I came out .. those bees were still buzzing. I put on a helmet, with the glass down, and armed with a wet towel, first burnt a cloth (with few goodnight mats in), creating lot of smoke to drive the bees away. Quite a few were left behind still buzzing, and I killed them one by one, with a vengeance. I can now be called a qualified bee killer.

Then I smelt something funny... Different from the burning goodnight mat smell. I ran to the kitchen, and found my lunch burning! The daal was burnt to charcoal, the starch of rice spilt over the oven!! Arrrrrrrrrrgh!!

And I had procured them after a lot of fight last night. Courtesy Dr Rajkumar’s death, everything was closed. I had got hold of one autorickshaw (with quite a price) and went around looking in the ‘hallis’ for some shop! I had to make up a story that my sister’s kid needs milk! I saw whole lot of wine shops with partly open windows with shadowy characters hanging around; my alibi milk was nowhere to be found. Finally after an hour or so, I found a departmental shop and got rice, daal, vegetables, and MILK!

The maid, who is always looking for some excuse to bunk, did not of course turn up today! So I had to do all the cleaning of vessels myself! Now this! Do you know how difficult it is to clean a burnt vessel!! Oh the stench! I can not even open the windows, for those killer bees might return!

I wish I had bought some booze last night! That would have helped! There isn’t any cigarette too! There was no power for quite sometime and this only stuffed the house with all the smoke and heat! My head and face hurts like crazy! My doctor who stays close by is stuck at his in-laws place on the other side of the city! There isn’t any vehicle moving. No shops open! No... Nothing!

Actually I am to blame; I should be prepared everyday for a possible death of a celebrity.

Damn! Those bees! Tomorrow I am going to find the hive and kill them all. Chun chun ke marunga!

Dave Matthews

2006-03-27T00:01:00.000+05:30

In all the "halla gulla" of contemporary British rock, I think I have missed out on Dave Matthews big time! Although I found some songs of bands like Travis, Train, Live, Oasis, Coldplay really nice, but after a while most of their songs do not really stick in my head. I had heard very little of Dave Matthews, till one day I saw a live acoustic concert of his on VH1. Inquisitive, I bought "Everyday", which did not help at all. I was disappointed but thinking of video that I liked so much, I asked Bruce (TAAQ) for some albums. He gave me – “Before These Crowded Streets”, “Busted Stuff”, “Crash”, “Remember Two Things” & “Under The Table and Dreaming”.

I love them all. I have been listening to Dave Matthews continuously! The music just grew onto me .. every day! He is brilliant. Surely one of the best musicians of the this era. Actually much ahead of his era I would imagine! He is awesome! His music is diverse, pushing the limits, deep, thought provoking. Some are very ambient, some are so layered! You are bordering on something touching Jazz, Classical, folk, blues, rock …!!

Rapunzel – what a song!! Spoon - the part where the mandolin comes in is just absolutely brilliant .. so is the ending. “Tripping Billies”,“Ants Marching”, “Grey Street”, “Where Are You Going” are just bind blowing stuff! He is a brilliant composer. You just have to listen to "#34", "#41", or “Spoon” or “Lie in Our Graves” to get completely hooked onto Dave Matthews!

What the heck was I doing all this time? I have missed out good 10 years of Dave Matthews! I wonder whether the current world is reflected through his lyrics. Music carries the composer’s times. I guess his lyrics shows that too. I don’t think I have read so moving lyrics of “Grace is gone” in recent times. Or “Ants Marching” ...

(Dreaming Tree..)
Standing here
The old man said to me,
"Long before these crowded streets
Here stood my dreaming tree."
Below it he would sit
For hours at a time
Now progress takes away
What forever took to find
And now he's falling hard
He feels the falling dark
How he longs to be
Beneath his dreaming tree

(Seek up..)
“Look around about this round about
this merry-go-round and around
Well If at all God's gaze upon us falls
it's with a mischievous grin, look at him”

Awesome!

Dave Mathews must be a big influence for school and college students. I think I can see the connection and inspiration in Kamal's (of Lounge Piranha) The Gun song! Wonder if Dave Matthews has inspired Bruce too? I think I am gonna be buoyed by Dave Mathews from this day onwards! Dave Mathews Rocks!!

SRV

2006-03-04T13:29:00.000+05:30

If one musician caught me by the collar and dragged me towards the beauty of blues is Stevie Ray Vaughan! I don't think anybody else played the blues with so much energy, passion and soul, as SRV did!

Number of people have played "Little Wing" of Hendrix, but none ever so beautifully than SRV. You just have to listen to "Tin Pan Alley" or "Sky is crying" or "Lenny" and you just melt!! Magician!

I am learning .. "Marry had a little Lamb".. What a beautiful lead! If not for Bruce, I would not even get the salient bends and touches ... he is just so spontaneous! Wonder if he is rocking Indraprastha! And all the Menekas, Rambhas drooling over him!

letting go

2005-12-01T00:45:00.000+05:30

there are some people whom you just can't stop! they just appear out of nowhere, change your life, and move on! Theres no way you can hold onto them! Noway you can stop them ...

Not just yet!

2005-11-11T10:50:00.000+05:30

My tussle with GOD continues. He would not loosen, and I would not buckle! Come on! Is it the best you can do? I am stronger than that.

A conspiracy thoery?

2005-10-06T11:28:00.000+05:30

Ganguly is "supposed" to have an injury. (Tennis Elbow!!!!) And ain't sure whether he is going to play in Challenger or not! News is that he met Dr Joshi and had an MRI done. Is this a way of BCCI making "exit Ganguly process" a respectable one? Now suppose physio John Gloster decides that SG's injury is serious and for "benifit" of Indian cricket, he should take rest and consult the doctors, as Sachin did, and ... SG is sidelined for 4 months?

By that time:
- Dravid will be the captain
- Sachin would return and playing well enough
- Indian would have played SL, Pakistan and England
- West Indies tour will be in mind
- Ganguly being out of the game for good amount of time, would have to go through the rigours of domestic circuit when fit

Finally Ganguly comes with a statement that his elbow has not improved, and he is contemplating to retire from International cricket. And Team India have some great replacements for him and he thinks the young ones are ready to take Team India forward??

So all is well, he exits and exists "Gracefully"! Perfect!

No? Then I think I should be in BCCI. Why can't they come up this idea?

Cleansing Indian Railways 1

2005-08-23T14:38:00.000+05:30

As matter of discussion in another forum:
What about providing 6 dustbins underneath the 6 basins per compartment. These dustbins can be periodically cleaned in major junctions?

Cleansing Indian Railways!

2005-08-21T11:25:00.000+05:30

Few days back I went backpacking down the malabar coast. I traveled mostly by Indian Southern Railways. While I compliment the Indian railways for the cheapest possible travel mode which is such extensive and for providing the retiring rooms for accommodations where nothing else is feasible, I have a few cribs about the junk that engulfs our railways!! Actually for that matter along the areas where railways cover.

Visit any railway station (urban areas mostly), and you will find filth, dirt, literally junkyards! And so you will find along the rail lines as well.

> So what are the problems?
People throw garbage.
> Why do people throw garbage?
People are uneducated! don’t give a damn! or simply inconsiderate! And there are no collection points!
> Well for human values, its very difficult to gauge, its possible to achieve through education, perseverance and deterrents, and time. For dustbins?????

The remotest of railway stations are least effected really. People there are ignorant, uneducated, poor.. True! But they are also afraid of breaking the law. You will hardly find the poorer segments to enter a reserved compartment if they do not have valid tickets. So a simple deterrence policy of putting a law of "No littering" will be effective there. Urban places are much more difficult and problematic!!

So what can be done?
By bringing in the rule of "absolutely, no littering allowed": Take for instance the banning of cig smoking. People are scared to do that, on train and on stations. (Although the toilets smell of cig all the time. but thats in hiding at least, and am sure it isn’t a nice feeling)

then by providing dustbins in compartments and many more on stations, I think this can be helped to a great deal. In AC coups, people can't possibly throw over the windows, so they will actually have to open the door and chuck the garbage. In other compartments like 2nd Classes which actually form the most number of compartments and that many numbers of people, why not provide dustbins?

> Dustbins? where? Where is the place?
Not in every coup but per compartment a dustbin, big enough. We do not have the money and the organization ways to empty the dustbins in every station but in most of the junctions the toilets are supposed to be cleaned (and sometimes are!!) based on time gap. The dustbin cleanup job can be done there.

> Where is the place? Can you imagine the number of trains that actually traverse the country, and the expenditure that will be accounted for dustbins and for new compartments?

We can not afford newly built compartments; True! But think of this: in every compartment, there are 4 toilets. 2 western and 2 Indian styles each; (Well, usually!) Why not remove one of the toilets (they are metal sheets fixed anyways) and make the arrangements for a big dustbin? In addition you also get a bigger place including a spacious basin! This can be done for much much lesser cost. You will have 3 toilets and a refreshment area.

Also would they break the law in front of other conscious, and law abiding co-passengers? Less for sure! The conscious yet oblivious, inconsiderable lawbreaker can be dealt ..maybe slowly but surely.

> Sure! We already have so few toilets!!! Only 3?
72 persons are to sit in an compartment (sure!!!!). 3 toilets is somewhat manageable! When the nature calls in the morning, it’s a horrific fight, agreed! But arithmetically, just another person in front of you!! 5 min extra?

So what do you think? Feasible? or instead Trash the country?

Taken for granted!

2005-07-28T13:35:00.000+05:30

Everytime I swear to myself, "this is it! I am not to let myself taken for granted again!" and curse that I allowed myself to be in such a position. But everytime I soften down! On many occasions, I can not say 'no'! 'NO' must be toughest word to say! I understand that being nice to others is not really being nice to myself sometimes. Also I can not stay angry at someone or at something for long! What can be done? I wish I could just give a 'damn' sometimes!

Teamwork

2005-07-07T11:52:00.000+05:30

One thing I miss about a team sport is the feeling of togetherness. I mean, I work in a team in my professional life but its not quite the same.
For example, in football, if a teammate was knocked out by a dirty tackle, then we would make sure that the guy was brought down too and in a pretty nasty manner.
Or in cricket, if a batsman hit a four of the other bowler, and I got him out in the next over, my bowling partner would rejoice as much as I did. And I used to feel great .. as in "bastard! take this"! If the opposition bowler did hit a tailender, then we used to make sure that they got plenty of rough stuff too! And the feeling was not personal satisfaction, but of a complete teamwork! The happiness was complete with all the teammates feeling the same and sharing and enjoying others success! I miss that feeling of doing it together or doing it for the my friend, my team!

The ache!

2005-06-26T22:05:00.000+05:30

Somewhere deep, somewhere within,
Don't know how and wherein
A feeling of heaviness, numbness
Or of needles and pins!

If only the ache would go away,
And the pain would disappear
Embellishment of thoughts, surge of life
The cerebral rouse

Evening with Allman Bro

2005-06-21T12:00:00.000+05:30

Again the morning comes
again he's on the run
sunbeam shining through his hair
appearing not to have a care
pick up your gear and gypsy roll on
roll on
Crossroads, will you ever let him go, No, no, no
or will you hide the dead man's ghost
or will he lie beneath the plain
or will his spirit float away
but I know that he won't stay

Alliance Francaise de bangalore: Global Music Day

2005-06-20T09:01:00.000+05:30

18th of June, and me and Mohit landed up at Allaince for some good music. And we were not disappointed. The music played were all originals and of pretty good quality.

Bruce played with Prashanth Santokke in a fusion outing. While the first song was great, the second failed to live up to the expectations especially when the lineup for the second number contained an acclaimed Carnatic Saxophonist (forgot his name). It seemed out of sorts, and think the percussion players realized that the string and wind instruments weren't really jelling together, so they took it away with some good percussion jamming! Later on Bruce told that the saxophone tuning was different from his and Prashanth's and it was really difficult to scale everything again .. anyways, guess not many could catch up the difference. (Anywhere in Bangalore, the general public is happy to hear and cheer for any drumming or percussion, good or bad!!!)

There were quite a few other groups actually .. the Esperantos, and Gopal's Band of farmers (from Guruskool music). But the highlight of the evening for me definitely was the small piano piece played up by an Alliance Fr musician (again forgot the name). The auditorium being small, the piano solo just seemed to fill up the whole place and it was mind blowing.

Later followed a band called "Lounge piranha". Bunch of colle ge kids but good original music, nice British contemporary rock, kinda like "Live" or "ColdPlay". Pretty nice compositions but need whole lotta work on guitar leads! "Zebediah plush" followed with their own set of music. Their bassist sure is the prettiest bassist in the history of RocknRoll. Gotta find out her name!!

On the other stage, some oldies were jamming over some Allman and Deads ... there was this firang who was playing some cool licks on 'china cat sunflower'

oh! and there was this babe on pink! Awesome to say the least!

The weight!

2005-04-14T03:27:00.000+05:30

The world is always falling on your head, and you have always kept pushing it up, holding it up! For many, you have been the Atlas; the shield; the great crusader; for many you are arrogant; proud and rigid; basking in own glory, megalomaniac!

You were given the charge when things were volatile! Nobody cared! Everybody talked but nobody stepped forward! The Indian mentality of risk management: "Do not take up something that deems impossible". Ah!! That was your chance of playing the game of death! Your chance of acting the crouching tiger! You were sick of being the crestfallens, the imbeciles! You wanted to rise and that could be possible only if 10 others stood up, and all at the same time together! Single big pillars would not hold the weight, group of bearers were required! "Team" is the mantra, huddle is the armor! Jago, bhaiyo, jaago!

- "Dhande mein, koi kisika bhai nahin; Kaam nahin to maal nahin!".
-- "prrr ... Lekin .. picchle bar hi to ...¨
- "Arrey! Uska to kab ka usool ho gaya na!"

You are in a precarious situation. You are down under! You might have escaped the Super Cat, but there is no Broad smile waiting for you! [[Ah! The selectors must have been relieved that they did not have to do the ugly job! Did they, or you yourself bribe for it? :)]]
You are tense and sweating so much, that perspiration runs down and hamper your field of vision! [[Don't you carry a red handkerchief?]]
Your legs are shaking; your heart is pounding, your thoughts clouding! You know very well that it is not the studio set of "Baaghi". Action!! You can not shy away! Got to clear your mind before you can clear the front leg and hit through the line.

You are boiling under pressure. Like bubbles coming up out of simmering water, you want to burst up, create a dhamaka, make an impression, contribute and play a part in a national achievement! National achievement? Yeah, of course! India and Pak confrontation in any front is the biggest happening at any time! Everyone is involved. Everybody wants to play a part in it. In any possible way: besides financially supporting it or being actively involved in it, even trying to build some support for own opinions.

You know the job is not done! You know it is a long way off before "Team" can hit the cruise control! A huge surge of energy is required, going from strength to strength! And the biggest opportunity is definitely the biggest arena; the biggest extravaganza in 2007! You so, so badly want to hold the big trophy aloft; but you are still strong enough to be one of the bearers?

Are you just going to shrug?

Alternative Profession!

2005-02-16T11:30:00.000+05:30

Nat Geo! or Discovery? Lonely planet guide? Or one of the food and alcohol testing trails around the globe? Just a dream!

The life and music of Jason Becker

2005-02-10T12:27:00.000+05:30

This is an article I had written in Feb 2004 for VAYU groupites:

If you a rock and roll follower, you have probably heard fair share of tragedies, burnouts, frustrations, fall through of personalities. From Lynyrd Skynyd’s plain crash, to untimely death of Stevie Ray Vaughan, to tragic death of Marvin Gaye, or Norah Jones’s troubled relationship with her father. The stage has many such painful memories.

But the tale you probably will not come across much, may be the one most compelling rock and roll tale of all: the story of a young, dynamic virtuoso guitarist Jason Becker. Jason Becker never had great commercial success of any of his albums going platinum or had his picture on cover of Guitar World, he never even played his guitar with his tongue!!

Way back, when he could still hold a guitar, he was one hell of a player. He made his name amongst the best shred guitarist of eighties, when speed guitar was the coolest thing around. Jason always wanted to be a guitar hero. It was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream that began when he picked up the guitar at the age of five, when his uncle, Ron, started teaching him blues and started jamming with him. His father, Gary, taught him classical guitar. During elementary school, his biggest influences were Bob Dylan and the Band, Andres Segovia, Christopher Parkening, Fernando Sor, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Randy Newman and Willie Nelson. He would learn and play along with records of Derek and the Dominos, lots of Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and the Steve Morse band. His inclination towards classical music showed in his playing of Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi.

From his early days, Jason wanted to do things as good as anyone. In an interview to guitar world he wrote.“Before I had ever heard of Yngwie, some 14-year-old kid gave me a tape of a long guitar solo of Yngwie doing his thing, but it was sped up to 45 [rpm]-speed. This kid told me it was himself playing. Being 14 myself, I was bumming pretty hard. I mean, I thought I was just wasting my time. Then I decided I had to play like that. So I learned that whole damn solo at that double speed. When I finally found out it wasn't that kid and I heard it at regular speed, I was relieved. “

Jason was always ready to learn new things from just about anyone. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world, and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. In high school, Becker met his good friend Marty Friedman, and the two of them hit it off instantly. They were both excellent guitarists, who shared the same vision of speedmetal. Marty Friedman had a big influence on Jason, in terms of maturity of writing and composing. Instead of playing like him, Jason blossomed in his own style. Jason also was influenced a lot by his friends Richie Kotzen and Greg Howe. Funnily one of the things that effected Jason, was old Disney music (Pinocchio especially J ..). He loved the drama and the magic, and the emotions.

Just a teenager at the time (16), Becker with Marty Friedman recorded four albums of searing, neo-classical shred guitar for Mike Varney's Shrapnel label, forever earning himself a place in the shred Hall of Fame.
Together, they put out an album, and toured Japan and the U.S. under the name Cacophony (Atma Anur on drums, Peter Marrino on vocals, Jimmy O’Shea: bass).. While they never went mainstream in the U.S., Europeans embraced their music and they sold out almost everywhere they went. 2 marvels of Cacophony were Speed Metal Symphony and Go Off!. These were compositional thrash marvels of such intricate precise speed-picking that it is doubtful playing of this kind will ever be duplicated. Together they presented the future of Bach’n’roll, adding Stravinsky, Philip Glass and Bartok to the list of not-so-obvious influences for an electric rock guitarist. I would recommend some amazing stuff like “Speed Metal Symphony”, “Savage”, “Desert Island”, “Images”, “Sword of the warrior”, “Black Cat”. These aren’t neo classical like Vinnie Moore, Tony MacAlpine or Malmsteen, these are pure “Cacophony”. And like in Asterix, these can open up the heavens! The whole guitar fraternity went berserk over “Cacophony”, and Jason was heralded as the next milestone after Malmsteen.

Becker then went solo for a couple of years,. On his first solo album, Perpetual Burn, Jason extended his reach with the acoustic classical piece "Air" – a clean-toned, counterpoint, multi-layered piece. This is my favorite album of Jason Becker. This has the emotional and passionate “Altitudes”, the funny but very interesting “Mabel’s Fatal Fable” which gradually explodes, the blazing “Perpetual Burn” and “Eleven Blue Egyptians”.

When he turned 20, he joined David Lee Roth's supporting band, taking the place of the great Steve Vai. With Roth, Becker recorded A Little Ain't Enough, and was voted n the coveted Best New Guitarist award from Guitar Magazine. With his public visibility increased a hundredfold, Jason did an about-face on the classical influences and returned to his rockin’ blues roots, showing off touch, phrasing and a clear Albert King influence in his playing

Things were looking up for Becker, but during the recording of the album, Becker noticed a limp in his left leg. Unfortunately, his guitar-playing career came to an abrupt halt. Becker was diagnosed with amyotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - better known as Lou Gehrig's disease - a terminal illness that gradually destroys the neurons that control movement. As the motor neurons die, patients steadily lose their ability to move. The brain, however, remains unaffected, and patients become trapped in a body that no longer works.

While Becker was barely able to finish the album, he was not able to tour with the David Lee Roth band to support A Little Ain't Enough. He stayed behind, and continued recording in his home studio. Becker was diagnosed with only five years to live, but that was almost fourteen/fifteen years ago. He is still living in Glendale, California.
I remember in 1991-92, I entered the hostel room of my guitarist friend Tieso, and found him sitting with his head down. When he told me about Jason, I could not speak a word- just the previous day we were listing to “Perpetual Burn”!
Confined to a wheelchair, he eats and breathes through a tube, receiving care and sustenance from his family and friends. Although ALS has left him not only motionless but speechless, Becker is able to communicate by using a system of rapid eye movements developed by his father, Gary Becker. Amazingly, Jason Becker's spirit remains as vital and positive as ever. In that condition Jason wrote “Perspective” (and later ‘The Raspberry Jams’), a testament to his indomitable fighting spirit and determination to remain a creative and productive musical force. Having lost the ability to play the guitar, Becker painstakingly wrote the album on the Macintosh computer. The album runs the gamut from symphonic works to a chordal piece, world music and rock. While Firkins handled the guitar parts on one of the main symphonic works, "End of the Beginning," the album featured some guitar work by Becker, which he had recorded on an eight-track before he developed ALS, and later synced up to the recordings of the other musicians. There is this very emotional song “End of the beginning”. Every time, I listen to it, my heart goes numb and my eyes wet.
Becker also released an album called “The Raspberry Jams”. This contained some unreleased demos recorded when he could still play. The Raspberry Jams features stellar guitar performances that demonstrates his passionate neo-classical and masterful blues chops. “Breath taking solos, speed and precision yet amazingly human and spontaneous” – described Guitar World.
"I believe I will be healed," he wrote on the liner notes to his 1995 album Perspective "but if not, so be it. Even though I have this disease, I am really lucky in most ways. I am surrounded by friends and loved ones who never let me forget my inner fire, hope and faith. Many handicapped people do not have this luxury." “.. With meditation and prayer I am so full of peace and love, how could life be boring? And it doesn't just work for old crippy here! Often in my mediations, or shut-up time for the mind, I receive whole symphonies.”
While there is still no effective treatment for ALS, scientists have recently made some progress determining its causes, and believe the disease may be caused by an infection. The news puts Jason Becker one step closer to his belief that he will be cured. Like many others, I will keep hoping and praying for this great musician, composer who carries the true spirit of music. Like Eric Johnson said - AH VIA MUSICOM!

Courtesy: Guitar World Mag, Guitar Player Mag, JasonBecker.com

scribbling of a IO fan .. on Black Friday!

2005-01-22T12:17:00.000+05:30

Black Friday is the first OST, IO has composed music for. The OST album launched by Times Music, has 3 new songs of IO and 6 tracks of movie themes, background scores.

I have been looking forward to this album for sometime ever since I got an update from Rahul Ram. I wanted to see how IO would be in an environment new to them, where they might be restrained of their musical expressions because of various constraints imposed by the movie. I knew it will be different for sure …

I can play any IO song, and instantly get connected with the music. The bonding of the rhythm and the melody with my mind is instantaneous, It is, as if, the music creates a world around me, and I can feel myself completely hooked onto it. I can then follow every bit of melody lines, feel all the rhythm hooks, my body and soul swings to the music, and I can feel the take off with the music! With the first 2 songs (Bandheh & Badshah), I feel somehow short of the take off, as if it is about to take off but holding back at the last moment! Probably I need to listen more intently before I can start doing that.

“Bandheh” - the first songs starts with haunting vocals of Rahul Ram singing “Arrey rook ja bandheh, Arrey tham ja bandheh .. Arrey neendein hain zakhmee, arrey sapne hain bhookhe, ki karvat phat padegi “. This is very different IO composition, and has a lot of instrumental arrangements with Sax, Electric guitar etc. Paresh Kamath renders some sizzling electric guitar leads in it. “Badshah in Jail” has some awesome guitar works by Susmit, and some great vocals by Asheem!

“Bharam baap ke” –is one of my favourites from this album. This is the essential Indian Ocean we can immerse ourselves totally into feeling the ripples the music creates. The song actually is carried on further, from one of their earlier songs, "Brisk Lonely walk". Piyush Mishra’s lyrics are very very deep!

6 instrumental tracks follow, which I guess relate to the movie and the images. You will feel the heavy jazz influence and new dimensions.. (sometimes Buddha bar, lounge music J .. ) … very very interesting! J Keep listening.. for they will grow onto you! Pay special attention to “Memon House” for it is a beauty! It is awesome! It is searing, groovy, and very jazzy, .. I would have given anything to be present in the jam sessions for this song! Everybody just comes into elements in this number. In many ways it reminds me of the very first self titled album of Indian Ocean. “Chase” is very interesting too. Amit does an amazing job in percussions!

The impression of the music to the listeners can sometimes be influenced by their reactions to the visuals. I hope the movie is equally brilliant, you already know that Indian Ocean would have done justice to the visuals for sure!

The band has traversed times with their music for the last 15-20 years and created their signature styles. But, from “Out of the blues” to Bhor”, you can feel the transformational changes over the years ,,, or for that matter, “Torrent” (from JHINI) which first appeared in their first self titled album). To expect another “kandisa” or “Jhini” would be in-justice towards this brilliant band.
This is a brilliant Indian Ocean album but within sudden new boundaries, etching newer lines.. Each day I am digging deeper into the album.. Right now, I am totally into “Memon House”, which I feel is one of the best Indian Ocean compositions ever!

thus it started ..

2005-01-09T12:03:00.000+05:30

Was talking to Abhi some days back ... he advised me to put up all the scribblings (mostly about music) that I usually mail, so that it can serve as inventory and accessible for everyone to read!! Hence the blog. Hmmm! Wonder how will it be? Maybe mostly about music or of travel. Don't know whether this will ultimately work out or not ... I am usually too lazy to keep these things organized!