Shakti - Ultimate.

This one HAD to go into the blog.



These guys had so much fun doing what they did - So pure, so genuine. Each one of them has an abstract theory about what Shakti is, but no one is conclusive to describe exactly what it means , yet they are successful in getting their message across to be what they want to it be seen as.

Shakti is all about improvisation but nobody that i know of has come to their class in classical(pun??) music even when orchestrated.
John seems to have such a minor part to play amongst such boisterous instruments around him, yet he adds that subtle acoustic guitar touch now then which adds so much beauty to the tune.
i could go on - but see and feel for yourself.

Zakhir puts it really well - " We are not a band - we are one".

Ayn Rand

"A man's character is a product of his premises."

1 giant leap

There are very few bands that stand out these days from the cliche genre that you are used to listening. 1 gaint leap is a band i stumbled across listening to a Pandora station on - Afro Celt Sound System- another beautiful band,many lovely songs, but it' ll have to wait for its turn.

The concept, i believe, behind 1gl is essentially this ( lets see if i can express this right) - Spreading love that is en-laced with spirals of the beauty within music.Good luck on making a meaning out of that.
They have produced a number of popular artists featuring tracks including Baaba maal, Robbie williams, Stipe, et al.
The song below is going down as one of my all time favorites. It just fills you with so much joy.



Most of their songs have a bunch of people from around the world dispensing their thoughts on problem statements that, i think, we all acknowledge in a subtle form but never really try to find a solution to. (Well, man happens to be inherently reactive, only on a disturbing stimulus i guess.) These thoughts by all these different people at different instances on all these songs listened to at sporadic moments kicks off thoughts in my head which i previously took for granted.
Try this song out - Braided hair- for example - see if you are able to connect at all - The people i have recommended stuff like this so far always come back with a boolean response at an exaggerated level.Its either "thank you so much for this stuff " and i know they really do mean it - else its "you are turning gay":)



"I am you and you are me i see".

Songs by this band just radiate so much happiness that i have made it a point these days to listen to this band first thing in the morning and contrary to my theoretical beliefs - it does make a difference.Sucks that they don't have too many songs out there - but i think ill leverage this as long as i can.

Give it a go!

Grrr

It is very frustrating to realize time and again that i haven't been able to blog for a while now. Some introspection gave me some answers and am looking forward to see them in action.
So here we go - another honest attempt to post more frequently.

Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun

This track blew me away- a couple of times today.

Instructions for use : Prepare a pitch dark room and light a small candle in the corner of your room. Watch the flame dance from a distance listening to it.

White Flowers

Have you ever found so much beauty in a song that it made you cry within? The one above makes me do that every single time. It is from a brilliant movie called "kannathil muthamittal" - peck on the cheek- made by Mani Rathnam. Predominantly, its a movie about a little girl's life with the war between the Srilankan govt and the LTTE plus loads of subtle emotions, felt through the journey, of the character's involved.
I accidentally played this song early in the morning(5.30) on youtube from one my favourites lists from years back.It was a defining experience.It brought back memories of the times i listened to this song thoughout the day on repeat( when the movie released).Surprisingly, i didn't listen to it at all between then and now. At times you get reminded of the people that you most spent time with when you listen to a song after a really long time and things that you would do a lot at that period.Brought back all those memories and felt great.Amazes me how much a song can effect your entire day.

I wanted to describe how i felt about each line of the song since a week, but various attempts have failed. Cause no matter what i wrote - it just didn't compliment the song enough to its truest sense .I don't know what contributes the most- if its the lyrics,or the picturization , or the music or the artist or maybe its just me with all the people connected to the song, when i first listened to it.(Bty, on that context, i don't know if its happens to you - but a couple of perfumes also remind me of people and the times i spent with them).

I found a good literal interpretation of the song searching online and have it down here.

Would have listened to it atleast 30 times in about 2 weeks, but the mental goosebumps haven't stopped,listening to the gentle strumming of the guitar and Rehman going for it.


Vellai Pookal(Tamil)
=============
VeLLai PookaL ulagam engum malarhavae
vidiyum Bhoomi amaidhikaaga vidihavae
manmel manjal veluchcham vizhuhavae
malarae sombal muRiththu ezhuhavae
kuzhanthai vizhikattumae
Thaayin katha kathappil
ulagam vidiyattumae
piLLayin sirumugha siRippil (VeLLai)

kaatrin perisaiyil
mazhai paadum paadangalum oru maunam poal inbam tarumooOO
koadi keertanamum kavi koartha vaarthaiygalum thuLi kaNNer poal arththam tharumo (VeLLai)

yengusiru kuzhanthai than kaigal neetidumo
angu thondrayo koLLai nilavae
enghu manidha Inam poar oyinthu sayinthidumo
angu koovadho veLLai kuyilae (VeLLai)


Vellai Pookal ( English Translation)
===========================
Let white(peace) flowers bloom all over the world,
Let peace heal the unrest world(not the best translation),
let the sun’s rays fall on this soil,
Let the flowers lose their laziness and bloom.

Let the child open its eyes
in the mother’s lullaby
let the world wake up to
children’s laughter

In the breeze’s melody,
In the music created by raindrops,
Is there anything that give utmost joy than silence?
Would a crore melodies and words penned by poets be as meaningful
as a drop of a tear shed?

Let the moon rise in the place where the child reaches out its hands
Let the white bird sing in the place where there is no war.

Boston

Yesterday started at 6 AM cursing myself to switch off 10 alarms, with the first one at 4.45, in succession. I had a bus to catch in New york ( Madison square) at 6.30. I had half an hour to catch the bus with nothing packed. I rushed down to the car service beneath my apartment.And my wretched luck, the only car they had was a limo.Didn't have a choice, so shed a fortune and finally got the bus at 6.35. I was the last person to get in. Was an amazing experience. In addition to that, something that i hadn't done before. Was in four states in a single day. Starting with Jersey City, New york, Boston and New Hampshire.I am in Boston today, chilling out with my cousin and niece for the long weekend. Had some of the best Chicken biryani and Chicken curry, rounding of with some amazing brownies made by my niece.Probably gained the most number of pounds , humanly possible, in a single day.
Sidenote : Prashant - I thought of catching up with you man.. but here for such a short time.. will meet up next time im here.. which would be soon.. (Atleast for the amazing food i get to have here)

It's a boy

This is about a couple i know for a while now.They just conceived a baby boy very recently.
It so happened that, they hadn't planned for the kid, but in the event of things it so happened and the rest is history.
Now, 10 years later, if the kid somehow gets to know this or i wouldn't be surprised if my friend himself told him, how would the kid perceive this?
I had these questions meandering in my head.. would it have been the same him even if they had conceived after 5 years as they had planned. Would he have the same looks?Would he have the same character?Would he have felt happy or sad that it could have been someone else in his place?
In any case, keeping that aside, i was wondering why we don't ever care to know about our ancestors beyond our grandfathers up the hierarchy?( At least, many of us.)Ultimately, without them we wouldn't be wherever we are.People around us haven't set a commonplace standard, so we never have followed.
Talking about society and the influence of influence(yes, i typed it twice), i have loads on my head to write about it.Will do soon.

Nirvana

I have pretty much experienced every single human emotion emotable in the past month.December 07, Chennai,felt so satisfied, wouldnt have felt bad if i was to be locked in a room for the rest of my life.December 08,Chennai, woudnt mind if i have to end my life at this moment.

A lot of memories that i know i would cherish till the next time i go back.Its amazing how well you can connect to a couple of people even though you havnt met them in the recent past and spoken to them a couple of times a month.

Happy new year by the way. Hope you have your new years resolutions working for you. I have mine,Lose 25 pounds - caveat? - eating whatever i want, and so far am on track.By the way, you should really try working out in the middle of the day. I do, and at the end of it, feels like you are beginning a whole new healthy day at 2 in the afternoon.(And you'd feel like you have earned your lunch ).

Highlight of the india trip - Me , UR and PV went away to this resort in mahabs where they take you on a boat, a mile into the see and we got to see some submerged temples in the water.Apparently, they are about a 1000 years old.It was right around afternoon, but i sought of got some morbid shivers about the place.

Then comes the best part - we are a mile away from the coast and we jumped into the sea with the water beneath our feet for 90 feet. You see nothing but the horizon on one side and the world you live in on the other .Its amazing, its a must do.Ofcourse, we had life jackets on, but i've never managed to stay afloat in water my entire life - so i am proud of myself to be the first one getting into the water. I have it all taped and im sure ill keep showing it to people my entire life.

And then there was the ever senseless pondy ride ritual.Leave in the morning from home. 2 hours of high speed driving. Have lunch at some random place.Get drunk with cheap liquor and head back home before sunset.I know we ll keep doing this forever.

More to come...