Sunday, March 08, 2009
Life In Technicolour
A friend of mine recently invited to a photo exibition, and so this post i thought i'd post some photos that i had taken. I thought i'd divide this post into two, this post 'Life in Technicolour' which has a small collection of coloured photos and the next 'A Thousand Words' that consists of a black and white set. Have fun and let me know what you think.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
If music be the food …maybe this one is stale
A Nokia advertisement says, ‘Its music that connects us’, truer words have not been spoken. In my life music is everywhere, from the moment I wake till the time I go to sleep, and sometimes even sometimes when I’m asleep. It’s a love affair that started very early life, I still remember the ‘Simon and Garfunkle live in central park’ tape that dad used to listen to when I was a kid. I still have that tape in fact, and still do listen to it. It’s very odd that in the day of CD’s and DVD’s someone would still listen to a tape, but there you have it. There’s a certain charm that you get from listening to a tape, the timeless ‘crackle’ as the tape gets old, the fact that you can’t simply skip to ‘the good bit’ of a song, or listen to songs in a random order. That you have to listen to one entire side before you can even see what’s on the other side.
I was talking to a few friends the other day about music and how much things have changed, even from our teenage years (which wasn’t too long ago I might add, contrary to what some people say!) . Today music is a manufactured product. There was a time when a bunch of guys got together and started playing and that was a band. Today everything is thought and analysed. Record companies putting out audition notices to ‘form’ a new band, where a whole panel will judge primarily how you look, and incidentally if you can sing. No worries if you can’t write a single line of lyric, do you look good, can I sell you. Somewhere along the assembly line that produces these so called musicians, creativity is lost. People prefer sticking to a success formula. This is evident everywhere and is creeping into Hindi mainstream music too case in point Aatif Aslam who sticks to his Minor, Major, Major chord formula in every single song. The point that I’m getting at is that every aspect of the process is controlled by faceless organizations that decide what we should, and should not hear, and thereby restricting the creativity.
I was watching a documentary on TV the other day, called ‘Gods of Guitar’, that each week covers a different band. That week it was Pink Floyd. It’s phenomenal the kind of thought process that was put into a single track. The feel of the song was as important as the song itself. Each track had a different story to tell, a different purpose for its existence. Songs like Echoes (Floyd) or Change of Seasons (Dream Theatre) were more than 25 minutes long, because they needed to be. The song would change the bar count and shift from an 8-8 to a 7 and then back again, just like that. This is why there was so much variety in the album. These days a track is just 3-4 minutes that you need to fill on a CD. It’s the money epidemic! Every form of music that ever stood for something has now been infected. We no longer live in an era that produces superstars, like the Floyds, Dylans, Hendrixs, Knopflers or the Cobains. Instead we have the mediocres, who shine for the moment, a decade down the line will be forgotten. This is true for all sorts of music; No longer does Rap produce stars like Tu Pac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, and Public Enemy. There are exceptions of course and I think Marshall Mathers aka Eminem is one of those. His tracks always have a purpose and a story to tell, and don’t have absurd lyrics like ‘I got (w)ho(r)es in different area codes’. I think that kind of music is simply put, inexcusable. Its sad, I feel cause Rap, Rock, Grunge types of music always stood for something, and to see that mellow down, sell out or just lose focus is... well I just don’t have the words.
Hindi music is, well something that I was never too fond of anyway, for the mere fact that most of the music that came out when we were kids was, for lack of a better word crap. The songs from my mom’s era are still pretty damn good, and I still do listen to Kishore and Rafi, fairly regularly. The songs that came out in the middle were pretty terrible, and if they weren’t they were copies. Off late there has been a change of sorts and it’s been getting better. The filmy music is still crap but artists like the talented Rabbi Shergill seem to be changing that. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of talented singers out there, it’s just the money virus again.
The one genre of music that seems to be immune to this virus is Trance/Club music. It’s a genre that never listened to much, primarily because I didn’t understand it. It all sounded the same to me. But now that is not the case. Each track is different, and creates a different mood. The good thing is that the creativity is still alive in this genre. I was watching a DJ Tiesto concert a while back. And he invited a Violin player on stage, and recorded a segment live, and then mixed it live on stage, while jamming (if you can call it that) with the violin player, all LIVE! To watch someone create music then and there in front of you is a phenomenal feeling that I cannot describe. It’s still about the music, hope the other genres follow suit.
This blog has completely gone off on a different tangent. I wanted to talk about how music affects us, in terms of the lifestyle that we have, and the company we keep etc. guess that will have to wait till later.
I was talking to a few friends the other day about music and how much things have changed, even from our teenage years (which wasn’t too long ago I might add, contrary to what some people say!) . Today music is a manufactured product. There was a time when a bunch of guys got together and started playing and that was a band. Today everything is thought and analysed. Record companies putting out audition notices to ‘form’ a new band, where a whole panel will judge primarily how you look, and incidentally if you can sing. No worries if you can’t write a single line of lyric, do you look good, can I sell you. Somewhere along the assembly line that produces these so called musicians, creativity is lost. People prefer sticking to a success formula. This is evident everywhere and is creeping into Hindi mainstream music too case in point Aatif Aslam who sticks to his Minor, Major, Major chord formula in every single song. The point that I’m getting at is that every aspect of the process is controlled by faceless organizations that decide what we should, and should not hear, and thereby restricting the creativity.
I was watching a documentary on TV the other day, called ‘Gods of Guitar’, that each week covers a different band. That week it was Pink Floyd. It’s phenomenal the kind of thought process that was put into a single track. The feel of the song was as important as the song itself. Each track had a different story to tell, a different purpose for its existence. Songs like Echoes (Floyd) or Change of Seasons (Dream Theatre) were more than 25 minutes long, because they needed to be. The song would change the bar count and shift from an 8-8 to a 7 and then back again, just like that. This is why there was so much variety in the album. These days a track is just 3-4 minutes that you need to fill on a CD. It’s the money epidemic! Every form of music that ever stood for something has now been infected. We no longer live in an era that produces superstars, like the Floyds, Dylans, Hendrixs, Knopflers or the Cobains. Instead we have the mediocres, who shine for the moment, a decade down the line will be forgotten. This is true for all sorts of music; No longer does Rap produce stars like Tu Pac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, and Public Enemy. There are exceptions of course and I think Marshall Mathers aka Eminem is one of those. His tracks always have a purpose and a story to tell, and don’t have absurd lyrics like ‘I got (w)ho(r)es in different area codes’. I think that kind of music is simply put, inexcusable. Its sad, I feel cause Rap, Rock, Grunge types of music always stood for something, and to see that mellow down, sell out or just lose focus is... well I just don’t have the words.
Hindi music is, well something that I was never too fond of anyway, for the mere fact that most of the music that came out when we were kids was, for lack of a better word crap. The songs from my mom’s era are still pretty damn good, and I still do listen to Kishore and Rafi, fairly regularly. The songs that came out in the middle were pretty terrible, and if they weren’t they were copies. Off late there has been a change of sorts and it’s been getting better. The filmy music is still crap but artists like the talented Rabbi Shergill seem to be changing that. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of talented singers out there, it’s just the money virus again.
The one genre of music that seems to be immune to this virus is Trance/Club music. It’s a genre that never listened to much, primarily because I didn’t understand it. It all sounded the same to me. But now that is not the case. Each track is different, and creates a different mood. The good thing is that the creativity is still alive in this genre. I was watching a DJ Tiesto concert a while back. And he invited a Violin player on stage, and recorded a segment live, and then mixed it live on stage, while jamming (if you can call it that) with the violin player, all LIVE! To watch someone create music then and there in front of you is a phenomenal feeling that I cannot describe. It’s still about the music, hope the other genres follow suit.
This blog has completely gone off on a different tangent. I wanted to talk about how music affects us, in terms of the lifestyle that we have, and the company we keep etc. guess that will have to wait till later.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Pointless III
Someone i know recently said..
"If winners never Quit and Quitters never Win, then which fool came up with Quit while you are ahead!!"
Profound i think :p
"If winners never Quit and Quitters never Win, then which fool came up with Quit while you are ahead!!"
Profound i think :p
Monday, May 05, 2008
Unfair Life??
Here is something that my roommate said the other day, something that he had read, and its absolutely brilliant. Here it is
"Life is unfair,
but then, its unfair to everyone,
that makes life fair!!"
Absolutely brilliant!!! =)
"Life is unfair,
but then, its unfair to everyone,
that makes life fair!!"
Absolutely brilliant!!! =)
Making A Bed
Seeing people sleeping on the streets is something that I've seen most my life, its nothing new to me. Its something that never struck me as anything out of the ordinary, taken for granted i guess.
Living in Bombay i frequent Pune every weekend, and two days ago while in the bus, as it had stopped to let some people off, I saw a man on the footpath making his bed. It was a sight that had me transfixed. I could not pull my gaze away no matter how hard I tried. Making a bed is something that I do everyday, the man was doing exactly the same things that I do, pulling the corners, straightening out the wrinkles, tucking in the sheets, but the fact that he was doing this on the street is something that hit me like a storm. 'This is home for him, if it rains, if its cold or hot, this is home!' It really does strike a chord in you, possibly an Am or an Em, or one of the more melancholy chords, sorry an insider joke for those musically inclined, and more importantly a pathetic attempt a humour :p Jokes apart its really a sad sight so see, and made me want to try to help, don't know how or when yet, but i do want to.
Thats the thing with life, it'll show you the most ordinary, or regular sight in a different light and change your whole point of view in an instant.
Living in Bombay i frequent Pune every weekend, and two days ago while in the bus, as it had stopped to let some people off, I saw a man on the footpath making his bed. It was a sight that had me transfixed. I could not pull my gaze away no matter how hard I tried. Making a bed is something that I do everyday, the man was doing exactly the same things that I do, pulling the corners, straightening out the wrinkles, tucking in the sheets, but the fact that he was doing this on the street is something that hit me like a storm. 'This is home for him, if it rains, if its cold or hot, this is home!' It really does strike a chord in you, possibly an Am or an Em, or one of the more melancholy chords, sorry an insider joke for those musically inclined, and more importantly a pathetic attempt a humour :p Jokes apart its really a sad sight so see, and made me want to try to help, don't know how or when yet, but i do want to.
Thats the thing with life, it'll show you the most ordinary, or regular sight in a different light and change your whole point of view in an instant.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Its Been a While II
It seems i'm regularly irregular at this thing. It took someone to point out that the last post that i made here was almost a year ago, so i thought i'd come down and pay a little visit, plus its always fun to try and remember what password you had used while creating the account :p hehe; but now that the blog's been integrated with google i was automatically signed in. Bit of a shame i thought, robbed me of my fun.
Anyway like i was saying such a long time has passed since i posted anything that i doubt that i'll get round to trying to recollect the details ever. Some major events are however worth mentioning. Firstly that i successfully completed my Masters, did fairly well too, came second in college still didn't manage to beat Akshaya. If there ever was an example of healthy competition this surely wasn't it. I mean it was mostly just my obsession with trying to beat her really.. thats it.. she didn't even care. It never mattered how well or badly i did, but did i do better than her. Never happened!! VERY frustrating , hehe still it was all in good fun.
Secondly i got a job. I'm working for a company called Tata Technologies. I joined then in July of 2007 and have since then moved to Bombay. I'm currently working as a functional analyst dealing with database management, primarily working on UNIX, Oracle and Siebel.
The third and perhaps most important thing is that i've moved out of my house. 23 years of my life i've spent living with family, but now i live in Bombay in a dingy appartment with 2 other roommates. Its an entirely different type of exprience to live out of home, but that i'll leave for later cause i'm sure that there ae going to be a few posts on that soon :)
Apart from that everything has been regular, just like life... it happens
Anyway like i was saying such a long time has passed since i posted anything that i doubt that i'll get round to trying to recollect the details ever. Some major events are however worth mentioning. Firstly that i successfully completed my Masters, did fairly well too, came second in college still didn't manage to beat Akshaya. If there ever was an example of healthy competition this surely wasn't it. I mean it was mostly just my obsession with trying to beat her really.. thats it.. she didn't even care. It never mattered how well or badly i did, but did i do better than her. Never happened!! VERY frustrating , hehe still it was all in good fun.
Secondly i got a job. I'm working for a company called Tata Technologies. I joined then in July of 2007 and have since then moved to Bombay. I'm currently working as a functional analyst dealing with database management, primarily working on UNIX, Oracle and Siebel.
The third and perhaps most important thing is that i've moved out of my house. 23 years of my life i've spent living with family, but now i live in Bombay in a dingy appartment with 2 other roommates. Its an entirely different type of exprience to live out of home, but that i'll leave for later cause i'm sure that there ae going to be a few posts on that soon :)
Apart from that everything has been regular, just like life... it happens
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Without a destination
Well its been a busy few days, weeks i guess... had a lot of work that had piled up and i need to get it done, but i finally got my project printed and submitted; On time that too! :D Sure there are a bunch of silly mistakes in it but then, perfection is so boring doesn't leave any room for creativity :P hehe
With all this work piled up you feel bogged down living in your own little world, its at times like these i wish that i could just get away from it all. There's this thing that i do at times like these that i find calming, and unfortunately i haven't been able to do that for a while, i guess its time now :) ... the simple solution that i have is to walk the streets, no purpose, no reason and most of all no destination... Just wander the streets and take in the life around me.I don't know why it calms me down, i guess its because it gives me a sense of detachment from all that's around me... you truly get to observe how life works and truly how diverse the people around you are. We spend all our time living in out own little world and that for us is the universe, moving along like mindless drones doing what is needed of us and then back to our little world. I guess the only analogy that i can see is looking at humans as blood cells doing everything with a purpose, do your job and nothing more, to truly understand the nervous system you need to lift yourself above the microscopic level, then and only then will you see the delicate, intricate and beautiful world that you exist in, the subtle similarities and the stark differences, the diversity!
i remember this one time when i was speaking to a rickshaw driver, an old chap and he was telling me all about his life, how his family has been living in the same house for over 150 years, about his kids.. another guy was telling me how he used to work in UAE and had to leave the country in fear of his life, this shoeshine who despite being well educated ended up on the streets for lack of a job. It really is a good reality check and makes you wonder if your life is really that bad... and it also makes you thankful for what you have. I guess that's why i find the experience calming. The words "Kindness of a Stranger " comes to mind makes you believe that people are inherently good :) a bit philosophical i know .. but still
and the best part bout whole thing is the irony that in order to get away from it all i end up being more connected to life :) a nice little side effect that! :)
I guess its time that i wander off without a destination again :)
With all this work piled up you feel bogged down living in your own little world, its at times like these i wish that i could just get away from it all. There's this thing that i do at times like these that i find calming, and unfortunately i haven't been able to do that for a while, i guess its time now :) ... the simple solution that i have is to walk the streets, no purpose, no reason and most of all no destination... Just wander the streets and take in the life around me.I don't know why it calms me down, i guess its because it gives me a sense of detachment from all that's around me... you truly get to observe how life works and truly how diverse the people around you are. We spend all our time living in out own little world and that for us is the universe, moving along like mindless drones doing what is needed of us and then back to our little world. I guess the only analogy that i can see is looking at humans as blood cells doing everything with a purpose, do your job and nothing more, to truly understand the nervous system you need to lift yourself above the microscopic level, then and only then will you see the delicate, intricate and beautiful world that you exist in, the subtle similarities and the stark differences, the diversity!
i remember this one time when i was speaking to a rickshaw driver, an old chap and he was telling me all about his life, how his family has been living in the same house for over 150 years, about his kids.. another guy was telling me how he used to work in UAE and had to leave the country in fear of his life, this shoeshine who despite being well educated ended up on the streets for lack of a job. It really is a good reality check and makes you wonder if your life is really that bad... and it also makes you thankful for what you have. I guess that's why i find the experience calming. The words "Kindness of a Stranger " comes to mind makes you believe that people are inherently good :) a bit philosophical i know .. but still
and the best part bout whole thing is the irony that in order to get away from it all i end up being more connected to life :) a nice little side effect that! :)
I guess its time that i wander off without a destination again :)
Sunday, March 25, 2007
......
There are days when you have so much to say but cant get a word out...days when you just feel so helpless...
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