Last Goodbye

We always part with hopes of meeting again sometime, somewhere in this lifetime. That’s what keeps the bitterness of parting somewhat at bay. Of course it is never easy to say goodbye to near and dear ones. But parting with realisation of the fact that we shall never meet again is something entirely different.

Generally, until it happens, we never really realise the intensity of the moment. We always have hopes alive in the deepest corners of our heart. We are a hopelessly hopeful race! Day after day we wake up in the morning hoping that it was just an awkward dream, we stay involved through the day hoping to hear that one call, that one soothing voice, we continuously keep looking back as we walk hoping to see that familiar smile behind, we return home hopefully hoping to see eternity behind the closed door. It’s only late at nights, as the world slips into deep slumber, that we realise what we have lost. A silent tear drops as if instantaneously and for once one doesn’t have the will to wipe away the pains. It’s not just the pain of separation, but also the pains of consciousness, of trying to accept the truth; the truth that no amount of tears, no amount of prayers can ever undo what has been done.

Last goodbye is usually the bereavement of someone close. But having to say the last goodbye is definitely equivalent to death, having to look forward to life alone or in separation.

Sometime in life I too have said the last goodbye to someone dear. Someone who still speaks to me in my dreams, someone I resort to during my deepest sorrows, with my deepest fears, someone who was gone one fine day without giving me the chance to say goodbye, without a chance to say anything. I have said my last goodbye to someone special long time back and deep inside I know I still wait for her today, with hopes of meeting in this lifetime or some other.

Finally as I end here today, I remember one instance from a movie I was watching a few days back. It’s called 4 Weddings and a Funeral starring Hugh Grant. There was this instance when one of the friends passes away and in his funeral, the best friend of the deceased recites a very touching W H Auden poem called Farewell Blues, which I feel is one of the most beautifully sad poems I have ever read (along with Tonight I can write – Pablo Neruda). I wish to share this poem in my blog because it has touched me, but for people who really want to enjoy the poetry, watch the movie, just for the poem.

Funeral Blues

W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Che Today

I recently visited a curio shop in Jaigaon. On my way back home from work one day, a wonderful Che Guevara Portrait engraved on a cotton scarf had caught my eye. I had instantly decided to gift it to my Father, who idolises the Cuban Legend.

It was better than I expected. Che Guevara imprinted in Black on a bright red background. I had no doubts; Father would love it. After bargaining in vain for 5 minutes, the price was decided. While the shop owner was gift wrapping my item, I had a strange conversation with him.

“So, You are a huge fan of Western Music, I see!” – He started with a wacky smile.

“Yeah, you can say so, I like listening, but I’m not a huge fan”

“Oh really?!” – He sounded surprised

“You know,” he continued,” unless you are a huge fan of Western Music, you don’t buy his posters mate! That man is superb, I love his music!”

Che Guevara, Music? For a moment there I had a feeling that entire “head phone on my ears all the time” everyone had constantly warned me about had really caused acoustic problems for me. According to his father, Ernesto Che Guevara had a deaf ear to music. He had a great taste of poetry and always carried a Pablo Neruda collection with him.

“You see,” he had more to say,” I think he should perform with some pop stars like Britney maybe.......”

With life-saving efforts, I paid him and ran for sanity.

Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna, commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che, or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, politician, author, physician, military theorist, and guerrilla leader, but not a music enthusiast. After death, his stylized image became an omnipresent countercultural symbol worldwide. This was of course an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico, which was also declared the most famous photograph of the world. This photograph can be found at various places; from big museums to my father’s study, T-shirts across the globe, wrist-bands and caps, everywhere. At first look it seems too good to be true; everyone seems to be following Che’s ideology towards life.

Every second person in the world has seen this picture but how many of us actually know about this Latin American Legend? Che Guevara was a medical student when he took a trip across Latin America that changed his life. He witness poverty and grief of his people and set out to bring a change. Quiet fittingly, in his journey he befriended Fidel Castro and together they brought freedom to the Cuban mass. Later on El Che went on to continue his struggle against capitalist discrimination and was eventually caught and killed in Bolivia by C.I.A. A man can be killed, but his thoughts live on and so did Che achieve immortality.

Che Guevara was a workaholic; he is known to be a firm believer of voluntary work and also led by example, himself working on his day off. He is also known to have worked continuously for 36 hours, calling midnight meetings and eating on the run. Along with his work Che also wrote a lot of publications. It was during his busy schedule that his wife Aleida encouraged him to listen to classical music, which he began to love, with his favourite being Beethoven. That was all the music that can be associated with Che Guevara.

I guess not a lot of people care about all these and instead, Che Guevara continues to live on, remembered by communist and cultural enthusiast alike, although sometimes in manners which I doubt he would be proud of.

Source: Wikipedia

Writing a Blog

It's not easy, but then who gives a damn?

This is the exact response I got from an uninterested human being, who, under no known circumstances (rest assured, I didn't give in that easily!), would read my blog. Not that I am a very persuasive person. And there's nothing that enticing about my blog either.

"Why should I waste my time in your blog when I am connected to the whole world on the internet?" he very correctly points out.

"There is an article about music!" I try hard.

"Haah! Why write music? Are you mad? Music is for listening, not writing. I don't understand this culture. Writing about music, writing about food! Food is meant to be eaten!! Next thing you say is you wrote about football!"

"Actually I did write something about football. It's about Manchester United, you know!" I resort to desperate measures.

"Hmm. You and your Manchester United!" and he proceeds about how our generation have the most awkward hobbies and how things were better in his times.

So why do I blog? I ask myself. What is the fun in giving words to thoughts that no one cares about? Just because I curse the capped bugger, doesn't mean people will stop idolising him, neither will talking highly of masterpieces like Swades, Aamir and others, make people watch them. No one cares how obsessed I am with music or Manchester United. Why write at all?

I for one write because I love doing so. It is something that I enjoy. Writing a blog makes me feel like committing to a passion that is so stable inside of me. It is as satisfying as playing soccer or strumming a guitar!

Deep inside of insane people like me, who tend to make words rhyme or paragraphs meet, lies desires of sharing out writings with the world. And I love reading what others write, because for me words are just thoughts and the arranging those thoughts into words is art. An art that creates an image that defines us, defines our tastes, our likes and dislikes; and also gives us the satisfaction of creation. And in the course of this sharing, we find people who have similar look out towards life. So even writing a blog can have its social contributions.

So, why do I blog? Aye, those who don't will never know!

Music People Hear

I am a music addict and even when I sit to write, I always need good music playing! How do I define good music? Rock, Pop, Ballads, I basically like all kinds of music, but somewhere within I think the acoustic and semi-classical ones enthral me the most. No nasal efforts or cut-n-paste jobs please! And no hip hops either!

Being such a fanatic has its good and bad phases. You meet more of your kind, discuss music, share and learn about new music. I have some really good people around me, who are constantly sharing their tastes with me, referring new songs to me. It's like a carnival all the time.

Not always. My neighbour who stays in the flat above mine is always complaining.

"Aareh! Why do you listen to music at such high volumes? I cannot sleep!" (7:30 PM)

"Aareh! You have such poor taste of music, haan?! I'll give you some good songs someday!" and he departs singing some crap "capped bugger" song!! (7:30 AM)

Sometimes I wonder why. What is it about music? Or rather, what makes a song so good that it brings on immense overflow of emotions? We smile, we weep, and we appreciate. We yearn for more.

For me music is more than just sounds that we hear. Good music comes from the perfect combo of Lyrics and Tune. Some are enthralled by the tune; others sit back and let the words say their story. Its only when the perfect words match the perfect tune that we get a wonderful piece of music. Whenever I say this, one song instantly comes to my mind, from the master of music, A.R.Rahman. He and Javed Akhtar combined brilliantly in Swades and the song which touched me the most is Nindia. Nindia is what the name sounds like, a lullaby. I was surprised not the find the song in the movie, I expected a gripping on screen depiction. You can actually feel the snooze in the tune and the fitting background score. You listen to the lullaby and ask yourself, is it just a lullaby? The second stanza is actually my favourite. This stanza made this song one of my most favourites. There's so much pain in the song, the pains of lost childhood, pains of lost dreams and aspirations, pains of separation also somewhere. Javed Akhtar makes it so simple, he says so much with just a couple of words. True, the day's anguish is lost as we slip into deep slumber.

There are many such songs which are close to our heart. We all have strange reasons for liking them, but deep inside, they are all part of memories. They remind us of some special moments or that one special person. They bring joys of togetherness and pains of separation.

A special song of Shankar Ehsaan Loy comes to my mind. In India, it's hardly surprising that a movie as good as Mission Kashmir went unnoticed and so did its beautiful music (Something similar happened with Swades, another touching movie and wonderful music by Rahman. Is it India or is it me?). I am particularly referring to one song called "Rind Posh Maal". Shankar Mahadevan sang the song himself, and Sameer's lyrics are strongly oriented towards hopes for peace in Kashmir. The song carries wonderful thoughts. Music is secular and music has no boundaries. Mission Kashmir has a few good songs, but unfortunately, I seem to be the only one who remembers!

Music for peace also takes me to Bob Dylan and his famous Blowing in the wind. "How many times must the cannon balls fly, before they are forever banned?" he asks. This song is another example of powerful lyrics combined with perfect melody.

Sometimes music trespasses the boundaries of understanding also. A good example I would like to cite here is from our plant, Coca Cola Bhutan. I know of a person who is himself a big music aficionado; He frequently shares his playlist with me, giving me new songs and songs of his choice. But I was really surprised when one day he gave me "She je bose aache" – remixed by black! Being a Bhutanese national, it's only logical that his understanding of the lyrics is minimal. Yet he loves this song. Add to that recently, he got be the original "she je bose aache" by Arnob, which is actually quite good. Same goes for the original Korean song, from which our latest copy cat, pritam, obtained "pehli nazar mein"! I understand absolutely nothing of the song, but the tune and the background score are both so soothing! Check out the video too, it's really good. A really good song, far better than what he reproduced!

So much for me and I haven't written about what I intend to! Or have I? Music people hear! Yes, you can almost listen to the exclamation there. Having a good collection of songs myself, I receive frequent requests from different people for a particular song of their liking. One person, who frequently bugs me, asks, ridiculously, for item numbers from movies! And when I politely disappoint him, he goes "Aareh yaar! You don't have this hit song! What kind of stupid music do you hear?" Well! Curse me if I never heard an item number called "dekho jara dekho" from Sirf Tum!! Just the fact that I heard of the movie is a miracle in itself!!

No blog of mine is complete without a dig at the infamous "capped bugger"! India is probably the only country in the world where people listen to himesh sing and pay to watch sanjay and tushar kapoor act!! No wait, I have a better one, incidentally some country had George bush sr. and jr. as presidentsJ!! All hail the "capped bugger"!

On a more serious note, it's surprising that a music directing trio as gifted as Shankar Ehsaan Loy are not in everyone's playlist! I absolutely adore all of their work, right from the trendsetting Dil Chahta Hain to the more recent Rock On! and Luck by Chance.I have been following Shankar Mahadevan from Breathless and it's an amazing journey. Again, we talk of Javed Akhtar, who actually gave the lyrics for that album. You hardly find SEL working without good lyricists like Javed Akhtar or Prasoon Joshi. I could make 10 blogs writing about SEL, and maybe I will, but the point is, there is good music for people who appreciate, and that in itself, is the greatest gift of all for music addicts like me.

A few of less known SEL songs I'd like to refer to people:

• Yeh sama – Yeh Kya ho Raha Hain
  
• O Yeah – Yeh Kya ho Raha Hain (Don't go by the video, just listen to the song)
  
• Dheere dheere – Kyun! Ho gaya na?
  
• Jaane Yeh Kya Ho Gaya – Armaan
  
• Kitni Narmi Se – Dil Jo Bhi Kahe
  
• Kitni Baatein – Lakshya (the bunker song, full version)
  
• Dhuan Dhuan – Mission Kashmir
  
• Rind Posh Maar – Mission Kashmir
  
• Hum Khoye Khoye Hain – Nine (Shankar's Album with Javed Akhtar, not purely SEL, but a really good song all the same)
  
• Ya Rabba – Salaam-e-Ishq
  
• Jeene k Ishare Mil gaye – Phir Milenge
  
• Yeh aaj kya ho gaya – Luck by Chance
  
• Aankho mein jiski – Rock On!
  
• School Chale Hum – Ministry of Education (This songs is so good, reminds me of school, a must listen!)
  

For me, music people hear in a way illustrates a lot about the person. And everyone has the right to listen to what they like without anyone questioning their choice, or in this case, writing a blog!

In the end it's all about hearing what your ears like!

 

"Sometimes I wish I could hear all the music in the world" – A R Rahman

Who is Aamir?

I have been taking a break from Blogging, far away from the cosy charms of writing, busy with manufacturing (and occasionally drinking) Coca Cola. The break would probably have been a bit longer with our production season keeping me busy with microbiological activities, had I not sat down on a Friday evening to watch a heart-warming movie called Aamir. In a country where a movie like Swades fails to entice human emotions and where a capped bugger with an over-expressive nose is a musical sensation, it’s hardly a wonder that Aamir mostly went unnoticed.

I was deeply moved by the movie. The approach is very simple and appealing and the pace is wonderful. The whole movie is about a day in Aamir’s life. It’s strange, how it takes only a day to turn a life upside down.

I was surprised by the way the movie ended, I half expected there to be a hero, who would banish the bad guys, free his family and get a wonderful damsel. Instead, I got Aamir. Aamir is a simple fellow, he’s no Arnold Schwarzenegger, neither is he capable of a Tom Cruise. His worries are common and his options are limited. That’s where Aamir touched me. In his thoughts, his qualms, his fears, somewhere I found a deep attachment with our common life. In the end I couldn’t think of a better ending to a wonderful story.

As the movie ended and the cast and crew names started arriving, Ek Lau (the song) started. I am deeply influenced by music and the song instantly struck a chord. I managed to get hold of the song the following day (thanks to the World Wide Web!) and it was on my way back from work, the same day, listening to the song, that the movie started dawning on me. Ek Lau has this simple flow, with meaningful lyrics. It took me on a ride back through the movie. Who is Aamir? The final 3 minutes of his life define Aamir. What convinces Aamir to take his last decision? Fear? Grief? Conscience? Ethics? What would a sensible common man in his shoes do?

Peace comes at a very high price. Those of us who reside in amity, far from glares of conflict or hostilities can hardly estimate its worth. Peace can be valued only by the one who has lost his harmony. Wars have been fought and won and people speak highly of the courage involved. What we never realise is that an even greater courage, greater sacrifice is required to sustain peace. Aamir is a common man who had a choice to abandon compassion and sympathy and live his life, and yet He chose to differ. We all have options to discard what is wrong, in our lives, but lack in the courage to do so. Courage resides not in weapons, or in anger, courage resides in resisting what is wrong and abandoning the immoral alternatives. Life is about making the right choices and it’s the choices we make that define us as a person.

In this world
There are so many lives
Living in peace, moving ahead, passing by
Among all of them
There’s one for me
A life to call my own

But Almighty forbid
May no life have such a destiny here
To leave this world
Before a time brimming with only smiles and laughter

..............From the lustre of sunlight
From a droplet of dew
May I achieve Happiness
I have not asked for much
Only that I have a world without precincts
To call my own

But Almighty forbid,
In such desires of mine
No unnecessary innocent lives be sacrificed
May I not be destined to leave this world
Before the time convulsive with smiles and laughter
(Courtesy – Ek Lau, OST - Aamir)

Music Review : Luck By Chance

I am a hardcore Shankar Ehsaan Loy Fan, so this review might sound bias.

The special thing about Shankar Ehsaan Loy is the freshness they bring. That's what separates them and A.R. Rahman ( the Genius) from the rest of the musicians in India. And needless to say, this album's quite good too, as expected!

Shankar Mahadevan is a trained classical singer, (listen to O sayibaa, from the album of the same name!) and Sapnose Bhare Naina was composed in just 20 minutes! Its a good classical based song with modern beats and its definitely in my playlist.

Pyaar Ki Daastaan is the romantic number. Its soothing, beautiful and Javed Akhtar's lyrics are very good.

Yeh Zindagi bhi is another good number from the album, but my favourite is Yeh aaj kya ho gaya. Could be because of the guitar base of the song, but i feel fresh and relaxed when I hear this song. I usually wake up to this number.

All the same, I'm definitely listening to Luck by Chance.

What makes Manchester United so Special

For me Manchester United is more than just a Football Club. Man United is part of the positive aspects of my life, keeping me optimistic all the time. From reducing my work stress to pumping up the adrenaline inside me, Man United is in full control.
I remember those days in College, when me and my friends Anirban and Sandip would have spent hours discussing Manchester United. I remember how at weekends halftime was scheduled for phone call when we'd discuss the half and the substitutes. I remember Anirban getting those jerseys, (mine said Scholes 18) and those proud soccer sessions on field.
As University arrived, our group got separated. STD calls couldn't suffice for those discussion for hours, neither could we have half time chats for every match. Things worsened when we all got into our jobs.
Professional life has no time for adrenaline pumping football craziness, there's no scope of staying up night after night to follow your idols and there's definitely no bunking! We need to move ahead with the world, one step less, one pause and you are left behind.
When all these aspects are crowding up inside my head, I suddenly hear a whistle. The referee has signalled for the free kick to be taken. Ronaldo approaches the ball, but instead of blasting it at the keeper as he regularly does, he aims a quick powerful ball at the front post. Berbatov and Vidic's there inside the 6-yard area. Vidic holds off the defence and Berbatov calmly sends the ball to the back of the net.GOAL! Manchester United 3-0 Chelsea!
Somethings never change. Like We still stay up late to watch Man United play and reach office next day red eyed. Like we still call up each other during the game. Thats what Manchester United means to me. Its being myself. Its about being passionate. Its about living life the way we want. When we were in college and later in the University, we waited for the day we'd earn and there would be no studies any more. We wanted to grow up and leave all these behind. Now that we finally have, we crave for those moments of fun and joy and we wish we could be back. Manchester United takes me back to those days...

"Hey, did you watch the second half yesterday?"
"Yes brother, they played even better, the whole game was awesome!"
"And what about you,dude? why didnt you call me during the match?"
"It was quite late yaar, I didnt watch the game, I had to sleep"
"You @##$, **(^%%, @##****), ^$#****..............