A legend falls

Sporting legends and their fall from grace. Mike Tyson, Maradona, Tiger Woods and now the poster boy for cancer survival victims...Lance Armstrong. Article from the Hindu.

Today's song share goes to the ladies, to help them get over men who break their hearts.

Sarah McLachlan - Forgiveness (Album: Laws of Illusion)

The Antlers

The Antlers - No widows (Album : Burst Apart)

Solastalgia

An example of excellent progressive rock/metal.

Chaos Divine - No Road Home (Album: The Human Connection)

Give it your best

The Olympics have drawn to a close and this morning's paper congratulates India on its best ever performance, 6 medals - 2 silver and 4 bronze. While many Indians might cringe a little when compared with the medal tallies of USA and China, even more may not even care. When you look at it in the context of how athletic/sporting prowess has never been a part of the national conversation then one can begin to have a different perspective on India's medal tally. The only sport that dominates any kind of conversation in India is cricket and, which as any other sport requires one to be fit, is not necessarily a prime example of athleticism. Also as a country, while being the birthplace of yoga, the whole notion of staying fit through exercise and proper nutrition is only slowly beginning to creep in to urban India. Reports suggest that 33% of kids from well-to-do families suffer from malnutrition (http://goo.gl/FRfiJ), and if you take all the kids in the country the number rises to 47%.

While I haven't done the research, I can say with a fair amount of conviction that the achievers in the Indian Olympic scene, including both winners and those who made it into the contingent, would have come this far mostly on the strength of their own efforts and the support of people around them (family, friends, mentors...). Institutional support for aspiring Olympians starting from a school-level across the nation is still a dream. So 6 may not be a great number, but its helped India rank itself 55th among 204 competing nations. Parting thought, Australia started its medal tally with 2 medals in 1896 ranking last. Today it is counted among the big sporting nations in the world. It was consistently in the top 5 for the past 4 games and has notched up over 200 medals since the 1996 Olympics (http://goo.gl/kYby8). Some lessons we can learn there. 

Also, winning feels great. But I suppose if you give it your best everyday, everytime.....then more than winning or losing you just become better.

As Radiohead says :
You can try the best you can
If you try the best you can
The best you can is good enough

Radiohead - Optimistic (Album : Kid A)

Wayanad

We spent 2 days in Wayanad last week for Vito's shraadh. The rituals were performed at the beautiful Thirunelli temple. While my views on divine providence remain unchanged, I can appreciate and in fact advocate some of the traditional customs performed within a religious environment. The shraadh, for instance, is one such yearly ritual which helps keep my father's memories alive in our family. If you view life as a train ride which starts when you're born and ends when you breathe your last, then all the people you meet in your life are your co-passengers. School, university, relationships, work, family.....are all the bogies you spend time in on the journey. And in most cases we are mostly caught up traversing between these compartments. We do find the reflective moment sitting alone by the window, when we aren't lamenting over the rigours of the journey or celebrating a little with our companions. Inevitably a parent, friend or relative will get off this train forever. The shraadh for me has become a time when I force this train to journey back to the times I spent with my father and I step off the train for a little while and wallow in the stillness, hoping to find where this journey will take me.

Doves - The cedar room (Album: Lost Souls)

Still here

Digital Daggers - Still Here (Album : The Devil Within)

Back in business....quietly.

Cloudy day in Bangalore, the monsoons are very late this year. There's been dark cloud cover for the past 2 months but no rains. I've been thinking of  a music blog for some time, nothing but posting the songs of the moment (playing in the study or the car on repeat). So instead of  starting a new blog thought it'll be better to revive this one. So the songs that make it to our ears frequently these days are -

• Mew - Snow Brigade (Album: Frengers)

I particularly love the verse:

I'll find you somewhere

Show you how much I care

Know that there is no escape

From my snow brigade

• Alex Clare - Hummingbird (Album : The Lateness of the Hour)

I had dismissed this album not being too sure of it on the first listen. But Mannu brought me back to it, this is her find and its a lovely song. We particularly love the pipe/wind organ at 0:58, it adds a poetic mysticism to a melodious song.

3 wise men

Putney literally booted back to life a few minutes ago. One of the first things I've done after entering the flat was to get my laptop running. Amol was on facebook even before I opened my browser. The journey from Liverpool back home which should have only taken 4 hours instead had us on the motorway for more than 6. Ashish, being the "alpha male", prefers being driven around and hence it was just the 2 of us taking turns at the wheel.
At Liverpool, an oblique reference was made to the three of us in the context of a new bollywood movie called 3 idiots. I found the reference funny and under the influence of some alcohol being compared to anything popular does provide an invitation to flatter oneself. The alpha male amongst us I'm sure would not refer to himself as an idiot, wise is what he would prefer. And Amol and I agree probably concur. So, here's a list of things that the 3 wise men accomplished over the past few days -

• Drove 300 miles to attend a new years party in snowy Newcastle
• Managed to get their car stuck in ice, but managed to save the day with some engineering ingenuity. Those degrees weren't wasted on us.
• Were in 3 different dance floors at stroke of 12, teaching (or atleast trying to) the ladies how to groove. By the way happy new year guys, don't think we wished each other.
• Lost the keys to their hotel room, the engineering degrees didn't help this time.
• Met Amol's cool family on New Year's day, savouring some nice homemade cake and wine
• Found themselves in the cosy abode of an old-boy from school a few hours later. Another few hours and bottle of Scotch and Bacardi later, the 3 of us were convinced that he was family. We did shed a few tears.
• Post new years eve, which was a rather cold Jan 2 we watched American Pie : The Book of Love in our family's living room. However a fourth wise man used to join us every now and then, the 3 year old son of our hosts. What was challenging especially for Amol was to distract him during all the naughty scenes in the movie. Hilarious!!!!!
• Later that evening, an hour's visit to another old-boy's house in Preston stretched until the next morning. The reason : Ashish celebrates his idea for an epic book.
• This morning begins with some appams and egg curry, one of the best we've tasted.
• An hour later we are at Manchester airport putting our Preston hosts on a flight to Kerala. Were they convinced that the only way to get rid of us was to go on a family holiday? Keep guessing.
  

Maybe the six hour drive was contemplation-time, for us to ponder over our trip and deliberate whether we could have done things better....................
I see a lot of scope for improvement. Amsterdam next?

A Putney Christmas

was spent with men I've grown up with. A few pints of ale at the local pub set the tone for the day. Amol's pork roast ensured we didn't go hungry. The rest is not history but made for a good time.
I'm not Christian but I can enjoy a good christmas.

Hangover thoughts

Xmas parties are serious business, a realisation over a hangover. Especially in a day with 18 hours awake, 8 at the office and the rest in a few bars around town. Rankin, Josie, Richie...good souls and all too human....just like the rest of us.
Note to self : Pick up Nons from Paddington, train arrives at 1520.

District 9

The must-watch this year, blows you away with its multiple layers. Excellent!
Village voice does a better job reviewing it. Read it.

Moving on

Everything's changing again. The post-LSE honeymoon began to unravel from June with Papps and 4 moving base. Bell and Adroit still remain the wide-eyed wanderers, un-jaded and carefee. And as for the devil, he wears pants with gold zips along with past baggage, ideals, grand dreams and cynicism. Sefton gets ready to pack up.
Everything's changing.
Nathen broke into a smile the minute he saw me, maybe he knows his dad and I are great mates. Shinjini was wary, maybe she didn't like the sight of this strange bearded man wrestling her dad, but she'll know her dad and the strange man are great mates too, having done many of life's journeys together. Ved looks out from the corner of his eye sheepishly when his Ammaman admonishes him, but comes running into his arms with a smile when his uncle wants a hug, maybe he knows his mum, dad and I are one team. Chengez, Chinaal, El Presidante and Indira Pillai's son.....still struggling with the thought of settling down, but maybe we'll get into the last coach of the train heading to the world of crying babies, nagging wives, and yet.........junior falling asleep on your shoulder and the Mrs. staying up to have dinner with you alone after a long day will make it all worthwhile.
Everything's changing.
But change, that's not something new. Sometimes the turn towards something better went awry along the way.. and the sudden turn towards darkness led us into light later. But change came along, resisting it led to stagnation.
Everything's changing...again, and its not what happens that matters............its what we make of it that truly does.

Dubai 2014

A post after a long while seated at the Dubai airport (excessively opulent as ever). Mum has meandered into the duty free by herself, women and shopping - they can never get enough!! The last trip home was a hurried one, but very fulfilling - can hopefully achieve more this time around.
I continue to pen thoughts at random times, but privately. These days the urge to write occurs most strongly when I make attempts to solve life's puzzzles, in trying to understand and address the emotions of oneself and people in my life. And these are matters better left out of the public space. Opinions, on the other hand, are something I prefer to be vocal about and I exhaust myself trying to explain and further inform my point-of-view.
I will be swarmed by children this time around, none my own, all the progeny of friends and family. I like kids until they decide to bring the roof down; and car keys, funny faces and you're assumed I'm-cool-with-kids attitude doesn't seem to be of any help. A bail-out from parents or grandparents is my resort.
Boarding in an hour. An old pair of headphones I owned finally broke. Time to get a new one.

Reflekt

Love is a feeling

Winter sailing

The snowflakes continue to fall in the twilight,
Softly, and in no hurry,
As the earth and all its wounds are covered in a blanket of white
We tried to discover the sea of tranquility in waters unknown,
Little did we realise that it would form on land,
No waves, and ripples none,
just an endless swathe of quietude,
stretching over tree branches, roof tops and...
....almost seamlessly into the mind of a weary traveler
bringing calm to both earth and man.
The sea of tranquility won't last forever,
it will melt and the waters will vanish forcing us to confront what had lay hidden,
but the first blade of green grass, the tender leaves breaking out on the maple trees,
will be a reminder of hope, of growth that cannot be stifled
and the promise of a fresh start.

Dream On

Sometimes we reach junctures when following our hearts seems impossible and the world pushes us down paths we wouldn't have consciously tread upon. But walk we must further on, along paths unknown. Our fantastical dreams of the future, our companions for the journey.

To you 4, for introducing me to this song. Get well soon.

Recession in real terms

I walked down to the local GP's surgery this morning to register myself. An unusually bright sun lit up the sky. It wasn't a busy day at the surgery and probably was the reason why the nurse was quite chatty. As she took down my details, she got to the point of employment and I unashamedly had to admit that I wasn't in any form of employment.
So well, it's official now, the NHS records have me listed as an unemployed 28 year old Indian man.

The balance of emotion

When hearts break, do they break even?

And the story goes on

The last day at Lilian Knowles, in a symbolic sense the last day at LSE. A certain kind of life or rather a lifestyle that I had known for the past year comes to its sweet end.
I was at uni earlier in the day, picked up the FT for 25p as usual. Induction benches were beginning to pop up at St. Clements. A group of Indian students were hanging around outside the Tuns, excited. Would they realise the opportunities for intellectual growth, accepting and understanding diversity (of people and views), and for creating long lasting friendships? I hope they do.
After helping Adu and Shreya move out of the hall, this last night at Knowles left me with Tiny at the wrestler's place. We had a feast, and one of the men at the counter threw in some extra food for us for free. Kind! I kidded myself sitting there like an out-of-business mafia boss with my loyal henchman and friend Tiny. We stayed for a little longer than usual.
Tomorrow, a few of us return to unknown waters, and the story goes on.