New year :-)

As I was pondering to write a new post for the new year, I chanced upon Deepak's post and he has exactly written what I wanted to... Here you go.

A new year means nothing existentially. It is as trivial or as important as any other day. But in the human mindset, there is a difference. There's a possibility for renewal. That is where the significance is. Personally, I can't remember any time in the recent past when I attributed any significance to new years. What I wish is for renewal, every moment.

The very first wish I wrote as a greeting in FB was "For all those moments gone in unawareness, let every moment pass by in awareness", for some reason, didn't want to share it there.

I was thinking, what happened significantly in my life. Experientially speaking, when I am writing this, it doesn't feel like much, but actually, in terms of enormity/impact of action, yes, so many things happened. A huge shift happened in my personal life. But it doesn't feel like anything. I am only left craving for more awareness.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Thirsty was I,
Water you gave,
Little drops,
Salt water...

More thirsty I am,
More salt water...

This mad thirst...
When will it quench?
Show me the sea
Ready for the dive...

:D :D :D

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Life time wish comes true...

As I sit here, recuperating from a bad viral fever, I thought I should record the memorable event that happened on Oct 11, 2009. I had one of my life time wishes come to fruition. I attended the A.R.Rahman concert in Chennai. Yeayyyyyy!!!

Let me recollect *some* of the moments in it.

As we waited patiently for the show to begin and the Reddys to wrap up their promos for their site, we could hear AR speaking in the background, and suddenly he emerged from a case that moved from below the stage onto it singing Jaage Hai... Standing ovation followed... He went on to sing Khalbali, ably supported by Shivamani moving to the foreground. The closest view of AR I could get was when he moved above the crowd in the crane, singing Jiya se Jiya, which was thundering!

The improvised version of Mausam and Escape, (Ar in the piano, Azad in the sitar and Sanjeev in the guitar) was out of the world. As the sitar started playing out a different tune with piano chords in the background, it beautifully wove itself into the M&E track and when the rock guitar joined in, it was totally out of the world.

The entire section with AR in the piano was worth the whole show. Especially, when Hariharan sang the Tamizha Tamizha, suddenly AR stood up and started doing something different. He actually started playing the continuum keyboard and belted out Ishwar Janato out of nowhere and it blended so well with the mood that it was heavenly. I had tears :)

There was this girl, Lush, a rapper, who could dance like a lightning and still continue singing. She rocked. Suzanne's energy was mind blowing as well. This is the first time I am seeing her and in spite of her heavier frame, she had so much energy that she could literally pull the entire crowd to its feet. Neeti Mohan also amazed me with her singing and simultaneous dancing. She could effortlessly reach the higher scales in spite of the heavy dancing :)

The Visual effects was top notch in the show. Blaaze truly is a great showman. He could pull the crowd up whenever he wanted. So is Benny. Rashid Ali showed his western singing. Javed Ali impressed me big time. He is such a perfectionist. He could deliver the songs just as they are on record and belt out beautiful improvisations. The Khwaja and Maula he and AR gave in the sufi section of the concert shall remain in my memory for a very long time to come.

When AR came for Rehna Tu, he said how much that song mattered to him and how that song is a dedication to accept a person simply the way the person is. When he said that, the sincerity with which he spoke those words cannot be missed and just observing that sincerity was elevating. Hats off sir!

There were much more moments that can be recorded, Chitra's renditions, Sadhana and Hariharan's versatality, the extremely awesome Delhi 6 rendition by the crew (Benny, Tanvi, Blaze), the Taxi taxi number (Vivianne, Benny, Blaze), Mustafa, Humma Humma, Jai Ho, AzeemoShan medley, Style, Athiradi (it really was an athiradi), special RAP bits added to Chandralekha, sweet improvisations by Naveen on the flute and so on....

It was a great show and I loved it to the core. One more of my Karma is down now :D

Bees-2

I wrote this 2 and a half years back...

And the prophecy is coming to fruition... I don't know what made me write it then, but now I am having goosebumps...

September 25, 2009

This shall be a very special day... One that I shall look back in the future... The one that marked the end of what was sparked off about 6 months ago...

As emotions play around, as a meloncholic strain of breaking a relationship of sorts arises, I am reminded of the futility of the mind that wants to cling on to anything and everything. The stark truth being that in the end, when mortality comes into picture, not a single atom can be taken along. When that is the reality, I can't help but smile, amidst the emotions playing a mourning cello in the background. There lies the power of death, in driving home the point of futility of our actions, clinging on, not wanting change, let alone transformation.

Such is the mind - flimsy, whimsical...
Such is the emotion - flimsy, whimsical...
Such is Life.
No, such is life of the ignorant.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was well trodden and safe
as opposed to the less travelled one;

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!

And the other day came...
-Sorry Mr. Frost, for the edits to the original

Transformation

From an egg to a caterpillar to a pupa to a butterfly... It is a fantastic process, quite unbelievable in many ways, to see that such a beautiful butterfly appears out of a little dull egg. Such is the magic of creation, but if you didn't read it in Science books, and if you saw an egg and a butterfly, will you know that one came out of the other. No... That is the way I feel at times. When I see human beings who have transformed themselves in such a tremendous way, I doubt if such a thing is possible for us, but they were also once like us. After crawling through life like the caterpillar, right now life is like the pupa. A little more evolved than the caterpillar, but still a dull pupa... Happy, warm, comfortable and cuddled up inside the little cocoon... Not knowing the life of a soaring butterfly, stuck and unmoving... If the transformation has to happen, the cocoon must be broken. What appears like life threatening, that is, breaking of the cocoon that has been the very protection so far, is actually liberating. For a logical mind, a security seeking mind, it may seem absurd that the very house is being broken, but that's the only way the butterfly can come out. It may be a painful process to break open the pupa, but the end result is far more worthy than the shell. Other pupae will never know the experience the butterfly has... They may belittle, argue and call out the foolishness in breaking open the cocoon. But once the desire to transform has set in, one has to make the effort to break open the cocoon... Once the cocoon starts breaking, someday Nature may take over and one may end up soaring as a vibrant butterfly...

Must watch video

A very humbling video, about the universe... The modern sciences is puzzling about what the spiritual sciences have found thousands of years ago...

Mirage

To leave behind a legacy, that cannot stand Time,
To extend the lineage, that knows not the Origin,
To maintain the glory of the caste, that I did not choose to be born into,
Can't you see Dear, all but futile attempts to live Beyond
The inevitable hands of physical mortality...

Immortal, Limitless, Unbounded...
Call it whatever you want...
The fundamental need is the same...
Only the expression differs...
For you and me...

In your quest, you charter my Life
And in my quest, I charter, again, my Life...
Never may understand my ways
But that is not going to stop me
From pulling you Home.

p.s: This had been lying in the drafts for quite a while. Now that I decided to post it, couldn't think of any title. So, if you were looking for the reason for the title, can I say

Dry and parched, Too thirsty am I
A mirage can't quench anymore...

Seeking...

In a way, this outlines seeking. The interpretation may depend on one's mindset, life situations, aspirations, etc, but it is a wonderful outlining.

http://www.osorhan.com/bigo/index.php

Few pics from the episode...

Somehow this never got published... was lying in the drafts...

The events, as it unfolded....

Waiting for our turn, with Sowmya and Maya...


Batch one, after their landing... All smiles...


Second batch, all dressed and geared up...


With my instructor "TK"


My landing...


When the last person landed...


Group photo... post the landing of the second batch...


Another of those casual shots...


The entire gang...

Sky dived!

This Sunday, on June 28th, I sky dived with a bunch of friends in Florida. Quite an experience. From the moment we decided to go sky diving, as always, there wasn't much going within me. It has been the case of late with me, may be the last few years. If I am about to do something special/out-of-ordinary, people ask me "are you excited" and when I look at it, not really, I'm just as always, may be a little intrigued... Well, we had an appointment at 12:30, but it got extended to 3:30.

As we were waiting I could see some of them pretty nervous, some changing from confident-looks to a-bit-scared-looks. Finally our turn came and it was only when I was on the plane up that a little thought was running, just to look at the ground from the open plane was something! When my turn came, I moved along with my tandem instructor "TK" and we moved in a squatted position to the open door. Before jumping out, I had a look at the ground below... took a deep breath and as I was aware of the breath, I uttered "Shiva" and out we dived 13500 ft from above sea level!

For the first 2-3 seconds I didn't know what was happening as we fell off the plane and the wind was hitting the face in full flow and I got in to the position with belly pushed out and arms out-stretched and eyes wide open. I could see the ground approaching at a crazy speed... woahhhhhhhh..... And my instructor was giving signals that we were doing safe and ok and was pointing to the altimeter from time to time... We also did a few rotations during the free fall... My eyes were watering a moment due to the speed and at one point, I realized my mouth was open and how the instructor had advised to inhale through the nose rather than the mouth. As I closed my mouth, I could be aware of the breath in that crazy moment and I was pleased about that :D... And then we had a lucky day as we could move into the clouds. When you dive in to the cloud, you really know how fast you are traveling. And inside the cloud, it's cool, very cool, like a really air conditioned space... By this moment, we had reached the 6000 ft mark and my instructor was signaling for the parachute to be opened and around 5500 ft I pulled the lever to open up the parachute... And then we did a few other things like rotating, suspension, accelerating and moving around in the parachute before finally landing.

Quite an experience, and highly recommended for everyone! A must do, at-least once in a lifetime!

Happy birthday appa

:-)

I know, you don't even know what a blog is and I write something here... I may not have done what you would have wanted me to, or may be I did do something... It doesn't matter, I've done something that is the most life essential to you, which you may not understand now... I only wish you walk along and life completes a full circle :-)

Oh my Rajaa...

Now, here's a full orchestral version of "Azhagu Malar Aada"... Very hard to not get moved...





Mindblowing stuff!

Zoozoo :-)

These are one of the prettiest and cutest creations in recent times. While I don't follow cricket anymore, it was repeated email articles about Zoozoos that made me check them out. And I was so fascinated by the creativity of the entire Ad campaign. In case you didn't know, these were real people, wearing costumes and shot at an appropriate frame rate to seem as though it were animation.

And this is my most favorite among them. The male character is hyper-active in every frame. The way it rotates while moving, the hand movements, the sounds and the moon-walk in Paris are just priceless. And if you were wondering what He says, they are "Parotta", "Puttu kadalai" and "Kappa meenu"... the food delicacies that Prakash Varma, the director of the Ad, missed when filming it, as quoted in his blog.

The One

Assertion: ரெண்டு உயிர் சேர்ந்தாதான் வாழ்கை..

Answer:
ஒன்னும் இல்லே...ரெண்டு உயிர் சேர்ந்தாலும் ஒன்னுதானே ஆகணும்.அப்படிதானே... ரெண்டு உயிர் சேரணும்னு ஆசை வந்துதுன்னா ஒன்னு ஆகனும்னு தானே ஆசை... இப்போவும் ஒன்னுதானே இருக்குது... ஒன்னு பண்றதுக்கு இவ்ளோ எல்லாம் arithmetic பண்ணிக்கனுமா? ஒன்னாதனே இருக்குது...இவ்ளோ பாடுபட்டு ஒன்னு பண்ணிகனுமா... அப்படி இல்லே... ஒன்னாதனே இருக்குது...

Disclaimer: By just reading the above excerpt, you can NOT derive the answer that was given. I am recording the above excerpt just for my own record...

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

I happened to see a few hours of "Sadhguruvin Madiyil" webcast.

Ruthlessly demolishing people's ideas and ideologies and taking all for a ride in His own merciless fashion! If there is a bit of ego left in us, we'll sure run away from the place, for the intensity He displays. With His play of logic, He can make an utter fool out of everyone of us. Spell binding!

All that remains is the title of this post....

Random things...

There are a few days, when I wake up, I have this feeling in my "Anahata"... It's a certain feeling that brings about a certain depressing emotion for the entire day... When someone is sad, I believe it is this activity in the Anahata that makes people exclaim "heavy in heart"... While I am able to see clearly that this is what is happening and when I'm aware, I'm able to go beyond that uneasiness, but during the moments of unawareness (which is in plenty), it easily sucks me up... Reminded of how Sadhguru says that everything within oneself is just a chemistry (joy, misery, etc)... today is one such day...

The last 2 days were a blast. Sai Suresh and Gokulnath had come from SFO for the Tulip Festival... The weather was just fine and it was lots of fun... tulip fields, flowers, pictures, "Taboo" games, the drives, the frisbee, the double rainbow, california pizza kitchen, cheesecakes...

An idiot of my relative has landed himself in to some serious trouble. The lack of even a bit of remorse for what he has done is such a disgrace. He and his family are one such kind of people who eat, breathe and sleep money... While I can't but pity his plight, his insolence and lack of humanity and the position they are planning to take in the coming days only speaks volumes of their inner state. I can only see more trouble coming their way. If they can't learn out of such a big incident in their lives, may be they need more life-times for any transformation to happen. BTW, this incident, it is a real drama, just like in the movies... And this incident, happening at this point in time, may not be so ideal a situation I would have wanted, but things have happened... Let's see...

Fear: I thought I didn't have any... But I can see as they surface... There was this medical test for which they had to take some blood samples. And I saw this fear surface up. Once I became aware, it dissolves in a moment... It was funny and at the same time, I could see how what they say in the IE class was practically true. There's one other fear now...

The sea is calm, beautiful and serene...
The pearls are below, radiant and inviting...
The moment is opportune, unfettered the diver,
Ohh, how to ruffle the placid waters...

The story of me and Him

As we meandered, through the dreary desert,
In meaningless circles, parched and dry...
Thirsty were we, searching were we...

Did we come upon a clearing in the woods,
Lush and green, full of life,
Irresistibly inviting...

Asked did I... lured and wary...
Is this THE Home?
What about our desert tents?
And our treasure bags?

Said did He... confident and steady...
Not at all. The tent is the home.
Let's add a few berries to the treasure bags
For the rest of the journey...

And today,
He's dropped the bags
And gone back Home... to THE Home!

Why can't this one final piece in the jigsaw puzzle fit itself in, in whichever way it wants to...

Life

மயிரே போச்சுன்னு இருக்கணும் ...
:-D

Circus of Life...

As I wallow in the mire of emotions...
Strangled by the psychological ropes...
Bounded by the twines of deeds...
Gripped by the fear of unknown...
Taunted by the filial obligations...
Tormented by the sweet little emotion...
Can't trust I,
This failing mind...

A sweet little wish,
Here and There...
Is the pain of a whip
Taking no where...

Shower Thy Grace, and see me through
Am a lost little one, Behold my hand and lead me through
Tricks and plans, I continue to conjure
In vain hopes, of trying to be secure

Where will I go, what shall I do...
I seek thy Grace, for only that shall see me through...

Hahahaa....

So manyyyyy things happening around... that it is literally sweeping me off my feet... Yes, Sadhguru's visit happened in a splendid way... For those who couldn't join us, here's the web stream: http://www.ishafoundation.org/IshaLive/Streaming.php (catch this soon as the link may get invalidated soon)

So how does it feel to be part of the event, asked Prasanna... Nothing, it simply felt nothing. I didn't want His time to get wasted here (due to our carelessness or uselessness). To me, it appears that this visit was worth it and hence am relieved in a way...

What else... something is cooking now...

What more... I did something so uncharacteristic of me... But the whole incident was handled in a very mature way... So depressed... And again I did something and that lifted me up... I could so easily see the way the emotions sway and how it pulls one off track quite so easily... With the ground breakng changes impending, I guess so many things will open up, throw all stones, strip me naked, until the unwinding happens completely... Am grateful to the people involved and I should make use of this as another incident to look within...

And now, focus... Whoooooooooosh!

Wearing out...

Pitchai paathiram nails the current state...

Raja sir's mastery with the words is equally scintillating...

இம்மையை நான் அறியாததால் சிறு பொம்மையின் நிலையினில் உண்மையை உணர்ந்திட...

அத்தனை செல்வமும் உன்னிடத்தில்
நான் பிச்சைக்கு செல்வது எவ்விடத்தில்?
வெறும் பாத்திரம் உள்ளது என்னிடத்தில்
அதன் சூத்திரமோ அது உன்னிடத்தில்......

ஒரு முறையா... இரு முறையா...
பல முறை பல பிறப்பெடுக்க வைத்தாய்...
புது வினையா பழ வினையா...
கணம் கணம் தினம் என்னை துடிக்க வைத்தாய்...

பொருளுக்கு அலைந்திடும் பொருளற்ற வாழ்க்கையும் துரத்துதே...
உன் அருள் அருள் அருள் என்று அலைகின்ற மனம் இன்று பிதற்றுதே...
அருள் விழியால் நோக்குவாய்... மலர் பதத்தால் தாங்குவாய்...
உன் திருக்கரம் எனை அரவணைத்துனதருள் பெற...

A.R.Rahman at the Oscars - video

The First Oscar

And now the second

Backstage footage with the awards

The special thank you note

It was written!

The oscars... not one, but two :-)

How does this change my devotion to this humble prince of music... Not a bit! He will always remain the same sweetheart for me... His humility, "level-headed-ness", versatility, humanity, musical genius, spiritual inclination... just about everything that made him dear to me still remain with him and will now open themselves up to the world now... He will no longer be my personal treasure (or our Indian treasure) and will continue to enthrall people all around the globe now.... this is just the beginning!!!

Dear ARR, as you say, you indeed have the choicest blessings and may you get all that you seek in this life!

A letter to my ...

This is more of a personal letter rather than a blog post. As the blog is the medium of communication, it makes more sense to put it here rather than an email...

Dear one-particular-reader-from-Chennai,

I am sure many of the posts in this blog don't make sense to you...

I know some of these might even be alarming...

And I also know you can't grasp these things in totality, given the diverse natures of our lives, given the different paths we've taken, given the varied experiences of our lives...

When you don't understand these ramblings fully, it is not necessary to spread this to the whole world...

All that I hope and wish is that you understand that I am experiencing life in a deeper way than you, and I further wish that desire also sprouts within you, that you may also lead life in a peaceful, blissful way... The desire that arises when someone buys a house, a plot, a car, a property, this, that... where is that desire going when it comes to this... the very fundamental question about your life and existence... It's time to wake up... I wish you wake up soon...

Sincerely,
Rams.

:-)

I think I'm coming up with totally non-descriptive titles by the day...

Well, as my friend wished me a happy valentine's day, it dawned on me that this day is here... one day to celebrate the one-happy-emotion-that-most-people-seem-to-cherish... the secret mantra that seems to open doors... Not that I am against love, but it's the general connotation with which the word is being used (thanks to the utter crap in the name of movies) that it scares me to even use that word...

Well, let's see... what all this means to me now... To fall in love is so easy within me now... I am able to see I can throw myself completely when being with anyone and also remove myself when needed... Just as the new song is playing, I got reminded of this person, who was a co-traveller in one of my journeys to the place-beyond-the-world... I could totally give myself when being there... Now I am thousands of miles apart... There's no necessity for words or actions to re-create the inner state that was... No entanglement but total involvement... In fact I am able to be in this state with so many people, with no effort... It's effortless and blissful :-)

Just as words can't express emotions, so can't they express the gratitude... I bow down to Thee...

Ways of Life...

Hate and love,
Success and failure,
This and that,
All that's sought after...
None of these matter,
When the next inhalation fails...

Hmm

Almost the first month of the new year is going to wind up. It's been quite tight since the new year began. Lots of work. And yes, lots of good news from the music world too (the Golden Globe and the Oscar nominations and of course Delhi-6 and Connections).

The coming months shall be even more hectic. Not just with office deadlines closing up, but with the preparations for Sadhguru's first ever visit to Seattle. Yes, in case you did not know, Sadhguru is going to be coming to Seattle on March 24 and is going to be giving a free public talk and it goes unstated that you MUST attend it, if you are going to be anywhere in this area, and that might be the best decision you ever made in your life. It is, for me!

More about the event, later!

Rahman on a Roll !!!

The Golden globe was just the beginning. As the Academy award nominations (aka Oscars) poured in, I am sure most of the fans of the humble musical genius, A.R.Rahman would have had a tear or two, out of sheer joy. I don't perceive Oscar as a big deal, their tastes are different, the audiences different and much more... they are not necessarily the final judges. But what an Oscar does give is a world wide recognition, and ARR deserves it every bit. Such a versatile composer, I've never seen. Even if one simply enumerates the different genres he has composed, one can come up with such a huge list, and that too, not a sample composition but one of the highest order, that no one can match his versatility.

Rahman has the following nominations:

1. Best Original Song: Jai Ho
2. Best Original Song: O Saya

Is this the first time a composer is self-competing in the Oscars. The only other song nominated in this category is from Wall-E.

3. Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire

Enough said. I am going to watch how things unfold and here's wishing him deep down from my heart that he wins both the Oscars for which he has been nominated for.

As Anil Kapoor says in the movie, "My heart says you are going to win more"
And as Salim says in the climax, Rahman is going to end up saying "God is great"

Naresh vaai adangum neram...

Raghu has the peculiar habit of murdering any class song with his "bhai - paai - saai" gibberish, the one that he invented during college days, and continues to carry on fervently, even after 5 long years. Today, due to the recent requests to make another inane video like this, I got reminded of this and thought that I should record it here.

Context: Naresh is known to love to eat out in restaurants when we were in Hyderabad (and even now), however costly they may be. Due to a fractured jaw, he was mouth-arrested for more than 2 months and when he came out of it, Raghu and myself wrote this song for him. It eventually became a regular song amongst us that we recorded it one evening. It was FUN!
BTW, all proper nouns like Angeethi, Shikaar, Chutneys are all restaurant names.

Thalaa.........Delhi 6

Looks like the master thought that the continuous barrage of musical hits (Sakkarakatti, Yuvvraaj, Ghajini, Slumdog, Ada, Jaane Tu, Jodha) wasn't enough, here he comes, with Delhi-6 that is going to set the music industry on fire!!! You can safely mark my words, as I write this, just listening to it for the first time (not even finished listening to all the tracks), that this is one of THE MOST CREATIVE WORKS from Rahman. You wouldn't have listened to such exotic music before, ever!

Rahman is Rahman - peerless. PERIOD.

while(true){:D}

I am mad right now. Should not be a big surprise if you've been following this blog. YES. A.R.Rahman has won the Golden Globe award for the best original score- motion picture this year (2009) and I've no words to express the elation I am right now in.



Yes, tears rolled over as the news sunk in. Being an Indian does not make this award special to me, as is the case with many. It is the person who is getting this award that makes it so special. Here's wishing him all the very best for more to come.


The Golden globe in itself is a huge achievement and a great platform to an international arena. If Oscars also come his way, then it will be an even greater visibility that this versatile genius long deserves. Let us see :-)


By the way, this will be the next Khwaja mere Khwaja... This is from Delhi-6. Songs yet to be released. This song also bought tears in me. Maestro ARR, you are so special!

Happy Birthday ARR

Dear A.R.Rahman,

It is not needed to reiterate how much you are part of my every day... Here's wishing you a very very happy birthday and a fabulous new year. May all your wishes be fulfilled... And hope you get to delight us, song after song, year after year, for a very very long time...




Happy that the first post of 2009 happened to be this one :-D

Have a great new year!