Another Leaf from my diary

Life, What does it mean to me
a game, a path, a war, a prayer
or just a creation of GOD.

Whatever it is, its so beautiful
filled with the colors of joy
like a sunshine in the clear blue sky.

Its pure, like the water
of the rivers that flow down
the mountains of the world.

Its as vast as the universe,
the universe, which has baffled
each and every of us.

But a life is a life,
it can be as huge as an ocean,
or as small as an ant.

It can be as pretty as a rose,
and as ugly as a corpse,
depending who owns it.

Some Beautiful Moments

I had not written about some things in my account of the Habba. And the things had even slipped out of my mind. But when I was going through the snaps taken that day, that face brought back a smile to my face and all those small small but beautiful moments :-).

Well, there was this sweet little girl sitting in front of us. For her, I guess we were the performers :-D. But it felt really nice to have her attention, to make her laugh, to make her dance like we were dancing. She was soooooooo cute, we even took a snap of her with due permissions from her mother. But seriously, Kids give you that happy-happy feeling :-). They are so pure-hearted, no dirt in their mind. They remind of the good times I had in my childhood. So children will always be close to my heart :-).

In the other incident, we had turned into kids ;-). We attracted many a stares towards us by making soap bubbles in the air and that too standing on the chairs :-D. This was the most fun part of that evening. I was just thrilled and kept on blowing bubbles in the air. It again brought back some memories of my days in BITS...how me and my friends had blowed bubbles for hours together and had become an object of glance by all the passer-bys.

And last but not the least, I drove a bike. yippppeee yooooohoooooo....well this was not the first time..but yes it was after a long time :-). I am not that bad at driving the bike B-). And with few more practices like this...I will be ready to give a tough time to guys ;-).

I dont know if anyone will read this post of mine. But I am writing this coz its about all the small things that one has. The big moments are very few. That doesnt mean one cannot be happy for the rest of the time. Its these small small moments that give you Big Happiness. And writing about these things today gave me another round of that happiness :-). So, this post is for all those tinsy-winsy things that are the elixir for me to live happily in this world :-).

Saathi!!

This is a reply to a question asked to me a few days ago....

Can I forget,
Meeting a person like him?
Can I forget,
The long late night talks we had?
Can I forget,
The pampering I get from him?
Can I forget,
The "yes" for anything I say?
Can I forget,
The adoration I get from him?
Can I forget,
The things I could do, just coz of him?
Can I forget,
The best mentor I had in my life?
Can I forget,
The person to whom I can tell anything?
Can I forget,
Those eyes, that face, that smile?
Can I forget,
One of my closest friend???

The Mega Giga Events

From Friday night onwards there were three mega events as a part of bangalore habba in palace grounds. Fortunately or unfortunately i could attend only two of them. Here is my account for those two.

9th Dec:

This was the day when my ears were blessed by the enchanting music from two of India's leading personalities. One was, the living master of bansuri, Padmabhushan and PadmaVibhushan Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. And the other maestro, one of the best known classical vocalists in India, Padmabhushan Pandit Jasraj. First, it was Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia who entralled the audience in the divine sound created by a simple bamboo stick. I, wondered, how can a instrument as simple as a flute create so much of magic. And I really admired his stamina, for he could pump in so so much of air into it for such a long time..phew!! The next was a solo performance by Pandit Jasraj. His voice was charming, soothing to hear to. Then came the best part of the show, the jugalbandi. It was like a play between two gods. The audience was held spell bound. The performance was so gripping, that I guess nobody moved. Time just flied away and it was 10 pm in the night. The show came to an end. But it left me with a yearn for more. I was satisfied, yet had a pine to listen to it all the way again. I can still close my eyes and listen to the bansuri...bringing a smile to my face. :-).

As soon as the performances by the maestros was over, we started and were coming out. I was on the second step, when I heard them say "Dhol Foundation"...I instantly turned around and asked my friend if we can see this too. Most of the people had left. But believe me, whoever stayed back would have never regretted for that.

The Dhol Foundation is a UK based band, led by Johnny kalsi. The band has five drummers...dhol waalahs, one on dholak, one on drums and two on guitars. The band has fuses the urban music with the dhols and music from the villages of punjab. This was their first performance in India. And the audience just gave in to these dhol waalahs with their "electric" dhols (yup...even i saw it for the first time). Overall, the numbers were too good....make u tap ur foots and even jump. The intensity of it I saw, when there was an elderly grey haired man jumping off his feet on the rhythm of the band. I could hardly see anyone sitting during the entire act...it just filled everyone present with so much of energy and enthu. Anyone fond of percussion instruments (which are my fav instruments) should not miss out on the "Dhol Foundation".

11th Dec:

Next in pipeline was the "Bollywood Nite". We reached their on the right time. We just came in and the show was on a roll. The first performance was by a singer called Ishaan. The moment he sang the first song of the show, we thought...are we at the right place? Shall we just get up and leave? The next two songs were just adding fuel to the flame. But then came in the next performer, Lalit pandit, of the jatin-lalit fame. At that time we were like...ok. He sang some of the best numbers of his career.

Then came the best part of the show. Performance by my fav, Shaan :-) :-). The public also just went wild with Shaan on stage. He started with his first song for jatin-lalit, "Tune mujhe pehchaana nahin" from movie Raju Chacha. And then came a series of all his hit songs. My favs like "Musu Musu Haasi" and "Tanha Dil". You can see the magic of his voice everywhere, people swaying back and forth with every tone of the music. Girls going just over the top on this good looking and ever smiling hunk. He even danced for the song "Main Aisa Kyon Hoon" and "You are the one for me". And he ended his performance with the biggest hit of the year, "Dus bahaane karke le gaye dil" :-) and he took away the hearts of the all the people present in the palace grounds.

Then came a singer with one of the most sweetest voice, Alka Yagnik. She sang some really good numbers. The environment became so soothing with her melodious and balming voice. Followed up by her was a High-Energy performance by "The Dance Diva" of India, Yana Gupta. The guys just went crazy for the beautiful dame on the stage. You should have heard how the public roared and revelled.

After all the dancing and singing, there was time for some ramp walks. The first fashion show was from the Pantaloon Stores. Then was the marvellous collection from the studio of Vikram Phadnis. Got to see some of very good designs and yes ofcourse some very comely models and ooohhh some hunks too ;-).

Then Alka yagnik came again and sung yet another set of songs from her long list of hits. And lastly the day was called off with a superb item number from Yana Gupta. And with this the Bangalore Habba came to an end. I had a nice time during this Bangalore habba and will look forward to it with all the more eagerness next year :-). Till then bbye bangalore habba!!

Brewing Literature

I am back with my stories from the Bangalore Habba :-). There was a series of "Art Espressos" in many CCDs around the city. I happened to attend the last one in the M.G. Road CCD.

It was supposed to start at 10:30 pm. Me and my friend got a little late (IST you see ;-) ) and reached there around 10:45 pm. Anyways, there were not much people there but we could hear something going on. We took one of the tables and sat there. There were two people sitting on the chairs in the front and were reading into the mic. The piece they were reciting was a story of a guy and a girl which was very hilarious :-). It was follwed by yet two more readings and it was so much of fun!!

Well Art Espressos are actually readings of prose and pieces of literary work. It is really nice to actually listen to the work rather than just reading it on your own. This is widely practiced in western countries. You can actually hear readings in many book stores etc. Specially for kids. I hope this culture increases more in India and I could hear more of such things on a regular basis, not to wait for habbas for that.

The team cast that played it here consisted of two guys, names i forgot, and two girls, aditi and aviva. The way they articulated their voice and even their expressions, it was as if the piece was actually lived. It made me actually animate the whole scene so perfectly in my mind.

The best was one was in the last. In which the guy played the role of the female and the girl played the male part. Both of them were stunning in their respective roles and the air was filled with many smiles and laughter. :-)

The playground "Mood"

Why do we have moods?
Why do we suddenly feel happy or sad?
Why cant we always be in a good mood?

I am not in a very good mood today. From morning I have been feeling gloomy. Cursed everything in the world when I woke up in the morning. I drived like a jerk today. Dont have the feeling to work. Cant concentrate on anything. I even forgot my dog-collar. And the worst thing is I dont have any reason to be like this. But still I get these tantrums. I have seen people swinging in and out of good and bad mood. Just out of the blue they will start getting irritable, yell at others. It makes me think, what causes these so called mood swings.

When we experinece some feelings...like anger, happiness, stress, fear etc., the brain releases chemicals called neurotransmitters. It is the release and re-absorption of these neurotransmitters that affects how we feel. And the imbalance of these neurotransmiiters cause the mood-swings. So this the scientific side of moods.

These mood-swings could be dangerous. Coz generally people tend to be rude and alienated during these pangs of bad mood. Others might feel offended by the behaviour and the damage has been done and you dont even relaize that at that moment. I hate being in these bad moods. It makes me do stuff that is unlike me. But yeah music is the best thing, that always brings back the smile on my face and makes me feel cheerful again :-). So I am back to music and a smile on my face. Thank god for he made music, otherwise how would I survive these mood-swings!!

____

Here is a link that I found interesting Wild Mood Swings

And also this...just for fun :D

What Mood Are You In?

Bangalore habba!!

Translation in English: Celebrating Bangalore

But it is much more than celebrating Bangalore. It is a celebration of art and culture. It is a celebration of the long lost spirit of creativity. It gives a platform for all the contemporary artists in a variety of genres to come forward and let their arts be known. It doesnt only promote the classic and folk art forms but the modern art forms too. It is even more important in a place like bangalore, where we have people from very diverse cultural backgrounds. And for software professionals like me, it is a delighful treat of the things that are almost out of my life.

In Bangalore Habba, you can listen to great music and see some fantastic dances. Now these are the major events happening in habba. Infact my most awaited event will be the jugalbandi of Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Hari prasad chourasia and the performance by Amaan and Ayan Ali Bangash.

Apart from these mega events, there are many small small and very interesting things happening in the habba. You can see some Street plays, Street Magic, Literature readings, watch some outstanding movies, good theatrical performances, some sports too (even adventure sports), a vintage car rally, fashion shows, and my most favorite "The Artist's Walkway".

I first had a feel of the habba when I went to "The Artist's Walkway" yesterday. The M. G. Road Boulevard is converted into a walkway where artists can come and promote their arts through small kiosks on the boulevard. I was really amazed at the variety of arts that I got to see at same place. The thing that attracted me the most was exhibits by a few photographers. I even bought some photographs in the form of postcards :-). Then there was this small street play by few girls. It was very intersting and very well done, with a message for the society. Then there was this puppet show and even the ghoomar dance :-). There were many painting exhibits too. And yeah, if u want a caricature or a portrait done of yours...land up in the walkway :-).

Overall habba is an entralling experience which every bangalorean and non-bangaloreans should try and catch. Though its tough to get time out of our busy schedules, but believe me you wont regret taking that time out of it and going for an event in habba. I feel lucky that I got such a golden chance of experiencing this celebration :-). Will keep telling interesting picks from the events that I will attend :-).

Any one interested for more information, can visit Bangalore Habba.