Flights of Fantasy!

I got a call from my uncle about a music concert, and he asked whether we will join them. I was all agog about it but hesitated and said I will call back after asking my roomie. I was a bit wary while calling my roomie...she will be interested in classical music or not...but my excitement was not subdued...she said yes.

So we both set out for "Chowdaih Memorial Hall". On reaching there, the first surprise was the building itself. I had heard about the building, but to see it in front of my eyes was a different experience. It was in the shape of Veena. There was quiet a crowd so we got inside with some trouble and found seats after scanning carefully through the overflowing hall.

The first performance was by Ustaad Shahid Pervez. The melodies of his Sitar were spell bounding. Even the hum of the strings was so enchanting. Specially the last piece that he played was just amazing. I almost held my breath through it. The Tabla was also amazing. Next performance that day was by Begum Parween Sultana. I had heard her long back on one of the television talent hunt shows. But listening to her live was captivating. But due to time restraint we had to leave in the middle of her performance. But whatever I heard has got inscribed in my memory forever :).

The second day was all the more vivid. It started with a performance by Pandit Ullhas Kashalkar. Though I am not the right person to ask about it...as I am not much inclined towards Vocal...but I can definitely say that the people around me enjoyed it to the most. I sat through the performance just waiting for the one performance I had been waiting since my uncle told me about the show. And atlast he came.

As truly said by the hostess, we Indians have the privilege of having two such artists who are not known by their instruments but their instruments are know by them. I was dawned with the privilege of listening to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Everyone just waited for him with an excitement. He took some time to adjust his instument Santoor. Such small instrument and yet so much of sweetness in the sound..its really amazing. Even while he was adjusting it, it was music to my ears. I was wondering if this is so melodious what it will be like when he actually plays it. And it was something out of the world. It seemed to me that the music played by the Harps of the Heaven can not be more melodious. I was taken into a different world. A trance followed it. Time just flew by and my ears were blessed and my senses treated well. Everyone in the hall was just mesmerized and awed by his magic. There was complete silence. All you can hear is the ethereal sound from the Santoor. His hands moved so dexterously over the instrument, it appeared as a sculpture is chiseling the marble. When he finished he got a standing ovation. But the junta got greedy, they wanted more. And so he played Raag Pahadi in the end. I wanted it to be everlasting. But alas, all good things come to an end :(.

Oh my, what a performance it was. I am smitten by his music. The sound of those strings are still echoing inside my mind. I would recommend all of you who love music and melody, to grab a CD of his and experience the best of the best concord. Truly the Indian Heritage and Culture is beyond distinction.

Encounters with Faces

Face, the most important element in a human's appearance. Its so intriguing, how a face plays with your mind and sets opnions. Your first impression of a person is strongly based on the face of the person. The face personifies the image of a person. Its so strange, that we can trust a person more if we have seen his/her face. Until we see someone, we always have a small doubt in the corner of our mind.

Doesnt matter that the face should only be beautiful. Faces can be not beautiful but still charming and luring. Some faces are more touching, some you can trust instantly. Some faces, you loathe at the first glance itself, and have a tough time dealing with that person. But one thing, again a strange fact, you tend to soften for a face, once you start seeing the face quiet often. You can actually start liking a face, even if you wanted to turn the other side on the first time.

Faces are mysterious. Some faces are expressive, telling you the unsaid too. Some faces are stoic, completely indifferent from what actually is. The worst is, some faces are deceitful; acting as a mask on the reality. I have become wary of faces, dont know they project the reality or are fraud. But still, faces play a very important role in my description of a human being (not just looks). I wonder, will I be able to get the niche of finding out whats behind a face. I think I almost have it. But somethings are so unpredictable that all your statistics go haywire; and faces fall into this category.

Faces will always perplex me, sometimes making me comfortable, sometimes making me despise, and sometimes leave me with lots of questions unanswered. But still it plays a major role in charaterization of people carrying these faces. So happy face reading everyone!

Here is an interesting article I found, once I started writing this.

Facial Prejudice: Face and Personality.

Clueless Scribble!

I have been trying to write something for a long time. Writing gives me a sense of satisfaction. So, I started to think...what should I write. Many things came to my mind, politics, corruption, media, communal riots, traffic blues, natural calamities, war and peace, etc. But, there is already lots written, read and ignored, stuff on these topics. Coz these are the usual masala that you can read tons of articles on. I had to think something different.

The other thing I could possible write was about my life. Now, there is another small problem to it. My life's story, if taken out my name, can be identified as story of so many people around me. That makes it non-unique. On that, a thought came to my mind. All of us are bound by so many things in life. We are bound by the society, by traditions, by the people we love, by our own narrow mindedness. Sometimes I feel, as if I am a captive in my own house. When I lie down on the bed, I feel that the ceiling binds me. It would have been so good, if I could ogle at the handsome Moon, and be envious of the beautiful stars. When I am on the roads, the traffic binds me. It would have been so good if it would be a muddy path that disappears into lush green woods with a magical mist around (almost a fairytale...right).

But I am bound, and I dont have the means to break this bound. I really adore those people who could divert themselves from the narrow line placed in front of them, and chase their dreams. I also dream, of freedom, of breaking free of traditions and follow my passions. I also want to hold the hands of life and walk towards the misty woods. I also want to whisper to the wind and fly with the clouds. But I am bound...but I am bound.

My New Mobile

I recently upgraded to a better handset than the basic model I was using. And its such a relief to switch to colored screen from the black and white screen :D. I suddenly have so many things to do with my phone :).

Have a look at the specs. And here are a few pictures of the phone:

Armaggedon

“Circa 2218 anno Domini…

The Armageddon has occurred… The Earth has been destroyed… Luckily, only a few years back, MARS had been discovered habitable for mankind… To ensure the survival of life, a few days before the Armageddon, a select few people from Earth were moved to MARS… This select few consist of an equal mix of males-females, literates-illiterates, young-old, Hesperian-Oriental etc… Along with them, go an equal mix of living / non-living things considered vital in human eco-system…

I am one of that select few!!”

Blue was looking awesome, as always, from the small window of the craft that was shuttling between Blue and Red. This was the last shuttle and then the chapter called earth will be shut forever. With a thousand questions running in my head and a lot of apprehension, I set foot on Red.

The life has changed, the meanings have changed; the world itself has changed for me. It was only two more days when the world I was used to, will be swiped out of existence. And all I could do is sit and watch the Blue’s destruction. But still I have thesoul left in my body; a sky, though of crimson color, is still above my head; I can still walk on firm grounds; and above all I have the spirit to explore a new world, spread out in front of me. With a heavy heart, I bid adieu to the world I had known, to reach out for the unknown and started the most gruesome journey I ever had.

The rucksack at my back, the sunglasses on my eyes, adjusted for a bigger sun in this world, and a mask for oxygen, I looked more like a Hitchhiker on a trail of the galaxy; remember “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. To my amazement there was a bus service taking the immigrants from Blue to the place considered home on this not so conducive planet. I took the bus and was in a flash of a second at the entrance of a huge building resembling the white house with a huge wooden door.

As the doors opened, I found the first trace of activity going on inside. It was much like a small township being developed indoors. I strolled towards the reception looking at the ceiling, which was quiet a simulation of the sky on Blue. The receptionist was a pretty lady with blonde hair. She asked me my passport to Red. After some clicks, she handed over an envelope and a key and directed me towards the escalators. Inside the envelope, I found currency notes of crimson color. I reached my room #1130 and with the key in, an automated voice asked me for my name. I pronounced my name loud enough for the entire floor to hear and the doors flanged open. Inside, the room was the size of a regular studio apartment in DC. It had all the means for a human to survive on Red.

With the money stuffed into my pockets, and all the necessary amenities into my rucksack; I locked the room and set out to look for a means to move around. I found a small car that uses the ever abundant solar energy with a good amount of oxygen, enough for a person to survive for 90 days and two for 45 days. I bought the car and was in a jiff to leave the place, but my eyes landed on a small shop selling pets. It was a good idea to have a pet and bought a cute little squirrel to jump inside the pocket of my jacket.

I took out the car on the barren roads of Red and stepped onto the accelerator. I thought it to be much similar to the drives I had through the deserts of Blue, but the sudden burst of gas just next to the path I took made me realize that this is not going to be a cakewalk for me. I stuck my eyes to the path ahead and drove on. There was a trail left by someone else, good to know that there was another crazy immigrated to Red. I diverted from my chosen path to follow the trail and concentrated on the path ahead, looking around for something that would attract my attention.

I finally found it. It was a garden inside a glass house. I parked the car near the door to the glass house and stepped inside. The place was amazingly kept. It was filled up with all the beautiful plants and shrubs and even trees from Blue. I heard someone call out, “Didn’t you read the board outside?” He was an old man; heavy glasses resting on his nose, wrinkles round his eyes and hair all gray. I said, “Sorry?” “It says trespassers not allowed. So just get out of this place.” I didn’t understand, after all it was only a garden. “You dumb struck or what? Now don’t wait till I call the security.” the old man furious. With a note of apology I came out but didn’t want to leave. Out of curiosity, I started walking along the periphery of the glass house. It was quiet big for a garden. I was appreciating the collection of the flora inside, which suddenly started turning weird. The plants I could see now were different. They were moving, sanguine in color and scary to look at, resembling predators of all those fictionla movies I had seen. Didn’t know, which category to put them under, flora or fauna?

Now, I was all the more interested in finding out what the hell was going on. I was so engrossed that I didn’t see the grotesque shadow like figure next to me. It was of a security guard of some sort. As I was about to say something, he punched an injection into my upper arm. Everything blacked out.

When I woke up, I saw myself in a small cell with nothing but a small peep hole. My belongings were taken away and so were my keys of the car. I was baffled. Trying to calm my heart rate down, I gave reasons to myself like, this, probably, is a nightmare. But it was not, it was worse than that. I was devoid of all the senses of time and direction, felt like a lost soul in the huge huge universe. I heard a squeak, and the squirrel jumped out of the pocket. I got an idea. It was my only chance. I sent out the squirrel through the peep hole hoping for it to return with something I could use for. There was a sound of some sort of babble outside and the door flanged open. The two security guards were fighting with each other. They shot each other. I ran out, picked up the squirrel and started carefully down the corridor. I was passing by a closed door, when I heard something about the Armageddon. It was a familiar voice. With a little pressure on my brains, I realized, it was the voice of the president of the “Project Red”.

The voice was remorseful; for they had caused the destruction of Blue. As the fact dawned to me that the Armageddon was human triggered, a conspiracy of the governments; a thunderous sound made me almost deaf. Everyone started pouring out of all the doors and kept running, ignoring the intruder inside. I too, followed the steps. Once outside, I could see the fireworks in the sky. Blue was in huge flames, Moon was cracking apart; the war of good and evil had begun. Another shrill, and to the horror of all supposedly safe humans on Red, a huge chunk of moon flying across the sky, was descending right on the spot. Panic struck, people were running from death, which was inevitable.

The war ended with the end of the creators of the war, humans. The galaxy rested in peace thereafter.

Hanging in the middle...

I had a funny incident today. In the afternoon, as me and my friends started for the lunch. We took the second elevator for going upstairs to the 7th Floor. There were quiet many people inside, say about 10. The elevator was going at a steady pace and by the time it was about to reach the 7th floor...Boom...there was a huge sound and the elevator stopped. But the doors didnt open. My friend was standing next to the user panel, so she pushed the Open-Door button quiet a number of time but to no avail. Somebody yelled push 6th Floor button, we can go down. It didnt work. Somebody suggested to press any damn button. Nothing worked. So we just kept pressing the alarm button. Please somebody come and take us out. Another voice came, call the reception. A person tried from his cell...but damn the airtel network...there was no signal. Thankfully, my cell had FULL B-) network. So I called up the reception and told the receptionist that we all are stuck in the lift, send someone to rescue us :D. She said people are on their way and we will be out soon. Till that time, people started talking...I heard someone asking to call parents, some were worried about their insurance :D. And after gruesome 10 mins, the lights in the lift went out and the door opened a bit. We could clearly see that we were somewhere in the middle of the 6th and the 7th floor. And suddenly, the lights came on and the doors got closed and the lift started moving downwards. It didnt stop anywhere but directly on the 3rd floor. Everybody rushed out. It was such a relief to finally be out of the lift :D.

Changing the looks!!

Hello Everyone!!

Well I am trying to change the blog appearance, so kindly bear with the intermittent problems like the font color. I am in the process of changing it, but due to some problem I have lost the connection with blogger :-(.

Will be able to bring back the blog into a readable form by tommorrow :-).

Flying high in the sky...

I dont know why, but somehow I had never had any flying experience till now. But a few days ago, I finally made it to the sky. I had my first fligh experience. The experience was so overwhelming, I thought of writing a post on it. So here I am to share what I felt when I had wings :-).

My first flight's departure time was 8:45 P.M. and out of before-the-time habit I had reached the airport at around 7:30 itself. After doing the checkin and getting my first boarding pass ever in my hand, me and my friend looked out for a good place to sit and look around. By the way, I didnt like the bangalore airport at all. It was no match to what I had imagined the airport of the silicon valley of India to be, an utter disappointment.

Well we chattered away looking at people, thinking about the wedding we were going to attend in Delhi and Beep-Beep, I got a message. It was from a friend telling me "Its raining hard". 'Oh My God'. We both turned immediately towards the terminal gate nearest to us to have a look at whats going outside and indeed it was raining heavily :-(. And then we heard the announcements, due to bad weather the outgoing flights had been delayed. I was wondering, "Why this has to happen to me?". But cant help it, so we sat around for some more time. I thought of taking some snaps for my memories of the first experience of the airport. As I ducked into my handbag to fetch the camera I realized...oh Shucks...I left my batteries inside the baggage :-(. So with a heavy heart of missing on the oppurtunity to capture those moments I sat quietly listening to Radio Mirchi and counting each and every second to the departure.

Finally the call for the security check for IT208 was called out. Me and my friend jumped off from the seat and headed towards the security check. Once outside the terminal, we realized that it was still pouring heavily from the sky. Due to all the sudden rush, there were not enough coach vans to take us to the flight. So we had to wait till other coach vans were fetched. Slowly the van took us around airport and neared our flight. It was such a good thing to see all those huge manmade birds standing in and around the place. And with the rain it was all the more exciting :-).

We boarded the flight and I got the window seat :-). Was just peeping outside to see the rain and the other flights. Once all the passengers had boarded they started with the welcome-on-board and instructions to be followed during the flight duration. The instructions were shown by the very gorgeous Yana Gupta on the small TVs in the front. Waise....the airhostesses were also not less than Yana Gupta :D. Anyways, it was time for the take off...I was already loaded with so many instructions from my well-wishing friends about the effects of take-off, that I decided to take their advice and stuffed my ears with cotton wool. The engines running, the aircraft started to move...it took around 5 mins for the aircraft to reach the runway. It was simply an awesome sight. The aircraft started picking up speed and with a jerk the front tyres were off the tarmac and slowly the rear ones too. We were flying....yoooohoooo... :-). The aircraft was in a tilted position and moving steadily upwards. The TV monitor in front of me was telling me the altitude, speed and the outside temperature continuosly. I had some weird feelings in my stomach whiles the ascent upwards, but the scene outside the window was too good to worry about all that :D. I could see the banglore city in the darkness, it looked as a sky beneath with thousand bright yellow stars. Slowly the rain against my window had started to be completely horizontal and then drying off. I could see beneath the dark clouds that were showering over bangalore. In sometime the flight hit the altitude of around 10,500 m above the land, the speed was somewhere around 800 kmph and the outside temperature was around -40 degrees...whooooo..that made me feel cold inside :D.

The flight was meant for to be of two and half hours but due to air traffic near the Delhi airport, the flight was hovering over Agra and later over Delhi. Finally we were told that we are landing. All passengers sighed for relief of finally getting off the plane. The descent was also quiet an experience for my stomach and my ears...I felt as if my ears were closed out. But it was overall a good experience :-). We set foot on the tarmac at around 12:30 am..the scheduled arrival was 11:15 pm :D.Though I had experiences of delayed flight and all, the feel of flying in the air for the first time was too good :-).

My flight back was also an experience. It was ontime :D...he he he. But the best part was that it was a morning flight :-). So I could see the clear blue sky from my window and white cotton balls underneath. If I try and imagine heaven, it would have a similar flooring :D. Overall the experince in the air was too good :-).

Khayali Pulao

Our Brain is one of the best cooks of this world. It can cook the most spicy, chatpati and delicious stories. Now this is one khayali pulao (or rather a virtual date) cooked by me and my friend :-D.

She is from b'lore and he, from hyd. One fine day she doesnt feel like sitting in the office anymore, calls him and asks him to take her to a movie. He, like any other guy :D, takes the next flight and comes to b'lore. After a lot of heated discussion they finally went to watch a movie. In the interval there was popcorn and cold drinks, cold drink with two straws :P.

After movie was the question "What next?". He feels hungry and asks her out for dinner. She wants dinner in a candle-lit restaurant :D. So they decide to go to a restaurant overlooking Husaain Sagar Lake. They took the next flight to Hyd and soon were sitting on a romantic dinner table :D. It was the perfect place, a candle lit table laden with good food overlooking the lake with the moon-lit sky above. Everything seemed so perfect, but is there a perfect world?..naah :D. She found something wrong with the food, it was the smell of egg...and she is allergic to it :D. She was not able to eat any more. He asks her for a ice-cream and she replies with a blush "One big sundae and two spoons" :D.

They planned to go out on a two-wheeler ride and he asked her to drive!!, she happily agreed. It was a black Honda Activa. She sped thorugh the lake side road, he started feeling tensed for the speed but she didnt care a bit, she was enjoying the chill and the air passing through her hair. He starts nagging for high speed and says that he shoudnt have trusted her. Screeeeeeeeech and she gives the keys to him [-(, her soul was hurted..how could he not trust her. He is sorry for his distrust and begs her to drive again :D. She is so ecstatic about it and she speeds up again...but oopssss the bike wont go beyond 80. She stops the activa and demands for a bike. Poor Him, he goes and gets a CBZ from a friend of his for her to drive :D. They are again off in the air enjoying the night and the moonlight at a fast pace ;).

Suddenly the bike comes to a halt. They are confused, fuel seems ok, and everything else seems to be fine but the bike wont start. They look around for someone for help and realize that they are in a very deserted place. Its dark and gloomy, she starts hearing strange sounds and is very very scared. He tries all the metal in him and kicks the bike for its stubborness @$@%#% :D. They dont know what to do next. He gets an idea....aah what a timing :D....asks for her mobile, after a long search in her small yet difficult to find anything bag, she declares that she forgot her mobile in the restaurant :D. He is furious, and she, as any other girl, starts crying :D, which he couldnt bear :P. He consoles her and calls for a cab from his "Only 2 Rs. Balance" mobile :D (talk of resourcefullness - 2 Rs saved for emergency :D)..

The cab will take 20 mins. For those 20 mins they click some cutie cutie snaps around the place ;) :D. Within 20 mins the cab was there and they hopped in. He asked the cab driver to take it to airport and then to his house. On this she got really upset, she insisted him to drop her home in banglore and then come back :D. So they fly on the latest flight to bangalore and reach there at 1 am. With a romantic good bye they part on the airport and thus ends the virtual date :D, with promises for more - A world cruise perhaps!...Lolzz :D.

So how was the pulao?? :D :D.

City of My Dreams!!

This one is for all of my friends from school and college and yup for all those people who hail from the wonderful city called "Bhopal".

I was kind of away from the city for say three years. And when I got the chance to be their again...I just hopped on the train and headed for the city. I had anticipated many changes and was kind of apprehensive that this modernisation might have changed my Bhopal. So, when i reached Bhopal, I kinda stepped out of the train with wary steps but full with excitement :-). It was 1:00 A.M. , the city was silent but it still looked so beautiful, as a lady draped in darkness. I just couldnt wait for the dawn to break so that I could go around and see the brighter side of it.

The day was all the more thrilling, starting from Jawahar chowk...my last home...then down the New Market main road, Top N Town, Roshanpura naka, down the road to Ravindra Bhawan, off to Lake side, Bharat Bhawan, and then the most beautiful view I saw in days...our very own 'Bada Talaab'. Then off to Kamla Park, Gauhar Mahal and swiftly onto the VIP road. Wow, the ride was so good, the same road on which I drove almost daily for four years, so many memories. While coming back I saw the perfect sunset, Sun sinking into the water of the Lake. The day was mesmerizing, set in the city I love the most :-).

During my drive through the town I noticed some very good things. Firstly the roads, after driving on the roads...rather streets of bangalore, bhopal roads were like the haven :-). I wish I had a bike and could just fly on the roads of Bhopal :D. The other thing that caught my attention were the murals on the squares and the road side walls by tribal people. I liked the concept of keeping bad posters and advertisements from creeping-in on the road side walls :-). And it looked pretty neat and artistic :-). I came to know that Bhopal was actually promoting a lot of art from nearby villages and tribal areas.

Well, next day I started off early in the morning. And this time, I covered the other side of the city. Starting from my house, through newly built Platinum Plaza (must say...amazing to see such structures in bhopal), then from Nankay (my regular petrol bunk) to the Link road, crossing Mayur Park (my childhood favorite) and from Chinar Park (place for our very entertaining GMs :D) taking a turn towards 5 no stop, Subhash School (abhivyakti garba nights...ooohh), then Bitthan Market (one of the most happening places now), towards 10 no. stop. Gosh it was a long way down the memory lane. But truly the best moments of my life spent over here.

Bhopal has always been the city of my dreams, and if not for practical reasons, I would love to spend the entire of my life in this peaceful city, amidst the lush green gardens and placid blue lakes. For me its the pradise, the ultimate city to live in :).