That One Moment....

That one moment, the ecstasy of touching those little fingers, making life a prospect, worth not just a glimpse but ‘pestering’ to see the entire landscape, tickling those soft feet, that gurgling with pleasure, every little sound like music to ears, as gentle as the rain that falls, as calm as the dew on the grass, like brightness in the night…..

Like that moment there would be no another, for somebody who became a father of a little baby girl today. The pride, the joy, the peace and the love, was oozing in the voice like blood from the veins, the weariness so muddled up with zest, that apart from him touching beauty today, surprisingly I ended up feeling it and yes……The conversation so cosmic and rich in texture that I felt guilty about talking about my life in the middle of something so special… !

Sometimes, somethings are just so honest and chaste, the untaintedness so overwhelming. That you can’t help but appreciate and value them.

Have you touched beauty? Ever? Not literally, I mean, But in any form, a way not tactile enough? Something not palpable and physical but still leaving a streak behind….

Well, I did that today. Sitting five thousand miles away from the source of joy.

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A dedication to a somebody special who became a father today. Somethings just don’t change and remain special!

The Long-drawn-out Wait…

O Lord!
In your world, In my world, In our world
Why are hatred and war in attendance?
Your heart is so expansive
Yet why are ours so constricted?

At every step, why is there a boundary?
All this earth that is yours
Sun is what it revolves around
Why is it so shady still?
On this world’s veil,
why do I see blood’s colour everyday?

Echoing are the shouts of many
That pour like hot iron in my ears
Who wants to listen to the talks of love?
Shattering are all the dreams
Who is going to gather all these scattered pieces?
Heart's doors are locked
Why are these locks so rusty?

My answer?
I am still waiting……

A Temporary Matter

I see
a gap in the door that swings
on the outskirts of the heart
I want to bury the lie in there.
But it makes a new appearance
This time more vivid
More stark
So much so that it hurts
Somewhere in the abdomen
But the boiling sea water
boils more
and leaves it for the vultures
I don’t let them harm me
Well, vultures were never strong enough
But the gash bleeds for a while
And will stay for sometime before it heels, never completely…….

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Public Disgrace is intolerable and trespassers will be prosecuted !

Strings for Peace

Music is a meta- thought that transcends the borders of consciousness. It is somewhat similar to a child's innocence, having the capacity to retreat just anyone in the world of absolute joy and beauty. The art form today held a beauty of its own as one could see the wonderful amalgamation of swar and leya. It was time for some pure music for the city denizens, full of extraordinary brilliance and spiritual magnitude. Never before has one seen such perfect partnership in resonance as was witnessed this evening.

In command was none other then the legendry sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan whose culmination as an artiste seemed at its acme today. Heralded in the concert by his two sons Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan, the seventh generation of Senia Bangash Gharana, the Ustad without doubt ruled the show embellishing it with his stupendous expertise in the instrument. As he began the evening with the very familiar Vaishnav Jan to the Ustad transformed the space into a sanctified sanctuary exhilarating the rapt hearts of the packed house with soulful ecstasy. He then went on to play 'Raghupati raghav raja ram' and made the audience dive into the Bihu tunes from Assam from where his wife Subhalaxmi comes from. The evening tunes according to the maestro are endowed with special notes to bring you closer to God and all that is pure, as you pray at the sunset. As if in a contemplative reverie, and with a masterful touch, the maestro let his fingers orchestrate the strings to sing, construe and embellish the classical ragas and familiar prayer songs.

It was Ustad Amjad Ali Khan's supremacy of vocal expression through the instrument that kept the audience enraptured throughout his solo session. "Swar hi ishwar hai. Language creates barriers. There is no need to understand the symphony, you just need to feel the music." Said Khan sahib. As if the beauty of the Bihu was less, Rabindra Sangeet further enriched the surroundings forcing all profanity into oblivion.

Before this, Amaan and Ayaan showed their bravura skills on Sarod with raag Raageshri. Listening to their music was also quite an ordeal as they surpassed the test of artistic creativity incredibly. They exhibited quite a lot of authority, exuberant energy and striking stage presence.

The concert's delight also laid in the fact that every instrument occupied a temperament on stage. Abetted by the maestro in presence, as the affair between men and music reached its summit, each instrumentalist brought out his best skill to present the raga in a handsome way. The young masters indulged in playful combats with their father, so did the superbly gifted Tabla players Mithilesh Jha and Sandip Das.

The final moments of the concert were impromptu encore as ripples of sound originated from the reunion of three sarods in a glittering parade of reverberation. Together they sparkled, formed melodic fireworks, and enchanting crescendos charming the listeners into unadulterated emotional heights in turn giving a measure of their tremendous talent.
The finale was made perfect by raag Khamaaj with a combination of alaap, bandish, jod and jhala that created a unique disposition in the air leading the concert to perfection. The invigoration, sensual pleasure and the spiritual brilliance that the concert had will be long remembered for its sweetness.
The recital was thus not all about rigorous classical music but playful extemporization of the symphony, in turn winging it to greater heights. Strings for Peace ruled the day

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Well im not following my passion currently- journalism....but this is how i would have reviewed the show....it was just fantastic.......not because of any 'other' reasons but the fact that i thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Brew it Right!

Selfishness is so subtle sometimes but yet so much there. It is just there likr a spineless jellyfish and hasnt spared any. It differs in magnitude for sure. 'You are a nice human being' you told me the other day. Well modesty is somewhere down the line definitely my virtue but all that I could think of today was,'You need to learn alot from me!'
Bonds can be shaky at times inspite of appearnces being strong.

Public Relations all the time can really get on your nerves. There is nothing called nobelity around. Its not about image building but about alot of other things alot of time.

Its difficult to get but It should not be about the froth that sits at the rim of a coffee mug full of coffee. It has to be so many times about the coffee itself that has to be brewed in a way that it does not go extremely bitter.

I hate the coffee that is too frothy and with too much of chocolate at the top that even the sweetness starts irritating.

Adieu 2007

As the clock just struck 12, I have entered 2008. Well as the world dances the night away I sit here in my room like many others on this planet and write this post.

Well, as always, in a hopelessly practical world, the year went past in a jiffy and as always it was good, bad and grey with undertones of awkwardness, embarrassments, shocks, weird feelings, experiences, some really happy moments, meeting some of the most amazing people, reunions with people who are really special now……All this including the embarrassments were special in their own way. Man I can actually playback this year so clearly like a movie reel!

My course formed a very important part of my life. I think mass comm does that to you. It just keeps growing on you. I loved it and unloved it at the same time.

Apart from that my thoughts kept on pacing back and forth like a sort of tornado that kept surfacing whenever I breathed. Some people just can’t go off the mind. Maybe I don’t let them. Abstractions….so many of them..huh!

I have had my share of bouquets and brickbats in 2007

2008 is going to be one of the very significant years as this year I take some of the most imperative decisions of my life. I hope you treat me well – 2008 as I bid adieu to 2007 and enter this New Year with memories that mean a lot.

Revolta

Seeker or Believer? He wondered in a combination of dismay and gladness.

A distant roar threatens to overwhelm the familiar noise, drawing closer every minute. Today Jack just wants to climb the flyover, hit the road and finally merge into the traffic in his green car to reach Revolta- the theatre that plans to stage a musical in a few minutes time.

He takes two tickets and does not wait for his guest to come, instead he enters the theatre alone, with a full blown enthusiasm, a sort of blush on his face that reaches his eyes, making them gleam.

He takes the corner seat and puts the second ticket on the seat to his left, not waiting for her to come.

The lights go off and the musical begins. As it progresses, Jack smiles, laughs, cries and reacts to each line of the musical, the way he had done when he had first seen it.

The musical ends and Jack sees a beautiful girl dressed in a black, who comes up to him and looks at him in deep astonishment and surprise.

“What are you doing here Grandpa? Grandma died last night! You are not behaving like a grieving widower should!”

“I wasn’t here tonight to see the musical. I came here to feel her, the way I did forty six years back on our first date. Revolta was never this beautiful.”

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Well, don’t know from where this came from……….