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……….

Birthday

What you want to be, you become.

In a hopelessly practical world

I turn 22 this Saturday.

Today it seems like Meandering Recollections Day

I can almost look past the 22 years

It has been a beautiful journey full of sweat

Well, guess it wont have been beautiful enough without the sweat

I am what I appear to be

(Except for a very small part of my life that I don’t like to talk about)

For you become, what you want to be.

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Some people call me atypical. But what to do, there is a contradiction in my birth date itself! I mean it is the first date of the last month on the calendar! Unlike a few other people, I like birthdays and receive bday wishes warmly. This one is to all the Sparkling Saggitarians.

River in the Boat

The monster cant hurt me if I keep dancing.

My feet dont hurt me anymore as I am used to moving them in so many directions, balancing them in such a way that i dont give them enough time to hurt.

How I want the present Alesea to die and a new one emerge. My everyday plan just does not work on field. Well strategy was never a forte!

But how much i want, she remains there with her own choices, not bothered about what others have to say.

I am not proud of her today. She was scared of her own self.

Today i want to love her enough to let her go.

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The title is a chapter's name taken from 'God of Small Things'

A Tryst with Kasauli

The night is beautiful today. The sky so cluttered with stars that they seem to be pushing each other for space. The coffee mug and the warm wrap keeps me somewhat tepid but it is quite freezing.

What is more beautiful is the calmness of this place. So much so that, I clearly hear my breathing.

The white and the black ‘Ruby’ runs around here as she has smelled milk. But my attention is already clutched by the enormous giant who stands far away from me, his hands sprawled and his eyes twinkling in a manner reminiscent of small bulbs. With a fright of its own the scene is as beautiful as it can get. The mountain looks at me directly in the eye.

It feels cold. Not freezing but cold. The warmth of the coffee reaching inside me through my hands. And ya the idea of romance does flash in now.

I look up, above in the sky. And like diamonds in the sky, the stars are sprawled beautifully but jagged in such a wonderful way. My analysis is broken with somebody calling me inside for dinner. Well that’s one of my friends calling me.

Kasauli is a nice place. Not a typical hill station but a small little place, lets call it a mount; to relax and unwind. Surprisingly, a small part of it, that I saw still is untouched. In the state of a burgeoning real estate boom, a part of it looks as perfect as a designer’s cuts.

The dinner and some self introspection apart from philosophical talks about few other common people in our world (read as bitching), the sleep lingers for long and finally enters me.

And now its time for the ideas. They can kindle to life amid a melody of chaos. Dreams- well they seem to be far away and I want to climb up the rooftop and touch the star.

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The experience was so much like ‘The Daffodills’. I mean I can actually recollect emotions in tranquillity. Not to forget, the place where we were living. A beautiful and cosy cottage owned by a friend. Luxury Personified!