The large stone and a pair of teeth

The jogger

He kept trying for the whole of last week. And at last he succeeded. He woke up at 7 and started the good habit of jogging. He would have hardly ran ten meters when he crossed a bag containing a large stone and a pair of teeth lying side by side.

The fall guy

Every birthday comes with a new hope. A hope: the world will be good to you at least for a day. Sadly, our scapegoat won’t subscribe to that. Not after flying around, getting his butt kicked by every non-Grata well wisher and getting his face plastered with cream. He slowly heads back home, cursing and swearing at all those so called well wishers.

The villain

No story is complete without a villain. This guy happens to celebrate his birthday the very next day and is in need of money so that he can revel. He waits in a dark alley waiting for a prey to jump right in front of him.

The good guys

You find them helping old ladies cross the road even if all they never wanted to. They always prevent children from pelting stones at dogs, and end up getting 14 injections themselves. And the office has a few of them. They keep track of every event and waste no chance to gift magnanimously. It was on one such day that they give a fall guy some gift on his birthday, which was received well.

The reflexes

Reflex never fails. A walk down a dark alley and someone jumps in front of you. All one can do is to throw whatever you have in your hand at the offender.

The schemer

What is life without a conspiracy? Every damn event is a conspiracy. And it doesn’t need much of a time for the conspirator to replace the gifts with a piece of stone which resembles in every respect but for one. All these done in split seconds. Especially when someone’s flying all over. The gunpowder conspiracy has been excelled.

fiction? maybe...

result of reading too many novels back to back :P

"... and all those beautiful evenings we spent together, watching movies cuddled up on the couch... cooking together... laughing together... those nights when you sat up watching me as i slept... those mornings when i'd wake up to see your beautiful smile... every moment was out of a fairy tale... a world untrue but yet it was so true... blissful days and passionate nights... life with you has been an impossible dream lived in flesh n blood..."

"... when you said you have to leave to fulfil your dreams, i wished i could walk with you into your dreams... i bid you goodbye with a heavy heart and there was this faint hope of reliving our magic when you would get back... little did i know this would be the last time i ever saw you... little did i know you'd get so far away that neither my calls nor my cries could reach you... so far away where i cannot come even if i so much want to..."

"... can i? yes!!! i can... i can come over to where you are, my love... we vowed to be together, until death did us apart... i have lived with you though your life... and its now time to walk hand in hand with you in your after life... wait my love, lemme come along..."

love knows not its depth until the hour of separation...

A walk to remember

Days rush past as if they are competing with one another. It rushes past faster in case of weekends. A normal day would be like walk to office , get to office , get frustrated over work , brag to colleagues about stuff that never happened, get frustrated again and finally walk back home. With weekend u can probably leave the office stuff out, but still at times you get to go to office and spend your life. And believe me, the frustration was reaching a crescendo and cribbing was becoming one of those traits.

It was one such day.

I was walking to office, thinking on the numerous issues that might prop up for that day. The manager will ask the reason for the lag in schedule. What will I say then ? Must I say lack of clarity in requirements ? Or should I say I was feeling upset over the losses that Mumbai suffered. Or must I say that I didn’t want to do it? The last option is the truest and the simplest of reasons which I could say. But then I decide to try my luck with the lack of clarity crap. That’s when she asked me something.

To begin with, I wasn’t able to hear anything, thanks to the earplugs. I like earplugs. I started using it to ward of traffic noises. But later came to know the alternate utility it provides. I use it in every meeting. It serves me in two ways. I don’t have to listen to many things which doesnt concern me even a bit. Secondly, I sort of learned the art of lip reading. I could make out the please from her as I was removing them from my ears.

She asked me “Can you please take a pic of me and the watchman uncle ?”

Before I could give an answer she entrusted me with her digicam. And I took some three pics of her with the watchman and handed the camera back to her. She gave the best smile I have seen for ages and said a thanks and just walked away.

I felt like asking her a lot of questions. And these questions keep disturbing me for the rest of my walk to office. Questions like Whats your name? and many on similar lines. But she just walked away.

By then I had got office and I hurried to attend the daily meeting. I walked into the meeting hall. It did take me a few mins to realise that I had given my earplugs to the sweet girl whom I met on the way to office. And the meeting went for an hour.

Ada - A Musical Journey by A R Rahman

A Rahman album with 10 songs!! A real musical smorgasbord for every music buff!! And have I been enjoying the last couple of days listening to this album. I am pretty sure the 18 songs of Ada and JTYJN combined will keep me occupied while I wait eagerly for Rahman's next album to hit the music stores, which is not very far off from now. It is a difficult task to review a Rahman album, more so when it happens to have as many as 10 songs. In any case I have finally compiled a review of Ada.

Meherbaan

He might not have sung the best song in JTYJN, but Rahman steals the show in Ada with Meherbaan. The tune and the rendition are in the line of songs like Vellai Pookkal in Kannathil Mutthamittaal and Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera in Swades; simple and soothing. This song will surely find a place in the career-best renditions by ARR. If you are in a lot of stress, this is the song you would want to listen to.

Meherbaan (Instrumental)

Rahman has this knack of coming up with the ideal instrument for instrumental versions of his songs (Of course he has a lot of such brilliant knacks :) ). From veena for Enmel Vizhundha(May Maadham) to oboe for Khwaja Mere Khwaja (Jodhaa Akbar), they have all been real treats. Here it is guitar, and the guitarist Sanjeev Thomas has done a splendid job. Sanjeev Thomas has been active on the Indian rock scene for over 10 years now, heading bands like Rainbow Bridge. The use of acoustic guitar at the start and the subsequent shift to electric guitar for the second verse have all made this instrumental version as memorable as the original. I am looking forward to the day when Rahman will come out with a full-fledged instrumental album. If it happens that is surely going to be some album!!

Gulfisha

A relatively fast song sung by Vivienne Chaix, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. It is rather surprising to note that this is only Sunidhi's second song with Rahman after Saiyyaan in Nayak. I have always wondered why Rahman has so ignored Sunidhi, arguably Bollywood's best singer currently. Coming back to the song; though Sunidhi and Sonu have sung the song perfectly, the song fails to impress much. Though I didn't feel a similarity to any other song, I felt the tune to be of a rather repetitive sort. Being a Rahman song it may require a few hearings to make its impact, but for now I don't find it very remarkable.

Hai Dard

The first 2-3 seconds of the song would give the listener an impression akin to Mast Kalandar (Heyy Babyy) but then the song surprisingly takes a sorrowful note. Rahman has maintained his variety and unconventionality in his orchestration even in this song by bringing in instruments like chenda (heard after the starting verse). Udit Narayan's crooning has been soulful, but this song too falls into the category of the less impressive songs of the album.

Milo Wahan Wahan

Jayachandran has been used by Rahman only a few times. But each of those times has produced a gem. And hence I had high expectations when I heard that Jayachandran is making his Hindi debut with a Rahman song. However I didn't find it as satisfactory as their previous outings. It has to be admitted that it is a good song rendered very well by Jayachandran and Alka Yagnik. Jayachandran has kept a low profile in Malayalam industry for the last couple of years, but he proved with this song that he hasn't lost any of his talent to old age. Nevertheless, this song strongly reminds of older sad songs by Rahman. The starting beats resemble the start of Snehidhaney (Alai Payuthey), and song in general reminds of Kannathil Mutthamittal (Kannathil Mutthamittal) in its mood and style. That said, the tune of the starting line has been used previously in the BGM of Kannathil Mutthamittal. The song surely doesn't rate among the best of Rahman's melancholic songs.

Gumsum

A foot-tapper sung well by Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik. Though the instrumentation and the rendition very much resemble Vaaji Vaaji (Sivaji), this song is bound to make a place at the top of the music charts. Particularly pleasing in the orchestration is the mandolin (I think its mandolin though I am not sure) which keeps cropping up throughout the length of the song.

Hawa Sun Hawa

Sonu and Alka come together for the second time in the movie, this time with a pleasing melody. Very well orchestrated with the flute standing out at various parts of the song. I would like to know what the percussion used during the starting and second verses, is. Sounds really interesting.

Ishq Ada (Female version)

This song is sung by newcomer Parul Mishra, and what a way to make a debut! The instrumentation is along the lines of Sona Nahin Na Sahi from 1 2 Ka 4 (similar sort of instrumentation was also used in Are You Sure You Want To Be Famous in Bombay Dreams) and hence the initial 2 verses move on giving a maapila paattu feel to the song. Then suddenly comes the change in raga with a superb alaap by Parul (the raga is Subhapanthuvarali I feel), which goes to say a lot about the classical base that this singer has. I sincerely hope Parul makes it big in the industry and doesn't turn out into another instance of a splendid debut petering out into oblivion.

Ishq Ada (Male version)

The male version of the above song is rendered by Rashid Ali. Though the tune and the instrumentation remain the same barring the removal of the alaap part, Rashid Ali has made the song different by his style of rendition. While Parul was more classical-oriented, Rashid has made his version more Arabic in style. Listening to this I get a feeling that Rashid would have made a good accompaniment to Rahman in Khalbali (RDB). It would have really suited his voice and style of rendition. In any case, I am looking forward to more songs from Rashid Ali.

Tu Mera Hai

Chitra is one of the most prolific singers in India alive, having won a multitude of awards including 6 national awards in her musical career spanning nearly 30 years now. And the respect Rahman has for her is obvious from the songs he has so far given her. Be it Anjali Anjali (Duet) or Kehna Hi Kya (Bombay) or the national award winning Mana Madurai (Minsara Kanavu), ARR-Chitra combo has always given us something to cherish. Now here is one more to add to it. The song which has got a spiritual air to it is marked by its lavish instrumentation. Sukhwinder Singh has sounded a bit off-colour in comparison to Chitra's excellent singing. Naresh Iyer has provided excellent backing vocals. Chitra sounded surprisingly different in the line Ya Rab Shukriya at the start. Yet another surprise comes in the interlude section after the second verse where you can hear Chinese violin, of all the things you would expect in such a song!!

To sum it up, yet another eclectic mix from the maestro marred by a couple of ordinary-sounding songs. In any case the other songs more than make up for the less impressive ones. I would however rate JTYJN above Ada coz of its freshness when compared to this album.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

It was a double treat for Rahman fans on 20th as 2 of his albums hit the market on the same day, Ada and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. I have been thinking of trying my hand at music reviews. And I couldn’t find a better way to start than with a Rahman album. So here is my humble attempt at reviewing the maestro's albums. First Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

Tu Bole Main Boloon
A typical jazz number rendered by Rahman himself. I guess this is the first time he's doing a jazz song in Hindi. (Previous ones being Hello Mister in Iruvar and Jillendru Oru Kaadhal in SoK). It is indeed a fresh change as there haven't been any jazz songs lately in Hindi. But it surely doesn't rate among Rahman's best songs, mainly coz I wonder if this song would appeal to the masses though jazz followers would surely love this song.

Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai
This song with a sensuous mood is sung by Runa Rizvi. Runa Rizvi is the daughter of ghazal singer Rajkumar Rizvi (who happens to be a nephew of Mehdi Hassan) and previously sung in a couple of movies which went unnoticed. Though Runa has sung well, her attempts at sensuality havent quite made an impact,as it would probably have made with someone like Shreya Ghoshal. Barring that its a good song.

Jaane Tu Meri Kya Hai
Sukhwinder has one more good song this year in his kitty with the male (and a better) version of the above song. Though the tune of the song remains the same, the mood brought about is totally different!! Splendid orchestration and backing vocals, and an excellent rendition by Sukhwinder make this one of the best songs in the album.

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi
Easily the pick of the album, a perky song coming out in the fresh and different vocals of Rashid Ali. Rashid Ali is ARR's guitarist I hear, and he has sung a lesser known song, Naadhir Dhinna for Rahman in the movie Paarthaale Paravasam. The vocals are beautifully complemented by the guitar throughout the song, and flute coming in between. The first line of the song resembles the first line of Appudo Ippudo in Bommarillu, but the resemblance ends there. A very good choice to begin your morning at work with (as I have been doing for the last 2 days. :) ).

Kahin To Hogi Woh
A romantic pop song reminiscent of songs like Nothing's gonna change my love and so on, rendered beautifully by Rashid Ali and Vasundhara Das. Again the orchestration and the choral voices have added to the beauty of the song. Rashid Ali reminds me of Adnan Sami at times with his slight nasal twang and the western style of rendition. Wonder why Rahman never brought him to the spotlight earlier.

Nazarein Milaana
A very youthful and peppy song sung by a horde of singers (Swetha Bhargave, Naresh Iyer, Satish Chakravarthye, Tanvi, Darshana, Benny Dayal, Anupama Deshpande). Anupama Deshpande is a singer who used to sing for Rahman till some time back I guess. Again having a pop mood, this song belongs to the league of Please Sir in Boys.

Pappu Can’t Dance
Rahman's next offering for the discotheques, this is another of the top songs in the album. This is again sung by a multitude of singers (Blaaze, Mohd. Aslam, Tanvi, Anupama Deshpande, Benny Dayal, Tanvi, Darshana, Satish Subramanium). At parts it reminds me of Kama Kama in Enakku 20 Unakku 18. There is also a remix version of the same song. Not sure if the remix has been done by Rahman himself but in any case it has been splendidly done.

First the soundtrack of a historical movie. Now a youthful album. Rahman continues to entertain us with his variety. And as a devout Rahman fan, I couldn’t ask for more.

queue sera sera

Queue, Whats that ? A question one wouldn’t expect even a kid to ask. One who preaches that the world is eventually headed towards chaos will perceive the Queue with awe. For it opposes all that he has he has learned, read and preached . People standing one behind the other often unperturbed and all of them very hopeful of they getting a chance pretty soon. This is something which might lead the chaos guy to question the credibility of all that he had believed in.

Group of people patiently waiting for something to happen to them; something pleasant like a bus which might never come, or perhaps something bad like some cyclone to blow them away or even more catastrophic their fate to be decreed to them by God on Doomsday.

Amazing, does it not feel like? (Might be highly subjective.)

Queue is an amazing indeed. For it had managed to subdue the mob instincts of people and install in them some ethics into the adamant minds of humans. It tends to tell him/ her that the fun in waiting for something for a long time and attaining it cannot be achieved any other way. If one pulls in utility and all the economics one knows

Utility gained by waiting in a queue for something > Utility gained by fighting for something > Utility gained by getting something delivered to u

And people don’t bother thinking a lot over the above in-equation. For the guy who said it was later proved to be a lunatic as per the verdict of a jury of lunatics.(yeah , foreman included)

There is nothing as funny as being in a queue. Having said that there is nothing that tests ones patience as a queue would.

The guy standing in front of you will at least have some 3 bags to manage. He will have be always trying to find the optimum way of handling the bags. He will bend down at times and try to relieve the pressure his hands and legs are subjected to, and that I think will be periodic. And in the process he will manage to push u behind a bit much to your discomfort. Else he will give one the bags a full swing as the amateur golfer would. And the bag will come hit straight at your face which u will avoid thanks to some good reflexes. A apology will be thrown at you even faster in both instances.

The guy standing behind you will be suffering from all the ailments that one can possibly think of. He will sneeze ,cough , breathe heavily and at times end up placing his chin right over your shoulder. If he happens to have a mobile in his hand , then consider urself dead. He will speak so loud that at times it sounds worse than the alarm in your room. Or worse he will always get a week old news paper and try to make out what went wrong with his stars last week. You might, at times, even contemplate leaving the queue. But you stay on.

In walks a man who is all skepticism can be.Or even more! He will go on asking everyone in the queue whether the queue is for a specific purpose. After one round of interrogation , he will stand right in front of you and contemplate if he must join the queue or not. That will be stopping u from getting a glimpse of the evening news being displayed on the plasma screen. Expect no apologies, for they are hard to come by.

Rarely you will have some kids in the queue who will manage to amuse you throught the tedious waiting. You will manage to give the kid a big smile and grab the attention of the kid. But the kid will select that moment to give out his best cry , as if it had been waiting for that moment all its life. And u are rendered helpless. Suddenly you become this person who has no respect for children and you are forced into giving an apology.

Apologies received <= Apologies given

I am no sadist, but i must say that the displeasure that gets generated out of the counter closing down for a lunch break or the tickets getting over when u are the next person to avail the opportunity. You are better of if u take that and just move on with your life.

The advent and use of softwares to manage almost all manual jobs has lead to change in most of the customary practices apart from rendering a few men and women jobless. But the queue has managed to find its way into that domain as well. And the name is still queue.

Doubters, refer Data Structures and be satiated.

And there goes....

Justine Henin retires from tennis while she's at the top of the rankings by a considerable margin. How I'll miss those booming one-handed down the line backhands when I watch tennis from now on... oh wait!! With Justine departing, is women's tennis worth watching at all?? I don't mean to belittle other players. But Justine Henin brought a certain freshness to the game, that few other tennis players of today can boast of. 9 years ago, when Steffi walked away from tennis, and it seemed that the Williams sisters would run away with all the Slams, a diminutive Justine stood up and showed the world that tennis is not all about power packed serves or groundshots marked by ear-splitting grunts. As Billie Jean King rightly said, "Pound for pound, she was the best player of her generation". It can't be more true.

This wispy little Belgian has always played the game on her own terms. Standing at just 5' 6" tall, few thought she'd go on to capture 7 Grand Slams within 4 years. But Justine begged to differ. What she lacked in size, she made up with variety and skill! Amongst the current breed of muscular power-hitting glamorous tennis stars (with due respect to them), Henin stood apart- those deft shots at the net, surprise volleys, drop shots, scorching cross court forehands...ah!!! Women's tennis is never gonna be the same anymore. Her amazing court coverage, precise backhands and efficient forehands were a mystery to her opponents more often than not.

Looking at her results, one might reckon that Justine has done nothing extra ordinary as compared to other greats like Steffi Graf or Martina Navratolova. But a peek at her personal life and you'll find it difficult to believe that a person who's gone through so much tragedy in her life could actually achieve so much!!! Losing her mother when she was only 12, and an estranged family ever since - these only fuelled her drive for more success. Each French Open crown was a tribute to her mother. It was her promise to her mother after watching the 1992 French Open final between her icon Steffi Graf and Monica Seles that she'd win Roland Garros one day. And win she did. An amazing 4 times in 5 years! The promise that she kept true!

Though clay was her forte, it was in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon that little Justine reached her first Grand Slam final. Though she lost to Venus then, she'd made her statement to the tennis world. Justine style of tennis had arrived! And it was here to stay. A couple of years later she made her major break through by winning the 2003 French Open. Later she went on to win the US Open the same year and a maiden Australian Open in 2004. After a 7 month lay off in 2004-'05 she came back again to her favourite clay and won it again. After that, there's been no stopping Justine at Roland Garros. She also won it in '06 and '07 as well. In 2007, she also won the US Open without dropping a set and produced a near-perfect season - 10 titles, a 69-4 win-loss record and over $5 million in earnings in a calendar year. She also became the only woman to have beaten both the Williams sisters in a Slam and go on and win it! All these, after starting the year having divorced her husband Pierre-Yves Hardenne!! Later in the year, she also re-united with her previously estranged family.

Friends, wasn't she an incredible athlete?

Statistics are not important here, I admit. For. it's the sheer marvel of Justine's game that brought me back to tennis. Signature Justine style tennis! After Steffi's era only Roger and Justine have provided me with beautiful, breath-taking, awe-inspiring tennis. She's the first player that has retired while at the top of the rankings. Earlier it was Steffi who retired while she was No.3 in the world...

And now that Justine has bid farewell to tennis, she only reinforces the statement I made before - that she has always played the game on her own terms. And many will remember her as one who always followed her own calling....

It's her life, and she's the best person to decide what's best for her....And there she goes, leaving behind an eternity of tennis that could be hers... to explore her life... into peaceful oblivion...

Thank you Justine.... for all the wonderful times you've given us...

And....good luck!