Change..

Too much that you want to change in me,
colour me as you wish, mold me the way you want me to be.
Take my word - it wont stick, will all wash out,
drop by drop, down the drain without a doubt..

wish I could change your point of view,
force those notions aside n try be in my shoes..
make you stand in for me, take it on like I do,
feel first-hand 'me' you never knew..

forcing you to swap places,

But no.. i wont do that.
'cos in futile effort to make you understand,
blindly I just might don your hat !


i shall let it pass, leaving with you no choice,
as you cant just ignore me, for whatever i've got..
i wont change, and you got nothing..
but to love me or hate me, for everythin' that i'm not.

The wind blows..

The wind blows..

Over the harsh times - reminding how I fought them out..
and over the good ones.. yet not letting me bask in the warmth..

Bringin back memories - good and bad, but drifts them away..
Not letting them linger too long, reminding me to just move on ahead..

They say its part of life - the crests and troughs, highs and lows..
easy to say, but hard it gets when you gotta face the blows..

Leaving behind the rough road that was traveled upon,
blowing the dust off my face, pushing me to just tread on..

As the blast of the air tries to overpower my will,
unaware that i am prepared for the climb uphill..

I keep walking, my goal in my sight..
the wind still blows, with all its might..

I wonder..

I wonder who'd come along with me..To explore this life into its depth,
'the perfect one' - I wonder who 'the one' will be..
As eager and anxious as I am, to take that leap of faith.. :)

ख़ामोशी..

सुनसानसी इस रात मे, हम आवाज अपनी ढुंढते है,
सन्नाटे तो भरे पड़े है हर जगह, हम अपने अन्दरकी ख़ामोशी से डरते है !

Random..

thoughts are like kites.. If not held on to - wandering off in the vast field of imagination - wild, untamed, unknown, sometimes weird, sometimes bad.. sometimes good - sometimes just neutral..

And all of this tied down by a string of conscience - which always tries to pull you back or stop you from doing something wrong - or even lets you a little loose while taking flight in the right direction..

Kite..

Kite ..

Wind in the chest, that paper-skin gone tight..
A long flutterin tail, teasing birds in their flight..

A tug on the string and up it goes,
high above the world, away from its woes..


picking on the whiff, riding the breeze,
cruising alongside the angels, with such an ease..

Blessed by the zephyr, tasting the freedom..
it tries to conquer soaring heights,
unaware that someone down there, controls all its flights !

an angel..

There I was..
sitting in the corner, lost in my own thoughts..
sippin' on the welcome drink,
wondering how to kill time..
and then...a face caught my eye..

like sun shining through a monsoon cloud,
like a bright light, wiping off an age-old blackout..

mingling in the crowd, but still standin out..
a caring face with an inviting pout..

charming persona and a million dollar smile..
to recover from the awe.. damn.. I took a while !

every feature of her body oozing out with grace..
she looked like a diva, such was that face..


her walk in such rhythm, felt as if she just floated around..
such delicate feet, like they never touched the ground !

a sweet voice and laughter so magical,
and that twinkle in her eyes working like a miracle..

in sync with her beauty, was her every move..
no missin a single beat, never missin the groove..

I just stood there, totally mesmerized..
went weak in knees, my body as if paralyzed.

worked up some courage, thought I'd atleast talk to her..
but then.. she disappeared.. as if dissolved into thin air !

closed my eyes to gather some senses and clear up the confusion..
was she for real or was it just an illusion ?

may be it was the drinks or 2 that i had,
may be were the connections in my brain gone bad..

woke up in the morning and still couldnt solve the riddle..
and then i realize..

nor was she unreal, neither a dream..
Just someone from the up above..
I'd seen an Angel.. !

Her Smile..

One thing that wipes worries off my mind,

Her smile.. that's one of a kind..

She smiles at me, and I feel so light,

Magical it seems, she jazzes up the night..

Drudgery of life, tends to scramble,
when that pair of lips breaks into a cackle..

Don't believe in god, but I pray for her..

No matter what happens, just let her smile stay forever !!

:)

Ever wished you could be a kid again ??

There are certain points in life, when we want to go back to being a kid.. A lot of situations where you would certainly want to leave all the baggage behind and become as carefree as an 5 yr old kid..
Well.. quite frankly, i just wish it was practically possible - time machine/ time warp/ whatever way its do-able.. just go back to your childhood for a coupla hours, and get back to 'today's world' after a 'short' break.. :P Just imagine - most carefree, tension-free days of our lives - and getting to re-live them, may be part by part but something would always be better than nothing !

Hell yes.. I want to care more about that monster in my closet while i try to sleep alone in the bed for the first time. I want to go and watch those crazy plays where Dilip Prabhawalkar in a witch-costume scares the shit out of kids. I want to gobble up on mangoes in summer, wearing only my under-garments - not cos its hot in summer, but i might screw up my clothes. I want to showoff my 'Hero' inkpen to classmates and make them jealous. I want to roam the streets on my cycle and pull off skidding on gravel. I want to play 'ball-bearing cricket' with my school buddies in the school. I want to bunk tutions and go fishing with help of a badminton racket on the river. I want to tie that huge towel around my neck, wear the undies over my pyjamas and roam around the house like a superman. I want to go out in th rain wearing a full raincoat and gumboots, and walk right thru the clogged water splashing it all around.
man.. this list just goes on..

the question is - is this whole going back in time thingy ever possible ??

searching for some silence..

getting too noisy from within..
too many conflicts in my head,
though i've them buried deep,
lot of memories brought back from the dead..
have tried hard to let the pictures get blurry,
realizing i've lost that precious calm in a hurry..

craving for that serenity, that feeling of contentment,
searching for that tranquility, to soothe me down..
i search for some silence, in all the clamor around..

Revelations..

Dont know if this is happening just because I am in a very different mood altogether, but recently there have been incidences that kinda shuffled my opinions abt some people around me.

I am not the kind of person who forms opinions about anyone, very fast. Giving time to know a person is what I usually do, and I can totally justify that after experiencing quite a good number of mis-judgements by myself as well as close ones.
Of-course, there is a huge part of the 'instinct' that goes into forming a first impression - but that should not be the only base to form a long lasting opinion about a person.

It just happens sometimes that you have known a person over a long period of time, say couple of years or so. You think you have a fair idea about behaviour/ tastes etc etc.. but BAM ! One day, you get to see a totally different side of him/her, which kinda shakes you inside out. Not in a good or bad way, but just makes you realize how a person evolves all in itself - if taken positively Or many would easily brand that person as unpredictable !

This kinda makes me feel how we take things for granted so easily. I mean we 'think' we know a certain person, and we tend to mutually adjust with eachother on smallest of things. And all of it just crashes down in that very brief moment of revelation..

आपण सारेच अभिमन्यू !

आपण सारेच अभिमन्यू !

काही स्वेछेनी अडकलेले, काही मुद्दाम अडकवलेले ..
सुटकेचा मार्ग शोधता शोधता, लढून लढून थकलेले ..

प्रत्येकाची चक्रव्यूह वेगळी, पण अपेक्षा मात्र तीच..
शक्य - अशक्यचा विचार न करता, जिंकण्याची उर्मीही तीच !

पण असतात काहीजण, लढाई अर्ध्यातच सोडून देणारे
नवी वाट शोधायची सोडून धोपटमार्ग स्वीकारणारे..
पण असेही असतात काही ज्यांच्या जगण्याला,
लढण्याशिवाय काही अर्थच राहत नाही.. !

काही नुसतंच लढणारे, काही लढता लढता जगणारे..
तर काही नुसतच जगणारे..

शेवटी काय.. आपापल्या नजरेत आपण सारेच अभिमन्यू.. !


- ıɥsıɹH

Afterglow...

Wading thru the mazes, no paths to follow..
blinks of hope that lead to a hollow,
Makin my own way across this darkness,
the only thing that guides me is your afterglow..

kaise ho tum..

Came across another good song by Agnee.. 'Kaise Ho Tum' - it can be downloaded from their website : www.agneelive.com. Give it a listen.

किससे कहूं मैं, किसकी याद आती है..
माज़रा ये साँसोंका.. कुछ और जतलाती है !

यूँ लगे, छूही लू..
फिर तूझे पाही लू..
जाने क्यूं !

Simple and Beautiful !

Playlist update 2.0

Got hold of OST of Lamhaa.

1. Saajna - Lamhaa : Hats off to Mithoon for a totally surprising rendition of 'Saajna' by Mika Singh !!
Yes you read that right . Mika Singh singing a soft, slow number which is actually one heck of a melodious song. Some really awesome lyrics as well.. very well written, composed and sung.

2. Bahara - I hate luv stories : Once again Vishal-Shekhar duo at their best. What a song ! There's no doubt about Rahat Fateh Ali Khan's prowess but this, left me a feel that i find difficult to describe. Super !!

3. Bin tere - I hate luv stories : Ditto as No.2, but this one sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali has that lively rhythm - perfect song to start off a day i say !

4. Mtv Splitsvilla theme song - Agnee : I am always left speechless when this one comes on ( which happens every 20 mins or so in the car - repeating a 5 song playlist, you see.. :P )


Quite frankly speaking, I have not heard much of english songs in the last few weeks, but few i feel worth a quick mention are :
1. Superhuman - Chris Brown,
2. Birthmark - Akon
3. If we ever meet again - Timbaland
4. Stylo - Gorillaz : Original one and the Chidy Bang remix as well - Kickass !!!
5. Fireflies - Owl City : awesome song by a not-so-famous musician.
6. Hands of time - Groove Armada - awesome song !!

Thats all for now..

Bliss !

Standin by the window,
i stare out into the darkness..
feeling nothing but just the small droplets of rain,
that light wind manages to blow on my face..

Clouds crackle out..
Not so loud, but just marking his arrival..
I smell the wet earth..
fresh, sweet.. so simple.. yet surreal !

i scour for words..
describing the feeling was never so stubbed out..
crunchin on the mind,
only one comes out..

Bliss.. Pure Bliss !!

Rajneeti : thru my eyes.. :)

Rajneeti : Prakash Jha : Ajay Devgn, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Vajpayee and last but not the least : Nana Patekar..

Thats a bombshell of an ensemble to start with !
Went in with a mix of opinions from friends : some good some bad.
I expected a typical 'Prakash Jha' movie : Hard hitting but with a dash of masala to pull crowds at the box office.

Well, thats what it almost is !
Calling it good or bad is something I still fight with.

Its not as hard hitting or ruthless as it could have been, but still it doesn't fail to surprise you at some points.

First, the performances.
Ajay devgn - as usual. at ease. I say : good performance.
Ranbir kapoor - unusual role to play - but still at ease. he kinda oscillates between the typical lover boy + a ruthless decision maker. I say : good performance.
Arjun Rampal - Good voice, great persona, Good screen presence. Trust me, director must've worked on him a lot. And it shows ! I say : hmmph.. ok.. good performance.
Manoj Vajpayee - To the 'T'. Perfect fit for the character he plays. And he literally lives it. I say : One of his best performances definitely. Critics be damned if he doesnt get an award for best negative role.
Katrina Kaif - Good Acting. She emotes right thru her eyes. And surprise surprise !!!! her hindi has improved ! :P

And the best of them all : Nana Patekar : Boss.. this guy, although playing role with not much of screen-presence, ( even after bein a very important character in the story ), makes his mark. Big time. Expected. But still he does it in his trademark style. Loved it to the hilt !! I say : Kick ass !! :)
Phew !

PS : i had forgotten abt Shruti Seth... ! man, she has a role that one would never expect her to portray ! And she plays it just perfect !!

Now 'bout the movie : Good story - but i took first 5 minutes to figure out how the main characters were related.. :P
A lot of bits are inspired from The Godfather, but it doesnt feel out of the place anywhere. Note that those who have seen godfather many times would immediately point out the inspirations. They are so direct - and to some extent, even filmed in similar fashion.

Since I dunno even ABC of editing, I cant really comment on it, but one thing for sure. A lot of hard work, and attention to details has gone into editing of this movie. One can say that from the scenes involving crowds. Excellent crowd control + excellent set of actors in the crowd. One expects a lot of wierdities in the crowds - some guy at the back waving to the cam, some guy not looking in the direction where he shld really be looking etc etc.. :)

Cinematography is excellent. Good closeups where required, and great crowd shots ( i know CGI is used to 'create' crowds, but some shots are real, and flawless ! ).

Music : Well there's no song & dance in the movie except for a 2min bootyshakin by Barkha Bisht in an item song. Thank god ! :D
But, every track that plays in the background is brilliant. Absolute brilliant. Worth a mention : The slow rendition of 'Mora Piya' by Kavita Seth in a very tragic scene : just perfect..

That kinda sums it up..
In short :
1. Good movie. Worth a single watch.
2. Good performances. Nothing too loud/ whacked out/eccentric.
3. even in limited role, नाना सगळ्यान्ना कच्चा खाऊन टाकतो. :)

Something I noticed after the movie :
Ajay Devgn's Numerologist is definitely a big big 'sms' fan !!!! 'DEVGN' instead of 'DEVGAN' ???? how the f*** is one supposed to pronounce it ?? :P
LOL..

Hidden Moral of 'Rajneeti' :
बारिश का मौसम है. जोश में होश खोना बुरी बात है.
एक छोटीसी गलती अगली २ पीढ़ियों को भुगतनी पड़ती है

ज्यांना झेपले नसेल त्यांनी कृपया चित्रपट ( नीट लक्ष देऊन ) बघून यावा.
LOL.... :D :D


- Hrishikesh Kanitkar

Playlist update !

Listing out a few songs i've been listening to for last few days..

1. Neend na aaye - Fuzon : awesome song ! Well written + composed + sung ! Fuzon doles out songs wit a strong classical/sufi base and a pinch of rock. Even without Shafqat Ali as lead singer, these guys give out kickass tracks !

2. Noor-e-khuda - Shankar Mahadevan & Adnan Sami from 'My name is Khan' : just beautiful !

3. Raanjhan yaar di - Agnee for Splitsvilla : what a song ! some kickass rock + folk lyrics + mohan on vocals + koko on guitar. This recipe cant go wrong ! :)

4. Behene de - composed by A R Rehman for 'Raavan' : another typically brilliant A R Rehman song ! Mindblowing lyrics and equally brilliantly sung. 'Intense' is how i would describe it.

5. Mora Piya - Aadesh Shrivastava for god' sake ! This track from 'Rajneeti' has strong classical influence. Of the 3 versions in the album, skip the 'twilight mix'. Trance version is too good to believe. Kavita Seth has worked wonders by her vocals !

6. Bin tere - reprise - Shekhar Ravijiani : from 'i hate LUV stories' : awesome guitar work + very well sung by Shekhar. I dunno who wrote it (prasoon joshi may be ??) but Kinda touches your heart. Give it a listen on a good HT system - has a bit of 'live' feel to it.

More later.

weird ways !

weird the way certain things in life work.

It just happens that you are pretty determined on something, and all it takes is one single moment to bring your determination to crash down, and take you on a totally different path..

i say may be that was the path you would have taken, had you listened to yourself or followed your instinct ! :)
its just that, that someone up there, whacks you on the back of your head and out onto the right path.. and it happens so fast that you never get the time to react to it !

Although I call myself an atheist, such things make me believe that there's someone up there, watching over us - every moment, every move, every thought.. and controlling it so efficiently and remotely that we humans still call ourselves the brainy ones ! :)

फक्त एकदाच !

फक्त एकदाच !

ढग दाटून येतात, भाजून काढणारं ऊन जरा नाहीसं होतं..
सूर्याचा नावापूरता का होइना, पण लपंडाव सुरू होतो..
पुण्याच्या एखाद्या सायकलस्वारासारखे मोकाट वारे सुटतात..
उन्हानं पार सुकून गेलेली पानं त्यावर उडून कुठच्या कुठे जाऊन पोचतात..

आपण डोळे लावून बसतो त्या काळ्या ढगांच्या पूंजक्याकडे.. की ह्या उन्हाळ्यात एकदातरी धो-धो कोसळ !
तो ओल्या मातीचा पहिला गंध साठवून ठेवण्यासाठी..
त्या भिरभिरं लागल्यागत उठलेल्या वावटळीला शांत करण्यासाठी..
रात्री फ्लाय-ओवर वरून दिसणाऱ्या एका धुरकट चित्राला साफ करण्यासाठी..
रोजच्या धावपळीनी घामेजून गेलेल्यांना चिम्बं भिजवून थोडं का होई ना, पण ताजंतवानं करण्यासाठी !

फक्त एकदाच रे, फक्त एकदाच !

Opus..

'Why do all good things come to an end.. ' - Nelly Furtado croons on my head unit.
my question exactly.

Its 12.45AM and I am on the way back from my first 'kroak-nite' at Opus - and it was their last night in Pune. Though i didnt dare go on the stage, i wouldn’t think twice to call it 'my' first kroak-nite. :D

I dunno what it was - may be the coupla beers i had :P or the overall atmosphere or some sorta spirit of the place itself ? The way vivek handled the whole show, was surprisingly makin everyone feel at home( that’s quite an assumption actually :P ).

No air of a 'performer', no attitude of a 'controller' - just pure love of what he does - and trust me – right from the bottom of his heart ( too cliche' to use this phrase, but i guess that describes it the best )

Pretty unusual setting and attendees for a resto-bar - a family with a bunch of old ladies from a typical 'marathi' household ( आज्जी types if i am not flogged for using that word ! ;) ). Keeping them a good company were the 'usual' crowd - regulars comin over to say their goodbyes, some who felt it was there second home, the enthu gang from which 2 gals were just grooving, standing onto their seats for all the time and the 'first-timers' like myself..

Even wit such variety of a crowd, vivek goes on with his commentary : a mix of sarcasm + genuinity + a bit of abusive language + a dash of irritating verbal stepping : all of it coming out so spontaneously that the one being flogged has no time retaliate equally ! lol..

The 'kroak' part : First of all, kudos to all the guys/gals who had the courage to come up on stage and perform ! It actually takes quite a lot of it to actually 'karaoke' when a mindbogglingly superb keyboard player and a classy guitarist are there to accompany you and the benchmark is very well-set by Wendy, Vivek and Carlton ! :)

The whole place was run more like a 'family' – evident from the way Vivek fell short of words and Wendy broke into tears at the start of the last song..

Felt like it’s a kinda place where its done for the love of it, and not for business’ sake..

I don’t want to ‘end’ this post in a proper way.. for it will mean end of Opus in pune and it does not end here I hope.

Vivek, Carlton, Wendy – we wait for you guys to startup again somewhere else in Pune – and that too, as soon as possible..

Cheers !

Not on talking terms ! :P

One line that says so much !

Just came across a beautiful song 'Kal tum the yahan..' from the movie 'Hum, tum aur ghost'..
Love the second line in the 1st verse that goes :

तनहाइयाँ पूछे तो.. बतला दो क्या कहूं !

photoblog 2k10 !

Damn.. first post of 2010 - that too 2.5 months of it are over ! :P
Well, frankly speaking, been keeping a lot of posts un-published due to their personal nature.. works better that way i guess ! :)
Here's a small photoblog - clicks from the last few months, that i feel are worth posting here..


1. Some wild orchids at home.. this was a pure spontaneous shot - was leaving for work in the morning, saw the light playing on the petals, and just couldnt resist clickin it !



2. Spotted a couple of these baby squirrels playing on the office wall on site - and somehow both of them were were trapped.. I was standing right in the middle of their escape route towards a coconut tree about 15 ft away ! One guy was brave to get on the ground and run away just about 5 ft away from me, but this one was a sissy i guess ! :P
Never mind - he atleast gave me a good oppurtunity to get a few portraits !



3. Was on Garware college bridge on the night of Laxmipujan, clickin the fireworks. Got this and the next one by fluke !
And btw, this is my ride. :)



4. This again, was clicked on Laxmipujan night - my friend's bullet..



5. All the 3 photos are of Garfield - a street-cat. All the pics were clicked after we tried to formally introduce our new pet german shepherd, "Major" to him ! :P
The dog was hardly 3 months old then, but Garfield's instincts were something to watchout for ! The way he got up in fraction of a second and climbed the tree was super ! :P
All three pics show different stages of his alertness..

first one was immediately after they were introduced.. :P
This guy just refused to take his eyes off Major and even bat an eyelid !


This one was just after Major was brought almost to his eye level, by Gaja.. LOL.


And this one was after he realized Major didnt give a shit abt him OR even reach upto him ! :D
Love the 'Who's your daddy' expression on his face !




6. There's so much to click on my construction site - that sometimes i feel like going invisible, and clickin ppl working there ! Though thats impossible, I try clickin as many pics as i can, without the workers knowing it ! One such shot...

This guy is a labour contractor, and a total nutcase ! Photographed him without letting him know abt it, right in the middle of some serious haggling over a payment ! :P
There are so many diff emotions comin outta taht photo, i cant decide on a caption to this one. Any suggestions ?? I am all ears !




7. Wicked, but i love this ! Every time i see that barbed wire, those knots seems like making a 'rock' sign to me !



8. Last one, for the moment..
This Ganapati idol is casted on the vrindavan that we have at our chinchwad house.