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.

song update..

All the ppl who think hindi film music is crap, give a listen to 'Kurbaan hua' from saif n kareena starrer Kurbaan. Mindblowing hindi rock at its best in my opinion. You may find the lyrics a bit 'black/sadistic' though.. ;)

Another one of my current favourites is 'Tu jaane na' from 'Ajab pyar ki gajab kahani' - all those who thought atif aslam is not a worthy singer would definitely eat their words !
This particular song's been sung in 3 versions by 3 different singers, and I am in total awe of the 2 versions - namely by atif aslam and kailash kher..

T.N.T. - what a song !

PS: although I am in love wit this song, this is just a test post to
check posting from mobile, directly to the blog..
:p

Well.. first a photo update.. thats comin after quite a lot of time. too many clicks in last few days.. but dont think i should post them up all here. These pics can be seen on my FB profile for that matter.. Something that I really thought i should put up here :

Many things in my head at the moment, but putting them out into right words has been difficult - mainly for the lack of time.. :P

Some time sooner !

Song update !

After a long long time, I am posting up lyrics of a song that I really liked. Chris daughtry sings nice, composes better and writes even better i guess.

Love this and 'Home' song in their 'Acoustic' avatars...

Here goes :

Crashed..

Well I was moving at the speed of sound.
Head-spinning, couldn't find my way around, and
Didn't know that I was going down.
Yeah, yeah.
Where I've been, well it's all a blur.
What I was looking for, I'm not sure.
Too late and didn't see it coming.
Yeah, yeah.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

Somehow, I couldn't stop myself.
I just wanted to know how it felt.
Too strong, I couldn't hold on.
Yeah, yeah.
Now I'm just tryin' to make some sense
Out of how and why this happened.
Where we're heading, there's just no knowing.
Yeah, yeah.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

From your face, your eyes
They're burned into me.
You saved me, you gave me
Just what I need.
Oh, just what I need.

And then I crashed into you,
And I went up in flames.
Could've been the death of me,
But then you breathed your breath in me.
And I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

And then I crashed into you,
Like a runaway train.
You will consume me,
But I can't walk away.

Death

Death..

why is everyone so afraid of it ?

is it for the fear of leaving it all behind ?

is it for the loved ones ?

or is it just that when we start understanding the deeper things in life ( at abt an age of say 10 to 13 ), death is imbibed as something so bad - sometimes even potrayed as dangerous - that the in-evitability of a death is just not let sunk in ??


Note : This post was written on first death anniversary ( 16-05-08) of my beloved Astik-kaka. Just thought of posting it up today (16-12-08)..
@Doc - we miss you like crazy down here.. :)

photos.. again.

Here are some pics i found worth posting up.. After a hell lot of time.
There are a lot more pics.. but these 2 are the latest ones.. clicked last sunday on the site.

The dragonfly..

Lonely..

All over again..

Yes.
I am doing it all over again...

the kind of options.. what am i to choose ?
risking some chances, with nothing to lose..

'fraid of it, though goin that way..
lessons of the past make my thoughts sway...

is it in my control ?
Why not ? It seems so..
Am I to control it - i say hell, NO !

Nothin to lose and so much to gain..
my heart questions me.. is it worth the pain ??

Yet, I am gonna do it again..
All over again..

The Aftermath : where are we headed ?

So today, the political cleansing is finished with Maharashtra CM's resignation being accepted by congress working committee. First, the Home Minister of India then Home minister for Maharashtra, and now the CM himself.
Great - ain't it ??


The main reason given for it : CM took his son along with ramgopal verma to visit Taj. Damn.. isn't the attacks itself a bigger reason ??



After 10 people from another country get into a financial capital of our country and create major havoc, killing more than 200 people ( i DO NOT believe any official figures for that matter ), injuring more than 500, damaging one of the beautiful structures of all times to a great extent - what we get as an immediate response, is resignations of the people who should be shot in their balls ASAP.

W O W !

What will happen to the people from Intelligence bureau/ Police/ Army intelligence who daftly ignored whatever information they had abt the attacks ? I am sure there will be intra-department inquiries set upon them ( which will go on forever, and results unknown to public - if there be any ), further demolishing whatever career they have and blotting the 'reputation' of the force..

And look at the dearest politicians - they resign from their post taking up moral responsibility - and Voila ! they go scott-free, to contest for the same post in next elections for another term at power. And I have to admit with a heavy heart that, it is us to elect them again and again to power.


Why, I ask, these guys should not be tried in the court of justice for their mistakes ? Why shouldn't there be an inquiry set upon them by common people ? As a democratic country, it is our right to have the leaders answer our questions, and bear the wrath if we think they are wrong. Why not make these buggers who have gotten away with just their resignations face the real consequences ??

Actually, I feel these reignations because of the moral responsibilities is nothing but a way to run away from the situation, and not having the guts to face it and fight it back. And to top it off, once the resignation's accepted, these guys are free to say that they were not given enough time.
WTF ??


As a 25 year old adult, I feel its my duty to see that I don't vote for any tom, dick and harry the coming election. At the same time, its my duty to see taht the same old tom/ dick/ harry for whom i voted last year, knows the reason i am not voting for him again - All this in the hope that the younger breed of politicos learns from the shit these guys have created !!


Another question to which i can find no answer and see no hope to find one.
The "media" .. we have reached a level where the media - especially TV channels - has started thinking of itself as a Judiciary system in itself - Thus the vague commenting on each and every situation and passing judgments of left, right & centre, without much of a thought.

We really do not need media to comment on What's going on. We need it only to report What's going on, Period



Oh Last but not the least.

Dear ol' deputy CM and home minister of Maharashtra. R R Aaba ( आर आर आबा ) as he's fondly called by the 'media', You have been a wonderful speaker.
Thanks for the statement regarding the 26/11 incident being small.
It must have been a small incident for you as you were always surrounded by your regular set of 20 whatever security guards 24x7x365, but definitely not for the people who took bullets in various parts of their bodies and died.


Dear good ol' Pawar saheb - calling for and accepting the resignation of the dy. CM after 2 days of the incident was really a swift action from you. Thanks for that !


BTW, trying to save R R aaba's skin by saying that he had resigned immediately after the incident, while he himself gave a statement that there's no question of him resigning .. whose idea was it anyway ? a very bad one at that.. do you people think that there's even a tiny spec of credibility left with you so that we will trust your statements ?? tut.. tut.. NO WAY !!



Disclaimer : These are my personal views. I stand by them and believe them fully. And I dont think people from my age group would differ with my opinions/ views expressed here.
If you have read it till here, Thanks a lot !


PS: Something for the party that i had believed in.
Dear Thackerays - its high time to stop taking credit for saving mumbai. Please.

Change..

Change ..

From this..

















.
.
.
To this..
















.
.
.
.
... hardly takes a day, and a little different climate.
:D

Photoblog 2008 1.0

Come November, and a fresh, new year stares down at you..

At the wake of 2009, i better begin to post a few of my favourite clicks from 2008, thus the name : Photoblog 2008 1.0

i have been making it a point to cover vast and vague subjects in my photos.. though the primary subjects have always been Automobiles and Wildlife. Its just natural that you'll get to see lot of these in here..

oh and btw, Almost all of these pics are posted on my Orkut album/ Flickr album, but i dont think its any harm to post 'em up here too :D

Some Dragonflies on site :

Love the way its wings have turned out :












My favourite : Perched !














Hide and Seek ??







Whatchya lookin' at, Punk ??




















As i said earlier, widening the scope of my photography :

Fireworks on LaxmiPujan













Subtle..


















But back to my most loved subject : Cars !

Exuding Elegance..



















Watch this space. More later...

Omkara

Came across this beautiful song from Omkara - 'Naina' - written by Gulzar.

One of the absolutely well written, composed and superbly sung songs. Vishal Bharadwaj goes on amusing me everytime i listen to his songs. What kind of a mind boggling skill set does he have ? Story writing, Directing, Dialogue writing, Composing.. he's one intelligent person from the fillim industry i say.

I wont think twice before adding Omkara to list of the finest soundtracks in hindi movies. First Maachis, and now Omkara. Some of the awe-inspiring tracks in both movies - first one being 'Paani paani re', then 'Tum gaye sab gaya' from the same movie.

From omkara - it has to be the title track - what a song ! then 'jag ja' is one of my favourites. Superbly composed by V.B. and sung by Suresh Wadkar.

Check out lyrics of 'Naina' - goes on describing how deceptive eyes can be. So true ! ;)


Nainon Ki Mat Maaniyo Re
Nainon Ki Mat Suniyo
Nainon Ki Mat Maaniyo Re
Nainon Ki Mat Suniyo
Nainon Ki Mat Suniyo Re
Naina Thag Lenge - 2 Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Naina Thag Lenge Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Jagte Jaadu Phukenge Re Jagte Jagte Jaadu
Jagte Jaadu Phukenge Re Neenden Banjar Kar Denge
Naina Thag Lenge - 2 Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Naina Thag Lenge Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Nainon Ki Mat Maaniyo Re

Bhala Manda Dekhe Na Paraya Na Saga Re
Nainon Ko Toh Dasne Ka Chaska Laga Re
Bhala Manda Dekhe Na Paraya Na Saga Re
Nainon Ko Toh Dasne Ka Chaska Laga Re
Nainon Ka Zehar Nasheela Re - 4
Baadalon Mein Satrangiyan Bonve
Bhor Talak Barsaave
Baadalon Mein Satrangiyan Bonve
Naina Baanvra Kar Denge
Naina Thag Lenge - 2 Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Naina Thag Lenge Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge -2

Naina Raat Ko Chalte Chalte Swargan Mein Le Jaave
Megh Malhaar Ke Sapne Dije Hariyali Dikhlave
Naina Raat Ko Chalte Chalte Swargan Mein Le Jaave
Megh Malhaar Ke Sapne Dije Hariyali Dikhlave
Nainon Ki Zubaan Pe Bharosa Nahi Aata
Likhad Parakh Na Rasid Na Khaata
Nainon Ki Zubaan Pe Bharosa Nahi Aata
Likhad Parakh Na Rasid Na Khaata
Saari Baat Hamari - 2
Bin Baadal Barsaaye Saawan Saawan Bin Barsaata
Bin Baadal Barsaaye Saawan Naina Baanwara Kar Denge
Naina Thag Lenge - 2 Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Nainon Ki Mat Maaniyo Re
Nainon Ki Mat Suniyo
Nainon Ki Mat Suniyo Re
Naina Thag Lenge
Jagte Jaadu Phukenge Re Jagte Jagte Jaadu
Jagte Jaadu Phukenge Re Neenden Banjar Kar Denge
Naina Thag Lenge - 2 Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge
Naina Thag Lenge Thag Lenge Naina Thag Lenge -2
Naina

songs update !!!!!

jaane na kahaan woh duniya hai
jaane na woh hai bhi ya nahin..
jahaan meri zindagi mujh se...
itni khafa nahi..

One word for the songs from Jaane tu..

B E A U T I F U L !!!

'kabhi kabhi aditi', 'kahin to..' and 'jaane tu mera kya hai' are worth addin up in the 'all time favourites' list i say

Another Lavasa..

A beautifully bright sunday - perfect setting for an early morning ride to lavasa ! :D

So i went ahead with another lavasa ride. Alone, but accompanied with the camera and a video shooting one at that.

I know it might sound pretty stupid to go for a drive all alone.. but somehow i enjoy that to a great extent. Just for the time that i get for myself - thinking about a lot of things, deciding a few - it just helps me clear up my mind of all the mindfuck that takes place in a week or 2. The sense of total freedom for those 2-3 hours is something i crave for.

On the 13th, it was a pretty much bright sunday - a typical day when you would love to hang around at a multiplex for a morning show followed by lunch - with friends or even may be with girl friend ;)

I had something bugging me since the 10th. So i thought of doin the drive all alone - had posted abt it on team-BHP, but it was just better that nobody really bothered to come :D

Started at around 7.15ish from home. Had expected to reach the Mutha ghat by 8.30 - considering the shortcut left turn rt after the ghat. Somehow i missed it altogether and went ahead via the Ghotawade industrial area road. It adds about 10Kms to the total distance but to be frank, It was all worth the longer route !! Somehow, there was no traffic on the roads - and i could easily cruise at 80-90Kmph continuously.

this 80 to 90 Kmph speedzone is somewhat my favourite.
First, Its fast enough to zip thru the scarce traffic of trucks/ buses/ six seaters.
Second, its really easy to speed up from this range without causing any stress on the engine in 5th gear.
And lastly, at 80-90Kmph, 1.4 tonner Corsa is pretty much controllable - even with hardest braking. Above that its a dicey situation - the car kinda swerves to sloping side of the road and not to forget the absence of ABS - wheels lock up really quick and it skids off.

Getting back to the ride,
reached ghat by 9.00 to see some 2-3 bikers resting in a lightly shaded area. Firstly, thought that the ghats are swarming with the driving school cars and thats the reason why the bikers look so frustrated :p . Thankfully, i saw just one driving school car up there that day.

Crossing mutha ghats at a constant speed of 70 - 80 Kmph is pretty much pleasurable. Though i was driving a bit slow cos of the handy cam stuck on dash, and recording every single bit of the ride. ** grin **
was a completely uneventfull drive till the Lavasa gate rt next to Temghar dam. At the gates, security guard stopped me and didnt allow me to go ahead, reasoning that some accident took place and road is closed. Damn i said and as no choice, turned back from there.

These guards are pretty nuisance at places like this. They wont allow to drive on the public part of the roads as well. And, as there have been some issues with bikers at the Lavasa roads, guards try to scare away anyone who looks even a bit suspicious.
( but the mumbai boys who came down for a drive on 27th had luck on their side - they were allowed inside lavasa city without any issues )

Turned back from the barricade - and switched on the handy cam once again.
Rest of the drive was a plain jane except for a unusual bird spotting. I had stopped for a photoshoot of the ride, and spotted a bird of prey sitting on dried out trees on the road side. clicked some snaps and later it was id'ed as a Kestrel. Took some photos of the car and started on my way back.

Some of the snaps

the steed..











The Kestrel



















The Video :


Putting a perfect end to this ride was coffee and sandwich at Jijai @ chandni chowk. Some bikers were resting there - mostly RSA - but didnt bother to disturb them.

PS : Reaching back home in time was necessary to ensure a superb lunch cooked by mom - and i did reach in time ! :D

Waiting for another 'perfect' sunday morning - only to grab the cam gear and run away to lavasa for a drive !