The Deep Cut

It must've been Phoebe, who woke me up a wee bit earlier than I expected to get up yesterday morning. In all fairness, I had fallen asleep late the night before. It was only after I had my dinner, did I start watching the 'Nick Nite' marathon of the never-gets-old TV series that, as I realize only now, is actually a typing nightmare! If you consider the full stops in between each of the unique capitalized letters from the English language... F.R.I.E.N.D.S! While I was doing that, I heard the neighbors drive in late in the night. It was a Friday, so it's only normal. I spied on them for a while from the gaps in the blinds. When they had moved inside their house, I noticed two extra cars parked on the parkway in front of my house. As if the repeatedly rhythmic sound of the bed springs from upstairs wasn't enough to tell me that both my roommates had had their 'better halves' come over after a long time. One of them had brought along her dog, named Phoeb

The art of Begging. To thee, I must confess, this weird interest of mine has just become an obsession. I have asked people around me for help. But they only seem to say 'Boy, you're a sadist!' or 'That's so cruel!' or 'Kaam-dhanda nai hai terku?' - that last one is a Hyderabadi friend, so the accent is perhaps understandable. But no one seems to pay enough interest to the various beggars around the country and the different styles they adopt. Most of the beggars in the country are poor, as it usually goes with the formula 'I don't have money, so I will browbeat you to give me some money until you break down with guilt.' But that doesn't seem to work in our country anymore. Being irreversibly poor just doesn't qualify. You have to have that extra 'thing' to score big money. Confused? Let me share how. Yesterday I was walking down the Theatre Road, on my way back from the US consulate. I was happy, as I just go

Ever since the arrival of two new neighbours, return of an exiled habit, proof of lives in the 6 rooms that face my balcony and a family of sparrows to nest under our air conditioning system, life in my neighbourhood has been different, to say the least. Freud will tell you that people tend to resist change. That they'll almost always react badly to it. But by a twist of natural law, my neighbourhood seems to have welcomed it. There is harmony, cohesion, gossip at the local 'jagrata' club and random acts of rather unusual behavior seem to have made a comeback with a reinvigorated sense of purpose. All this in a matter of months.  Mum says this is normal for our neighbourhood. And that all I needed   to realize this,  was to spend just a little more time at home. I'm guessing she's right! Like always. After fighting a legal battle for ages, the ownership of the land lying right in front of my house was awarded to the local college for women. They were supp

I missed them in IIT Kanpur. I narrowly missed them in the Oktoberfest, Bangalore last year. Though I missed being born in Helsinki, in the very first place! Yeah, like they wouldn’t have deported me! Mental asylum cannot be pursued in holy places. Places such as Finland. Holy for precisely two reasons - NOKIA, world’s most indestructible cellphone, conceived in ancient times, forged from the volcanoes on Mount Doom (surely you have seen the e-memes on Facebook now!) is Finnish. The first thing from Finland that I consider holy. The second is the god-awesome band named Poets of The Fall. I first heard their music in the year 2007. It would be precisely 2 years after they released their first album Signs of Life. And it was right then that I turned into a HUGE FAN of their music! Not too hard, not too soft. Also, sometimes too hard and sometimes too soft. Exactly the way I like my music. So when they decided to tour India for the promotion of their sixth album Temple o

What the title means -   Amake Amar Moto Thakte Dao (Let Me Be My Way) is a song from the film Autograph which released in September 2010. The film re-wrote box office history in Bengali cinema. But what lasted longer than the film itself, is this song, that has become synonymous with our generation, which is crying to be left alone, seeking its own little space in this claustrophobic world.. This is, however, a picture of what is in my mind right now.. Here's a video, the image of which is an impressionist painting by the famous French artist, Claude Monet, TRYING HARD to go with the song, that the video is about - Majhi re from  Bong Connection. This is a sample of the practice that we're putting up for the 16th April Poila Baisakh celebrations  in our college - or this is just the after-hours happenings of the actual practice!! Abir on guitar, Ayan on vocals and me - on drums (for the very first time, which is much understandable, once you listen to it..)

Sorry guys, I know its been a while since I wrote anything here. I'm back from my trip to Goa, back to college and its already hectic, crazily! After about 4 semesters of consecutive classes in the evening, I have classes that start from 8am this semester, everyday.. However, more of that and I'll choke on my own words.. So how was Goa? THE BEST TRIP I EVER HAD! And why is that? Because I had the best company there, my best friends and amazing jovial people, who'd just leave their worries aside and sing and dance at one go! Absolutely uninhibited.. I tried that, and I loved it all! Shedding the inhibition, celebrating the mischief and getting over fears is among the things I'll always remember.. We stayed at Margao, with the Antaos, my friend Noelle's place.. a welcome stay, with the most amazing food, with a li'l too much variety each day! We had all kinds of fish - Kingfish, Mackarel, Pomfret, Shark, Calamari (which is a squid or baby octopus..),

My bestie Beatle George Harrison aside, Ringo Starr is my Musician-of-the-month.. The way he played the drums throughout Tomorrow Never Knows (from the album Revolver) is just amazing! This is my crayon drawing of the Beatles' legend.. The best thing about Ringo is his casual and cool persona in the Beatles.. While George was the quiet one, John the thinking one, Paul the good-looking one, Ringo will then be the goofy one.. Although he always has supported the popular 60s' catchphrase 'Love and Peace' Ringo himself was never much deep as compared to Lennon's acrid wit! Ringo was the funny one. The man brought a down-to-Earth appeal to the band and it definitely helped a lot to the public acceptance of the band.. the friendly one, whom all the grandmas and the children love.. Ringo was a musician before he became a Beatle. He was a drummer before the Fab Four and is still a drummer in his latest incarnation as the All Starr Band. Apart from b