Fly away...

North, South, East, West or perhaps

further to the south of oblivion, further.. further…

In vain we try to unravel your mystery

today 239 Icaruses have found their wings.

Closer to the Sun, further .. further from pain.

Fly away MH 370.

Being busy

Here is the thing... I think that I am possibly the only person on earth atleast in the professional world who has ample time. I always had and I am sure I always will have time. I somehow don't trust people who are always busy with work. I mean how much work can there be in a person's life? I know it is cliched but it either means you are lying /pretending or you are extremely lousy at managing time. I would assign equal weightage to both.  

I mean most of us are either selling coffee or lozenges or instant noodles or toilet cleaners or selling some crap 'concept' on the digital platform which nobody cares about... 99% of us are not trying to find a cure for cancer or aids or saving peoples live in a war zone. No body for sure is changing the world...atleast none amongst us. I cannot for the life of it comprehend what this huge work load that most people claim to be shouldering is. What is it that you are trying to achieve and at what cost? your own life, your hobbies and interests, your family and most obviously all this for a paltry sum of money... I know what most of these people earn anyways. 

Apart from the obvious reasons as mentioned above, I think it has also got to do with people trying to give themselves self importance or worse trying to run away from more important tings in life like friends and family for whatever reasons. Trust me over a period of time you will realise that " ten years have got behind you no one told you when to run you've missed the starting gun" etc. Your friends and family will move on too!!

So stop being busy and start living life!

On 'Bhalo mamu'

Me and my didi call him 'Bhalo mamu', roughly translated means ' Pleasant uncle'. He is my elder maternal uncle. Bhalo mamu has always been one of my favourite relatives whose visit and whose company I have thoroughly enjoyed over the years and continue to do so. He was the first to introduce me to the world of encyclopedias ( i still have the first one he bought me from the Kolkata book fair years ago), western music and everything that is new and futuristic. An engineer by profession he has retained his immense thirst for knowledge and anything that is new in the world. Yet he has not done this at the cost of traditions and values. He enjoys the company of old friends and relatives and large family get togethers with large family group photos :).
Whenever he meets, he will invariably quiz me on latest movies and music and books.. 'Have you seen this movie?' or 'have you bought any new cd?' or 'have you read this book?' these are obviously things which are close to both our hearts..movies, music, books, politics...
My earliest recollection about Bhalo mamu is of his Yezdi bike and his Hara jeans. I remember him advising ma to never say no to us, or never stop us from doing anything we wanted, or exploring new things... Now that I am a father myself I have made it a point to never say no, or hold back my son from anything he is exploring, lessons I remember from my childhood.
Oh yes, one cannot talk of Bhalo mamu and not talk of cricket. Himself a prolific cricketer in his days he has retained his love for the game till date. Never missed a single India match in his life and not to mention a die- hard fan of Ganguly.
Today he might have grown old, but his thirst for knowledge remains, his positive attitude towards the future remains... he will remain young at heart for ever i believe. Looking forward to meeting him soon...

Chromosome 21

I have no idea why I am penning down this particular article if it is not from a sense of acute pain and helplessness. I have always loved children ( who doesnt ?) and the joy of being a father and too see your own child grow up in front of your eyes, a little everyday, is perhaps the greatest feeling of satisfaction that there is. And it is from this sense of satisfaction perhaps stems my deep anguish. Since I now know what it feels like to be a father to a normal healthy kid, my heart goes out to parents who are not as fortunate. Particularly with kids who have Down's Syndrome. How must they be feeling when they see other kids playing in the field, making friends, fighting, laughing, crying.... I cannot begin to imagine!!

Two instances that i would like to put down least I forget the intense, gut wrenching, soul stirring pain I felt..

The first involved a train journey from Dehradun to Delhi. Right in front of my seat were seated a couple with their beautiful angel like daughter. I still remember, she was wearing a pink dress, made her look like a cute bunny rabbit. I saw other kids running up and down the alley in between the seats in the train, but little bunny rabbit just looked on... from her father's cozy lap. I am sure her father wanted her to join the other kids and play... later she started crying and her mother took out some biscuits and handed it to her. Little angel couldnt grasp the biscuit and it rolled on to the floor... Her name as I later found out was Rashmi.

The second involves a speed boat tour in a foreign land. A family who were our fellow tourists had a kid, a little boy with the syndrome. The family had other kids his age who were enjoying thoroughly, but he sat next to his grandma and just looked on. While the other kids got onto the sea beach and built sand castles he just stayed away from the water and shadowed his grandma.... I dont even know what his name was...

Cactus unplugged

The naysayers had almost written them off. They said they had run their course and that they were not as hard or heavy as that other Kolkata based Bangla Rock band. The youth of Kolkata apparently wanted darker stuff. Unfortunately the detractors missed out on something fundamental to performance art, relevance and relatability. Cactus' new album Blah Blah Blah has both in ample measures. No this article is not about the album, which has anyways been given a thumbs up by critics and fans alike. This article is about the new unplugged sounds that the band has been experimenting with. 
It had been a long cherished desire to see Cactus develop some unplugged versions of their cult classics and of course the new songs. Last evening I caught them performing unplugged on TV and it was right up there with any good unplugged show I have ever seen. More than anything the performance reiterated how good each of the members of the band were in their respective trade. It didn't matter that my favourite Baji played with just one hand, it didn't matter that the studio sound could have been better balanced particularly on the song Blah Blah Blah where on the television set one could not hear any instrument over Sidhu's vocals. The rearranged Bodhu re was simply spectacular as was Dibs measured vocals. Rat and Buti were tight like blood brothers, all brought together by BMC and his ice cool demeanor and bass line. I thought it was testimony to Rat's guitar skills as his fingers ran up and down the fret board and juggled the six strings and showed that he is equally proficient with extracting juice out of his processor as he is with his stripped down acoustic guitar. Buti as always was the life of the band with the keys obeying all his command. Though i would have preferred an acoustic piano instead of the synth for such a show :)
The show brought out the craftsmanship in each of the members and Cactus as a whole. What was most satisfying and defining about the whole set was the fact that they did not reduce an unplugged show to just mindlessly replacing the electric guitar with an acoustic guitar like amateurs do, but rediscovered, rearranged and re-sang the songs in a new avatar. The commitment was clearly evident.
All in all a fantastic way to spend a chilling cold evening here in Gurgaon and reminise Kolkata and its sound. Long live Cactus and the spirit of good music. 

2013 the year that was

1.      Health :

a.      Heart attack J

b.      Angioplasty

c.      Lost 9 kg

2.      Travels :

a.      Goa

b.      Neemrana

c.      Mcleodgunj

d.      Krabi

3.      Lyric :

a.      Joined play-school

b.      Started talking

c.      First international trip

4.      Other interests :

a.      Wrote atleast one article every month

b.      Picked up the ukulele

c.      Drew two and gave away both – Ayushman & Boss

d.      Did some reading yes J

e.      Saw some movies – most memorable Meghe Dhaka Tara

f.       Political view unchanged

g.      Faith remains unrestored

5.      Profession :

a.      Got promoted

All in all a mixed bag… nothing to remember this year by except perhaps health wise.

Winter

What to you, me and our privileged son is Christmas, New Year’s eve,

barbeque parties, wine, warm blanket, snuggles, branded jackets,

coffee, waking up late, delayed flights ….

To them it’s the curse of a mother

whose little Ayesha’s hands will grow cold all night

and will not wake up the following morning …

600 litres of water they say
should be enough to wash this curse away...