Gurudutt !

I saw Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulam and Pyaasa. I have seen Kagaz ke Phool as a child, though I'll be watching it again. Pure genius. Handsome and has the intensity and sweetness I like !

Childhood's End

Arthur C Clark's Childhood's End reminded me of the song of the same name by Pink Floyd. It turned out to be an unstoppable experience as well. And it moved me to believe... :-)

Parents

While, whiling away my time on youtube, I came across this great movie "Parents": the 1989 flick. It redefined horror for me. I don't like horror genre as such. Can't stand the drooling, messy looking things that are supposed to scare. Horror to me would be something that plays with the mind in that sense. And this movie was just great ! Full of black humor and great performances, especially by the kid and his dad. Though IMDb rates it very low, I think I would rate it 9/10. :-)

If by some miracle, some of the characters from The Guns of August read this book - they are going to howl and cry !!

WWI

The Guns of August is very, very interesting ! It's as if you are watching a movie and that's the amazingness of this book - the words are so well chosen and put that we can imagine only a very dramatic movie set on obviously a very dramatic phase of 20th Century.

I am though surprised to learn that wars of the last century were made so foolishly. Maybe being in the midst of it, they did not know - but most of the top people in it were rather silly and childish. Can't say if they were so in their real lives - but during this whole episode, very few could be declared as sane.

And to think that nations fought with each other just like that. May be that's what they all had been working towards - all the many years before.

Another booking being read right now is The Plague by Albert Camus. And I could not help but get amused by the description of rodents and their crazy deaths ! I am so glad this book turned out to be the way I like.

The Sea, The Sea

Well, I had kind of known Iris only as Kate Winslet in the movie trailer. Recently someone had recommended her to me and hence I picked up one of her most famous books in the book sale to see what was the fuss all about.

The Sea, The Sea - started all right. I liked the way of writing, like an actual memoir. The character Charles Arrowby seemed as crazy as anything but very believable. In fact poor guy the totally exposed to us as it is after all his memoir - not someone really great but someone going through a phase of life that was much needed for him. We cannot sympathize with him but we finally tend to let him live.

Apart from that, it was a turbulent story like the turbulent sea he stays next to and confirmed a lot many details about being human.

Sweet October

I have been busy and there was a lot going on - lot is still going on as well. But I needed to update my recent readings here. I finished the following books in the interim but I swear, I need to write more about each later on:

1. The Mathematical Universe by William Dunham
2. The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch

I am currently reading:

1. The Guns of August By Barbara Tuchman
2. Collapse by Jared Diamond
3. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
4. Julius Caesar by William Shakeshpeare

I promise to keep updating this blog as and when I get time. Love for Now !

Bawra Mann

This song has been going on in our house for past 2 weeks now - almost every day non-stop. I'm glad that I was able to propagate the liking for this song thus ! Well for one, this is a lovely song. And more than that I just love the movie - I cannot sit and watch it all over again. But yes, I like to watch it in parts and all those parts have Chitrangada and Shiney in it. Somehow Kay Kay Menon's character seems like a loser from beginning to end - not because he could fulfill his dreams, but the fact he stood only for his dreams. And throughout could not see this girl next to him. But then again, the story is of 3 different characters whose dreams do not get fulfilled and we should not get sentimental or biased about any one of them in general. But coming back to the song.

This version appears at the end few seconds before the credits. We see that Vikram and Geetha are sitting near a pond. Geetha notices something scribbled near where they are sitting and just that look as she correlates the scribbling with Vikram even in his present state - is too heart wrenching. This is a classic ending with such amazing simplicity and no words. I remember almost howling when I had seen this movie ending for the first time and then simply laughing for next 10 minutes. The whole perspective and larger picture of the story sank in, I think only when I saw that scene.

Existentialist

A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the actual life of the individual is what constitutes what could be called his or her "essence" instead of there being a predetermined essence that defines what it is to be a human.

- From Wikipedia

NCC - II

Coming back to NCC and his Autobiography. I think I am kind of getting a hang of why this book was so controversial. NCC at his time was exposed to enough ideas and thoughts to start questioning and relating things around - to them. His parents were liberal and encouraging though as he says, looks like they were not prepared for the children to become intellectuals instead of using education as a means of gaining material success in this world. His childhood was heavily laced with names, books, art etc of the west. And throughout the book it is very easy to see the influence of West over him. (Wikipedia calls him self-professed Anglophile).

Now western ideas have always conflicted with eastern ideas in the basic way. Western thought processing is very logical and success oriented in this world outwardly. Eastern philosophy always encourages one to delve within to find that happiness. NCC was born in east amidst this philosophy which in the first place is hard to understand or follow. Further the essence of eastern philosophy is long lost and what remains of it is a mixture of mechanical and unexplained duties - this mixed with the history of India with all those different people and cultures and way of life has formed a very complex society to understand. What apparently remains of it seems chaos and ideas that are either illogical or unprogressive - as far as success in todays world is concerned.

NCC from his standpoint, always seems to be the mind that embraces logic and order over the existing life. Being exposed to the west - in a society that was in awe of their success, it was inevitable for him to not relate or figure out what was missing here. He has given ample insight around this in his book. His thoughts are progressive and definitely have progress of his nation in mind. They are no way derogatory to the life he was born in - though they directly conflict.

His explanations in the book don't come from a person who can explain things in Indian Context - it's always as someone who can explain things better by citing examples from life, literature, art or ideology of the west. Hence I am sure that it was tough for many Indians to understand him and easy to brand him. People do not have the maturity to see different perspective. In a nation that was reeling in the aftermath of the British Raj, his ideas were definitely taken otherwise. Plus he has stood in many places against what is supposed to be normal in the society of his days.

The controversies were inevitable. But then again, it was his autobiography and he was free to be himself - one does not think of the whole world when course of a life is being discussed. It was a life and it was led like this. If it could be better or worse - it is for no one to comment.

Aldar Kose and Shigai Bai

Being born in a nation that was geographically close to Russia and also on friendly terms with the nation that was USSR once, it was very normal for Russian fiction to be available to us easily. Our diplomatic ties with USSR were always good and on the other hand the exchange of artistic thoughts and ideas were plenty. There was Raj Kapoor and then there was Rahul Sanskrityayan whose Volga se Ganga - I have not read but it's one of the top books on my reading list.

Most of the book fairs during our childhood use to have a Russian section which had all these originals and translations available. The name that comes to my mind instantly when I think of these books in Raduga Publications. At one time, I have seen and read a numbers of books that came out of that publications. My note here is mainly for the Russian Folk Tales and Stories for Children that formed a staple literary diet during my childhood.

Then there were these other books that were big and colorful and nice. They said less and were treat for the eyes.

There were these books that had protagonists named Nikolai, Andrey and the lot, a witch called Baba Yaga, a miser called Shigai Bai who was always outsmarted by Aldar Kose. Terms like Uzbek, Tatar, Krygiz and Kazakh were so common that I kind of learnt them before I knew what they actually meant in the geographical, cultural and historical sense. I had a number of them and the stories gave an amazing insight on the Russian (of the USSR) life. 

A number of other books consisted of a story of a charmed and mechanical castle, story of this girl who shifts in a new neighborhood only to befriend the coolest boy on the block. He had this crazy secret society and tasks of which she becomes a part. 

Then finally it was all those books that I happened to find in a cupboard of that old and dilapidated house. I just could not fathom how the value of those was not understood by people around. And my love for Tolstoy, Dosteovsky and the rest began.

NCC - I

I have been reading Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad C Chaudhuri for some time now. Frankly speaking I have not completed the book and I am not sure if I will complete it too. It is not fair to say anything about a book which I have not even finished - but for sure what ever I have read of it has left a mixed impression.

It has strengthened my belief that childhood days and its memories are the strongest. The nostalgia is way too strong and invariably all autobiographies have large portions attributed to it. The details to which NCC has gone to describe a lot of that, somehow I could not see it in his later years.

I will surely try to complete the same & get back further on controversies associated with the book.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

I have always seen these segments from Akira Kurosawa's dreams on youtube only. Sitting and watching the film as such had not interested me when I had first attempted it. The reason is, I always liked few segments over the others. This dream sequence is my favourite. It features art and a happy effort of paying tribute to an artist. The sequence starts with an amazing set depicting The Drawbridge at Arles with a Group of Washerwomen and end with Wheatfield with Crows. Vincent Van Gogh is played by Martin Scorsese and the background is Chopin's Prelude No. 15 in D-flat major.

Le Papillon

Now again, I have these movies that I mentally make a note of, to see sometime when I get a chance. I have often noted with 99% success, that years later also I tend to like these movies and then feel why I never saw it earlier. It happens with books too. Any how, when I saw Le Papillon, I was completely floored by the "Pourquoi Les Poules Pondent De Oefus?" song.

I could not help feeling a wee bit of similarity between Le Papillon and Pixar's Up especially when both had these elderly men on a mission with a stowaway and how they converse, react and later tend to be friends for life.

Women of the Raj

Women of the Raj by Margaret Macmillan was one of the books that I read recently. It was based on her research on these British families of the Raj and authentic supporting documents. It gave an interesting insight on the life of these women who left their country and got settled in India of the Raj. Yet somehow I was not really satisfied after reading the book - I think the Indian in me just wouldn't let me.

Being an Indian and of a generation that never saw the Raj or the struggle that went into it - it was surprising the indignation or rage that one felt in certain parts of the book. Now don't get me wrong, the rage was not against the actual subject or the perspective of the book / author and surprisingly it was neither against the Raj. It was more of a realization as one read through a book that slowly got me.

Our generation of the 80's that was born far from struggle and wars that our country has seen is far removed from the sentiments that comes with such a new born nation. Ours was the first that saw TV and cars in the homes of the masses, cable and internet and mobiles becoming available to all. But ours was also the generation that did NOT want to know what was happening at the Center of the Government. We did NOT want to know how the country was being run or in the first place how did it even come to the stage when we first saw it. All we knew was that it was too messy.

We had all our facts in place as far as history books were concerned and all those national holidays but none of us and I mean none of us ever got far enough to question any of that. Independence was the greatest achievement in the history of modern India and it was simply sacrilegious to raise any doubts on the process of that. Again, I do not mean, that India should never have got liberated in the first place. Contrary to that, I think all of us wish nothing more than East India Company being kicked in its rear-side the first time they set foot on our soil. And they did not get kicked and surely I cannot say that any other country could have helped us on that front. And here lies my resentment.

As a country or rather a group of people stuck on the sub-continent we did not have a choice. And we also did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together - which of course we could not at the time (there were too many kings / kingdoms to let that happen). And the kings themselves never could support anyone who had the sense come early (it would undermine their own sense / power / importance / need). So in a way we let a force capture us,  kingdom by kingdom,  to show us what problem we were in !

Then finally as it always happens in every aspect of Indian life, we found a man who had an idea and since no one had a better one and also because this one showed that how it worked - we accepted one person to deliver us from the trouble. The mediocre were content to hang around him. Once the deliverance was at hand, this man was cooly discarded by many at the eleventh hour to ensure that things turned out how those 'many' wanted it to be. And again, we did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together at least. The whole Independence saga towards the end smells of a scandal. And we realize with some reluctance that our nation was born into a set of problems that all of us want to forget - for the time till it does not loom over our head so big that we cannot ignore things any further!

My rage is directed towards the masses of my country who do not retaliate till the threshold is crossed, that they prefer their well being over the nation's, that they always look for someone to come and save them, that everyman secretly knows in his heart that there is no point in being saviour of many, that every leader of some significance was betrayed by his own men in the face of a larger challenge and that this country will somehow manage to go on, in spite of knowing everything.

I think our generation was the one that did not even want to know what could have been. They preferred to stay away from anything that smelt remotely of problems. They had new toys to play with and new countries to explore. They did not want to waste a single precious second on being a part of the problem, they were born in.

All Those Interviews

All the interviews that I have seen of Mr. Hugh Laurie makes me realize that even after all these days, he still has that humility about him that is absolutely must for long lived success. He is very modest and a self-proclaimed 'worrier' and a 'fretter' as far as his work goes. Where we find Stephen or Rowan very relaxed and in control as far as their work goes, we see Hugh being not so like that. It still genuinely feels that he is not sure why people adore him !

Room with a View

I have not read the book by the same name written by Mr. E.M. Forster. In fact, I have not read a single book written by him though I can name a couple of them - Passage to India being one of them. Three of his books have been converted into very successful movies by Merchant Ivory productions and two others by equally renowned directors.

I remember watching the trailer of this movie back when it was released or few years after that - can't say exactly when but yes, a long time ago back in India. I vaguely remember noting mentally that I need to watch this film.

Anyways, so finally when I saw the movie I found it very endearing. I liked the set up, the characters and the story. The protagonist is a girl called Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter)and we follow her as she figures out what she really wants. In the start she is this character who seems all sweet and quite till she starts playing Beethoven. It is the first glimpse of her being someone who has yet not discovered who she really is. In the second half when she is suddenly discovers herself, it is quite fun to watch her actions, words and face ! She is a very lovable character for sure. And Oh ! I should mention Maggie Smith's character who is very silly and believable.

Michael O'toole: Mediterranean-Gold

The above painting gives a very basic and accurate sensibility of a seaside town set in Mediterranean Europe. It catches our attention with bright colors of the windows and walls - all lit up with the sun that is casting a spotlight on this little street by the sea. 

To Kill a Mocking Bird

"Remember, it's sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time Atticus ever said that it was sin to do something. Mockingbirds do nothing but make music for us; that's why it's sin to kill a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Ms. Harper Lee is an amazing tale of innocence, childhood and growing up. It starts with Scout Finch, who narrates this particular phase in the life of the Finches, when Jem and herself were young. They did not have a mother and their house was run by their cook Calpurnia. Their father was a lawyer and he preferred reading to football - this was a matter of much concern among the young male Finches of the house. Though he was loved, Atticus could have done much better if he was like other dads - he was old, nearly fifty and no fun at all. Living in that old (literally) neighborhood of Maycomb County, the world of these two kids changes in the throes of this particular case that their dad takes up. That's when Scout and Jem, together with their summertime playmate Dill and his wild plans of making Boo Radley come out of his house, learn a lesson in friendship, integrity and life.

Atticus Finch got that particular case only because there was no other lawyer who could have let that case last that long in the court. Mayella Ewell had been allegedly raped by Tom Robinson, a crippled negro. Ewells were the lowest of the low white people in the county who had no money education or breeding. Yet as the book said. " Tom Robinson was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." It was word of a white woman against a black man. It was a case of long standing prejudice and broken man-made laws against what really happened. It was a case where an example had to be set and the guilty punished. And Atticus was Tom's lawyer in court - when in the secret court of men's heart, Atticus had no case.

Two worlds under the same roof, where childhood meets maturity and understands life. A masterpiece. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Ms. Harper Lee is a gift to American Literature.

Absolutely Amazing

Rowan Atkinson

How often one makes a mistake of taking Rowan Atkinson to be only Mr. Bean. Being what he truly is- a rare package of good looks, great mind and talent - he has my absolute respect.

My Favourite Show

To say that I discovered a treasure last year while I was looking for some comic relief on internet is least that I can say about Blackadder.

My love for Bristish humor and comedy goes back to the days of reading PG Wodehouse or watchingYes Minister. But living in a nation and a place in that nation where exposure to everything that was coming on British TV - was to say the least - rare !!  We still had our window to some of the good shows late night or weekends on our national television and that was all our input on International shows. And all this was surely before the days of the cable TV that hit our national market in the early nineties.

Hence I can safely attribute my ignorance on everything Blackadder to me being born in a country that did not produce the show ! (We had our share of national treasures but more of that later !)

Last year I was bored to death at home. My staple diet of Jeeves and Wooster series was complete. I was completely satisfied to see my PG Wodehouse heroes come to life on youtube screen and did not once think that what I had imagined while reading was different from any of them ! A sign of good conversion of a book to a show.

So I was rummaging around looking for something to satisfy my hunger for more BritSitCom. And as I wanted to see more of Fry and Laurie, I stumbled on this crazy serial called Blackadder starring Rowan Atkinson. Never being a Bean Fan, one was struggling with the dilemma of starting from episode 1 and then somehow managed to go till the Spanish Infanta ! And it made me sit up and notice Rowan Atkinson. Boy o Boy - rest as they is history.

My respect for the man went notches up as I came towards the end of the show - by then my personal research on the show and the man was complete. The absolute perfect star cast of the show has my respect for life !

Days that Were

I like the days gone by, described in their glory and grandeur or even in the simplest of lifestyles. To get a glimpse of how it was gives me a kind of nostalgia to dwell in. It's strange because I have never been a part of such a life ever. Just that I prefer the simple, 'rustic' settings (by today's standards) but very contemporary ideas and situations of all the classics. It is a pleasure to read and then sometimes see a very aptly done cinematic portrayal of the same.

Places and Countries and Time do not matter for I have noticed that the basic fabric of Human Thoughts have been the same every where and every time. The essence does not get lost in the coating of time and space.

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.

Albert Einstein

If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.

Max Mueller

The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.

Mark Twain

When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.

Albert Einstein

India - The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas.

Wheeler Wilcox

If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India !

Romaine Rolland

In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything, but possessed by nothing.

Apollonius Tyanaeus

India before Islam attracts me too. It has more stories to tell and would be useful for us to understand what India was before it all started !

I think if I ever major in History - it would have to be in this area alone.

This time have got Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhuri. Started reading it also - somehow I can still visualize and relate to his environment - may be some people of my generation can picturize it too - villages and it's description. What about our children - how will they know what a village was - a typical Indian Village ?

Le Papillon (The Butterfly) French lyrics

Pourquoi les poules pondent des oeufs?
Pour que les oeufs fassent des poules.
Pourquoi les amoureux s'embrassent?
C'est pour que les pigeons roucoulent.
Pourquoi les jolies fleurs se fanent?
Parce que ça fait partie du charme.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.

Pourquoi le feu brûle le bois?
C'est pour bien réchauffer nos coeurs.
Pourquoi la mer se retire?
C'est pour qu'on lui dise Encore.
Pourquoi le soleil disparaît?
Pour l'autre partie du décor.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.

Pourquoi le loup mange l'agneau?
Parce qu'il faut bien se nourrir.
Pourquoi le lièvre et la tortue?
Parce que rien ne sert de courir.
Pourquoi les anges ont-ils des ailes?
Pour nous faire croire au Père Noël.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.

Ca t'a plu, le petit voyage?
Ah oui beaucoup!
Vous avez vu des belles choses?
J'aurais bien voulu voir des sauterelles
Des sauterelles ? Pourquoi des sauterelles ?
Et des libellules aussi,
A la prochaine fois, d'accord.
D'accord.

Je peux te demander quelque chose?
Quoi encore?
On continue mais cette fois-ci c'est toi qui chantes.
Pas question.
S'il te plait.
Non, mais non.
Allez, c'est le dernier couplet.
Tu ne crois pas que tu pousses un peu le bouchon?

Pourquoi notre coeur fait tic-tac?
Parce que la pluie fait flic flac.
Pourquoi le temps passe si vite?
Parce que le vent lui rend visite.
Pourquoi tu me prends par la main?
Parce qu'avec toi je suis bien.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.

I am to go about this reading spree of mine in a focused manner. God ! I get so lost seeing so many books in the library that I forget what I really want. So I have decided on finishing-off all the Tolstoys first ! Next I really want to do is read Autobiographies of few people that may interest me.

Divine and Human is completed and Resurrection is about to be started.

GABO

Have started Autumn of the Patriarch today. It's by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

'Yes, the brutalities of progress are called revolution. When they are over, this is recognized: that the human race has been harshly treated, but it has advanced.'

- G--

Part I: Fantine

Book 1 Chapter 10

Les Miserables

Childhood Days

I am reading Satyajit Ray's "Childhood Days" - a translation of "Jokhon Choto Chilam" by his wife Bijoya Ray. Nice.

Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Classics are evergreen. The more I read them, the more I am surprised at the contemporary thought processing of the author's mind. The values and feelings are universal and timeless. The set up may be different but then that adds to the whole experience and fun !

I am reading Baburnama and Tale of Two Cities.

Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work.

Babur and The Rainmaker

When we read a book, it reflects the author's mind. I like Babur.

And next on my movie list is The Rainmaker - which was the original of Thoda sa Roomani Ho Jaye !

Bahía Blanca

Now this name, I have heard after almost 15-16 years. Had read it last during Geography lessons in school. Continent was South America and country was Argentina. The word sounded so much 'mine'. :)

Bahía Blanca means "White Bay". The name is due to the typical colour of the salt covering the soils surrounding the shores. The bay (which is actually an estuary) was seen by Ferdinand Magellan during the first circumnavigation around the world on the orders ofCharles I of Spain, in 1520, looking for a canal connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean all along the coasts of South America.

Suhail

Suhail actually is the name of a star - Canopus now. I got to know this today reading Baburnama. to imagine that this word has more depth / meaning than I actually thought. The book said that this was one of the prominent stars in Afganistan.

From Wiki: "Since Canopus is so far south in the sky, it never rises in mid- or far-northern latitudes; in theory the northern limit of visibility is latitude 37°18' north. In Ancient Hindu astronomy and astrology, Canopus is named Agasti or Agastya. The southeastern wall of the Muslim Ka'bah points to Canopus, and is named Janūb ("south")"

Hiranaya Garbha Sukta

Sanskrit Verse

हिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्रे भूतस्य जातः पतिरेकासीत ।
स दाधार पृथ्वीं ध्यामुतेमां कस्मै देवायहविषा विधेम ॥
य आत्मदा बलदा यस्य विश्व उपासते प्रशिषं यस्यदेवाः ।
यस्य छायामृतं यस्य मर्त्युः कस्मै देवायहविषा विधेम ॥
यः प्राणतो निमिषतो महित्वैक इद्राजा जगतो बभूव ।
य ईशे अस्य द्विपदश्चतुष्पदः कस्मै देवाय हविषाविधेम ॥

यस्येमे हिमवन्तो महित्वा यस्य समुद्रं रसया सहाहुः ।
यस्येमाः परदिशो यस्य बाहू कस्मै देवाय हविषाविधेम ॥
येन दयौरुग्रा पर्थिवी च दर्ळ्हा येन सव सतभितं येननाकः ।
यो अन्तरिक्षे रजसो विमानः कस्मै देवायहविषा विधेम ॥
यं करन्दसी अवसा तस्तभाने अभ्यैक्षेतां मनसारेजमाने ।
यत्राधि सूर उदितो विभाति कस्मै देवायहविषा विधेम ॥

आपो ह यद बर्हतीर्विश्वमायन गर्भं दधानाजनयन्तीरग्निम ।
ततो देवानां समवर्ततासुरेकःकस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥
यश्चिदापो महिना पर्यपश्यद दक्षं दधानाजनयन्तीर्यज्ञम ।
यो देवेष्वधि देव एक आसीत कस्मैदेवाय हविषा विधेम ॥
मा नो हिंसीज्जनिता यः पर्थिव्या यो वा दिवंसत्यधर्मा जजान ।
यश्चापश्चन्द्रा बर्हतीर्जजानकस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥

परजापते न तवदेतान्यन्यो विश्वा जातानि परि ताबभूव ।
यत्कामास्ते जुहुमस्तन नो अस्तु वयं सयाम पतयोरयीणाम ॥

The Wonder Years

Growing up is never easy. You hold on to things that were. You wonder what's to come. But that night, I think we knew it was time to let go of what had been, and look ahead to what would be. Other days. New days. Days to come. The thing is, we didn't have to hate each other for getting older. We just had to forgive ourselves... for growing up.

“Once upon a time there was a girl I knew, who lived across the street. Brown hair, brown eyes. When she smiled, I smiled. When she cried, I cried. Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered, in some way had to do with her. That day Winnie and I promised each other that no matter what, that we'd always be together. It was a promise full of passion and truth and wisdom. It was the kind of promise that can only come from the hearts of the very young.”

Sometimes to keep growing together, you have to grow apart. If you're lucky you can get a second chance with the one you love. Sometimes luck isn't enough. Love can kill you..It can tear you apart. But it can bring you back together.

Love is unpredictable, you have to go with your heart and hope for the best.

There are things in life that matter, things in the past that can't be denied. Winnie Cooper is part of me, and I am part of her. And for as long as I live, I will never ever let her go. 

Change is never easy. You fight to hold on. You fight to let go.

What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me? Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song, I will try not to sing out of key.

Shuffle

These days I have started getting my shuffle to office and have recently changed songs in it. It's fun. I have been reading a lot of logs just to get a hang of it all. But ya, it is true what's the use of all this? It's not going to get me what I want. 

My Tape Recorder

Michael Bolton's song from Hercules. Reminds me of The Best of Disney soundtrack that I had and The small black Philips tape recorder that was bought by Mom for me.

Pockets

Life can be categorized in pockets or phases. Each has it's own fun. There were days when I said I liked the warm, fuzzy clothes that come straight out of a dryer and then there were days when someone made me roll in them.

Those moments for ever.

Books

We're Living on a Prayer and Amused to Death

Trying to Keep the Faith - Dead or Alive :-)

Hmm...I used to do this before. Plucking words and phrases and keeping them together. There was this book by Carl Sagan called Contact. This one was given to me by one of my cousins and that was the first book I treasured for all the different snippets from everywhere - working as a preface to every chapter - quite relevant, you see.

Where are my books again ?

Aerosmith

Liv Tyler is an absolute treat to watch. It's late and I am sitting all cozy in front of this heater watching Aerosmith's I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing. This is a fabulous song and a good video. The ending makes the heart heavy though. 

Don't Wanna Close My Eyes, Don't Wanna Fall Asleep

'Cause I'd Miss You Babe

Carmel-By-The-Sea

It is straight out of a book. Very picturesque and quaint. Very pleasingly old-fashioned and belonging to an era gone by. Pretty houses and streets. Art and Sea. A Dog Friendly Town. 

Carmel By the Sea is located on the Pacific Coast about 120 miles south of San Francisco.