A breather

is a respite. For me, it is a holiday right in the middle of a working week. That's what 26th January was. So, in preparation to the holiday, I went for Yamini - the Dusk to Dawn festival in IIM-B on tuesday. The schedule did indicate a lot of good stuff. I reached in time for the Mohan Veena presentation by Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Carnatic is not something that I follow, even though it was instrumental. But, I did enjoy the second piece presented by Panditji. It was hindustani. I even figured out a song based on the raag, though googling has not given me the same results. I'll just go by my instinct on that then.
I was very disappointed with the 'Kathak' presentation. It was mentioned to be 'Kathak' but, it was more of fusion choreography. Well, I do learn dance which is not in its pure form, so it is not that, I'm averse to fusion in any form, however, I would have appreciated it, if it was mentioned out there, I would have set my expectations right . I actually left without waiting for the grande finale which was supposed to have been good.

Had a movie planned up for the holiday, a movie called Page 3. Well, everyone knows what Page 3 is, but a movie about that? Well, it was exactly that, parties, high-flying lifestyles, air-kissing and farcical relationships. The movie was very neat, but then I am very tolerant towards movies, since I basically love watching movies. The movie kept its grip on me pretty much through the entire duration. A few scenes were disturbing for me - a drug peddler being 'encountered' when he talks about 'mandavali' and the other one was which showed a famous industralist and his paedophilic exploits.

To sum up, a song from the movie would go well -
Kitne ajeeb rishtey hain yahan pe,
Do pal milte hai, saath saath chalte hain
Jab mod aaye to bachke nikalte hain.

A lunch time discussion again

Friday afternoon, my lunch group decided to take a respite from the "dishy" fare served in our office. So, it was decided for us, that we go to a popular pizza joint. The wait was of 10-15 minutes, during which we browsed through the paintings on display. I totally fell in love with a painting of an egyptian mummy.

Finally, we sat down to lunch and during the course, the conversation veered to Vasantahabba. I being the knowledgeable one informed the group that the event had been cancelled this year. To which arose the question Why? The Vasantahabba is a free for all event and a lot of dance-music patrons eagerly await this event, so a couple of my friends were upset about its cancellation. The reason for its cancellation is the recent tragedy that struck the coastal regions of India. The organisers are going to channel the funds towards the tsunami victims. The suggestions that arose were - they should probably charge an entrance fee, or keep a box for donations.
I agree with the organisers in the cancellation of the event and took it upon myself to present what might be the reason behind the decision. My theory -

The organisers wouldn't want to charge an entrance fee primarily because it goes against the spirit of the festival. It is meant to be an event which is free for all. And, I did not think the suggestion of keeping a box for donations to be a great one. My reasons being: when it comes to voluntary contributions, it is upto the individual to contribute and each one might have already done their bit or not. So, as per me the amount of money that would be collected via a box for donations would never be able to match the amount that the organisers had spent on conducting the event.

This not only effectively convinced my upset-over-the-cancellation friends but also earned me a compliment on my hypothesis.
I guess, I've actually started exerting my brain cells...

Yippee!!! It's the time to disco

4th December, was the dance presentation and then there was a break. I almost get depressed when such a thing happens. For a week after the last class/presentation, I really miss the dance and activity. I eagerly await the beginning of the next batch. And guess what, my dance class is about to begin. I am so excited. Even though, this time, the batch is of a shorter duration.

A few of my friends from the previous batch are in this class. A new instructor, a new song, cool.

The hopeful ballad

STILL LOVING YOU

Time, it needs time
To win back your love again
I will be there, I will be there
Love, only love
Can bring back your love someday
I will be there, I will be there

I'll fight, babe, I'll fight
To win back your love again
I will be there, I will be there
Love, only love
Can break down the wall someday
I will be there, I will be there

If we'd go again
All the way from the start
I would try to change
The things that killed our love
Your pride has built a wall, so strong
That I can't get through
Is there really no chance
To start once again
I'm loving you

Try, baby try
To trust in my love again
I will be there, I will be there
Love, our love
Just shouldn't be thrown away
I will be there, I will be there

If we'd go again
All the way from the start
I would try to change
The things that killed our love
Your pride has built a wall, so strong
That I can't get through
Is there really no chance
To start once again

If we'd go again
All the way from the start
I would try to change
The things that killed our love
Yes, I've hurt your pride, and I know
What you've been through
You should give me a chance
This can't be the end
I'm still loving you
I'm still loving you, I need your love
I'm still loving you

Signs??

In all probability, though I think a figment of my imagination. This chat with someone had ignited a small flame of hope.

So, there I am, as is the case on most weekends, alone watching TV. Surfing, I land up on this channel which is showing 'Monsoon Wedding'. It's the scene where heroine is walking back home alone, after having told her fiance about her escapade with her ex-boss. You then, see him following her, stopping her and telling her - "I am sure, we can go through this, we can put this behind us".

Was that a sign??? Well, I don't know? Mirza Ghalib had said - "Dil ke khush rakhne ko, Ghalib, yeh khayal bhi achcha hai". An argument can ofcourse be, it is on celluloid and celluloid, mostly sells dreams right?

Cut to reality - the next day. Today, I'm watching a movie called 'Chasing Amy'.

An interesting piece of conversation's happening, so I linger and I lingered on till the end of the movie. The storyline is something like this - the hero falls in love with the heroine, only problem, the heroine is lesbian. However, as their friendship grows, she falls in love with him too and they have a relationship. The hero has this well-wisher(?) best friend who finds out that the heroine was not always a lesbian and has had a very colourful past. Our hero, being the man he is, cannot handle that past of her's and to be on the same platform with her, comes up with a brilliant idea, which ofcourse is not so brilliant. They drift apart. There's this nice piece of conversation in a restaurant when one friend conveys to our guy, what I finally figured out to be the reason behind the name of the movie. A year later, our guy and girl meet again and our guy has written a complete comic book with them as the main characters.

But, that's where the movie ends and I have been wondering, whether I should let this optimist in me raise its head and say there's hope or leave it again at what it was.

Another thing that happened, I went to meet a friend and he's playing music. The song, that's playing when I walk in - Still Loving You by The Scorpions. If you've heard the song and paid attention the lyrics, it is on similar lines and something that I would attribute to being a cause for many a failed relationships.

On that note, I shall sign off...

Musings of a non-recluse

The previous blog evoked a response of being pessimistic. What an antithesis, coming from a person who's never seen as serious, always this cheerful person with hardly a serious bone in her body and someone who might pass off with optimism as her middle name. So, I decided to set the mood right and pen down a few of the "unquotable" quotes that have been coined over lunch table discussions, at-the-desk discussions, over IM.

A burst of creativity at what would be seen as an unearthly hour for most earthlings on this side of the dateline:
Intelligence is not the need of the hour, it is the essence of the being.

Law of conservation of hair - especially for a friend who's losing hair at a rapid pace, so he coined this one:
Hair should neither be created nor destroyed. It should only be transferred from one place to another. (He's growing a beard these days )

Something which is a characteristic of me, but the way, I would like to put it -
I am not moody, I'm just predictably unpredictable.

Newton's third law (well, I know atleast one more connotation of this one which I'd rather not publish here ) :
For every advantage, there is an equal and opposite advantage.

That's about all that I can recall at present.

Requiem for a dream

It is probably time for me to do exactly that - hang up my dream. The dream which might never happen. Someone on Y! messenger today had her status set to - I am not going to hold my life back for a dream that never worked out. That set me thinking of a dream that could have happened.

A day, like any other day, except for the date - February 11th. It holds significance in my life, something that I would rather forget, but cannot. My existence is attributed to it. Well, that's another story to be dealt with, maybe someday. After all, tomorrow is another day, right?

So, it was February 11th 2004 and I get in to work as usual, log on to the tons of messengers that I am always online on. It was actually a surprise that someone whom I had been exchanging offline messages with materialized. A conversation began. Things progressed gradually and I actually started moving in a direction which I had forgotten existed. It was nothing but an instinct which made me persist on, when everyone seemed to be advising me against treading the path on which I was.

A small misunderstanding or was it a difference of opinion? I didn't think it was big enough to balloon into a total breakdown of communication. So, there was a breakdown and long enough for probably a saner person to have composed this requiem then itself. That streak of insane optimism proded me into writing and the conversaton that followed awakened that hope again...

A dying hope which took one more step today and I set a date. February 11, 2005 it shall breathe its last and my requiem shall reach a crescendo.