Are you ?

"If you never try, you'll never know.. Just what you want"
Are you doing what you wanted to ? Are you running, skating, or even crawling towards your dreams ? Are you sweating your brow? Are you letting the rain know you've got more in you than keeping it stop you ? Have you given all the love you've got ?
Are.you.living.your.life?

Give some more love. It's worth it.

What.A.Song !

I suddenly had this urge to listen to a nice uplifting music and went for The Dark Knight ending theme. Stumbling upon a few pieces, I went on to hear the "No time for Caution" from Interstellar and then it stuck me why it was such a hair-raising/mindblowing-awesome experience !

The music, that was it. It's the way it is built. It's like someone knows the emotion, to put it into something beyond words, something that makes you live the experience that Cooper is going through, captured in music. Made alive. Makes me feel alive.

I can almost hear TARS stating "It's not possible" and Coop replying "No, it's necessary".

An amazing feat. Makes me feel alive.  What does it do to you ?

(Had to put this under the label "love". What else can I say about that feeling ?)

"We aren’t born anything" by Ben Yu

Just read it and loved it !
http://benyu.org/we-arent-born-anything/

While I was stumbling upon one thing and another, I finally came across this. It all started with an article on "Ghost" kickstarter and the article claimed it was good for Bloggers. I then read that this was a sort of movement that is leading people to focus on text and images of blogging rather the theme (the way it looks). And then I found that some Medium and Svbtle already offer that. So I got into their home page and started looking for what it hosts and luckily stumbled across this. 

The drive

What drives these men ? What fire in their eyes and what strength of the will ? What drives these men to go about climbing the tallest of the mountains, capped with snow ? To start a voyage across the vast ocean to find land ? What hope had they when men about them were losing theirs and blaming these rare species ? They are rare and they are definitely not to be categorized with the others.

How can their heart want something so much that they disobey the fundamental rules, the fundamental fact that the world is flat, and then go forth and disprove the fact ? Was it only a strong rebellion to disprove the majority ? Or was there more to it ? Was there that thought, that all of their logic tells them that it is true, and that they want to settle its claim for once and for all ? What of the desire, the desire to find things out, find out that they were wrong and then smile about it, but have a gladness that they were able to settle its claim, that they were willing to do it, that they had the courage to do it, that they had the wrath of the others but still had their desire to make up for everything ?

All of the things that man has achieved, all the ones that matter have started out by ignoring the ones who pull them down. Do you still need to worry about what they say ?

I went to the woods... by Thoreau

I first came across this Quote from the movie Dead Poets Society and I admit that I had to rewind the part again to catch it again. A great feeling of peace dawned upon me and by the time I realized it, I was smiling. This quote essentially contains the same thing we've kept hearing - but in a different way. I find it really amazing that different words that mean the same thing - have such profound effect on us. The same thing being looked at from another point of view. A change in the perspective. But of the same point. I hope it instills some confidence in others who read it too.
Speaking of perspectives, I really loved the movie Dead Poets Society - and here's scene where Mr.Keating, with his varied style, talks on the same subject but on another note, of course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ycLb6wJDieY#t=496s

Quote from Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

On Marriage by Kahlil Gibran

What a way to say it !

On Marriage
 Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Of greatness and inspiration

Any greatness inspires us. A great sculpture, a great piece of music, a great effort, a great act of nature - anything great - anything indeed serves as an inspiration. When I go to a vast field, or see the vast sky above either in its azure blueness or in another of its million shades, I find inspiration. I see the many possibilities - of what one can do, of what we can achieve, of all the life's possibilities - everything right there for our taking. I believe I speak for a lot of people when I say this.
It is to this inspiration that Miss Rand refers when she says this. It speaks of a man who was in love with music, who didn't know what to do with life and was seeking for an inspiration. He was a young college student who was walking in the woods and this is what Ayn Rand says:
"He had always wanted to write music, and he could give no other identity to the thing he sought. If you want to know what it is, he told himself, listen to the first phrases of Tchaikovsky's First Concerto - or the last movement of Rachmaninoff's Second. Men have not found the words for it nor the deed nor the thought, but they have found the music. Let me see that in one single act of man on earth. Let me see it made real. Let me see the answer to the promise of that music. Not servants nor those served; not altars and immolations; but the final, the fulfilled, innocent of pain. Don't help me or serve me, but let me see it once, because I need it. Don't work for my happiness, my brothers - show me yours - show me that it is possible - show me your achievement - and the knowledge will give me courage for mine." (From "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand)

I just went through the following quote today and was struck by the truth in it and made me write all this stuff down:

People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.

- St. Augustine

(I hope I'll write more on this later. The subject is vast and I have written only a few lines...)

The Earth Prelude by Ludovico Einaudi

Play this and close your eyes. I somehow felt that I should put this under the "life" label of my blog too.

Came across this in the short movie "The country of Mediocres". Lovely short movie. Just about 13 mins or so.

The Man in the Arena - Theodore Roosevelt

Have you ever, by any chance, read "The Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt ?

I say "chance" because it was by chance that I came across it. I was searching for a wallpaper of Rudyard Kipling's "If". I've been wanting to have that as my desktop wallpaper for some time now. I chanced upon the wallpaper in a website "The art of manliness" - they were announcing posters that are now available for purchase. The first one, "The Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt caught my eye and I enlarged it to see what was said. The website boasted of 'manliness' as an art and so I thought it'd be worth to check that out. And yes, how true it was. I read it, was spellbound, and just sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Or it must be my mind playing tricks because I thought I sat in silence. Sometimes when you find something give form to a feeling that you have, in a way that matches the feeling, you feel happy. I mean, I do. I have to write this down tonight, I told myself. Serendipitous discoveries really have a thrill that very few things can match!

Here's the poem and picture directly linked to the website (I guess there would be some copyrights, so I didn't reproduce the pic. But the problem with linking the pic directly is that if they link, this would be useless. Anyway, that's alright.)

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic" delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910 by Theodore Roosevelt

Hats off to you, Mr.Roosevelt. That was fantastically said.
(Do visit The art of manliness if you want to buy the poster. By the way, I have no affiliation whatsoever with that website)

anithya

The sun sets now only to rise again. I know that the light isn't eternal but neither is darkness.

-Me.

Home run !

Sometimes in life, as they showed in Moneyball, you are worrying about reaching the second base and staying safe at the first, when you've hit a home run and haven't realised it !

Musings...

Life. How do we measure it ? For each, his own ? A different yardstick for each of us.

How do we start ? We go a way. We find a crossroad. Roads to be taken. Roads to be left. How do we know which one to take ? Should we go left, or to the right ? We choose a way. We go ahead.

We grow. We feel. We make friends. A few great friends. Some talk to our soul. We realise we're not perfect. And find warmth in knowing that they aren't either. Or not. But that they accept you for who you are.

We work hard. At home. At office. Some dreams have to be left. Some visions shatter. We seek other things. Some opportunity lost. Some door closed. Some opened. Hope fills our heart. We move. Some hold promises. Some hold challenges. Yet we go ahead.

When you are old, do you remember the boss that hurt you when you hadn't worked on a saturday ? Or do you remember the time when you ran in the rain, ran with your swimming suit and a t-shirt, ran from the edge of the hill to the tea stand, to have a small cup of tea. With your friends. To finish the last sip. And then look at who's going to pay the bill. To find that we hadn't known that there wouldn't be an ATM on such a hill. 

We laugh. We live. We marry. We find that there are still things to learn. We still have to grow up. And we grow up and raise other little ones. They form the center of our world. Some forget to give their spouses the time they deserve. Some do. We go ahead. We keep walking.

We start our lives making promises. Every couple start their lives dreaming that theirs would be the ideal marriage. Some live up to it. Some don't. All part of it. Some promises are broken. Some such promises break our hearts. We still move on. Some die in the process. Some find more passion to keep things lively. Some sing. We listen to an old melody as we pass by a hotel. Reminding us of some things we could have done some other way. Only we haven't. Some remind us of the best times we had. And we smile. We come home from work. Suddenly there's a rose waiting for you. Beside it is a letter. "Darling, I'll be late". Simple things, they restore our faith. Faith. Spark. The candle that burns within. Illuminating spaces in our heart that are too precious. 

We regret. Only, the most precious things in life are never meant to be regretted. You preserve them. You hold them deep inside. When you go on, you find that some aren't regretted.

A Spark. The small thing that marks the difference between caring and loving. What is it that makes us see through broken promises, still keeping our love for each other intact ? You are dead angry against him. He did something foolish, something stupid. Some dust speck falls into his eye. You go over, to blow it off. How does our blood rush when you hear their voice? How do we still love with all our might ?

We fight. We love. Sometimes something is amiss. Some hollow in the heart. You miss something. You don't quite know what it is. You seek for answers. You drive your bike at a hundred. You aren't thrilled. You find chaos, when there's silence around. Its the peace. The peace that is sometimes lacking. The inner peace. You have to find it. You struggle through to find it. You have everything in your life, still you have to find it. You find it, then the others can be set straight. 

We have to find it. Find the inner peace. When you've found it, you'll have a solemn silence, when there's chaos around. Cause when you find it, you'll be. You'll live to the fullest. When you've found it, guard it. Its a small candle. The light of hope. The small spark. Our life.

Rs.2 extra for podi, babu

Tonight I went to watch "Orange" - second show. First day. You'd know how things would be on first days. Late night shows. Crowd waiting to catch their idol in video. Hero worship, you know. This is India. Well, Tollywood !
Anyway, I was too late. The line was too big. I already knew by yesterday morning that I won't be able to get direct tickets. It had to be something in 'black'. Black market. I hate to promote it. But I did. Rs.200 for Rs.40 ticket. Not even balcony. For a flop movie. So they say. I had to watch it on the first day. I wanted to do that. Long time, you know. First days, front rows. Never been there. Front rows on the first day, I mean.
Got out to have something to eat. The roadside idly/dosa/etc wallah was not too busy. I touched the Mysore bonda. It wasn't hot. Bad to eat. Had to go with my fav idly again. Atleast it was in a box with a lid. 4 idlys. Little chutney, and some masala powder (we call it podi in telugu). Two idlys later I had to refill the chutney and podi.
"Rs.2 extra for the podi", he said.
I have to agree I thought that the cost per plate of idly may be more, but extra charge for podi ?
"Extra charge for podi ?", I said laughing. I'd like to keep it cool.
"Tell me one thing babu. You don't look like you've got tickets to the movie by standing in the line. You would've got it in black. Very costly. You pay so much for that ticket and you can't give Rs.2 for podi ?"
I thought. No, wait a minute. I didn't. I laughed. "My friends got them for me", I lied. Both of us knew. He was about to start a lecture and spoke the first two words (I guess) when I interrupted him. "I didn't say that I won't pay for podi", was my reply. That stopped him. I gave him Rs.12 more out of an "its alright" funda.
Now that I think about it, that was really crap. The logic, I mean. His logic. The movie tickets were in demand and his idly/vada/etc were not. I wanted to watch the movie, its difficult to get the tickets. I wouldn't mind eating pani-puri (whose price wasn't hiked up. I know - I ate them too.) instead of his idly. Demand-Supply => price, right ? It doesn't matter how the movie was. It was packaged well, it had high demand. Marketing, direction, previous movie performance, etc., you know. His podi had to be worth the Rs.2 that he demanded.
I don't like giving charity when it isn't worth it. Be it Re.1 or whatever. That is why I think I won't pay extra again if it isn't worth it and when I have a choice (supply, remember?).

I don't want the multiplex

Damn these multiplexes!!

They are legally robbing us and we are letting them.

I dont want to pay in full when I sit in the front row to watch a movie. I dont want to pay for the overpriced popcorn-thums up-sweet corn during the intermission. I cant stand the attitude they display at the theatre.

I love the ordinary theatres. They are big, have a bit overpriced rates for the popcorn (what's movie without a popcorn, huh?), they have different prices for different seating locations and mostly, they have the crowd that boos, cheers and comments. That's fun! I don't know wat we'd become when the movies don't hav such crowds. Without the newspapers being torn and thrown high, without the whistles and comments(read "nasty"), without the dances, without the difficulty of getting to hear and/or watch the movie on the first day of its release (obviously, of a bigger star). Hmph, thats one sad life without all of it.

Seriously, I mean, I can't pay so much for a flop movie, right? Plus these guyz form these alliances and then decide which to play and which not to. Where are the PEOPLE ? The juntha. The population. The power holders in a democracy. Well, they are busy watching pretty girls. We are the ones that run the movies, not these multiplexes. Apart from the pretty girls over there, what else is so worthy? Unless it's an IMAX screen which is the largest screen in India, the rest of the mutliplexes, often, fall short in quality to the regular movie halls.

Somebody somewhere should be sharing my views. With all the english films being screened only in the multiplexes, I miss watching them in the regular ones and stopped buying popcorns.

Painting a picture

Walking on the road
I see the sun shine
I couldnt tell if it was sinking or rising
Lots of birds chirping
I think its sinking
Evening time
More than a gentle breeze
Trying to disturb by unruly hair
I reached a park
Small one near our place
A swing there was, another broken
A slide there was, with a ladder to climb onto it
Children were on the swing
There were some on the slide
Some climbing up
Some sliding down
And both happy
Sun is behind the trees now
Hitting my face through the spaces
I think I can paint a lovely picture
But realize its incomplete without you.

Some were playing cricket
With stones as wickets
The others just sitting on the wall
Chatting about the movie tickets
There sat a couple
Looks like they are in love
Whether lovers or brother-sister I dont know
Whichever love is love after all
I think I can paint a lovely picture
With the sun sinking in
And the sky growing golden
With the kite flying above
And the one holding the thread
But I realize its incomplete without you

Now where should I put you in
On the wall ? its quite silly
On the slide ? still the same
Playing cricket ? its mad (sure love is)
In the swing ? looks right
Beside me ? Oh wait,
I wouldnt be painting if you were beside me
All I would do is to stare

Reclaim your life : The Tata Safari Dicor Ad

You must watch it to know what I am speaking here. Once in a while when we are changing the tv channels, we stumble across an advertisement that is worthy of our attention. Quite fewer times we come across one that makes us feel all nice and gay - there a few ads that make us happy everyday, but these fewer ones make us feel entirely happy from inside. And fewer times, 'rare' can be the word to describe it, there comes an ad that grips your attention, that dictates terms, that more than lives up to what it is advertising. Some ads stand a class apart. Way way apart. This ad is one in that league. Its almost solitary being in that league because there are too few that sit up there.

I love this ad. The way the music stops at the right moments and then carries on again. The way the whole thing is shown. The way different scenes are portrayed together. The way the whole music plays. The way that guy looks up as the waves crash on his feet. The way the Dicor drifts and mud rises. The way the Dicors background is. The way the rain drops fall on the spectacles and on the mud.

This is one ad that made me feel that I should buy this Tata Safari Dicor. Maybe one day I will. And if someone asks me why, I might just smile and open the door and get into it and press the pedal and watch his outline becomes smaller in my rear view mirror. Brilliant ad ! Really no words can mention how brilliant this is.

Kudos to the ones involved in the ad production and design, and the sound track maker ofcourse. Wonder if anything can get a better video for promotion !

That day in the sunset...

It was time for sunset when they were sitting there. They had come there for a drive, a thing that both of them love to do, more so when they were with each other. But he always hated driving. "I am sick of this traffic and pollution", he once said and she knew he wasn't ubercool. She always knew it. But far away from the city and its dust, they were happy that they drove there. She loved to come with him. Anywhere he was, she likes to be around. He was happy that it was mutual.

The trees beneath where they were were very thick. What this meant was that it formed a dark background behind her and it contrasted perfectly with the yellowish-orange salwar that she was wearing. As they were holding hands, a rather troubling frown covered her face. Those two wide eyes narrowed a bit as she was about to speak. She looked to him, opened her mouth and quickly dropped the thought as though it was forbidden. It was too late now, she knew. Everytime she had some stupid doubt, he would come and rub it off, as though it was a small dust speck on an otherwise flashing mirror. And everytime she thought it was better to shut her mouth than ask another one of those not-so-silly-to-me doubts, she would have already made her intentions clear that she was about to speak. Knowing this, he placed his arm across her lovingly, and asked what it was that dared to bother his darling.

"You shouldn't lie, okay?"

"Okay. You know I won't do that when I am with you"

"Okay then. It was something that this stupid guy was saying"

He wanted to say that it was foolish to think about anything else when they were together, but he knew he makes lots of mistakes and having quickly got this thought, he immediately rejected it and regretted having even had such a thought. Saying that would not only darken the mood, but also the vanilla who said it. He did what he should do. He listened.

"You see I am really not worried much about this. You know me. But sometimes it bothers one. Why should he be telling me things? I know it's just a joke. But sometimes it really bothers me. Sometimes you make such stupid jokes too. But not regarding this one and I know you won't", and she smiled. It seemed to make her happy that he didn't do many things that bothered her. Or having learnt that some things bother her, he began to avoid joking about them. She liked him for it. For changing himself to prevent making her sad.

Then as though someone was trying to hear her, she looked either ways, then looked straight at him and asked the million dollar question.

"Do I look fat?"

She paused. She was still wondering if she should have asked him that. But he was, as Rachel put it in Friends, "The apple of her eye" and she would ask him anything and everything. It wasn't even a second that she was in thought that she felt the arm across her shoulder loosen. "Have I said something wrong? No, I was just asking him. He loves me anyway, have I spoken anything else?"

The hand that loosened across her shoulder took her left hand, then clasped it with both his hands and said

"Dear sweet vanilla ice-cream, you look lovely" and then blinked both his eyes in a flash. This was something that he learnt from her, apart from learning to live, learning to love and many more. This was her signal of love and affection. That she liked him, even during the times when they were only friends. She felt happy now. She was expecting something like "It's the dress", "Not at all", but she knew she was a bit on the other side of the weighing machine's pointer.

A smile. Then a small giggle. It was more than a mere giggle. Then a hug.

"Am I really lovely? You know, I think that I am lovely too. But it was only my mom who said it first"

"Dearest, you were always lovely. I change the tense, you are always lovely. Even in that horrible nightgown that you wore that wednesday, you were charming. And now when the sun shines on your face and you look with those wide eyes with full of innocence, I'd bet those Greek warriors who launched those thousand ships would have said "ahoy there" and stopped filling fuel to stay till the sun went down. Now, they would've probably stayed on but I would be too angry to have you there in front of them and hence would have talked them into going to Troy for keeping their promise, however absurd it might be"

"That's sweet of you. You know you talk too much sometimes. Give explanations that are really out of the blue. But I like you for all these"

Then after she had him hugging her till her heart felt that it was now okay again, and until they rocked sideways for a good long time, she broke loose and scurried across to fetch her camera.

"Hey, it's a bit dark now. I should've taken it earlier. I will still get a print of this and write what you've told today"

"You remember all of it?"

"Not the garbage. Only.."

"Hey..."

She giggled. "I like to do that to you. Okay baba, I remember most of it. If I ask you again, you would come up with another way of saying that. I know", she said smiling.

"Yeah, yeah. Apni hi kisi ada se poochlo. You are the one who makes me say things, so they're not entirely my words"

"Done, now. Lets go and have pani-puri"

" I thought you don't like them much"

"Yes, but you do. I'll be happy to see you eating"

She had that angel smile on her face again. That was her. She does things that make him happy whenever he makes her feel good about herself. Cursing why the sun sets so soon and thanking at the same time that she was with her during that sunset, he started his bike.

"It's a long dusty way back. Wanna do something to make up for this ?", he said with his mischeivous smile.

"Ahahaha. Idiot"

Not that he wanted anything apart from her majesty's presence the next time, but he wanted her to say that and smile again. Sometimes, being called an idiot actually makes him feel that he's on the top of the world.

Crazy are the ways of love.

Running to stand still

How can someone come up with something like that? Ever since I've heard these four words, I have been asking myself this one question. How can someone write words like that? Then it strikes to me that this work could only be that of the masters: U2.

From the time I've started to explore U2, they always came up with a new all-time high, be it through the guitar of The Edge, Mr.Clayton , or the beats of Mr.Mullen Jr, or different octaves that are distinctly Bono-ic or most importantly for me, the lyrics. Bono is truly a genious. He writes so well, sings through his heart and soul and you can feel music. That is what I consider truly marvelous. You have to feel music. That's what I say. It is universal, so is Love. And when it's U2, you have music and love. And then it forms a masterpiece. Period.

I'll like to talk more, even though you might argue that there are better bands (for which I say "okay. For each, his own"). I'd like you to listen to the songs sung by these artists. They are of top quality. And it just makes me wonder sometimes, why I wasn't aware of this earlier, why I wasn't there to see these men perform live. That's just me talking, talking. But coming to the point, you have to give yourself time to feel their music. Initially, I was attracted only by a few songs. It was only when I started listening to the others more carefully that I found how much I missed them. Everytime I listen to them, listen to a new song of theirs that I haven't already heard (Yes, I haven't heard all of theirs), I feel a new surge of emotions within me. Some of which I haven't myself found till now. Their music talks. Even the guitar talks.

Thank you U2 for opening a world full of possiblities to me. A world so full of Love and beauty. A world full of music.

If there's anything above the level called "fan", like being a worshipper, then I am that for U2. And I am sad that I find fewer fans, here in India.

The era of Songs

Most of my life can be viewed as series of era's of Songs, mostly intermittent. The thing is, I become attached to a few set of songs, and mostly from one singer, for a definite period of time and anytime I listen to those songs, I'll be reminded of the period of my life when I used to sing them. And I sing these songs until I get ones that I didn't listen to earlier.

Right now, its U2 that I am humming. Man, you should listen to some of their songs. You see their lyrics are so vague that most of those who listen to them feel that they are written especially for them. And that is considered one of the reasons why U2 is arguably the best band around since long time, the 80's. They have such beautiful beats and The Edge is wonderful on the guitar. Do you know this guy is so good at guitar (Electric guitar) that he experimented playing the electric guitar with a magnetic pic. You know, the effect of magnetic field over electric field, and all that stuff that we learnt in our Plus 2.