The Rising

Mangal Pandey
Kyon kaptan sahib... Kaale aadmi paar jor ajmayenge?

Unlike the last time, when I was waiting for my new CD love, this time I chanced upon it. I was in the local Indian store, attempting to locate the latest PC DVD, when I saw the red orange cover. Aamir Khan! Haven’t seen anything by him for a while, and then AR Rahman, my second favorite, ofcourse, I had to buy it. It took me a little bit of time to give it my full attention, but after what seems like a long time I am love with ARR music, again.
He is a master arranger, always think of him as an arranger than music maker, he overlays so many themes, weaving, interlacing and suddenly, when you least expect it, one of the themes takes over. It takes me many listenings to identify the various parallel threads. It is complex and it grows on you. My favorites move around the CD, resting atleast once on each of the numbers. His last release (Bose) was a disappointment, maybe it was the shriek-y bangla rendition of my favorite lullaby or the 'aklaa chollo re...' sung by Sonu Nigam but, I felt saddened.
Joy of joys there is no Sonu Nigam or Alka Yagnik this time. There is Kailash Kher though. I was enchanted by his voice when I heard the qawali by him in Dev.
ARR has done something I used to associate with him in his earlier days. He uses the right voice in the right way in the right place. With recent constants like Mr Nigam and mango face I had started believing that he had lost his knack for locating and using the right vocals. This time around, he surpassed himself, tons of new voices! All in the right place!

So lets start...
Mangal Mangal
Kailash Kher, Nagada and Khadtal.
There is a hindi proverb about a liar singing from his throat, a hungry man singing from his gut and a believer singing from his soul. Kher sings from his gut, something very hungry about his voice. Reminds me of the street urchins singing in the Delhi buses (two pieces of flattened stone clanging against each other for the beat). The song features, thrice in the CD, twice sung by Kher and once a duo by him and Sukhvinder Singh.
The song is a little different each time, probably features in different parts of the movie and somehow ties it together. Lovely renditions, I wouldn't have minded having it on the cd a couple more times :).

Main Vari Vari
Haven’t heard Kavita Krishnamurthy in a while, she is still as shrill and note perfect as can be. Reena Bharadwaj adds a nice balance to the KK voice. Tabla, ghungroo and sarangi mark the ‘mujra’. But the pace changes unexpectedly, I can almost visualize the abrupt ending of the song. ARR claims this to be the most difficult song for him in the entire album, I can almost see why.

Holi Re
By the time I came to this number, I had to go check the lyricist. None other than Javed Akhtar( of the Salim-Javed fame). Reminiscent of Kabir and Rahim in places ( if I might be so bold ). A great mixture of khadi boli, awadhi and urdu. Very period appropriate. And very well written. It is far and away from the fancy words and the vivid imagery of Gulzar, economical and prudent use of simple words. Definitely Bharat Vyas-ish.

Aamir Khan could almost be Mahipal (from Navrang) in his rendition of the initial part. Only ARR can make Udit Narayan sing like this. There is Madhushree, Srinivas and Chinmay too. Very bhraj bhumi. Somehow, ARR always does this. He takes something like a holi number and manages to go against the ingrained sound for the ‘genre’, which in this case is Amitabh Bachan sound-like and does something that is beautiful and still sounds just right. Just like he did with ‘mera rang de basanti chola’ I never thought someone could make me forget the original tune; but he did.


Rasiya
Richa Sharma, a singer who tries to make up with attitude what she lacks in aptitude for singing and a relatively unknown voice, Bonnie Chakraborty. Amazing. Bonnie is the real winner. She sings in the lower octave, usually better suited to male voices and hardly ever dared by female singers. Richa and Bonnie provide a perfect contrast as far as vocals are concerned. The words are beautiful, Richa’s attitude comes in very handy uttering words like ‘Challia’, ‘Rasiya’. The quaint mix of hindu and muslim influences that go by the name of ‘hindustani classical’. The backdrop of the beat and the chorus adds extended character if you will. A single twinkling anklet in the last few lines. Wonderful.

Takey Takey.
Sukhvinder Singh, Kher and Kartick Das Baul. A market place song with a chorus of kids. Hyper paced, with a soul. I heard a rooster crow in the song. It changes beat when you least expect it.
Starts with the snake charmer’s Been. The verbal gymnastics are beautifully rendered. Very nice, most definitely my favorite song so far.

Al Maddaath Maula
Ofcourse, there has to be an ARR sung song, but it seems the guy is learning about the limitations of his singing abilities. His voice is relegated to adding a dimension to the song and not something in the forefront. A lesser known type of sufi devotional music. Not the ‘regular qawali’. This is something that reminds me of a dargah in Lucknow…very sufi and very nice.


The music brings nostalgia …paints a picture of the age all of us read about in our history books, the mutiny of 1857. The hindu-muslim confluence to the patriotic beat is unmistakable. Very different from the pure Punjabi bhagat singh, just as patriotic nevertheless. The walk of Mangal Pandey to the gallows is just as moving as one in Bharat Singh. I think the movie is going to be nice. I hope it is going to be nice, last time I went gaga over a music album ... the movie almost broke my heart. This time it is Ketan Mehta ( not Amol Palekar) and Aamir Khan( and not SRK). There is hope; yet.

The Penguins

The march of penguins : A story of survival and of love.
It is funny how we think of love something only us humans are capable of. 'The March of the Penguins' is a story of the march the penguins undertake to the procreate and what they undergo to have their younglings make it. It is an amazing piece of work.
The music, the photography, the narration. You are mesmerized by these clumsy creatures and a landscape that is closer to the 8 bit color than the 32 bit world that we live in.
The story of the movement of the male and female penguins to the Antarctic wasteland, where they mate, take turns taking care of the egg and then the young and fetching food. The treacherous weather, the life against all odds. Narrated by Morgan Freeman. I can't think of anyone else they could have picked to tell the story. You can hear hope, despair, acceptance, stoicism, wisdom, humor and a slight east coast accent.
The story leaves me breathless; these creatures undergo so much to bring life? Many of them die! Mother Nature puts in us an instinct so strong, that the life of the little one becomes more important than that of the progenitor. Human beings are no different. The journey from a zygote to a full grown human baby is more invasive to a mothers body than a growing cancer. The fetus pushes all internal organs, distends the skin and muscle, squishes the stomach to a fraction of its size, puts unbelievable load on the heart, lungs, kidneys... The heart pumps upto twice as much blood, all the ligaments in the body relax enough to bend and cave to the growing baby. The survival and growth of the baby wreaks havoc on the mothers body and the body co-operates! The birth is a miracle. How that baby pushes thru the tiny birth canal and all those bones and emerges into the new bright world with a scream ( and an APGAR of perfect 10) is astounding. In this day and age of modern science and technological marvels, it is amazing to witness something as illogical and low tech as the creation of another human being. Suddenly the human body becomes something sublime. It is not just another clothes hanger, it has a purpose. The most primeval of them all; of creating life and... of sustaining it. It becomes mystical and pragmatic all at once.
The penguins take care of the young, the mother, does lay the egg but 'but in one of natures most endearing role reversals' the father takes care of the egg. After two long months during which the males eat nothing, the eggs begin to hatch. Penguins are lucky the male gets to participate in bringing the young to the world as much as the mother. The human beings are not so lucky, males get to stand by and watch helplessly. I have, over the years heard a number of my male friends hypothesizing women's superiority over men. Most of them are complete baloney, except for one. My best friend from my undergrad once told me 'I have to depend upon a woman to make me feel like a complete human being, to feel what it is to be a father'. I had no wisecracks for him.

step on the rooftops and soar ...

Resolute and focused.

looking out

Promontory?

:)

Is what you don't see

the more important thing?

Start a busy day with a ...

...Survey

you are:
an irredeemably eejitous, liberal, disgustingly generous, relatively well adjusted human being

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/compatibility/

Cut to the chase

Speed dating: When you hear the whistle, your date is over( no matter how cute they are!) After you meet each of them, look at the name tag for their number find it and circle yes or no, make notes!
$35 bucks for twelve, four minute dates, with cheap cocktails! What a deal...

Welcome
A trendy pub in fremont. Everyone looks a little nervous, eyes are studiously averted. My purple shoes with four inch heels and rhinestone buckles provide me some solace, but not much.
Hello!
pink chocolate lips, red chandelier earrings, tanned and toned arms in a white tank greet me.
Did you girls sign up?
What's your name?
Oh I see it, here, you are number 8.

Lets get started
So, the girls sit at 2' by 2' cheap Formica tables and the other chair facing is open .. The music is loud, the light is dim and the cocktails are flowing. A mango comso later, everything seems a little funny.
The host explains. The girls pitch in a tent and stay while the guys move around. Counter clockwise. 11 girls, 12 guys, one guy gets a timeout every round.

The merry-go round
The first one...
Hi! I am number 28.
OMG! he is so young, I could burp him, giving him a bath and put him to bed. Gulp down my cosmo, when "what do you do?"
In a couple minutes, I am giving him career advice, telling him he should not be dishearted because some idiot told him that he doesn't have the right degree. We don't even notice the whistle. And suddenly, I have a new friend, we exchange smiles.

After that it takes off, the smile comes easily, the chatter too. The handshakes limp, clammy, nice grip, firm shake, over powering, too tight... They tell me how my next four minutes are going to be.

And the questions:
Give me a two min bio? ( hello, I did not know I signed up for an interview)
Tell me about yourself? (um, I have strong opinions?)
What do you do? (I run)
What do you do for fun? ( I paint)
Where do you work? ( a local software company)
What do you paint? ( lanscapes in oil)
What is so special about Indian guys? (umm, nothing?)
Would you go up to a guy and start a conversation if you like him? ( yes.)
Let me guess, you are from India, I went to India a couple months ago, why are you here and not back there? ( I don't know?)
How many languages do you speak? ( four)
What is the last book you read? (:) , nice question)
You have a HOUSE?( I am sorry!)
Do you like your job?( I love it)
What did you expect out of this? (maybe, I'll make a few friends ?)
What do you think of the Seattle dating scene? ( Gulp! is there one?)

Not a single compliment! not a single, 'you look pretty'. Guys are such dorks!

The guys:
Four Microsofties, one from amazon, one from cingular, one Phd ( maths and CS), one journalist from Seattle times, one highSchool teacher, one bankteller and one New yorker and one buff ex-Airforce pilot. Not bad.

Damn I am picky, even with a 4 min screen only 3 out of 12 for coffee( no drinks or dinner)... And they were a great lot, not a single jerk.
Although there was one, who was cute and smart and caught my eye... and I definitely know that he interests me cause I though, gosh! he left my table so fast. Just as I was leaving the bar, the dude comes running... "I can look you up, would you mind if I emailed you?"
:)

I love you Daddy...

Selling Real Estate to Indians- 101

America is a highly organised society where courses are taught methodically and the basic course is always called '101'. It is the starting point for understanding everything. Here is what some of the basic lessons of 101 for realtors wanting to sell houses to Indians would look like:

• Do not assume that a family means two or even 2 + 2. A family can consist of three generations living together. Grandparents, who also double up as resident baby sitters, two 'providers' both with PhDs (work room must need space for two computers, at least), and children (who will continue to live in the house, even when adults).
• Do not emphasise the swimming pool. It will be regarded as a liability and not an asset.
• Do not assume that the living room is the most important area. It is not, though there should be space for about a 100 when parties are held. (Seating is not necessary. Many will take the floor, so stress on the brown carpet, which will hide the whiskey spill).
• The most important part is the kitchen. This is what they will see first.
• Identify a closet large enough for about fifty pairs of shoes. Indian clients, however wealthy, will never throw away their old shoes.
• If there is a small room, stress its virtue as a potential temple (if you can manage call it the pooja ghar -- it is an important sales pitch).
• Do not ask how they intend to finance it or about the credit arrangements. Assume that they will not see the house, before they have saved up.

A sunset promised long ago.

The Peach Cosmoo

1.5 oz peach vodka

2 oz cranberry juice
1 oz Kern’s peach nectar
~1/4 oz Rose’s lime juice

Combine over ice, stir, strain, and enjoy (preferably while enjoying a beautiful sunset over the water with friends).

Courtesy Gail.

And ofcourse, I can't let it go without a swipe at men :)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1302640,00.html

the golden sun

a word

Came upon an old favorite of mine today "Entelechy" ... it has an icky sound, but I like what it means.. and almost always like the context in which it is used.

Seattle.. my home.

Lest I forget...

I will need to remember this when I have a teenager standing in front of me, telling me that I am heartless autocrat and I don't remember what it is to be young.

Uma: mom?
Mom: yes, Shona?
Uma: do you like everything I like?
Mom: I love every thing you like sweetie.
Uma: < Thinks >
Uma: Then you must love yourself very very much.

Gulp!

Tagged; Again

Tagged again, this time it is words. Much better.
Words are my constant companion and singling out a few is going to be hard, but here goes.

wistful-can't define it, brings and image to my mind, a look in the eye, when you are there but not quite.

evocative- it is not provocative it is subtler, it reminds.

pun- for what it means, best use: what a 'punny' statement!

fib- a noun and a verb, a lie or to lie. reminds me of Enid Blyton.

English is a living language, it absorbs, it grows and a list of words cannot be complete without a list of borrowed words ...

raison d'être - reason for being, french is too fancy for me, but i haven't found another word that expresses quite the same thing.

Götterdämmerung- twilight of gods, I read this word in 'gone with the wind' when I was pretty young, it stayed with me.

Angst-another german word. A state of mind, being, a feeling...

Love- cannot define it.. which is why it made my list.

Perhaps- I have a five year old, who often puts me in quandry by asking me what a word means. I told her, if you draw a line between yes and no, the middle point would be 'maybe', perhaps is the middle point of the line between yes and maybe. I do like my version of the word better..'mayhaps'.

And ofcourse
"Supercallifragilisticexpiallidocious "--
So when the cat has got your tongue
There's no need for dismay
Just summon up this word
And then you've got a lot to say.

:)

I gaze upon thee... and smile :)