The Smooth Criminal

Le roi est mort – The King is dead.

Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was one of the most famous people on earth for a long time. Nicknamed “The King of Pop”, he was one of the holy trifecta along with The Beatles and Elvis.

Universally accepted to be the greatest entertainer to have lived, his songs, dance and overall routine amazed generations and will continue to inspire future generations of musicians, dancers and music lovers all over.

Through all the controversies and allegations, no one doubted his talent. His fame transcended all imaginations. The Beatles were popular in a time without the internet and there was mayhem so it can only be imagined what it was like for MJ. His Thriller album still is the most selling album of all time. His worldwide tours are quite simply, Legendary. One only has to go to YouTube to see his popularity.

He was also one of the rare individuals who could choke the internet and that is precisely what happened. Google news shut down. Twitter crashed. Most of the major news networks suffered from major slow downs.

He joins some greats like James Dean, Kurt Cobain, Buddy Holly and of course Elvis who died with something still left in the tank. He shall be as famous in death as in life. I can imagine him up there already doing the moonwalk to his hearts content.

Thanks for the trills. We shall always Remember the Time.

The Devil’s Coincidence

Someone once said, “People who believe in co-incidence lack imagination.” Basically there is fate, destiny and other mumbo-jumbo but not co-incidence.

Someone also said, “Coincidence is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys.”

I don’t know what I believe in. Things seem to happen around me that make it seem that something is always two steps ahead of me, showing me where to go & what to do, knowing what is going to happen next. My history of having premonitions is well know. But those were episodic and usually related to some tragedy. But the ones I have on a regular basis are absolutely inane. Some people might find in unbelievable but I think I’ve fairly archived a lot of these experiences on this blog.

Sometimes a random song comes in my head and I hear it on the radio that very day. Some random name comes to mind, and I read it in the newspaper on online. Over the past year or so, I’ve been a loyal subscriber of a quotation service called QotD or Quotes of the Day. Every day carries a different topic. Lately a lot of things I think about end up being reflected the following day/week in the quotes. This can be a specific author of a quote, a quote itself or the overall theme.

Last weekend on Father’s Day, I went to the mall with my dad to watch a movie. To kill time since we were there early, we decided to peruse the electronics store and then a bookstore. I glanced around, picking up a few titles. I went to the very end of the large store and among all the books, one of them caught my eye. I lifeted it up and smiled to see ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ by Ambrose Bierce. I have a e-book copy lying around somewhere and have always enjoyed the definations in this dictionary. I showed it to my dad and read out a few which he too enjpyed. That ended that story. We went to the movie, saw it and went back home and I put the memory of that episode to the far recesses of my mind.

Today I clicked on the quote of the day newsletter and the theme was, drumroll please…. Ambrose Bierce. He was born on 24th June in 1842 in Ohio. Amazing that I would see and read from a physical copy of the book for the first time in my life 3 days before his actual birthday. I really don’t know what to call it.

“The probability of a certain set of circumstances coming together in a meaningful (or tragic) way is so low that it simply cannot be considered mere coincidence. “

— V.C. King

Someone once said, “People who believe in co-incidence lack imagination.” Basically there is fate, destiny and other mumbo-jumbo but not co-incidence.  Someone also said, “Coincidence is the word we use when we can’t see the levers and pulleys.”

I don’t know what I believe in. Things seem to happen around me that make it seem that something is always two steps ahead of me, showing me where to go & what to do, knowing what is going to happen next. My history of having premonitions is well know. But those were episodic and usually related to some tragedy. But the ones I have on a regular basis are absolutely inane. Some people might find in unbelievable but I think I’ve fairly archived a lot of these experiences on this blog.

Sometimes a random song comes in my head and I hear it on the radio that very day. Some random name comes to mind, and I read it in the newspaper on online. Over the past year or so, I’ve been a loyal subscriber of a quotation service called QotD or Quotes of the Day. Every day carries a different topic. Lately a lot of things I think about end up being reflected the following day/week in the quotes. This can be a specific author of a quote, a quote itself or the overall theme.

Last weekend on Father’s Day, I went to the mall with my dad to watch a movie. To kill time since we were there early, we decided to peruse the electronics store and then a bookstore. I glanced around, picking up a few titles. I went to the very end of the large store and among all the books, one of them caught my eye. I lifeted it up and smiled to see ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’ by Ambrose Bierce. I have a e-book copy lying around somewhere and have always enjoyed the definations in this dictionary. I showed it to my dad and read out a few which he too enjpyed. That ended that story. We went to the movie, saw it and went back home and I put the memory of that episode to the far recesses of my mind.

Today I clicked on the quote of the day newsletter and the theme was, drumroll please…. Ambrose Bierce. He was born on 24th June in 1842 in Ohio. Amazing that I would see and read from a physical copy of the book for the first time in my life 3 days before his actual birthday. I really don’t know what to call it.

“The probability of a certain set of circumstances coming together in a meaningful (or tragic) way is so low that it simply cannot be considered mere coincidence. ”

— V.C. King

Quote for Father’s Day.

Quote for the day:
Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers.
- Lewis Mumford, 1895 – 1990

Finally some umbrellas being used in Mumbai.

Happy Birthday

A belated happy birthday wish to my dear blog, celebrating for the first time on wordpress.

Due to a glitch in the way wordpress works, for some reason I thought the bday was today the 24th but as I browsed the archives it turned out its actually the 12th.

But I will not be backdating the post and will accept my fault and hope to remember the date next year.

To another go around the sun…. cheers.

Have you met Ted?

A quote from the tv show How I Met Your Mother.

In many ways, HIMYM has changed my very existence. I usually prefer to stay at home and can play the introvert like very few can. But watching the assorted upper-twenty-something idiots on the show with their crazy theories, inside jokes and a general zest for life, it makes me wonder, why not me?

It is true that I prefer a good book and a movie to a wild night out; (someone’s got to) but I realized that there is plenty of time to read all the books that ought to be read and watch that which ought to be watched. What I may never get back is the next few years of my life. No commitments, no real responsiblities apart from those I owe to myself. This is the time to get out, travel, drink, eat, be merry… LIVE life. Which is why in a very unlike-me way I am off to Thailand for 5 days with my cuz Sameer for a getaway to debauchaery, memories and maybe even some crazy theories like the lemon rule.

The simplest things in life can tell you that things have changed. My hair for example… has always been kept short, crew cut style. However, I fear that the baldness that runs in my father’s side of the family might afflect me as well so I decided to enjoy my hair while it lasted. This led to growing it out to much chargin from familiy who liked things the way they were and were afraid of that other changes this might lead to. 

I may be looking for change but I am not stupid. No piercings and no tatoos. If the recent economic meltdown has taught me anything, it is this… don’t save after spending but spend after saving. I believe I have a steady saving plan in place (touching some wood now) so I need to use the rest and travel, see the world and enjoy. 

It comes down to the basic question: Do you want to be one of the many who appear in the background images of photographs, not knowing why they are there, spoiling a good picture and considered to be a mistake by people who make efforts to get rid of them? Or do you want to be the centre around whom the lights revolve? Or would you rather be the photographer, not in the flash but an integral part of the picture without whom no image would be possible?

For long I considered myself (and was happy) as an innocent bystander, caught on camera when all I wanted was to fade in the background… I have just started on the path to be a photographer. Time will only tell if I make it all the way to the screen behind the mirror.

You see, whenever I start feeling sick, I just stop being sick and be awesome instead.

- Barney Stinson

The Machinist

I’ve been feeling something quite different lately. Something that has not happened in over 2 years. That was the last time I was working these ‘effing odd hours. Now I’m back to the insanity that reminds me of a episode (not necessarily bad) of The Twilight zone. I’m facing some of the evils that took place last time around, but I have not allowed my health to deteriorate with a very strict diet: Green apples every day with Soy milk and light dinners.

The cocoon sleep has returned as well wherein I fall asleep and then then wake up right in the afternoon with no recollection of my dreams but only the realization that the world moved while I slept. I recollect from the archives of my blog that the week in April 06 when I was going through my first week of night work, it felt like I’d been doing drugs and tequila shots every day of the week. This time, things have been much smoother. However, I feel like I’m in constant stasis with every moment, every thought and every step requiring critical moments of concentration. I don’t think my reaction times have slowed down, its just that the world is moving at a slower pace which is perfect for me right now. You may have heard how people nearing death say the world slows down and their life flashes before their eyes. Some people have researched this and it appears to be a scientific fact about time slowing down so you can react quicker… actually its only your brain that makes it appear so.

So to sum it up, I’m a machine constantly on the edge of life without any real threat to it. I don’t know how long I can do this because for the past 3 months, the amount of time I’ve spent with myself is more than I have in any extended period of time.

The younger me would never have complained but he was immature and stupid to the degree I will be now when I look back 5 years from today. But isn’t that the object of life? To understand the importance of things and the quest to find answers to the questions one might encounter in real life.

To quote an old Chinese proverb, “Rolling stones gather no moss.”

Excerpts from a song that really haunts me at times and I can identify with:-

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn’t believe what I’d become

For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

- All from “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

Quote of the day

Repost from the archives of the time where my schedule was similar to my current one.

 

Life is something that happens when you can’t get to sleep.

Fran Lebowitz (1950 – )

Sins weekend

I did not know this but someone once said, “A cousin is a ready-made friend for life.”  I could not agree more. I have lots and lots of cousins on both side of my family tree who put together more than make up for the fact that I was a single child with a small group of friends.

A lot of single kids wonder what if they had a partner to grow up with. I used to wonder as well but all my cousins gave me the happiness of the brother/sister without all the fighting and craziness. I am the quite type in most situations and my entire persona has a lot to do with the fact that I’ve lived in a low-decibel environment since birth. I would not change a thing if I had to relive it all.

Being in the US the past month and half has been a whole lotta fun as apart from getting regular things done, I’ve been able to hang out with the afformentioned cousins for a lotta time. I can’t get enough apparently because I suggested to Supria who resides in the big apple that we should plan a cousins weekend. Now, with any other group of people, that would have sounded just corny, but we’re the cool kids, I think.

Next thing you know, emails are flying back and forth and this was just one thread on Gmail. Now that everyone was working or doing something productive, the crackberry addicts were out on display. Every time I refreshed the screen or came back to the tab with gmail open, there would be new conversations added. Plans were quickly made, all in matter of days.

Friday night I went over to the big city and chilled with cousin Amit’s friend who had an apartment there. Got tipsy on beer, had some delicious but expensive pizza and then we went out to this gallery by day and club/bar by night place. It was quite interesting. The memories from that night get a little fuzzy at times but suffice to say there WERE pics so it did happen. 

A thoughtful nyc cab ride and hookah later, fell asleep. Next morning was walking around the city.. 20 blocks for breakfast I believe. Then more walking, cab drive to Museum of Natural History where we took some humorous and imaginative photos. There was once scene where they showed Persia and on the right hand upper corner, I kid you not, There was a man on a flying carpet. I hope that this is a practical joke/easter egg which is cool and not a misnomer which would suck. 

Later Saturday night went to a nightclub called Aspen which as the name implies resembles a ski lodge from Colorado. Nicely done but very crowded taking half an hour to get a drink. Not the kind of place I would like to chill at. Later that night stuff happened with some people that shall remain unsaid.

Sunday morning was a lazy day with late brunch and then with Supria and Sameer got a few beers at a really nice bar called Third and Long. Good stuff.

All in all a very fun weekend and as people started leaving on Sunday, it felt like the ending of Ocean’s Eleven where the main characters start disappearing from view after watching the fountain at mirage. Some plans were made to do it again but I was the only one who went to boston the following weekend. Those adventures to follow.

This is a backdated post.

I Just Like Music

A sampling of the song Just like Music by Eric Sermon.. so true.

To relax my mind so I can be free
And absorb the sound that keep me round
Doing my thing constantly with no worries

To do something to me, like jump in the Mercedes
On the highway doing over 80
Without music baby (Ow, I’ll go crazy) yeah
(Just like music)

One fly tune to have black and white vibe in one room
No confrontation, probably all night
It’s just the sensation
(Just like music)

Just like music
Music is the soul of the man
Music makes a happy day
And music makes the clouds go by baby
Your music keeps my tears inside my eyes
(Just like music)
Your music makes me want to sing
Girl, music is a joy to bring
(Just like music)
Music is my heart and soul
More precious than gold
Happiness today is just a song away
I love your music baby

Alone in the Dark

“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.”
- Octavio Paz

I’ve decided what I need in life. I need a few moments in solitude ever now and then. For the past few years my memory and abilities of re-collection have elevated to a whole new level. Over the weekend and today I’ve cracked the cause of these powers. I’ve spent a LOT of time in solitude over the past 5 years.

When I was studying away from home, I was often left to my own musings. I’ve always believed that if you like the person you are, you’ll never be miserable alone. Thinking alone, using imagination and recollecting the past has fine tuned my brain to recall small and insignificant memories on a whim. Over the weekend I took the bus to Washinton DC and back and while an hour each way was spent chatting with my cousin sister who was traveling with me, over 6 hours combined were spent looking out the window with my music or just with my thoughts. I thought about everything and nothing at all.

I believe doing the same routine all the time can really create cobwebs in the mind, numb the reflexes and even cause mild depression. My regular life is good so this kind of change really invigorates every pore in me.

I’ve been having random epiphanies (Defination: An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something) over the past few weeks about how I want to live my life, what makes me happy, how I can improve myself and stuff like that.

I would suggest we all take some time for ourselves every now and then.

No wonder then that my favorite fictional character of all time is a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. He probably said it best in the Sign of Four: “My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”

The other city

Whenever I visit the US or think of visiting US and close my eyes, its not NYC that comes to mind. Nor is it the sights and sounds of Las Vegas, California, Atlantic city or DC.

When I close my eyes, I see, smell and taste Buffalo. People are shocked, appalled and critical when they hear this. That’s alright though, they don’t know Buffalo like I do. They don’t have the emotional ties like I have. They have not experienced the best days of their life there like I did. And I don’t think it will always remain my favorite city for the entire duration of my life, but as I sit in Jet Blue’s spanking new Terminal 5 at JFK and look forward to another rendezvous with my American love, these fleeting moments will suffice until my next fix.

“Perhaps we all give the best of our hearts uncritically…to those who hardly think about us in return.”

- T.H.White

Icy Hands Redux

A family who are close friends suffered a terrible tragedy last week. The wife/mother in the family was visiting her son in California and by a bizarre stroke of nature as she was out for a walk/run, she was hit by a car.

Accidents are terrible, no matter where or when they happen but when you are miles away from your homeland, somehow the pain is doubled, sorrows are tenfold and you feel alone regardless of how many calls you receive from well-wishers. 

The lady hit by the car was a really nice person with a great heart. She passed away yesterday surrounded by her son and her husband who flew from India to be with her. That must have been a VERY long flight. When I heard the news I was taken back 2 years when another one of our close friends passed away suddenly before we had a chance to say goodbye.

This is the fifth time in recent memory that some one close to me personally or in my family has passed away when I was in the US and unable to be there. This time it even happened in the US but a different coast means I can only offer respects personally when I go back home.

As I did that day, here are some quotes on a dark matter:-

“If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character Would you slow down? Or speed up?”

- Chuck Palahniuk

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”

- Author unknown

Below are reposts from the archives:-

For certain is death for the born

And certain is birth for the dead;

Therefore over the inevitable

Thou shouldst not grieve.

- Bhagavad Gita (250 BC – 250 AD), Chapter 2

Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come,
we are not.

- Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC), from Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers

Don’t Stop Believing

Ayn Rand wrote the following words:-

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swaps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all.

Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach.

The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.”

- Atlas Shrugged

When I went to bed last night, I laid down, closed my eyes and immediately remembered India was playing Australia on day five with a chance to do something no one had done apart from India in ages, take a Test Series lead. I put on my glasses and quickly rushed to my laptop to check the score and would you know it, Zak had led a fiery charge in the morning and India were on the cusp of a famous win. Pleased with the efforts and smiling alone in that apartment with no one to share the moment with, I thought it best to hit the sack and let time play its course.

I awoke this morning and the first coherent thought was the game and with the excitement of a kid waking up Christmas morning I once again rushed to the laptop to check the result praying for rains to have stayed away and hoping for the win. They did not disappoint. The victory was almost expected, the manner in which it came was not. A thrashing of epic proportions. India 1 Aus 0

Bringing me back to Ayn Rand’s famous passage. The Indian team is filled with veterans who have fought the fair and very long fight in their careers with individual brilliance but have very little to show for it keeping aside all the counting stats. They could have easily given up after their leader had shoulder problems and was unable to play but the efforts they showed were the difference between what is and what might have been. India have always been criticized as not having the heart to achieve things.

Over the past 5 days they have proved what is possible. How much longer will this fire burn? Were these dying embers or a spark of things to come.

We can all take a lesson from this effort. We can all get the world we desire.

It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s ours.

Winter cleaning

I spent a few hrs this morning just going through the archives and cleaning up the double posts or in some cases triple posts caused due to migration from blogger to wordpress ages ago.

Browsing the archives just got much better. Enjoy.