Monday, April 13, 2009

A drop of sound in an ocean of silence



Art is the ultimate human ability. I am fascinated by the ability of certain people to create something beautiful out of nothing. I do not talk here of artists who merely reproduce an existing image. I speak of true artists who create meaning from abstraction.
Recently, I was visited by the urge to create something. My talent is sadly limited to my words. I am completely tone-deaf and my art makes me look like I have hand-eye co-ordination issues. Keeping the aforementioned in mind, I nevertheless decided to try my hand at charcoal art. The below is my contribution to the wonderful world of art.
The first one is my favourite. This one came out free and without design. The image is of a tree, but there are a bunch of people trying to ascend the tree. But on one of its branches hangs a silhouette, which looks suspiciously like a hanging man. Then of course there is the imagery of a concerned eye looking on the futile attempts of the people. I have an idea of what this represents. What do you think it shows?


The second one is also something real. I named it "Duality". And once again, I have no idea why. This again is something that came out free and without structure. The abstraction here being that of a woman torn between worlds. On one side is the comfort of the familiar - the routine that we grow into, the people who we deem are necessary, the world which we decide we cannot do without. On the other side is the unknown realm of non-conformism - the dark abyss without the safety net, the utter desolation of loneliness, the silent growth into knowing oneself truly and without boundary. Once again, I would love to hear your take on it, for I'm learning this myself.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Evolution is the sum of its failures...


Today morning I opened the paper to read the above article. Long story short, boy dies bungee jumping. What makes this something for me to pay attention to is that I truly believe I could've been that boy.
One of my friends had spotted this bungee thing about 4 weeks before this kid died. He was absolutely insistent that we all go for it. When I was asked about it, I immediately knew that this is something that I will NOT do. Here's how my life goes.
a) I percieve options.
b) My gut leaps with joy or sinks with doubt
c) I immediately follow my gut-instinct
I have seen the hand of destiny work around me so close, that the last thing I will do is disregard it. I have had so many personal miracles work for me that it is difficult for me to believe that the universe does not have a design. Life works out best when your life is in sync with the flow of the universe around you.
The signs are quite vivid. We choose to ignore or see the signs. The ability to see your action as a seperate person (or a third person) is a powerful skill. Ancient japanese warriors were capable of a discipline where when they enter battle, they were able to see their actions as a third person - devoid of ego, devoid of distraction and devoid of fear. The mind evolves long before the body begins to see the need to. The mind can see the hidden print - when I see a bungee jumping crane, I can see the points of failure. When my mind is not comfortable with the various scenarios that have already been played out in my thoughts, it signals doubt in the form of a physical reaction. This reaction is what I call gut instinct.
The will to survive is an amazing force within the human psyche. If you feel an overwhelming fear which you have no explanation to, I suggest you rethink what you are going to do. 9 times out of 10, that fear is your mind highlighting points of failure in your future course of action.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Sudden darkness




April 10 - Today I write with a bit of a heavy heart. I woke up from a livid dream that had me questioning reality for a while. The dream disturbed me because I was broken morally within my dream. Then I got out of bed all groggy and when I got out of my bedroom, my brother was sitting in the living room.

"The 6 year old girl who lives two floors above us died. She vomited and in the process, she collapsed and did not rise after that. She died today morning".

My brother is blessed with bad timing. His words were disturbing to me, essentially as a death happened two floors above my house. The deceased was a child. What was even more disturbing to me is that I could not really care enough. I didn't know the child.


When I express the above fact, I get angry glances and pained expressions. I do not apologize. Proximity does not mean I should feel bad. Millions die...many through much worse methods. Some die alone in a gutter, some starve, some are raped, some through hazardous work conditions. Millions die.





I felt bad that a child had to die. And the emptiness of the world in front me seemed to be symbolic of the sadness I felt. Unfortunately, we still believe in a closed box. I mourn for the parents. I wonder how they'll sleep tonight. Life is so very fragile, like a spider's web. But the embers of a fading light have a beauty all its own. I still refuse to believe that this is all there is to life.

Born to be wild




On April 9th, 2009, me and my boys (Sujith and Prashanth) decided to hit Hard Rock Cafe after work. The plan to get wasted on good ol' rock and get drowned in brew. Hard Rock Bangalore is one of the most trippy and awesome joints in town - if anyone's visiting Bangalore, or if you haven't been here yet, visit!!! HRC never disappoints.

What was really awesome this time around was that there was a live band performing. The name of the band is "Low Level Flight". They're a canadian band and I will definitely recommend that you give them a listen. We had no idea that a band was playing and we were just rocking along to their excellent music. The vibes were awesome, the crowd was cool, the band was belting out some good ol' original Rock and yours truly was well on his way to getting wasted.



Then the band took a break and we went up to the Bass Guitarist to get some more info on the band. The Bass Guitarist was Ryan, and he was the nicest rocker you could imagine man!!! Dude was all happy to be touring India (Bangalore and Pune being the highlights of his tour so far). During the course of our conversation, we exchanged mementos - I gave him the Afghani scarf you see around his neck and he gave me his Guitar Strap.
Then the band went back to playing some more numbers for the crowd (which consisted of these interesting chicks from Amsterdam and this bevy of Lebanese ladies, who were keeping the crowd split between them and the band). When the band finished playing they met up with us again. This time, we got the band into my car and all of us went to the opening of this new club on McGrath road called "Geist". Another club that I'm gonna recommend, however it did look a bit pricey.


Unfortunately our new friends had a 2 am flight back to Canada - but the whole experience of hanging out with true musicians and more importantly, rockers, gave me a whole new perspective on life. These guys have fun...bottom line. They love making music, they totally dig performing, they appreciate the fans, the touring rocks etc.

And thats why they're good at it. They do it cuz they love it. How about you? Are you doing what you love?

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Living life in 3 seconds


Now here's something really close to my heart. The absolute freedom one experiences when trying out something new with their car.

I just saw the latest installment of "The Fast and the Furious". Damn I love this movie. It's not about being the king stud of all time and driving tricked out cars (I drive a Hyundai, FYI). It's about being in the moment.

After I left the theatre, I felt like I'm letting something slip by me. I felt a bit restricted, a bit chained. As I got near my house, I let it all go in 3 seconds of pure "Pace-rush".

We were moving at about 60-65, and I swerved the car into a hard right turn. The car executed a flawless slide...right towards an oncoming bus on the other side.
In those few seconds, I felt the impulse, executed something wild, enjoyed the slide, feared the possibility of the crash, anxiety that the slide would be too long...and then, the tyres dug hard into the road and screeched into the right lane. In the picture, try to see if you can identify the L shape of the burnt rubber.
I believe in living in the moment. The past is over and the future is fiction. Only the moment is real, only the moment is true, only in the moment do we really exist.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Bittersweet Moment


"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony this life,Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die

I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah
No change, I can't change, I can't change, I can't change, but I'm here in my mold , I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no, no"

Brilliant song, relevant lyrics and trippy video. I can relate to this song to some level, however I am thankfully not lost in the money-madness yet. I do feel that everything that is active today is in an effort to produce more money. The definition or the meaning of life, whatever you may call it, is a bit diluted today. I'm sitting at my desk at office today, and I'm happy. Not because this job gives me money (which it does), but because the people around me contribute to the elevation of my quality of life.
The simple things, like a stupid joke which no-one gets but everyone laughs at, the debate regarding who knows what better, the testosterone laden discussions about who's got the best car and why, which is the most killer music system - money can't buy that. At least not yet.



The Start

"Everything that is, began as a reason as to why it could never be"

I like to begin on a positive note, and what better way than to start by acknowledging that my view on life is different enough for you, the reader, to decide to never come back.

Through this blog, I hope you will be a witness to the sights I see, the people I meet, the words I hear and the way I feel.

And with that begins my little experiment with words...