If there is nothing but survival, how can i believe in sin??

Reviewed!

2012-01-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

I started thinking about this, album reviews, after I read an extremely funny one on Metal Archives. Really, why do we read reviews? Why do people write them? Is it supposed to be a democratic process? Do some people have a superior musical taste and vision that most of us just lack? Frankly, I don't know.

Review 1 : OMG! They have done i again! Love these guys! Fantastic - 10/10

Fanboi review. The kind for who, certain bands can do no wrong. Not really over the top, but a little stupid at times. Can be blatantly blind.

Review 2 : Can we move on please? This is boring! - 1.5/10

Someone who listens to a lot of music and is certainly trend hopping. Because the alternative would be someone like Dom Lawson, somebody, who has genuinely heard a lot of music and can objectively review the material. I am not saying he/she does not have a point. But then the review does not contain the explanation, just a bloated, overhyped rhetoric of how cool the person is and how much music he/she has heard and how he/she has moved on from shit like this.

Review 3 : Good album. Could have been more innovative, but can't be faulted with. - 6.5/10

Most of the people fall in this category. The average, the bourgeois. Not to say that they are totally wrong or whack, but just playing it safe. This is a subset of the fanboi category with some caution thrown in. You can find the most relevant criticisms leveled against an album in such reviews, albeit not one but all of them read and digested and then synopsized. The cowardice aside.

Review 4 : Hearing them for the first time and hating it! - 1/10

This is faggot central, right here. If you haven't heard the band before this, how do you conclude that you hate it? Some music tends to grow on you and some is first listen love. More often than not, these review will include phrases like "XYZ is so much better technically", or "this movement has stagnated" or "they should be incorporating some of ABC in their music". These are reviewers, I feel like taking a digital hacksaw to.

Let us get some things straight. Music is as objective as it gets. I think Nicki Minaj is terrible and so is Justin Bieber. I think Meshuggah is goddam awesome and Lamb of God are great. But I have drawn my own lines where I think something is good or terrible.

Technical perfection and complexity for some might mean unnecessary digressions for others. Progressive influences might mean straying away or losing it for others. Heavy music might mean noise to others. Party rock can mean terrible thoughtless music for some. All of this is objective.

According to me, being able to draw a line based on logic, musical taste and common sense is the best way to review music. Being open minded is a pre-requisite when listening to new stuff.A review is made up of many aspects :
1. certainly the music
2. but also the lyrics
3. themes
4. style of music
5. history of the artiste.

Nobody is forcing you to give a reason for why you like or dislike certain music. But giving a sane and logical reason makes for a more believable review. Disagreement can ensue, but you make the other person think about the reasons that you just stated. That might just change things around.

Just a square.....

2012-01-23T01:05:00.000-08:00

This is my square on earth;
From windows as these
I see the world turn
Kaleidoscopic, into myriad colors.
Permeable these walls,
to the chirping of birds.
Sounds of human industry,
streaming through, affirming life.
Impervious, they stand
To disease, high wind and rain
Unrepentant and steady
True face of dignity
Microcosm of ideas
Transmitting to the horizon
Notes of a melodic song
Conveyor of an identity
A true sense of character
This is my square on earth
And I shall not relinquish it
For I live through it
And with it, shall end me.

Forgiveness.....

2012-01-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

Walk this dry earth
barren and desolate.
Bare feet scraping death,

Eyes thirst for the sight of life

He seems not lost
for there is nowhere to go
Horizon as bleak as the future
Reap what, when you cannot sow?

In time and repentance,
he drops to his knees
Dried blood and moist tears
he lets flow and touch the ground

Lets out an anguished cry
And asks forgiveness.
with the purest of hearts
Dry lips to the hard earth, kiss.

And springs forth a sound,
A fountain of life.
Showers over the cracks,
Covering the marks of strife.

Thunders the voice
"I forgive you too
Don't erase the past
Let it serve as reminder
For life to flourish abundant
Let us start anew"

This lyric has an added metaphor to itself, especially in the current state of India. I wish, people would forgive and forget. Vengeance may be necessary, but survival is utmost. Trust, it seems, is the missing piece in the puzzle.

Facing the Sun........

2012-01-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

A Fatwa against Surya Namaskar, a kriya in the Indian art of Yoga. On the surface this looks ridiculous, which it is. But there might be a slight flip side to it. The thing is, Yoga is made synonymous with Hinduism as it was invented here in India by the earliest residents who were Hindus. And RSS is a Hindu Organisation, VHP is one, Bajrang Dal is one. Also, as the name suggests, Surya Namaskar is bowing to the sun. Rationally speaking, it only means to be able to harvest the energy of the sun and use it to remain fit. But, in a way, it also makes the Sun, a God. So I can see why the Deoband Ulemas and the Muftis have a problem with this activity.

Now, a Fatwa, according to Wikipedia, in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā is called, in that respect, a Mufti, i.e. an issuer of fatwā, from the verb أَفْتَى 'aftā = "he gave a formal legal opinion on". This is not necessarily a formal position since most Muslims argue that anyone trained in Islamic law may give an opinion (fatwā) on its teachings. If a fatwā does not break new ground, then it is simply called a ruling.

An analogy might be made to the issue of legal opinions from courts in common-law systems. Fatwās generally contain the details of the scholar's reasoning, typically in response to a particular case, and are considered binding precedent by those Muslims who have bound themselves to that scholar, including future Muftis; mere rulings can be compared to memorandum opinions. The primary difference between common-law opinions and fatwās, however, is that fatwās are not universally binding; as the Sharia is not universally consistent and Islam is very non-hierarchical in structure, fatwās do not carry the sort of weight that secular common-law opinions do.

So, if, and I agree with this completely, religion is a matter of personal allegiance and faith to someone or something, then a person be left free to decide what he/she has to do. A religion cannot claim to be tolerant if free will is completely disregarded at the feet of fatwas. Only caveat, executions can be justified on the grounds of such fatwas in extreme cases even though they can never be justified by secular democratic laws.

Long Story Short.....

2012-01-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Harsh Mankodi for sparking this train of thought. That is all the credit he is going to get for now....:P

Turning magnet coils,
Antennas and transmission lines
A mess of metal and charge
Long story short
Mechanize

Mammoth mass of sound
Feet stomping the ground
A mess of necessity and obligations
Long Story Short
Survival

Crawlings of a ink
Color, paper and words sink
A mess of emotions to convey
Long story short
Convey

Words spearing through the ether
Heard sometimes or the deaf ear
Distance of said and done
Long story short
Schism

Million nerves run amok
Powering the train of thought
Decisions Black, white and grey
Long Story short
Rationalize

The intangibles
Smiles, tears and quibbles
What you don't see is more than what you get
Long Story short
Humanize.

Celestial Again....

2011-12-17T01:00:00.000-08:00

Amongst the falling angels,
My head floats in venomous ecstasy
Celestial, this feeling of flight
Amongst the stars, I feel alive

These waves carry me over
A melting frenzy of sound
Envelopes your senses
Contraptions of illusion fall away

Feel the buzz of clarity
Flooding my veins with fueled intent
that dull thudding hammer in my head
Wields a pile driver now

I lose my mind
and find it all
to see the undiscovered, ever more
This light, celestial,shines on me
I close my eyes
and see it all,
And let it guide me, wherever now
Towards the light, celestial, I reach.

Thanks to the song "Celestial" by Skyharbor for setting this lyric up........anyone who knows half a thing about music, should listen to this track. It is that phenomenal! Keshav Dhar, Dan Tompkins, Vishal J Singh and last but not the least, the might Marty Friedman.....hats off folks! Here, give it a listen.....

Celestial by Skyharbor

Transcendental

2011-12-11T14:32:00.001-08:00

I have always heard myths about music. Music can transport you to another world. Music can touch your soul. Music can dissolve all the harshness around you. Music can bring tears to your eyes.

And so I started looking for this wonderful thing called music. This anecdotal elixir from some universe that was so far flung from the world I was in. This "art" that a layman like me could understand and appreciate.

So after some years of looking for this music, going through all the transitions of listening to new sounds, from pop to rock to metal to jazz to fusion, there happened a moment. This small, slice of time, was as simple as it could get and as spiritual as it could be.

Mohan, from the Indian rock band Agnee, singing "Sadho Re" strumming an acoustic guitar. That is it. For all the wizardry in music, this little piece of music brought tears to my eyes while making me aware of my own mortal being. And the immortality of actions that leaves a trail of your being.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14548298/Sadho%20Re%20Acoustic.mp3

Before listening to this, I was a fan. Now, I am a devotee.

Cowardice or Sensibility....

2011-12-10T12:52:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I should call this a rant or something else. Maybe I just want to think out loud.

After 9/11, the war on terror began in right earnest. However dumb of a Republican George Bush may be, there is one thing about him that is almost universally true. He was out for revenge. He may call it justice, getting even, whatever. But it was plain revenge. He was determined to beat the living shit out of the Talibaan and the Al-Qaeda, even though he was often confused who was who and who was the not. He ran the war for almost 8 years and after he quit, the armed forces of the USA did get that old cunt Osama. But let us not forget where it all began. He was the face of his country, a President hell bent on bringing criminal to some sort of justice.

I turn to most heinous attacks on India, perpetrated by fundamentalist assholes (no one is going to flag me for being profane about terrorists.......hmmmm), lets say 26/11. And I think, why did my Prime Minister never do anything, and let me be clear, anything at all, that at least at face value, assured the populace that something was being done. Why, if we knew that the handlers were in Pakistan , which is a fact, then did we not send the Pakistani embassy packing just to make a point? Or something, to make clear, that the cocksuckers who committed those acts will get what they deserve? In the words of Tom Morello, why did our leaders not grow a pair of titanium balls and just say, OK, this is our army, and we are going to fuck someone up? Why did we not make a clear stand on anything? Is death count, just like any other human statistic that we do not care about?

I know that we are a country that believes in peace and harmony and I believe in those ideals more than anybody else. But where justice is to be served, it should be. Peaceful and harmonious should not be made synonymous with cowardice. There is a very clear distinction between those, but with the PM and his cronies, it comes dangerously close to meaning the same.

We wait for Pakistan to finish their investigation. For US with give us some face time with David Headley. To equip our armed forces and bring them at par with the best. To strengthen our police agencies and grass roots mechanisms to prevent something like this from happening again. Don't tell me that something was done, because 3 months after 26/11, metal detectors at CST were not working. So, shut the fuck up.

The eternal optimist in me is on the verge of being frantically disemboweled in the face of growing cynicism about the ability of our leaders to lead in the first place. And in this time of crisis, if there is a brewing sense of unrest and borderline anarchy present in the country, I think I know why.

As much as I have tried to scratch my head in the search for an answer, I have not been able to come up with one. Maybe someone else can.

Musical Wish List

2011-12-07T16:56:00.001-08:00

I have seen some of my favourite bands in action and will continue to do so. But there are some that just continue to elude me! Here is a list of bands that I want to see live before I become incapable of doing so :

Lamb Of God
Meshuggah
Tool
Dream Theater
Rammstein
Motherjane
Demonic Resurrection
Skyharbor
Amogh Symphony - As and when they do go live!
Undying Inc
Rage Against the Machine
System of A Down
Animals as Leaders
Textures
Bhayanak Maut
Providence

And last but not the least, it won't hurt to watch another live show from

Metallica!!!!!

Right to be free.....

2011-12-06T15:58:00.001-08:00

Let me post this first up,

"It is to be noted that section 69 of the Act, which is an exception to the general rule of maintenance of privacy and secrecy of the information, provides that where the Government is satisfied that it is necessary in the interest of:

the sovereignty or integrity of India,
defence of India,
security of the State,
friendly relations with foreign States or
public order or
for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above or
for investigation of any offence,

it may by order, direct any agency of the appropriate Government to intercept, monitor or decrypt or cause to be intercepted or monitored or decrypted any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource. This section empowers the Government to intercept, monitor or decrypt any information including information of personal nature in any computer resource."

For the full article and more on the Information Technology Act, here is the link:
http://www.mondaq.com/x/133160/Privacy/Data+Protection+Laws+In+India

Now as said above, when I demean or in simpler terms, talk shit about Digvijay Singh or Kapil Sibal, I do not tick any of the above boxes. These faggots are a meagre joke on the face of Indian politics among many other names that I will not bother to name. Mr. Sibal, the only visible thing that I have to be thankful to you for, is the $35 tablet PC (which you DID NOT CREATE, so stop taking credit for it) and the list, I think ends there. So when you talk about taking away my freedom to criticize you on my blog or FB profile or Twitter account, I think it is OK that I swear and curse.

And with the whole Caravan article about Arindham Chaudhari and the brouhaha that came in the wake of that, tell me that the Information Technology Act cannot be used to subdue Freedom of Speech and be misused to harass innocent people. In that case, the article cited facts and was merely a critical essay. And that pony tailed fuckface had it thrown off the web in India. Well, not entirely, though. It can still be found on millions of mirror sites. Go Google! And if you want to refute this, please try to apologize to Gaurav Sabnis and try Arindham for wasting the Courts' time.I would really not be surprised if my family gets a summons because of this.

So, dear Mr Kapil Sibal sir, go fuck yourself in the ass. I might have respected you in the past, but you just made my shit list, which isn't saying much because you are next to Arindham Chaudhari and Mayawati. And also because I cannot do jack shit about either of you. But still, go anal on yourself.

Ad Memoriam

2011-12-02T18:30:00.001-08:00

Lot has been said and written and done.I do not share their personal loss, but I do share their anger. And the helplessness. In remembrance, of each soul that was touched by the Darkness on 3rd December 1984.

Nobody answers for their soul
And nobody begs anymore
Justice was denied
and denied again
Their souls will haunt
the air of our Land
Just like the lethal air,
that touched them to death.
In the silent dead of the night,
The Reaper struck at his stealthiest
And rode back with huge bounty
And then played his violin
to the wails and cries
that wafted in from Earth.
Condemned in life
and damned in death
Yearning for salvation
With rotting flowers on their wreath.
These souls watch on,
as we humans despair
Under the strains of the violin
to the dark legacy that they bequeath.

Corrosion of Conformity

2011-11-30T21:32:00.001-08:00

Free will left to its own devices can take to one of many paths and make of it what it can. Conformity, on the other hand, works in weirder ways. Coercion, even more so. The best analogy, for geeks, would be Faraday's Law of Induction. That a dynamic electric field causes another conductor in the vicinity to start conducting current and produce a field that opposes the very field that created it.

Corrosion of Conformity, apart from being the name of a great band, is also the result of the very Conformity that caused it in the first place. Or how else do you think, a kid growing up in a small town, brought up in old family values, comes to find heavy metal as a tool of rebellion and non-coercion. What else does explain the stubbornness that helps the kid summon up the courage to refuse and resist? To resist from praying in a temple of pretend and refuse from uttering the very prayers that have long been held sacred?

There will always be people who tell you what to do and how you should behave and carry yourself. But, as I have already said, free will is best left to its own devices. One time or the other, you will have to start harnessing your own intelligence, if any. Rebellion is all well and good, but without free will, it is just some smoke with no mirrors.

Rock N' Roll Hall of Shame.......

2011-11-22T15:05:00.001-08:00

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way, influenced the music industry through the genre of rock music. Thank you Wikipedia

Now, I know rock music. And this is definitely not a boast. People who know me will testify to this fact. So, my ADHD ridden brain is in complete shambles when it tries to comprehend the reasons over why Metallica is in the Hall of Fame and Deep Purple is not? Absolutely no disrespect to Metallica, they being my favourite band of all time, but I do not think pure common sense, logic and love of the music are at play here.

I want somebody to explain to me the reason why the greatest prog rock trio of all time, Rush, has not yet been nominated. Who else is left to be influenced by them? Rebecca Black maybe, going by her absolute lack of musical talent and sensibility.

Maybe some of the following bands make more sense to you as the ones to be nominated:

Kiss
Motorhead
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Cheap Trick
Journey
Ronnie James Dio

I don't even feel like cursing and being profane here. It's not worth it. Rock is kept alive by its fans and those very fans have no say into who goes into the Hall of Fame. Sad but true.

Einstein and the Worlds Most Famous Equation

2011-11-18T18:30:00.001-08:00

One documentary that every man of science should see. The history and chain of events that leads to the most famous equation that is known to mankind. Presented in a very easy going way with real life characters and their stories as people and with enthralling narration, it will make you feel grateful for everything that you owe to science. Which is most things in life. Please do check it out.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476209/

On the same topic, there is something horribly wrong with the world when the first result for the word "Einstein" is Einstein Bros and Bagels.

Vishwaas

2011-11-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is my tribute to Sant Kabir. Adjectives like great and wise and enlightened fail to convey my feelings about him. This feels so much better.

Chaar deewarein ghar ki

Aankhein moondein khadi

ek vachan na bole koi

apne achoot hoye

Dharti hile,

neev mein cheere padein

deemak, jant khaayein ghar ka jeev

Aankh na kholi

haath na jode

Traahi mein sab vileen.

Chook na meri

Doshi na mein

Duuja hath naa chhode

Deewar dheh jaaye

Neev ho jaaye jab dhool

kahat Kabir, haare sab,

Naa jeet kisiki hoye.

Kahat Kabir, suno bhai sadho.........

2011-11-08T17:03:00.000-08:00

Even though Sant Kabir has been an integral part of India's spiritual landscape, my ADHD ridden brain became aware of the wisdom contained in his words only after Indian Ocean, Rabbi Shergil and Agnee started singing his verses. A typical example follows.

As Monika Dogra rightly puts it, for a musician, it is the journey, but more importantly it is the artistic turns and influential steering changes which produce a more marked change. The more you reflect on what Sant Kabir says through his poems, the more you introspect and become aware. And this leads to a greater knowledge of self and surroundings, which ultimately leads to enlightenment and humility.

I am yet to achieve anything close to what I just rambled about, but the very fact that the wisdom contained in those words have the power to touch my, or for that matter any-body's thought patterns with an indelible stamp, is testament to the greatness of the man in question. He might disagree, though. These revelations come from unbiased observation and puritanical thinking have a lot more to offer than any religious tome can ever claim to. Maybe it takes faith to uncover these. Or just open eyes and an open mind.

Will leave you with some of his verses that I could find and have come to like.

Jo Dise So To Hai Nahin,
Hai So Kaha Na Jayee
Bin Dekhe Parteet Na Aave,
Kahe Na Koyee Patiyana
Samajh Hoye To Rabeen Cheenho,
Achraj Hoye Ayana
Koi Dhyave Nirakar Ko,
Koi Dhyave Aakaara
Ja Bidhi In Dono Te Nyara,
Jane Jananhara
Woh Raag To Likhia Na Jayee
Matra Lakhe Na Kana
Kahat Kabir So Padhe Na Parlay,
Surat Nirat Jin Jana

Translated in plain english, it means

What is seen is not the Truth
What is cannot be said
Trust comes not without seeing
Nor understanding without words
The wise comprehends with knowledge
To the ignorant it is but a wonder
Some worship the formless God
Some worship His various forms
In what way He is beyond these attributes
Only the Knower knows
That music cannot be written
How can then be the notes
Says Kabir, awareness alone will overcome illusion

===================================================================

As already translated

To what shore would you cross, O my heart? there is no traveller before you, there is no road:
Where is the movement, where is the rest, on that shore?
There is no water; no boat, no boatman, is there;
There is not so much as a rope to tow the boat, nor a man to draw it.
No earth, no sky, no time, no thing, is there: no shore, no ford!
There, there is neither body nor mind: and where is the place that shall still the thirst of the soul? You shall find naught in that emptiness.
Be strong, and enter into your own body: for there your foothold is firm. Consider it well, O my heart! go not elsewhere,
Kabîr says: 'Put all imaginations away, and stand fast in that which you are.'

===================================================================

Couplets / Dohas

Chalti Chakki Dekh Kar, Diya Kabira Roye
Dui Paatan Ke Beech Mein,Sabit Bacha Na Koye

Looking at the grinding stones, Kabir laments
In the duel of wheels, nothing stays intact.

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

searching for the wicked, met not a single one
When searched myself, "I" found the wicked one

Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ub
Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kub

Tomorrows work do today, today's work anon
if the moment is lost, when will the work be done

Aisee Vani Boliye, Mun Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye

Speak such words, sans ego's ploy
Body remains composed, giving the listener joy

Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch Hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye

Slowly slowly O mind, everything in own pace happens
Gardner may water a hundred buckets, fruit arrives only in its season

Sayeen Itna Deejiye, Ja Mein Kutumb Samaye
Main Bhi Bhookha Na Rahun, Sadhu Na Bhookha Jaye

Give so much O God, suffice to envelop my clan
I should not suffer cravings, nor the visitor goes unfed

Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor

In vain is the eminence, just like a date tree
No shade for travelers, fruit is hard to reach

Jaise Til Mein Tel Hai, Jyon Chakmak Mein Aag
Tera Sayeen Tujh Mein Hai, Tu Jaag Sake To Jaag

Like seed contains the oil, fire in flint stone
Your heart seats the Divine, realize if you can

Kabira Khara Bazaar Mein, Mange Sabki Khair
Na Kahu Se Dosti, Na Kahu Se Bair

Kabira in the market place, wishes welfare of all
Neither friendship nor enmity with anyone at all

Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye
Dhai Aakhar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe so Pandit Hoye

Reading books everyone died, none became any wise
One who reads the words of Love, only becomes wise

Dukh Mein Simran Sab Kare, Sukh Mein Kare Na Koye
Jo Sukh Mein Simran Kare, Tau Dukh Kahe Ko Hoye

In anguish everyone prays to Him, in joy does none
To One who prays in happiness, how sorrow can come

====================================================================

MokoKahan Dhundhere Bande

MeinTo Tere Paas Mein

NaTeerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein

NaEkant Niwas Mein

NaMandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein

NaKabe Kailas Mein

MeinTo Tere Paas Mein Bande

MeinTo Tere Paas Mein

NaMein Jap Mein, Na Mein Tap Mein

NaMein Barat Upaas Mein

NaMein Kiriya Karm Mein Rehta

NahinJog Sanyas Mein

NahinPran Mein Nahin Pind Mein

NaBrahmand Akas Mein

NaMein Prakuti Prawar Gufa Mein

NahinSwasan Ki Swans Mein

KhojiHoye Turat Mil Jaoon

IkPal Ki Talas Mein

KahetKabir Suno Bhai Sadho

MeinTo Hun Viswas Mein

EnglishTranslation:

Wheredo you search me?

Iam with you

Notin pilgrimage, nor in icons

Neitherin solitudes

Notin temples, nor in mosques

Neitherin Kaba nor in Kailash

Iam with you O man

Iam with you

Notin prayers, nor in meditation

Neitherin fasting

Notin yogic exercises

Neitherin renunciation

Neitherin the vital force nor in the body

Noteven in the ethereal space

Neitherin the womb of Nature

Notin the breath of the breath

Seekearnestly and discover

Inbut a moment of search

SaysKabir, Listen with care

Whereyour faith is, I am there.

====================================================================

As already translated

LAMPS burn in every house, O blind one! and you cannot see them.
One day your eyes shall suddenly be opened, and you shall see: and the fetters of death will fall from you.
There is nothing to say or to hear, there is nothing to do: it is he who is living, yet dead, who shall never die again.

Because he lives in solitude, therefore the Yogi says that his home is far away.
Your Lord is near: yet you are climbing the palm-tree to seek Him.
The Brahman priest goes from house to house and initiates people into faith:
Alas! the true fountain of life is beside you, and you have set up a stone to worship.
Kabîr says: 'I may never express how sweet my Lord is. Yoga and the telling of beads, virtue and vice-these are naught to Him.'

Celestial

2011-11-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Bits float around me
Like stars in a galaxy
and caught in this flow, celestial

Swimming through the nebulous light,
of notes and pitch and green and yellow;
Hanging on to the unseen tether,

anchored in the unknown.

Like surfing in a feral gale,
Violent brush against my skin.
A million worlds rush by,

The heat of friction keeping them alive

Flail of hand and I catch a globe,
Blue green red and yellow;
Morphing microbes of light,

leave a tracer trail behind.

Caught in this spiral,

pulling me inside,
I cling on to these wings,
Carry me over, this envelope .

Seconds escape breath
On collision course with certainty
Hold the air in, lungs glowing hot
my wings let go, crashing through the stream

Plunging into the pitch black dense

Bits fall away from me

I try to grab another world

in this end, celestial.

Fuck the hybrid!

2011-10-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

An absolute rant coming up. Brace up and if you are going to complain, I suggest you shut your stupid whining horizontal vagina up.

This is the last time I am going to speak on this topic, hopefully. Next time, I start shooting people with water guns and eggs or something. Hybrids are stupid. Stupid as a dodo. As stupid as Michelle Bachmann. Or maybe a little less. Prius or Insight or Doodly fucking doo dah! Hybrids just do not make sense!

Lets start with the overall fuel economy. That is a good starting point, as that is where this argument usually starts. A Prius can give you 45mpg tops. Even with the most feather footed of drivers, it cannot possibly give more. This is not an empty statement. Car magazines and programmes all over this planet have tested and confirmed this fact. A Volkswagen Golf Blue Motion TDI on the other hand, is capable of doing 80 mpg. Talk to Top Gear if you need proof. Or search on Youtube for "Top Gear economy run". Or any magazine for that matter. An internal combustion diesel with clever electronics is capable of more than that miserable plastic lunch box. What an insufferable car!

Driving pleasure is up next. Now, I know, half the people will want to watch porn by the time they get here. But yeah, to people who really care how their car rides, again these Hybrids come up short. Stupid tardy shoe boxes, with suspension that is too saggy, weight distribution completely fucked up and steering response that is as quick as a tortoise trying to raise its paw, it holding the title for a true drivers car is not going to be a reality any time soon.

Ah, and my favourite is the price thing. I tried this out for myself and found results astonishing. A completely specced up Volkswagen Jetta will cost you $30,000. And guess what is the price for a base model Prius? Stopped yapping about hybrids yet, hmmm? Whimpering maniacal buttmunches!

Last but not the least. The proverbial white elephant in the room. Pollution. Isn't that why you bought a Prius instead of a Nissan Altima or a Toyota Matrix or a Honda Accord or a Ford Focus? 'Cause it is green. 'Cause it produces less CO2 in the city cycle and less CO2 overall. True. On paper, a Prius beats a Golf/Jetta on emissions. But let me ask you, what are the emissions involved in the manufacture of a Nickel battery? And not just emissions, water and soil pollution too. Did you think of that you old cunt? This is even assuming the fact that the rest of the emissions for manufacturing the entire car is same for both makes.

You bought a hybrid because the world says it is cool to own one. Because the government in its infinite insipidity says that it is a greener option. Because hybrid owners get some tax cuts. In heavily congested cities like London, hybrid owners do not pay congestion tax. And because of your lazy and crooked ass logic, that you are doing your part in saving this planet from certain annihilation when you say, "oh, I drive a hybrid". Fuck you, you dumbass hypocrite!Because all you care about is that you reach from A to B. Because you are as bland and obtuse as your choice of wheels.That is a fact. Face it. Eat it. Tastes terrible, doesn't it?

And now, before you go and try to throw up, here is the last nail in your coffin.Watch it, you disagreeing wanker!

Winter Sunshine

2011-10-17T08:34:00.002-07:00

Twinkle in through the window
and rustle up a warm hand
soothing my creased neck

Oh the comfort of the warm scarf
running over my brow
I know this is a goodbye
good bye for a long time

Take away, my relief
for ever longer nights
have me yearn increasing

For some time quotidian
you will greet me through the window
With a cold hand and frost smile

No soothing of the creased brow
no cure, i wonder now
what they say about distance

And longing forsaken
But I shall not beg,for I now,
that when the landscape melts
You will kiss my brow again.

The Golden Threshold

2011-10-10T17:54:00.001-07:00

Just finished reading "The Golden Threshold" by the Nightingale of India, Sarojini Naidu (Indians who do not know this, I have a new sobriquet for you - dunder headed morons and you do not deserve to read this). And I want to summarize it in 4 words - Do not read it.

Don't read it, if you are the type who writes "ur" and "f9" given the slightest of chances.

Don't read it, if you start reading a book after looking at the total number of pages.

Don't read it, if you have the attention span of a rodent.

Don't read it, if Times of India is your favourite newspaper.

Don't read it, if you cannot spell archaic.

Don't read it, if your shallow brain is going to squint and squirm every time it encounters the word "breast" and "girt".

Don't read it, if you do not have the humility and feel the necessity to use a dictionary.

But, if none of the above concerns you, do read this. This volume deserves to be read. It is literally poetic persona par excellence. It is an enthralling journey of her mind, through her life and events and places around her. Dark in places and bright as the sun in others. It will take time and effort to understand what she is saying, but believe you me, when the feeling hits home, its more than worth it. O Nightingale, take a bow. And then some.

Autumn breeze.....

2011-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Autumn breeze,
take my nightmares away.

Befriend the leaves
red and gold,
sharing stories
Tales of joy and woe and wrath.

Unwind the intertwine,
where rooted they stay;
Words and pictures blur
to live is to go away.

Accept if you please,
this burdenous gift.
In debt I will remain,
separate on our paths, we will drift.

Beg the sun
burn those threads off,
and let the autumn breeze
take my nightmares away.

Leaves red and gold,
I bid you fair journey and good bye,
fly away to greater land
Be at peace and so shall I.

What music?

2011-10-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

Fact : Bands from Sweden never suck. They play some of the best music that is out there. Take any one for example : Abba, Yngwie Malmsteen or Meshuggah. ( I saw three examples to come out of Sweden-land : Arch Enemy, Katatonia and Opeth and yeah, fact confirmed)There is something in the water and air of that land that lends them their amazing musical abilities. Of course, the government there has arranged for a lot of low price jam pads and gig opportunities which is the biggest impetus any musician can get. All in all, a pretty successful operation.

And from this field of gold, once in a lifetime there is found a diamond, Opeth. Starting out where every kid in Sweden starts out, that is , Swedish death metal, Opeth were soon at the forefront of that. But when they emerged from the landscape and found their identity, they incorporated every influence they could find on the way. Jazz, punk, folk, classical, everything. Their music is described by someone as a "journey through sonic landscapes, ambient scenes, stoner metal riff columns, long solos, all of which can be punctuated by death metal savagery at any given point of time." And that adequately sums it up.

Opeth are not purists of any sort. They are a mish mash of all the music they grew up hearing. Which is why some people cannot seem to get their head around them. Which is why, I love them. This is the band that gave us albums like Blackwater Park and Damnation, Still Life and My Arms, your Hearse. Talk about amazing musicianship. For crying out loud.

To me personally, this band is exactly what I want to do. Be metal as fuck but still not sacrifice anything else that I wish to do with it. This is that band that made me believe that poetry does work, that heavy metal does not forsake lyrical excellence for its demonic sound. And neither does it have to be rooted into something to have an identity.

I was supposed to see this musical excellence personified in Chennai, India. But I did not. I rued that day and all time to come after that. Till today. 7th of October 2011. I got to see them here, in this city of water called Minneapolis. yes. As I will say, over and over again, redemption. A chance to see something that will truly live with me as long as I don't start forgetting. And even then, the music will never go away. And by the title of a song that they wrote, it has come full circle. Closure.

So, Mikael Akerfeldt, the man who is the face and voice and guitar and brain of Opeth, you have my congratulations, heartfelt thanks and best wishes. Keep rocking, John Johnson.

Let me show you my rig....

2011-09-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

I am not a guitar player. But I have worked with some of these knuckleheads. But what excites me about drumming is the noise that is coming out of a guitar amp. Someday I would learn how to play guitar and rip through with blazing slows and murderous riffs like I do everyday in my dreams. And everytime before the Rock in Rio gig, I have a backstage interview where I show off my gear. Well, since I have no real gear, I put together a wishlist. From listening to a ton of great guitar players and knowing what kinda sound I love, this is what I want in my setup.

That beautiful guitar that you see alongside, is going to be my weapon of choice. It's the PRS Mikael Akerfeldt SE, basically an Akerfeldt-ized version of the amazing Custom 24. And if you have ever heard Opeth's music, you would know that this guitar is great for any kind of sound. Death metal savagery, ambient landscapes, stoner doom riffs, anything. Just gotta have it.

This gorgeous metal diabolical deity of sound that you see alongside is one of the greatest amps ever built. The Mesa Boogie triple rectifier is where a lot of great guitar players get their sound from, chief among them being John Petrucci and Mark Tremonti. Most people associate heavy metal with a stack of Marshall JCM heads, but I would much rather prefer these. With a gang of tubes glowing in through the back, when set up right, this badass muthafucka will deliver such a ripping sound, you will either feel that cold chill down your spine or maybe shit your pants.

To know what this pedal does, first head over to this link right here and watch the video. Tom Morello and Co start riots with their rebellious sounds and some ingenious techniques. This pedal is such an integral part of his setup and gives him that unique sound that I just love. No other Whammy even tries to come close to this one.

Now now, I know that a lot of people will be screaming bloody murder because I put this up here instead of the classic pedal or the Dimebag Wah, but the simple fact of the matter is using Wah is a disorder called Hammettittis. And Metallica is my favourite band of all time. The End.

Another legendary pedal from the great guitar players. Absolutely vital if you want to play blues or blues based music. Most people go in for a big effects and modelling pedal to save money in the formative years. I would rather start with these small pedals to understand the basics and form my own sound.

The TC Electronics CX 400 Compressor is another indispensible tool when it comes to creating a signature sound. This very model has been discontinued, but it is the best of its kind. This is rack mount version and very convenient to use.

The big mother of all on stage MIDI controllers, the Voodoo Ground Control board. However complicated your effects rack/setup is, this board can handle it and then some more. Must have for a good on stage performances.

Probably the best guitar - amp and effects modelling system out there. The best players rave about it and it shows in their sound and playing style. This comes when I have a lot of money to spare.

And last but not the least, the Furman AR 2 power conditioning system. Living in India makes you insecure bordering paranoid about the power supply and spikes and the kind and you want a good system to protect your equipment for over voltages and keep everything in good shape. This takes a lot of brunt and has a lot of tolerance built in.

Well, there you have it. There will be additions and subtractions in this, but this is what I need in my dream setup. Gimme my sound. Gimme.

Keep the Faith

2011-09-22T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and completely unknowingly, I uttered, "The only true equivalence to organized religion is organized crime" and earned nods of approval and the odd stare. Though I did not shovel a lot of thought into it, thank you ADHD, I keep coming back to it. How much credibility does this statement and indeed this argument merit?

Religion came about as a guideline for a "flock" of humans to live together in harmony and with an odd power struggle thrown in for good measure. The fact that religion did not establish the general laws of being a sentient human being, those coming directly from common sense, what it did was present those principles to the congregation with a sugar veneer on a fancy plate.

This does make sense, as a way to avoid complete anarchy, religion works wonderfully as a tool of control and discipline. People feel safer following and when the majority tends to agree with something, everybody unarguably, gets a sense of what is right and wrong.

What went wrong in all this, according to me, is that the "Rules for good living" are dated and stagnate as we tend stretch them out too far. So the practise of "Sati", honourable at one time, is abhorred now and rightly so. Like any organism, religion has to stay vital and fight for survival. And the way most religions did it, is through power and money.

Cashing in on a devoted fan following is not a new concept, as opposed to what some Babas and Gurus would have you think. Creating enough gravity through religious books, saints and seers and the occasional God, with plenty of folk yarns about sins and virtues thrown in to stitch it all together, not a lot of people escape this black hole without feeling a huge void. And all the capital that goes into creating an even bigger pictorial representative of how good religion is.

With the current state of all religions being so abominable, thanks to wars, discrimination and the kind, what happens to faith and belief? Well, what happens is, people are forced to rely on their common sense, which unfortunately, they have been stripped bare of. The euphemism that is religion, relies on some basic human values which do not need any tome or recital. To simply put it, I quote the lead singer of Slayer, Tom Araya, who is a devout Roman Catholic. He says, "I might not clearly know what is right and best, but I and everybody else do know what is wrong. There are some things that you do not do, doesn't matter what religion or caste you come from."

I have already signed an agreement to comply with whatever Tom Araya says, in Slayer or otherwise. But, I do welcome everybody to ponder over his statement, leaving aside the fact that he is the lead singer of a band which has made albums like, "Hell Awaits", "Haunting the Chapel" and "Christ Illusion".

Bottom-line, every human, with some basic rules, can carve out his/her own faith that he/she can live with comfortably and still be a "good" human. Some may point out the underlying convenience that features so prominently in the previous sentence and others might paint horrible word pictures of anarchy. But, if you have a brain of your own, not beset by the woes of ADHD or any other mental illness, please do ponder over this.

To me, religion is not an important thing. I would rather ignore it than waste any brain power thinking about it. And I do stand by my sentence about it being criminally equal to organized crime. To put it very simply, back when the Italian mafia in New York was only 20 years old, a leading light of that fold said "We are bigger than U.S. Steel!" and that for them was a great landmark, an absolute pinnacle of how far they come, earning money from shady schemes.

Everytime I look at a temple, mosque or church, it dawns on me, the fact that, organized religion controls more power and money than many a U.S. Steel and some countries put together. Hard to forsake all that, ain't it?

Born to be Wild........

2011-09-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

A keyword can be defined as the central theme or idea expressed in any written or said body of lingual work.

Road. Speed. Miles.

While the idea that one word can represent a whole is tantalising enough, it's main fallacy lies in the very fact that most words around it are short changed.

Friends. Marriage. Music. Laughter

So what happens, when there are a bunch of keywords themselves that make up the body?

Islands. Endless. Water.

What is discounted then? What is the central idea? Wherein lies the theme? A question that I have wrestled for the some hours now and reached nowhere.

Wilderness. Thunderstorm. Sunshine. Rain.

Maybe the answer lies, in not discounting words, but in the way we define them. Keywords are just words. Maybe saying more isn't actually saying more. But, saying less is more

comprehensive.

Life. Longing. Future. Satisfaction.

So when we read this body of work, and let it stand and define itself, we see a finite creature. It will mutate. It will die. Come back to life. Around those very words. Without trying to over analyse these small spurts of intellegible syllables, just letting them stand and talk to each other. Let them be human, so to say. Their mistakes are just errors we injected into them in creation. And then, maybe, just maybe, we might actually come close to understanding our own creation. And live with it.

Journey. Space. Time. Human Contact.

So, in a bid to escape this tussle between my mind and it's creation, I become the arbitrator. To understand what my mind is made up of. Here is hoping, that I understand the language that I created.

Starry....

2011-08-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

Yes. Another big tick mark in my life. If it keeps going at this rate, I do not want to live beyond 50. Or so I think.

Today I saw this, The Starry Night.

A masterpiece from that most eccentric of painters, Vincent Van Gogh. A Dutchman, who had radically different ideas and executed them in a unique way. The layers of oil paint. The spirals of unguided rails. The only conventional thing about this painting, is probably and I say probably, the subject. But even that is rendered in a very radical hand.

But it was not very pleasant. I though I would have 4 orgasms every second when I see this painting. But I was rather very cross. Not with the art. Never. It was the people. Them clicking pictures. Them not staying there even 30 seconds to admire what was done. Glance at the painting, check the painters name, take a pic and immediately post it to Facebook and Google+. And then move on. Where was the desire? Where was the curiosity and the joy? Where was the outcry? No poetic justice for that genius.

I walked away. Sad about what my favourite painting of all time was reduced to. But, the happiness far outlives the gloom. Because every time I look at it, just makes me want to live to achieve. Something momentous. Someday........

Flying high.....

2011-08-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

Jeremy Clarkson, the British auto hack, was driving his boyhood hero, the Lamborghini Countach and came to a conclusion. "Your childhood heroes are best served as posters on your bedroom wall. More often than not, they are very unruly and cumbersome in real life. You attempt to meet your heroes and they will break your heart."

Yeah, right. And I was going to meet two of mine today.

When I read about this plane, was when it was declassified as a military plane and CIA said that it was OK for the world to know about it. Its top speed is Mach 3 and it flies on the edge of the atmosphere. At 90,000ft and Mach 3, there was nothing as fast to catch it. It flew into enemy territory with reckless abandon. With no weapons on board, its only defenses were its stealth clothing and brutal top speed. And because it expanded every time it toof off, because of the heat produced by friction with air, it had gaps in its panels which would leak fuel.

It was this kind of light-year-ahead technology and out of the box thinking and of course the looks that got my goat. As a 10 year old (actually 17 year old), you cannot but be excited when you look at it. For me, what Kelly Johnson and his crack team at the Skunk Works of Lockheed Martin achieved makesthe SR-71 a legend. In service or in a museum.

(And by the way, do not smirk or laugh at the yellow thing in the picture above. That was used to spool up the Pratt and Whitney engines in the Blackbird and was made of 2 Mercury V8 engines pushing out close to 800 horsepower. Ok, now don't shit your pants.)

And like Messrs Johnsons and Co. were working their magic, around the same time, under an embargo and unable to borrow from military technology, the blokes at Aerospatiale-BAC came with an aviation icon that changed the airline game and created a whole new segment of passengers - the uber jet set. With that thin fuselage, ultra light weight body and delta wing configuration, this airline could push to Mach 2 and do a trans-atlantic flight in just above 3 hours. 9/11, among other things, spelt the end of this giant leap of mankind, but it can never erase the legacy of the Concorde. Always revered, always orgasm inducing. Always remembered.

While the Blackbird retired and much better machines came in to replace it, nothing ever matched it coin for coin. THe Concorde had no such luck. British Airways and Air France lost the spine to keep it running and others cancelled their orders. When the Concorde was retired, mankind as a race, took a step backwards in evolution. So it goes, and still they are my heroes. And today I saw them.

In metal. The touch was real. The feeling, surreal. Thank you Intrepid.

The Death Bed

2011-08-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

He drowsed and was aware of silence heaped
Round him, unshaken as the steadfast walls;
Aqueous like floating rays of amber light,
Soaring and quivering in the wings of sleep.
Silence and safety; and his mortal shore
Lipped by the inward, moonless waves of death.

Someone was holding water to his mouth.
He swallowed, unresisting; moaned and dropped
Through crimson gloom to darkness; and forgot
The opiate throb and ache that was his wound.
Water-calm, sliding green above the weir.
Water-a sky-lit alley for his boat,
Bird- voiced, and bordered with reflected flowers
And shaken hues of summer; drifting down,
He dipped contented oars, and sighed, and slept.

Night, with a gust of wind, was in the ward,
Blowing the curtain to a glimmering curve.
Night. He was blind; he could not see the stars
Glinting among the wraiths of wandering cloud;
Queer blots of colour, purple, scarlet, green,
Flickered and faded in his drowning eyes.

Rain-he could hear it rustling through the dark;
Fragrance and passionless music woven as one;
Warm rain on drooping roses; pattering showers
That soak the woods; not the harsh rain that sweeps
Behind the thunder, but a trickling peace,
Gently and slowly washing life away.

He stirred, shifting his body; then the pain
Leapt like a prowling beast, and gripped and tore
His groping dreams with grinding claws and fangs.
But someone was beside him; soon he lay
Shuddering because that evil thing had passed.
And death, who'd stepped toward him, paused and stared.

Light many lamps and gather round his bed.
Lend him your eyes, warm blood, and will to live.
Speak to him; rouse him; you may save him yet.
He's young; he hated War; how should he die
When cruel old campaigners win safe through?

But death replied: 'I choose him.' So he went,
And there was silence in the summer night;
Silence and safety; and the veils of sleep.
Then, far away, the thudding of the guns.

- Siegfried Sassoon (1886 - 1967)

The Old Huntsman and Other Poems. 1918.

A.D.H.D.

2011-08-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

buzz, buzz, buzz,
Goes the screamer in my head
you have been staring too long!
you have been sitting too still!

typing, humming, chewing, talking

Notes streaming out
I cannot hear
Images spewing forth
I cannot see
What am I thinking of?
I do not know

5,10,15,20......

buzz buzz buzz
Goes the screamer in my head
you have been staring too long
you have been sitting too still

typing, humming, chewing, talking

Stability absent
In every thought
Silent chaos has this wrought
Incomplete is every action
painful relapse is the only reaction

Notes streaming out
I cannot hear
Images spewing forth
I cannot see
What am I thinking of?
I do not know

I leave the chair
and pace around
hands twitching in anxiety
containing impatience I cannot handle
repeating steps, times a million

buzz buzz buzz
Goes the screamer in my head

The obsession to change
Need to act
fingers on a lot of open pages
More fiction that fact
Purpose vanishes and a pile of eyesore

Notes streaming out
I cannot hear
Images spewing forth
I cannot see
What am I thinking of?
I do not know

At break of dawn
this cycle begins
every moment goes by
Without cessation,
Act, react, kill, repeat.

Need to fly

2011-07-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

I love visiting new cities, new civilizations, new ways of life, which of course have new cuisine. So, here, right now, I will make a list of places I want to see before I die.

1. Taj Mahal - It would be a shame if I never see this. Big shame.

2. Rome - If architecture is your passion or even a slight interest, this place will give you Chernobyl sized orgasms every 5 minutes.

3. Prague - Not a lot of people know this, but this, capital of the Czech Republic is a beautiful place.

4. Washington DC - Again, the monuments and the history screams out loud.

5. Lakshwadeep - Emerald of the Arabian sea.

6. Alexandria - The sum remainder of the oldest civilization known to man.

7. Tikal - The great city of the mysterious Maya.

Will keep altering this list. But some of these places will not be rubbed off.

Kristallnacht

2011-07-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Sun rays glinting off ,
Pieces of glass lying.
Kristallnacht.
What proof do you need?
What evidence do you heed?

My eyes taped shut,
for I watched in disgust.
My ears pried off,
I heard in horror.

I bereft of my senses now
I live in dark elysium.
Oh, light from a thousand suns,
on this morning after Kristallnacht.

Blinded now,
shielding from the glare.
I trample upon the broken glass,
Rasping sound of those transient memories.
Telling me of my amputation
Noise, I chose to ignore.
Railing of the multitude of voices
From the night of the broken glass

Now, I live in anaesthetic perfection
For my functions are to obey and kneel.
Surgery is complete,
I am a complete citizen.
I signed my forfeiture
to speech and live.

Core

2011-07-06T12:20:00.001-07:00

thrashing and marauding
bleeding and bloodletting
blood, sweat and gnarling
Muscles ripping into frenzy.

The brutality burns on
around the core
foundation intact
intertwined

The violence will collapse
if the core disappears
enmeshed in each other
Failure of substance

The energy is gone
feet drop down
the lights turn cold
and eyelids close

A mere trailer
Grim and disfigured
enough reminder
of consequences

Arindham Chaudhari, you are a fucking jackass.

2011-06-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

We all know the mildly discomforting, very irritating and grossly bad dressing "Guru" of I.I.P.M., that being Mr. Arindham Chaudhari. In a long line of stupidities, here comes the last straw.
"Arindam Chaudhuri sues Caravan, Penguin and Google for Rs 50 crore".
Check this link for the details. Below is a video of him, talking about freedom of speech and journalism on the internet and of course what he thinks about it. Thanks to Deepak for the video link.

I cannot stand this guy anymore. So, to merely repeat what the title says, Arindham Chaudhari, you are a fucking jackass.

Update on this.....This piece of news just made me so happy.......

Hmmm

2011-06-05T11:40:00.000-07:00

Close to 21 years ago, a young, reckless, shy and intensely musical James Hetfield wrote the lyrics of "Nothing Else Matters" because he missed his girlfriend when he was on tour. He did not want to share the lyrics of this song with his band mates in Metallica, or with anyone for that matter. To him, the lyrics were very intense and personal and not really in touch with Metallica, this headbanging, bloodletting, screaming musical beast he was a part of.

21 years later, I am more than grateful that he sung them.

Beam of life....

2011-05-22T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ship:
On the endless sea
under the everchanging sky
I have been on a journey
Never ending in time

ship:
Winds pushing me past
the islands of Paradise
and the remnants of a wreck
Over secrets of truth and lies

Ship:
I need to take rest
Where is the shore?
A storm is approaching fast
And my will can take no more

ship:
I see a light in the distance
Someone can hear my plight
Drawn to it, my salvation
Through this fight, through the night.

Lighthouse:

Through clouds darkened thunder
In battle with feral waves
I will be your guiding light
Like thread that connects to your being
I will bring you home

==> Aerosoul

Venomous arms of death....

2011-05-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

Finally wrote a death metal song!......yay....let it reign!

Green tentacles
reaching out from within
clasping your neck
and you cannot run away

Can't break free
can't seem to breathe
Throttling to dense darkness
Eyes fading into oblivion

Intense throbs of agony
Running through your veins
Pain conveying the fact
the reason is inane

One vial at a time
the venom gathered strength
New found power at first,
Renewed curse it became

Die you shall now
for that is your fate
you are served at the hands
of that which you create

P.S. : Just to make clear that I have not ripped any Cannibal Corpse song off here. They are way too awesome. I just like the artwork.

The Spirit Carries On.....

2011-05-12T08:49:00.000-07:00

Maybe reminiscing about somebody who has left. Maybe celebrating somebody who is leaving. Maybe convinced of my own mortality and trying to be immortal in some way.

Nicholas:
Where did we come from,
Why all we here?
Where do we go when we die?
What lies beyond
And what lay before?
Is anything certain in life?

They say, "Life is too short,"
"The here and the now"
And "You're only given one shot"
But could there be more,
Have I lived before,
Or could this be all that we've got?

If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

I used to be frightened of dying
I used to think death was the end
But that was before
I'm not scared anymore
I know that my soul will transcend

I may never find all the answers
I may never understand why
I may never prove
What I know to be true
But I know that I still have to try

If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

Victoria:
"Move on, be brave
Don't weep at my grave
Because I am no longer here
But please never let
Your memory of me disappear"

Nicholas:
Safe in the light that surrounds me
Free of the fear and the pain
My questioning mind
Has helped me to find
The meaning in my life again
Victoria's real
I finally feel
At peace with the girl in my dreams
And now that I'm here
It's perfectly clear
I found out what all of this means

If I die tomorrow
I'd be all right
Because I believe
That after we're gone
The spirit carries on

Lyrics by John Petrucci

Vanilla Celebration

2011-05-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

Small victory,
Minor milestone.
moment of relief,
and a vanilla celebration.

A little rest and respite,
a brief break from the fight;
pick up the sword again
the end is not yet in sight.

Shed off the rust,
clear your eyes.
there are miles to go
Before you kiss the prize.

That is to come,
inevitable concern.
Truth be cast into momentary damnation
I'll enjoy my vanilla celebration.

Lethargica

2011-05-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

Pencil sketch of wall and tree,
green leaves that I can see.
Against the siena of the wall,
Obvious in juxtaposed harmony.

Eyes closed, shutter opens
Dark outline I see.
a million shades and one dimension less;
Black and white symphony.

I picked up the palette
to fill in the soul
The ink did not flow
for fear had blocked the nib

Let it go, leave it be
it is good as it is
Mimicking perfection is not the aim
Succeeded I, in convincing myself

So now the image remains,
A symphony in black and white
Incomplete in soul,
Unachieved in totality.

Unplug the ignorance.....undo the massacre

2011-04-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

20th April. The 11th anniversary of the Columbine High School Massacre. Sad fact that kids have their hands on guns and 12 others lost their lives. 21 were maimed. And a rock musician was blamed for this. When Michael Moore asked what Marilyn Manson would have said to the students at Columbine, he replied, "I wouldn't say a single word. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did."

And that is the crux of it all. No one listened to them. When I look around, I see the same kind of ignorance again. Look out around you. What do you see? A sea of zombies, too self centered, with earphones stuffed where they are and eyes riveted to the latest cellphones/ tablets, we forget where we are, who we are and what we live for. It's easy to say that you are keeping to yourselves. Well, then just have a look in the mirror and tell yourself that you were responsible for Columbine and any more of those to come, The Old Bearded Guy forbid.

I, like everyone I want to blame in this post am guilty. And I will try to mend my ways and be a little more human. Enjoy the music. But also understand and enjoy what that music was meant for. To come together and celebrate our being human. Try, that's the least you can do.

I believe......

2011-03-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

I don't believe in God. I do not think there is supernatural entity that looks over all of us and decides of our welfare. I believe things happen according to rules and laws. Action and reaction. Cause and effect. Life and death. There is no dice.

What I do believe in is, words and their intent. I believe in the action that results from that intent. For as a human, I can comprehend what another human or a group of the species does and if that is good or bad, right or wrong. My generation has born witness to many such incidents where the actions of man has written and changed human history.

So when 1 billion people chant one single name, put their faith in what he represents, I have to reconsider, rethink. For when he is at the crease, doing what he does best, this multitude is transported from the ebbs and tides of their daily lives to that Eden where they want this person to succeed. For him to succeed would mean for the country to succeed and for every face in the multitude to take a personal victory from that Eden and carry it into their quotidian life.

When recently, he visited a School for blind kids and greeted a little girl, "Hello, I am Sachin.".She knew who he was. Even if only by his voice and name. But I imagine, that little gesture would have given her the strength she wants, needs and deserves. To fight back against all odds. To triumph, to be the best she can be. As a human.

And so when he goes to work, I and many many others like me, hear and see through the pain, violence and suffering around them. I believe he represents the best of what this great country can represent. I believe that I want to be as good as him, at whatever I do and as a person.

I do not believe in a supernatural God. But now I have found one in a human. He is a cricketer and opens batting for India. I believe in him, for this belief forms a part of his soul as it does of mine.Tears roll down as I write this, without hesitation, for tears like these will be the celebration for this man when he has The Cup in his hand. I believe in the righteousness of his intent and that it will lead those who play with him to greater heights and him to salvation as he knows it. He defines how perfect a human can be and that is God enough for me. His name is Sachin Tendulkar.

Goddess in the rain

2011-03-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

Wind meandering,
rules its will and path;
Behind closed doors,
raises illusions of fear.
In open air, heavenly,
and embrace of element of life.
A walk in the clouds unclear.
Goddess is in the rain
and permeates me in life.

With every drop she crescendos,
with every gust she exhales.
Her heart and boundless joy,
for she dances with the gale.
Sometimes, even if in ignorance,
she chooses to sing to herself,
serenading who choose to liberate.
The Goddess in the rain
will permeate me in life.

And when i drench myself ,
I feel her embrace.
A cool injection of love.
Motherly warmth without face.
For invisible instruments in ease
and notes seemingly random
She creates a Being ethereal.
Goddess is in the rain
and permeates me in life.

The Fine Art of Mayhem..........

2011-03-17T00:07:00.000-07:00

Cry, scream,
Run for your lives.
Decry my wrath
For it will descend

Pray for your lives
for no one is going to listen
heed your prayer
falling on deaf ears

For far too long
the torture has been throttling
never ceasing, choking
toxic venom spewing forth

No longer can I ignore
the rape and mutilation
the rapid degeneration
Leading to extinction

So today I shrug my slumber
and Clap my hands in anger
Thunder sounding wild gongs
In heaven and hell

Waves of crashing fury
meet calm shores at break of dawn
wash away all forms of quotidian normality
Far away into oblivion

Remember this picture
keep it with your memories
a small hint of absolute detruction
coming of which is assured

Longing.....

2011-03-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Its ok
to watch your shadow walk away
For I know It will be only
one cry away.

Boundless memories
dwell forever within
each vision and image
at my beck and call

But i would be glad
to trade all that away
for the warmth of touch
has no equal in them

Being close
in the physical
Has no equal in the metaphysical
paths will diverge
rules will not allow
Ultimately though
the heart yearns for what it feels
What the senses can comprehend,
for what is real.

So close , no matter how far......

2011-03-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

Being away from people close to your heart is not easy......

This is Aerosoul......

2011-03-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

It all started with bagels.

And the rest is history. We just played our first show and got back to our normal lives. Homework assignments, research, getting well and goofing around. Five completely different influences, polar opposite characters. But as they say, when it sounds it, it just is. For me Aerosoul took off where Skepsis left. As cathartic as that is, I think it has just begun. Here is hopping the weird blimp never hits the ground and keeps flying high on Aerosoul.

Slimping in A minor....

2011-03-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

Do not ask me what the name means and how it came to be. Just an output of some intense thoughts, an awesome riff and a lot of fun.

Pairon ke nishaan bane hai dharti pe
dekhen hai maine, milon tak.
Chalne ki khwahish to hai bahut
jaana to hai manzil tak

Kyon hai yeh sawal..........

My words heard in the clear
Pure and from the untold
they want to lead my feet
they want to find my soul

Na Batao mujhe ki kya karna hai
mere zehen ki pukaar sunne do
mere kadam kahan padenge yeh bass mujhe
apne liye tai karne do, apne liye tai karne do.

My words heard in the clear
Pure and from the untold
they want to lead my feet
they want to find my soul

Bridging the Schism.......

2011-02-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

There comes a time in everyones life when these words come true. Be it friends, family, habits, memories, it always follows this pattern.

I know the pieces fit cause I watched them fall away
Mildewed and smoldering, fundamental differing,
Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion
Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us so
We cannot see to reach an end crippling our communication.

I know the pieces fit cause I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication

The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it
Finding beauty in the dissonance

There was a time that the pieces fit, but I watched them fall away
Mildewed and smoldering, strangled by our coveting
I've done the math enough to know the dangers of our second guessing
Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our communication

Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion

Between supposed lovers
Between supposed lovers

And I know the pieces fit

Quantum Hack Code

2011-02-12T17:25:00.000-08:00

Try this out for an experiment.....

Come home tired from work/school and just want to unplug. Switch off your phone, shut down your chat applets, put on your headphones and play "Quantum Hack Code" from start to finish. No shuffle, play it in order.

When I did this, I felt like my mind disconnected from my physical and it was a fantastic feeling. At the end of the album when I came around, it was the most refreshing feeling I had.

Fantastic album that! Kudos to Vishal Jit Singh and Jim Richman for this musical masterpiece!.....

Uh-oh....here comes the Devil......

2011-02-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

This is an article written by Will Hodgkinson for "The Guardian" newspaper. I think you can see where I am going with this. Diabolus In Musica. The Devil. Heavy Metal. Music.

=========

Blood On Satan's Claw is a nastily effective, if rather camp, classic British horror film from 1971. The story of a group of 17th-century village "children" (led by the distinctly full-grown Linda Hayden) who turn bad after developing patches of fur on their often naked bodies, Piers Haggard's movie derives much of its power from a score that's at once ominous and beautiful, much like the film's fecund pastoral setting. The secret of the music lies in the use of a troublesome interval, variously banned, feared and celebrated since the 11th century, called the Devil's Interval.

"I used a descending chromatic scale throughout the score," explains Marc Wilkinson, who was director of music at the National Theatre when Haggard approached him to write the score for Blood On Satan's Claw. "To make it scary, I omitted the perfect fifth, which is the one true consonant in the chromatic scale, and highlighted the diminished fifth, which ever since the Middle Ages in Europe has been known as the Devil's Interval."

There shouldn't, theoretically, be anything scary about a musical interval. Just as turning round three times with your eyes closed while reciting the Hail Mary probably won't make the devil appear before you, despite generations of schoolchildren believing otherwise, so playing the note of C followed by F sharp shouldn't encapsulate the essence of evil - but somehow it does. The movement from the first tone in a scale to the fifth, known as the perfect fifth, was the first accepted harmony of the Gregorian chant after the use of the octave. It was discovered in the 11th century that moving down a semitone to the diminished fifth created dissonance, and a nasty feeling of foreboding and dread. The church of medieval Europe quickly banned it, reputedly relying on torturous methods to ensure that the ban was upheld.

"As far as I'm aware there is no symbolic reason for it not being acceptable," says Wilkinson in between demonstrating the Devil's Interval on a piano at his house outside Paris. "It is simply that it feels nasty, an unpleasant sound that yearns to be resolved. Playing it is rather like standing with one foot in the air. You want to move on."

The Devil's Interval does, however, have a foreboding history. The 18th-century violinist Giuseppe Tartini claimed that he composed his Devil's Trill Sonata after Satan himself gave him instructions on how to do it, which might help explain why this piece of music is so incredibly difficult to play. In Wagner's Götterdämmerung, the diminished fifth illustrates a scene of pagan excess; Camille Saint-Saëns used it to tell the story of skeletons coming alive at Halloween in his Danse Macabre. Jimi Hendrix nailed it in the intro to Purple Haze to bring home the message that hallucinogenic drugs may be exciting but they're scary, too.

For some, though, the Devil's Interval has been where they want to stay. "I didn't think I was going to make devil music," says Tony Iommi of Birmingham's metal pioneers Black Sabbath, who used the diminished fifth on the band's 1970 debut to doom-laden effect. "It was just something that sounded right." Ever since, heavy metal bands have used the Devil's Interval whenever evil demands to be summoned - the American band Slayer even named their album Diabolus in Musica after it.

Whether the diminished fifth really does contain diabolical properties or is simply a scary-sounding interval is probably a theological issue rather than a musical one. But in a film about village children slowly changing into a coven of devil-worshiping, human-sacrificing sadists, it appears to have found its spiritual home. Perhaps the most sensible thing to do is to let it stay there, rather than meddle with forces we cannot hope to understand.

=============================

So, there is nothing demonic about the tritone. But if people are scared for such stupid reasons, it's just good fun. Run you moron, run. Here comes the Devil.

And so it began.........

Unmechanize......Humanize.....

2011-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Like the despondent farmer
happy when he sees a sapling
grow forth from saline soil.
So was my heart this hour,
happy to know
that I could cry.

Like the first drop
that hits the baked earth
after the searing summer heat
The tear streaks down
moistening the cheek
and rolling over an earnest smile.

Like the sounds of waves rolling past
a soothing sound of thunder
over the calm below
A sigh that accompanies
the tear that went free
brings peace to the heart and soul.

The Big 4.....

2011-01-29T15:34:00.000-08:00

Will be attending the Big 4 concert in California........the 4 greatest names in thrast metal, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax.......a metal heads wet dream to witness all the progenitors of modern heavy metal on one stage.....purveyors of that visceral aggression and musical fire power that has taken a million myriad forms. Yes, the luckiest fucking chap on Earth. It was something that I really dreamt about and it has come true. Still wearing a ear to ear grin and probably will till the concert, come bad weather, exams or sneezing cunts. For those who have not yet been initiated into what is heavy metal, here is a little taste of what I am going to experience.....

After watching the video, I don't think i need say anything more. Gimme fuel and the fire to be Caught in the Mosh and drench in the Raining Blood when is performed the Symphony of Destruction. \m/

Insomnia

2011-01-23T04:03:00.000-08:00

The angel of Nightmist
runs its fingers through my hair
sows the seed of insomnia
In my physical through a cold scar

Eyelids struggle to stay in embrace
Slide apart everso slowly
I catch dark wisps of escape
Disappearance of something not lowly

I struggle to my feet, to glance
at the moon, smiling, in my window
its messengers have done their task
made me a part of its sorrow

For i can hear, the voices cry out
slow, clear and cold under the winter silver
Curiosity, oh you be damned
Nightmist beckons to foray into uncharted there.

Clear as the sky that was
my eyes stare out into the effusive glow
I can only befriend and embrace
this insomnia that I let grow.

Ace of Spades!

2011-01-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

Very bloody spur of the moment!.......we all want to live our lives as described in the lyrics below. But there is only one Lemmy in this world......all the rest are losers!.......myself included!

If you like to gamble, I tell you I'm your man
You win some, lose some, it's - all - the same to me
The pleasure is to play, it makes no difference what you say
I don't share your greed, the only card I need is
The Ace Of Spades
The Ace Of Spades

Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil,
Going with the flow, it's all a game to me,
Seven or Eleven, snake eyes watching you,
Double up or quit, double stakes or split,
The Ace Of Spades
The Ace Of Spades

You know I'm born to lose, and gambling's for fools,
But that's the way I like it baby,
I don't wanna live forever,
And don't forget the joker!

Pushing up the ante, I know you've got to see me,
Read 'em and weep, the dead man's hand again,
I see it in your eyes, take one look and die,
The only thing you see, you know it's gonna be,
The Ace Of Spades
The Ace Of Spades

Maybe this will interest the working lot of you. Not a bad song by any means, but, yeah, the polar opposite of "Ace Of Spades".

I get up at seven, yeah,
And I go to work at nine.
I got no time for livin',
Yes, I'm workin' all the time.

Chorus:
It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am.
I guess that's why they call me,
They call me the working man.

They call me the working man.
I guess that's what I am.

I get home at five o'clock,
And I take myself out a nice, cold beer.
Always seem to be wonderin'
Why there's nothin' goin' down here.

Well they call me the working man.
I guess that's what I am.

Truth be told....

2011-01-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

My personal eulogy to Darrell "Dimebag" Lance Abbott. And what his life stands for. As it says on his gravestone,

"He came to rock ....and he rocked like no other. With the heart twice the size of Texas, our beloved brother, companion, mentor, idol and friend....We love you Dime......Until we meet again. "

Streaks down a tear
from the pain I did not feel
A sigh of anguish
Under no tragedy did I reel.

I feel the blood gush away
but fail to locate the wound
losing my conscious being
with clarity in sight and sound

Physically disconnected I am, i know
From you, from him and from multitude
The result and reaction
this knowledge of separation does not preclude

In me,I stare into
A fire built up
by the light shone by all of you
And in me you see yourselves
like a mirror reflection
Shining back, true

Hide from this, I won't
Not without shrouding myself
In perennial darkness
Ignore this truth, I can't
Not without dismantling
Structure where my belief rests

Embrace this essence
of being one unto many
and Masses unto one
For only this may
stand true in test
and make me human.

What we're all about....

2011-01-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

Now, do read into the title literally, you dimwits. It is a song, one which i like. But well, that is not the point. I think the ongoing insomnia and academia have resulted in an epiphany. Of course, it is about heavy metal.

1. Rebellion

Period. It is about revolting against the establishment. Sometimes just for the fun of it. But it applies everywhere. For example, metal-heads are often labeled as satanists. Flip side, if everybody was a satanist, metal heads would be priests and prophets and seers.

photo : .....And Justice For All (Metallica)......go listen.

2. Realm of the Untouchable

We fear what we don't understand. And that is heavy metal territory. Metal gives you the right and the channel to fantasize about something that "normal" people would never think of. Think death metal, black metal. Its gory, macabre. As is some aspect of every art form. So nothing is ever off limits for metal. In short, the true unlimited wings of imagination.

image : Wretched Spawn (Cannibal Corpse).........go beserk.

3. Honest

What do you want to do when you are pissed and disturbed? You want to scream, curse and shout. What do you do in heavy metal? You scream, curse and shout. And lot of people can identify with it. Restraint and self control is good, but healthy release of such pent up angst is even better. And not just getting in everybody's face, but also be true to what you feel. Popular is not always good. As I said above, nothing is off limits with metal.

image : Live in UK (Rage Against the Machine).... go scream!

4. Excellence

And yes, its about excellence. Heavy metal demands excellence. A sloppy guitarist or a poor singer can never cut it in heavy metal. They go pop!....very literally. Metal music demands you put your energies into it. And teaches you that it's the same with everything you do. Then it can be playing blazing guitar solos or cranking up good grades in school. Dedication to what you do, is of utmost importance. (On the subject of good grades.......i know we metal heads are not famous for that......but still, there is always hope.....:D)

image : Systematic Chaos (Dream Theater).....go work hard and be as good!

5. Identity and Integrity

Above all, it is being what you are, as yourself, than becoming a moronic copy of the hordes. To preserve what is the quintessence of you and being true to it. If you believe something is right and true, then stick to your guns and never back down. Your own lyrics, your riff and your song. Now, thats very very metal!

image : Piece of Mind (Iron Maiden)....go fucking be yourself!

These are true life qualities and attributes that are deified/diabolized by metal. People can embody these principles and still not be metal heads. And you know what, metal heads are the only people who can understand that feeling. That is why heavy metal rules!

To those about to rock, we salute you....

2011-01-08T20:32:00.001-08:00

We all know and have seen "Black Hawk Down". Here is what really happened as told by Brian Johnson, the lead singer of AC/DC.

Johnson told Q magazine how this song played a part in rescuing imprisoned Black Hawk Down pilot Michael Durant following the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993. He recalled: "That was the best one. He was shoved in prison, his back was broken. They were kicking him, shooting bullets into him and he was terrified. His pals knew that AC/DC was his favorite band, so they hooked up a speaker to the skid of one of the Black Hawk helicopter and they were playing "Hells Bells" over the rooftops. When he in his prison heard that music, he took his shirt off and- cos his legs were broken- he crawled up to the windows and waved his shirt. That's how they got him out. Ain't that amazing!"

The power of heavy metal.......\m/

Aesthetics of Death

2011-01-06T20:25:00.000-08:00

This was the introductory plaque to the "Death" exhibit which is currently on at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Cold, to the point and re-assuring is what it is. Enjoy!

Death has a lot on his calendar.Of course, there is the work of ministering to and menacing his endless stream of more-or-less-willing clients. But he also has parties to attend, concerts to perform and places to go. He is an athlete, adept at riding horses, driving chariots and manoeuvring other contraptions that most of us know little about. His musical skills include playing string instruments, percussion and brass. It comes as now surprise that he is also a gifted dancer. Death also has a practical side, as demonstrated by his mastery of agricultural implements and timepieces. He is unimpeachably democratic in his associations. In fact, it is difficult to think of anyone he would avoid. Many have claimed the title of "The Great Equalizer", but ever busy Death rightfully retains the crown.

So compelling is Death, that he has been the subject of fascination of artists since the Middle Ages.Some artists take delight in the dark humor achieved in the netherworld, some shock us with its fearsome aggression and other find poignancy in its comfort. Some remind us that Death is an impromptu visitor for whom we must always be prepared; other see Death approaching quickly, attracted by our actions.

Despite his hectic schedule, Death beckons you. Great artists urge you to accept his invitation - in your imagination for the present - for, eventually, Death is sure to find you.

The wham bam slam song!

2011-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is another metal song coming your way. Imagine riffs the size of Australia, 230 bpm drums and basslines you can hang your blankets dry on. Sing it with all the zest, energy and evil of death metal, but with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

slam, bam, slams the door
Shudder shudder, goes the floor
Is the tormentor back again?
Back again with vengeance and pain?

Piss him off, piss it down
Love to wear that frown
Unable to do a thing
So my knob he will wringgggggggggggggg!

sneezing weasel, coughing cunt
Dripping nose always on the hunt
Usually it is the floor,
but this time, why me, the knob on the door?!?!?

Fucking metaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!.......\m/

Review : Fuji FinePix S1800

2011-01-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

I think it's been enough time for me to give a fair evaluation of the Fuji. Go elsewhere for the tech specs and bullshit. Simple pros and cons sounds good to me.

Pros

1. Excellent colour reproduction.
2. Well balanced. Not too heavy, great ergonomics.
3. Runs on AA batteries, but will give Li-ion batteries a run for their money any day. (Clicked 280 images at full load and there was juice enough to click more.)
4. Manual controls work well.
5. 18x zoom is really usable and works well with the Image Stabilisation

Cons:

1. The software is really fucked up. Maybe Fuji should hire some good people to write the software. Hangs up when some settings are changed. Contact Infosys....:P. They might do better.

2. Full manual control is a lie. You have to find the best possible setting amongst the given modes.

3. The sensor does not work well when shooting at 12 Megapixels. Downgrading the resolution to 9 megapixels solved this problem. But i think that's the problem with most cameras nowadays. Crammed with so many pixels, the sensors are just not up to the mark.

4. Sometimes does not respond to routine button presses. Again, i guess something to do with the software. Infosys, please....you hear me?.....:P.

For sample images, let me know. All in all, I think, fantastic value for money. I got it for $151 from Amazon. A good megazoom for people who aspire to graduate onto DSLR's.

A good, reliable review can be found at:
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/fujifilm_finepix_s1800_review/

The mad way..

2011-01-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

An absolute rant coming up......please switch off immediately if you desire this year of your life to be sane.....

Duality, is an inherent quality that pervades through everything. Early civilizations realised this, revered this and preached this. Well, not that I have the brains to teach anything like that. But I want to help twist this "Duality" to another thing. The quality and appreciation of "Genius".

People frown at the fact that I appreciate "firangi" works more than what was done in India. While this is rubbish and holds piss in its pouch, I have always had a nagging pinprick each time I talk about excellence in India.

One of the defining quality of excellence works of art and architecture in India, is the unflinching dependence of the established and the general expansion on scale on existing works. So, better works, yes. But pushing the envelope and inventing, hardly. This restraint, alignment with established values is an obstacle to greater glory. And this despite, civilizations in the sub continent reaching their peak when the Europeans and Americans were just murdering barbarians.

On the other hand, I look at art and architecture from Italy, France. What these countries did, was allow their artists to run mad. Genius took centerstage. Producing fantastical pieces. But also continuously inventing. Going beyond what was thought as possible. To this day, Italians are considered eccentric and whimsical and have an undenied aesthetic ability. The French still produce some of the best architectural wonders. Refer to : Ferrari, the Millau bridge.

What I am getting at, what i want to point to is, allowing genius its freedom. Of course, unbridled freedom comes at a price. What happens if a lunatic is allowed free reign? Hitler, Napoleon, Nero etc etc. The list could go on. A two edged sword. But look at what comes out. The buildings of Renaissance period Europe. The Impressionist era. Not just Europe. The Mayan culture. The Byzantines.

This is the ancient. The past. The history books. Look at the world even today. Places where talent is allowed its freedom, produces great things. Higher you go , harder the fall. Yes. And that is why the restraint and control we practise in India, has a higher probability of success. But how much of this success is immortal? It's an honest question.

So what comes out at the end of the funnel. The distillation, the conclusion, the lesson that I want to throw out there is, be mad. Physical limitations do not matter. They just do not. Cause more often than not, out of this madness, comes out the work of genius.

For me, Filipo Brunelleschi epitomises this art of going crazy to produce immortal genius.

Ride the madness in 2011. Have an insane time.

Heavy Metal X-mas!

2010-12-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Matthew Arthur from Huntsville, Texas, for writing this awesome heavy-metal Xmas story. The first half of the story was printed in the upcoming issue of Revolver, which will be on stands December 21. You can check out the rest of it below.

"A Heavy-Metal Xmas Story "

Once long ago in the Valley of the Dark Abyss, three wise men, Ozzy, Ronnie James Dio (R.I.P.), and Robert Plant looked to the sky and saw a dark pentagram glowing many miles away. They knew at once the King was born.

They packed their belongings: weed, bongs, beer, and porn mags, and climbed atop their dragons to make the journey to the new King. Once they reached the destination of the new King, the parents of the newly born child introduced him as Randy Rhoads.

The three wise men spoke of the great things the child would do for the metal world and showered him with gifts. They brought Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, and Dio’s Heaven and Hell with Sabbath. They said one day the child would make a great sacrifice for all of the metalheads of the world. The three wise men looked on with great pride as young Randy grew to be the most fiercest guitar player in the world, one of them even taking human form to work with him, but that’s another story.

The metal world was grateful for the metal injection it was receiving.

One day while on tour, a cloud opened up revealing John Bonham. He spoke to Randy saying, “It is time, Randy, to lay down your life for the future of metal.” Bonham spoke of the tragedies that were to come; Seattle grunge, emo, and Kings of Leon fans.

Randy accepted his fate to push the metal world from the abyss, sending bits and pieces of his soul to make metal last into the fingers of Kerry King, Dimebag Darrell (R.I.P.), Dave Mustaine, Kirk Hammett, Jeff Hanneman, Marty Friedman, and countless others, making it possible for us to smoke weed, drink beer, eat pussy, and most importantly, BANG YOUR FUCKING HEAD. You can’t kill rock-n-roll!

Merry X-mas to all metalheads!

Luminescent.....

2010-12-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

Pulses of light,
Throbbing of hearts.
Voices in unison,
Glow in the dark.
Hands holding firm,
When the mind stands alone.
Snow falls slowly,
smearing branches with messages from the unreal
Remembrance in time,
Of all the smiles we had.

Mrigya

2010-12-18T06:39:00.001-08:00

Have been listening to this band "Mrigya" quite a lot in the near past. Great contemporary music, a good fusion of Indian and western styles. For me this band represents the next step in evolution in the type of music that Indian Ocean was and is at the forefront of. Please do give a listen cause the songs are darn good.

P.S.: Posting all the videos i could find. For audio, you know where to look....:)

Aesthetics of Hate....R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell...

2010-12-09T07:01:00.000-08:00

Well, for the metalheads out there, Dimebag Darrell, lead guitarist for Pantera/Damageplan was killed on 8th December 2004 in Ohio while playing on stage. While that was bad enough, this following article was just salt on wound and for no apparent reason.

===============

You've undoubtedly heard by now that a demented fan last week killed heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Abbott at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio . While I am extremely happy to hear that the assassin was shot to death by a brave Columbus policeman and I in no way want to engage in a blaming the victim scenario, I cannot deny that there much in Mr. Abbott's demise of one being hoisted on one's petard. The squalor, inhumanity, filth (both in the metaphorical and hygienic senses), depravity, ugliness and ignorance of everything that heavy metal represents (Like rap, I cannot use the noble term music in a description of heavy metal) creates a mindset among its devotees in which Mr. Abbott's assassination was an event that was all but waiting to happen.

It was highly amusing, and also terribly sad, to watch on television fans conducting a "vigil" for the slain Mr. Abbott outside of the Alrosa Villa. It was an assemblage of ignorant, semi-human barbarians who were filthy in attire and manner, intellectually incoherent and above all else, hideously ugly to the point of physical deformity. Here is a definite case in which the outer appearance of these "fans" accurately represented the hideousness of their souls. That the physical deformity of their ugliness was self-inflicted makes the spiritual tragedy of their misspent lives all the more tragic.

But one can see why the heavy metal fans so closely identified with Mr. Abbott. He was an ignorant, barbaric, untalented possessor of a guitar and large amplifier system. Freakish in appearance, more simian than human, he was the performer of a type of "entertainment" that can be likened only to a gorilla on PCP. Lacking subtlety, wit, style, emotional range and anything approaching even the smallest iota of intellectual or musical interest, Mr. Abbott was part of a generation that has confused sputum with art and involuntary reflex actions with emotion.

De gustibus non disputandem est. Matters of taste are not subject to argument. That has been a general principle of aesthetics for some time, and when we are talking about the visceral preference for Mozart or Haydn or Beethoven among civilized human beings we are on pretty safe ground. I do not understand exactly why I prefer Haydn to my good friend who prefers Beethoven. But we both agree (as do all civilized human beings) that both Messrs. Haydn and Beethoven are numerous steps further along the evolutionary trail than Dimebag Abbott.

Here is one area in which conservatives have failed and failed miserably. Whether it is out of a lack of interest or despair, conservatives for too long have ceded the entire field of aesthetics to the trust fund red babies of the blue states. And look at what this has brought us. So-called heavy metal music, so-called rap music, operas and stage plays in which modern "stagings" reduce Verdi and Shakespeare to the condition of a schizophrenic's finger paintings. Leftist domination in the visual arts has made a mockery of the aesthetic greatness of modernism and replaced it with the turd encased in Lucite. And the grammatically-challenged racist rantings of Amiri Baraka now pass for poetry.

However, we conservatives should not confuse family values with aesthetics. In the realm of art, our evangelical brethren have many crimes to answer for. When a church replaces Bach with Bacharach it has engaged in the aesthetic rape of the liturgy. Just because one has good intentions and approaches the numinous with "sincerity" and "authenticity" (the latter term ironically being a buzzword among the Marxist aestheticians of the Frankfurt School ), that does not absolve one from aesthetic responsibility.

As far as I am concerned, those who advocate a dumbed-down liturgy and schlocky pop music substitutes for Bach, Handel and the masses of the Renaissance, are as offensive as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and his perverse sexual politics.

Part of the hard work of civilization is teaching young to be able to distinguish between the good and the bad in all aspects of life. If we teach our young children to obey the 10 Commandments and to obey the laws of the land, but don't teach them to realize that Johann Sebastian Bach is superior to Dimebag Abbott, we have failed as parents and mentors. If a person has gone through 12 or 13 years of education and has not developed an appreciation for the greatest artistic achievements of mankind, that education has been an utter failure.

While laissez-faire is the correct approach to economics it has no place in the realm of aesthetics or morality. A confidant civilization imposes its morality and aesthetics on it young people. Yes, you heard it right. We impose. The Rousseauian noble savage is a myth. Left unchecked and untutored the savage will never attain nobility.

There are those who will accuse me of elitism. And I admit it. I am a conservative elitist. I want the very best. The very best form of government, the very best of civilizations, the very best educational system, the very best literature and art, the very best music, the very best way of life. If I need open heart surgery I want to go to an elite heart surgeon.

Mediocrity is the goal of socialism. Americans should aspire to greatness.

In the past forty years, conservatives have won great victories in the political, economic and moral realms, but we stand to throw all our gains away if we do not reclaim ascendancy in the aesthetic realm as well.

And while the murder of even a semi-human barbarian like Mr. Abbott is tragic and to be lamented, it would be wrong to ignore Mr. Abbott's complicity in contributing to the soul-deadening culture of death, ugliness, depravity and inhumanity that spawned his killer.

Hugo von Hofmannsthal once remarked that "all powerful imaginations are conservative." It is time for conservatives to utilize their imaginations and reclaim the field of aesthetics from the left-that is, while there is still something left in the aesthetic realm worth reclaiming.

===============

Now, I do not need to say anything about this article other than - a load of bullshit. But here is the flip side. Machine Head guitar player and lead singer, Robb Flynn, is a great Dimebag fan and he was so incensed on reading this article, instead of slandering Mr. Grim, wrote a song, called "Aesthetics of Hate" which was released on their album "The Blackening". They had the last laugh, cause the song was nominated for the Grammy for "The Best Heavy Metal Song". Now thats rock 'n roll. 'Nuff said methinks. R.I.P. Dimebag and keep the gig alive up there!

P.S.: By the way, Dimebag is the lead guitarist of the greatest metal band there is in Heaven-land, if such a thing exists. The other members of the band are :

Lead singer : Ronnie James Dio (Ex - Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, Dio)

Lead/Rhythm Guitar : Randy Rhoads (Ex - Ozzy Osbourne)

Bass : Cliff Burton (Ex - Metallica )

Drums : John Bonham (Ex - Led Zeppelin)

Just wondering what kind of songs would they be churning out.................

Salvation

2010-12-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Dedicated to all who were maimed in the December 6th blast at Varanasi.

Travelled he has, the distances of a great land;
Orange robes and sacred ashes his only possessions.
Begged for food, craved he wisdom;
Knowledge eternal to survive the mortal shell.

Callused his feet, found solace at temples and shrines,
hunger, satiated by nourishment from kind strangers.
The rebukes and the sneers, he had smiled through ;
Days and night, warm and cold, seasons left him marked.

Many years on, the banks of the Ganges he sees,
His joy known no bounds, tears run down in streaks.
"jai Ma Gange" chants he, raises his arms in praise,
Ran like a little child to his mother.

Spends his hours, meditating on the banks,
Closed eyes, steadfast in thought.
the noise and the movement around do not bother him;
For the rustle of the Ganges meandering is the only sound he can hear.

The morning aarti, his start of the day,
his material offering to the holy flow.
He held the flame and whirled it round,
Obeisance to the Water flowing down.

And loud, Hell opened up,
Shards of clay sprayed around.
Pandemonium reared its head and laughed,
And scared legs scatter all around

Loses his balance, the flame, goes tumbling
Trampled under a rain of feet.
unable to raise his arm,
unable to finish his prayer.

When the anarchy silenced down
The ripple of the waves was the only voice heard
he was bleeding from the cuts and scars
a river of red originating from him

All his life, he had prayed for salvation
meditated for knowledge,to be one with ether.
Prayed to the Ganges to bless his final journey
And promise him eternal salvation.

Saw he, his blood, rolling down the stairs,
and be one with the crystal River.
Dissolve in what he held holiest,
and resolve his quandary.

Summoned all his will and strength,
and all his humility he could muster.
He said "O Mother, take me with you"
"And lead me to salvation".

Vande Mataram - Tarana

2010-11-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

Sung by the uber-melodious Kaushiki Chakrabarty, do give a listen. Enjoy.

P.S. : If the embedded player does not materialise for some geeky reason just use the link given below. Let the stupidity not stop you from listening to some good music.

http://www.raaga.com/play/?id=98088

Vigil....

2010-11-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

26th November ...... remembrance of the horrors perpetrated....... hoping that it never happens again.

Pushing the envelope....the heavy metal way!

2010-11-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

A casual conversation in the life of a little known metal band called "Meshuggah"......introducing the characters....

Fredrik Thordendal - Lead guitars - plays an Ibanez custom 8-string guitar.

Tomas Haake - Drummer - Plays a Sonor kit with Sabian cymbals

Fredrik : Hey Tomas, long time no beer. Ready for some new metal music?

Tomas : Fuck yeah man!....you got something?

Fredrik : yeah, yeahh. Wrote this song called "Bleed" and composed it on the PC.

Tomas : Sounds brutal!

Fredrik : Here, come listen to this cool drum part i wrote for this song...

Tomas puts the headphones on......starts listening to the track.

Tomas : Fuck...:O!

For people who's eyebrows have shot up and have no clue of what is going on around here, check out the song posted below. And especially listen to the drum parts which were watered down from the ones originally written for this track. Tomas reportedly spent 6 months practising the drums for this one track....:D

Second coming.....

2010-11-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

The great redwood uprooted fell,
On terra firma lies peacefully.
Anger hath it not,
nor malice, in its heart.
For in its wake,
it knows it sheltered;
the growth of a new seed.

The demise of Linkin Park

2010-11-18T13:04:00.001-08:00

Friends and family, we have gathered here, to mourn the sad demise of Linkin Park, one of the best and most successful alternative rock bands of our time. From the band that gave us the seminal "Hybrid Theory" and the fantastic "Meteora", who would have thought it would end like this?

With the ultra-awful bollocks album called "Minutes to Midnight" and its stupid bastard child, "A Thousand Suns"? From the band where Chester's screams and Mike's rapping had everybody pumping fists and banging heads, it has come to being Justin Bieber and Justin Timberlake on steroids.

From personal experience, I will tell you that LP was the band that got me into heavy stuff. It was my first step. Reading the lyrics of "Papercut" and being scared of your own shadow was where the fun began. Rapping with Viren in the middle of the night on the verses of "Points of Authority", banging my head to "One Step Closer" and feeling awesome about "Crawling". And the screaming attitude of "Hit the Floor" and the melodic Shakuhachi flute piece of "Nobody's" Listening". Those are the moments this band gave me. And many more.

Then came apocalypse. "Minutes to Midnight" was the paralysis, since there was that one good song on that "What I've done" and "A Thousand Suns" was the full blown heart attack. Dead as a dodo. No signs of revitalisation. Lights out, curtain down.

So, good folks, who bothered to read this, listen to the first two albums and be sad that there are no more coming. And for fucks sake, do not listen to "A Thousand Suns". A bucketful of horse manure will give you more to cheer about than that album.

To the deceased,
Mike, Chester, Brad, Rob, Phoenix and Mr Hahn - Please wake the fuck up!

In Memoriam......the best of Linkin Park!

Faraway.....

2010-11-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

Leaves green, fly away;
Melt into autumns charm.
Yellow laid they a carpet,
On the soil so calm.

Silent are the nooks from whence,
spoke beautifully the koel.
Sweeps on the deserted stems,
Diabolic the gushing gale.

Carried afar, all the colours,
You charmed the spring away.
Dress sparkling of slade emeralds,
Hands holding the lights of life.

You smile away from a picture far,
surrounded by what you hold most dear.
Your abode of proesperity and peace,
Kept safe from the shadow of a tear.

Promise to who in foreign land lives;
your return will be imminent.
In full splendor and glory resplendent;
For he counts every minute and moment,
for the welcome sound and scent.

Literati.....

2010-11-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sonorous metal, blowing martial sounds;
At which the universal host upsent.

A shot that tore Hell's concave, and beyond,

Frighted that reign of Chaos and old Night
- Milton, Paradise Lost

Apart from listening to heavy metal, I seem to have picked up one more bad habit. No, not swearing, I picked that up in high school. No, its reading heavy metal literature. And heavy metal literature does not mean The Satanic Bible (which is a real document and can be found on the internet). Following is the crazy train of what I am reading now.....

1. "Black Sabbath and the rise of Heavy Metal Music" by Andrew Cope

Fantastic book to understand the basics of metal and the difference between hard rock and heavy metal. Very detailed technical musical explanations. Ability to read musical notations and and use Wikipedia effectively would come in handy. Also a very skinny book, so will not take months to be done with.

2. "Heavy Metal" by Deena Weinstein

I would call this book, "Heavy Metal 101". A beginners guide to this wonderful music with a very intense culturo - sociological angle. Lotsa pages in this one, but nothing technical in this, so you will skim through them faster.

3. "Damage Incorporated : Metallica and the production of musical identity" by Glen Pillsbury

A must read for Metallica fans. Again, a little technical, with the musical notations. But, indispensible.

4. "Extreme Metal - Music and culture on the edge" by Keith Kahn-Harris

Any death/black/math/speed metal fans out there? Even if not, this book is a good discussion on the birth and various aspects of extreme metal music.

I know that some people might find this fact that heavy metal can turn someone to literature a little over the top. But let me throw in one more fact. The lyrics in the albums, "A Farewell to Kings " and "Hemispheres" by the Canadian progressive rock/metal band "Rush" are heavily influenced by the writings of the novelist Ayn Rand. I rest my case.

R.I.P. ............

2010-10-31T14:23:00.000-07:00

The ignorance is already beyond what I can take, so I have decided to put a word out. If you know me, are a friend, live in Pune and ride around on a bike or scooter, you better fucking wear a helmet. Or I will come right up to you and fucking kick your nuts in. That pain is better than seeing you dead on some street in a grisly mess, which is a certainty, given the way people ride/drive in Pune. Educated dunder-headed morons is a better sobriquet for if you do not motherfucking gear up right away. I do not want to be sitting here in the USA fucking receiving another message that somebody died because of no fucking helmet.

So fucking buy one if you do not have already and wear it if you have. Fucking misers, you can in all probability afford a good helmet and if you can not, I think your parents will lend you money to buy one. To those who think that their way of riding/driving is safe, let me tell you that its fucking dildos and take it from me that you cannot fucking predict what someone else is thinking on their vehicles. Gear the fuck up right now and take good fucking care of your vehicle. Take this as a word of fucking caution from someone who has had a potentially fatal accident and is alive just because he was wearing a good helmet.

To Mandar Bane, Rest in peace

and to people who think this post is too profane, I do not fucking give two shits.

Hope

2010-10-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you there is despair all around, when depression has gotten the better of you? Well, of course you do not give up living. You, being human, given the opportunity to do something, go ahead, and well, do something. Let me tell you of one story, rather fable that I know of.

It was Birmingham in the mid-sixties. This chap lost three finger tips in a machine shop accident. Hence he could not play the guitar, for his night job in the pub. Instead of sulking in the corner and crying over his fate, he got some plastic tips for his fingers, down tuned his guitars, changed his strings to banjo strings. In this process , he invented a sound, THE sound of heavy metal. Today every metal guitar player, every band in fact on the face of this planet owes a debt musically to this person. The guy in focus is Tony Iommi and the band was called Black Sabbath. The rest as they say, is legend. Bow down to the riff lord...\m/

For whom the bell tolls

2010-10-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

The church bell tolls
And the spirit re-gathers
Spirit once vanished
left sickened and diseased
With love and life bleached out
By monotony of the regular
and drill of the normal
Numbed by the deafening grind
Of the bourgeoisie.

Cries of help, notes of pain
From the body emanate
Soul less it has been made
A vessel for material pessimism
But links such are stronger
Stronger than they know.
For cries as these
do not fade in the horizon.

For the wind is the bearer.
Boundless messenger to the spirit
Power enough to persuade
To re-unite with its vessel
Re-vitalise its muscles
Into action .
Re-inspire towards greatness.

Inquilab Zindabad

2010-10-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

We may have had freedom for more than 60 years now, but in our complacence, we are losing that hard won independence to dogs. A second wave of rebellion. A new era. A new people. And this may be the perfect anthem to carry the sentiment.

सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में है

(ऐ वतन,) करता नहीं क्यूँ दूसरी कुछ बातचीत,
देखता हूँ मैं जिसे वो चुप तेरी महफ़िल में है
ऐ शहीद-ए-मुल्क-ओ-मिल्लत, मैं तेरे ऊपर निसार,
अब तेरी हिम्मत का चरचा ग़ैर की महफ़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

वक़्त आने पर बता देंगे तुझे, ए आसमान,
हम अभी से क्या बताएँ क्या हमारे दिल में है
खेँच कर लाई है सब को क़त्ल होने की उमीद,
आशिकों का आज जमघट कूचा-ए-क़ातिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

है लिए हथियार दुश्मन ताक में बैठा उधर,
और हम तैयार हैं सीना लिए अपना इधर.
ख़ून से खेलेंगे होली अगर वतन मुश्क़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हाथ, जिन में है जूनून, कटते नही तलवार से,
सर जो उठ जाते हैं वो झुकते नहीं ललकार से.
और भड़केगा जो शोला सा हमारे दिल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

हम तो घर से ही थे निकले बाँधकर सर पर कफ़न,
जाँ हथेली पर लिए लो बढ चले हैं ये कदम.
ज़िंदगी तो अपनी मॆहमाँ मौत की महफ़िल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

यूँ खड़ा मक़्तल में क़ातिल कह रहा है बार-बार,
क्या तमन्ना-ए-शहादत भी किसी के दिल में है?
दिल में तूफ़ानों की टोली और नसों में इन्कलाब,
होश दुश्मन के उड़ा देंगे हमें रोको न आज.
दूर रह पाए जो हमसे दम कहाँ मंज़िल में है,
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है

वो जिस्म भी क्या जिस्म है जिसमे न हो ख़ून-ए-जुनून
क्या लड़े तूफ़ान से जो कश्ती-ए-साहिल में है
सरफ़रोशी की तमन्ना अब हमारे दिल में है
देखना है ज़ोर कितना बाज़ू-ए-क़ातिल में

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai

Aye watan, Karta nahin kyun doosree kuch baat-cheet
Dekhta hun main jise woh chup teri mehfil mein hai
Aye shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat main tere oopar nisaar
Ab teri himmat ka charcha gair ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Waqt aanay dey bata denge tujhe aye aasman
Hum abhi se kya batayen kya hamare dil mein hai
Kheench kar layee hai sab ko qatl hone ki ummeed
Aashiqon ka aaj jumghat koocha-e-qaatil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Hai liye hathiyaar dushman taak mein baitha udhar
Aur hum taiyyaar hain seena liye apna idhar
Khoon se khelenge holi agar vatan muskhil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Haath jin mein ho junoon katt te nahi talvaar se
Sar jo uth jaate hain voh jhukte nahi lalkaar se
Aur bhadkega jo shola-sa humaare dil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Hum to ghar se nikle hi the baandhkar sar pe kafan
Jaan hatheli par liye lo barh chale hain ye qadam
Zindagi to apni mehmaan maut ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Yuun khadaa maqtal mein qaatil kah rahaa hai baar baar'
Kya tamannaa-e-shahaadat bhi kisee ke dil mein hai
Dil mein tuufaanon ki toli aur nason mein inqilaab
Hosh dushman ke udaa denge humein roko na aaj
Duur reh paaye jo humse dam kahaan manzil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

Wo jism bhi kya jism hai jismein na ho khoon-e-junoon
Toofaanon se kya lade jo kashti-e-saahil mein hai

Chup khade hain aaj saare bhai mere khaamosh hain
Na karo to kuch kaho mazhab mera mushkil mein hai

Ten Commandments for Drummers...

2010-10-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

The source of this is Mr. Rahul Gopal, the ex No Idea/The Agenda’s drummer. I think these tips are worth their weight in Mapexes and Sabians.

1. Drumming is not a race. Take your time. Not everyone is the same and what takes someone a month, might take you a year to get.

2. Play for the music. ALWAYS. Chops are secondary to feel and good musical sense.

3. Be punctual – rehearsal, soundcheck and gig. Nobody likes a drummer who shows up late consistently

4. Learn your material inside out before a gig. Also, learn to read music, it helps.

5. Try not to play under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Contrary to popular belief, it does not make you John Bonham

6. NEVER diss the sound engineer. Learn up a bit about micing techniques, frequencies et al so you can convey better to the sound engineer what you hear in your head with respect to your sound.

7. Wear ear protection. I have hearing loss in one ear thanks to not wearing ear protection.

8. Carry your own sticks, pedals and a spare snare or snare head.

9. Respect the people you work with, however unimportant the gig may seem to you. They just might give you the break that you were looking for. Getting gigs is also about networking well and being amiable.

10. Lastly, be yourself. There can only be one Dave Weckl or Mike Portnoy or Tomas Haake. Influences are good. Don’t get lost trying to be your influences.

Hope you got some sense knocked into your head. Now run off and practise for your gig. Even if you don't have one.

Disturbed......

2010-10-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

In the memory of the kids killed in the explosion at Gadchiroli, Nagpur, Maharashtra as a part of a Naxal attack. A dedication to everyone who has been affected by this menace. Rest in Peace.

When the children sat down for nourishment,
Death served by the Reaper, plateful of cries
All when the Goddess assumed her throne
And watched with inanimate eyes.

Bright spit of fire, thunderous volley
Charred human debris flying astray
Smoke turns into the dead black night
The blessing of a bright summer day.

Screaming memories....

2010-10-05T20:49:00.001-07:00

For long enough now,
I have seen my face.
On the rusted iron,
the glint from the clouded sun
not enough to close my eyes.

For more nights than I can count
I have woken up in terror.
Fear, anger, paranoia,
All dancing havoc.
Anarchy in my grey cells.

For more moments than I find comfortable,
I drew breath.
at someone else's mercy
heart beating out of my chest
with blood frozen cold.

For more times than I have wanted
I have yearned for closure
to be harassed no more
To be able to sleep
With my dreams left at peace.

Kandisa.....the meaning!

2010-09-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

"Kandisa " is a beautiful song by Indian Ocean from their album of the same name. This song is what got me into this band and it still retains the same fresh and wonderful image of me starting out with playing percussion on this song. Somehow Indian Ocean songs age very well. If you have not heard the song, here is it.

Finally i found this blog where i found the complete literal translation of Kandisa. The song/prayer is in Aramaic which is a very old language. The translation is as below.

Kandisa Alahaye Kandisa Esana Aalam Balam Aalam, Amenu Aamen,
kadishat Allaha, kadishat Haylthana, l-'alam 'almin amin.

Holy God, Strong God, I bow to you forever

Sliha Mar Yose, Almaduba Kudisa, Aangen Dhanusa Nehave Dukharana,
Apostle St. Joseph, on your Holy Altar ----

Kandisa Alaha Kandisa Esana Kandisa La Ma Yosa Isaraha Malem
Kadishat Allaha, Kadishat Haylthana, kadishat la mayutha, ethraham 'layn.

Holy God, holy strong, Holy, do not die, have mercy on me.

I knew there were references to Jesus and his apostles in this song, but could not understand any part of the song. Enjoy!

The Beckoning

2010-09-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

Wait, wait a moment.
Don't submit to mortal sleep,
not just yet.
Something is afoot.

Melodious notes
in infallible subsequence.
Sky angry and red
ready to throw bolts at the ground.
Upheaval to end the torment.

Feel the hair stand up on ends
tickle of ice run down your spine.
Oh don't give in just yet
something is afoot.

A waft of warm breeze,
in the chill of the night.
A soft voice, calling out
from behind the filament bright.

Do they not beckon you?
Urge enough to get up.
Start walking towards the unknown
Oh don't just end your day as yet.
Something is afoot

Bon Voyage.....

2010-09-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

Departures. 2 of them. Never completely painless or harmless. Nevertheless, not without reason.

Valentino Rossi ......

Multi MotoGp champion. Leaves Yamaha after 7 years, heading to the Ducati, to form the Italian dream team. He joined, when he was "disrespected" by Honda, the factory to beat back then. He took the Yamaha M1, a pig of a bike back then and turned it into a winner. Leaving Honda in the dust. Honda still regrets letting him go.

Mike Portnoy .........

Prodigial drummer. Face and percussive talent of the great prog rock band, Dream Theater. Leaves DT after 25 years with the band, having co-founded it with John Petrucci and John Myung. Entered the drummers Hall of Fame at the age of 37, recipient of countless awards and unarguably one of the best drummers in the world. Leaves DT because he feels the band is burning him out and feels better playing with side projects like Hail and Avenged Sevenfold.

Both legends in their own right. Both colourful personalities. Both departing when they are at the top of their game. Both relish challenges. Both infinitely passionate about what they do. Nothing less than 100% works for them. Both know where their heart is.

For me, these guys are heroes. And this sense, of following your heart and giving it all, I will try to inculcate in myself. Till then, here is wishing them the best of luck.......more records waiting for you guys!

Some good lyrics....good songs too!

2010-09-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of songs, the lyrics of which are very relevant to whats going on with me. My personal mental being aside, two amazing songs with great words. \m/

"Schism" by Tool

I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them fall away
Mildewed and smoldering. Fundamental differing.
Pure intention juxtaposed will set two lovers souls in motion
Disintegrating as it goes testing our communication
The light that fueled our fire then has burned a hole between us
So
We cannot seem to reach an end crippling our communication.

I know the pieces fit 'cause I watched them tumble down
No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to
Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over.
To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication

The poetry that comes from the squaring off between,
And the circling is worth it.
Finding beauty in the dissonance.

There was a time that the pieces fit, but I watched them fall
Away.
Mildewed and smoldering, strangled by our coveting
I've done the math enough to know the dangers of our second
Guessing
Doomed to crumble unless we grow, and strengthen our
Communication.

Cold silence has a tendency to atrophy any sense of compassion
Between supposed lovers.
I know the pieces fit.

"Tribes of Babel" by Motherjane

We’ve learnt to ignore oceans
Wake up to changing times
To rediscover with innocence
All boundaries are thin lines

Born under our different flags
Wrapped up in belief systems
Pain body, Pride, Psychic bags
Good, Bad, We’re all of them

The tribes of Babel, the angels sent on
With the 1stand 5thnote in every song
To paint graffiti without walls, in the air
Stairways to heaven, for the truly aware

To raise our sights and tear walls down
To tempt us to look within & all around
Facing strangers to find ourselves
Singing out loud, in someone else

We’re the tribes of Babel, the angels sent on
With the 1st& 5thnote, the soul of a song
To paint graffiti without walls, in the air
To celebrate all Earth while we’re still here

St. Anger

2010-09-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Quick steps
help not today,
to vent the fury
bursting through the veins.

A few creases on the skin
are all that betray.
The anger contained
beneath the skin.

Draining my energy
to keep the surface calm;
tears rising quick
glistening, not flowing.

Today, i will contain
suppress, resist
what will inevitably come
pray, it is not
what i do not want it to be
a Demon.

Still Life....

2010-07-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Fascinated by the dynamism of inanimate objects and hence the snaps. No particular order or theme or preference. Please do suggest your interpretations and titles.

Genocide

2010-07-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

Genocide (defn) : ...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

– Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II

Burned, charred to black as coal
entire people, a culture little different
what for was never questioned?
what for, was never answered.
Source of hate, i have never seen
hatred we hold for our kin
colour of skin, colour of flag
colour of things so myriad
Colour of my blood and yours is same
the same deep red
then why scar your skin with my sword
or my land with your pen
Generations lost in entire madness
subject to whim and vengeance
for material rewards ever so transient
quickly washed away by the blood that was spilled
made nauseous by the putrid stench

Question the reason of my flawed existence
if i deny that right to my neighbour
Anger in the futility and the helplessness
while pictures recount the horror and Holocaust
Account for all the hatred
Source of all hatred is Us
Slay the demon inside
and then we think alike
Blood warm pusling through the veins
spent in labour of love and life
is more valuable than
blood spilled in the name of skin, land and religious strife.

Zen in oBzen....

2010-06-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

*Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Japanese word Zen is derived from the Chinese word Chán, which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which means "meditation"

*oBzen is an album by heavy metal band Meshuggah.

For relevance, please read this post by Shrikant Narayanan .

World Cup 2010 for free...Enjoy!

2010-06-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

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Shame! India sold its dead cheap......

2010-06-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

Around 22,000 dead. More than 1,20,000 injured. Rs 1 lakh for each body. Rs 25,000 for every poisoned lung and damaged heart and blinded eyes. 26 years of long wait. And just 2 years in jail for the men who committed the worst crime against the people of this country. And this mockery of justice after such a long wait. Twenty six years after 40 tonnes of lethal gas seeped into the lungs of Bhopal, families of some 17,000 men, women and children are still waiting for the so-called compensation. Thousands more are still waiting to be accepted as victims. People of Bhopal are still drinking toxic water poisoned by Union Carbide in December 1984. And the main culprit is living life kingsize in a mansion in New York.

No country sells its people so cheap.
No country sells its poor so cheap.
No country sells its dead so cheap.

Today – on the day of Bhopal disaster judgment -- if there is a failed state in the world, it’s India. It’s not Iraq. It’s not Somalia. It’s not Sudan. It’s India.

India – its government, judiciary and corporates – accepted the ridiculous amount of $450 million dollars for the people killed and maimed by methyl isocyanate leaked from the Union Carbide factory in the heart of Bhopal three decades ago. In all these years, the poor victims have done everything they could to get justice and compensation. They have cried and died on streets, sat hungry and faced police lathis on roads and filed court cases in the hope that one day they will get justice.

Today, they were denied justice. Today, they were told that they should be happy with the peanuts thrown at them by Union Carbide. Today, India proved once again that it doesn’t care for its poor. Today, it was proved all over again that those who do politics in the name of poor in this country, always rule for the rich.

What justification does CBI have for not being able to produce Warren Anderson in court. The chairman of UC at the time of the gas attack (it was not an accident, the gas leak was caused because of cost-cutting steps taken by him) on the people of Bhopal, Anderson was arrested and later released on bail. He ran off to US in 1986 and we have not been able to find him or ask the US to extradite Anderson to India. Why? The government says it doesn’t know where Anderson is. What a lie. What a shame.

Last year, on a balmy July day, a bunch of victims danced on the streets after hearing news that the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal had ordered the CBI to arrest Anderson and produce him before the court without delay. The court also asked the CBI to explain what steps it had taken since 2002 to enforce the warrant and extradition of Anderson, who was declared an absconder in 1992. Though the CBI and US government failed to track Anderson, supporters of Bhopal victims traced him to the elite New York neighbourhood of the Hamptons. In 2003, Greenpeace activists paid Anderson a visit at his home and handed him an arrest warrant.

Today’s ridiculous judgment in Bhopal didn’t say anything on Anderson as he is a “proclaimed offender”. This status suits him fine because he doesn’t have to bother about coming to India and answer some very crucial questions:

*Why did Union Carbide not apply the same safety standards at its plant in India as it operated at a sister plant in West Virginia, US?

*On the night of the disaster, why did the six safety measures designed to prevent a gas leak fail to function?

*Why was the safety siren, intended to alert the people living close to the factory, turned off?

The victims have always alleged that Bhopal happened because of negligence by the Union Carbide and that was caused by cost-cutting measures taken by Anderson. Is it because of this reason that Anderson has been 'hiding' in the US?

A criminal has a reason to hide, but what reason does our government have to let a mass murderer like Anderson go scot-free. Is it because he is an American? Can an American come to India kill people in this country and run away with no consequences? That seems to be the case. We are still struggling to get a chance to question David Headley Coleman, an American citizen responsible for the worst terror attack on an Indian city in 2008. Will we succeed in getting Headley extradited to India? No way. Never.

Today, India proved that it doesn’t really care for its people, particularly if they have been slaughtered by powerful people from the most powerful nation in the world. Instead of taking on America and fighting for justice for its poor, India is more than happy to sell its dead cheap.

Rs 1 lakh for every body. Rs 25,000 for every blinded eye. This is the cost of poor life in a failed state.

==>Courtesy : Shobhan Saxena (Times Of India)

"Justice has been done"

2010-06-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

I could not, but shake my head in disbelief when the verdict for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy was announced. 8 convicts, each handed a 2-3 year imprisonment and also immediately given bail. This paltry leisure of a punishment for the crime of genocide! A mass murder of 15,000 (....an official figure, significantly lower than the actual number of deaths...) innocent civilians over a period of years because of the Methyl Iso-Cyanate that leaked from the Union Carbide factory. A judgement that was delivered 23 years too late! I have been swearing ever since I read the judgement and what made me livid was the statement by Magistrate Mohan Tiwari , "Surely justice has been done". No sir, it really and surely hasn't been done!

A certain Metallica lyric will make my thoughts extremely clear in the aftermath. Sarcasm, bitterness, anger and violence in perfect chaotic harmony. From their legendary album released in 1988 of the same name, it does reflect that things have not changed one bit.

...And Justice For All

Halls of Justice Painted Green
Money Talking
Power Wolves Beset Your Door
Hear Them Stalking
Soon You'll Please Their Appetite
They Devour
Hammer of Justice Crushes You
Overpower

The Ultimate in Vanity
Exploiting Their Supremacy
I Can't Believe the Things You Say
I Can't Believe
I Can't Believe the Price You Pay
Nothing Can Save You

Justice Is Lost
Justice Is Raped
Justice Is Gone
Pulling Your Strings
Justice Is Done
Seeking No Truth
Winning Is All
Find it So Grim
So True
So Real

Apathy Their Stepping Stone
So Unfeeling
Hidden Deep Animosity
So Deceiving
Through Your Eyes Their Light Burns
Hoping to Find
Inquisition Sinking You
With Prying Minds

The Ultimate in Vanity
Exploiting Their Supremacy
I Can't Believe the Things You Say
I Can't Believe
I Can't Believe the Price You Pay
Nothing Can Save You

Justice Is Lost
Justice Is Raped
Justice Is Gone
Pulling Your Strings
Justice Is Done
Seeking No Truth
Winning Is All
Find it So Grim
So True
So Real

Lady Justice Has Been Raped
Truth Assassin
Rolls of Red Tape Seal Your Lips
Now You're Done in
Their Money Tips Her Scales Again
Make Your Deal
Just What Is Truth? I Cannot Tell
Cannot Feel

The Ultimate in Vanity
Exploiting Their Supremacy
I Can't Believe the Things You Say
I Can't Believe
I Can't Believe the Price We Pay
Nothing Can Save Us

Justice Is Lost
Justice Is Raped
Justice Is Gone
Pulling Your Strings
Justice Is Done
Seeking No Truth
Winning Is All
Find it So Grim
So True
So Real
Seeking No Truth
Winning Is All
Find it So Grim
So True
So Real

P.S.: Fuck you Union Carbide, fuck you Warren Anderson, fuck you Rajiv Gandhi, fuck you Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari, fuck you Keshub Mahindra....may you fucking burn in hell!

The First Rain......

2010-05-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome, O winds from the South
carrying the moist essence of life

you have travelled long miles
to parch the miseries of the great land

you send cool winds, to signal
your coming, auspicious arrival

the breeze carries your message
to longing eyes, to parched throats

their eyes are fixed on the horizon
for the winged bearer of the confirmation

for when the day does finally arrive
and the leaves stand still in raptured obeisance

O Indra, you shall strike first
Accompanying the thunderous music

Send down your bolts as a curtain raiser
To the dance of new life

One drop, followed by many more
strike the grateful many standing below

where the scent of the mud, enlivens all
Goads them to cross their doorstep into the open

Make a grand entry, O Varuna, Jaldeva
Bring your powers to bear, to bless

Bhoomi, furnaced by the heat, is exalted
with erotic freshness and emanating scent

From the Ganga to the smallest rivulets
Thank for the replenishment, roar with new energy

Leaves and bark, covered with dust and brown
Set free, show their true hue again

Sprout life, tell a story of hope

same hope, which keeps them alive till you come around again, O great showers!

A proper song

2010-05-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Writing around a given topic is not what i am really good at. With me, stuff usually comes more with a flow, a certain mood, a certain frame of mind. This song, had been in the making for almost 10 months. Does not make for good reading, but trust me, a kick-ass riff and machine gun tempo and some nasty vocals would make it a good, hard , fast metal number. (Wish that would happen some time soon.....:|....)

Get drunk on the energy within
on the vials of adrenaline
Be one, go with the flow

Feel the shiver of your hand
Feet unsure on trembling sand
A chill run down your spine

Throat runs dry, hurts bad
troubles up front, no time to be sad
Grab it by the scruff of its neck

The blur vanishes into crystal clear
You know now, there is no place for fear
Charge up and lock horns yeah

Feel the energy in your veins
your muscles hurt, but there ain't no pain
Turbo heart unleashes itself

Sweat trickles down your brow
Skin glistens, vigour does grow
You are ready for more, much more

Addictive,every dose of it
Strength to get up after every hit
Get high
Unravel and fly
Antidote, don't stupefy
Adrenaline...........Energy...........

Keep on rocking in the free world...

2010-05-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

Somehow this song has managed to stick fast into the audio channels of my cerebellum and shows no signs of abating. The original composition is by Neil Young and is about US soldiers killed in Iraq. Heard this for the first time on Bon Jovis' One Wild Night 1985-2001 compilation. Loved it ever since. And right now its the G3-Denver 2005 jam version that i am big fan of. Great lyrics, cracking opening riff and good tempo...all the ingredients of a good song.

Keep on Rockin' in the free world.

(piece of paper with the lyrics penned by neil young himself....click for a larger image)

Death, The Leveller

2010-05-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

A poem from the childhood days, more relevant today, especially after the Kasab judgement was delivered.

Death the Leveller

THE glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

Some men with swords may reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill:
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still:
Early or late
They stoop to fate,
And must give up their murmuring breath
When they, pale captives, creep to death.

The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds!
Upon Death's purple altar now
See where the victor-victim bleeds.
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb:
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in their dust.

By James Shirley
1596-1666

Streaking across....

2010-05-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

Tired of staring at screens
i walk out for a breathe
and then i see a shooting star.

In the insomnia and the haggles
hitting violently on my mental being
I see a shooting star.

When the neon sign far off
flicker peacefully into the night
I see a shooting star.

In the stillness of the street below
and the meandering whispers of the wind
I see a shooting star.

Amidst the whirring of fans
and the silence of sleep
I see a shooting star.

Watching the lone worker go home
under the watchful eye of the moon
I see a shooting star.

Trying to swim through the tide of thoughts

when all i want to do is rest on the ocean floors

One last look before i take the plunge

And I see a shooting star.

Clicking away in Kolhapur....

2010-05-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Massacred......

2010-04-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

Deep in the forests of Dantewada
tired they slept in their camp
dark cover of the night above their heads
With their sweat, their uniforms damp

Amongst high hill top villages
and enveloping giant trees
Unaware of the incoming swarm
still sleeping with ill ease

Dark shadows they approached
together from all directions
Forming a perimeter around the camp
Looking for any protections

Sentries they could not find any
Oil lamps burning to keep it visible
The dark forms take positions
they lose little trouble

Silence before the storm
is torn apart from blind gunfire
the CRPF men wake up to their death
and take the enemy's full ire

tracers flying right and left
tents growing bullet mark
the soldiers fumble for their guns
and ammunition in the dark

The Naxals descend to the camp
swoop down for the kill
The soldiers fumble their aim
Orders come "Fire at will!"

One by one, the bullets are spent
empty magazines hit the ground
the horror begins to dawn on the greens
it shatters their armor without a sound

Friends and colleagues
dropping dead left and right
Fires lighting up the background
Naxals filling up the sight

last bullets fired
Guns are useless chunks of metal
naxals take no prisoners
for bloody death the troops have to settle

Two survived to tell the tale
To recount stories with horror
The sights of April the 8th
Burned into their memories forever

Master of Puppets - Remastered!

2010-04-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

Just read somewhere that Kerrang! magazine had released a cover of Master of Puppets - the legendary Metallica album. Well, personally, i do not like Kerrang (i liken them to suckers and sell-outs), but this cover album is one good thing they did. There are great bands like Mastodon, Trivium and Chimaira on the bill playing some of the most timeless songs from this masterpiece-of-an-album.

Well, since i am the biggest Metallica fan out here (no questions asked), i had to listen to this. But i searched high and low and could not find it for free. Now, these albums are not available in any music store for me to go out and buy and they are too expensive to buy online. So, even if Kerrang! wants to sue my ass, they can go ahead. I am posting the links to the site from where you other free filthy downloaders can get it for free. At least i can not afford paying $14.95 for an album. Here are the links :

Master of Puppets - Remastered part 1

Master of Puppets - Remastered part 2

Take it from me, these cover versions sound amazing!

Journeying with the Queen

2010-04-20T08:12:00.001-07:00

Took a better part of at least 12 trips in the legendary Deccan Queen to come up with this one. Have Nitin Mule to thank for providing the inspiration.

Whistling and humming

I reached CST station

For Pune was my destination

and the Deccan QUeen was my ride

Reached the Old Ladys' House

And lost myself in a sea

Of hands and legs and eyes

And minds in haste

Trying to get onto the moving rakes

To catch the window seat

A respite, if so great, it is

From the raging April heat

I gather myself

i musn't be late

The Queen stands ready

On platform number 8

Walking rapidly

Through the metal detectors

Invalid standing sentries

Incapable protectors

Addling through a cloud

of suspicious eyes

Of armed uniformed men

26/11, they remember the cries

past the guns and batons

Along i scurry

Towards coach D4

Seat 8+70

Delight O' delights

'Tis a window seat

Alas right next to the sewer

The stench no perfume could beat

Oh how i wish the whistle would sound

the sweat trickling down steadily

With fellow passengers climbing in

Book seller,chocolate salesman, all joining the melee

The hustle and bustle

rose and rose the din

Till the clock spake 5:10 and the whistle sang

With a jolt, we began, leavig the station behind

gaining momentum With every passing second

Past stations and people, all in a blur

Amidst the din of the rail track

All else did sound like a slur

With music in my ears

and wind in my hair

haughtily, i eyed the onlookers

Loser, i said, without much care

A few moments past

My big tummy did grumble

"Its time to fill me up"

It said in an unheard rumble

make beeline for the pantry car

Toast and cutlet and tea

The smell beckoned, i helped myself

Oh, i might have shouted in glee

Almost greedily i devoured

To my stomachs fill

Sauntered back, lurching left and right

Trying hard to stay still

Occupying my seat again

i gave a burp of joy

What more can a man ask for

Unrepentant,even if i were to die?

Reached for the WOdehouse book

Straight to page 25

Jeeves and Bertie Woosterare a delight

Into the story i dive

Word by word, page by page

the plot unravels

Through townships and farm lands

The Queen, with Godspeed, travels

Lulled into a doze,

i Dont even know when

Woke with start, but only for a while

Karjat came and as quickly by it went

Loped the Queen through the meadows

past the traffic at the intersections

Ascending swiftly through the meters

Towards Lonavla station

We slowed down on Monkey hill

My eyes did spring open

to the wonderful sight and hues,

Red and orange, from the setting sun

The small villages down in the valley

Tunnels and ravines, all came

Carving out a memory

In many an unforgettable frame

For only some time

Was the train silent

half the passengers enjoying the sight

The others slept with heads bent

At 622 meters

The companion locomotives bid adieu

Night was descending

and bystanders were few

Fell back into my dreams

Snored through rest of the way

Waking with a frown and slight dismay

When somebody said

"Pune station aalay!"