Musical touch

My life keeps getting a musical touch every once in a while and I'm not talking songs. I had a childhood dream of learning tabla, violin... the works! Of course, I learned nothing of that. I went through a month of guitar, having bought one some ten years back. Some friends learned on it more than I did. Its catching dust lying in the village, still looking new.

I still keep thinking of learning guitar and tabla. A few months back, however, a new instrument took over me: the bansuri. It seemed to be a supremely soothing getaway from the blues. I did some run around with a friend who wanted to fetch a flute and we had a kid in the neighborhood who played pretty good. We even went to a local concert... hmm, now to think of it, I went to a Diwali concert of Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia too some years back nearby there! The local concert was short, but it was almost as good as Panditji. Anyway, I'm bring this note into the blog, only to say that I might embed some music, video and more of such into this going-everywhere-yet-nowhere blog of mine! :)

Indian Ocean

Sometime back in 1999-2000, one evening, I was playing billiards or snooker at my the-then office. Manas had left some song playing on his PC and I just went out in search of it at the first touch of soul-stirring music... okay, enough exaggerated stories, you may say! :)

It turned out that the unbelievable combination of classical Indian music and western rock playing was of Kandisa, an album from a band called Indian Ocean. I was introduced to the group as: they don't believe in making videos. Ah, I thought, here's something!

It seemed that their earlier album was a recording off some live show that was low quality (obviously) and not easily available. It turned out to be the first live album released by an Indian band, although a record company had to be formed after many a refusal. However, Kandisa was a studio-recorded release of a perfect fusion of tabla and guitar that I'd ever heard. Apart from the instrumental presence that outdoes the vocals temporally, even the mix of Sanskrit, Indian folk, Aramaic, yodeling, etc, strike you. I continued listening to the album in loops for a long time thereafter, voicing out that Indian Ocean is the best band ever formed in India.

Just as great bands are, Indian Ocean too have had their failure and success stories, with the struggle starting with Susmit selling his electric guitar to raise money for a demo recording. Later on, Indian Ocean went on to release Jhini, IndianOcean and music for the movie Black Friday, apart from numerous shows across the world.

Watching the wheels

Since a few days, maybe weeks or months, even years, perhaps, I was thinking of writing a post on what my state of mind is. But somehow I just didn't feel like writing anything. Then, out of nowhere, a song came to mind: John Lennon's Watching the Wheels. I'd to search the lyrics to know why it came to my mind. Surprisingly, its *exactly* what I want to say:

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing
Well, they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin
When I say that I'm o.k. well they look at me kind of strange
Surely you're not happy now... you no longer play the game

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice, designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy? You're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

Ah, people asking questions lost in confusion
Well I tell them there's no problem, only solutions
Well they shake their heads and they look at me as if I've lost my mind
I tell them there's no hurry
I'm just sitting here doing time

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go
I just had to let it go

For the love of Floyd

I've been meaning to write this entry since the news of Syd's death. Later, a sweet friend, Monaa (nickname), brought back memories of Floyd when she mentioned Inside Out. Says their website about Syd Barrett:

The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of his death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire.

There are a lot many songs that have been dedicated to Syd by Floyd, including some just not known as they remain hidden in songs or whispered between stanzas. I just have to say one of those are these words that drive me crazy: "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon". There's something about insane psychedelics that interest me as a core subject. It just makes me wonder what Syd must've been like from their songs. There are very few bands that have such united feeling about a member, more so after they've had their own individual performances, not to mention fans. An impression thats left by a person is *felt* in their songs. That feeling, aka experience, can be guessed from what I stumbled upon few minutes back: there are/were two groups that call themselves The Pink Floyd Experience, one in Canada and the other in New Zealand, apart from over a dozen tribute bands!

I'd also like to mention that Floyd's inspired me so much that playing at least one of their guitar sequences made it as my lifelong dream (hah, hardly likely!) There have been depression times when Floyd's Coming Back to Life has been a material influence in pulling me out and taking me to heights of ecstasy. Sriram and I had avoided the next-door event at Bangalore, Roger Waters-In the flesh, back in 2002, thinking that there's no Pink Floyd without Gilmour. It sounded good in principle, of course, but we do regret it. Not only that, Roger's up live again in Bombay, almost 5 yrs thence, in a week's time; I can't go without my good ol' buddy and so I'll just use this as a reason and say, missing ya: Wish you were here!

Finally, I love Floyd, and there are no second thoughts about it!

Switching moods, am I?

I'm tired of talking, trying to justify all sorts of things using all sorts of nonsense to all sorts of people. I give up. More than one friend has suggested in this week: "These things are best left undisclosed". I think my publicizing worked against me; I should've known better than risking less. I should have risked nothing or everything. There are no calculated risks in life... an engineer knows how calculations never tally in practice... moreover, in the end, one surely makes losses!

My current mood is expressed best by one of U2's song:

I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name

I want to feel sunlight on my face
I see the dust cloud disappear
Without a trace
I want to take shelter from the poison rain
Where the streets have no name

Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name

Sad cafe

Today, I was listening to the following songs:

Still loving you -Scorpions
The sad cafe -Eagles
Winds of change -Scorpions
The girl from yesterday -Eagles
You & I -Scorpions
Best of my love -Eagles
She's always a woman -Billy Joel
Love will keep us alive -Eagles
Lying eyes -Eagles
Peaceful easy feeling -Eagles
Everybody hurts -R.E.M.

Some theme, eh? :)

Hats off to Eagles. .. what a song: The sad cafe!

Oh, it seemed like a holy place,
Protected by amazing grace
And we would sing right out loud,
the things we could not say
We thought we could change this world
With words like "love" and "freedom"
We were part of the lonely crowd
Inside the sad cafe
...
Some of their dreams came true,
Some just passed away
And some of them stayed behind
Inside the sad cafe.
...
The clouds rolled in and hid that shore
Now that glory train, it don’t stop here no more
Now I look at the years gone by,
And wonder at the powers that be.
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some
And let’s the rest go free
...
Maybe the time has drawn the faces I recall
But things in this life change very slowly,
If they ever change at all
There’s no use in asking why,
It just turned out that way

Geet Ramayan

I'm in love with Geet Ramayan sung by Sudhir Phadke in his mesmerizing, melodious voice thats written by Gadima as a bouquet of 56 songs. I haven't heard anything even close to this. Sudhir Phadke's singing is unmatched and it is, undoubtedly, as if he has taken the avataar of the person he is singing for! The crying songs melt your heart, while the songs that spit fire awaken anger the very same way. You feel as if you're witnessing the real Ramayan happening right in front of you! Its as if Saraswati Herself manifested in Gadima's pen and sang through Phadkeji.

This piece of work can't be compared with any other work on Ramayan and will always stand out. I'm sure that if Valmiki himself were to listen to this, he would have praised it too. This kind of work is rare even given a lifetime and I dare say, never again: na bhuto na bhavishyati! Both Gadima and Phadkeji were blessed people to have achieved this feat; may their souls rest in peace for having left behind a treasure that is priceless.

Shri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram

A musical Tuesday!

All this while today, I spent time listening to songs. I've been meaning to do this since a few weeks, thats from the time we went for the Sting show! Later, I'd heard that Eagles would be performing sometime in June. I'm looking forward to that day, even now.

What I've done today is playing out a mix of Sting, Eagles, Scorpions, Billy Joel & REM. While Sting is one of the best story tellers, Eagles are no less when you get to know The Girl From Yesterday, The Sad Cafe, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Lying Eyes and such. People who've heard Wind of Change, Still Loving You and You & I would say similar things about Scorpions. Billy Joel's She's Always a Woman and REM's Everybody Hurts make interesting stories too. Of course, there are other songs that make up good listening (and reading, for the lyrics), but these are the ones off the top of my head right now.

If anyone has any doubts about Sting as a songwriter, I would suggest reading lyrics of Russians, at least.

Losing Money

They knocked off the tax-saving scheme out here. We'll be shelling out lotsa money as tax from our pockets. I always believed in paying tax, albeit it goes into politicians' pockets. Most of the collected tax is not put to right use but I used to pay tax, now its just multifold.

If the govt doesn't know how to utilize collected taxes, they should allow people to decide whats good for them. We see flyovers flying all over, even if not needed, each taking an era to build and sucking up huge money; potholes that are manholes, factually, and ones which have been there since eternity; no drinking water for many cities & villages; promises unkept, always, blah blah blah. God knows when the area-wise tax utilization will be effective.

Below are some of the snippets from some of the songs that I recall. (In my defense, beforehand, I do not like Prince, but this is one song that was somewhat close to find mention)

Pink Floyd
Money, it’s a crime.
Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re
Giving none away.

Dire Straits
Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the mtv
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free

Prince
Money don't matter tonight
It sure didn't matter yesterday
Just when you think you've got more than enough
That's when it all up and flies away
That's when you find out that you're better off
Makin' sure your soul's alright
'cause money didn't matter yesterday,
And it sure don't matter tonight

I guess that this phase is one where I can remember the taste of money: when money talks, morals walk! Time always meant money to me, and the vice-versa also being true... losing money, I've lost time too.