The end of Part 1

Last weekend marked the end of a challenging yet interesting 6 months in the US. My first 6 months. Part nomadic. Part bundling against the cold. A lot on the road. A bit spent reading NYtimes at work. Forming friendships across races, colors and tounges. Shovelling snow. Cooking and eating lots of potatoes and getting a little career planning out of the way. All togethor a good six months.

Moved to my new hometown - Waltham/Boston. A nice apartment with a gud internet conn. a river by the side, and indy movie theatre right opposite to it. Something tells me I will like this place a lot more than PA. Touching wood!!

FILTH!!

It was during one of my brain-trawling sessions that something strange struck me, make that two. I am suffering from, for lack of a better phrase,information overload. And two, I am married to my laptop. After 4 years of "working" and not really much reading, I tried getting back on the habit. I did get myself a few books in all earnesty, among them "The argumentative Indian". An unbiased, lucidly written , highly thought-provoking collection of essays. I read them with rapt concentration, only to wake up the next morning to realise that I couldn't recall much of what I read. Instead, what came to my mind was Britney being rushed to the hospital and Saif and Kareena's "Nikkah"...I know...WTF??

I begin my morning routine and settle down at work with the US, UK and Indian editions of google news. And every edition screams at me with news designed to capture eyeballs, literally. I was happy with the sports and the front page in "The Hindu" and the occasional filmfare featuring Vidya Balan and off late Ms. Padukone and now I can't seem to find what I want anywhere. It is as though every snippet has tentacles, that go deep into your eyes. And the fittest survive. I can only scream in helplesness - FILTH!!!!

There is so much filth around these days. Now, don't jump the gun yet. I am not a member of the moral brigade and I do enjoy titillation when done correctly. But that is besides the point. Filth is all the information out there that I do not need and yet information that is being shoved down my throat. Surely, the human brain obeys the laws of physics and to top that,it doesnt have Moore's law in its favour. Result - rejection. It plainly quits and I am thinking that is what is happening to me.

I forced myself offline for extended periods of the day, reading up on things that really matter. Tried starting off with a fresh clean slate and Mark Twain. The ever reliable Calvin and Hobbes. All to no avail. And then I stumbled upon Einstein and his thoughts on creative expression. Creative expression that has the power to cleanse one's soul and free the mind.

And here on, I am laying bare all the filth in my mind, on this blog for the few of you to see. In the fervent hope, that I cleanse my mind and free up some RAM inside my head - Space that is reserved for my imagination.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge... knowledge is limited, but imagination encircles the world. To see with one's own eyes, to feel and judge without succumbing to the suggestive power of the fashion of the day, to be able to express what one has seen and felt in a trim sentence or even in a cunningly wrought word... is that not glorious? When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come close to the conclusion that the gift of imagination has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing absolute knowledge.” --Albert Einstein

P.S - I am no Einstein and I harbor no ideas of becoming one. I am too busy right now and will not be able to handle the extra attention. But anyways thanks for the suggestion.

Soul Music - Part 2

Post-Lunch sessions are generally reserved for Kishore/Mukesh or sometimes Rafi. But that day felt lazier than usual, so I just put shuffle on and let it roll. A few unremarkable tracks later, it was still neither here nor there. Work was not getting done. Not surprisingly aye?. More importantly, I was nowhere near drooling. And then providence struck - "Paattu paadi urakkam njan, thamara poo paithale" - I am sure every mallu worth his salt has this song ingrained in his/her psyche somewhere. This is one song that holds a special place on my playlists. A Tharattu (lullaby) that my mom used to telling effect. A gem of a song that has been passed on down the family tree. Needless to say, it still retains its potency.
"Happy-place " here I come.

It was almost 3.30 and I was almost napping, just like the good old days...I felt like a little kid again. Rushing back from school to watch Malgudi days on DD - going "Taannanna thanna nna nna hoy" and then taking a short nap before going off to play again. And memories of DD brought back memories of "Mile sure mera thumhara", the unofficial anthem of India for over a decade before Rahman's Vande mataram replaced it.

Set to the tune of Chinna Chinna asai, the huge red sun slowly rising on the screen over a wet beautiful country, is the imagery that has always defined rehman for me. He went electronic when everyone was into harmoniums and huge orchestras. And when imitators followed, he embraced world music, reinvented himself again with hindustani and carnatic strains and did it many times over this past decade. Isn't he a genius, this little guy? Copying tunes? I frankly don't care.

Refreshed by that dash down memory lane, I went about creating a quick list of 5 or 6 of my favourite rehman hits on the ipod. Boy Was that tough - ennavale??? - nah...Vellai pookal - definitely...narumugaiye - maybe...Petta rap - WTF??...Malarodu - hmmm yeah I guess...Dil se - 50:50....Yeh jo des hai - Bingo!....des mere des mere - too much patriotism..O paalan haare - hmmm....Look in Tamil songs you fool...Mettupodu?? - yup, bring it on...dhim thannana - WOW!
pachchai nirame -yeah....new york nagaram??? - I give up...I am better off with shuffle....Especially after the pod has started growing a brain.

My Ipod has sort of become my soulmate (pitiful. I know it is) these days. When it is on shuffle, it kind of senses my mood and selects the song. I am sure Apple has gotten an advanced AI engine in there that can uncannily sense human emotions, I am not scared of that. But I am scared of that day in office when it is gonna play - Roobaroo when I am asleep and I am gonna loose my sense of time and place and start crying out loud - "AYE SALA"..:-)

And an internal timer jolts me, as it was well past my tea-time. I make a mental note - Be more disciplined and stick to your daily routine better. As I waited while the wending machine brewed me some "Tea", I was thinking about my non-existent plans for the night. Forced offline due to a non-existent net connection, my pathetic evening routine of ORKUT - Facebook - Rediff- google news - Gtalk has been eliminated. I make yet another note - fiddle with your Ipod, it might help you sleep better...And hope for another dreamy day tomorrow..

P.S - The concept of a playlist based on your mood is already doing the rounds people. check out http:\\www.musicovery.com. You can thank "Kit" for this piece of info. Keep dreaming.