Fairytales- Cranial Mineral Depletion

The room swims in and out of focus. Influences/ stimulii have not come in any form. All it took was wood pulp printed double side in all its glory to deal a severe blow- post traumatic stress coupled with acute withdrawal sydrome have ensured that one now attempts to sheepishly grin at jokes cracked by anchors on TV news channels. Life doesn't get better than this. Maybe it does. Maybe not. One is unsure of how to put it.

Now boasting of visible traces of facial exoskeletal growth, the nagging feeling of growing up seeped away late this afternoon after a comprehensive pounding in the entangled world of telecommunications (Definition of AM: When we modulate amplitude, it is called AM). With such churlish attempts to pass time failing miserably, one's mind drifted to a fairytale world of adventure, intrigue and magic- of drama, hot babes and land deals gone bust. It didn't take a train trip, it didn't take a dream, all it needed was some good old timing diagrams and the transition was complete.

This world consists in all (for the sake of narration, of course) three hundred seventy two and a half characters, not all similar taken in random order and then sorted into groups according to instantaneous hormonal changes (as measured on the Playboy graph- standard scaling applies). Constant parallels can be found to characters based in other similar creative (Bah!) attempts (exclamation not to be mistaken with BAJ) like a computer game called Hercules, a stack of paper called the LOTR trilogy, a .pdf known simply as Arthur Dent and a talking great dane.(One wishes to thank all these sources but that would make it obvious beyond doubt that one really has very little to work with, so lets just skip this last bracketed comment/hint at life)

The Promising Saga That Hasn't Even Taken Off Yet (Volume I- draft)

As the yellowing patches of the ceiling had finally begun to peel, I felt the time had come. Cowardice is for those who could not see face to face with the truth. Ah, the joy that bullshit you don't mean brings with it. Nothing had changed in over three years- the same complaints, followed by resignation to the fate of things. Fate. That was a dangerous word. It had often awoken rash impulses. Such impulses will need to be curbed, I thought. The perils that disorganised living brought with it were many, but none as frustrating at the time as the inability to scheme. A deeper burning conscience(conscience was it?) would not allow anything beyond the first stage. The bigger picture was clear. Tomorrow was an important day. Keep it simple. Keep it straight. Breathtakingly simple was the new ingenious. Ingenious had left with the white haired guy people kept talking about.

Roughly seven hundred and odd feet away, a street dog roamed the alley with happy contempt. Yeh apna ilaqa hai. Sniffing away at the disgraced garbage bin had yielded nothing tonight. Even by its standards. Greener pastures must be found. The dog quickly corrected itself. I need some [expletive] meat. What went unnoticed by our four legged hero was the fact that the alley was not purely his. Fate (yup, here also) had better plans for the claustrophobic walls. Their caving in approximately an hour later would also lead to some interesting revelations.

~One would like to leave it here for the time being- victory is still not one's completely. With lower level coding and hurried scribbling still on the cards for a few days, it would be best not to leave such things purely to fate. More when the saga continues~

Paadva PahaaT

This morning, one got the opportunity to attend a Indian Classical Music Concert "chaitr paalavii navii" that featured four of the stalwarts in this field. The mehaphil was held together by Pt. Shivkumar Sharma (Santoor), his son Rahul Sharma (Santoor), Pt. Anindo Chatterji (Tabla) and Pt. Bhavani Shankar (Pakhwaj). In many ways, this was a very significant and special concert. One had the good fortune of listening to Pt. Shivji's brand of Santoor mastery once again (the first occasion being Sawai Gandharva '06). It was also the first time one saw father-son together in concert. Talking of father-son acts, one would finally get to listen to Pt. Chatterji, after the Pune crowds as well as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan sang praises of his teenage son's command over the tabla- this was Sawai '06 again. Finally, Pt. Bhavani Shankar on the pakhwaj- an instrument that had intrigued one quite often- it made its presence felt in a very subtle kind of way.

Unlike most Classical Music Concerts (at least in the North), this was an early morning (read as 6:00 am) affair. Who is gonna leave their beds on Padwa morning to attend a Santoor double whammy- seating will be a breeze. But not to be deterred by such trivialities, Pune crowds once again thronged to the venue and one was greeted by a line of five hundred odd folks- most awake- but only just. It would take the best of another hour for things to get under way. It was worth the wait.

The maestro (=Pt. SS) appraised the audience of the first of the morning's renditions-
राग बसंत मुखारी essentially a morning raga. The two santoors would emulate the Dhrupad style. It is on such occasions when one can truly appreciate how close instrumental can get to the vocal form- one was reminded of a performance on similar lines (Sawai '07-The Gundhecha Brothers "shiv shiv shiv...."). The pakhwaj took centrestage as the ustads interwove the raag through Roopak Taal. The combination, it radiated power, but softly. The surprising thing about the rendition was how well the pakhwaj could really carry through a piece- one had often felt it would prove too frail or subdued. The tabla eventually joined in as the real mood was set.

यह विदेशी आर्टिस्ट, इनका मानना है की हिन्दुस्तानी संगीत बहुत ही धीमे चलता है, इसमे कोई excitement की भावना नही है..... ऐसी बात नही है। हम चाहे तोह इस प्रकार से सुर सजा सकते हैं, पर असली मजा धीरे धीरे उस राग को बंदिश मे सजाने मे होता है..... भैरवी राग मे... दादरा बजायेंगे ..धृत गति तीन ताल मे अनिन्दो जी इसका समापन करेंगे।

What Pt. SS basically meant when he said this the audience would fathom around half an hour later as the maestros inched closer towards the crescendo- one's favorite part of the piece being played. It is at this pinnacle that every bit of music is flowing outward from the instrument and one can continuously ogle and cheer as previously unknown sentiments arise purely from the draw for that music, from the haunt of that music.

All in all, just a great way to spend a Sunday morning (that would otherwise involve slug like behaviour); for the first time in the last couple of weeks, one felt all those late hours spent completing (mundane copying) finally served their purpose.