Minding my business

In recent news, Trump was suddenly enamored by the economic metaphor ‘Priming the pump’ so much so that he claimed that he invented the phrase. Meanwhile I try to mind my own business and not think about the craziness of the whole situation.

Yet on my way to work, I find myself reflecting on the phrase ‘Minding my business’ in a new light. I see the words ‘mind’ and ‘business’ with an angelic halo and the subtext saying ‘my mind, my business.’ I take this as a passive-aggressive way for my sub-conscious to question the affairs of my mind.

Recently I was on a binge overdrive consuming non-stop Dexter seasons only interrupted by late night comedy shows skewering Trump. Binge watching is essentially mental hibernation for me, complete thoughtless state with no priorities and no guilt. Top that with the incredulousness of news from Trumpland and your mind will scream for detox as well.

I have pulled many movie/ TV marathons, vegetating in front of the screen and wasting a good many hours of my life. Dexter (till season 4) is perhaps better than some of the other stuff I have consumed like a junkie, but this time around it feels like ‘I am too old for this s***.'

Oh the joy of finding the perfect phrase/metaphor/meme to express my thoughts!- Thank you Mr. Murtaugh, of course I didn’t invent it :)

Storytelling- celebration of different forms!

What happens when you go to sleep watching the show ‘The Get Down’ on Netflix and wake up to listen to Mukesh’s Ramayana while doing your 30minute Yoga and exercise set? You begin to see the parallels between the two. At the completely bare bone level, stripped of all externalities of technique and divorced from the emotional, the form of both Hip-hop and Ramayana shares an uncanny resemblance-the story being told.... The story, the subject that moves you could be personal or mythological but the angst, emotion or the ‘bhakti’ is real.
I know I am underselling the rhythm/musical component of hip-hop to make my case but for me it is the spoken word, the story that makes a great hip-hop song. I bet Grandmaster Flash will also agree with me, you need the wordsmith before you get to the ‘Get down’..

Next I was in the theatre watching ‘Kubo and the two string’, I guess the movie had already won me over when I saw the trailer-the shamisen rendition of ‘while my guitar gently weeps’ literally cutting through the big ocean wave under the ominous sky. The movie is more about the form, execution and technique that keeps you spellbound but slightly lighter on character development and genuine humor..
However I found sufficient to cheer in the movie-the Japanese folklore elements have been skillfully incorporated and the execution seems sincere. There was magic in the story but no special concocted super powers, and the hero didn’t slay his nemesis but rather brings him back to humanity. These elements of the movie were quite refreshing for me since they eschewed the common themes currently being spawned by major film studios.

Moving on let’s talk about books, since we are talking about story telling. Over the last few years, I have found a reliable genre of books that naturally holds my attention-‘the Mountain books’. I picked up my first copy from the legendary Narain book store in Nainital-The Nanda Devi Affair by Bill Aitken. While travelling I prefer to get a book that can effectively block out the passage of time-the interminable wait at the railway station and the airport, and this book just did the trick for me. It is either the lofty inner desire to go on one such trek or the guilt of not exploring my own backyard (Uttarakhand) that always attracts me to these books.
Next I picked up ‘Into thin air’ by Jon Krakauer. Without indulging into the controversy regarding the accurate portrayal of individual characters of the book, I felt I was deeply invested in the book because it presented a vivid physical and challenging view of the snowy mountains and an incisive understanding of psychological motivations of different people attempting to conquer the highest peak.
I am looking forward to starting another mountain yarn tonight-‘Becoming a Mountain’-by Stephen Alter..

In between there was Stranger Things on Netflix and enough Donald Trump stories to keep you entertained and shocked in equal measure! 

This August has been rich.. :)

Barfi Inspired

Abhi rookna nahi hai manzoor dil ko kya keeje..

raas na aaye dimag ke sujhav dil ko..kya keeje..

karte hai hum har baat kabool dil ki kya keeje..

shayad isliye yeh raah baaki hai..

shayad isliye yeh intezaar baaki hai..


Mausam badla hai dil ki basti mein kya keeje,
jaante hain kyun par keh na paayein wajah kya keeje,
dil, dil hamesha se hi tha masoom kya keeje,
aaj samjhe hai dhadhkan kahan gayi hai gum
shayad isiliye yeh ikraar baaki hai...
shayad isiliye yeh intezaar baaki hai...

Epilogue: Thank you Shivani for writing the second stanza of the poem :)  Loved the song from Barfi so much, that had it running in loop through the day, and the song inspired the first stanza. And the poem will be incomplete without the following dedications :)

sache aur ache dost dil ki baat samjhte hai.. aur shabdo ke jaadugar hote hai..

sache aur ache dost dil ki baat samjhte hai.. aur tasveer main badal dete hai. 

sache aur ache dost dil ki baat samjhte hai.. aur ache gaane sabse pehle share karte hai..
sache aur ache dost blog padh ke dil ki baat samjh jate  hai..
sache aur ache dost bus aise hi hote hai kya keeje..

photo credit : sr

poem co-credit: ss

song introduction:vs

Who is the prop?

 The Nari or the Nariyal?- Kannada conundrum

 No comment! Chennai super Macha..,

"Beta tumhaare daant to 'moti' jaise chamak rahe hai.."

This is one is from my neighborhood in Hyd.

The North Indian edition will come out soon, hamare cameraman ab wahan pahuch chuke hai..
creative inputs srk!

Sum total

With the entire summer to my disposal,
I sat down to do some 'sum total',
Its always good to revise
the little maths you remember to appear wise


I stared at the anomaly that is me
and the anomaly that is you
in the light and 'shades of ray'
And it was clear this math is going to take a while
even without the friendly distractions and the tea breaks..
So with a deep breath I begin the task in hand
And took a sojourn into the years passed behind..


Its a rookie mistake to start at a zero
we start at a coincidental score..
the place, the country, the religion, the color 
the parents, the family 
an inheritance, an identity, a baggage
choose your word carefully my friend
because
it will always add up to who you are..


I like not the above grim math,
so a cheerful childhood reminiscence, should serve me right
every little game that kept you on your toes,
every little joy that gave twinkle to your eyes
every little fight that made you mad,
every little story that lulled you into sleep,
the rhymes, the festivities, the surprise tests,
the road to your home,
the stationers shop, the ice cream parlor
the friendly neighbor, the jealous aunt
each one added a piece to who you are.


The people you love and the ones you fight,
The friends you make and the ones you alienate
The movies you love and the ones you hate.
The songs that run in loops day in and out..
The person you are in the spotlight
and the one you turn into in the darkest hour


I like not the fuzzy math,
so a count of material riches, should quantify things right
the number of fancy dresses in your closet,
the number of new cellphones you've lost
the number of hardbound books,
the number of original CD's & DVD's
and yes the pirated ones as well
the cities you have seen,
the languages and foods you know
all speak of the person you are..


Can someone really do the math?
We trust not any person who nods in affirmation..
There's always more that what meets the eye
yet still, we hope for someone to get this math right..
to know and understand us,
when we cry and when we laugh..


But then all life promises is to somehow balance out in the end
and the sum total will be known only when it is truly the end..

Eloquent subtlety

Two year later, He walks past a bookstore advertising a new release with huge posters of the author's face. The book, billed as a novel, is called Sonata for a Good Man. He walked in because he had known the author.
Two years before he had heard the author play the sheet music and wonder "Can anyone who has heard this music, I mean truly heard it, really be a bad person?" He wept because he didn't belong to the wrong side.
Ah! life has its own ways to change people's belief..fate makes the author lose faith in his belief one day.
But then life has its own way to restore them back again..
He goes inside, opens a copy, and reads the dedication,
At the checkout counter the clerk asks whether he should gift-wrap the book, and He replies, "no, it's for me."- The Lives of Others.

"Looking towards the open window, I saw the wreaths from Joe's pipe floating there and I fancied it was like a blessing from Joe- not obtruded on me or paraded before me, but pervading the air we shared together. I put my light out, and crept into bed; and it was an uneasy bed now, and I never slept the old sound sleep in it any more"- Great Expectation

Somehow both portray the same emotion. Although not quite the same, one realization puts you at rest and the other makes you lose sleep. However the realizations dawn without the cumbersome exchange of words. Its the subtlety of the expression that makes the realization so powerful. Its the receptivity of the recipient which makes the realization so powerful.
Its the sheer beauty of such moments, which puts a smile on your face. Sometimes it happens to you in person and sometimes you just relate to it while watching a movie or reading it in a novel. I am not sure if reading this blog conveys that sentiment eloquently so either watch the movie or read the novel!