Brilliant T-shirt

A snap that I took at a recent concert.

 

‘Rock Ethos’

Finally we have one!!! A concert where Indian Rock Bands get together and play ONLY originals!!!

Finally,

The ‘Indian Rock Band’ even today is worse than a prostitute. Given a regular audience, it HAS to play the played and overplayed stuff, whether the band likes it or not. There are people who scream ‘CAN YOU PLAY KAJRAREEE’ as soon as the band hits the stage. Nothing more demotivating than that.

Oh well, you can aruge all that you want. The band needs to play FOR the audience, how can the band play only what it wants to. It is an endless debate.

But now all that matters is that ‘Rock Ethos’ is here!!

I think I’ll have to go alone. It IS a concert for a niche audience; not easy to get company. Day long concert, so I will take a book and my camera along.

Long Live Indian Rock!

 

Dany, Kathavaseshan, T.V. Chandran and CHAVARO.

Thanks to Jithesh, I saw two movies of T.V. Chandran’s recently - ’Dany’ and ‘Kathavaseshan’. Both of us love those movies and frequently discuss them. Jithesh seems hell bent on convincing people that ‘Dany’ is a better movie. I don’t know which is better or even if it is fair comparing the two. Nevertheless both of us agree that we are talking about two truly great Malayalam movies.

What inspired me to write this article is a funny discovery that we made yesterday. We were watching a part of ‘Kathavaseshan’ since we had felt like listening to the lovely song ‘Kannum nattu’. The scene after the song shows Jyothirmayi and her friend walking into some sort of a ’suicide cause investigation’ office. As they walk, the camera moves to the walls of the office where pictures of Kurt Cobain etc are displayed.

After showing the pictures of 2-3 others, the shot remains still at a photo with the name ‘Chavaro’. It shows the head of a man who died by hanging himself. I had never noticed this man when I watched the movie before. But this time, I jumped up saying ‘CHAVARO!!!!! EDA.. CHAVARO!!!!!’. For a couple of seconds, Jithesh had no clue why I was getting excited. After that, even he joined ‘AAAH. DANYle CHAVARO!!!! EDAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!’ Well, the point is that ‘Chavaro’ is a character in ‘Dany’. In the movie, Chavaro commits suicide and the narrator speculates on  why he did so. To add to our excitement, the ‘Chief Suicide Investigator’ or whatever the head of the ’suicide cause investigation’ is called appears in the scene and that turned out to be the same man who played ‘Chavaro’ in ‘Dany’.

Jithesh said there are references about ‘Susanna’, another film by the same director, in ‘Dany’. We wound up by talking about how Alfred Hitchcock appears in his movies.

T.V. Chandran neenaal vazhatte!!

 

Gujarati Thali

I had gone to Guajarat for 4 days on a pleasure trip. The biggest takeaway was the ‘Gujarati Thali’. As soon as I returned, I wrote to my friends about it.

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Gujarati Thali – WOW!!!!!!  I mean. It is FABULOUS ya!!! NOTHING like it!! Here is how it is. When you walk into a Gujju restaurant for lunch/dinner, on your table there would be by default a plate (bronze/steel) laid with 7 small tumblers in it. Two spoons too. Gujjus have the habit of eating snacks throughout the day. They have it at literally ALL the time. So the first thing they serve is snacks. Sweet samosa was the only recognizable snack in the 4 meals that I had. The others too taste BRILLIANT but I don’t know their names. They come in lots of shapes. The most strangely shaped snack was in a spiral form. Little sweet, little hot. Each restaurant makes its own snacks. Notice that snacks is not just an add on. They are like a VITAL part of the meal. Then they’d fill up the 7 tumblers with dishes. They are mostly the same in all restaurants. Couple of dry sabjis, some curd based ones, some spicy ones. Then for some reason, they give you a choice between dal and kadi. Kadi is a white dish which is little sweet. Kadi tastes very good when had with snacks or roti. Then come the rotis. They taste so awesome ya!! Again, note that NOTHING is limited. I observed others having food. They have everything in random. Snacks first, then rotis, then one might ask for snacks again, else maybe sweets, then one poori, then one samosa, then a sip of lassi, then have a very spicy sabji, then a snack again. No order And the waiters KEEP ON coming to you with different things. There is no way you can have an uninterrupted meal. Now that is something I had to get used to the first time. The message is very clear ‘In my restaurant, you eat like a king. But you will ONLY eat.’ As you are done with maybe 30% of the meal, they bring in sweets. They don’t wait for you to finish because sweets can be had any time, not just in the end. Now the sweets!! They use their best utensils to hold sweets. Very attractive bowls. The first time I went for a Guj meal, I ate in such frenzy like never before in life. For a full 15 mins, I ATE and ATE and ATE. I, for the first time in my memory, could feel food up to my throat. I just ate LOTS maan. J J By the third or fourth time, I had settled down nicely and enjoyed the meal more.

PS – In my hostel, I used to face questions like ‘How do you eat vegetarian food daily ya??’ ‘Eda ee sambarum thyrum okke enganeya ennum kazhikkunne!!’

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Playboy

It’s been a life long ambition to own a Playboy magazine.

When I was 13, I was lot innocent-er than today’s average 13 year old. No internet, no cable connection, no VCR, no easy access to real ‘Other magazines’. What is an ‘other magazine’? ‘Other magazine’ is the literal translation for ‘matte pusthakam‘ in my mother tongue. It means a magazine with lots of sleaze.

Thanks to the innocence levels, even Stardust and Cine Blitz – standard ,Bollywood magazines, were ‘Other magazines’ for me. My parents bought those magazines once in a while and would keep them in the upper most section of the book shelf in an effort to keep their son ’sane’. But I knew it all ok!!

There was this time of the day in the evening when dad went for walking and mom went to the garden. That one hour or so was when I taste absolute freedom. Instead of doing home work as my mom expected me to, I would get busy doing my own stuff – steal food, call my friends, try out different hairstyles, peel off varnish from the chairs in the sitting room. It was THE time of the day. I also used to generally explore different corners of the house. During one such exploration, I found this treasure of Stardusts and Cine Blitzs. I remember being hugely excited about my discovery. I was thrilled to see pictures of Mamta Kulkarni and Raveena Tandon. Mamta Kulkarni was SOMETHING man!! From then, for a long time, all other activities took a back seat. The ‘freedom hour’ meant looking at pictures in those awesome ‘Other magazines’. ‘Other magazines’, ‘Other magazines’, ‘Other magazines’!!

My classmates and other friends – the closest that even they got to ‘Other magazines’ was Stardust and Cine Blitz. That too, in secret. I guess that is reason enough to use the phrase ‘deprived childhood’. Now while all this was happening, there was this brat called ‘Febin’ in my class. He was a BRAT. Like they say in the sophisticated language, ‘He’s a brat with a capital b, capital r, capital a and a capital t’. So he was that sort of a brat. And he used to mock us when we talk about Stardusts and Cineblitzs.

‘All that is not the real thing. You should see Playboy. That is the ultimate ‘other magazine”
‘Whoa. Where do we buy it from?’
‘Buy??? Ha. Keep dreaming. All that you get only in America.’
‘Huh. So Febin, how come you have seen one??’
‘Well. I have my sources. I can’t tell you.’
‘Give it to us no? Let us all also see no?’
(Now comes the punch dialogue)
‘You wont be able to handle it, son.’
‘No. No. Please please’
‘Hmm. Let me see if I can get one’

Everyday we would ask Febin if he got it. He kept on giving us some lame excuses. We had almost given up when one day, in the first hour of class, the word spread – ‘Febin has got it!!!!!!!!!!!’. Believe me, that was ONE LONG HOUR!! As soon as the bell rang and the teacher left, we rushed to the back bench. Febin must have sensed the desperation; he started acting pricey.

‘Book? What book?’
‘Hey, Anoop said you have brought the book’
‘No. I haven’t’
‘Huh!! you haven’t??’
‘Well. I have. But I can’t show it to you now. I will pass it around during the next hour. Less rush that way.’

I got my chance during the third hour, after most guys were done with it. I was not among the stars in the class, you see. I was surprised when I saw ‘Debonair’ written on the cover. Nevertheless it is was an ‘other magazine’. The pictures were quite awesome, I must admit. I looked at those with my mouth wide open. They were kick-ass!! Sigh.

Now since Febin said he’ll get a Playboy and got this magazine, I thought Playboy was a genre of ‘Other magazines’. I was under this impression for many more years. Probably, it was when internet was born that this misconception was corrected. With all this drama and hype surrounding Playboy, I used to think that the first thing one would buy on landing in America would be a Playboy magazine. Many of my friends have been there. I realize that not many have the same excitement about it as I do. But one thing is for sure. If I ever get to go to America, if I can help it, I will buy a Playboy magazine right on the first day.

 

Thottiyude Makan

I recommend the Malayalam novel ‘Thottiyude Makan’ by Thakazhi.

Simple language and a powerful story.

It is awesome!!

 

Chacko English

I did my 11th and 12th in Kerala. It was called Pre-Degree back then; it was in college – Union Christian College, Aluva. Most of the students, me included, used to be day scholars. But there were some resident students too. The hostel was called ‘The Chacko hostel’.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=10.126847&lon=76.335891&z=18&l=0&m=a&v=2

The inmates there were from different states and hence had to communicate in English. Some, especially the south indians, were too intellectual to be bothered about the nuances of the English language.

But the inmates had to get ideas across. They had to talk!! English in the original form is too ‘angrezi’, they decided. And thus was born ‘Chacko English’, with its own grammar rules and the likes!!

Let me start with the rules, then. There are just three of them. Really simple.

1. Refrain from using anything other than simple present tense.
2. Use your intelligence to understand the tense of a word.
3. When in doubt, use ‘The’.

Alright. Now, my dear friends, you are ready to blurt out three important sentences which will form the pillars of your understanding of Chacko English.

Very common situation #1 : You want to take someone out for coffee.
Normal English : Can we go for a coffee?
Chacko English : We the coffee?

Very common situation #2 : You and your friend are going for coffee. Someone on the way asks where you are going.
Normal English : We are going for coffee.
Chacko English : We the coffee.

Very common situation #3 : Someone asks you and your friend if you’d like to join them for coffee.
Normal English : We had coffee just now.
Chacko English : We the coffee. (with shake of the head)

If you observed well enough, my friends, Chacko English makes life REALLY simple. With subtle facial expressions and nods of the head, you can get the idea across. What better way to communicate in a hostel.

Exercises – Convert the following ideas into Chacko English.

Q. The idlis they make in the hotel are very tasty.
A. The hotel the idlis the good.

Q. Do you have time to come with me to the bank?
A. I the go the bank. You the time?

There you are. Now you the know the Chacko English!!!!

Happy Chacko English!!!!

Remember the golden rule. “When in doubt use ‘The’”. 

 

Beneath the Ninth

Verse 1:
Can I find my way to that cloud
How ’bout that bit I need.
All I have with me in my hands
May just not guide me on.

Verse 2:
Echoes I have heard all the while
Loud and clear they told me
Everything that one takes with him
On his road to the ninth.

Verse 3:
Numbers I’ve made them all my life
Racing fast as I could.
Over my brothers I flew high
Castles mine were so tall.

Verse 4:
Knowing that one thing that I lost
Eleven years back you left
Rowing with such force, left me stunned
Still those ripples move me

Chorus:
I am just one beneath the ninth,
All I need is one last gasp.
I am just one beneath the ninth,
Come back and take me there.

I am just one beneath the ninth,
All I need is one last gasp.
I am just one beneath the ninth,
Come back and take me there.

Verse 5:
Numbers I’ve made them all my life
Racing fast as I could.
Over my brothers I flew high
Castles mine were so tall.

Verse 6:
Knowing that one thing that I lost
Eleven years back you left
Rowing with such force, left me stunned
Still those ripples move me

Chorus:
I am just one beneath the ninth,
All I need is one last gasp.
I am just one beneath the ninth,
Come back and take me there.

I am just one beneath the ninth,
All I need is one last gasp.
I am just one beneath the ninth,
Come back and take me there.

I wrote this song for the band I used to play for – ‘The Chameleon’. If you read the first letter of each of the first 16 lines, it reads ‘Chameleon Rockers’.  Obviously I had to put some effort to get that pattern in, but it doesn’t look forced, does it? Keeping the pattern aside, did you get the thought in the song?

Please download and listen to the song at http://groups.google.com/group/Kitchen-Chameleon

 

Little Red Ribbon

   

Verse 1 :
That day I was back from my school
Dad was lying down, feeling all tired
Must be the heat, heat at the farm
Mom took care of him, said hes got flu

Days passed and we got no food left
Son, go to the farm, so I did.
My sis came to me, crying at loudest
Dad’s no more, it was the ‘dreaded’.

Chorus :
Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Verse 2 :
Mom fell sick, dint wanna lose her
Doc is miles away, how can I get there
Friends got worried, offered no help
They said she’s got the ‘dreaded’ from dad

Asked me to take em, never come again
I pleaded to them all, but we got chased
Said they’ll get it too n threw stones
Saved my lil sis, but not my mom.

Chorus :
Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Verse 3 :
Took my lil sis far from the slum
Made our own tent near those trains
Alms were hard to come, we tried so hard
We stole food yes, no other way

No one ever told us about our flesh
Sis fell in the hands of those boys
The ‘dreaded’ was prowling, once again
Took her away too, leaving me lone.

Chorus :
Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Verse 4 :
Now I know it all, its far too late
Let not lil ones be like me
They’ve got only you to look upto
Let not lil ones be like me

Chorus :
Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

Little Red Ribbon,
Say it louder for me and the li’l ones.

I wrote this for a ‘Make a song on AIDS Awareness preferably focusing on the innocent children affected by the disease’ program. I myself did not know much about the effects of the disease. For three days, I read about it on the net – mainly real life experiences. Some were shocking, to say the least.

I hope these lyrics reach a wider audience. This is my little effort to encourage the society to help the little children out there who are suffering because of AIDS.

 

Benny Prasad

The world famous guitarist Benny Prasad did a show in our campus on December 12.

‘World famous Indian guitarist’ was probably a myth before Benny Prasad came into the scene. But it’s an irony that very few people in India know of this fellow countryman who has travelled to over 150 countries with his music. Shows at the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, a Ph. D for his self-designed guitar, a Limca record for being the most travelled musician – for a man with such achievements, he deserves a lot more attention.

His show at our campus was rather crisp and short. The music was soulful, melodious and went down well with the audience. My friend tells me that all the three pieces that he played are very popular Christian songs. I haven’t heard the originals but he played some beautiful hindustani sounding riffs in between; his composition skills were quite evident. As much as I liked his music, I didn’t find the style all that original. Tapping, Harmonics, percussions -  someone like Justin King would probably do wonders with the guitar he was using.

The show was not just about his music. Benny Prasad shared with us the remarkable story of his life. Rejections in life, failures, diseases – he fought them all to get to the position he is in today. The Christmas message he had for us was quite touching – ‘Be happy for what you are’.

He brought with him, the same self-designed guitar as in the snap above. From the internet I came to know that it is called a ‘Bentar’. It’s probably a pun for Benny + Guitar. For such a lovely piece of art, he should given a sexier name. If Prof. Dumbledore were to design a bass guitar, he wouldn’t name it Dumbass, would he?