Silent World

I could see it all. The tall guy charging towards the poor man with all his fury. The impatient crowd of passerbys waiting in anticipation at the prospect of some free of cost vicarious pleasure. The shopkeeper stopping his calculations midway and getting out of the store for a better view. The motorist braking suddenly and then peering over the crowd. And then the poor man himself, his face showing a million colours of fear. I watched as the blow landed on his face, distorting it slightly. I stopped my photography brain from thinking about the high speed camera possiblities of this moment. I saw him opening his mouth and screaming wild. I didn't hear anything. Not the sound of the crowd, not the scream of the man, not the engines of the passing vehicles. It was like watching a mime. Yes, I am a member of the species called the 'ipod generation'. The turn of the millennium saw the birth of our generation. White wires coming out from the pockets, moving all the way up our body to our ears differentiate us from the previous generations. We've it plugged on everywhere, in the bus, at the restaurant, in office, in the closet, just about everywhere. Its just like a part of our body. And for us, the world is like what you saw in the above scene, silent.

As I woke up the next day, the music was still going on, as I usually keep a long playlist. And as usual, I didn't hear mom's calls to wake up and drink coffee. Yes, a cold coffee is one of the obvious happenings in our silent world. But I do argue with mom on the dust prevention capabilities of the earphone. 'A little dust wont make you deaf, but this plug can do that', she used to say. Taking a bath was not one of my favorite things, as it takes me out from the silent world. As I walked out in the shabby jeans, grandma had a puzzled look on her face. A relic from the past's disdain of youthful brashness or whatever it is. I didn't hear her coughing hard and asking me to buy some medicines. I saw her lips moving as I wheeled out my bike, but as I said earlier I hate to get out of the silent world. I gave 2 more kicks after the engine started. The kicker is used to that. The big doberman next door was wagging his tail and barking silently as I rode on.

Today am not in a mood to go to office. And what I do in those moments is head to the beach. Today was no different. The sun was hiding behind the clouds and so the sand was not smoking hot as was the usual case at this time. I sat there and looked around. Barring a man who was sitting far away on the rocks, the beach was deserted. What else do you expect to see on a working day in a not so famous beach, I asked myself. These questions which I ask myself are the only things I hear because these dont need the ears to hear. The waves were crashing against the rocks a little far away. Today, my silent world is having a lot of noise, all coming from inside me. The sea always stirs up my thoughts. Yesterday's scenes had shaken me a bit. Now I know how silent movies made an impact back in the 1920s. I sat there thinking about the general aloofness of our generation. How easily we turn our backs to other's sufferings. How easily we close our eyes to injustice. Less said about our perpetually closed ears, the better.

All the thinking was starting to drive me nuts. The sea was not providing me any solace today. I walked back to my bike and thats when I saw the man sitting on the rocks, the poor man who got beaten badly yesterday. There were bruises all over his face and it was evident that he didn't clean it or dress it up. I stared for sometime and then walked on with the same coldness that has come to symbolize our geneation. Kick. Start. Zoom. Again, on the endless highway. The mind was still disturbed. Thoughts collide into each other and create unwanted noise in my perfect world. A mind not used to thinking was finding this hard. I didn't see that big tanker lorry coming in the wrong side. The thoughts stopped colliding as the world around me stopped for an instant. The bike flew up in the air as I was flung head first on to the footpath. I saw blood. I saw red. I screamed. I didn't get any response from the silent world. My eye lashes almost met, for the final time. I saw someone walking by. A flicker of hope. I strained hard to look up to his face. He didn't turn. I could make out that familiar white wire. Yes, he belonged to the ipod generation. The owner of a mind, as cold as my now cold dead body...

pic courtesy-wired.com

your crusader Praveen

Age of stupidity

Face it. we are a bunch of stupid idiots. We are easily fooled. Anyone can sell anything to us, if he has even a slight knowledge of marketing. We swallow even those big lies floating around. Even an orangutan will think twice before believing such lies. But, we do it and manage to smile proudly. Government lies. Judiciary lies. Media lies. Your partner lies. Your employer lies. Your milkman lies. We grab and eat those lies and spit out more lies about these lies.

Everyday you open the newspaper and end up believing whatever is written on it. You believe they can speak only the truth because they are afterall the media. For example, this new year Times Of India's first page screamed out 'Aman Asha- an initiative for India Pakistan friendship'. And believe me, there were atleast 2 guys who told me this was a superb initiative, that too coming from a media house. If the sham of a peace talk between the governments aptly titled 'Sharm al sheikh' was not enough, we have here India's official yellow paper joining hands with a Pakistani media group with the one and only lofty intention of peace. And as part of the initiative, we have Indian and Pakistani artists performing together in India(and not in Pakistan..note the point). Its a known fact that all Paki artists prefer to perform in India because thats were the money is. And most of the suckers in Pak would die without their daily dose of bollywood cinema. Whats more, our own dear VIP terrorist Ajmal Kasab confessed that he came to Mumbai to watch a bollywood movie at the place of its birth. TOI says the common people at both sides love to have peace. True. But the world is not made up of common people alone. We have a big bunch of India hating, ultra orthodox morons in Pak. First make sure each of them has taken his last breath and then it would be a good excercise to talk about peace. And yeah, it doesn't help that some of those morons are part of the Pak government and army. And so, what is the real purpose of this initiative? circulation, readership, money... Its just a simple expansion plan for 2 media houses. And, we have teary eyed people here applauding the Times group for this effort in the 'right' direction. Yes, a whole country of billions being fed stupidity and people actually giving a standing ovation. But, thankfully there was backlash too though it remained largely confined among the online community.

In the same way, we are fed stupidity in its various forms. In Kerala, we are made to believe that the terrorist Madani is a changed man. Pinarayi Vijayan will tell you Madani should be worshipped like a saint. Madani's wife Sufiya, who has links with almost all of the terrorists caught in Kerala recently, is also said to be in line for sainthood. The marxist will tell you that her nokia mobile automatically stores the phone numbers of all terrorists in Kerala and even automatically dials and receives calls before and after an attack. They are actually planning to sue Nokia. And then there's the master of them all, Pinarayi telling us that all these cases against him and his friends are the handiwork of 'change man' Obama who has a specific agenda against the Kerala left. Coming to the 'change man' himself, after recieving the Nobel peace prize he was telling the world that the 'change' that he was talking about was stolen by a bus conductor in Koothaattukulam, where there's a shortage of change, especially the 1 rupee and 2 rupee coins. Meanwhile, all the world's media is focussed on what Tiger Woods is doing. Speculations are rife regarding the number of mistresses he had. I wonder why the media should care which 'golf club' is Tiger using at any moment. They should learn to switch off their cams the moment he takes the 'golf club' meant for the bedroom. Its his personal matter and the media has no business until he lays his hands on Rupert Murdoch's mistress. And not to be left behind, the national media got a scapegoat in N D Tiwari, the 'sexy at eighty' former Andhra governor. I would say mediamen are jealous. Many of the 60 something media heads seems to be jealous at this 86 year old man having a threesome at his official residence and decided to bring him down. And thus orgasms officially entered our 'breaking news'. And many had stupid erections of glee.

If all this were not enough, there are conspiracy theorists around coming up with any juicy story that comes to their mind, stories of the vein of 'the world is one big illusion', 'Mumbai attacks were India's own handiwork' etc. There are people who believe that too. Every movie that released is a blockbuster. Someone points at peanuts and calls it money and you jump up in joy. Judiciary says every biggie murder accused is innocent. Every biggie rape accused 'doesn't have the instruments for the act to be carried out'. Every scam accused politician is an ascetic. Not to forget the sham called austerity. And then there is the biggest sham of them all. A blogger writing this blog just because he hasn't written anything substantial in a long time, was out of topics and wanted to sound important. Yes, my contribution to the load of stupidity and now don't turn around to search for the idiot. Its you...

photo courtesy- babble.com

your crusader Praveen

Pick This Flick 17:Paanch

With respect to hindi filmdom, 2009 has been the year of Anurag Kashyap. The release of Dev D and the much delayed Gulaal ensured that there was no talk of competition. People were glad to be liberated from the clutches of larger than life movies and big production houses headed by eunuchs. The new age winner version of the loser Devdas and the red pride of the Rajputs were enough to prove this man's class. But there was one thing which saddened his fans. Kashyap's first movie 'Paanch' which was completed at the turn of the millennium was still lying in the cans thanks to the censor board which thought it will corrupt the young Indians. And so it was a surprise when a preview copy of the movie surfaced in torrent sites during the second week of this month. The uploader also added that the movie was given to him by Kashyap himself. There must be some truth in this considering the fact that he was bound to get frustrated due to the long wait for clearance and might have wanted his fans to see the movie.

At the outset, let me make it clear that 'Paanch' doesn't glorify violence. On the contrary, its a take on the futility of crime. Also, there's no in your face violence, the pools of blood or the manufactured gore. All you get to see is the atmosphere. 4 guys and 1 girl, members of a rock band, living, jamming, drinking, fighting and smoking in a shady godown. In the room, you see wall graffiti , Jim Morrison posters, beheaded dolls with red ink splashed all over, empty bottles and much more. The 5 live a wasted life and each moment passes with thoughts on how to waste the next moment. They live bang in the middle of Mumbai city, where people are busy every minute of their lives and yet these five waste day after day. They may be outcasts or they may have chosen to remain so. Nothing is said about the backgrounds. They dream of making it big as rockstars and the only thing that is holding them back is lack of money. And thats exactly where the problem starts.

Luke played by Kay Kay Menon is the centre point of it all. My respect for Kay Kay which was already at its heights breached all limits after watching this performance. There are moments that he will scare the hell out of you. Its such a well-etched character, a man powered by greed, ruled by his anger bone and totally unpredictable. The graffiti on his door reads "Tresspassers will be beheaded". Those scenes were he fools his friends into thinking that he's in a fit of rage when he's not, are pure class. And when he actually gets into a fit of rage, you will just stare with an open mouth. Then there's Aditya Srivastava playing Murgi, the same guy who played the cunning Karan in Gulaal. He seems to be the most sensible of the lot. Pondy is the perpetually scared guy who does whatever Luke tells him. His attempts to break free only lands in him more trouble. Joy is the perfect 'chamcha' who supports anything Luke does(including murder) thinking that he's a true friend. And then there's Shuli played by Tejaswini Kolhapure, the ultra modern girl who lives in with four guys and smokes and drinks with them. Its a surprise that this talented lady hasn't acted in many movies after this.

The story is loosely based on the Joshi Abhyankar serial killings that happened in Pune in the 1970s. The first killing is a result of Luke's uncontrolled rage. Its a classic scene where the act is hidden from us. The camera focusses on Luke in all his fury and the rest of the four looking horrified. Only a distant shot of the act is shown in between. Luke casts a scary spell on all of them and they all become accidental criminals. Each passing scene subtly indicates that, the fivesome are getting used to the cycle of violence and at some point they are even hungry for more. Its a cycle into which any alienated soul in any of our metro city can fall into. Sky high ambitions, joblessness, greed, envy, all can lead a slightly frustrated youth into this downward spiral. And no, dont expect the movie to provide any lasting solutions. Its just a document of what can possibly happen or what has already happened, with a little bit of thriller element thrown in. The narration at the police station adds to the drama. The eerie background score by Vishal Bharadwaj, with techno and rock elements increases the tension in the scenes.

Though made almost a decade back, it doesn't have that dated look. But it was made at a time when 'being bad' was not in fashion, unlike today. What really baffles me is why the censors have prevented this movie's release. Reportedly, they demanded some unkind cuts and Kashyap saab said 'NO'. I really dont understand the attitude of the censor board. Obviously headed by some outdated brains with heavy orthodox sensibilities, the board is doing a disservice to movie buffs by preventing the release of such movies. We are bombarded with trash movies on illicit relationships and what not, and here's a movie which sits out for no reason at all. Agreed there's strong language, but dont many of us use it in real life? Also, killings like this happen every day around us. What does we achieve then by preventing the depiction of those realities in our movies? Does denying the existence of such maliciousness around us serve to eradicate it? And do you really think that a person watching a murder on screen will get inspired and go out and kill somebody? what is the purpose of such mindless censoring, its time for a rethink. Censorship of this kind doesn't suit a democracy like us.

So...Download Paanch...kick the censors..

your crusader Praveen

Porcupine Tree: Live in IIT Bombay

Steven Wilson- 'way out of here'

Note-All pics taken in my LG mobile cam...

Porcupine Tree is a band which I fell in love with 2 years back, after my old band's bassie Mahadevan handed me a cd of all their albums till date. Me being a heavy metal addict and not much of a progressive rock fan, I never heard even the name of this band before that. But that day changed it all. Once I finished with my first set of 20 odd songs, I was sure that those who classified them as progressive rock was not giving full credit to the band. Most of their songs were so refrshingly different that each of them could find mention under different genres. Though am not much of a genre classification fan, I would say they are turely genre benders. Last year, I added their name amongst bands which I wanted to see live. And so when IIT Bombay announced that PT is gonna headline this year's annual fest, I was sure I'll be there.

So, we 4(me, Raja, Nikhil, Sabarish) set out from Bangalore on Dec 18 Friday and reached Mumbai on 20th night after a short trip of Pune and Lonawala(detailed photo posts on those trips coming soon). Unlike usual rock fests, this one was on a monday, thus making sure that I maintain my zero leave balance. We got into the venue after some serious adventures and altercations with the organisers, about which I'll write at the end of this post. Thanks to a strict rule, I had to keep my camera outside in safe custody of my friend Meenu, who's studying there. And thanks to her, we could fill up our stomachs as we waited in the long queue. By the time we got in, all the opening bands had got over and Parikrama was half way through their set. My sincere thoughts on them is that the vocalist Nitin Malik should refrain from opening his mouth when he's not singing. He has this quality of rubbing the crowd the wrong way with his tongue(no pun intended :P ). The crowd which was waiting for PT had welcomed them with 'BC,MC' chants. It was understandable and he should've kept his cool. Anyway, thanks to the brilliant violinist Imran Khan and guitarist Sonam Sherpa, they did put up a good show. By the end of their show, we were slowly moving ahead in the crowd. Dead centre front being our destination..(special mention-Guitarist Sonam sherpa's T shirt with SC-ST printed in AC-DC font)

Time flies

Wilson at arm's length...no zoom used..

The venue was very small for a concert of such magnitude. And the crowd also numbered to less than 7000, partly owing to it being a monday. But the crowd that had turned up was no less in spirits. Chants of 'PT, PT' and 'steven, steven' were heard from all around and we also joined in. As expected everyone wanted to be in the front and this resulted in many people being jammed against the front barricade. The atmosphere was heating up with anticipation as the stage was being setup for PT. And then suddenly it all went dark and the crowd let out a loud cheer. The strains of 'occam's razor', the opening track of Porcupine Tree's new album 'The Incident' were heard. In came Steven Wilson and his band of British rockers. Magic was set in motion. They followed it up with the 2nd track from incident 'Blind house'. For a minute, we thought they are gonna play the whole album in its entirety. The next song 'The sound of muzak', describing the fall in standards and the hypocrisy prevalent in modern music, put to rest any such thoughts. The old classics began to flow. And then there was this funny scene of the organisers unnecessarily unleashing cops amongst the crowd. They behaved like jokers there and normalcy settled in once they left. 'Hatesong' was going on then.




Then came 'Time flies', my favourite from the new album. Wilson perched himself on a chair and strummed on his acoustic. As the lyrics went 'I was born in '67, the year of sgt. pepper', we realised this guy's 42. But he looked so young that he could pass off as a college student. 'Lazarus' was one of the highlights of the concert with almost the whole crowd singing with him. It was heaven to listen to those sublime keyboard work from Barbieri. A little known fact is that opeth's vocalist mikael akerfeldt has sung backing vocals for the original track. As the song concluded, my friend remarked, 'i was tripping on the song'. It couldn't have been said better. A writeup on this concert is not complete without a mention of the visuals in the background. Some songs had visuals exclusively made for concert and some had the actual music videos projected on the screen. The most notable among the videos was the one of 'way out of here', about 2 gals who were fans of porcupine tree and got crushed under a train while they were taking pics on the rail. Many of the videos were mysterious and confusing but just watching those were sheer pleasure. The only problem was concentrating on the artists and the video at the same time. By this time, we were right in front, hanging on the barricade. Steven wilson was at a hand's length as he came right to the edge of the stage a couple of times. His eyes glowed like those of a saint's as he sang those profound lyrics. Infact, lyrics is one of the highlights of the 'PT' experience. Also suprising was the scene of him playing barefoot.


Most of the familiar songs like 'blackest eyes', 'open car', 'start of something beautiful' and 'russia on ice' were played. Two stalwarts whom I didn't mention till now are drummer Gavin Harrison and bassist Colin Edwards. Precise,complex,thumping...these are words that fit both of them. But they were at their unassuming best and all happy that Wilson was in the limelight. Rhythm guitarist John wesley also did a great job. In between the old classics, the band mixed some more new tracks like 'octane twisted' and 'the seance'. I was surprised that there were many who sang almost all lyrics perfectly, especially one beautiful girl standing behind me. At the end of these songs, they stopped abruptly, said thanks and left. And as expected they were back for the encore, which was surely THE best part of the concert. As Wilson played the evergreen 'Trains', the crowd roared in delight. It was followed up with a mindblowing rendition of 'halo'. And that was the end..Impressed by the crowd, Wilson said they'll be back pretty soon. Yes, we are waiting... If you still haven't listened to porcupine tree, do it right now...




about the organisers- Frankly speaking, I haven't seen a more arrogant bunch of organisers at any of the rock fests in India. We reached there at 4 15 PM to exchange our print outs with tickets and they coolly told us that they wont let us in since we are late. They told us about their rule that passes wont be given after 4PM. This, after we had already paid money online for 3 tickets, thats 3000 bucks. We begged to him, telling him how we came there 1000km away from Bangalore after taking 2 leaves. The arrogant guy asked us such stupid questions like, "why cant you take more leave and come early?", "if you love the band so much, why cant you sacrifice your time for them", "we gave you enough time". For about 30 minutes, we had a big fight. He even went to the extent of saying that we wont even get our money back. Losing all my temper, I called him an MF. But as it happens usually when you are losing your temper, it all came out in malayalam. Anyway, he got the message and he was shouting to the security to throw me out. Thankfully they didn't. More losers of his ilk showed up to tell us we wont be let in. By then, more people having the same problem gathered there. Then the main organiser, an young lady tried to cool down the situation by offering to sign in all the sheets and let us in. And, there comes another bloody loser advising her not to jump into trouble. After so many such negotiations, they let us in late through the VIP entry. A big thanks to those sensible souls among the organisers. And a big finger to the bespectacled guy wearing an Iron Maiden t shirt who seemed to have shitted his senses off during his last visit to the loo. Guys, its ok if you dont respect your guests. But atleast dont mistreat. These are the things you should learn in nursery, not in IIT. Better take some of those lessons now. To end it all, thanks to those wonderful guys at IIT Bombay who made this landmark concert happen. Barring this ticket fiasco and the late admission of the crowd, it was a well conducted rock fest.. CHEERS!

your crusader Praveen

The last song

a tragic love story...
***************The last song************
You came, out of nowhere
taking me by surprise
I wondered silently,
where u been hiding ,all this while?

I was in a heavenly bliss
as it grew between us.
You slowly started to invade,
my thoughts and my secret dreams.

I fell for you, and you for me
knowing full well, its not gonna end well.
I waited for each day to rise,
to hear your call of 'my sunshine'.

those few days, time came to a halt
as we lived this lovely dream.
moments to cherish, moments to laugh
life never seemed so good.

we were like two perfect notes,
so in harmony
And creating a wonderful symphony
Never was there an odd note.

the mountain air ran with us,
the waves danced with us,
the starfishes smiled with us,
we seemed to be God's chosen ones.

Then it came as an unseen tornado
we were left wondering what hit us.
our sand castles came crashing down,
shattered, we cried, together..

Got our dreams crushed
under the wheels of fate.
we used to complete each other,
But now our lives remain, incomplete.

Shed not tears, beloved.
we have those memories
Of those moments together
to relive and to see us through.

One of those days, down many years
we may meet, at some crossroad.
I wish, we manage to smile
And drop a silent tear.

You loved my words,
but now those very words desert me
when I need those for my best song,
a last song for you..

with love...
your crusader Praveen

Heartbeats concert:Zakir Hussain,Shankar Mahdevan,Sivamani,U.srinivas,Selvaganesh

The legends-Sivamani, U.Srinivas,Ustad Zakir Hussain,Shankar Mahadevan,Selvaganesh

There are some days on which nothing can go wrong. And there are some days on which just about everything goes right helped with loads and loads of luck. This Tuesday was one such day.

As me and Raja started from office on our way to Chowdaiah Hall, we were sure to lose way as we usually do when going to places in the vicinity of Palace grounds. Our luck started here. We reached there without ever losing way, at the right time for the concert. And, we were in for a shock. All the tickets except the ones for 3000 were sold out. Considering our IT beggars status and the diminishing market for 'high quality peanuts', we decided to give in to our fate and leave the venue. But something told us to stay back and roam around the venue. We looked around for ways to get in. Atlast, left with no choice we were starting to walk back when we saw a guy with some tickets at the theatre entry point.

Me- got any tickets?
the guy-yea. take this. 2000rs per ticket.
Me- No. Please give me the rs 500 tickets.
the guy- No No. You don't have to pay. Its free.
Me and Raja(with open mouths)- WHAT!!!!!!!!

Yeah, as it turned out this guy from nokia had few complimentary tickets with him. Since no one turned up, he decided to give it away for free. May God bless him! And, we ended up in a seat close to the front row with a vantage view. The stalwarts trudged in, one by one..Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan, U. Srinivas, Sivamani and Selvaganesh, names which require no introduction. Once they settled in, it was pure magic for the next 2 hours. The enduring image of the Ustad and his Tabla that we've all grown used to in the TajMahal tea advertisement was here before our very own eyes. As his deft fingers churned out Wonderful Talas, the others blended in to produce those soulful melodies. Effortlessly moving from Hindustani to Carnatic, Shankar Mahadevan gave us a show of his vocal range which is never used to its fullest extent in film songs, except maybe by A.R.Rahman.

U.Srinivas who was quiet for the first session came into his own during the duet performance with Sivamani. Slides, Sweeping, Tapping, hammer on, pull off...just about every technique was on view as he moved around the tiny fretboard of the mandolin. Sivamani was his usual self using everything on view to come up with beats. Right from the suitcase to the bisleri bottles and even his own thighs. The Sivamani-Srinivas duel was a high point of the concert. Soon, the others got back to their positions and we were given no respite as we were taken from one heaven to the next. Then came the awesome solo performance of Selvaganesh on the 'Ganjira'. While in college, I've seen and tried to play with this same instrument and failed miserably at Raja's home. Then, little did I realise that this small thing had so much possibilities hidden in it. SelvaGanesh, the son of famous ghatam artist Vikku Vinayagam, proved himself to be as brilliant as the legends on stage with him. The vareity of sounds that emanated out of that should be heard to believe. Later, Zakir Hussain played 'Happy birthday' on his tabla(yea, u read it right...tabla) as it was Sivamani's 50th birthday(another unbelievable fact considering how young he looks). As Ustad Zakir started his solo performance, Sivamani left his drums and took a seat beside him and was seen watching in absolute amazement, like an obedient student. It was a sight! A master percussionist watching the Ustad in full glory.

Sivamani watching the Ustad in amazement

The end came faster than expected. And as expected we were left craving for more.
And this is exactly were our second run of luck started. Yeah, with a lot of 'perseverence', we got the autographs and clicked pics with all of them except Sivamani. Need I say more! This is my idea of a perfect day. Couldn't click much pics of the concert as Zakir bhai told the audience to refrain from clicking. I still dont understand why artists as big as him should be concerned with few people clicking and few others taking videos. Afterall, its just because they love his music and want to preserve these memories...

me and Raja with Shankar Mahadevan

with Zakr Hussain

with U.Srinivas

with Selvaganesh

your crusader Praveen

Deccan Rock Fest '09-Amon Amarth & Textures

Amon amarth on stage

Indian metaldom is hot and happening. Many of the top billing bands seems keen on visiting this newest addition to the metal map. And, this saturday saw 2 more additions to the growing list of international acts to have performed in India. Textures from Netherlands and 'Amon Amarth', the godfathers of viking metal from Sweden performed in Bangalore this Saturday. Titled 'Deccan Rock', the fest featured 6 Indian metal bands and the 2 headlining acts.

The fest got to a delayed start. I was supposed to shoot for the band 'Eccentric pendulum', who got a chance to open the fest after winning a competition. As the start got delayed, me, Pappu and Nikhil decided to take a walk outside in search of ATM, a loo and an eatery. Let me confess that I was the only one who was in dire need of all the 3 items. We walked on and on and on, almost 4-5 kilometres in random directions until we got all 3. And by the time we finished it all and got back to Palace grounds, 4 bands had already finished playing, including EP. Thanks to Nikhil from 'Eccentric pendulum', I managed to sneak in my camera. And it was a new experience, shooting from the midst of a pretty violent crowd. More than a dozen times, I was hit badly thanks to a non-stop moshpit just near us. And it was pretty hard to focus which is evident in the 100s of snaps I deleted.

Coming to the concert, I've n't heard much of textures or Amon prior to the concert. But I instantly liked both bands for their raw energy. Though I found headbanging to textures a tough ask considering their constantly changing beats. The star of the night for me was Johan Hegg, the vocalist of Amon amarth. With his booming bassy vocals, flowing beard and king like stance, he just stole the show. It was a night of metal mayhem that will be remembered for a long time. Only bad thing was that the headlining act got to perform only 7 songs.
Now to the pics

Textures

Amon Amarth Pics






your crusader Praveen

When news is paid!

Imagine the scenario when the news you read are nothing but advertisements masquerading as news. What if they are paid for by people with vested interests and twisted in the way they like and printed without the mandatory 'advt' tag at the bottom? That is exactly what happened during the Maharashtra elections. Through an investigative article in the hindu, P.Sainath has pointed to this new menace. It all happened during the recently concluded Maharashtra elections when an article praising congress leader Ashok Chavan appeared in many of the regional newspapers. The story was published with the credits attributed to a 'special correspondent'. And proving his case that it indeed is paid journalism at its worst, Sainath points out that you can't have the same special correspondent writing for all these papers. More than blaming the politicians or parties, here the blame rests solely with the concerned media houses for such an act which goes against the basic tenets of journalism.

After incidents like this, how much can one trust the newspaper that you read. Barring a few of them like 'The Hindu', rest are all owned by business houses with an eye on profit. To be precise, just on profit. As fake stories become the order of the day, we will find it hard to separate the real news from the advertisement campaigns. Tomorrow, if I want, I can have a nice article written on me provided I've enough money. Newspapers are slowly becoming propaganda machines for those with fat pockets. Its almost as scary as the thought police that we all read in George Orwell's '1984'.

your crusader Praveen

[Do drop in to my photoblog for the latest updates]

The theory of improbable probabilities

(also known as the theory of free interchangeability)
Warning-Can cause brain damage due to its unending possibilities...

Those who have seen Pranav Mistry's insanely brilliant presentation at this year's TED talk in Mysore will be knowing the unlimitedness of human imaginations and possibilities. His 'sixth sense' invention is one of the greatest ideas that I've heard in recent times. Viewing that video yesterday night(and with some gentle reminder from a good friend on the phone), I remembered about the 'theory of improbable probabilities' that I developed in college. Its a pity that the guys at TED missed this idea considering its far reaching implications. This theory is as flexible as the elastic of a 1995 model 95 inch VIP frenchie and can be applied in any field.

It all took birth in my elephant sized brain about 3 years back on an exam eve. As usual, we started our studies on the evening of the day before the exam after a day full of teen comedy movies. The time was past midnight. There were almost 10 of us at Raja's home. Everyone was worried about the pile of notes remaining to be read. Some were half asleep. I was staring at the ceiling. Suddenly it struck me and before thinking much more on it, I blurted it out to the world for the first time- "Guys, What if today was tomorrow and tomorrow was today? Our exams are over now...Rejoice!!!" As they say, every great mind was ridiculed during his time. Socrates was stoned, Copernicus was beaten up...same thing happened with the brilliant me. But this didn't deter me. I came up with more theories on the same line which were well recieved with brickbats. Some more on the same line...

*"What if work was salary and salary was work? We would be getting salary every day and work only at the end of the month"

*"what if land was sea and sea was land?We would've so much more space to live and in turn real estate prices will be at their minimum, say 1 rupee for 1 acre."

*"what if India was pakistan and Pakistan was India? Today would've been Kasab's 1st death anniversary and lashkar would be referred in past tense"

*"what if rock music was carnatic and carnatic was rock music? Kirk Hammet and his likes will be sitting on the floor with a guitar on their laps and M.S.Subbalakshmi would've been headbanging."

*"what if face was ass and ass was face? Everyone would be a member of assbook. And kicking ass won't be a thing which everyone can do. And the dialogue- your ass looks so awesome- wouldn't get your ass kicked"

*"what if Bal thackerey was Manmohan singh and Manmohan singh was Bal thackerey during 26/11? Nothing would change. Maximum we can expect is a useless article in his yellow saffron mag saamna"


Many more applications of this theory are there. Not posting it because of its highly adult nature. Do contribute your own ideas of this theiry :P

your crusader Praveen

Stitched shoe & human nature

These days am obsessed with human nature, the way people behave differently to a particular situation. This started after watching the Charlie Kaufman movie 'Human nature', although the subject matter of the movie is entirely different. So, what do you think is the situation or object that I selected for this interesting and confusing study? Yes, its none another than my stitched woodland shoes. People who have met me might have noticed 2 ugly stitches on top of my shoes. How it came there is a story that goes back almost an year, around the time I bought the shoes. One day I woke up to see this shocking hole on top of my shoe, kept in a shoe rack. Obviously, a rat attack. Me not being a crorepati, I didn't throw away the shoes. Instead got it stitched from the cobbler. Some months later the other shoe met with the same fate. Now it started looking like an intentional stitch with both shoes sporting almost the same stitch. Anyway, my unclean shoes with those 2 stitches looks highly repulsive and doesn't like anything like an office goer's shoes.

So, let me get into how this is related with human behaviour. Its how people react when they see this particularly repulsive thing I proudly wear on my legs. When I walk along the street or stand somewhere or sit at the foodcourt, I've caught almost everyone passing me looking at the shoe. I'll classify the various reactions.

1. The slow and secret look- This is my favourite. These people strain their eyes and steal a glance at the shoe out of the corner of their eye. Some try too hard that their eyes almost go inside their ears. Some people end up with a look of contempt. Some just laugh privately at this beggar wearing a tie and listening to an ipod. These are the introvert, sometimes narrow minded people. They keep everything to themselves and form their own opinions without knowing the complete facts.

2. The In the face look- These people are mostly strangers to me. But they don't think twice before staring at the shoe and giving me 'The look'(called 'neglect look' in our local dialect spoken by a maximum of 10 people). They are the people who think themselves as perfect(while themselves wearing a torn socks or u/w) and appoint themselves to judge others.

3. The loudmouths- 'Man, what the hell are you wearing?', 'Is this professional?', 'Can't you buy a new shoe?' are some common reactions from loudmouths, mostly people I know. The trick is just to avoid the questions with a sweet smile. Its the same in everything in life. Just avoid this loudmouthed people. :)

4. The BBCs- If your mother-in-law's auntie's daughter's long lost friend rings you up and asks you about your torn shoe, chances are that your shoes have been noticed 1 minute back by a BBC(Bitching broadcasting corporation). These are the people who will tell whomever they meet about your torn shoe.

5. The straightforwards- They just ask "what happened to your shoe?", hear what you say and leave the matter behind. As simple as that.

6. The blabbermouths- They ask you about the shoe and gives you a history lesson on their own torn shoes. The talk will end with some 'gyaan' on the shoe thrown at George Bush or P Chidambaram.


People who find themselves in a classification they don't like, please forgive me. Its not your fault, its all because of my torn shoe. More studies will be done using more such objects. And now you know the reason why am still wearing that one year after it was torn. Here's a snap of the legendary shoe..

PS- I feel this is a very boring post. I was dying to write something and could come up only with this. Anyway I posted it...

your crusader Praveen