Sach Ka Saamna: Truth unleashed

Truth - 1. Something you speak only inside the star TV studio;
2. An extinct practice, of which no written records remain;
Latest updation to the crebster's dictionary

Mahatma Gandhi, a man who fought the British with his non-violent methods, a man who inspired millions of Indians to follow his path in fighting the mighty empire, a man whose simplicity captivated the whole world and a man who found success in almost all the endeavours in his life. Yet, there was one thing that worried him immensely. Even after writing a whole book on truth or projecting his own life as an epitome of honesty, he couldn't get most of his fellow Indians to speak the truth all the time. Infact, the politicians plunged more and more into a well of lies after independence. And keeping them as model, the layman also had his share of lies. Atlast, after more than 60 long years, Rupert Murdoch has succeeded what Gandhiji failed to do. Mudoch's star TV has come up with 'sach ka saamna', ironically a copied version of 'moment of truth', to make Indians speak the truth.

Murdoch must've realised that the only way to solve any problem in India circa 2009 is through reality TV. The reality madness has reached such heights that there's no point having many of the things outside the tv studio. We have reality romances, reality races, reality fights, reality marriages, reality honeymoons, reality bedroom scenes etc etc. Some people are known to even eat reality food and do reality shit on a reality closet and clean up with a reality tissue to conserve the really scarce reality water. So, in this wild scenario, why leave 'truth' behind? The day the show was announced, Gandhiji's autobiography was sold out from all the bookstores. Many of the tv addicts aspiring to take part in the show were seen studying the book intently on how to tell truth. Some popular page 3 ladies were reportedly searching for the spelling and actual meaning of the word 'truth' in the latest edition of crebster's dictionary.

As expected from the show, we had wives talking about how they cheated on their husbands, husbands talking on how they cheated both their wives and their girlfriends and many more similar episodes. The lie detector had a field day and even after revealing uncomfortable truths, the participants had to go back home empty handed to be received by a wife with slippers in both the hands. And then one fine day, the great Indian politician made a grant appearance in the show. He began to shock the audience with his 'truthful' dialogues. He never has accepted bribes and he calls himself to be a man who's free from corruption. The lie detector was uncharacteristically silent when he spoke. In the end, they came to the final question...

"Have you ever had extra marital affairs?"
"NO"

The audience gasped. Lie detector didn't make any noise this time too. He won the show. The lie detector stopped working the next day. A lie detector expert was flown in from Papua New Guinea(where lies are still not invented) to fix it up. He said that the lie detector is no more usable because extreme pressure conditions has damaged the lie detecting capabilities of the machine. It shut down itself because it failed to find proof that the politician was lying even after knowing that he was indeed lying. The man was telling lies so confidently that the machine couldn't detect even a single change in pulse or blood flow. So, after 21 big lies, he walked away with the grand prize. That was also the last episode of the show...

PS- I completed 4 years of blogging on July 3rd. My ever failing memory failed me this time too. So am posting this info 26 days late. And, in case I forget to tell, my birthday is on coming monday, August 3rd. And that makes my age, 24!!!!

your crusader Praveen

Jim Morrison Tribute in Trivandrum

Benny, Vivek,Nithin, Mithun- Break on through..

Last week, God's own country was in all its glory with the monsoon lashing out in its annual fury. Overflowing rivers, newly sprouting greenery, enchanting backwaters, cloud covered hill tops..it was heaven. A perfect atmosphere for the naadanpattu(country song) to add flavour to this already heady mix. But instead, Kerala rocked to the immortal tunes of a man who breathed his last 38 long years back. 'Break on through to the other side', a tribute concert to Jim Morrison, the enigmatic frontman of the legendary band 'Doors', took place at Taj Residency hotel in Trivadrum on Sunday evening.

'Avial' Rex

The idea of a tribute to Morrison in Trivandrum was frowned upon by many, as revealed by the organisers. But those were not enough to deter a bunch of inspired youngsters who soldiered on relenlessly under the name 'Magic bus'. The concert served as a successful debut for this event management company with big dreams. As I walked into the Taj, an unlikely venue for a concert, I could see all those familiar faces there, the leading lights of the Trivandrum rock scene. The concert started by about 8.30 and by that time the hall was almost filled up. That proved the fact that all the apprehensions regarding 'Morrison in Trivandrum' were misplaced.

'Motherjane' Baiju- Roadhouse 'carnatic' blues

Mary- Shaman's blues

The opening band was 'Kali', who did a decent version of 'Light my fire' to start off the proceedings. The words 'Come on baby, light my fire..Try to set the night on fire' were enough to fire up the proceedings. It was time for the main acts to take stage. Guitarist Rex and drummer Mithun from Avial came in alongwith Nithin, the lead guitarist of 'Rage'. 'Avial' bassist Benny and keyboardist Yakzan were the common factors for the whole show. Vivek, the vocalist of 'soulburn' sang the first 5 songs. The blast started with the 'Alabama song' asking for the way to the whiskey bar. Vivek's deep voice fit well to the mood of the doors songs. He also sang that highly energetic classic song 'break on through'. Nithin, who was back on stage after a pretty long time, slipped back into the groove as he revealed many flashes of his old legendary brilliance with 'rage'. Rex, Mithun and Benny, the avial team didn't have any problems in blending together seamlessly as always. Mary singing 'shaman's blues' was a refreshing touch to the evening. Its an irony that the actual song is in the form of plea by the shaman to his lover.

Sujith, Baiju, Mithun and Rex

JK blows the audience away

'Blues' Johny- 'people are strange'

'Avial' Tony- The ghost song

The much awaited entry of 'Motherjane' Baiju happened with 'L.A Woman'. The vocal duties were taken up by Sujith from 'Udaan'. The song which contains the famous anagram of Jim Morrison's name, 'Mr. Mojo Risin' was taken to another level by Baiju's individual brilliance. There were minute length solos amply supplied with his trademark carnatic flavour. The crowd which stayed back for the first few songs were now right in front of the stage. Particularly standing out was one sweet little girl from UK who was dancing around for all the songs. 'Chaos' JK announced his arrival with the most recognised and most played Doors song ever-'Roadhouse blues'. His good grounding in heavy metal meant JK's rendition gave some more raw energy to this great song. Also, appreciable is his ability to take the crowd into his hands from the minute he get on stage. Baiju blazed another killer solo in between this song. JK's 'maggie mcgill' was another notable performance of the evening. Amidst all this, there was Rex unassumingly delivering killer solos and precision rhythms. All through the show, he was the one who peppered it all up from the background. Not to forget, Benny's bass play. And, then there was Yakzan who handled the keyboards, one of the standout elements of Doors songs.

'Soulburn' Vivek- Light my fire

'Avial' Mithun

Trivandrum's own grand old man of Blues, Johny paid his tributes to Morrison with 'People are strange', one of the first doors songs I fell in love with mostly because of its simple lyrics. This short song was followed up with 'Love me two times'. 'Avial' Tony got 2 songs which best matches his usual onstage mannerisms- 'Riders on the storm' and 'The ghost song'. He was doing dance steps reminiscent of the legendary 'shaman's dance'. He also had this small bell like thing which he put to good use. JK was back again alongwith 'motherjane' John to finish off the tribute with 'changeling'. And to top it all, there was a surprise tribute to the one and only Michael Jackson at the end. Naomi took up the keyboard and singing duties joined by all the singers on stage to give a beautiful rendition of 'Heal the world'. It was a perfect end to a beautiful evening with the whole crowd singing along in respect to a true legend.

'chaos' JK- Roadhouse blues

'rage' Nithin n 'avial' Rex

Keyboard wizard Yakzan

Naomi and the whole crowd singing 'heal the world'

It was an one of a kind night in Trivandrum as some of Kerala's best rock artists ever came together to give us all a memorable evening. It was a true team effort wherein the absence of even one of them would've made the show paler for sure. For this day, they just put their busy schedules in the dustbin and dedicated to many days to practise. Special mention must be made of guys like Sabareesh and Rohit from 'magic bus' and 'rage' Nithin who tirelessly worked behind the stage to co-ordinate the whole event and make it a success of this scale. Bringing together such high profile artists, co-ordinating their schedules etc are no mean tasks. And this is just the start. More is in store, like tributes to Pink Floyd, Grateful dead etc already in the pipeline. This indeed is a new beginning in the Kerala rock scene. Best of luck guys!

More pics are uploaded in the picasa link here


your crusader Praveen

The Race

*****The Race******
Life's a heady highway, they say
Be in the race, else you pay.
People scramble to get ahead,
Of the nearest familiar head.

I lay there, on the divider
the glory of the open sky all over.
Wondering aloud on the mad fuss,
No one cares, else they miss the bus.

Why so serious?, the joker asked,
Hiding his sorrows behind the paint.
Why so happy?, the human asks,
Dipping his smile in sorrow's palette.

I have smiles to give,
hills to play, dogs to chase.
rains to dance in, grass to roll on,
And a family to share it all with.

They have careers to make,
bills to pay, goals to chase.
They also have the family to ignore,
And smiles thrown outta door.

They call me, a loser in life
They laugh at me from the finish line
I laugh back and say, you left 'life' behind.
Yes, I, life, was having all the fun
while you ran for that extra dollar..

PS- The snap was taken during last week's visit to Palakkad. Yes, I would like to do my life's race in this one. A slow bumpy ride enjoying the simple pleasures of life.. :)
For more snaps from my Palakkad sojourn, head over to my photo blog

Weekend info- If you are a rock fan and if you are in Trivandrum this weekend, Hotel Taj in Vazhuthacaud is the place to be. 'Break on through the other side', a tribute concert for Jim Morrison, the legendary vocalist of 'The Doors' is happening on Sunday evening. The event is being conducted by Magic bus, the event managing company. Prominent rockers of Kerala from bands such as Motherjane, Avial, Rage, Chaos etc will be there to entertain you with Jim Morrison's immortal songs. Yes, If 'Roadhouse blues' rings a bell for you, then head over to Taj... Am heading to TVM morrow evening :) Wish you all a happy weekend..

your crusader Praveen

Goofabhimani:when the media goofs up!

Goofabhimani n A newspaper/media house which loses its respect(abhimaan) because of a big goof up or blunder on the reporter's or editor's part.
(Latest word added to Pravster's concise dictionary)

Its not everyday that you get to see an established newspaper goofing up, right on front page. Well, Desabhimani, the malayalam daily's monday morning goof up became so popular that in the last 2 days, I've received atleast 10 forwards carrying this same stuff. Well, for the uninitiated, the report went like this- "Man creates world record by eating 68 dogs in 10 minutes". This rare news happened in one of those rare moments when the 'goofabhimani' editor was so excited with something else that he wouldn't even have noticed if a nude picture was on the front page. The actual incident is that there's a popular 'hot dog' eating competition in US and this man eat 68 'hot dogs' to create the record. Our poor reporter just copied it literally into malayalam. Am wondering, what the hell was the editor doing? Does this guy ever take a look at what is printed in his paper?

Infact, this paper is not new to the art of goofing up. If my memory serves right, this is the same newspaper which gave us that big breaking news last year- "All mobile incoming calls will be free from next week". Yes, this also resulted from another copying excercise gone bad. This time, they copied from a special anniversary issue of a national newspaper. As part of the anniversary, the newspaper had dedicated their first page to all the important news that happened in the last 10 years, one of which was the 'incoming calls free' news. And, our goofies in the newsroom just copied it without even giving a second glance at it. There was another big blunder last week from 'Malayala Manorama', the leading daily in Kerala as well as one of the masters of fake stories. This awesome find was made by blogger scorpiogenius. There was a news report on Planning commission Deputy Chairman M.S.Ahluwalia's comments on the budget. The only problem was the accompanying picture was not Ahluwalia's, but Nithari serial murderer Mohinder Singh.

This couple of ultra blunders set me thinking on some possible goof-up scenarios in the future. Some of those shocking possibilities-

1. You might one day wake up to the shocking news that 'Gandhiji is still alive'. Ofcourse, our newsmen would've confused himself when he saw a 100th anniversary special supplement on the 'salt satyagraha'.

2. New local bank named HSBC opening in Chavakkad junction. Reporter confused by HSBC's tagline 'The world's local bank'.

3. Smaller one wins in the fight of Tata sumos. The oversmart reporter inserted the word 'Tata' and overlooked the fact that it was a news item on Japanese sumo fighters.

4. Orkut stops sale of 'donuts'. A 'net-savvy' reporter misconstructs orkut's trademark server down reply, 'No donuts for you'.

5. Pop music played for the first time in holy vatican. A slight mis-reporting on the honourable pope's latest sermon in Vatican.

6. Maneka Gandhi plays cricket with right handed animals. original headline- Maneka Gandhi 'bats' for animal rights.

Lets brace ourselves for the goof up onslaught, courtesy the newspapers.

Image courtesy-Wikipedia

your crusader Praveen

Naming conventions

A page from my diary

Year 2019- My 7 year long world trip ended this year. Am returning to India from my last stop, Timbuktu. I got down at Mumbai airport to catch my connection flight to Trivandrum. The Timbuktu national airline 'boombakakku' gave me a rough ride and so I thought of catching some sleep on our good old Indian airlines. Hey stop, whats that name on the ticket? Na, Its not Indian airlines. Oh, they changed the national airlines name to Bajiv airlines. Whatever, Who cares anyway? Walking with sleepish eyes, I somehow managed to locate my seat. Even after travelling the world, I still love the window seat. And I love it even more when a beautiful lady sits beside me, which happened luckily this time too. She was carrying a cool handbag with 'Bahul bank of India' written on it. I thought it to be some local money lender or worse some new age bank. I started the usual 'sweet talk' without which no lady can escape from near me and thats when she told me that the Govt re-christened the state bank of India as 'Bahul bank of India'.

More sweet talks and then the food arrives. I take a glance at the glam airhostess. She didn't care to look at me and in her eyes, I could read a 'free from section 377' glow directed at my co-passenger. Seems like in 10 years, the law has done a lot of good, bad and bood. I finished the tasteless lunch and was cleaning my hands when the name on the tissue paper caught my eyes-'Driyanka caterers'. Aah! This is getting interesting. The next few days in my native country, I felt as if I was in an alien world ruled by a king obsessed with naming everything after his clan. Wherever I turned, the names of somebody from the clan was there. Travelling on the roads were a confusing excercise as Bajiv cross ended up in Bahul junction from where Bajiv double cross road started. The Driyanka main road was a stone's throw away from Jonia flyover which will get you to Bajiv circle. Its as if someone killed all our imaginative minds in the last 10 years. Did somebody mention thought police?

The old man at the pan shop told me that all this madness started some 20 years back. At first, it was some small roads which were named like this. Then, some big welfare projects also started getting these names. The turning point happened 10 years ago, when this big bridge over the sea in Mumbai ended up with one of these names. It was the work of some shameless sychophant. Our land boasting a big number of the sychophant creed, was not the same from that day. Almost everything in sight was renamed. There was no question on what the name of a new project will be. I felt like in a scary dream world which perhaps George Orwell would've articulated well if he had written '2019' instead of '1984'.

Depressed, I took a walk along that old road near the cemetry. This is the only place which has given me some solace and peace right from my school days. I plucked a rose from the wayside and decided to place it on the tombstone of our friendly old neighbourhood uncle. I walked in past the board of the cemetry, obviously named after the clan. But, I got the biggest shock of my life when I saw all the tombstones with a single name. Yes, one from the clan... Hey wait, did I just hear the clan's name being chanted from the nearby temple, mosque and church? I have to preserve this diary. I think this is the only thing in the whole of the country which doesn't carry the clan name..Oh No, What was I writing till now!!!

PS- Overheard from sychophant's house- "Lets ask Mayawati to name her statues after Bajiv!"

Image courtesy-cmpointer.blogspot.com

your crusader Praveen

Sakhi ka bhayankar Swayamvar

Sakhi Rawant. She's the heartthrob of millions. She has such a brilliant brain that the makers of google once visited her and requested her not to venture into the field of science and technology. Yes, they were scared that she would end their monopoly. She's so well versed in world affairs that she thinks Indiana is the capital of India. Take a look at this scene when she was reading newspaper last week. No, she doesn't subscribe to a newspaper. This bit of paper came to her wrapped around an aloo samosa.

"I ran elections a farce: Bush"
and now lets take a look at her thought process-
"What should I do if you ran the elections? And atleast learn the proper spelling of such a simple word as force."

One of her aunties recently gave an interview to dudlines today, India's No.1 newsentertainment channel. She fondly remembers Sakhi's childhood, when she developed this deep aversion to clothes. She was not always like this. Until she was 5 years old, Sakhi used to cover herself up from head to toe in woollen clothes even in summer. She used to even take bath with her clothes on. It all changed one day when she saw this rousing speech by a senior journalist in good old doordarshan. He was talking about 'press freedom' and poor Sakhi who was intelligent from birth heard it as 'dress freedom'. She threw away all her clothes and appointed herself as the world ambassador for dress freedom.

She had also developed many indigenous ideas to stay in the spotlight. One is obviously to follow the 'spotlight' relentlessly around the globe, until the tired 'spotlight' gives it up and rests upon her. Other ideas are like slapping her boyfriend in public, crying foul over lip locks and unlocks and ofcourse, item numbers. But all that pales in comparison to the latest master stroke from Sakhi Rawant- 'Sakhi ka swayamvar'. The wild lady has atlast decided to marry and being Sakhi, she wants to do it in her own crazy way. She has decided to do a reality tv style swayamvar in the latest entertainment channel, eNDineeTV unIMAGINEable*. Lakhs of intelligent good looking gentlemen from around the country applied to get into the show. In the end, Yamraj decided to give 'hell' to 16 of them. And, thus started the biggest spectacle in Indian television, the fineprint of which is "Will somebody please carry this burden home?"

The swayamvar reportedly started this week and is already topping the 'Tastelessly Rocking Programs(TRP)' charts. I was thinking on the various reasons for so many of India's youngsters taking this drastic step of applying for this show. The most obvious one is that the latest poisons available in the market are duplicate and ineffective. So, people are finding better ways to suicide, one of which is to take part in this show. Another might be a real bad girlfriend who slaps not only the guy but also his Father. Some might be there just for the spotlight. I really hope there's one guy who's there to pull a trick on Sakhi. And, I wish he somehow wins the show and when she runs with the garland towards him, he shows her the finger and walk off triumphantly. Only that will give peace to Vyasa maharshi who introduced the idea of Swayamvara in Mahabharatha. There was actually a report in HNN IBN, the official news channel in heaven, that Yama is planning to send Vyasa back to earth so that he could do a shift+delete of the 'swayamvara' part in Mahabharatha.

*eNDineeTV- literal translation in malayalam means 'what this TV is for?'

PS-eNDineeTV inIMAGINEable has no Relation with NDTV Imagine. The author has never ever heard of a lady named Rakhi Sawant or a show named 'Rakhi ka Swayamvar'.

pic courtesy-flickr

your crusader Praveen

How bad can the press get?

I was shocked after reading this article by Ajay on how one of Kerala's biggest mediahouses 'Malayala Manorama' played a stellar role in providing another roadblock for the Vizhinjam shipping terminal project. Its a must read article. Am saddened by the fact that the media which is expected to be a corrective influence are themselves playing the spoilsport. To fulfill their own selfish interests, medias like manorama are jeopardising the development of the state and the country. The basic standards in journalism are being broken by cooking up stories, false reporting and many such unhealthy practices. There's also selective reporting when they purposefully stay away from covering events which are not supporting their secret sinister causes. Seems like those ideals like media's commitment to the betterment of society have been sold to some street hawker who came to buy old newspapers. We have to stay away from newspapers like this. Please educate your friends and relatives on this.

Another recommended blog- My friend Rahul jumped into the blogworld recently with some meaningful posts. Do take a look here.

PS-One of my collegemates finished a 21 day trip around India some days back. He has covered places like Kargil, North-east etc. It was a small discovery of India in 3 weeks. I was surprised to hear about this trip since this been one of my dreams and its great to see someone actually ahving fulfilled it. And he did it all alone with awesome planning. Kudos to the guy. He has chronicled his travels day-by-day in this blog - One step closer to freedom

your crusader Praveen

A.K.Lohithadas: Writer par excellence

I hate writing tribute posts because those are the posts which I write after the death of men whom I admire. I never thought I'll have to write another tribute post in the gap of just 2 days. One of malayalam moviedom's most brilliant scriptwriters A.K.Lohithadas breathed his last, on Sunday at a private hospital in Cochin. A simple man, he revolutionised malayalam cinema after the era of stalwarts like Bharathan and Padmarajan.

There was a time when all it mattered to me was the actor on screen and a good story. Its only later when I started looking for the names of men behind the scenes, I came to know about many brilliant guys. And one of them was Lohithadas. The first film that comes to my mind is 'kireedom'. The character of Sethumadhavan played by Mohanlal is one which made all Malayalis cry. Its a very complex character depicting a myriad emotions and that one character is testimony to the class of the writer behind it. Or take 'balan maash' from 'Thaniyaavarthanam', one of his first screenplays. A normal person who ends up as a reflection of the society around him, which has gone mad beyond repair. It was also a story which ends in an unusual way, rewriting the normal trajectory of the 'climax' in malayalam cinema.

Then there are malayali's favourite musicals-'Bharatham' and 'His highness Abdullah'. He wrote 2 near perfect stories with a musical background. With the great Ravindran maash in full form, these movies created history. Mohanlal and Mammooty got some of their best roles in their life through the pen of Lohi. His partnership with director Sibi Malayil has yielded some of the best films ever in malayalam. A hallmark of his stories are that they don't have many trappings of a normal masala potboiler. There are no flashy characters in his stories. All of them have a heart and are characters that we see in everyday life caught in unusual situations. Mammooty's character in Valsalyam is one of those. A family man who has given everything to his family members ending up as an 'unwanted' element for the same people whom he helped. Movies like those were lessons in family values. Another brilliant one from Lohi is 'Veendum chila veettukaaryangal' where he showed the unusual friendship between a dad and son. The twist in the story is an absolute master class that it will make you smile and cry at the same time.

Another lesser mentioned quality in him is the eye for talent. He was one who introduced two of the most beautiful and gifted actresses in malayalam cinema- Manju Warrier and Meera Jasmine. These two went on to conquer malayalam cinema as well as other language films. His tryst at direction was not as fruitful as his writing career. But, there was brillaince there too in the form of 'Bhoothakkannaadi' and 'Kanmadam'. These films were noted for their powerful characterisations and unusual storylines. Then there were some absolute duds like 'chakkaramuthu', which doesn't deserve any mention at all. But that doesn't take away anything from the gifted writer that this man was. He has also played cameo roles in movies like 'Udayanaanu thaaram' and 'Veendum chila veettukaaryangal'. In those too, he used up his screentime to convey some important messages on life and film making. This is a man who lived and breathed cinema till the very end. For malayalam cinema already hurtling down the peaks due to the dearth of good writers, this untimely death comes as a shocking blow. Promising writers are few and far between. And there are not many who can fit into the shoes left behind by this great man.

your crusader Praveen

Michael Jackson: King Of Hearts

You' re not alone!

A word before I start the post- Those who are expecting to read the minute details about the bad side of MJ, the media hyped molestations, the plastic surgery rumours and all that, please stay away from this post. Because, this won't fit your taste which is tuned to 'page 3 rumour' frequency. This also won't fit the taste of certain posers who think listening to MJ is a kind of debasement for their rocker sensibilities and image. (All Offense Meant to someone)

Frozen in history

Friday morning. I woke up to few messages waiting for me in my mobile, most of them from old school friends whom I haven't contacted in a while. The contents of all those were the same. I don't know what I felt, it maybe shock, it maybe unmentionable sadness or simply, it may be a void. Whatever it was, I was sure another part of my 'growing up' memory is gonna change into ash in the next few days. The freeze framed tip toe stand in the 'Billie Jean' video has been freezed forever. The moonwalk has been stopped while it was on the last step of revival. Those familiar high pitched screams has died out, with only echoes left from the throats of the fans the world over and from the millions of albums sold. A life custom-made by God to entertain human beings has ended prematurely. Michael Joseph Jackson, the 'crowned' king of pop has bid adieu to the biggest stage of them all- Life.

My introduction to MJ happened somewhere around the time I joined 2nd standard. There was a college guy in the neighbouring house behind mine, in Trivandrum. I used to hear all kind of music from there. Its from there that I heard music as varied as Rahman's Roja and Khaled's Didi. And its where I discovered one of the biggest music legends of all time-MJ. I still remember it was the song 'Beat it' that I heard standing at the door of our kitchen. I could recall it because he was playing it in a loop, rewinding that single song non-stop. I went to him after sometime(he was still playing the song) and asked whose song is that. He pointed to the wall. There he was, with a menacing pose, clad in an all black in a white background with the word 'Bad' and the name 'Michael Jackson' written on it. I hadn't seen that poster before there. Maybe, that was the time he also discovered MJ. Anyway, the poster left me confused, "Why would anyone add 'Bad' to their own name?' It took me some more years to realise that its the name of one of his iconic albums.

This is how I saw MJ for the 1st time..The BAD cover

Anyway, from that day, the name Michael Jackson carried with it some enigmatic power. I had to wait some more years to get hold of my own MJ cassettes and CDs which were too expensive unlike my other favourite, A.R.Rahman(which my parents were happy to buy me). Still, I grew up with his music I heard from elder friends. Some months after getting hooked to that non stop 'beat it' from the neighbourhood, the same guy told me that he has a surprise for me. It was a VHS cassette of some of his videos. That was the day I was completely mesmerised by the phenomenon that was Jackson. It was untold joy as video after video of some of those familiar songs reeled in. I had a doubt whether a human being can dance like this. The ones which got all my adrenaline overflowing where the live concerts in which he unleashed all his creative powers. The scenes of the fans crying on catching their first glimpse of him, of them falling unconscious all contributed to the aura around him. The moonwalk had me standing up in awe. From that day, he was there on a pedestal alongwith all my music Gods.

When MJ came to India in 1996(Pics courtesy-clubmj)

Michael Jackson came on the world music scene as a kid singing such sweet melodies as 'I'll be there', alongwith his brothers. Even in those videos, you can see the developing shades of a legendary performer who can arrest the attention of his audience. It was the time when rock music was ruled by the 'glam rockers', who were musically inferior compared to their classic rock predecessors. The MTV was just starting to spread out. And when MJ came in with his pop outburst, he could grab the attention of all music lovers, notwithstanding genre. It was this single quality that made him a household name, whom even the Grandmother could identify (remember your grandma's dialogue- "why are you growing your hair like Michael Jackson?"). And its one status, no other musician in the world can ever dream of getting. Not even legends like Cobain, Hendrix or Mustaine can match that popularity. I have seen some autos in Trivandrum with MJ staring at you from the inside walls. Then there's the army of imitators. Every small town all over the world has a bunch of Jackson imitators, the die hard fans who dress like him, grow hair like him and try to dance like him. Its still a staple item in school and college festivals. And most of us have our history of trying out his steps secretly and failing badly at it. I caught hold of almost all his works and live shows thanks to a bunch of friends and the birth of the internet age. I remember how even my parents who were never fans of western music were completely blown away by the MJ Live videos I showed them.

The best selling album of all-time and one of the greatest music videos ever- Thriller

One of my favourite MJ poses. Worthy of a KING!

In school, we had a bunch of Jackson maniacs who used to discuss every detail of him. Years later, after a journey through boy bands and many crappy pop hits, I dived full length into rock and heavy metal. But MJ's music stayed on just like Rahman's. Many posers who call themselves as die hard rockers dismiss MJ as uncool. But the truth is, every rock fan my age had a period in their life when they worshipped Jackson as music God. Some of these posers still do, but are scared to admit fearing a 'loss of image'. The later years of MJ were a pain to his fans with bad news constantly streaming in. But fans like me found it hard to believe. His was a complex life of unprecedented stardom, controversies, big money, fall from grace, big debts and more. Its as if he lived the life of many men in one single life. He was a child who refused to grow up, the finest example of it being his mammoth neverland mansion. He had a mini amusement park inside that and also housed pets like chimpanzee. Maybe, he was trying to recapture the childhood that he lost when his father terrorised him and his siblings to practice non-stop and perform on stage. At the same time, he was also a man who was concerned about social issues. Songs like 'Heal the world', 'Earth song' and projects like 'USA-Africa(We are the world) show the socially conscious side of him. He also donated heavily to charity, having the record of supporting more charities than any other artist.
Performing with the legendary Slash- He always hired the best guitarists

If the definition of a 'well-lived life' means to entertain people and making them happy, then there can be no better synonym for that than Michael Jackson. But, there were those big failings which are hard to ignore. Even so, there's hardly anyone who has given so much hope and so much joy to millions in every nook and corner of the world. There are those who live through their lives as unknowns. There are others who gain wide popularity all over the world. Then there's Michael Jackson, a man who was once voted as the most recognised human being on the planet. MJ, Thank you for the music and for the days of joy that you gifted to all of us. You're gone a little too soon. Then, as George Harrison told, 'All good things must pass'. You were not simply good. You were simply the best and the greatest.

Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Gone Too Soon

-Gone too soon by Michael Jackson(written in memory of Ryan White)

your crusader Praveen

The Story of Anvil

We all have heard the stories of metal bands which make it big. Those make for compelling viewing. We love to see their God-like lifestyle, their constant touring, petty fights. There were many documentaries made on the rich and the famous bands, the Metallicas, Maidens, Megadeths. Amidst all this is a great metal band which most of us never ever heard of. A band which inspired iconic bands like Metallica and Motorhead. A band which used to play along with Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and the like at the start of the 80s. A band which faded out 2 years before Metallica and Slayer made their big impact. The band is Anvil.

The movie directed by a long time 'Anvil' fan Sacha Gervasi, is more of a human story than a rock documentary. It starts off with that super rock concert in Japan in 1984 where Anvil played along with Scorpions, ACDC and a host of other big bands to some big crowds. From there, it cuts back to present day Canada, the home of the band. The band's frontman Steve 'Lips' Kudlow is working for a catering service and drummer Robb Reiner is hard at work in breaking concrete. Hardly the kind of work rock stars are expected to do. Alas, they never made it to rock stardom. Somewhere along the way, they started a downward spiral with bad management(They didn't even have a manager) and cheating by record labels. But Lips and Reiner stuck it together as buddies and kept their hopes alive. They still played at small shows along with the 2 new band members who joined 10 years back. And, as a ray of hope, they receive a mail from a fan who has fixed up concerts for them in Europe. But, the hope soon dies down as they end up playing in
small pubs with 5 to 10 people. They travel in buses, trains. They wait on empty roadsides. Its nothing like the typical world tour that you associate with a band. Many of the pub owners refuse to pay them. The fan(now also the manager) doesn't help things with her inability to communicate properly in english. Its back to the same old boring dayjob for Lips and Reiner again.

Even after so much of disappointments and rejections, they never lose hope. As Lips says after returning from that bad European tour, 'I enjoyed every bit of it although things didn't go well'. Its their passion to make it big atleast once before they die that make them carry on even at that old age. Their families stand by them all through. They decide to record their 13th album 'This is 13' and contact music producer Chris Tsangarides who has worked with Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and also on one of Anvil's previous albums. He agrees to do it for them but money becomes a problem. Lips tries a job as a telemarketeer at one of his fan's firms. But he couldn't adjust to it. Atlast, the family man gets rewarded for being loyal to his family all through. His elder sister pays for the recording. After stormy recording sessions which included fights between Lips and Reiner, they make the record. But the record companies refuse to take it. And in the end, they themselves release it.

And then it comes. History repeating itself after almost 30 years. An invitation to play in a big rockfest in Japan. They are upbeat as they come out of Tokyo airport. As a last twist of fate, they find their concert time to be 11.30 AM. They are shattered thinking that no one's gonna turn up at that time. As they walk from their room to the venue, you also will start praying for the venue to have atleast a 1000 people. Much to the band's surprise, they see a full house waiting in anticipation for Anvil's return. They give it their best. Their hardwork and the long wait for 30 years has found its results. Though they may never reach the league of Metallica or Slayer, their touching story of determination amidst a hell lot of failures will forever inspire us.

Its not about how many records you sell. Its about doing what makes you happy even if it doesn't pay you the dividends that you expect. Its about sticking on with your buddy and with your family even when the times are not that good. Its about giving it your best even if you are playing to a one man audience. Its about the love for Rock N Roll.

your crusader Praveen