I wish: An appeal to Racists

Racism is the buzzword everywhere these days. An ugly centuries old practice which died and got revitalised a thousand times has reared its ugly head again. For every Hitler, there was a Jesse Owens or Rosa Parks who stood up(or sat down) for their own self respect. Times changed, the Berlin wall fell, terms like reverse racism began to be heard. Neo Nazis were also seen in many mean streets around the world. Then came President Obama and the world believed that racism died its least death. But, let me tell you, this guy called 'racist' is a tough nut who lives inside each one of us. Some among us carry so much love that the racist in them dies an early death, drowning in that love poison. Many among us take our time to cultivate love and kill him. And, a handful among us cultivate hate and thus making him grow into a monster and take them over. He makes them do all kinds of nasty things like the ones we see in Australia these days, where Indians are finding it hard to just walk on the streets. And while we look and point fingers at those monsters, we shouldn't forget the monsters living within us and among us. Am sure no one needs lessons on India's ugly caste structure and the unhealthy reservations, which are supposedly magic potions which can wash away years of caste oppression.
Wherever it happens, lets just stand together and boot out racism. Hate of the highest order, the one set on blind and high principles, can be broken down only with love of the highest order. Lets make use of the ultimate weapon in this war which needs to end atleast in this century. Lets all kill the racist within us before we demand the execution of the racist under trial. Below is a poem which I wrote yesterday night regarding this subject. Its the story of 2 brothers. One is the son of a black man and the other, of a white man. But, they same out of the same womb, whose colour they didn't notice. The poem is an appeal from the black brother to his white brother....

*********I wish......... ********
I wish you saw your own eyes better
And looked inside your narrow heart.
Your black and white eyes know better,
than your white skinhead brain.

I wish these were physical boundaries,
instead of the thorny hate thoughts.
I can endure a torn bloody flesh,
But I fail before those invisible slurs.

I wish God was not such an artist,
Or somebody just stole his colour palette.
He should've coloured us all the same
Or just made us all colour blind.

I wish you gave a pat on my back,
than that shattering slap on my face.
O brother, I can take a million more of those,
Only if you could shower a drop of love.

I wish you saw beyond all those clouds,
I wish you saw the futility of hate,
I wish we all could live and help live,
I wish the world opened its eyes, atleast for once..



Pics courtesy- from the net.

your crusader Praveen

Sam Anderson: The Phenomenon

If you know malayalam, better read the Malayalam version of this post HERE.

It was some months back that we all heard about the brilliant actor called Sam Anderson. His dance sequences and breathtaking dialogue delivery has been floating around as popular forwards for quite sometime. Some months back I got the full DVD of Sam's one and only movie. Though I been planning to watch it for a longtime, I never got the courage to sit and watch it alone. Its in this scenario that I got an opportunity to watch it this saturday. Some of our old collegemates were here for a get together this past weekend. About 10 of them, who had arrived from places like Trivandrum, Hyderabad and Mumbai, had reached our flat o Friday itself. Thats when we had the idea of using them as guinea pigs for the Sam movie experience.

As decided by me, Raja and Praveen, we made an announcement on Saturday morning- "We are gonna play for you a superb new 'adult' movie. On hearing this, all the guys who were half asleep and lazing around, jumped up and shouted in unison- "Play it right now". So, we played for them the DVD of that classic Tamil movie then itself. Movie's name "Yaarkku yaaro Stepney" (who's whose stepney). Don't laugh at that crazy title. Its only towards then climax that you will realise the hidden inner meanings of this title (Provided you are alive at the time of the climax). The movie started with a song sequence featuring a heroine whose face can give nightmares to draculas. As the song gets over, her gold chain is robbed by some filthy looking robbers. Thats when our great hero Sam bhai makes his grand entry. He zooms in on a scooty and shattering with it all accepted norms of the looks of a hero. The robbers escaped. He rescues the heroine and starts with his superb dialogue delivery. The guys who were waiting to see an 'adult' stared impatiently at us. Some of them, who realised that this was our plan to fool them started making plans to beat us up. One guy who still hadn't given up his hope began fast forwarding in search of that elusive 'adult scene'. Anyway, in the end, we all decided to watch the whole movie.

The next 2 hours we all sat with wide open mouths watching Sam's adventures on screen. His acting is beyond the capabilities of a normal human being. There's no such thing that can be called an 'expression', on his face. There's only a constant 'rare' expression on his face. He's the only actor on the face of the earth who can deliver dialogues like "I love you", "She left me" and "I will kill you" with not a single change in facial expressions. When he delivers his dialogues, his eyes will be focussed mostly on the floor or the walls. He also has the habit of putting out his tongue occasionally. Also, his seals his mouth the moment he finishes his dialogue. In almost all the scenes, he appears by proudly projecting his big belly. He also has the habit of frequently staring at the camera. Sam's highlights are the song sequences. He has the ability to carry a whole song with his shoulders alone. This awesome dance step is known as "shoulder shake".

Now, talking about the movie, its even better. A guy called Joe stanley has handled the story, screenplay, direction, music, lyrics etc of the movie. When we did a search on him on the net, it didn't yield much results. My suspicion is that our Sam himself is Joe. Anyway, the whole movie is filled with moments which are brilliantly directed. I think the director just hung the camera somewhere and asked some random people to do whatever they like. The locations of the song sequences are praiseworthy. Its a ploughed up waste land which normal humans will think twice before using even as a toilet. In one of those scenes, you can even see a stray dog walking in the background. And the songs are even better. The song starting with "raasathi enn aasai raasathi" is on all our lips now. Sam's 'action song like' steps, the shocking smile and that stylish walk showing off the big belly adds to the beauty of the songs. Sam's character named David is an automobile engineer. He has hung several car designs all around his office, with most of the designs looking even worse than a nursery kid's crayon work. One of the 2 heroines always comes to his office and all these scenes start with the girl saying 'Hi David'. There are atleast 5 scenes like this. Sam's aim is to build a car costing Rs.70,000. Its being said that Ratan Tata came out with Nano after being inspired by Sam's movie.

In this movie, you will laugh at all scenes except those deliberately intended for comedy. The highlight of the movie is the climax. A girl whom Sam used to flirt with and later fooled, arrives with a stepney tyre. After rolling it towards Sam and his girlfriend, she says-"Stop seeing me as a stepney". Pat comes Sam's explanation-"You are the step which helped me to scale up the heights. Step nee(step you), step nee, step nee. I have never seen you as a stepney". God! we all really cried at that scene. After this, Sam and his girlfriend starts walking around his car imagining it to be the holy fire. After this, they head straight to Canada. By the time the movie ended, we all had become Sam Anderson fans. Most of them copied this movie to a DVD before they went back so that they could share it with their friends. I also joined in his orkut fan club. This film is a must watch for all movie buffs. If anyone has any doubts regarding whats acting, show them this movie. That will be the last time they will have that doubt.

PS-If anybody wants the DVD of this classic movie, contact me.

Don't miss these awesome clippings from the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0iXYpHXWIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRPPCdatuPo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urN6mrM8iAw&NR=1

your crusader Praveen

Junkyard Groove: Live in Bangalore

There's no other perfect way to start a weekend than with a rocking concert. And, for the second week running, me and some of my metalhead friends here had just that perfect start. This week it was Junkyard Groove, the popular band from Chennai. This band which came into the limelight 3 years back by sweeping almost all awards at the popular rock fests around the country, been on the list of my favourite Indian bands for a pretty long time. This concert was part of the tour promoting the release of their debut album 11:11[bootleg].

Me and Nikhil headed home from office to get the bike and cam. And to our utter shock, my bike was missing. My roomie Praveen and some of our collegemates who came from Trivandrum had taken it to Forum. So, it was an impatient wait for half and hour, as the concert was scheduled to start at 7 PM. The Kyra theatre in Indiranagar which opened recently has already hosted many concerts. But, this was our first time there as we had to miss the earlier ones due to clash of dates with bigger concerts elsewhere. As we reached there, Navi was waiting and we came to know that Junkyard show is scheduled to start at 9Pm only. A band called 'crosswindz' from Kolkata were playing. They concentrated mainly on playing covers. They did good work in some of the songs. But, after a point it became kinda monotonous and also their original song was also not that exciting. The guitarist Tuki was doing a good job. The drummer was a grand old man who looked almost 60. The female singer looked like she was getting bored on stage. Pappu came in late as usual. The pricey menu made us opt for pure water. Then, we spotted the guys from Junkyard groove trooping in and settling at the back. We met them, bought their CDs, got in autographed and clicked some pics with them. They were all approachable and friendly. After that, it was another long wait for them to start. The 'crosswindz' show was going bad towards the end with some horrible toned down covers of songs like 'Enter sandman' and 'Wasted years'. 'Junkyard Groove' took quite sometime in setting up it all. Ameeth, the vocalist took a 2 minute 'pee break' before the show, with the permission of the audience. Siddarth, the guitarist took a 'drinks break'. During the extra long sound check, they played riffs from songs like 'Enter Sandman'. And, atlast it started and then it was a blast..

Sid, in a pose so reminiscent of SLASH

Craig, the bassie

Ameeth on vocals

Maynard on drums

Belting out all those crowd favourites from the album, they had the crowd singing with them from the word go. Fans were crying for their imaginatively named song 'Folk you', right from the start. Its a superb blend of English and Tamil lyrics and the main chorus inspired from an old Malayalam folk song. My 2nd favourite of the evening was 'Its ok'. With the simplest of lyrics and a catchy guitar hook, this is easily one of their most recognised songs. Part of the lyrics goes like this

"This is a story of a girl
Who falls in love with a boy
A story not meant to be
But she could never see
She lived a life to be free
Believed in what would set her free
Knew no cast knew no creed
Only what she believed
In him she believed
In him she wanted
In him she needed
Something she could never find
And all they found
Was a little bit of misery
And nothing at all

It's ok
It's alright
We are the same
And there is no need to cry"

Craig's going crazy!

Ameeth is in a mood to smile!

Infact, what makes this band so lovable is the simplicity and hummable nature of their songs. Ameeth, a vocalist of immense talent brings in that warm feeling to their songs. Siddarth with his long curly locks was looking almost like Slash on stage. His leads has a tinge of nostalgia. The feel-good factor in almost all their songs is the result of his leads and those simple hummable choruses. Craig, the lean guy handling the bass is another great artist who adds value to the band. His funkish bass lines gives the JYG songs that extra punch. I also love the way he jumps on stage. Maynard, the man behind the drums is unlike the rest of the members in demeanour and in his mature ways. He is like a dignified contrast of the mad asses that the rest of the band are on stage. Its a perfect combo. Of the new songs I heard at the concert, I loved 'Hold' and 'Twinkle'. 'Hold' especially was notable for its slightly carnatic style guitar at the start. They did an encore of 'folk you' by audience request, at the end. The one song I missed at the show was 'Imagine'. On the whole, it was a great start to a great weekend.

Me, Navi & Izafeer with Junkyard Groove

Nikhil, Navi and Izafeer with JYG

Had awesome fun on Saturday and Sunday, with 10 of our old collegemates landing up at our flat. 3 days of pure unadultered fun. And should I add that this is one of those mondays I wished never existed? I would better say one of all those mondays...

PS- Those who still haven't had a taste of this wonderful band, please listen to some samples at any of these sites..

http://myspace.com/junkyardgroove
http://reverbnation.com/junkyardgroove
http://junkyardgroove.net

Also checkout the music video of their popular song 'Its Ok', which was released last week. According to Ameeth, this fun video was shot at a shoestring budget of Rs.3500, including the charge for booze. Mind you, these guys are some of the heaviest drinkers on the circuit. So you can very well imagine the budget of the video, which may be even a single digit number. Still, its one hell of a video. Don't miss it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hysn81F8fgE

All the pics from the concert are uploaded @ my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crusadertvm/sets/72157618984268702/

your crusader Praveen

Song of the season

Warning:Following is a real crazy story written when I was in one of those rare demented moods. Am not responsible for any damage done to the brains after reading this.

It was a routine day for me. Carrying that worn out and 'almost dead' acoustic guitar on my back, I walked on under the hot sun. Street singing is not the best of jobs in the world. Many times, I've overheard high flying execuitives lamenting, 'Wish I could spend all day in the world of music. Wish it were my work'. I can't help but laugh at those romantic fools. Its that same old 'grass is greener on the other side syndrome'. It need not be green at all, sometimes it can be real black too. But, don't think am one of those idiots who is highly frustrated with his job. Though I have to walk miles, strum and sing non-stop, I do love it for the unlimited experiences it gives me. Now, you may be wondering -"This guy speaks like one who has done his english masters." No, I have never seen the gates of a school. All of it was passed on to me by my legendary grandfather who didn't have a penny to his name. All he possessed was an ocean of knowledge, this guitar on my back and a great collection of old music records from the days of Presley and Rafi to those of ACDC and Rahman. Those were the alms he got from some music lovers who were mesmerised by his brilliance. When he died towards the turn of the millennium, he left it all to me. That was the day I started my job of singing on the streets.

Though I intoduced myself as a street singer, am more of a train singer. There's nothing like walking the whole length of an Indian railways train and singing to such a diverse bunch of people. Somebody rightly said, to see the real India, travel in the trains. Today also am singing in the train heading to Chennai. As the loco pulled out of the sleepy Trivandrum central station, I started the day's work with an 'okyish' rendition of the classic 'Wish you were here' by Pink Floyd. Most of the time I get such crazy stares when I sing english songs. Sometimes people make me stop it and ask to sing in one of the million Indian languages. I, for my part, has made it a point to learn atleast one hit song from all the major languages in India. The train is not very crowded today, so I don't expect much of a collection today. In one of the cubicles, there was an old man with long hair and a pure white beard. The wrinkles on his face gave him an aura of respectability. I hope I'll look half as good as him when am his age.

"You sing pretty well, young boy"

"Thank you, sir"

"Can you sing me a devotional song?"

"Sorry sir. Am an atheist."

The old man smiled knowingly.

"My dear kid, Don't you know that you can be an atheist and still sing a devotional song? A devotional song need not be one which has chantings of one or the other God's name. It can be a supposedly devilish song like 'Number of the beast'. What matters is the frame of mind with which you sing. An 'angel of death' sung with all your heart makes more effect on God than a 'Krishna Begane' sung with a dirty mind."

Yes, He had a point. But, I hate it when people give me such boring sermons. Anyway I will sing some song for him and try to get something from him. As I finished singing 'Nothing else matters', I saw him shaking his head in a disappointed manner.

"What is it? You didn't like my song?"

"Not that. I liked your song. But you did the same mistake that I did 50 years back. Rather, I repeated the mistake."

"What???"

"Ok, Let me make it clear. Its now year 2060. I (or rather we) am already dead. Today morning, I stumbled upon a time machine in heaven. And, I had no doubt to which period I wanted to travel. This day in the train had changed my life forever. I was there at your place 50 years back and there was an old man like me who time travelled from heaven to alter this scene. You were not supposed to sing. You just had to appreciate the sermon I gave and keep quiet."

"OOOps"

"Didn't you wonder that you will look like me when you get old? You were right. But that was the only time you were right. Now, this scene will repeat again 50 years down the line. And you will be in my place then. Lets hope that the guy in your place doesn't mess it up then. Now, go and live that same old life with the same old scenes for 49 more years. Lets hope for the change atleast next time around."

Weekend Concert Update-

Watch Junkayrd Groove, the awesome band from Chennai performing Live in Bangalore at Kyra theatre in Indiranagar. Time - Friday 7 PM

For those in Mumbai and Pune, Motherjane is launching the myspace India secret shows alongwith Scribe and Black at Bandra amphitheatre. Time - 6 30 PM

your crusader Praveen

Sadistic pleasures

One morning last week, I happened to read a forward on moments which make us happy. Dont know why, may be because of my sadistic mood, I didn't find it that much interesting. And that set me thinking on ways to get sadistic pleasure. Here are some of the ideas that I arrived at..

1. Tying together the tails of 2 dogs
2. Spraying petrol on to a cigarette being smoked by your neighbour.
3. Putting chilly powder in your friend's contact lenses.
4. Putting your leg in the way when your friend is running to catch the bus.
5. Dropping a big stone over the head of a sleeping beauty.
6. Putting a scorpion inside your friend's shoes.
7. Drawing a perfect replica of an underwear over your friend's pants(at the right place).
8. Dipping someone's toothbrush in the closet.
9. Pouring coffee over someone's new white shirt and saying "sorry, couldn't spread it properly"
10. Hypnotize your friend. Make him tell everything(about his secret affairs). Shoot everything on a high definition cam and send it to his girlfriend.
11. Cutting a big hole at the centre of someone's umbrella and nicely folding it back during rainy season.
12. Unplugging the spark plug of someone's bike and make them kick to glory. And then make them roll it slowly to the mechanic shop.
13. Increase the volume of the ipod to max and pplay death metal when someone is blissfully sleeping with the sound of light music in their ears.
14. Spray orange shell juice or onion drops into someone's eyes.
15. Pour some super glue into the steps of an escalator. (Contributed by my friend Nikhil)

PS- Just a fun post. Don't take it seriously. And don't try this at home. Am not responsible for any loss of skin or swollen cheeks.
your crusader Praveen

Iron Maiden: Flight 666 The movie

Those who have seen Iron maiden's Rock in Rio 1985 live concert video won't have any doubt if they are asked the question, 'Which is the religion having most number of followers in the world?". The concert which happened 25 years ago was attended by 3 lakh die hard fans. And when they came back there in 2001, they still had 2.5 lakh fans waiting there. The band which started 34 odd years back, when our parents were still in college has now grown into a worldwide religion. There's not a country on the face of the earth without a sizeable population of Iron Maiden fans. All this was achieved with not even a single article in mainstream newspapers or a single song of theirs being played in any mainstream radio station. So, when they started their latest world tour titled 'Somewhere back in time' with songs from their heydays in 80s, they decided to visit previously unvisited places like Costa Rica, Colombia and Puerto Rico. And, following the band on the first leg of this world quest is Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, the guys behind those path breaking documentaries 'Metal:A headbanger's journey' and 'Global metal'.

The route of the tour

Maiden with their Boeing-Edd force one

The documentary starts off with the staple concert starter 'Aces high' and halfway through it cuts back to the preparations prior to that. The first leg of the tour itself is hectic and mammoth, covering 23 cities around the world in 45 days. And, this almost impossible schedule is made possible by their own Boeing 747, titled 'Edd force one' and with that magic number 666. They also needn't pay for the pilot because Bruce Dickinson, their brilliant vocalist is a man who rides boeings for fun. The plane carried all their equipments and stage props. The tour starts off from our own Mumbai. Its looks as good as any international rock venue. From there, its a whirldwind ride as they travel around the world to play for their fans. Their versatality is proved in the scenes where they are shown engaging in sports as varied as tennis, golf and football in their spare time. And they have guys like Wimbledon champion Pat Cash to play along. Compared to the other 2 documetaries of his, Sam Dunn has relegated himself to the background and let the band run the show. The narrations are few and far in between. The band comes off as a down to earth, easy to approach bunch of gentlemen who stays away from drugs and doesn't booze much. Posers who do drugs and drinks just for the sake of that age old slogan should try to learn from these seasoned campaigners.

The allrounder-Pilot and Vocalist Bruce Dickinson

Bruce doing what he does best-Commanding the crowd

The real spirit of what Maiden means to the fans is revealed in the South American leg of the concert. There were crowds matching Rio De Janeiro in Mexico city, San Jose and Bogota. The scene in Columbia where the fans came and lived in tents near the concert venue even 1 week before the concert made for great viewing. It was a country where Maiden was banned sometime back for their supposedly Satanic lyrics. Only the fans know that its anything but supporting Satan. A guy called 'Father of Iron Maiden' with 100s of tattoos all over his body amused everyone. It was also a great sight to see legendary artists like Kerry King, Lars Ulrich and Tom Morello queuing up like fans to meet them. Life on the road touring is not as easy as we think whatwith these people having to brave injuries, ill health etc and come on stage with all their energy as usual. Talking about energy, I don't think there's a more energetic band that too at the tender ages nearing 60.

Watching Maiden in a movie theatre was a different experience though it was nowhere close to being in a concert. Only a handful of people were in the theatre and most of them were swaying their heads when the songs were being played. This docu made me understand the enormity of the historical concert we all watched live some months back in Bangalore. It was a fitting finale for a well made documentary with 'Hallowed be thy name', a song which has served as an introduction to many of us to the phenomenon that is Iron Maiden. I sometimes wonder about the people who have never listened to a Maiden song or seen a Maiden concert. How many have died without ever hearing their name. Aren't we all fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the magic of Maiden? So, if any of you who is reading this, have never experienced what Maiden is, its time. You been losing out on something. Get in the bandwagon before its too late. Even if you don't, its ok. Because, as Sam Dunn says, 'We all are doing just fine without you'.

PS- The journey to the theatre was an eventful. Me and Nikhil rushed from office to home, jumped on the bike and sped to Fun cinemas, the location of which was still a mystery to us. We made it a point to get stuck at almost all the red lights in between our home and the multiplex about 15kms away. At a point, we almost gave up hope. Then I told him, 'Bruce God(Maiden vocalist Bruce) will help us'. It was a miracle that we reached the theatre right in time just as the screen flashed the name Iron Maiden. Before that, I had to hastily answer a security lady who asked me, 'where did you get that Iron Maiden T shirt?'. An Iron Maiden poster was given free with the tickets and it is now waiting to adorn the walls of my room.

your crusader Praveen

Assbook,Farkut and Shwitter-Networking unleashed

Year 2049 ( not taking 2050 because everything is uncool after Harman Bhaweja uses it)

"I saw my grandmother for the first time today"
- Raj, a 50 year old's status message on the popular social networking site 'Assbook'.

"I never knew my house had a door through which I can get outside. Hey, I never knew there existed a world outside my home. But, I didn't see anyone alive outside."
- Samir, a 20 year old's status message in the networking site 'Farkut'(the 2nd vowel and the alphabet preceeding it is silent in the name)

"God, I just heard about a hurricane that lashed all over a country called USA. I feel sorry for the people there. Thank God, am in America."
-George, a 30 year old's latest message in the micro messaging site 'Shwitter'. This happened to be his last message there.

"Daisy said its safe because she's on pills"
-Shanth, a 5 year old kid famous for his anger, puts this message in the site 'Parending'


Nowadays, many people spent half of their life in on or the other social networking sites. When the orkut fad started way back in college, I thought everyone's excitement about the new medium will die down in a few days. But, it has only increased manifold with even sites in local languages catering to the kuttappans and thankappans of social networking. Facebook overtook orkut in popularity. Then came the path breaking micro messaging service, twitter. All of a sudden every filthy celebrity worth his/her salt is seen on twitter, creating records with the number of followers. Its a syndrome of 'Oh-u-r-so-uncool-if-u-r-not-on-twitter' all of a sudden. People have started updating the status of whatever they are doing right then online, to be read by their friends as well as millions of others on the net. With the convenience of updating status even from a mobile phone, we have some really wonderful realtime status messages to view everyday. Some samples.

"Right now having a hard time at the loo. Hope to finish this by EOD(End Of Day, for the uninitiated)"-Software engineer updating from the nearest restroom.

"Sending this update under trying cicumstances. Girlfriend has got one of her legs on my chests and a broomstick in one of her hands."

"The patient is crying out of pain. Forgot to give him the anaesthetic. Anyway its late, so thought I would let you all know this"- update from a doctor.

"Just baffled the interviewer with my quick wit. He's waiting for me to finish this tweet update"- youth at an interview.


Its all going to a point where people can never even think of living without this. Every small thing you do is paraded before the world as a soap opera. People talk more to the PC than their immediate neighbour. As the world shrinks, people are also shrinking inside. I may sound pessimistic. The Orwellian fan inside me makes me think that the whole internet is a big thought control mechanism where slowly your mind is made a slave without you even knowing it. A 6 pack body with a slavish mind is useless and slowly but completely you fall under the control. You become the addict. You get withdrawal symptoms when you stay away. You submit fully to it. More and more people fall into the trap. The world will be full of thought controlled zombies who call themselves humans. Then, the real dark villain will arise and call himself the owner of the internet and thus in a way the owner of your soul too.

The previous para was a doomsday scenario which occurs in my brain right after 12 AM everyday. The reality may not come much close to this. But it can never be ruled out. A generation of social networking slaves who have never seen a human alive in real life...

image courtesy-contrib.andrew.cmu.edu

Skandagiri Revisited

Old readers of this blog might remember the post which I wrote after a tiresome day time trek to the Skandagiri hills near Bangalore last year. That time, we heard a lot about the joys of night time trekking on a full moon day. This saturday(a boring working Saturday) night, me and my 3 roomies set out from our home at 11 PM. Though it was just the day after full moon, the cloudy and almost rainy atmosphere made sure that the moon was nowhere to be seen. And unlike last time, we had a big vareity of food stuff with us. The new airport road at night time is even more beautiful. The whole stretch was all washed in a white glow. After the airport, the width of the road began to decrease till Chikballapur. Me, being the only one among the group who visited this place previously, was expected to know the route thoroughly. Me, also well known for my excellent memory power, was helpless in that respect. After a round of confused riding and asking to equally confused locals, we somehow reached our destination. We were surprised to see a lot of bikes there. By this time, the full moon was out in full view to guide us through the trek.

my scary roomies

Lonely day ahead

The local guides were at hand to give us scary details of wild animals roaming about in the hills. But we turned a deaf ear to them and said 'No, thanks' to their offer to guide us. We shined all the four torches and started the trek. A little into the adventure, we understood that we had begun at the wrong place and was actually stranded at a not so safe place. Added to that, we were going up the wrong hill. We saw snake pits at some places and thorny bushes all around. The bravest among us, my roomie Praveen did the honours of clearing the thorns and leading us. And now we were well on our way up the right hill. We could see torches shining at the top of the hill. The trek which started at 2 ended at 5.30 in the morning. Even while reaching there, we were travelling through a bushy thorny path used by nobody. The place was already a bit crowded with tents and lots of people on view. The wind was so powerful that we found it hard to balance. Taking decent snaps was a pain with added effect of the biting cold. To our disappointment, the clouds were not on view. Later, we came to know that its usally seen around January. Still, we savoured the awesome view from the top. The trip downhill was easier and took less than half the time of the uphill journey.

mera roomies..resting on top

Myeeeeeee

walking back

The most eventful part of the trip took place on our return journey in the bike. We were all feeling sleepy by the time we started from there. I had slept only about 6 hours in the last 48 hours. As we rode on, I almost fell asleep 2-3 times and Praveen who was sitting behind me, sensing this began singing songs and tapping on my shoulder to keep me awake. At a point, he stopped this excercise and made fun of Manu who was sitting behind the other bike and sleeping to glory. The next minute, me, Praveen and the bike were lying on the road. Yes, I had fallen asleep in a gap of just 2 seconds. Thankfully, there were not much vehicles on the road and we were not going at a high speed. We escaped with minor cuts and bruises. From there, Praveen took control of the vehicle and ordered me to sing songs non-stop else I fall asleep. So, it was a virtual on the road concert for the next 2 hours and he endured some of the worst moments of
his life. After a point, even I couldn't bear my singing but he won't let me stop. After reaching home, we slept the whole of Sunday. It was a short weekend, well spent..

your crusader Praveen

Motherjane with kids:Rocking for a Cause

There are some gestures which mean a lot to the ones who receive it, much more than that is intended by the ones who give it. This Tuesday, me and some of my friends were witness to one such touching gesture. Motherjane, India's premier rock band took time out of their busy schedule and visited Snehadan in Bangalore. They came here as part of a promotional video shoot for the organisation. They spent a whole day there and in the end decided to do a special show for the kids. When we reached there in the evening, the concert had just started out.

The kids, most of them less than 8 years old were sitting right in the front slowly swaying their heads and clapping along with the song. Vocalist Suraj Mani interacted superbly well with the kids, even calling some of them by their names. Some of the kids started standing up and jumping. Thats when Suraj invited them to come and dance on stage. From that moment onwards, the concert changed its character. There was Motherjane on stage belting out their best numbers, surrounded by a big bunch of kids getting their first taste of rock music. All of them were rhythmically dancing and swaying in accordance with the music. Never in my life have I seen such a rock concert were the kids enjoyed with so much fervour. Its a glowing tribute to motherjane's genre bending music that they were able to connect with these kids who are alien to this brand of music. The joy on the kids's face is worth remembering for a long time to come. Some of them went close to Baiju chettan's guitars and watched intently as he jumped around the frets with absolute ease. The real brave among them actually touched the guitars. Another thing worth noting is that their attention didn't waver for a single moment during the whole concert. They eagerly lapped up song after song and kept on asking for more so that they can dance again.

I've been to a hell lot of Motherjane concerts but not a single one of them matches up with this one. This concert in a small hall with a normal sound system was better than many other biggies for the joy they spread, the cause for which they played and for successfully connecting with such an young audience.

PS- More than all this, my rock hater roomie who was dragged along just because we were one bike short, actually loved the show and today reluctantly accepted that he loves Motherjane's music. Now, Motherjane can add that to one of their greatest achievements :D.

Calicut sings 'Jai Ho Rahman'

The Ticket

AD 1498- Vasco Da Gama set his foot on Calicut. History was created.

AD 2009- Rahman arrives in Calicut. 1498 deleted from history books.

The land of Zamorins is no stranger to music of the highest class. Right from the Vadakkanpaattu to the popular mappilapaattu, this land has reverberated to the strains of music of the highest order for the past many centuries. And, when the emperor arrived here this Sunday, the land and its people welcomed him with open arms. A.R.Rahman, fresh from his double Oscar victory, announced his 'Jai Ho' world tour some weeks back giving rise to days of speculations on everything related to the tour. The 5 year long tour kicked off from God's own country, a place where he hasn't done a concert till date. The concerts are done as part of a charity initiative for the benefit of AIDS affected children.

We, the gang from Trivandrum landed in Calicut at 6 AM on the day of the concert. Our first destination after settling down at the lodge was the Corporation stadium, the venue of the concert. As we walked along the roads of this city with an old world charm, some big banners of the concert were on view at either side. We had a small peek inside the gates and caught a glimpse of the big stage. Then it was an impatient 4-5 hours for the gate to open as we explored different parts of the city. There were youth roaming around wearing 'Jai Ho' and 'ARR' T shirts. At around 4 O Clock, we came back to the stadium and was greeted by the sight of serpentine queues and a huge crowd outside the stadium. Luckily, we got into a small queue and soon we were trotting up the gallery. The crowd was beginning to build up. We settled near the top gallery a little left to the stage so as not to be blocked by the mixing and video consoles in the front. Diehard fans with banners were on view. The sun was beating down hard. Slowly, the noise began to increase. Then, it all came out synchronised as chants and cheers for Rahman. By 6 30, the stadium was full to the brim. The gallery was the happening place with innovative slogans, mexican waves and the truely awesome mobile waving excercise. The sounds were being checked and the background props arranged. The show was supposed to start at 7 PM and there was no sign of ARR even at 7 30 PM. This delay, as I came to know later, happened because of some last minute problem with the feedback system. Even with the delay, the crowd frenzy didn't die down. We started the soccer style 'Jai Ho' chant which was later heard reverberating from the whole gallery. Catchy Rahman tunes were used as slogans by many. It went on..

The crowd at 6 PM(Pic courtesy-My Mobile cam)

At 7 45 PM, the lights dimmed. The stage alone was shining amidst the darkness.The beats of 'Shano Shano' were heard. Soon, Sayanora, the Kerala girl came in welcoming the crowd to the upcoming musical extravaganza. The step like pedestal at the centre turned on its centre to reveal Asad sitting with a Sitar on his lap. The strains of the brilliant track 'Mausam and escape' were heard. Sanjeev Thomas and Rashid Ali on guitars gave him company. But, still there was one problem. None of us could hardly hear it. Yes, the sound system sucked to the core. And then came the very moment we all were waiting. The train beats of 'O Saya' were heard and in came into the spotlight the man, his music and the magic. We all let our throats on a free run as we screamed, jumped and cried out his name. Sayanora came back to sing 'Athiradi' with him. Then came the first surprise. Rahman started singing the first lines of his wildly popular malayalam song 'Padakali'. And from both sides of the stage came 2 men in Kathakali masks and dummy swords. Geore Peter and Benny Dayal breezed through the song. Hariharan came on stage to sing 'Roja Janeman' without taking his mic and he shared Sadhna's mic as he effortlessly displayed his improvisational range. 'Masakali' from Raja Hasan was a treat and he almost sounded like Mohit. Next was 'Jiya Se Jiya', the free hugs song from the maestro himself. Its from this song that we began to realise how much Sivamani's drumming was missed. I hate IPL for robbing Siva from us. By this time, the songs were audible everywhere but still the mixing and overall quality were pathetic. Its to be noted that this is ARR's first concert after the demise of the man behind all his sonic perfection, H.Sridhar. So, the quality of sound output was below par compared to his usual concerts.

Rahman singing 'O Saya'(Pic courtesy-Rediff)

One of the most noteworthy points of the concert was the visuals that were shown at the background for each song. Each song had a separate visual that went with the theme of the song. Also, the lighting was superb. The stage was designed in 2 levels with a revolving step like structure at the centre. Even with all this, the most important flaw remained- the poor sound quality. Blaaze rocked the audience with 'Style'. The choreography was well synchronised and well presented for most of the songs. Chitra filled in well for Sujata in the song 'Netru Illadha'. Still, Sujata was sorely missed. 'Malargale' had both Chitra and Hariharan in rocking form with a hell lot of improvisation going in. Rashid Ali sung a beautiful english intro song before venturing into 'Kabhi Kabhi Aditi'. ARR was back on stage with 'Rehna Tu'. We were in for a surprise as we waited for that 2 minute piece played on a continuum in the end. There was no continuum. Instead Rahman hummed it beautifully well. The opening beats of 'Taal Se Taal' morphed into 'ringa ringa', sung and danced to by a ravishing Neeti Mohan and Sayanora.

In the middle of all this, politicians were at hand to play spoilsport. A guy came on stage and said 'We are gonna have a small program without any speeches.' Then, we saw all those VIPs trotting on stage to get a share of the spotlight. The function was supposed to distribute money to the AIDS affected children. Instead it stooped to the level of a self congragulatory excercise on the part of the local organisers and politicians. Anyway, the concert really blasted off after this short break. Blaaze and Benny rocked with the 'New' title track. There was a superb medley of 'Azeem-O-Shan' and 'veerapaandi kottayile', sung by ARR. Suzanne regaled with 'Dreams on fire'. Then, there was the highlight of the evening. A.R.Rahman, Javed Ali, Mohd Aslam and Raja Hassan sat down on the floor with harmonium and tablas in traditional sufi wear. ARR rode his finger effortlessly on the harmonium as they proceeded on to treat us to a medley of 'Khwaja mere khwaja' and 'Arziyan'. Rahman's sister Rehana came on stage to talk about their father and to introduce the song 'manasu manassinte' composed by R.K.Sekhar. The fire dance during 'Jiya Jale' went well with the song. Guitarist Sanjeev Thomas was flown over the crowds as he improvised some stuff which led to 'Mustafa'. The whole crowd was seen waving mobile phones. It was a sight to behold, too good to describe. There were some goof ups on part of ARR as well, like the instances were he forgot the lyrics or where he went slightly out of pitch. The songs that came up later were all foot tappers and the crowd lapped it up with constant dancing and singing along. The show ended with the superb medley of 'Jai Ho' and Vande Mataram'. Am sure there was not a single throat that didn't sing 'Jai Ho' with him there. This was accompanied by fireworks. As the show ended, it was a sense of accomplishment of having fulfilled a long standing dream of watching this man live in concert. Even after meeting him personally, this was one dream I carried all through and yes, now its fulfilled.

The song list(courtesy-Gopal Srinivasan of arrahmanfans yahoo groups, a blessed soul with loads of memory power)
1. Opening Act (DJ Medley) - Shano shano
2. Mausam and Escape - Asad on Sitar; Sanjeev Thomas, Raashid on guitars and Keith on bass
3. O Saya - ARR, Chorus
4. Athiradi - ARR, Sayonara
5. Padagali Chandi - George Peter, Benny Dayal
6. Tu Muskura - Sadhana Sargam (Bit)
7. Roja Janeman - Sadhana Sargam, Hariharan
8. Masakali - Raja Hassan
9. Jiya se Jiya - ARR
10. Style - Blaaze
11. Liquid Dance - Tracked
12. Guzarish - Javed Ali
13. Netru Illatha - Chitra
14. Malargale - Chitra, Hariharan
15. Kabhi Aditi - Raashid Ali
16. Rehna Tu - ARR, Chorus
17. Taal Se Taal ( western ) - Tracked
18. Ringa Ringa - Neeti Mohan, Sayonara
19. Kala bandar - Benny, Blaaze (Medley)
20. Gangster Blues - Blaaze, Tanvi (Medley)
21. New - Blaaze, Benny, Chorus (Medley)
22. Azeem O Shaan - ARR (Medley)
23. Rukumani - Chorus (Medley)
24. Veera Pandi - ARR, Chorus (Medley)
25. Latika's theme/Dreams on Fire - Suzanne
26. Khwaja mere Khwaja - ARR, Javed Ali, Aslam, Raja Hassan
27. Arziyan - ARR, JAved Ali, Aslam, Raja Hassan
28. Manasu Manasinte - Chitra (from Chotanikkara Amma, composed by RK
Shekar)
29. Kannalane - Chitra
30. Jiya Jale - Chitra
31. Aye hairaten - Sadhana Sargam, Hari
32. Vaaji Vaaji - Hari, Sadhana
33. Mustafa - ARR
34. Dhaka laga bukka - ARR (Bit)
35. Pappu Cant Dance - Benny, Chorus
36. Aye Bachu - Suzanne
37. Urvasi - ARR
38. Taxi Taxi - Benny, Blaaze, Chorus
39. Humma - ARR
40. Jai Ho - ARR, Tanvi, Chorus
41. Vandemataram - ARR, All artistes

PS- They should allow cameras inside the concert venues. What do they think? We are gonna broadcast it to BBC? I sorely missed clicking pics at the show.

PPS-A load of insults to the ones who did the sound settings for this show. You guys suck bigtime. Also, reputed newspapers like Mathrubhoomi should stop writing pure rubbish just to hype up the concert. For example, the news that Rahman will fly close to the audience in a bullet proof glass case. Also, the news of hollywood and Bollywood celebrities turning up(Thank God, they didn't). Then, the news that Rahman won't be doing a concert in India in another 5 years. And for the info of the guys at Mathrubhoomi, Rahman's next concert is scheduled on May 31st at Pune. Yes, Pune happens to be in India. Come on guys, how could you even think of printing such rubbish on your front page?

For more pics, check this link-Kerals pics

your crusader Praveen