Mu sick!

I have been reading a lot about lifting of tunes from Pakistan music in Bollywood. Definitely its a shame. The first thing that comes to the mind of any average music lover about the copy cat of music in Bollywood would be none other than Anu Malik (Annu Mallik, Anu Maalik....whatever, he's been trying to change his name and luck recently).

How many people remember him for getting a national award for the movie, Refugee?? In fact, it became a joke! Doing original stuff is next to impossible for him. But he actually inspires me a lot. Simply because, even I can also do what he does. I cannot be a Kamal Hassan or a Mani ratnam or Saching Tendulkar or A.R. Rahman (definitely not!).........but I can be a Anu Malik. Its very easy to become 'him'.

About other sane things, I think Wikipedia is a good source of finding things that one is looking for. I was just surfing few sites and when it comes to music, it will be Rahman first and other things later. Well, I have liked what our President has commented on ARR's music:

"A.R. RAHMAN may be a Muslim but his voice echoes in the soul of all Indians, of whatever faith, when he sings Vande Mataram."

This was in the Rahmania site. Such a great man he is....lots of inspiration for me atleast. Now a recent addition in the same mentioned site is that the background music of ARR's Swades is composed as a song in the new movie, Salaam Namaste.

Forget about these petty things. If one asks, did Rahman lifted a tune in the past?? Well, few say yes because, they hear the same sound or beat in some of his movies. But.......just wait there...and ponder..........

One is just hearing the beats being lifted, not the tune. See, again its the limited use of the loops and samples that he uses and not the tunes that he creates by himself. When a person reaches to his professional high, there will be many people to pull him down. The work of these people is just that, 'to pull somebody down'. Because, that the best they could do.

Nowadays, its more like a tom & jerry or a kids fight. Little courtesy and hardwork is enough to mind one's business. One need not be intelligent I guess.

[90 minutes, just passed........]

Actually, I was reading the biography of Rahman and got lost. Now I feel really lucky to meet A.R. Rahman at JFK Airport last year. He is a great man........indeed!

Hamaare Beach Mein....

My friend came to my place for the weekend. We planned to go to NYC and spend some time there. But he's coming from the city. We dropped that idea as we both have been there recently and no point loitering around there again.

We stayed back and watched movies. We saw Flavors. Then Kandukondain Kandukondain. Both were decent movies to watch and there was nothing much to do but to relax. We both spoke about our school days, college and after that.

In the evening, we went to West Meadow Beach .............nice beach. It was for the first time I've been to the beach at Stony Brook. For me, it didn't exactly seem to be a beach. There were many stones and rocks over there and no waves or tides. We spent some time there and been to Curry Club....came back.......then chatted for a while and went to sleep late in the night.

It wasn't fun, but it was relaxing and felt at home. Because we are meeting after 2 years and we had lot of them to talk about, other than e-mailing and talking on phone.


The rest of the day, I was watching Rahman's live in concert on my PC and then few songs after that........Rahman songs have that divine effect which I cannot (as always) express in words.

Departure...........

Day: Thursday
Date: August 18, 2005
Time: 7:20 A.M. (IST)
Place: My house

Event: Bruno expired

My bro called me in the night (EST time) and told me about this. I called amma and she started crying on phone. I think she cried so much that day as if a family member has expired. It was a family thing for us. Nanna was devastated to see his dog lying in front of the house, unmoved.

Exactly a month back, the doctor predicted that Bruno will be alive until 6 months and slowly its liver and spleen would stop funtioning. It would be hard to breathe and the stomach would swell. I think the doctor was correct. Everything has happened as he said, except for the time span. Nobody saw it coming, as the night before he expired he was very active and did his duties just as on any other day. Surprising thing is that everything happened all of a sudden which is not digestable fact for me.

I thought of it all the time. The way he used to play, act and talk to me........it was a gem of a dog. I always used to think that I can't see my dog dying in front of my eyes and I can't bear the fact its no more. Actually, I hoped to see him when I go in november this year. Atleast I could spend some time with him in his last days. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. The only memory of him is when I fed him last, before I left to US. It knew something was going on and also that I'm leaving. He was sniffing my suitcases and bag. It was more expressive with his eyes than a human being.

I think more than anybody else, it is tough for my nanna as he's the one who took care of both the dogs after I left home. He took Bruno and done with cremating him near the overbridge it seems. Definitely, my house will be of no life for a while without Bruno. He used to walk in all the rooms and always monitored us and almost made a mental note of where we are and what we were doing at each time.



He is the first being to greet me as I enter my house gate, after I came back from college. It was evening and time to take him for a walk. He used to see through that small gap between the gate and wag its tail as I came close to him. He always loved the way we used to touch him. He used to like it a lot and showed lots of emotions and love towards us. When my aunt was patting my back, he thought I was getting beatings from somebody and he used to pound on the other person. Such was his love for me. I virtually used to talk to him and he understands it very well.

I miss him. I miss all of it. When he came to our house, he used to follow me whereever I go and gave me company. I didn't have inclination for this dog in the begining. Once he kept his neck on top of my crossed-legs, while I was having my lunch, on the table. It was then that I realized that this is my dog and from here on he's my responsibility. I took good care of him..........I think.

I miss all of him now. I am helpless sitting 10,000 miles away from my home and thinking about him. I feel guilty of not being near him in his last days. I miss his presence, his expressive eyes, his walk, his roaring and his happiness with me.

My greatest fear........my weakness.........losing your loved ones.........thats what it is.

Days and events

"Get on a bus from New York to Boston and I'll pick you up from there. Can you come on Friday?", that was my bro on phone. He was desparate for a brake. I said ok and we both drove to Maine, after I reached Boston.

Maine is a great place to visit. Its scenic and beautiful. We've been to Fort Williams park, Cape Elizabeth and the headlights over there. We came back and been to bowling and pool. It was a first time for me getting involved in the recreational events.

August 12th marks a very important day for me, for the following reasons:

1. This day last year, I came to US.
2. I met A.R. Rahman at JFK airport.
3. It happened to be more of a travelling day.

August 14th also holds significance as its my father's birthday and two years back I wrote my GRE on the same day. My friend calls me a psycho for remembering the past days with dates.

And august 15th is our independence day. But this time around the campus, I think it wasn't as much fun as it was last year. I didn't attend it and was feeling sleepy then. But interesting thing is that the Empire state building in NY was lit up with indian tricolor and there's going to be a parade from Aug. 21, celebrating this event.