Tears....

meri bezabaaN aaNkhoN se gire haiN chand katre,
wo samajh sakeiN to aaNsoo...
na samajh sake to paani

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jo aake ruke daaman pe 'sabaa' wo ashq nahiN hai paani hai
jo ashq na chhalke aankhoN se us ashq ki keemat hoti hai

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I'm not writing this in a sad mood. These two ghazals happened to occur consecutively in the playlist and I was wondering at the brilliant lyrics.

Kal chaudhvin ki raat thi...

Shab bhar raha charcha tera,
Kuchh ne kaha ye chand hai,
Kuchh ne kaha...
Chehra tera

The moon looks really beautiful tonight. I find it a little hard to believe that it is nothing but a normal celestial body. It can't be just another pebble in the debris that makes up our universe. The moon is special. Every night, I crane my neck, force my head out through the gap in the grill to take a look and it never disappoints me. All its forms, be it the slender curve or the full moon, have a beauty of their own. Even when you can't see it, because it is covered by the clouds, its soft glow lights up a part of the sky. Though hidden it may be, but it is always going to be there. Nothing can change that.

I am reminded of the full moon night a few years back. It was a night trek. We had started from Maheshwar at about 10pm and the plan was to reach Sahastradhara, where the Narmada breaks into a thousand little streams, by daybreak. When we came close to the river, we stopped and lay down on the ground.

The view of the sky in all its grandeur with a full moon and millions of stars with the faint music of the river falling on our ears is unforgettable. A little distance away was the river, its waters shining in the moonlight. There were stars above and stars below me, and I felt like I was floating in between.

If space travel becomes cheap in the coming few decades, and if people start going to space for vacations, I don't think I'd like to go to the moon. I'm afraid that it'll be a let down. Only grey dust and barren land. From here, it is an object of beauty. On the other hand maybe I'll find out how beautiful our earth looks from space. I've only heard of the blue and green ball seen by astronauts. I'm sure it'll be a sight worth a thousand moons.

Wish you were here

"How I wish, how I wish you were here."

4th year in a row.

Damn the postal service.

Music

Just came back from the library after spending a couple of hours reading 'City of Djinns'. But as you must have guessed from the title, this post isn't about Darlymple or Delhi or Djinns. So, as I sat reading the book, Smiley was reading an article in a magazine about A.R. Rahman. Then he started talking about how nice Rahman's music is and that they are beautiful in spite of being very simple. I observed the glow on his face as he talked, probably, he had a tune playing his mind.

Last night, we were sitting in his room urging him to play something on his violin. He did play after his usual nakhras. If you look around when he's playing, you can see a faint smile or some expression of joy on everybody's face.

After he finished, my thoughts came back to one of the usual topics, "I should learn to play some musical instrument". I'm not particularly blessed with musical talent and I feel quite like a bum with people like Smiley (violin), Billu (tabla), Gas (guitar, mandolin) and Badri (who thought Carnatic singing wasn't worth it because he preferred to waste time wasting time rather than strain his vocal chords).

My only stint with music has been a fortnight of harmonium lessons at a neighbour's place. Now the harmonium is not a very glamorous instrument like the guitar. But believe me, if you have had a chance to listen to Pu. La. playing the instrument, you're bound to like it. In spite of such great inspiration in front of me, I gave up the when the teacher asked me to identify the notes without looking at the keys he was pressing.

I had a pretty much uncaring attitude about music before I came to IIIT. But now I think I can at least distingiush good music from bad (I can tell, for example that Himmesh stuff is unalderated cacophonic torture). My choice has diversified from Hindi film music to rock, instrumentals, ghazals, and I feel even the Carnatic stuff Smiley listens to, is good. So the next step should be to be learning to play some instrument. Singing isn't my piece of cake unless I'm alone. There are other reasons also. Aai always wanted me to learn. She used to say I'm becoming like Aurangzeb, with no appreciation for any art. Also, they say, girls tend to like guys with some musical ability.

So, any suggestions about how to get started and what instrument to choose would be welcome. Please do not suggest flute or santoor or sarod (as if harmonium wasn't tricky enough).

Be Yourself

"Be Yourself", the song by Audioslave. As far as I can recall, I think I first heard it in Ganand's room in the 2nd sem. I entered the guest room after dinner and found Sir there, headbanging to it with the lyrics on the screen. Since then, I've played it over and over and over again. I feel that a late night BC session is incomplete without this song.

When I was going home for the 3 month vacation last summer, I was wondering how I'll stay for 3 months without it. We had played it infinitely many times over, so it had become a necessity. Smiley had started worrying that we were killing the song. But Arjun had it on his laptop. He used to drop in every once in a while so that I could listen to it. But sadly, even Arjun didn't really like it. He said that the guitar is too repetetive or something. Why? How can one not like this masterpiece?

These days I play it less frequently, I have to pay some heed to my wingmates who probably stuff cotton in their ears as soon as the playlist reaches this song. I don't understand how people cannot like it. Once I downloaded it on Kesharwani's pc and played it, and to my horror, he didn't like it at all. He put it off immediately.

What do I like about this song? I like the vocals, though Badri thinks that the guy has a bad accent, I like the guitar. A portion in between two stanzas, is absolute GOD stuff. Tom Morello just sweeps you off your feet. I like the drums, I like the bass, the lyrics. The video is also fodu, set in a dark room with a tranquil kind of atmosphere. In short, I like everything about the song.

So, here are the lyrics:

Someone falls to pieces
Sleepin all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
To finally drift away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
And catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Someone finds salvation in everyone
And another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love
Untill the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united?
Healthy or insane?

To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

And even when you've paid enough, been pulled apart or been held up
With every single memory of the good or bad faces of luck
don't lose any sleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright

You may win or lose

But to be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do

Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi

Hazaron khwahishein aisi,
ki har khwahish pe dum nikale.
Bahut nikale mere armaan
lekin...
fir bhi kum nikale.

Mohabbat mein nahi hai fark,
jeene aur marne ka
Usi ko dekh kar jeete hain,
jis kaafir pe dum nikale.

Hazaron khwahishein....

Khuda ke vaste,
parda nakabe utha zalim.
Kahin aisa na ho yon hi,
Wahi kaafir sanam nikale.

Hazaron khwahisein...

Kahan maikhane ka darwaza ghalib,
aur kahan waaiz.
Par itna jaante hain,
kal.. wo jaata tha,
ke hum nikale.

Hazaron khwahishein.....