3818 : Naam Gum Jayega from Kinara

This song by Gulzar - RD (one of my favorite pairs in the world), is so stunning. Lata Didi and Bhupinder make this poem so everday, that it becomes sublime.

Listen.

Notice Lata Didi's range.....

3817 : Sound

I have been experimenting with sound, vocal range and some kindergarten level drama.

I am loving the experience of sound and drama both. Checkout the podcast at www.mwrh.in

I wish I was in the entertainment industry. Really do sometimes wish that.

3816 : Chip on my shoulder.

With or without you....U2 hums in the background.

Time moves along. I watch the kids play downstairs. The flowers in the garden are in autumn bloom (is there something called autumn bloom?)

The everyday hums. The silence rattles (Rattle and Hum was the title of the U2 album...actually no...it was Joshua tree).

We are both aging. Winter is almost upon us. The summer is at least six months away.

Wonder what will we see when it thaws. If it thaws too quickly, we might get a chip. Thats on my shoulder.

3815 : Our time shall come

 I dont want eventual, I want soon.

- Mary Oliver

3814 : Listening to Shuddh Bhairavi is my morning prayer

And of course it is Pandit Rajan Sajan Mishra :-).

3813 : Coffee Stains

I have so many memories associated with a stained coffee cup. Actually, the smudges of my own lips on the mouth of the cup.

I have this strange habit of observing the cup rims, especially as I am sipping coffee. In that moment, I get sucked into the pattern, become mindful and then also juxtapose myself against the situation playing in front of me at that point.

I developed this strange habit a few years ago, and it has now become a rabbit hole.

3812 : Quincy Jones is a genius

I was listening to some Michael Jackson classics again, and cannot but gush on how great the sound sounds.

Dirty Diana or The Way You Make Me Feel......

Classics made only for performance. Which means, these pieces shine out on a stage with a performer in tow.

3811 : Crazy

Some people never go crazy.

What truly horrible lives they must live. 

- Charles Buwoski 

3810 : Randomless

I was talking to a few friends yday. And the convo veered towards when have we all had random encounters with complete strangers. All of them had stories of being hit upon or even better.

I could not think of one example in my life when I had even had just a proper chat with a complete stranger.

Not one.

That is the post.

3809 : Who are my friends?

 If you want to know who your friends are, Get yourself a jail sentence.

- Charles Buwoski

I got myself one, a few years ago. And I now know the answer. Possibly. It feels like despair.

3808 : Temple calls

I was talking to my mom and she was reminding me that I need to visit a particular temple. She knows that I am an avowed atheist (have been so for over 30 years) and she still never fails to remind me of the "divine".

Frankly, I am so left on this atheism spectrum that I might even make atheists uncomfortable.

I often wonder, how does a temple fit into an atheist framework.

Very unsure. Something to meditate upon.

3807 : Simple things

I am terrible at singing, abysmal at dancing and a total disaster at acting.

Wonder why some of us have so many filters? That is a rhetoric question.

3806 : On what matters

Remember the other day, we were speaking of a friend of yours who had just died. We felt the anguish of a loss. Of a day, when some of our friends remind us that we too shall be ephemeral. 

We hadn't felt low, but it did feel as if we had just grasped a simple truth around our lives.

Some of us die. Some of us are alive. Still.

3805 : That which lingers

Sometimes my skind does not smell like me. It smells like you. And you smelt of the ocean. "Like a fisherwoman", I would say and laugh. 

The ocean still grumbles every night.You are long gone. And my skin is losing its shine too.

One day when you are reborn, I will know you from your smell.

3804 : The quality of poets

Someone asked me this recently - why are poets so miserable?

The assumption was that I am a poet....and I am miserable.

I dont think that clubbing is right. I am a contemplative person by nature.

Does that make me miserable, yes sometimes, but thats not because I am a poet.

I will revisit this soon.

3803 : Mistaken identity

I have often wondered, should I tattoo your name on my arm. And then it occurs to me, that if I die in an accident, and my arm is intact, they might mistake me for you.

Would not be the first time though, that has happened.

3802 : What divides us

Those who are close to us, when they die, divide our world.

From The Things I have Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi

3801 : The magic of Dolby Recordings

Take Madonna's Vogue and listen to it on your best earphones and speakers. This song is from 1990. Is a Dolby Recording.

Now close your eyes and press play.

Listen to the sound travel all around you (literally - this is 360 degree sound). This is from 31 years ago.

We have newer songs who dont have this soundstage. And now you know - this is how Dolby was so far ahead of others in the way it recreated sound.

I am listening to Vogue on LoFi (Spotify), now imagine listening to this on Apple Hifi or Tidal streaming.

And that my friends why music can be such a fun rabbit hole. Explore and have fun.

Fun Fact : Always choose a movie hall that has Dolby Atmos. It is worth the price you pay.

3800 : Sar Kiye - Strings from Coke Studio

I must have posted on the original at least 10 times. It will always remain dear to me. Always.

I have been listening to the coke studio version often. 

Definitely watch the video. Worth the watch. And add this to your favs. Its beyond fab.

Bilal and Faisal.......

One question on this song....does he span two octaves. I thought he does.....

3799 : Will we be?

One day we shall be, one day we shall be, one day we shall be.

They chanted this in unison.

It sounded like an echo chamber.

3798 : The storm

This came in via twitter, but I was reminded of this passage again, and why I like Murakami so much.

Once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. 

You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain.

When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. 

—Haruki Murakami

Image from New Yorker

3797 : There is a flip side to letting go

What all do you let go?

Where do you let them go?

How do you let them go?

When do you let them go?

What if its like opening the dam? You think you are letting the river go. Actually you are letting it in.

3796 : Trippy

Today she said "you are so trippy",

    Though I wonder what does this lead to?

I recall the time we smoked, and you were hippy

    Today we are one - tomo we might be two.

    

3795 : Caterpillar

Caterpillar on a leaf, eating, being eaten.

By AK Ramanujam

3794 : Smirking Buddha with Double Chin :-)

Forgive me dear Buddha. My intentions were noble. Its the art that is crappy.

Hope you have a good laugh, dear Buddha.

3793 : Inspired (as in copied) calligraphy

 

3792 : Apples all the way down

 

3791 : War

 A war is always personal. Always. I mean personal in the sense, that only "I" know of it.

Very hard to baseline it against anything or any other experience.

Thats the post.

3790 : Reading list 2021: #13 John Grisham's The Partner

Read this old book on a whim. Actually re-read it.

Its interesting, but not as much as I loved it the first time.

On a scale of 10 probably 7.

An easy fast read.

At 416 pages brings my 2021 total to 3108 pages.

3789 : Reading List 2021 : #12 : Salt houses by Hala Ayan

I just finished Salt Houses by Hala Hyan

Its a strange book. The first half is a slow build up, the second half sucks you in.

Its about 3 generations facing war and conflict. There is a human story here, though the characters could have been more developed. More well formed.

I liked this immensely. Made me very introspective on what identity and belonging mean in this ravaged world. 

I also liked it, that the book forces you to inspect your own understanding of the world around you. 

On a scale of 10, maybe a 9. Definitely a spell binding read. Especially the second half. 

Do grab it.

At 320 pages brings my 2021 total to 2692 pages.

3788 : The art of losing

Today as I did my silent walk, I was meditating on a bunch of my losses. I feel like a soldier who capitulated....and then is seeing the writing etched on my prison walls.

What I lost, means very little to anyone else, and the whole world to me. That is a strange contradiction to have, as you find your place in this universe.

3787 : Coffee tales

I have been brewing my own coffee for years. I usually would put the filter or the french press for cleaning - and use a brush or a scrub to clean it. 

And then....

I recently acquired a new Moka pot. I now clean this Moka pot with my hand, my fingers. And the amount of fat(oil) that coffee beans leave behind has been such a revelation.

It's almost akin to grease. 

I am intrigued. Why is coffee not used more in soaps or cosmetics or anything that requires fat....Like why not coffee ghee?

Seriously thinking.