my back pages

2010-06-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dear School Bag,

This is the first time I'm writing to you.

It's with you that I spent 14 years of my life. The smell of fresh pages, everyday books, broken pencils, half eaten erasers...

For the past few days you kept coming back to my mind. For the first time I missed my childhood.

Over the years almost everyone wrote about childhood memories and loss of innocence and things like that. It took so long and finally it sunk in that it's not possible for me to go back. There is no way back for me.

For the last 10 years I kept thinking growing up was so much fun...it surely is an adventure...

But a few days back for the first time standing alone in my old bed room on a cloudy afternoon I missed those days...those late nights when I hurriedly packed you up with the next days routine..the early mornings when I opened you up to make a last minute check and stuff in my tiffin box in your small outer pocket...

You've been with me through a lot of my first's. My first friends in school, my first punishments, my first fights, my first tears....

It's amazing how we never broke up in those 14 years. There were times when you slouched alone in the corner of my room for months during vacations. I never wanted to go to school...I used to pray that the holidays never end. Little did I notice how much you must have longed to have me take you on our regular strolls.

There were days when you slept on the green grasses of the Maidan while I was busy with march past...there were times when you got wet while I dint care much.

14 years went by slowly but steadily. Since then I've never tried to look back. And eversince I grew up unknowingly. My 20's brought with it chaos, responsibility, bitter truths, coffee and a whole lotta new people. I lost you. I didn't even realize any pain. Of losing you, of growing up. Umpteen realities of the adult world spoke louder than the little prince. I couldn't hear the Little Prince anymore.

31 years have not been cruel to me. I met a lot of great people and made a few good friends too.

When I first met her, even she had someone like you. I don't know if she has lost that someone special. Coz she's in her 20's too. But she misses him too. I know how much she cares about little things in her life. I always realize late.

But I remembered you and with you came a whole lot more...bits and pieces of my unkindled youth...words which I can never learn again...sums which I can never solve again...friends whom I can never get to see again...playing fields where I can never play again...concerts where I can never sing again... truths I can never tell, staircases that I can't ever climb, fears that I can never feel...

I will never get a chance to see you again. I guess life is that way. Time takes away a lot. Wherever you are , thank you for giving me so many memories. I can never go back to where I've been. But whenever I see a little boy or a girl walking with someone as special as you every morning I keep looking and it makes me wonder. And I ask myself, 'Has the sheep eaten the flower?' And everything changes.

With love and many memories,

Neel

P.S I miss you. And no grown ups will ever understand that this is a matter of much importance.

2010-04-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Faraway in the crooked eyes of the night

where insights nestle with pride

My bewildered mind slowly rewinds

from the brokenhearted pavements of light

What took me so close to the lonely gallows

when I barely could feel the glow

I lived and I died , you laughed and you cried

and then you went away with the flow.

those precious hours, took away a lifetime

as the carpet moved below

the drops on the flowers faded at the right time

on the road we were bound to go

the postcards flew and bid me adieu

the highway stopped singin' the blues

shadow to shadow my fingers bled

my soul string didn't have a clue

in this earthly realm, full of ache and condemn

there aren't many visions of the thorns

the stains of blood dried on the crown

yet helplessly life goes on.

2009-03-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

Wilderness of broken minds
stares into the neon signs
as the empty boulevard lazily unwinds

motionless topographies
wells of silent melodies
greens and blues and pink and purple memories rewind

laughter sings a dismal song
Mercy wonders what went wrong
Fear cries in desperation, pain in agony

What's beneath the skinny ice ?
I brought myself new roller skates
Days have numbered suddenly
the moon child escalates.

shadows crawl in empty halls
deep beneath the southern mall
the lonely stalker creeps into the noisy afternoon

love meanders like a n anxious
wind inside an envelope
hanging on in quiet desperation to be free!

For boo

2008-09-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

When you're down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing, whoa nothing is going right.
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights.

You just call out my name,
And you know wherever I am
Ill come running, oh yeah baby
To see you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you have to do is call
And Ill be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You've got a friend.

I know I've not been the best buddy possible. And I've been cheesy may times. But life teaches us to learn and life teaches us to change. I'm not too well. And I miss you today. And I will miss you tomorrow.
For all the best and the worst times, may the blue confetti dreams come true. May you stay forever young. May god bless you always. I believe in him.

2008-09-16T02:11:00.000-07:00

"Havent you heard its a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
Theres room for you inside."

Richard Wright (Dark Side Of the Moon)
28 July 1934 - 15 September 2008

Wright’s richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound. Thank you Rick Wright for Dark side Of the Moon, Wish you were here, Meddle. They are rock music at its deepest, most beautiful and most moving. . .

2008-09-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

HOW MANY TIMES MUST THE CANNON BALL FLY BEFORE THEY'RE FOREVER BANNED?

In the memory of the 150 people who died of the serial blasts by the Indian Mujaheddin till last night.

2008-09-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

You took the bus early morning, when I was asleep
to a place where I've been, to a place I wanna go with you
someday
You walked through the colourful dingy lanes Of the holy land
you touched the water when it all began
and you saw millions of tiny wishes floating by
you floated ours...
and the rains came, it brought back memories
fresh, vivid, lazy
I drove through the dusty lanes of calcutta
drove past your familiar roads
roads that brought back memories too...
"Some say love, it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
and you it's only seed"

2008-09-11T03:55:00.000-07:00

I wake up in the morning and I think of something new
I don't know whether am capable of thinking anew
after all those squabbles and petty argument
that we keep fighting over every night
there comes a time, sometime ,when there's no one but me
there comes a time when the mind gets tired of bitter thoughts and envy
when the mind wants to rest
that's the time when every bitter feeling, anger, revenge, hurt...dies down
that's a moment of truth...
It's one life and that's something we can't let go off
that's something we can't compromise
there's something pure about this life no matter how much sins we commit
no matter how much we repent..there's always that sweet sense of optimism
a magic...a faith in the goodness of the people I love
yes love...the only feeling that takes away all misery
its love that finds something good in everything we see
Can't let go off this crazy sense of optimism
"For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good"

How many times..

2008-04-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

I boarded the flight for Mumbai on April 7th to record a song for a new film. Reached Mumbai and headed straight to 'Flavours', the best dolby mixing theatre (studio) in India. Our sound designers Jojo and Potla were already here with Leslie , the studio owner and mixing engineer. My father was outside the theatre, in the sitting room reading out the script of his new film to an actor. I went in and sat quietly. Dad read enthusiastically with his usual Woody Allen-ish hand movements. I lit a smoke. A cellphone rang suddenly. Dad picked it up and spoke. After a few seconds of silence,he said "tai naki!! WOW!...kobe? ...SURE...ami neel ke bole raakchhi..kolkataye pouchhe lets fix it." He disconnected the line and passed on the news. Bob Dylan has made music history by becoming the first rock musician to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Dylan has been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.
Trust the Great India Press...it's funny how the Kolkata dailies haven't yet made it news. I came back to the city this afternoon and most of my friends were unaware of the fact. How could the reputed dailies of Calcutta, those that normally don't miss out on pointless, hackneyed discussions on the 'great man' in bookstores and cha bars,miss out on this one?
Dylan's Pulitzer is a special citation. His award marks the first Pulitzer given to a rock musician.However Previous recipients of the music award include the legendary composer George Gershwin and the Jazz Legend John Coltrane.
The 66-year-old legend said he was "in disbelief".
Prize administrator Sig Gissler said: "This award reflects the efforts of the Pulitzer board to broaden the scope of the music prize, and encompass the full range of excellence in American music. It also recognises Mr Dylan's lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
So come gather round reporters, journos and editors... How many times will you turn your head and pretend that you just didn't see?

2008-04-03T06:23:00.000-07:00

Gosh...it's only evening and I feel so tired. Tired of the midday heat..dry, arid. Thoughts of May brings jitters. The hot air is getting unbearable. However it turned cool a while back with the coming of Baishaki- O crazy wind...lolz.
Rehersal went off pretty well. Father's leaving for Mumbai tommorrow for the last lap of 'Chalo Let's Go'. The entire team incluing Jojo and Potla are already out there working on the final dolby mix. They will all be back on the 18th of this month with the first print of the film. Work on Chowrasta has also started on the side. The crew leaves for Darjeeling on the 26th of April.
The song is coming out pretty well. Amyt'da's guitar will once again sweep the listers off their feet...amazing dorian licks!
Will go out for dinner tonite. Will lie down for a while and contemplate. Sudden streaks of lighning can be seen on the evening sky...atlast It's raining!

2008-04-02T11:23:00.001-07:00

Morning melts in midday heat
Time moves on tired feet
The sky is quiet and clear
I wish you were here

Lazy wind on a nameless tree
Coming down and touching me
Just to dissapear
I wish you were here

ummme Chowrasta!

2008-04-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Today was kinda zippy. Had to meet boo. She's all set to sit for her 1st University exam. She's leaving tommorrow. Won't be able to meet her tommorrow. Am starting recording the soundtrack for my 7th feature film. This one's tentitively called 'Chowrasta, with love'. Chowrasta- Mall- Darjeeling. It's just got one song so it's the most difficult work. Can't fall back on any other song. Just one song and it HAS to work well with the listeners. It's an english language film- Indo-English. My guitar guru Amyt'da is gonna play on my track tommorrow. Kunal will be singing it. He's always a great guy to work with. perfect pitching and a very open voice. Lyrics are still being worked on by Vibha, a friend in Mumbai. Wait till you guys hear it!

31st March

2008-03-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

It suddenly rained for a little while this evening and the city turned pretty cool. Morning was great. Met up wid Boo and Su at South City. Bumped onto Ma and dida suddenly. Dida met boo for the first time. Rushed to work after that. At Sanjay's house on Jodhpur Park. Twas a great place to work....cosy and casual. Guess what? Sajay, Raja and I went back to South city for lunch. Punjabi thaali, fresh pineapple juice and topped it up with Fer Rocher Gelato! Came back to work with a box of goodies from Kookie Jar to be accompanied with the evening coffee. Work got over at around 10:15. Alas back home through the cool streets of my city!

Tagged

2008-03-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

A is for Austerity. I believe great art is austere.
B is for Boo...the most important part of my life.
C is for Calcutta , that's the name I grew up with. And Coffee, strong and black wih 2 suger cubes.
D is for Dylan- the prophet, the painter, the piper!
E is for Elvis Presley, i cud die for that voice.
F is for friends...still searching!
G is for Godot. It has many interpretations. To me it means Hope. G is also for Guitar.
H is for Home- where my dreams are safe and sound, where my music playes on and on!
I is for Imagine. The greatest song ever.
J is for 'Jab jab phool khiley'- it's a brilliant title!
K is for Kanchenjungha. The first view of this peak from my hotel window in Darjeeling everytime I go is heaven.
L is for love. It does exist and is stronger than anything.
M is for Misty - I love the smell.
N is for Night. The time for introspection and realization. And it's also for New York- my favourite place.
O is for Oh Calcutta! Great kosha maangsho!
P is for plans that never materialize.
Q is for Questions that never escape my mind.
R is for Rains. I dunno why but I just love smell of wet earth after the rains.
S is for Shakespeare. Hamlet is a philosophy.
T is for Tata..the best way to say a goodbye.
U is for Understand. It's the final solution to all mistakes and fuck ups.
V is for Viola. i love this instrument.
W is for wall, which people keep building and I keep breaking them at every move.
X is for X-mas. We have the best party on every christmas eve.
Y is for Yaa. something I always mumble to myself whenever I trust my heart.
Z is for Zimmerman! the great songwriter!

There's Beatles for you

2008-02-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Words are flying out like
endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass
They slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy
are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Images of broken light which
dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a
restless wind inside a letter box
they tumble blindly as
they make their way across the universe

Nothings gonna change my world.
Nothings gonna change my world.

I'm there somewhere

2007-12-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

Alas its over. The most eventful year in my life till now. A lot happened. My first film as a music composer was released and by God's grace it's still doing very well. It was followed by my second film. Souls were released My Amma(grand'ma) who was suffering for a decade almost, passed way. My Appa (maternal grand'pa) who suffered a lot too passed away. The two gentle souls were relieved of the pain and suffering. My first album as a singer/songwriter was released this october.
My dog 'Mokai' passed away a few hours ago.
I do feel sad to lose my close ones but again it has made me realize some truths and made me look at death positively. I completed one year with the best person in my life. We went through a lot but am so proud to have her by my side always. This year made me realize true love will always exist. It's how we percieve it. This year has gaiven me moments that I'll always cherish as memories. It gave me confidence to stick on and never give up. It made me realize 'never is the time to say enough is enough'. It taught me that sorry is never the hardest word.
"All I can do is be me. Whoever that is"

It happened one night

2007-11-26T11:37:00.000-08:00

there's a patch of grey on my blue sky
How i longed for the winter chills on grey afternoons...
suddenly,
time is out of mind
time didn't wanna move
time crouched round the corner, wicked
time stopped whispering
time was not on my side for that moment
time drew the path to the spiders nest
time cudn't strum
time was shocked at those questions
time felt sorry
time felt fragile
this time, it was not on my side
time was tampered with
time is hurt
time wept...
someone tampered with our blue confetti's
time is a lone thread still withstanding the lashings
time is you and me in our crazy reality
time can't forget the notebooks and promises
time come and take our pain away

If not for Boo!

2007-09-04T11:59:00.001-07:00

If not for you,
Babe, I couldn't find the door,
Couldn't even see the floor,
I'd be sad and blue,
If not for you.

If not for you,
Babe, I'd lay awake all night,
Wait for the mornin' light
To shine in through,
But it would not be new,
If not for you.

If not for you
My sky would fall,
Rain would gather too.
Without your love I'd be nowhere at all,
Oh! What would I do
If not for you.

If not for you,
Winter would have no spring,
Couldn't hear the robin sing,
I just wouldn't have a clue,
Anyway it wouldn't ring true,
If not for you.

2007-09-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

If I were!

2007-09-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

If I were a beginning, I would be:- a new born leaf
If I were a month, I would be: -December
If I were a day of the week, I would be :– Thursday
If I were a time of day, I would be: - Night
If I were a planet, I would be:-Earth
If I were a season, I would be:- Winter
If I were a sea animal, I would be:- Dophin
If I were a direction, I would be:-Parallel
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be:-an old armchair
If I were a sin, I would be:-pride
If I were a liquid, I would be:-raindrops
If I were a fraud/scare, I would be:-"Peter the Cheater"
If I were a gem, I would be:-Jade
If I were a tree, I would be:-Willow
If I were a tool, I would be –a hammer
If I were a flower/plant, I would be:- A red rose
If I were a kind of weather, I would be:-A thunderstorm at night
If I were a musical instrument, I would be:-a guitar
If I were an animal, I would be:- Tiger
If I were an emotion, I would be:-sadness
If I were a vegetable, I would be:-asparagus
If I were a sound, I would be:-the echoes of the distant murmur of civilization
I were an element, I would be:-Water
If I were a car, I would be:-Mercedes Benz
If I were a song, I would be:-Imagine
If I were a food, I would be:-Luchi
If I were a place, I would be:-Calcutta
If I were a material, I would be:-cotton
If I were a taste, I would be:-hot
If I were a scent, I would be:-FCUK!
If I were a religion, I would be:- Knowledge
If I were a sentence, I would be:-life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
If I were a body part, I would be:-the eyes.
If I were a facial expression, I would be:-a smile
If I were a subject in college, I would be:-African American poetry
If I were a shape, I would be:-rectangukar
If I were a quantity, I would be:-one lightyears
If I were a colour, I would be:-black
If I were a thing, I would be:-a laptop
If I were a landmass, I would be:-an island in costa rica
If I were a book, I would be:-the little prince
If I were a monument, I would be:-the taj Mahal
If I were an artist, I would be:-a pencil sketcher
If I were a collection of poems, I would be:-"The Four Quartets"
If I were a landscape, I would be:-the foothills of himalayas
If I were a watch, I would be.- Big Ben
If I were God, I would be:-not let humans suffer.
If I were a vowel, I would be: U
If I were a consonant, I would be: N
If I were a formula, I would be:-1/Cos C = Sexy!
If I were a Science, I would be:-Psychology
If I were a theory, I would be:-making every students life painful
If I were a famous person, I would be.:-Albert Einstein
If I were an electronic equipment, I would be:- an amplifier
If I were sport, I would be:-Chess
If I were a movie, I would be:-Aparajito
If I were a cartoon, I would be:-Tintin
If I were an explorer, I would be:-Christopher Columbus
If I were a scientist, I would be:-a member of the White House!
If I were a relation, I would be:-a son
If I were a river, I would be:-Ganga
If I were intoxication, I would be:-turn every dinner party into a serious brawl!
If I were alone, I would be:-lonely
If I were a question, then I would be:-How many roads muct a man walk down before thet can call him a man?
If I were a hobby, I would be:-Philately
If I were a habit, I would be:-Cleaning my foot every night!
If I were in an atom, I would be:-an electron
If I were an end, I would be:-want you right next to me.
If I were you, I would be:-happy for myself!

For boo

2007-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

when the night is not so cloudy
and the heart is quiet & dry
when the dreams begin to wake me
there's no time to say goodbye

when the distant whistle's heard
in the quiet of the railroad track
How I wish to board that train
How I wish to bring you back

when I saw my fingers bleed
I blamed it on the thorns
when I feel my soul is bleeding
there's no one to blame it on

some say love, it is a song
I sing every night, before I sleep
some say love, it is a stem
green & graceful with a new born leaf

some say love it is a warmth
that I've felt only once
I say love, it is a home
that you showed me in your arms.

2007-05-19T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's one of those rare days when I am so happy. The person closest to me is running around with flying colours. So here I say....'Lets elope'!

For Boo

2007-05-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Some say love, it is a river
that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razer
that leaves your soul to blead

Some say love, it is a hunger
an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
and you it's only seed

It's the heart afraid of breaking
that never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
that never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
who cannot seem to give
and the soul afraid of dying
that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed that with the sun's love
in the spring, becomes the rose

2007-05-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

All that you touch
All that you see
All that you taste
All you feel.
All that you love
All that you hate
All you distrust
All you save.
All that you give
All that you deal
All that you buy,
beg, borrow or steal.
All you create
All you destroy
All that you do
All that you say.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
All that you slight
And everyone you fight.
All that is now
All that is gone
All that's to come
and everything under the sun is in tune
but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.

"There is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it's all dark."

2007-05-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

Broken belches of sorry feelings
crimson memories, offhand guesses
I would hate to lose you
I thought I was there with you
Perhaps I'm the only one to be blamed
but one day you'll turn back and see...
...Life is a lost note of Miles
pumping through the gaslit alleys
where the dawn leaves dim memories of a dark night
sordid, turbulent, pale, orgiastic
where methodical faces move to and fro
we are another two lost souls
swimmin' in the middle of nowhere
If I knew the way I'd take you home.

2007-05-04T02:24:00.000-07:00

No time to comprehend. The taxi floated steadily on the Gariahat Flyover. I was on my way home. My mind was distracted and diffused. Suddenly I was amidst a strain of thoughts. It's a like a dark august patch. The cell phone was not beeping. I had to attend an important meeting. The others were on their way for the meeting. So was I. Billboards with cosmetic faces passed by. The never looked so cold before. I kept wondering what went wrong. I lit a Pall Mall. Felt tired. The hot noon outside made me lazier. I closed my eyes and slouched back. And then it came. Like a sudden streak of lightning...'never is the time to say enough is enough'!

and it rained...

2007-04-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

...and we watched the rain through the glass, savouring every bite of the hot fudge & black current. I looked in your eyes. We wanted to run out into the rain. I so wanted to get drenched. I so want to make your dream come true. 'Rain clouds in the sky, I don't know why, they may be blue, when I'm thinkin' of you...'
then we held hands and read funny cards and sat tight in the taxi on our way back. I long for those moments of togetherness, your warmth. I long to feel you close, caress your hairs, your ears...
'freedom is a word I seldom use, without thinkin', of the time, I love the best!'
everyday I love you deeper. with every little misunderstanding between us, the bond grows stronger. every time we kiss a star is born. every time I hear your voice I feel safe. every moment we spend together, I feel reassured that my life is beautiful.

2006-11-30T21:54:00.000-08:00

Your eyes are soft, earthy. You smell like a child.
You kiss like a woman. You call like the wild.
You're subtlety personified. You bring me brand new days.
You're the song of the road that the gramaphone plays.
You're the magic of the moonlight, you're the navy blue tide.
You're a mystic river, flowing by my side.
You're a dusky Joan baez criticizing the pope
with a worn out guitar and Zimmerman’s hope
You're the legend of my fantasies, sarcasms and sins
It's to you I confess my blacks, my blues and greens
You're the woman I dreamt, she was wounded in love
With a drunken angel, crucified above
You asked me ‘if I was lonely’, you took me by my hand
All I had was Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band
You looked into my eyes; I tried to see your soul
We swapped bitter espressos and discussed black holes
As the storm trespassed silently upon my windowpane
I played my guitar and it started to rain
You slithered next to me when Chaplin smiled
Your eyes were soft and earthy. You smelt like a child.

2006-11-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

You came to me in a moment of whisper, like the mellow sun on a lazy winter afternoon.
We clicked photographs and asked questions. I bought you chocolates. You brought me eternity.
And you said, there aren't reasons for everything. And we felt good.
Someday we'll paint the whole town blue. Someday we'll have memories. And it's always better when we're together.

That's her.

2006-11-29T11:04:00.000-08:00

Saltwater

2006-11-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

We are a rock revolving
Around a golden sun
We are a billion children rolled into one
So when I hear about the hole in the sky
Saltwater wells in my eyes

We climb the highest mountain
We'll make the desert bloom
We're so ingenious we can walk the moon
But when I hear of how the forest have died
Saltwater wells in my eyes

I have lived for love
But now that's not enough
For the world I love is dying And now I'm crying
And time is not a friend
As friends we're out of time
And it's slowly passing by ....right before our eyes

We light the deepest ocean
Send photographs of Mars
We're so enchanted my how clever we are
Why should one baby feel so hungry she cries
Saltwater wells in my eyes

making movies!

2006-11-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

Coffee contemplations!

2006-11-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

‘Where Have all the Cities Gone?,’ Asked Wong Kar Wai

2006-11-19T22:34:00.000-08:00

The artist of dissolving cityscapes now turns to composing poetic elegies to the urban world that he feels once was and never will be again. If in In the Mood for Love Wong Kar Wai took daring leaps of imagination to place the rotting away of cities at the intersection of the death of personal desire and war and carnage then in 2046, notionally a sequel to In the Mood…, Mr Chow survives the decades following the 1960s and finds himself facing a new generation of urban technologies – human and material – that somehow retains the molecular intensity of pure desire itself. In between war and disease have eaten away at the crumbling facades of the city to create a new generation of human beings who see and think differently yet desire the proximity of human bodies as before. The dissolution of Mr Chow’s secret left forever in a hole in the wall of a Cambodian temple at the end of In the Mood… is followed in the sequel by his career as a profligate and promiscuous writer-journalist. Mr Chow has liaisons with women who will metamorphose in a different generation and decade into protagonists of Kar Wai’s earlier cinema. Here Kar Wai had used the combined intensities of kitsch and new visual machines to meditate upon human fate in times of perpetual motion and wayward desires in the dissolving cities of the 1980s and 1990s. The city dies because love cannot be expressed and it dies when it is expressed badly – people leave. In the end Mr Chang is left on the edge of a technological science fictive future where his desire has become a myth and fuels the cables that keep the infemotional grids of cybercities going, grids that create the mood for love in the year 2046.
The irony of course is that even the past of Kar Wai’s fantasy of the 1960s is recreated through the technologies of 2046. Probably, there is a truth in all of this. The past when sentiments could be expressed is best filmed through the technologies of the present; the materiality of cities and landscapes moves as if animated by a mind, expressive of the emotions of protagonists. But this same movement takes bodies away from cities, borne away by the intensity of unfulfilled desires, the energy freed up used to imagine new techniques of visualisation. Cities were a map of the human mind, its architectonics a trace of the twists and turns of the deepest human curiosity to explore the unknown. The city of In the Mood…has disappeared forever; left are the poses and sensuously real images of the past that might teach future surfers of the virtually real two or three things Kar Wai knew about love.

Finding Neverland!

2006-11-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

In an age of much progress and urbanization, we are losing our imagination. Modern man cannot give easy answers anymore. “ The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint- Exupery is a celebration of the innocence inherent in man. The innocence that finds adults strange. The innocence that is often misunderstood.

After coming to Earth the little prince saw hundreds and thousands of roses. But he understood that only one rose was special. It was special because he had cared for it. The care, the love is what fills most things with a magical quality. Nobody knows this better than the children do. They care for rag dolls, weather beaten teddy bears and broken tea sets. Somewhere in the process of growing up, we forget this. We forget that it is not the object at all which is unique by itself but the feelings that we have for it that makes it so special.

“ The Little Prince” is a book that one reads and then goes on reading. As children, we identify with the little prince. However, we grow up to realize that at some point in life it is important to repair the aero plane engine and fly back to the safe, known world. It’s useless to wonder about the uses of the thorns of a flower if the sheep can eat it all the same. Still even if we do grow up, sometimes without even wanting to, De Saint- Exupery offers a gentle reassurance that somewhere in all of us lives the golden haired little prince too.
Throughout the fable, the child in us comes out and questions us. What happened to the belief, which could find a village well in the middle of Sahara? What happened to faith? Have we all neglected the deadly baobab seeds and let them get so big that they are threatening to consume our own small worlds?
All of us know this little prince. Like the author, we have held him in our arms too. Holding our selves, alone in a strange desert and wondering “ the lands of tears is so mysterious”.

Sgt. Pilchers Lonely Hearts Club Band

2006-11-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

A Scotland Yard drug squad headed by Sergeant Pilcher- was determined to demolish the drug-using rock counterculture threatening to take over Britain in the late 60’s.
Pilcher's favorite marijuana-sniffing canine assisted the sergeant under the code name of Willie. He signed the pact by stamping his right front paw print on the document. The rationale behind the blueprint concocted was that rock stars were popular icons worshipped by the fans and were promoting drug use by the copycat effect. Willie did not get along with cats!

As a warm-up, the squad targeted the singer Donovan of ''Mellow Yellow'' fame, who was considered to pose a serious menace to civilized life in Britain. The Sergeant busted him on drug charges. Pilcher himself got a lot of press and TV attention.

At a wild party at Redlands, Keith Richards house in West Sussex, the squad proceeded with Operation Rolling Storm. They found a completely naked young woman (enticingly referred to in press reports as the carpeted ''Miss X'') under a fur rug, high on pot, and a Canadian drug dealer named David Scheidermann in possession of marijuana.

At the trial, which lasted June 27 through June 29, 1967, at West Sussex Quarter Sessions, Keith was sentenced to twelve months in prison plus 500 pound costs for the crime of hosting the party. Mick Jagger and Robert Fraser were convicted of possession of pep pills legally bought in Italy.

In October next year, Sergeant Pilcher's Lonely Heart Club Band, led by their mascot Willie, ransacked the flat at 34 Montague Square, London W.1., owned by Ringo Starr but the temporary home of John Lennon and Yoko Ono who was pregnant at the time. The police claimed to have discovered 219 grains of cannabis resin in the ensuing search. Hours after being bailed free, Yoko had to be rushed to Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, where the doctors confirmed a miscarriage. Bad timing Sergeant Pilchers!
On November 28, John pled guilty to possession of cannabis resin and was fined 150-pound.

In an interview with Andy Peoples on BBC, two days before the Beatle's death, John explained the situation. According to his account, the previous resident, Jimi Hendrix, had left stacks of drugs in the flat. When he found out that Pilcher was coming after him, John contended that he thoroughly cleaned up the premises of the stacks of drugs. John said that Pilcher, who had called the press for some photos ops at the flat, set up the thing. John had pled guilty because the British government would have otherwise deported Yoko, as they were not married at that point.

When Paul McCartney was getting married to Linda Eastman at Saint John's Wood Roman Catholic church in the morning of March 12, 1969, Sergeant Pilcher busted the Harrison’s' estate, Kinfauns, located in Esher, south of London. George and Patti Boyd were charged with possession of marijuana. An expert in this period, writing under the pen name of Mr. Mustard, labels Pilcher the consummate ''scam artist'' in his holy war to stamp out drugs from Britain. According to Mr. Mustard, George did have a lot of pot but not where the cops maintained to have found it.

Fortunately, the squad’s reign of terror ended. As stated in Part 3 of the Beatles Anthology TV series, it was discovered that the Sergeant Pilcher had committed perjury in court. Pilcher was sentenced to serve four years in prison for this crime.

On the other hand, Willie got interested in Paul’s female sheepdog Martha after listening to Paul's song ''Martha My Dear,'' included in the 'White Album.'

a lost soul...

2006-11-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

faded blues!

2006-11-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

the Kopai nodi Jam!

2006-11-18T22:34:00.000-08:00

Did you know!

2006-11-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

Did you know that...

If the U.S. government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations implemente don July 16, 1969 make it illegal for U.S citizens to have any contact with extra-terrestrials or their vehicles.

The greatest recorded number of children that have bene born by one mother in 69'- the poor lass gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and a measely 4 sets of quadruplets. Even in the days before IVF.

In Texas arecently passed anti-crime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed. Only in Texas.

In Alaska it is legal to shoot bears. However waking a sleeping bear to take photographs is prohibited.

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. Next time you feel a sneeze coming try it!

the mighty Amyt !

2006-11-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Paris 2006'

2006-11-17T22:04:00.000-08:00

Jaipur Smiles.

2006-11-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Unlocking the code!

2006-11-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

postcard from the edge!

2006-11-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

Paradise Now !

2006-11-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

Old Friends

2006-11-17T10:37:00.000-08:00

Incoherent thoughts for Boo!

2006-11-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Life is a lost note of Miles.
"It plays joy, it plays pain. It tells of all the silent tears wept".
I don't know how it happened. But thank god it happened.
I love it when you caress me with your laziness when I lie down on my bed with the fans off on a late november afternoon.
You're in my mind; you're in my pain. You're in my madness, crying in the rain.
Romantic comedies once again make me feel good about myself.
They make me realize that "It's not always easy and sometimes life can be decieving.
But I'll tell you one thing, It's always better when we're together".

Words are all I have. And words are all you have.
And the song I was writing is still undone.
I am a believer. Yet, there are times when I doubt my belief.
"The only truth I know is you."