A lesser known Poet

Burning Zeppelin

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Last step on the stairway.
And the strings break away.

Heaven within grabs.
Skin undeterred by stabs.
Flesh harder than metal.
Impulse willing to settle.

But a bend too much to take.
And an unforeseen mishap.
If not the whole stairway,
I wish I could buy the last step.

The Secret In Her Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:05:00 +0000

Laughter of a child?
Some thoughts running wild?
A deep long sigh?
Or some tears gone dry?
Some ideas insane?
Or a heart drenched in pain?
Those feelings she wants to lock inside
disclose themselves in her eyes.

Make a guess, take the hint.
The truth that lies in that glint.

यादों का सैलाब

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:31:00 +0000

छुपाये नहीं छुपता था तेरा नूर हिजाब से.

जैसे छीन लाया हो लाली तेरा चेहरा किसी गुलाब से.

भूलना तो बोहत चाहा तुझको ऐ बेवफा.

मगर उमड़ आते थे हर लम्हा तेरे ख्याल बेहिसाब से.

बन गए शायर हम भी कुछ इस गुमान में

कि फाड़ देंगे तेरे नाम के पन्ने ज़िन्दगी की किताब से.

अब दिन के पहर गुज़रते हैं तेरी यादों के बगैर,

पर क्या करें, तेरी स्याही न मिटा सके रातो के ख्वाब से.

RIP Amy... and RIP rest of you

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:27:00 +0000

Another musician dies a pre-mature death this weekend - Amy Winehouse.

Frankly speaking, I hadn't listened to much of her music, and I didn't even care if she had a great voice (as critics claim) while she was alive. I am the kind of guy who doesn't like expanding his horizons beyond his pre-set bounds as far as music is concerned. And my bounds are limited to British Rock from the 60s, 70s and 80s. So any news about the likes of Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Eminem, and even the modern rock bands like Green Day and Linkin Park, doesn't excite me much.

However, the news of Winehouse's pre-mature death made me stop and think for a while - Why is it that musicians become easy target to an early death as compared to other celebrities?

Its not the first time that a famous musician has died at a young age while he / she was at the pinnacle of his / her career in music. It is in fact a very strange thing that the mortality rate at a pre-mature age amongst musicians is much higher as compared to that in other similar professionals - painters, sportspersons, actors, all of them have a greater chance of living a long life as compared to musicians.

The causes of these musicians' pre-mature deaths are also not the same always. Here are some of the ways I remember some of the well-known musicians died -
1. Over consumption of alcohol / drugs
2. Over consumption of sleeping pills
3. Heart failure, cancer, Aids
4. Accident
5. Murder
6. Suicide

And here is the list of famous musicians I remember who died quite early (not in any specific order), and the causes of their deaths -

1. Jimi Hendrix - Died at age of 27 due to over-consumption of sleeping pills.

2. Janis Joplin - She was 27 when she died. The cause is reported to be overdose of heroin.

3. John Lennon - Former member of "The Beatles". Murdered at the age of 40.

4. John Bonham - Led Zeppelin drummer. Died aged 32, due to over-consumption of alcohol.

5. Keith Moon - Drummer in the band "The Who". Died at age 32 due to over-consumption of a prescribed drug.

6. Dimebag Darrell Abbot - Guitarist in the heavy metal band "Pantera". Murdered while carrying out a live performance at the age of 38.

7. Brian Jones - Founder and former guitarist of "The Rolling Stones". Died at age of 27 when he was found drowned in swimming pool. It is uncertain whether it was an accident or a murder.

8. Jim Morrison - Lead singer of band "The Doors". Died at age 27. Found dead in his bathtub. However, it is uncertain whether it was due to drug overdose or a case of murder.

9. Kurt Cobain - Lead singer of "Nirvana". Killed himself with a shotgun at age of 27.

10. Michael Jackson - At the age of 50, suffered cardiac arrest due to overdose of propofol - an intravenous hypnotic agent he had been using for getting sleeps.

11. Cliff Burton - Bassist of "Metallica". Died aged just 24 when Metallica's tour bus met with an accident.

12. Bon Scott - Lead singer for band AC/DC, died at the age of 33 due to heavy drinking.

13. Bob Marley - Died due to skin cancer at the age of 36.

14. Dave Williams - Lead singer of the Alternative Rock band "Drowning Pool" died due to a heart disease at the age of 30.

15. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines - Lead vocalist, guitarist and backup singer respectively of the American rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd", all died in a plane crash. They were 29, 28 and 29 respectively.

16. Tommy Bolin - Guitarist for "Deep Purple". Died aged 25 because of drug overdose.

17. Elvis Presley - Died aged 42 due to continuous abuse of prescription drugs.

18. Hillel Slovak - Guitarist and founding member of "Red Hot Chilli Peppers". Died at the age of 26 due to heroin addiction.

19. Paul Gray - Bassist for band "Slipknot". Died aged 38 due to accidental overdose of morphine.

20. Freddie Mercury - Lead singer of "Queen", died at 45 due to Aids.

21. Randy Rhoads - The guitarist died in an airplane crash when he was just 25.

22. Amy Winehouse - Died at an age of 27 due to reasons which are still to be explained.

The list doesn't end here. These are the musicians that came to my mind instantly. If you refer the Google, you may find scores of more musicians. If you know any other musician whom I have missed out, and who makes to this list, please put his / her name in the comments.

Can corruption be voted out?

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:15:00 +0000

The events during past week have united the nation. Or so we perceive.

During past week, what I have personally observed is that a big divide has emerged out in the society. There are majority of those who support Anna Hazare and the Jan Lokpal Bill, either knowing or without knowing the salient features of the proposed bill. And then there are those who do not support Hazare and the bill, and rather have one of the following beliefs -
1. We have voted for this government, so we have to bear with the corruption.
2. The correct way to eradicate corruption is to cast your vote.
3. Choose the correct candidate while voting.
4. The proposed Jan Lokpal Bill is faulty.
5. Going on indefinite fast is a form of blackmail.
6. If we too, as individual citizens are corrupt, why blame the government?

I'll be honest to say that I am not one of the most well-informed citizens in India. However, I am still aware of what is going on in the nation under the present government. There have been so many scams that have surfaced, and which have actually caused a great loss to the nation, both on the national prestige as well as on an economic front. So when the news of Anna Hazare going on indefinite fast erupted, rather than jumping straight to any conclusions (like several others), I decided to first of all understand the Jan Lokpal bill and its salient features. I was lucky to find a complete copy of the bill in MS Word format (http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/docs/Jan%20lokpal%20bill%202.1.doc), and went through the complete document. Also went through the history of the proposed Lokpal (http://bit.ly/fGXr6b), and only after that did I come out in support of Anna Hazare.

Since we are the biggest democracy in the world, the six questions above seem to be reasonable on first looks. After all, this government was selected by us, the citizens of India. Then why are we complaining? And if we are complaining, then why did we elect this corrupt government? We should let the government decide what bill needs to be proposed rather than individuals from civic society coming up with a bill.

However, if we think with a broad mind, all these questions, which initially may sound reasonable, can be answered. And I'll try to answer these based on what I personally believe.

1. We have voted for this government, so we have to bear with the corruption.
We vote for a party based on the agenda it presents, and the promises it makes. No party says that it is going to be involved in acts of corruption, if chosen to form a government. Besides, if the voters by mistake, or due to lack of information choose the wrong party to form the government, does it mean that the government must be allowed to suck the blood of the people and of the nation and national resources for complete 5 years? Shouldn't people be allowed to accept their mistakes, and subsequently make amendments? Why let the nation get punished for 5 years for the inadvertent mistake of voters during election?

2. The correct way to eradicate corruption is to cast your vote.
Voting to elect the rightful people is indeed very important. But can voting really wipe out the corruption that exists in India today? In one of her tweets today, Ms Barkha Dutt suggested that poor voter turnout in 2009 elections is the actual cause of corrupt people being selected to form the government. In argument to this statement, I would like to present some statistics - The voters turnout in India during 2009 Indian General Elections was 59.7%. Whereas, the turnout percentage of voters in United Kingdom was 61% in 2005, and 65% in 2010 General elections. If we compare our figures with those of UK, which also is a multi party democracy, there is not a very significant difference. However, on the Corruption Perception Index, UK stands much above India in rankings (http://bit.ly/hkj009). This only proves that there is no significant relationship between corruption and voters turnout during elections.

3. Choose the correct candidate while voting.
Again, as I explained in point 1 above, no electoral candidate mentions in his political agenda that he will rob the country. In such a case, where each and every candidate is making promises for betterment of nation, who would a citizen choose to be his leader? For instance, consider the following options -
   I. A man who has history of creating communal disturbances?
   II. A man who supports a communist party?
  III. A lady who likes being presented on her birthday with garlands made up of a million Rupees in cash?
  IV. A man who pioneered the economic reforms in the nation, and who has no history of being corrupt?
The answer is obvious. Anybody would believe that option IV is the best option to choose. But did it prove to be? If the leader of a government is honest, does that mean that everybody in his government would be honest? Consider Mr A. Raja, for instance. Did he have any history of being involved in acts of corruption when he was elected in 2009?
Lokpal Bill first came into light in year 1971, as a means to fight corruption in the nation. Since then, several political parties have formed the government at centre, but still nothing has come out of the bill, except being rejected every time it is proposed in the parliament. If we select another government at centre the next time, what is the surety that any bill to fight against corruption would be passed?

4. The proposed Jan Lokpal Bill is faulty.
Okay, there might be faults in Jan Lokpal Bill. But shouldn't the bill have been passed long ago in its original form, or after incorporating whatever amendments were suggested in either of the parliamentary sessions in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008? If the bill is being rejected every time in parliament, and levels of corruption are rising with time, wouldn't responsible citizens of nation be forced to create their own version of bill, absolving the politicians from any kind of power? And if there are faults in Jan Lokpal bill, shouldn't the government have had a dialogue with the people who drafted it when asked to in March, and suggested some constructive improvements and amendments into it?

5. Going on indefinite fast is a form of blackmail.
Anna Hazare didn't go on indefinite fast straight from the day this bill was drafted. A copy of Jan Lokpal Bill was sent to the PM, but still there was no response to this. Representatives of India Against Corruption had been meeting various Ministers seeking their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill, but those ministers too didn't show any seriousness towards the cause (as per Hazare's letter to the PM - http://bit.ly/fprquX). And subsequently, to appease everybody, the government came up with their own version of bill, wherein all the power stayed with the politicians. Anna Hazare went on a fast as long as four months after the draft copy of Jan Lokpal bill was sent to PM and various ministers without getting a subsequent response from them. Besides sending the copy of proposed bill, there were several other letters highlighting the inadequate handling of corruption charges, sent to the PM and Mrs Sonia Gandhi. These can be found here - http://bit.ly/h5KTUT
Yes, going on indefinite fast is a form of blackmail, but in this case, the fight for the bill didn't start straightaway with an indefinite fast. When there was a need for dialogue, it didn't happen, and that left Anna Hazare with no other option.

6. If we too, as individual citizens are corrupt, why blame the government?
This is the most debatable of the six questions above. And here I would try to establish the reason why I feel majority of people in the nation are corrupt (including you and me). You may say that being Indians, we have an inherent tendency to be corrupt. I would strongly disagree with this. Consider the example of Singapore. People of Chinese and Indian descent form majority of population there. Both China and India stand very low on Corruption Perception index. Yet Singapore is considered to be the least corrupt country in world, as per this index. Majority of Indians who go overseas follow the law of the nation they are in.
There is an adage in Hindi which goes as, "Kharbooza kharbooze ko dekh kar hi rang pakadta hai." This means that if there is a person around you who is involved in some sort of misdeed, chances are that you too are going to take his example and start practising the same sooner or later. For instance, people in India are very impatient, and don't like standing in queues. However, we, the very same Indians, when in a country like UK, can be the most patient people around. We quietly stand in queues, waiting for our turn without being frustrated at all. I have been to UK and I say so based on my own personal experience.

If I see a traffic police cop asking me for a bribe, I say to myself, "If servants of nation are making money, why shouldn't I do it, however unethical it may be". When the traffic policeman sees police commissioner taking bribe, he says "Oh what the heck!!! I too shall take bribes." When Police commissioner sees the local MLA being corrupt, he too stops worrying about what is right or wrong. When an MLA or an MP sees the Chief Ministers or Cabinet Ministers being corrupt, he thinks why should I be left behind. The problem is that corruption percolates down from top to bottom. And sideways as well. And it is almost impossible to imagine that everyone can be corrected based on some kind of motivational talk that would waken up the moral values of individuals. Corruption is so deep embedded in our system that nobody will wake up by his call of conscience. Unless there is a fear of being punished if found to be guilty. And the proposed Lokpal is the means to inculcate that fear. Once the levels of corruption start falling in our society, I personally believe that this fall would be exponential in nature. All we need is just a push.

Peepli [Dies], Udaan Flies

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:24:00 +0000

I feel sad. Sad to the core. The 83rd Academy Award nominations are out.

Around four months back, I had the pleasure of watching one marvellous movie. A movie made with heart. A movie that didn't have any pretensions attached with it. A movie that didn't try to teach anything or send out any message to its viewers. A movie that was made not for bagging any award, either the Filmfare or the Oscar. A movie whose motive was not to end up being a blockbuster or be a super hit among the masses. The sole purpose of that movie was to fulfil one's desire to create something that is close to one's heart. To bring forth to audience something that one feels, rather than something that audience want to feel.

I am talking about "Udaan", and about its drector, Vikramaditya Motwane. I would rate it as the best movie to come out of Bollywood last year and perhaps in a long long time. Infact, it was one of the best movies to have been released in 2010 all across the globe. And IMDB acknowledges this by rating it as the 6th best movie of 2010.

I was hoping badly that some common sense would prevail, and "Udaan" would be chosen as India's official entry for 83rd Academy Awards by Film Federation of India. Alas!!! It wasn't to happen. "Udaan" lost to Aamir Khan's production "Peepli Live". And as I had expected earlier, "Peepli Live" eventually didnt make it to the final five.

Nothing personal against "Peepli Live" or Aamir Khan. I think that it is an excellent movie in parts. Yes, in parts. Credit needs to be given where it is due. Considering that "Peepli Live" is the directorial debut for Anusha Rizvi, she carried out a splendid job. The portrayal of the village in which the story evolves, the whole concept, the inital hour or so, and the last two scenes are the high points of the movie. Especially the final two scenes - the one where protagonist's brother and wife are sitting outside their home, and the one where the protagonist is working at a construction site in the city, and finally sits down for rest. The silence speaks so much in these two scenes. The end is left open for the viewers to perceive on their own whether its a sad one or happy.

However, what I hated about the movie was the humour that went too much over the top at times. In the name of satire, the filmmakers tried to indulge into too much mockery of the news media. Consider for example the scene where one of the newspersons is shown capturing the footage of the spot where the subject was last seen excreting. Such humour, I am guessing, was added only to ensure that the movie doesn't miss out because of lack of slapstick. I would have preferred all the humour in "Peepli Live" to be subtle rather than this loud, and ultimately falling to such below par standards. I feel that "Peepli Live" is a movie that has been made not with heart, but with an "Oscar aspiring" mind, and with an eye on the Box Office.

"Udaan", au contraire, was a movie that had enough content in it to give in easily to the melodrama. But, it did not. It stayed mellow throughout. The movie is full of moments that a viewer would savour forever. Moments such as the silence between the two friends in the woods broken only by poetry. Or the scene where the protagonist is shown dragging his heavy trunk upstairs, mildly giving suggestions to the audience how his life is going to be an uphill climb during the course of the movie. Or the scene where he takes out all his anger on the car. Under normal circumstances, a person who has frustration and rage building up inside of him would need a good friend to speak it out. And if he has nobody close enough to speak to, what else can one do to let out his frustration? Each and every minor detail in "Udaan" represents something bigger. For instance, the old Contessa that the protagonist's father possesses represents his old and outdated beliefs, and his pretence. His morning jogs, black sunglasses, smoking and drinking as a false belief of being a toughie.

Another good thing about the direction was the perfect placement of background score throughout the movie. For instance, the scenes I have described above have not been marred by a background score being played. Silence in these scenes, or the presence of only the sounds like trunk being dragged or window panes being broken is what makes these moments so pleasant and natural. And then there are scenes like college-style banter with the newly made friends, or narrating a story in the hospital, which could have easily been the areas where director had the option to make the dialogue or the monologue much more clearer, so as to make the regular audience laugh or to hear a complete story from the narrator respectively. However, the director rather added loud background music in these two situations, which made the conversations inaudible. Yet the music and the inaudibility of these conversations served their purpose pretty well. The director wanted us not to laugh at the banter, but rather to feel happy on seeing the protagonist laughing himself at that moment. The director didn't want us to hear the complete story being narrated at the hospital, but rather to experience his good knack of story-telling that made several people (a kid, old patients, young patients, nurses, doctors) listen keenly to him. These are the subtle things which mark the difference between a good movie and a great movie. You don't need to shout out loud to tell what you want to tell.

When I compare "Udaan" to "Peepli Live", I can definitely say that it had far more chances of reaching the final cut in the Oscars, as compared to the latter, had it been chosen. I am still unsure why the latter was preferred. Was it Aamir Khan's old experience at Oscars that tempted Film Federation of India to send another Aamir Khan movie to the Oscars his year, hoping that this time he would do what he couldn't in 2001. Or was it due to the misconception we have that anything that displays Indian villages and poverty has a greater chance to win abroad. Whatever it be, none of them could take "Peepli Live" to the final five.

PS: Came to know today that "Udaan" won several awards in India in most prestigious categories. If Filmfare and Star Screen awards can acknowledge the movie, why can't Film Federation of India?

YouTube killed the Billboard.com

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:18:00 +0000

And today again my Facebook homepage is swarming with plethora of videos. Gosh!!! Some of the videos are those that I've already watched. While some are those that were there a couple of days back, and I skipped watching them after reading their titles, which probably comprised of any of the following combinations of words -

1. Girls are girls
2. Men are men
3. Boys will be boys
4. Best video ever
5. Must watch
6. Cute kid
7. Sheila ki jawani
8. Sheila ki jawani - Chipmunks version

Nothing against these videos. These videos are in fact creative works from creative people. However, the problem is that they are present everywhere on facebook. And all the time. I login to Facebook to check out my friends' updates, but instead see the same video being shared by atleast 10 friends of mine. The good thing about facebook is that a single video appears only a single time on the page on a single day, irrespective of it being shared by multiple friends. However, the bad thing is that I see the same video again next time I login that evening. And again next day. And day after that.

These videos have become part of my daily routine now. Seeing them lined up in my friends updates, and ignoring them, has now become a habit. And on a usual occasion, I wouldn't spend any time either watching them, or writing about them. What forced me, however, to write on this topic today is that while I was going through the regular practice of ignoring the videos on my FB home page, one video suddenly caught my eye. It was one of my favourite youtube videos that was today shared by a friend. I had seen this video around a year back for the first time, and today when I saw it on my FB home page, I immediately clicked on it to view it again. The God-damn slow internet speed didn't help much to the cause, but the wait was worth it.

And the video motivated me to come up with a list of my favorite videos on Youtube. I had never ever given it a thought earlier as to which are my favorite videos. And I was thinking that it would probably take hours to come up with the list. How wrong I was. Took me just 5 minutes approx to do so.

So here are the Youtube videos that currently stand at the top 20 positions in my list -

20. 3D Light Show - Art Projection Ukraine ( very interesting )
I saw this video for the first time some 3-4 months back on facebook, where some friend of mine had shared it. And boy!!! What an amazing display of laser lights it is. I have seen some very good laser shows live. However, none of them is even 1% as good as this one.

19. DRUMMER AT WRONG GIG- better view
Everytime I watch this video, I am captivated by this drummer cum juggler. And although he is no Neil Peart or John Bonham, and is playing a very basic 4/4 time signature, yet his act is totally awesome.

18. Robbie Maddison's 2008 New Year's Eve jump
Now this is one thing that needs guts to do. Whether you are a professional stuntman or not. It really amazes me how one finds the motivation to risk his life to perform such an act.

17. Crazy Soccer Ball Juggling
A perfect act of balancing - not only the ball, but also his own weight from falling down off the place where he is dancing.

16. Evolution of Dance - By Judson Laipply
Every time I watch this video, I end up laughing like anything. Especially when he dances to "Cant Touch This".

15. Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years.
What an effort? Would anyone have enough patience to take a picture of oneself each day continuously for 6 years? Not me. Well I haven't clicked any photo of mine since past 1.5 years almost (Dont even have a single pic of myself to prove that I had grown my hair for almost 9 months in case somebody asks for it).

14. Freestyle Dance Performance (Korea:PREPIX)
I have seen several groups' amazing dance performances on the internet. JabbaWockeez for instance. And also seen some individual break dance performances. However, none of them has been as good as this one. The coordination amongst the crew is mind-boggling.

13. Where the Hell Is Matt? (2008)
And this is the video that a friend of mine shared this morning, that inspired me to write this stuff. The whole concept of this video is so heart warming. And some of the footage in this video is so very well captured that it leaves you enchanted. And yes, he is the same guy who was hired by Visa in their Travel Happy advertising campaign.

12. Women's 4x400 relay - CWG - 2010 - Delhi - India wins Gold
What a proud moment it was for all the Indians. One of the biggest achievements in the field of athletics for India. This video still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.

11. Yuto Miyazawa and Ozzy
The youngest professional guitarist. He is just 10 years old at present, yet he plays at par with some of the best guitarists around. And look at his expressions when he meets his idol at the end.

10. OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version - Official
OK Go is a rock band which has been famous not because of their music, but because of their innovative videos. "Here it goes again" is the video that brought them fame. And since then there has been no stopping. And this particular song has got two versions, one featuring a marching band, which again is quite an impressive video. However, this Rube Goldberg machine version is beyond doubt, one of the best videos I have ever seen on Youtube. Parts of the machine are synchronized in time with the music. Water glasses creating the melody for instance.

9. Charlie bit my finger - again !
And here is the video that started the kidsomania on YouTube. And this is the video that, probably, made Youtube what it is now. The total number of views for this video speak for themselves.

8. Für Elise on guitar (full version!)
There are atleast a hundred videos on YouTube that I like that feature guitar or piano cover versions of songs. And some of them would have easily filled at least 10 out of 20 spots in this list. However, while writing this post, I had decided not to include any of them, else the list would have become quite boring for the reader.
However, I could not prevent myself from adding this video to the list. This is the best version of Fur Elise that one will ever hear on guitar. The song was composed to be played on piano by Beethoven. And it is not so easy to create a guitar rendition for complete song. However, this guy has done an excellent job in doing so.

7. OK Go - White Knuckles - Official Video
OK Go again, this time with another wonderful video. This one features not only the humans performing schematically designed activities, but dogs as well. How they pulled off this awesome video is a question not easy to answer.

6. Auto-Tune the News #2: pirates. drugs. gay marriage
So Its not only Justin Bieber and Kanye West who use Auto-tune to get melodies out of their throats. Even the random news broadcasts can also be turned into music. And The Gregory Brothers have done a fantastic job in turning monotonous news into cheerful parodies.

5. We No Speak Americano ft. Cleary & Harding
Saw this video for the first time in the TIME magazine RSS feed that I have subscribed to. And whether someone speaks Americano or not, he/she is bound to be enthralled by this amazing dance of fingers and hands.

4. Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
The longest video that I have seen fully on YouTube. And there is no reason not to see it. It is one of the most inspirational lectures you'll ever hear. And if you don't feel motivated to do something about your dreams after watching this, then I doubt that anything else would be able to motivate you.

3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance
I have already seen this video at least 50 times. And I can see it another 1000 times. This video kinda brings Indianness to a Christian wedding. Just love the concept. Hats off to the bride for this idea of hers.

2. Christian the lion - Full ending
Do wild ones have heart? Or are they solely governed by the hunter-prey relationship? This video answers the question.

1. Wingsuit Base Jumping
And finally I come to the video I like the most on YouTube. Its a sheer display of human urge to achieve the impossible. To dare to do something that only birds can do. And these men want to go beyond the permissible limits. They want to learn flying in open skies. And once they are good at that, they wanna fly just feets above the ground.

A fistful of sands (of Time)

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 14:15:00 +0000

“What do you usually do once you reach home?” I asked my colleague during an after-lunch stroll.

“I reach home by 8 o’clock in the evening, cook dinner, watch tv, and then go off to bed.” She replied, albeit with an element of surprise on her face, as to why was she being asked such a question.

“And how about the weekends?”

“I go out shopping.”

“Do you have any hobbies that you pursue?”

“I love fabric painting and stitching designs on clothes. However, it has been almost a year since I have done any of those activities.”

“Why?”

“Because I am not finding enough time to do so.”

This was not the first time in my life that I was hearing someone say that he or she doesn’t find time out of their busy schedules to pursue something different in life. In fact, 3 years back, the count of those who gave this reason for not trying out something new in life was at least +1 than what it is now. Yes amigos. I also belonged to the same category. The time always found a way to escape from my hands. And the reason for that was not that time is stronger than my grasp, but that my grasp does not have enough will to hold on to time.

Things, however, have changed now. And these days, I find more time for myself and to do things that I love, than what I usually found couple of years back. For instance, here are the details of how I spend time on a regular weekday –

Activity	Time Spent (in hrs)
Getting ready for office	1
Time spent in office	9
Travel betw office and home, both to & fro	2
Listening to my favourite music	4
Eating	1
Watching TV	1
Playing guitar	2
Sleeping	7
Checking mails, RSS feeds and Facebook	1
Total	28

Oh yes. My average day is 28 hours long, 4 hours more than what God intended to grant me. And those extra 4 hours are something which I could not have managed to squeeze into my daily routine, had I not had the will to do so. I get that extra time because of my deep love for things outside the average daily routine. For instance, I love playing guitar. Hence, I reach home, have my dinner, and subsequently, ensure that I practice guitar for at least 2 hours. Similarly, I love listening to British Rock. And I find out time here and there to plug the earphones, which ultimately gives approx 4 hours of time to my favourite music to fill my ears.

The truth is that if you really want to find more time for yourself, you can, only if you truly love something. Develop a hobby and devote time to that. The way things stand today, I can definitely say that I am now living a life which is "longer" and more enriching as compared to the life I was leading couple of years back. Its not only that I am holding on to time, but these days, I am infact, able to squeeze out more time out of the time. And I am sure anyone who has a great passion for something can do so.

My Playlist (contd...)

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:02:00 +0000

My previous post is dedicated to the people I can listen to non-stop for hours and hours. And I am talking about some of the most influential musicians ever born. These include Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Ozzy Osbourne, Axl Rose, Slash, James Hetfield, Bono, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and many more whose music continues to fill my ears.

There is a special playlist that I have created in my Walkman, which comprises of just 15 songs. These 15 songs are my all time favorites. And the poem I had written in my previous post actually describes each of these songs. I am listing them down here in the order in which they appear in the playlist. The order is the same while describing these in the lines of my poem.

1. War Pigs (Black Sabbath)
I would rate this song much above the other songs from Black Sabbath such as "Paranoid" and "Iron Man". Amazing guitar by Tony Iommi throughout. Insane drums by Bill Ward. And what a powerful voice from Ozzy. Heaviest of heavy metal.

2. Civil War (Guns N' Roses)
Primary reason why this song exists in my playlist - Axl Rose. God forgot to give him brains, but more than compensated for that in the voice department. The variety in the pitch of his voice throughout the song is mind-blowing. I also like the opening broken chords played on acoustic guitar, when this song starts to take off. Had Axl continued his collaboration with Slash and Izzy, I bet Guns N' Roses would have given hundreds of more powerful songs, and would have continued to top the charts even in the new millennium.

3. The Times, They Are a-Changin' (Bob Dylan)
You search for the original song on Youtube, but you won't find it. What you would find instead are hundreds of cover versions of this song, performed by people across all generations. And generations would come and go, yet the message that this song contains, would still hold good.

4. Fade To Black (Metallica)
I would say just one thing about this song - amazing guitar play - both acoustic as well as overdriven. The very first riff on acoustic guitar, the intro solo, the acoustic rhythm, the two power chord progressions in the middle, and the outro solo - each is so unique and powerful, that you can't push the Stop or Pause button once you have started playing it. I would rate this song to be the best guitar song ever. And this is the song which actually inspired me to take guitar solos and power chords more seriously.

5. Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)
Unlike other songs, this one can clearly be divided into two sections - vocals and instrumental. This style of vocals is also known as Cappella. During the vocal sections, while Plant is singing, there are no guitars or drums. And when he finishes his lines, suddenly Jimmy Page starts burning the stage with powerful guitar signature. The guitar sounds totally different from what I have heard in other songs. Such innovation in music is what makes Led Zeppelin arguably the best rock band of all time.

6. Man On The Edge (Iron Maiden)
Not as famous as the other Iron Maiden songs, yet I personally think it is the best from them. Once you hear it, the song won't leave you. Very catchy tune and lyrics, that would set their feet for a long long time in your head. And yes, I can still hear my brain humming loud and clear - "Falling Down, falling down, falling doooowwwwwn".

7. The Unforgiven (Metallica)
The song opens with an ominous finger-picking pattern on acoustic guitar, and it continues throughout the song, although not as audible in the later sections of the song. The lyrics are amazing. One of the very few songs that has powerful verses and a very mild and soothing chorus section.

8. With Or Without You (U2)
The mix of sounds in this song is very different from any other song I have heard. Especially when the song kiscks off. Bono has lent a great voice to this song, pretty subtle when compared to other songs he has sung, although towards the end it again emits out a lot of energy.

9. Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
I wouldn't call it a song. It is more of a poem. The lyrics are probably the best of all the songs categorized under rock genre. And I don't think I need to say anything about the guitar riff being played throughout. Page had to tune down 3 of his guitar's strings to have a DADGAD setting instead of EADGBE. As I mentioned earlier as well, this kind of experimentation with sounds is what makes Led Zeppelin the greatest rock band of all time. Although, the sequence of songs in this list of mine is not based on any rank, however, I would still go on to say that Kashmir is ranked Number 1 in my personal favorites list.

10. Don't Think Twice, Its Alright (Bob Dylan)
One of the best finger-picking patterns I have ever heard. And its pretty fast as well. Have heard a lot of cover versions of this song, but none has ever been able to imitate the exact pattern, as played in the original version from Dylan. The lyrics are simple but pretty awesome. The best break-up song of all time.

11. Highway Star (Deep Purple)
I love this song because of its tempo. The fast pace throughout keeps my mind blowing whenever I hear it. A bass guitar intro, and suddenly the song takes off like a rocket.

12. High Hopes (Pink Floyd)
The song is an auto-biography of David Gilmour. The song is also a biography of each one of us who wants to fly back to simpler times. The last Pink Floyd song ever written. And I would say it is the perfect end to a legacy.

13. Wonderwall (Oasis)
The song opens with an amazing chords progression on acoustic guitar. And continues on with a great melody throughout. I enjoyed a lot learning this song on my guitar, and thats the primary reason I like it so much. The chords, however simple they may sound, are pretty complex in nature. These are not the regular open or barre chords, and can not be played without a capo.

14. Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)
Amazing lyrics, very different from any other love song (considering this is a romantic song written by James Hetfield for his girl-friend). And amazing guitar play. This song inspired me to learn finger-picking on acoustic guitar, and I would blame the song for long finger-nails I have grown on my right hand.

15. Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
This is considered to be the best Floyd song ever, not only by me, but by millions. The amazing solo from Gilmour has been rated "the best of all time" on numerous occasions.

My Playlist

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 16:48:00 +0000

A song about war, and about political sins,

A song that cries against a war within,

A song that speaks of shifting tides,

A song of a man who contemplates suicide,

A song portraying craving for a woman's love,

A song about a fall from high above,

A song about a life, always ensnared in a bubble,

A song that talks of a relationship in trouble,

A song of the timeless journey through the sands,

A song to break up a failed romance,

A song to boast of his proud possessions,

A song about yore, how he yearns for regression,

A song for a friend who can save him from himself,

A song of trust, of words of heart, and nothing else,

And a song of all his senses that cease to exist,

Is what you'll find in my head and on my playlist.

Butterfly Ear-rings

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:13:00 +0000

A long black skirt and she’s wrapped inside it.
The white shirt looks on her to be a perfect fit.
A pair of glasses and two eyes hide behind.
Two lips having dullness of a palish color undefined.
Each strand of hair kempt in a knot too tight.
Grim look on her face - a usual sight.
Unnoticed go among such mundane things -
Her colorful butterfly ear-rings.

Those orchid blooms, and her wide open arms.
Her leap of faith sans the worldly qualms.
A pair of eyes, in them a playful glint.
Her lips haute-coutured in a bright red tint.
A blow of wind and her hair that swirl.
The laughter that breaks away a gloomy lull.
And you’ll notice the expanse of her hidden wings
In the colors of her butterfly ear-rings.

Wrath of Rain Gods

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 11:51:00 +0000

“Sir ji, rains are going to elude us this year as well”, said the driver of the bus I board each morning to office.

It was the first week of June, and there was still no sign of any rainfall in Pune - no clouds in the sky, no respite from the scorching heat, and no positive weather forecasts as well for the next few weeks. Rains had eluded Pune the previous year, and this year as well, they had already been delayed by at least a month.

“Sir ji, there is nobody but ourselves to blame for this change of weather during past 2-3 years. We are responsible for the wrath of God that is punishing the city”, he said in a tone which appeared to be filled with guilt.

I was quite impressed and emotionally stirred by this statement and the way he thought. Even after knowing all about global warming, and how it is rising to alarming levels, most of us are doing nothing. All continue to burn more and more fuel, waste energy and turn their backs to the issue. The problem is that most of the people don’t even want to accept this as a fault of their own and turn a blind eye towards the environment. However, this bus driver was talking more sense than these much more educated and knowledgeable ones. I didn’t know if he was doing anything substantial to save Mother Nature. But at least he was thinking in the right direction. Or so I thought.

“Yes, you are absolutely right. The environmental problems are our own doing. We should try our very best not to damage the environment any further”, I said.
He interrupted, “Yes sir ji. Man must control and bring down the levels of freedom that women enjoy today. “

Had my ears deceived me? Instead of ‘levels of emission from automobiles’, had I heard ‘levels of freedom that women enjoy’? “Beg your pardon!!!”, I said.

“Sir ji, women have been given too much freedom nowadays. They are skimpily dressed. They have boyfriends. They even smoke and drink these days”, he continued. “And worst of all, they even do unmentionable things that should be done by girls only after marriage”, he alluded to consummation of physical bond between the male and the female of a species.

“So???”, I asked him, unable to comprehend what he wanted to say.

“Sir ji, God is looking from heavens above. He has seen all the misdeeds of women in recent times. He is extremely angry on women, and these longer than usual summers and absence of rains is His way of punishing them, and punishing us for letting them get out of control.”

“Moreover Sir ji, government is also not doing anything to control this climatic change. Law punishes men who rape women. Why doesn’t it punish the women who do such unmentionable things before marriage?”, he continued to express his deep concerns for Mother Nature.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. And I just couldn’t believe that people could be so lame. Are these ideas of his own? Or have these been implanted into his mind by others who think likewise? Are there many more in this world who believe that the ice is melting in Arctic region because women have started enjoying an occasional booze in India? Are there people who believe that seasons’ cycle has shifted because ladies have stopped hiding their faces behind ghoonghats and burqas?

At first, I thought about explaining in detail to him the real cause of earth’s environmental problems. But then, I realized that it is not only about the environment that I would have to explain to him. I would as well have to get rid of gender bias existing in his mind and inculcate in him equal respect for men and women alike. And the latter cannot be achieved through a lecture or some kind of workshop. It is something that should be slowly instilled into a person right from his childhood. If a child grows up with biased thoughts in his mind, there is no way his thinking can change at any point later in his life. And there could be no way that I could make this bus driver think in any different manner. So I decided to remain silent.

More than two months have now passed since this incident, and it has been raining continuously for past five weeks or so. It seems that people have now realized what great damage they had been carrying out to nature and have perhaps taken positive steps towards ensuring that Rain Gods stay happy. Positive steps such as all unmarried women vowing to stay virgin until they marry, I guess. After all, that’s what causes rains. Right?

PS: You can read here how Mother Nature is avenging man's cruelties to her?

Me, my cam and the clicks

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:45:00 +0000

"So when was the last time I held a camera in my hands to do some serious photography?", I thought before clicking my first photograph in a long long time. The answer to my question was "10 months back". I checked the EXIF on the last photo taken by me, and the "Date Taken" read 9/21/2009 6:19 pm. Long time, no clicks.

My interest in photography was born not in July 2008, when I had purchased my first Digicam. Nor was it born in the next couple of months when I toured, and captured lots and lots of snaps in beautiful places like Paris, London and Switzerland. Although I did capture thousands of pictures in these places, but these were not out of any thought of learning photography, or experimenting with it, but because of the fact that I was getting once in a lifetime opportunity to visit these places, and I wanted to capture and save most of what I had seen, in the form of photographs. And it turned out that of thousands of clicks, some came out really amazing. For instance, these -

However, it was not until early 2009, when I realized what true photography means. And I thank my friend Samit Tibrewala, as well as some of my ex-colleagues whom I know only by their names and through their snaps EXIFs (If you are interested to see their clicks, check this out). Samit gave me a small lesson on how to use Adobe Photoshop to enhance an ordinary photograph, and turn it into an extraordinary one. And on the SLR bulletin board of my previous organization, I found people sharing their knowledge and experiences on the rules one must follow during photography, as well as the importance of sometimes breaking these rules. Some of these people are Swaheel, Sandy, Ashay Dhavale, Vaibhav Garge, Bobokumar and Nikky Stephen. The photographs posted by these guys on the bulletin board were atleast 100 times better than those you would find on my Flickr photostream, and thats what inspired me to emulate these people. I started posting my own clicks on the bulletin board, and the members were kind enough to point out how I could improvize on these snaps to make them look even better.

And since then, I have learned a lot on SLR bulletin board, and on internet about photography and about using Photoshop. I also went through the complete manual of my P&S Sony cybershot DSC W-35.

Subsequently, the first thing I tried was to modify some of my not-so-good photographs, through Photoshop. The results were amazing. Here is one such example -

Before

After

In addition, I also learned the rules about shutter speed, aperture width, importance of light, placement of subject in the photograph etc. And slowly and stetadily, I started to implement these rules while clicking photographs. And subsequently, the photos started coming out perfect, and didn't need too much editing in Photoshop. Below are some examples of photographs where no Photoshopping is done (except very basic contrast adjustments).

The most important thing I have learned about photography, however, is that you do not need a very expensive camera to get good photographs out. Even a very basic Point and Shoot can suffice most of your photography needs (unless you are looking for wildlife, macro or bird photography). All you need is the experience, detail knowledge of how your camera works, know-how about the rules of photography, and a keen eye to visualize good clicks in ordinary situations.

Yesterday, all these thoughts raced through my mind in a matter of seconds, before I pressed the shutter button down first time in more than 10 months. And now I have decided to pursue this hobby of mine more regularly and without such a long break.

PS: You can find my best snaps from yesterday here.

So who completed the final act of Inception?

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Hello friends. It has been more than 6 months now since I have updated my blog. Reasons are manifold - not many random thoughts erupting in my mind, a shift of interest towards playing guitar, and last but not the least, an accident which made me bed-ridden for approximately 2 months.

Watched the movie "Inception" recently, and I personally believe it to be one of the best movies that has come out in last couple of years or so. A wonderful treat from Christopher Nolan, who currently stands at 2nd place in my list of best directors (next only to Stanley Kubrick). I have seen each and every movie directed by him so far, and intend to maintain the record.

RULES
During the past couple of years since I started watching his movies, I have discovered that Christopher Nolan is a perfectionist. You won't find even a single loophole in any of the movies he has made so far, be it "The Following", which was his very first movie, produced on a very low budget, or the grand, Batman comic book based "The Dark Knight". Inception too is an awesome movie. It has a pretty dense plot, and Nolan has ensured that people keep guessing what the ending of the movie signifies. I personally believe that this movie deserves at least 3 viewings. First viewing to understand the plot, as it is pretty damn complex, and one would have to put all his thoughts into understanding the rules of dreamworld. A second viewing is required to gather some minute clues that Nolan has scattered everywhere, which are critical to the story, and to understand the bigger picture about which I am going to discuss shortly. And finally a third viewing, dedicated not to Nolan, the storyteller, but to Nolan, the director. I am yet to have a 2nd and a 3rd viewing of the movie.

I was recently having a discussion on Gmail with some of my friends who have seen the movie, and was also going through hundreds of posts on internet about what people believe the ending of the movie signifies. And a few thoughts of my own regarding the ending filled my brain (finally some random ideas after 6 months of inactivity of my grey cells).

I would be putting down my thoughts below assuming that you have already seen the movie and are aware of terms like totem, architect etc. If you have not yet seen the movie, I would suggest to read no further as there are spoilers in rest of the post (and anyway, you are not going to understand even a bit).

So here are my 2 cents about the ending -

THE DREAM

A totem, as described in the movie, is a small personalized item that only the owner knows a specific thing about. However, throughout the movie, Cobb is shown spinning the top in front of everyone else in his team (including Ellen Page who has not even officially joined the team yet). And everyone is aware what Cobb's totem is. Do you think Cobb, who is more experienced than anybody else in his team about the way things work in dreamworld and reality, would spin his totem in open? Maybe he deliberately did so. Maybe he wanted everyone (including audience) to believe that the spinning top was his totem.

Cobb always used his left hand for spinning the top. It is the hand on which he wears his wedding ring. As pointed out by many on internet, the ring is there every time he spins the top. However, it is not there in the very last scene. Is it possible that whenever Cobb used to spin the top, he simultaneously looked at his finger secretly? The spinning top would distract the onlooker (and the audience as well) into believing that it is the totem, while the real totem always lay on his finger. And in the very last scene, since he was not wearing a ring (indicating that he is now in real world), and since he also got his kids back, and had no intention to return to his old profession again, he did not care at all if the spinning top stopped or not.

Nolan is a fine craftsman. In most of his previous movies such as "The Following", "Memento" and "The Prestige", he has made us think only in one direction throughout, until the very end. Only in the last scene of each of these movies has he uncovered the truth. I think this time as well, he has made us believe something which was not the truth. But this time he wants us to uncover the truth ourselves, through the little clues he has left everywhere in the movie.

THE INCEPTION

Inception has more to it than meets the eye. Nolan is known for various experiments he has done so far in his movies. In Memento, he experimented with a non-linear narrative, and gave it a treatment very different than other such movies like Pulp Fiction. While in Insomnia, unlike other thrillers, he focused not on the psyche of the serial killer, but of the detective. And no need to mention that with the two Batman movies, he has redefined the way comic books are adapted. But I believe that his biggest experiment so far is Inception. Here is my reasoning -

Cobb and his team were not the only people who were able to complete the act of Inception in the movie. There was one more guy who actually was successful in this act, and it was Christopher Nolan. He planted the idea in the minds of millions of viewers, that the spinning top is Cobb's totem. And at the very end, the scene cuts to the spinning top, and everybody keeps guessing whether the top would topple to suggest Cobb's return to reality. Or would it keep spinning forever as if Cobb is still in a dream.

You would have noticed, that in both the incidents shown in the movie where an idea was successfully incepted into the subject's mind, it was the very end of the dream where actual inception happened. Although, the foundation of the idea was laid down slowly and steadily during the course of dreams, it was not until the end of the dream that the inception completed. If I draw analogies and say that movie was like a dream, audience the subject, and Nolan the architect, then it would be appropriate to say that Nolan built up the idea in audience' minds that spinning top was Cobb's totem. Nowhere in the movie has Cobb admitted by himself that the top is his totem. He spins the top, but maybe the reason for this could be the one I mentioned earlier. Perhaps the wedding ring was his totem. Or perhaps his children's faces (thats another theory posted on internet).

And at the very end of the movie, he leaves the top spinning, and audience come out of the dream believing that the top is Cobb's totem. Everyone on first viewing would have ignored the presence or absence of a wedding ring on his hand, and the spinning top in the end would have strengthened the idea that it was the totem (Remember, its not easy to recall what happened in a dream, except the very end). The reason why the last scene cut to the spinning top was because that was the idea he wanted to implant in our minds.

Nolan would be a proud man to have carried out this act of inception. And I personally believe that this is exactly what Nolan would have intended to do when he had finished the script for this movie. He implanted an idea in millions of viewers' minds that spinning top was the totem. He put an idea into critics' minds that the movie was just a well-crafted thriller - something like matrix. It is a perfect way of manipulating with a viewer's psyche.

Thought provoking. Isn't it?

Iambic Pentameter

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:41:00 +0000

I had recently posted what I call my first attempt at Italian sonnet, on one of the groups on Facebook. The poem was titled "A lonely road" (you can check it out here on my blog). And based on the comments and discussion that followed, I realized that it was not exactly a sonnet.

An Italian sonnet is characterized by the following 3 attributes:

1. Form - A sonnet is fundamentally a dialectical construct which allows the poet to examine the nature and ramifications of two usually contrastive ideas, emotions, states of mind, beliefs, actions, events, images, etc., by juxtaposing the two against each other, and possibly resolving or just revealing the tensions created and operative between the two.

2. Rhyming scheme - The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes as follows:
a b b a a b b a
The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:
c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c

3. Iambic Pentameter - This is another important characteristic of an Italian sonnet. Iambic pentameter is one of many meters used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet". The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. And a line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:
da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM

While my original poem did have the first two attributes of an Italian sonnet as mentioned above, the third one was missing i.e. it lacked in an iambic pentameter. The poem had a proper rhyming scheme i.e. abbaabba cdecde. It also had a style wherein the first 8 lines posed a problem while the next 6 bore the solution. However, if you observe the rhythm of this poem, it would not be what you expect from an Italian sonnet. And thats because the number of syllables in each of the lines is different, which ideally should have been 10 per line.

I would like to thank Jaime Birch, Andy Morley and Alan Nettleton for letting me know where I was wrong and helping me out on the usage of iambic pentameter. And based on their suggestion, I have made some quick modifications to my original poem so as to make it sound like a real Italian sonnet in rhythm as well. Though I have made use of a pentameter in the new version, it still isn't iambic.

Here it goes:

Heavenly abode is what they all seek,
Through the blazing hells of fire, pass I must.
The road I walk is laid in thorns and dust.
Though the destination appears so bleak,
In tormenting pain I must neither creak,
Nor waver in desire or carnal lust.
In tempest and rains of doom, those who rust,
Are the ones whose lives, as ever end meek.

His name to my lips seems forever glued
Until to the end of desert I reach,
And where awaiting me stands my reward.
My contented eyes see what they pursued,
Since eterne, what they always did beseech.
Its the beautiful sunset boulevard.

As can be observed from the rhythm of this poem, just one of the lines contains an iambic pentameter, although all contain 10 syllables each. The line is: "The road I walk is laid in thorns and dust"

I guess I still have miles to go before I write a true Italian sonnet.

Sepia-toned Photographs

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:21:00 +0000

As I open an album of yesteryear,
I come across some faces that look familiar.
Faces smiling in some random pics,
Precious memories caught in those ordinary clicks,
Of those days when we vowed together
That tides of time won’t separate us ever.
Yet walls start growing between us now,
We’ve learned to blame new times somehow.

There’s a photograph of a cozy living room.
Ah, he must also be there one can presume.
He was the one who taught me new ways to live.
With him each ordinary day turned festive.
Together, we used to drink and laugh
To celebrate a raise in salary or a perk,
Or to forget a bad day spent at work.
And now though we live just miles away,
We drift one light year apart each day.

There’s a girl in that pic of shingle beach,
Adorn in a shirt that is color of peach.
A salsa together was our way to get high.
I faithlessly walked to church with her, just to be by her side.
Her lap was where my head always found comfort.
She could recognize each tear in my eyes
even though they stayed as dry as a desert.
And now as her life takes on a new quest,
The best I can do is to wish her all the best.

I make my way to the next photograph,
And I see a face too busy in a hearty laugh.
He’d crack that old joke, and I would smile each time.
If my life is a poem, he has brought all the rhyme.
For all delicious flavors of world he has served,
Or for those feelings of my heart that he so easily observed
That my heart often found understanding too tough,
In this life, I can never be thankful enough.

Faces come and faces go.
But there are those that shall forever glow
In some pictures that were captured by me,
On some photo films, and in my memory.
Some pictures would start ageing with times,
While some would fade away with changing climes.
The ones that shall, however, always stay the same
Are of those, on my heart who have etched their names.

The New World Order

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:38:00 +0000

Darkness is distinctly visible in blazing sun.
Whole world seems to be caught in this marathon.
Falsely sanctified Gods being worshipped by millions.
Path of self destruction being chosen by gazillions.
Globe is entirely enclosed in a gloomy mist,
No one minds if existence ceases to exist.
Screams of conscience would keep falling on deaf ears
Until humanity meets its end in not too many years.

Life is eternal, that's what all believed,
But it looks like eternity is short-lived.
A not too distant storm heads straight this way.
The time is ripe when the hunter becomes prey.
Earth trembles when it’s battered; that’s no surprise.
Vengeance is what I see in ocean’s eyes,
And mountains and rivers think alike.
Seasons seem all geared up for a counter strike.

All laws of nature are about to be annulled.
For too long, man has ruled this world.
Its nature's turn to blow his kingdom to shards.
A new world order is on the cards.

In My Sweet Pains I Rot

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:27:00 +0000

You tell me love is magical,
And ask me to keep faith,
While my heart takes a leap, and falls again
And I see its burning wraith.
So I dream you in a dream this last time
To let you know of my denial,
That I’ve discovered it all over again,
Love is the reason for all vile.

All life is being pulled out from me
And I’m unsure if I’ll see tomorrow’s sun.
All I’ve got from my unconditional love
Are some scars that shall forever burn,
Like a seven days’ promise
That has turned into a sentence for life,
A love bug’s venom that now flows in me
Or your gentle touch that cuts like knife.

It’s hell that I traverse each day,
Yet somehow it feels like heaven,
It’s bliss to know you’re doing fine;
And in your smile dissolves my pain.
When I see you laugh in joy,
Against my heart ache I strongly rebel.
And born again is my faith.
I tell you love is magical.

'17

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:18:00 +0000

A searing pain each second that ticks,
And a new death each moment -
For all my uncommitted sins
Isn’t this too big a punishment?
While my brain goes numb
And suffers jolts of delirium,
Sand keeps trickling down the glass walls
But only atom by atom.

Ever since you and I had
That cute little conversation,
I am high on you,
And on this freaking emancipation.
The hangover would last long
But it’s the sweetest one alright.
It’s the seven days’ wait though
That kills me day and night.

I wish time could fly away,
Or at least keep its regular pace.
Or a magic wand existed
That could wipe out these agonizing days.
Feels like I'm entirely lost in time.
And each day is a year, it seems.
And I don't know when I'll see you again.
Would that be 17th or '17?

The Unbroken Promise

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:49:00 +0000

Belligerent are the emotions that confront her today.
Thousand feelings beg her to hear what they have to say.
Whispers in her head scream as she walks the busy street.
Her head spins wild, while numb go her feet.
A perplexed thought crosses her mind each passing moment.
Was it too reckless on her part to be too prudent?
Her mind is too engaged in the ghosts of her insanity,
When she left him all alone in that moment of vanity.

She walks past the street where she last saw him,
When she bid him adieu to pursue her fanciful whims.
He had begged, “My sweet Patricia, don’t leave me in strife.
We’ll get all that you want even after we’re man and wife.”
“Victor, my love”, she’d say, “Make a promise to me
That thou shalt never see me, and I shall never see thee.”
His heart’s strong will was what he had to defy.
It was the wish of his heart throb which he could not deny.

Years had flown by, yet time was standing still,
She mourns each day for the love she killed.
And now, she can’t wait any longer to see him again.
Her heart swept in guilt, her eyes shedding rain,
As she finds him sleeping in peace in that old suburb,
And inscribed on stone the last words from her only love.
“My sweet Patricia, I shall forever keep my word,
I shall someday see you again, but not in this world.”

Pretentious Conversations

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:11:00 +0000

All these words you and I speak to each other now
Are filled with total emptiness of space somehow.
They never made much sense while we were we.
They don’t mean a thing now that we are just you and me.
Words of love were often spoken by our eyes.
Would it be justified to call them “the unspoken lies”?
As those were the moments when truth prevailed,
Those were the opportunities that we never availed.

The long eternal silence when your hand rested on mine,
When the last thing we ever cared about was flying time,
Used to speak what a thousand words could never say.
It narrated a story of our very own foolish ways.
And now another silence screams out aloud its existence.
It’s the one that hides in our conversations of pretence.
This silence crawls its way into the banalities I say to you,
Like the proven facts of life we never believed to be true.

There were ten thousand promises that stayed unfulfilled,
And those innocent dreams we shared, that we together killed,
The sweet memories hiding somewhere dormant in our minds,
And two hearts we have stripped out and left far behind.
Would they show to us the mercy that we do not deserve,
And return to us the moments we never cared to preserve?
But then time flies back with no apology or penance.
I guess we’ll learn to live in this inevitable silence.

Born Again

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:44:00 +0000

A silence is broken, a life is reborn.
Some lines scribbled, few pages torn.
“Could this break last forever”, I would wonder.
It probably could have. I am well-known to surrender
And compromise on all my dreams, my goal.
Have sold to devil even my worthless soul.
But arose from ashes today, an old ambition,
When you showed me the candle, my sweet inspiration.

From a poet one day, to a nobody the next,
Vision had been there, but halted was the quest.
Love, hatred, jealousy, joy, ache,
Being on cloud nine or a sad heart-break,
All feelings within me evaporated into thin air,
Words got monotonous, rhymes became rare.
Until you provided my poetry a new rendition,
Through the words from your heart, my sweet inspiration.

Years of life were wasted searching for fame.
I mocked whichever fool said, “What’s in the name?”
Never knew the more you try grabbing the sands,
The faster they run off from your bare hands.
But now fame would never give me a thrill,
Nor I would be aroused by a green dollar bill.
What I do beseech now is just the recognition
From your beautiful eyes, my sweet inspiration.

And there’s a promise I long to make to you,
That on this endless quest, I’d always continue.
Would my hands stop again? I’ve got reasons to doubt.
No, they won’t if you’re the one I write about.
They would carve on paper your life’s ode,
Or your soliloquy when you are lonely abode.
And if I could please have your kind permission,
I’d write for you ‘til forever, my sweet inspiration.

PS: Many thanks to the "Sweet Inspiration" who inadvertently helped me write this poem, and was kind enough to give her approval to publish it on my blog, and share with one and all. God bless you my sweet inspiration.

From Fake IPL Player's Blog – The Build Up

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:07:00 +0000

SEPTEMBER 23, 1893

Let The Match Begin

Well, as far as getting into the playing eleven in IPL (Indian Players for Lagaan-maaf) team is concerned, I am a no-hoper. And the only thing I expect to do during the course of this match is serve water, chhachh and baajra rotis to the players in the middle. However, this also means that I would have enough time on my hands to write this blog, and update you with the live action straight from the Champaner cricket stadium, as well as all the gossip from the dressing room. And for this purpose, I am going to use my newly bought Macbook Pro, launched by Apple Inc in January 1892.

What I like the most about this tournament is the hot cheer-leaders dancing in their sexy costumes. That’s one thing that I am going to enjoy the most here. Those beauties, dancing to that hep tune, really make my day.

Hot cheer-leaders of IPL

Another good thing about this tournament is that I can be at a very close range of all the superstars of this star-studded cricket team. During the first few hours spent with them, I have noticed the traits in some of them, and I am now going to share these with you. My captain Bhuvan, carries a lot of attitude with him, wherever he goes. He never stoops down either in front of the Goras, or the film fraternity even if they offer him prestigious awards such as The Manikchand Filmfare. The only exception to this, however, is the excitement and enthu seen in him when these Goras offer him an Academy Award. Our coach is a British Lady named Elizabeth, who apparently also happens to be the sister of rival team’s captain (Captain Russell). And then we have our team-owner, a local ruler, Rajah Pooran Singh. Other teammates are pretty interesting characters as well. Unfortunately, our evergreen international player, Mr Dev Anand (if you remember him from the Awwal Number series) has dropped out this time due to some other prior commitments. Had he also been there, our team could have aptly been named as Circus XI.

SEPTEMBER 24, 1893

The Issues

Before we could even push the start button, our team realized that it was in a much bigger shit-hole now, than the time when our captain, Mr Attitude had challenged Captain Russel for a match. The whole team is at the lowest of the abysses. Everyone around is dropping catches as if it is not a cricket ball, but rather a snitch used in the English Quiddich League headed by Sir Harry Potter himself. Two of our leading bowlers, Goli and Guran, have bowling actions that would put the likes of Lasith Malinga to think very highly of themselves. There are great chances that the two would be called for chucking by the umpires. Our coach, Elizabeth, whom I would refer to as Phoren Babe from now on, is too much bent towards our captain, and never makes even a single eye contact with any of the other players in the team. I can also spot a lot of racism within the team, with some of our super-stars looking down upon our only genuine spinner Kachra, who happens to be from a lower caste, and is considered untouchable by others. And as a result he has always been afraid to open his mouth in front of others. Last, but not the least, our team-owner Mr Rajah Pooran Signh, has neither uttered a single encouraging word to us, the way Mr Shahrukh Khan did to his ladies hockey team in Chak De, nor has he sent us any best wishes before the start of the match. He has kept himself totally aloof from us. Perhaps he doesn’t want the world to know that he owns our IPL team, and might be looking forward to sell us no-hopers, and purchase the British Raj Colonists XI team next season.

SEPTEMBER 25, 1893

The Rumours

My roomie tells me that our captain Bhuvan has hots for Gauri, our wicket-keeper Ishwar Kaka’s daughter, and also the leading cheer-lady for IPL. Apparently Gauri also loves Bhuvan, and both of them have been found numerous times singing songs and dancing around the trees.

Captain Bhuvan and Gauri spotted fooling around (as reported by Bhuvan's bullocks)

Also, there are rumours doing the rounds that Lakha is also very much in love with Gauri, and often says sweet nothings to her. However, Bhuvan, being a bigger star than Lakha, gets all the attention from Gauri, and Lakha’s innocent love gets totally ignored. Well! Girls can be so mean.

So this is the love triangle that all of us know of. But wait! There is another angle to this tale that none other than yours truly, Fake IPL Player could notice. Our coach, the Phoren Babe also has a secret crush on Bhuvan, and she is trying her level best to get closer to Bhuvan’s mom Yashoda Mai and rest of Bhuvan’s friends, so as to catch his eye.

Whoa! So it has now become a love quadrangle. It seems as if we are not part of a cricket team, but rather some typical Bollywood masala movie.

SEPTEMBER 26, 1893

Team Meeting An Hour Ago

I never had an idea that my blog would become so famous. Until yesterday, I had not even a single follower. And look at my blog today; I already have 7842 followers. I thank you all for taking interest in all the gossip and bull-shit I write here.

However, fame also has a heavy price-tag attached with it. IPL team management has found out about the blog, and is on the lookout for the guy who is leaking all the inside news. The first to be interrogated was our captain Bhuvan, as he has got excellent communication skills, and has his very own blog which is considered to be the most popular in entire country. His blog has about 170,000 visitors, and chances are that my blog is going to test him soon. Anyway, the team management is also spying very closely on rest of the players in the team, to catch the thief red-handed. So I am going to delete all the Cookies and Temporary Internet files from my laptop now. Also, this would mean that I would not be able to stay in touch with you readers as frequently as I earler used to.

In the evening today, just after our usual training sessions, where everybody did a fantastic job once again dropping catches and bowling wide deliveries, a team meeting was called to decide on the final eleven, and the team strategy for tomorrow. Well, after long discussions, we decided on using a brand new strategy, which incidentally never crossed our minds ever, that is until now – “Gola phenk, Phalli ghooma”.

SEPTEMBER 27, 1893

The All Important Day

So the day has finally arrived when our team has to take on the mighty British Raj Colonists XI for pride, for Tiguna Lagaan maaf, and for an Oscar win. The morning is bright and sunny, but not for me. As I had always expected, I was the 12^th man, whose job was to clap whenever our player took a wicket or scored a boundary or a six. The spectators in this era do not know much about the game of cricket, and they clap only if they see a fellow Indian clap. And hence, I am the chosen one to ensure that the crowd cheers our players.

Anyway, here is the final list of playing eleven that had been selected for this all important match:

Bhuvan (c)

Deva

Guran

Bagha

Lakha

Arjan

Ishmail

Goli

Ishwar Kaka (wk)

Bhura

Kachra

The playing eleven for IPL

The team looks excellent on paper, with all the major stars in it, and the name of our icon player right at the top. Let us see how it fares against the British Raj Colonists XI.

(to be continued…)

How Global Recession saved the world

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:11:00 +0000

Economic recession is a good thing after all. The current financial crisis has done something that our government could never do in 61 years since Indian independence. It has brought down the disparities in distribution of wealth among rich and poor. For instance, let us consider the case of a small farmer named Deen Dayal (name changed here to maintain anonymity), who is living in a remote village of India named Charanpur, where not even a single politician would ever dare to go, and the only civilized person from a city or a town to visit the doomed place is Shahrukh Khan, who thinks that leaving NASA and living in Charanpur is a cool thing to do, and would bring a definite Oscar win this time for his director. Anyway, Deen Dayal, who once could not earn money enough to support his family of one wife, seven daughters, four sons and two bullocks, is a very satisfied person today. Reason – Well, he recently came to know that the current global financial situation has suddenly left him as rich as the global financial giant Lehman Brothers.

Terrorism is at an all time low today. There have been some miniscule incidents here and there, such as 26/11 Mumbai attack, or the attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Pakistan, but nothing major. And thanks to global recession for that, which has ensured that the lending power of banks reduce to such levels that they are not able to finance terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen and Yashraj Films, either knowingly or unknowingly. Result – These terrorist groups are now not in a position to purchase weapons and artillery to attack a city, or produce movies to attack the whole nation and oversees as well.

One of the many terrorists from the terrorist outfit Yash Raj films, Picture taken directly from the scene of latest attack by the group.

Pollution levels in major cities have reduced drastically in past few months as majority of industries, that used to emit harmful gases in the environment, resulting in global warming and creating a black cloud of smoke in the atmosphere as if sending an SOS signal to inhabitants of another planet to come and save the world from the path of self-destruction that it has set itself onto, without realizing that those aliens are not the friendly ones like those shown in the movie ET but are rather more of the destructive kind whose sole purpose of existence is to see the end of mankind, just like the ones from the movie War of the Worlds, both movies considered to be masterpieces to have come out from the shelf of Mr. Steven Spielberg whom I rate as the greatest Hollywood director ever, next only to Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, have now gone bankrupt due to the current global financial situation and have pulled their shutters down. However, the important point to be noted is that the previous sentence is fourteen lines and one hundred and sixty six words long, and does not have even a single spelling or grammatical mistake when copy-pasted in Microsoft Word.

Pollution levels have reduced because the industries have closed down. But that is just one of the many reasons. The other notable reason is that those who lost all that they had to the global recession, are now walking on foot, rather than riding a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce. And then there are those who are counted among the elite few, as they have enough money left to purchase a bicycle, and thus are willingly or unwillingly contributing towards the noble cause of keeping pollution levels under check on the planet.

Also, as a result of shutdown of majority of industries, the consumption of our natural resources such as petroleum, wood and coal has significantly reduced. It is being assumed that these natural resources, instead of lasting for mere 10 years as predicted earlier, would now survive the wrath of humans, and would last till the end of the world, which as per Mayans’ prophecy is 2012.

These are only some of the global problems that recession has been able to solve. If you know about any more which have been solved by the current economic situation, do leave a comment.

ABSOLUTEly unbelievable is Pune

noreply@blogger.com (Vaibhav Mathur) — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:46:00 +0000

Property prices are falling all over the world owing to the current global financial situation. The only exception, however seems to be Pune, the city I hail from, where property prices and rents are rising at a brisk rate comparable only to that of increase in my waist size. And also to the rate of decrease in my spending power.

I was completely taken aback when my landlord called me the other day, and taught me the mathematics they use in Pune (for details click here). The formula that governs property rent in the city is as follows:

Incr in rent (%) = |Incr in IT employee strength in city| / |Incr in property prices everywhere| x 100%

where |x| =x, if x is greater than or equal to 0

and |x| = -x, if x is less than 0

The reason I was taken aback was not because of the complexity of this formula, but because of the fact that it was for the first time I saw someone apply absolute value function for some useful purpose.

I first came across the absolute value function in my mathematics textbook in standard 9^th. And I always wondered what the use of this function is. Is it just to make the algebra problems more complex, so that math teachers such as Mrs Scott can easily group students into “My favorites” and “Spam” categories? Or does it serve any practical purpose in life? One practical purpose that I could think of was to apply it in my grades vs prize graph. Consider that the x-axis in the graph below represents the difference in marks I scored in mathematics when compared to the last test I appeared in, while y axis represents the price or the number of prizes I get from my dad for improvement I make in my grades. I suggested this idea to my dad, and got a week's detention.

I was always hopeful that engineers do use this function in the designs they make for nuclear reactors, fighter jets or T-800 robots that can travel back in time to save the world. However, to my disappointment, I never encountered either a formula or a theorem in my 4 years of engineering, that made use of the absolute value function anywhere. Or a T-800 design lab for that matter. The closest I came to experience a || symbol was while I was studying about capacitors in an electrical engineering book. So I started believing that this world is living a fool’s life to have invented this great mathematical function and never use it in day to day lives.

Years went by, and I totally forgot about it until the day I heard from my landlord. It seems like Puneites know how to use things to their advantage. They are the most educated and rationale people I have come across, as they have made the most out of absolute value function, and devised this magic formula. They have even generalized it to other spheres of our day to day lives such as calculating auto-rickshaw fares or the price of a movie ticket in multiplex. Hats off.

And after my landlord explained me about the formula, the conversation took a new direction altogether:

VM: Great calculation sir! Kudos to Pune property dealers for showing the world what it had been ignoring for long.

LL: So you also appreciate the fact. It is time now to apply it for betterment of society in general. How about making a start and raising the rent for your flat by Rs 500 per month?

VM: But my salary hasn't increased this year by even a single penny. And the property prices have fallen everywhere!!!

LL: That's the power of this calculation. It drives the city. Soon, the whole world will look at Pune as the city that set the example.

VM: Umm!! Sir on second thoughts, ignorance is bliss.

Darn the absolute value function. I can only hope that this world doesn’t open its closet and start looking for similar old unused stuff the way Pune did.