What the World needs now.../ Chocolate Rain

I suppose you're wondering what the "/" is doing in the title. You see....I felt really guilty about scratching Oasis' name off the title in the last post. Considering that it has merited a substantial amount of space for itself....it deserves to have a mention in the title. So, I've decided to have 2 titles separated by a "/" if the post discusses 2 topics in sufficient detail. That way everyone goes home a winner.....and so consequentially there are no LOSERS (except for Pundoo of course...but that can't be helped. He's always been that way :P).
Anyhoo....jokes apart......I've realized something recently. And its huge. Its probably something most of us knew all along but never gave much thought to. But finally.....a few days ago....it dawned on me. One might even say I had an epiphany. It hit me like a thunderbolt. It was brilliant. Now, I don't know if you've ever had an epiphany before, but believe me the sensation is awesome. It's like a hot cup of coffee in the morning, a cool swim on a hot summer's day, a Sum41 song heard full blast on good quality headphones, a Hrithik Roshan flick first day first show (Ok...that last simile was kinda gay...I admit). But you get my meaning. It's a fantastic experience.

Here's what happened. I was staying back late at work (I know what you're thinking...."WHOA!!! Weak dude!!! ATH having to stay back....that's crazy!!! I rely on his AWESOME posts for my personal well-being. If he overworks himself...how will he keep on posting!!! Oh...What treacherous fate belies us :( !!!"). But never you worry. You can't stifle the ol' ATH with a little extra work. We Likhites are made of sterner stuff. We descend from a rich line of rebels or rather visionaries...men who stood up for what they believed in...who didnt kowtow to their suppressors.....strong willed men who weren't afraid to fight the system. These were the people who believed in "doing" rather than "getting done"....they saw a job that needed doing, and immediately dug their hands into it and began. These were the people you'd look upto....You'd see them on the street and say, "Now, there go some awesome men. Real champions. I wish my ancestors were as cool as them." You get my meaning. Of course...all those qualities and all that charisma and all that spunk was lost at least 3 generations before me....and now all that I have passed on from those heroes is curly, unkempt hair.....but yet a few stray genes from that elite race surely did find their way into me. I don't know if I've ever mentioned a certain library incident. You'll love this....its a story of great strength and power. It was back in 1997 I think. I, a lil' boy of about 10 years of age at the time....entered the library with a firm resolve to read an encyclopaedia....and not just any encyclopaedia...but the Britannica series Volume: A (Yeah! I know! I was pretty lame back then). Now any true-blue, dyed in the wool reader would know....that's one heavy book. So, there I am in the library, with the urge to read and a song on my lips. When all of a sudden I see it.....the "Britannica Encyclopaedia Volume: A" on top of a huge shelf and that too with 3 other volumes stacked on top of it. Now any weak-willed fellow would probably have followed two paths of action at this point:
1) Gone to the librarian and requested her to help him out (Ugh!!! Loser!!!)
2) Called the whole thing off as a bad joke and scampered off to engage in a lively game of Tree-to-Tree.
But...not us Likhites! As I mentioned earlier.....we're made of sterner stuff. I stepped up to the challenge. I looked adversity in the face and spat on the floor. I threw caution to the wind. I grabbed the bull by the horns. I....you get the point. I grabbed a chair, stood atop it, opened the shelf and here's the best part......picked all 4 volumes (that's right....all "4" volumes....the 3 volumes on top and the Volume: A book) all at once and brought them down and placed them on the table. Quite a Herculean task you say. Hah! Not for a Likhite it isn't!!! Now I don't like to blow my own trumpet...but that was no easy task. Sure, I was out of commission for a week. Sure, the doctor advised me to go easy on the strenuous activities for a while. Sure, I couldnt bend to lift a pencil...if it fell to the floor. But....the thrill and glory of the feat is priceless....it makes it all worthwhile. Who said the stellar Likhite genes had missed me? I sure showed him.

But anyhoo....as always I appear to have digressed from the topic at hand. My epiphany! So there I was stayin back late at work.......when a colleague and I struck up a coversation. Started out kinda the usual way...
Self: How's it goin', bro?
Colleague: Not bad, man! All good!!! How bout you?
Self: Myah! You know....stayin alive :) !!!
Colleague: Hehe! Good one :) !!!

And you get the idea. But then as the conversation progressed.....I realized he really needed to have that conversation. He'd been living alone, away from home, and he was getting kinda lonely and this was a brilliant platform for him to vent, bond, share. We spoke about his college days, first crushes and the like. And that's when it struck me....Everyone just needs TO BE HEARD!!! And that, my dear friends, is the solution to half our world problems. LISTEN!!! There's a lot of stress and frustration all around. In today's fast paced life, no one has time for anyone else. Everyone's too busy minding their own business. And that's why there are so many anger bursts, psychiatric cases, divorces and the world is infested with negativity like hatred, violence, abuse. Even criminals can be turned around if someone would just listen to their fears, their thoughts, their worries. But sadly, no one does.....coz no one cares....coz everyone is too busy in their own life looking for someone to listen to them. Everyone is too engrossed in his own tensions to be bothered about others'.
But this can be changed. This can be resolved. Its time for a Revolution. A Change. Be that change. Go to anyone you know or love or care about or someone you feel needs to vent and tell him/her that he/she can count on you to listen....to be that shoulder to cry, to share, to rest, to rely on. It's not easy....I admit. But it's not impossible either. It's a small price to pay for a very big social obligation. So please everybody (or the 4 people who read my blog).....please join me in this Change. LISTEN!!! I'll come up with a cool logo and share it with you too :P !!!

Alrighty!!! So...the existential part's over. Its now time for the music update.

"Chocolate Rain" - A phrase that meant nothing to me until a few days ago......suddenly became something I saw everywhere. You could even say it was ubiquitous. And it boggled the mind to think how I could've missed it all along. Sung by Tay Zonday, this song has won many accolades and awards these last few years. It put young Tay on the map. The song is most famous for its video which features Tay with a piano singing into a mic with a deep baritone which most people figured was probably a fake voice. But my extensive research (checking out more videos of his on Youtube) proved it isn't really false. He's gifted with a really deep voice. Pretty neat lyrics....repetitive score though. This song was even covered by Tré Cool (Green Day's drummer) and John Mayer.....goes to show how popular it is. But that's not even the best part. Get this! This is one of the most viewed videos on Youtube with over 36 million hits.....with self (ATH) contributing to that figure being the 35,964,234th viewer and watching it a few more times thereafter. In the video, Tay moves away from the mic to take breaths and he's added that as a comment too - "I move away from the mic to breathe in". This particular comment earned him a lot of skepticism. People called him an amateur, a loser, a wannabe and what not. Well, I don't know about any of that, but he's been on many talk shows, performed with some famous artists, acted in some sketches and lots more. His infamous "breathing in"comment can even be found in the ever-so-popular game Guitar Hero. So I leave it to you decide what he is or isn't. So check out the video and do let me know what you think of it. Until then....Adieu and Auf Wiedersehen. Peace!!!



Song of the Post
Lostprophets - Rooftops
(Nice sound.....fresh feel)