It's yesterday once more...

"A long, long time ago, I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile =) !"

There's something about listening to those songs you've grown up on. They just fill your heart with unbridled and uncontained glee and joie de vivre! I still remember the days when the good ol' record player would be spinning out those foot tapping Abba and Carpenters tunes, working as a perfect background score as we went on with our daily routine into the evening, making each moment memorable and well...just worth living!

Don McLean's "American Pie" plays on my Windows Media Player as I write this piece, and I can't help but think about how I miss those good old days, those long forgotten carefree times! Life was so much simpler and joyous then. Fewer devices and gadgets, but so many fond memories and experiences. Life always seemed more colourful and exciting back then! Successes meant so much more then, academic pressures seemed rather superable. People and relationships were so much more simple and sensible. Life today seems to be so fast-paced and surreal, it can be rather overwhelming and mindboggling at times, I kid you not! Maybe the world's still colourful, but one barely ever has the time to kick back, relax and really enjoy it to the fullest! Everything has changed! So have I, I guess!

It's only heartening to know that some things in life never change, and will always remain the way you remember them to be. It's reassuring to hang on at times to something that reminds you of those less complicated and happier times! Music is one such thing! You can always count on it to pick you up when you feel you're so far down, you could never get back up again! You can always count on it to remain just the way you left it last...intact and perfect! Whether you're crooning along to The Beatles' "Hey Jude" or rocking out to Elvis' "Blue Suede Shoes", you know in the end that these tunes are here to stay and no one can ever take them away from you or change what they mean or sound like, or even the way they make you feel!

These songs will perpetually be my one-way ticket back to those days I loved so well and held so dear! Every time I need them, these faithful, old friends are just a double-click or a disc away from filling my mind and heart with those notes of happiness and those words of reassurance. Someone once said that "Music is food for the soul"! I couldn't possibly agree more! All i can say is "Could you pass me some of that Boney M please, my food's a bit bland =) !"


Song of the post:
The Carpenters - Yesterday once more
(One of the best songs I've ever heard, and relates rather well to this post)

Always remember to "DABBA"le check / Run DK, m'boy, run

Bollywood has certainly matured over time. The quality of movies being churned out of late has only improved and they've now begun to cover previously unthought of issues and scenarios. Of course, there still always is the occasional "Dabangg", that leaves the audience pondering - not over existential beliefs or societal stigmas, but more on the lines of, "Why did I spend 300 bucks on this film :( ???"

But Indian cinema has largely fermented into a cultured, thought-inducing arena. Even the music appears to have blossomed over the years. Although it's a prominent shift from the good ol' halcyon days of RD Burman and Kishore Kumar, nevertheless, the Bollywood tunes of today are fantabulously catchy and intricate with very insightful lyrics. Kailash Kher's "Alvida" from Dasvidaniya and Atif Aslam's "Le ja tu mujhe" from F.A.L.T.U. being a few exemplary tunes.

Since my last day at JD, I now find myself with phenomenal amounts of freetime, most of which is spent watching movies I've always put aside thinking "I'll watch 'em when I can afford to!" Well, I finally can =) ! And believe me when I say it's been a mindblowing adventure. I began with Kathik Calling Karthik - a gripping thriller of sorts. Then it was Dasvidaniya - a fantabulous story of a dying man and how he ties all loose ends (yes...a Bucket List inspired film).

And finally, I came across "Stanley ka Dabba" - a very low-budget and off-beat film - that many people appear to have written off as a Taare Zameen Par spin-off. The movie written & directed by Amole Gupte (the curly haired fellow on the right in the picture here) and starring his own son, Partho, as the protagonist Stanley, is about this extremely popular and affable kid, who's always the cynosure of all eyes and about his dabba that never makes an appearance till the near end of the film. A stellar storyteller and public speaker, Stanley has some wacky ideas and anecdotes to share that make him a hero amongst his classmates and English teacher, but largely despised by all other subject teachers, particularly by Babu Bhai "Khadus" Verma, the Hindi teacher, who much to his dismay finds himself contending with Stanley to get at the other kids' dabbas. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out whom the kids would rather share their lunch with, which ticks off ol' Khadus all the more. He banishes poor Stanley from school until he gets that elusive dabba. The remainder of the film takes us through Stanley's perseverence to get into an inter-school concert, his friends' loyalty and his true story and life. All in all, a well made, concise, pertinent and touching story.

Most of us will be able to relate to the teachers depicted in the film. Mom was hysterical throughout the film explaining amidst interspersed laughter, "That's exactly how my Hindi teacher was! HAHA! I actually know a lady who speaks like that! Hahaha! Typical science teacher! Bru-hahaha!" We've all had classmates and teachers like those shown in the movie

The soundtrack is fresh and lively and rife with some fairly big singers like Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan and Vishal Dadlani. The lyrics are all penned by Amole Gupte himself, so kudos to him! An amazing background score throughout the film makes it a fantastic 90 minute journey till the end! So go ahead unhindered and watch "Stanley ka Dabba" when you get a chance =) !

And now the music update \m/ ! This song's been in the news for all the wrong reasons, but you'll all have to admit it's one catchy tune and you can't help but jump and scream along with the chorus. The song I'm talking about of course is "Bhaag DK Bose" from the Aamir Khan produced Delhi Belly. There's a brilliant punk rock video for the song with the cast - Imran Khan, Vir Das and Kunal Kapoor. The video's obviously a colossal hit as well with several hits over the last couple of weeks. Sung by Ram Sampath and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, this song shows a lot of promise of going down as the song of the year 2011. Finally, stereos the nation over will be able to play something other than "Sheila ki Jawani" or "Munni hui badnaam". Surely that's some respite for the poor boomboxes =) !

There's a large chunk of people who insist the song is a Green Day rip off and should be "disliked" (to use the Youtube term) and discarded as a cheap imitation. It's ironic that people get so stuck-up into believing that nothing original can come up in the country and anything different being tried out is always ridiculed as being pretentious and fake. If you try hard enough, you'll always find a song to be similar to another you've heard in the past. But that shouldn't make the song any less worthy. If it's good in it's entirety, I say, go ahead and listen to it with reckless abandon. Besides another way of looking at it is ol' Ram Sampath's getting Green Day to the masses in a form they'd understand and love. So turn up those speakers and have them blare out "Bhaag Bhaag DK Bose" (have a good explanation ready for your parents though ;) )!



Song of the Post:
Allstar Weekend - Not your Birthday
(Amazing dance/rock track! Makes you want to bounce =) !)

The day the nation stood tall and united

It feels phenomenally blessed to be a part of a defining moment in history. We'd hear our parents talk incessantly about the Indian team's epic victory back in the 1983 Cricket World Cup at Lords, England against the unopposed champions - West Indies. They'd talk of Kapil Dev's spectacular catch to take out the then insuperable Viv Richards. They'd relive with unsuppressed glee, Amarnath's dismissal of the last man Holding to seal India's win and thereby mark a historic moment in Indian sporting history.

We'd always think, "Man! I wish something like that happens in my lifetime! That would be so brilliant!" But Darn it! That cup kept eluding us all along! Sure we took home the Under-19 World Cup twice thereafter and the T20 World Cup too; but the true blue (all pun intended) cricket fan will have to admit that that surely doesn't cut it (as I reckon they say in Italy). We still needed a win in the major and unarguably original form of the game.

But tonight, 2nd April 2011 - India brought home, or rather "kept back", considering the tourney was largely played in India, the most coveted trophy in the world, doing every Indian - right from the Ambanis, who were there at the Wankhede stadium to egg the team on, to the kid nextdoor whose fingers spend more time up his nose than doing anything constructive - proud! They took down the Sri Lankan lions in a fantastic battle to the end! It truly was a beautiful game, definitely befitting and matching up to the hype and talk surrounding it! Many people have even likened the game to the Ramayana! The modern day Ramayana - who shall prevail? Well we knew the answer to that all along, didn't we? The benifits of reading up on your Hindu mythology =) !

Come 1:30pm IST today, nearly every Indian across the globe was hooked onto some media that would display the match for his/her viewing pleasure. Someone had once said that cricket in India is not merely a sport. No, sir! It's a religion! Well, that someone couldn't be more right even if he calculated the value of pi to the 50th decimal. On days when cricket's on - all across the nation, you see people thronging every electronic store to watch the games and share the experience with other blighters who for some cosmic reason outiside of their sphere of control are away from their trusty TV-sets back home.

The build up to this day has been phenomenal too. The Indian team vanquished the 3 time consequtive winners (4 overall), Australia, in the quarters. Even better - they beat arch rivals, Pakistan, in the semis. Boy! Was that a match worth watching! I chewed my fingernails so deep, I figure I won't need to cut them till the next world cup for sure. The celebrations after that game were stupendous! The roads in Pune were flooded with adrenaline-rushed kids screaming patriotic slogans and waving the Indian flag high! Firecrackers were lit, and not sparingly if I may add!

On Saturday afternoon, emotions ran amock as people geared up for the final showdown against Sri Lanka. Everyone knew it wasn't going to be an easy battle, but expectations still were high. When the national anthem came on, I dare say, I had goosebumps (as I'm sure would've many others). The match started off quite well, and largely in India's favour with Lanka being pushed on the backfoot, but something went awry around the middle. The Indian innings was impressive to say the least! Despite a scary start, with both openers sent back to the dressing room before they even had a chance to parade about in their fine poshery and make a substantial entry for themselves into the scorebooks, the middle order put up a stellar stand to see us through! Kudos to Gambhir, Dhoni and Kohli in particular!

Dhoni managed to give the game a fairytale ending with that massive six to close the deal. People asked for it, and he obliged without restraint! An explosive finish...literally! Once that ball reached the stands, the crackers began to set off all around the neighbourhood! Even 70 year-old gentlemen, who on most other occasions would be found hitting the sack by 8:30pm, went berserk tonight with some Laxmi bombs in their hands and the chant "Bharat Mata ki Jai" on their lips! Even as I write this piece, people drive past the roads honking and screaming their hearts out!

"This one was for Sachin", say the lads as Sanjay Manjrekar sticks a mic in their face,"We wanted to give him the true farewell he deserves. He's carried the nation's burden all these years, it's about time we carried his!" WOW! Couldn't have put it better myself, I thought! Sachin has been an integral part of the Indian side. He's seen us through many matches and to many victories! He's the most accomplished cricketer till date. It's only pertinent that he signs off with a win in his last World Cup! The team carried Sachin on a lap around the stadium, truly a deserving honour for the man who gave us his all!

People wept tonight! The phones were perpetually off the hook! The atmosphere was electric! The family danced and yelled out songs glorifying India and all its people - particularly the 11 men in blue who saw us through (unintentional rhyme)! The dog looked from one of us to the other and eventually concluded that it was about time we retired for the night!

But in the end, this is a big and momentous occasion for India! We've proven ourselves yet again! Yuvraj Singh already with his 4 Man of the match trophies, held on steadfastly to the Man of the Series trophy as well. And finally the champagne cork was popped and the celebrations began at Wankhede! Congratulations, Dhoni! Props to the Indian team! And thanks for the memories! Live large....it's your moment in the sun =) !

Guzaarish - A bittersweet tryst with life

Every once in a while, a piece of art is created that shakes the thinking man by his foundations, strikes him deeply, makes him question the beliefs and principles he once held as gospel and strove to abide by, and most importantly, teaches him to learn to love and cherish this life and the people who make it worth living.


"Guzaarish", the story of a phenomenal magician and illusionist, Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan), who in a tragic and nerve-wracking "accident" was rendered a quadriplegic for the rest of his existence, and his struggle to seek the sweet release of death to end his misery, is one such work of art. Guzaarish is the story of a man who once was the most graceful, respected and talented magician in the world, a man who was universally accepted as the greatest magician to have ever lived and even knighted "Merlin"; a man who in a horrendous and scornful case of betrayal by his own best friend was left incapable to move of his own accord ever again.

Ethan lived his life even after the accident with a strong heart and mind, and a trenchant sense of humour, hosting a radio show - Radio Zindagi, that he credited being the most joyful show to have ever existed. He was a source of inspiration for people everywhere. His book "Learning to Fly" was still used as a textbook in Goan schools. Through his radio show, he even convinced a heart-broken man to refrain from committing suicide and insead fight to win back the love of the woman he lost. That man not only ended up being married to her, but now also has a daughter to boot (no pun intended ;) ).

But 14 years down the line, Ethan decides he can't take it any more, and would like to file a petition in court for Euthanasia (mercy-killing). And that is his guzaarish (request). His claim is declined by the court citing moral grounds. He then launches a poll on his show, Project Ethan-asia, asking people to vote in favour of or against his being granted Euthansia. People, vociferously and unanimously, call into the show imploring him not to go ahead with it. They try to highlight the many joys of life, the many reasons to want to live. Even other quadriplegics call trying to dissuade him. But, afterall, noone can really understand, or even hope to reckon, the mental suffering a man who could once fly before an audience, perform some of the most superhuman and fantastic illusions ever known, would possibly be going through now, when he can't even raise an arm on his own.

I guess the movie struck a chord with me because I could relate to it better. As a young kid, I saw my own father be defeated by cancer, in quite the similar manner. A happy and athletic young man rendered bed-ridden and incapable of eating by himself or even performing his own bodily functions without artificial intervention. I can assure you it's not a happy life. We read about such cases in books and magazines, we see them in movies, but believe me, nothing compares to the real thing.

The platonic relationship (Thank you, Swati, for setting us straight on the usage of this term) between him and his caretaker for 12 whole years, Sophia (Aishwarya Rai), is something that is really characterized fabulously in the movie. Full marks to the screenplay writer. The dialogues throughout the film are something to reckon with.

The soundtrack is exquisite and delicate and every song is pertinent and befitting the scene. The highly interesting and, possibly, even eyebrow-raising fact is that the music in this film is by none other than Sanjay Leela Bhansali himself. Surprised? Well, don't worry, you're not entirely alone there....so was I. The song "100 gram Zindagi" would, without a doubt, be my pick of the lot. With some of the best lyrics I've come across till date, the song spectacularly describes the many vicissitudes of life. Props to Kunal Ganjawala on singing this song to perfection. I couldn't resist including the first verse in here.

"Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai...
Sau gram zindagi, sambhal ke kharchi hai
Asli hai, joothi hai,
Khaliz hai, farzi hai
Sau gram zindagi...
Sau gram zindagi yeh, sambhal ke kharchi hai
Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai...
Thodi si meethi hai, zara si mirchi hai..."

Ethan does get what he desires in the end, despite the court ruling, and he has all his friends and family, by his side, when he does, and he with a boyish laugh and smile. Truly Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus with the most amazing lighting, dances, backdrops and imagery. A must watch for people of all ages and men who aren't afraid to shed a tear every so often.

I feel it's only apposite to culminate this piece with these lines in the movie that touched me the most due to their poignancy and relevance in our fastpaced lives today. I sincerely hope we can all commit these lines to memory and learn to live by them for eternity.

"Life bahut choti hai doston;
So go on, break the rules,
Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly,
Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made you smile!"

Song of the post:
Kunal Ganjawala - Sau gram zindagi

	Kunal Ganjawala - Sau Gram Zindagi .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Kotov Syndrome / Passion Pitted to the Core

Someone once said, "You learn something new everyday!" I don't pretend to know that fine gentleman personally, for I have unfortunately never had the chance to share a brew or a couple of badly timed and obnoxious high fives with the said gentleman (would've been fun though).

But the bottomline here is that that man, whoever he may have been, knew what he was talking about! If ever there were a competition on knowing what you were talking about, needless to say, our gentleman would surely have my vote, for he, in fact, did really know what he was talking about. This, of course, is a refreshing change from and quite unlike a few others who apportion a phenomenal chunk of their time to being existential and conjuring up rhetoric quotes like "Money can't buy happiness".

Well, anyway, getting along with the tale here, I find the quote on learning something new each day quite apt. Each day is a fantastic new experience, a door opening into an infinite, nebulous world without. I learnt something new today myself - "Kotov Syndrome". Now this is a very interesting development! Many people have often reiterated that you'll learn nothing listening to music and that it's just a way of squandering time away. Well, perhaps they're right! But then again, I came across the expression "Kotov Syndrome" in a song by alternative/punk band Rise Against, and so "Ha!"

"Kotov Syndrome" is a coinage accredited to the Chess Grandmaster, Alexander Kotov, who in his book "Think like a Grandmaster", descibes the Kotov Syndrome as a situation wherein a player takes far too long to think of a move and then finding himself uncomfortably low on time and still miles away from figuring out an appropriate solution, makes a poor move, usually a blunder! Nasty, yes! But it does happen! And that's when it struck me - that's my average workday in a nutshell! I spend all day thinking of what to do, and by closing time I realize I really haven't done anything substantial. So, the last hour of each day is spent panicking and squabbling, and primarily engaging in damage control.

All those of you who can relate to that, say "Aye!" And for those of you who cannot, say "Aye!" anyway! Why do you want to be left out? There's comfort in numbers, or so they claim!

And now the music update! This update is overdue by over a year. Not cool, I know. But, as we've always maintained - "Better late than never!" Everyone's always out to find the best song ever. Legend tells of many great, fearless men who set out on a voyage towards unchartered territory in search of that one song. They tried to cover up the mission by claiming they were going to discover new lands and countries or trying to prove the earth is round, but underneath the charades and veneer we all know they were only looking for that one song that would change the world forever! People have scaled the Himalayas to find saints who they believed had the answer, but they were almost always unsuccessful.

But I have a brilliant and startling new announcement to make, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. I have found that song. I kid you not. For those of you who've spilled their beverage while reading that last line, feel free to wash and clean up and get back in a bit. For the rest of you who're still staring at the screen with disbelief or incredulity - without much further ado, I give you - "Eyes as Candles" by Indie rock band Passion Pit! The song is perfect by all means. It's got a fantabulous intro, superb vocals and music, brilliant/contemporary lyrics and to top it all off an ingenious video. A perfect 10! Sadly though the song hasn't received any of the recognition or acclamation it so deserves. Heck! The video uploaded on Youtube even has the name of the song keyed in wrong! But afterall as they say - Virtue is it's own reward! So the lads of Passion Pit should feel pretty happy and smug about putting such incisive and brilliant music out in the world! Huzzah!



Song of the Post:
Wild Nothing - Chinatown
(Beautiful tune! Calm and serene...mesmerizing!)

The Return of the Dragon / Commercial Success

Dear faithful readers,

To begin with, I'd like to extend my sincere apologies to each and every one of you for this long, indefinite, unplanned, unannounced sabbatical I've taken from blogging. No doubt a lot of you may have been rendered incapacitated without your daily dose of ATH wisdom.

I'm afraid long hours at work have bogged me down all this while. The old ATH spirit and fervour I fear to admit has not been up to snuff these last few weeks. But you needn't worry! Your beloved, friendly neighbourhood ATH is back. Quite like a Phoenix that rises from its ashes to soar yet again into the wide, open yonder like an eagle (or rather a Phoenix), I'm resurfacing into the wide, open space that is the internet.

This reminds me of a curious incident that involves a certain gentleman I had the pleasure of making an acquaintance with a while ago. Now this gentleman, a father of two and a husband of one (we suppose), suddenly vanished one fine morning and wasn't heard from for 3 strainght days. Three days later he shows up at home, where his wife and kids are worrying and panicking over his mysterious disappearance, with a "What ho! Lovely day out there today, isn't it? How's everyone doing?" A brilliant idea, I figured. Keeping it fresh! Gives one a chance to collect oneself together, get one's bearings, have the old bodily fluids flowing again as per heavenly design. Unfortunately though, this particular gentleman's wife felt otherwise. Apparently, he's now on the street, divorced, paying heavy alimony and a chronic alcoholic. To this day, no one really knows where he was those 3 days. Many suspect he was frozen in a time capsule. I personally beg to differ. I mean, if you are going to freeze someone in time, it should be atleast for a few decades to make the return more dramatic. Freezing someone for 3 days is as effective as 1 push-up in a lifetime is to your physique.

Well clearly that's not the most ideal way to "keep things fresh"! Make sure you think your plan thoroughly through prior to execution. But still here I am - back for good with truckloads of updates and tales to share. I will be blogging more frequently and that, my good friends, is the ATH promise. I should warn you though that the ol' ATH promise is not and will probably never be as reliable and impeccable as the TATA Promise, but nevertheless it's indubitably something you can put your money on, rest assured. So you could look forward to the upcoming posts.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering what the title signifies, it's based on the 1972 Bruce Lee film by the same name, which seems to succinctly summarize my reemergence to the blogosphere. Besides dragons are just plain awesome \m/ !!!


I've come across some brilliant commercials of late! These ads are absolutely prefect by all means - creative, innovative and ingeniously humourous. This surely bodes well for the field of advertising that most people feared had saturated and could no longer instigate novel and impactive ideas. I've added a few commercials below in the reverse chronological order that I discovered them...

1. Malibu Rum commercial - "Sunshine"


2. Fosters' Beer commercial - "GPS" and "Yoga"




3. Vistaprint commercial - "Make the right first impression"





Song of the Post:

Captain - Keep an open mind
(Amazing tune, catchy chorus and the video's not too bad either)

	Captain - Keep An Open Mind .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Bazinga!

This poem was inspired by the character, Sheldon Cooper, from the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This expression was used by him in one of the 3rd season episodes and it's been stuck in my head ever since. This is a sort of tribute to him....I give you "Bazinga!"

"Goodbye, cruel world!", cried the man, "So long and Adieu.

My life has been a nightmare; and it's all thanks to you!

I feel so melancholy, frustrated and whatsmore,

You all bring me down further, each time you me ignore!"

"So thanks to you all, here I am ready for sweet release

It's my extreme forlorn attempt to find some inner peace.

I'll jump off this water tank and that'll be that;

The next and final sound you'll hear from me will be a loud "SPLAT"!"

Panic and pandemonium spread like wildfire all about

People were screaming, yelling, imploring, "Please come down", they all did shout.

"We're sorry for what we've done! We apologize and sincerely you beseech;

Never in a million years will we ever you disregard". (Apparently Hyperbole was a popular figure of speech)

But then, just as the women and children broke down and began to cry,

"Bazinga!", hollered the man, "I don't plan to die!"

As the crowd looked on startled, the man offered to explain,

"It was all just a practical joke to drive you all insane!"

"Booya!", declared the man, "I sure had you sons of bachelors there";

Oblivious to the furious eyes below and their incinerating stare.

"The Master of practical jokes! Upon myself this title I do bestow."

"The very brilliant", observed the man, "The brightest mind here, don't you know."

And just as he prepared to take his grand finale bow,

Several strong hands seized him and tossed him off the tank straight down below.

"Help! Help!", he bellowed, as he groped for something to break his fall.

Slim pickins though. He crashed and that was all.

So here's the lesson, dear readers, from the ol' ATH school,

Use "Bazinga!" wisely, it can be a very lethal tool.

A poorly timed "Bazinga!" can result in death, as you see;

By the way, "Bazinga", good folks! The man on the water tank was me!