Thoughts.....

Surprised? I am :-D.


Wanted to write a lil' something today. Its been a long, long time since i made an appearance here. Sometimes, words appear and then disappear, before you can string them together.....The silent scribbles in the diary of the mind. Sometimes, thoughts flash like a firefly in a corner and then fly away. Other times, you do end up finding words and then shaping them into a definitive something. The something, that will tell it like it is.



This just happens to be one such moment, and i am making sure that i catch the thoughts before they dissolve :).

---------------

Few days back, i had a lil' trip back in time, with this beautiful piece of poetry and music. Its a musical rendition of a poem by Faiz (The video link is from a TV drama called Dhoop Kinare, which was popular even in India). I am not attempting to translate the poem, because no words can accurately translate its depth and the beauty.

It is one of the most beautiful combinations of poetry and music, ever! I first listened to this when i was really young, barely a teen-ager. The melody grew on me and so did the lyrics. The lyrics beautifully and poignantly describe the soothing effect that long-forgotten pleasant memories have. And few days ago, when i listened to this song, i felt soothed, blessed by the beautiful, long-forgotten memories.....
---------------


I've recently caught up with my reading, and have been reading Murakami like an addict :-D. Besides some of his novels and short stories, i have also enjoyed reading some really inetersting books about mind and music, neuroplasticity, paranoia and the concept of self. Which means (or atleast there is a lil' bit of likelihood) that i would write about them at some point :).

---------------

Oh, and the pictures that you see here, are from Santa Monica (where else?). Love the Santa Monica pier and the promenade.

These pictures were taken when MD was here in winter.



The ferris wheel in the picture is the old one. The new, solar-powered ferris wheel was inaugurated this week.

So, i did manage to capture some thoughts, didn't i :).

Mind and music :)

Its late in the night. I am waiting for my bus at the bus stop, tired, completely jaded, may be even a bit frustrated.....I reach my bag for the music player. The music begins to flow, into my ears, into my nerves, into my soul.....the same three songs spin again and again, as they have many a time before, soothing my soul, comforting my nerves. As the music plays on, i feel the warmth and brightness of sun, the flakes of snow melting on my skin, the pampering of the breeze.....in my thoughts, i walk with familiar faces in familiar places. i smile, i cry.....i think the thoughts. i walk with a spring in my step, almost dancing. i am in a different place, i am in different places.....these virtual trips to wherever are sponsored courtesy these few songs.....yet again, i travel through time and space: the music, my wings.....

Snap! the music player is off-i am "myself" again, back in the real world.....much soothed and ready to go!
.......................................

Music does it, to me, to everyone. Very true to my name, eh ;). It has got the power to touch the innermost core of human mind. Remember this story, about music? There are many more such stories. Dr. Oliver Sacks has narrated many more stories Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.

I am really looking forward to reading this one. Dr. Sacks' writings are about human mind and hope, and this one blends a favorite along, music. Check out the following video: Dr. Sacks talks about Music and Parkinsonism:



and this one: "A bolt from the blue", a story about his friend, who developed a passion for music after being struck by lightening!




There are more videos on Musicophilia.com.

And i know, i love me some floating on the cloud of music :).

He remembered music and love.....

This is the story of man who, while forgetting most of the things due to his amnesia, remembered two things: Music and Love.....A WNYC mp3 on the life story of Mr. Clive Wearing, narrated by Debrah Wearing (his wife) and Dr. Oilver Sacks.



The whole story is amazing.....I have a feeling that this is gonna' be a part of his forthcoming book "Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain".

Sheetal, Manjul, Komal.....

Sheeta, Manjul, Komal.....

These words convey heartfelt emotions.....emotions of comfort.....comfort felt by the soul.....soul that was touched by the soft, comforting emotions.....

Yes, and these words belong to a song so melodiuos, so poignant that it evokes the same emotions in you.....

Y'day, while chatting with MD, we discussed about Sharatchandra's books.....and the one that i felt most about that moment was "Chirtraheen".....and as all of his books, this book to has strong female protagonists, my favorite being Kironmayee.....

And i remembered how i had found her character so striking, so well etched.....

and then, i thought of the song, that belonged to the televised version of this book. i came across this song through Sukhan's blog that links to this wonderful archive of Sh. Salil Chowdhury's music.....

and this song played on.....just as beautiful as the lyrics are.....i thought i would share this song (below):

Sheetal, Manjul, Komal

and i am still humming this song to myself.....feeling nostalgic.....

Dancing with the penguins :)

Whats your favorite dance style: Bhangra, tango, tap or salsa-bring it on!
Mumble wants you to dance along-Mumble, the cutest penguin ever (besides Pingu).

Oh! and i've been meaning to share my meeting with this lovely penguin since a couple of days. A meeting that made me laugh and cry.....gently tugging my heart strings.....

I am clearly besotted :).

I met Mumble at the Fox Theater where he's currently making an appearance, and in style! His show is named "Happy Feet"-it leaves everyone happy.....and touched :).

Rarely there is any movie that tries to address many things at the same time, and does it so wonderfully well.

The story is about Mumble, a lovely, cutesy penguin, who's different! Different, in that unlike others in his 'hood who sing their way to glory, he expresses himself with dance. Born to Momma and Papa penguins, he's not particularly well received by his community, but lives on with a smile. He finds his muse in the pretty Gloria, who's every young penguin's heart-throb. Our dude makes friends with the cutesome foursome penguins, who are naughty and full of beans (but also feel the pain of being from 'the wrong side of town'). The naughty bunch enthuses Mumble, dances along with him and takes him to a philospohy spouting guru Lovelace (voiced over by Robin Williams). Together, they solve the mysteries of the penguin-land, doing everything penguinely possible, reaching out to the other worlds and having their voices heard.....

This penguin-land story has many shades of what we desis are so familiar with: here are few things that make you nostalgic ;).

1. Its a musical :). Yeah! and plenty of dance numbers ;).
2. Momma and Papa penguins singing a love song (Baghban, anyone!).
3. Mumble wooing Gloria in typical Hindi movie style (playes a saviour to the damsel in distress: imagine the baddie running away with heroine's purse and the hero chasing the baddie. well, in this case its about a fish :)). Mumble dances for his beloved, while she sings on.....
4. Our hero fighting the baddies and reaching out to the aliens single-handedly! He's surely a super-sweet super hero :).
5. Song and dance in the graduation party :). (Papa kehte hain and more).
6. Father and son duo dancing crazy ( Rock and Roll Soniye-Mumble and Papa make the AB duo of penguin-land ;)).
7. One of Mumble's amigos singing for him (just like Kishore Kumar sang for Sunil Dutt in Padosan :)).

See, the Hindi movie school works!

Mumble, you are good. You are great. i totally heart you. and i sincerely hope and pray what you did in the show, someone would do in reality too. Wanna come and stop by on planet earth.....

Al Gore must be a happy man :).

Verdict: GO watch the movie, NOW! Mumble takes us through this joy-ride bringing lots of things to our attention. As a bonus, he DJs some great music and lots of it. Its really heart-warming to hear some great songs from back in time.

P.S.: I noticed a desi contribution while the credits were rolling: Sonal Joshi is the Supervising Dialogue Editor here.