Blinkers

Probably abominable then talk and tire
Rowdy crowd and philanthropic abattoir

Random boredom and shuffling playlist

Crackpot jackpot and controlling changelist

Access in control and misfired workspace

Miraculous Hercules and a testing race

Simultaneous checkin and synchronous breach

Revisional metadata and an offline leech

Adapters characters and butterflies blush

Conflicting questions and crutch so rush

Track Bugs, Satan hugs and checkout

Wink, blink and sink to configure the pout

Manage a broken heart and the network traffic

Concurrent superficial mellowed iconic graphic

Wind chimes, open rhymes and information restricted

Feelings stealing run around steps abbreviated

Empty smile, sleepy eyes and sketching pencils fly

Blinkers, Blinders, The thing around the horses eye!

Life and Lyrics!

Listening to Loud Pipes by Ratatat, thinking about the man with his museum of candles, the Man with his prison of windows, the Woman selling paan on the street, the Cat walking across the wall with its twin, the Wall with shards of glass on top... Ironic how all of this can be connected! What if the man breaks his window and puts the broken glass on the wall to prevent trespassing. Trespassing on the secret gardens? Ironic. Hunter becoming the hunted, and as The White Stripes say - The hunted became the huntress, The hunter became the prey....

It all comes back, round and round. The thoughts and kaleidoscopes. Kaleidoscopes of mirrors and broken glasses. Like memories and troubled feelings. Then the long drawn chase to search the antibiotic for insanity. To ultimately procure the elixir, to explicitly soothe the open wounds and bind the torn fibers that act as tourniquets.

Esoteric, to each its own! to each his own! Ownership rights and fights for individual rights! Tricky world, Complex Web. The spider is really a superb architect!

What about logic, rationality, normality? Then what about Questions, Feelings, What-Ifs?

Feel the electricity flow, light up the lamp and radiating darkness! As ironical as it may sound, eyes tend to do that! They see what they want to see, Juxtapose situations how they like to, solve a puzzle from any set of exclusive factual pieces.

And the Silence! the ever orchestral silence singing in chorus and the myriad conflicting emotions like every instrument in the colossal concert of life. Concert besides the flowing river! The river so tunneled by the banks, but eroding the bank in return...

Music and Memories, Songs and Sights, Instruments and Melodies... Life and Lyrics!

A rose with any other name....!

I always think that I want to write why I named this blog 'Moral Redundancy'. I wonder how that came to my mind. I think it was mostly a juxtaposition of words that gave a nice meaning to the phrase.

Moral is (Source WordWeb):
1. Concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behaviour and character based on those principle (I guess this is too strong for me!)
2. Psychological rather than physical or tangible in effect (I like this better!)

Redundancy is (Source WordWeb):
1. Repetition of messages to reduce the probability of errors in transmission (Am I too sleepy or is it that this meaning could also stand for nagging?)
2. The attribute of being superfluous and unneeded (I love this)
3. (electronics) a system design that duplicates components to provide alternatives in case one component fails (Ehem!)
4. Repetition of an act needlessly (This is good, there is no need, but there could be a want!)

I guess I can do a mix and match and everything would look cool!

So much for Moral Redundancy!

My blog with any other name? Doesn't sound as weird! :P

Some words here n there!

Would it be possible to remove the word ME from BLAME? Maybe replace it with YOU? :) Maybe i need to become a senior manager to make that happen!

Music

Songs are a big big part of our lives. Most of us have a 24/7 audio player running in our mind. We shuffle across songs that totally grip our mind and feelings. Sometimes they help us pull ourselves up, sometimes they help us vent our anger… sometimes just makes us laugh by describing the irony that we are in… Our lives presented to us in tricky words and beautiful music.

I keep discovering bands and music. The World is a big gold mine for music. But I must say that the 60, 70 and 80's music is the best. The bands were the pioneers and they will always remain evergreen. I would like to talk about songs that I discover, bands that I discover while hunting for some song or the other. I love hunting for music.

While hunting around found some bands like The Black Keys, Rascal Flatts, Devendra Banhart, Blue Cheer, and many more. These bands have made the most amazing music that I loved a lot and has become a part and parcel of my audio player. ☺ And these are apart from the bands that we hear about a lot.

So I will keep posting about these amazing songs and bands. For now let me talk about 5 songs:

1) Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes - Amazing rock song, it is an anthem. When you are down and need a boost, it's the Seven Nation Army that you have to listen to.

2) No Aphrodisiac by The Whitlams - Very melodic, touching and soothing song. The perfect song to listen to when you are drunk on memories. The lines, "There is no aphrodisiac like loneliness; truth, beauty and a picture of you" are the most amazing lines I have heard. Get me a easy chair, a glass of scotch and my player with this song on and what I have is the simplest time machine!

3) Brazen (Weep) by Skunk Anansie - This is a very complex song, at least the lyrics are. I don't want to quote from any sites that talk about the meaning of this song. It's a song to hear and explore. The voice, the depth and the meaning.

4) Peace of Mind by Blue Cheer - Psychedelic rock at its best. What a song by Blue Cheer! One of my all time favourites!

5) Joker and the Thief by WolfMother - A Classic. Am sure most of you would know this song. I discovered this a bit late, but better late than never. This is one song that is going to be with me forever.

Vultures by Chinua Achebe

Couple of days have been a roller coaster ride... Both from Within and Without (My favourite phrase of all time!). There have been times when I was wondering what could be the realm of consciousness that we term as I. The outreach that every I reaches towards every We! I wonder if I make sense, or if I ever will, but I can't make sense of so many things happening around!

I read this wonderful poem Vultures by Chinua Achebe. It's a very intense poem. His comparison of Love, Need, and Duty, and how life gives us hazy and relative boundaries between these. Boundaries that are strict for some, very loose or non-existent for many. Life and Individuals.

It has become a favourite poem. Specially the last verse. The play of words and feelings that are very very close to reality! A reality very different from the reality we perceive!

Vultures by Chinua Achebe

In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers
of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken
bone of a dead tree
nestled close to his
mate his smooth
bashed-in head, a pebble
on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross
feathers, inclined affectionately
to hers. Yesterday they picked
the eyes of a swollen
corpse in a water-logged
trench and ate the things in its bowel. Full
gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant
in easy range of cold
telescopic eyes ...

Strange
indeed how love in other
ways so particular
will pick a corner
in that charnel-house
tidy it and coil up there, perhaps
even fall asleep - her face
turned to the wall!

...Thus the Commandant at Belsen
Camp going home for
the day with fumes of
human roast clinging
rebelliously to his hairy
nostrils will stop
at the wayside sweet-shop
and pick up a chocolate
for his tender offspring
waiting at home for Daddy's return ...

Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in every germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.

Museum of Memories!

After 3 different posts from 3 different folks, I realized how different we are, each one of us. How life moves across for everyone and how we decide, plan and push forth our boat through. We are our Captains of the ships we have! The ocean is full of mysterious beings and feelings. And those who dare, smile later, looking back at the islands of memories!

Starting with the dude who has fire in his belly along with yesterday's beer! ☺ The dude whose poems have moved me a lot and whose words are going to be etched forever. The talks and gibberish (borrowing from his blog) that happened over many bottles of rum into the wilderness of the night! The same dude who is steering his ship through, with a bigger fight within than without! As he writes about the miseries of modern life some of his words bring a smile! A smile of understanding the sarcasm, that comes when the pain is heavy! When he writes I can hear him speak… the sly smirk, the sharp wit in the eye! I love the way he puts it: Hero: "mere paas RUM hai…". You really make people smile man! Keep writing! It's the Fluid and Floyd and we are just another Brick in the Wall bro… And that's how life is! How better than to put it dude – Some of us are really bed bugs… in the Society… Ironically we just need that dark corner… but it is assumed that we suck blood too! What happens in real life! Only a Khatmal can tell! ☺ Eventually, will we ever find the meaning of love? Experience it, even for a moment? Love that transcends everything? Eh Bro? Another Old Monk beckons yeah? Maybe More!

This leads to another post! (Looks like I had a lot of free time, or I had just returned to my sponge mode! Absorbing all!) And I did dance to the words that talked about dancing to the silence of the real world! Another person, another Captain in the Big Long Ocean! Through the myriad blades of grass, through the forests of contradicting feelings, through the mundanities of the role we play; All we are looking for is a reason to smile! A reason! But do we really need a reason? Is a reason enough? What reason can truly make you smile? A happiness that transcends all! A happiness that evolves from nothing at all! A smile for a smile, a smile for a memory, a smile for an irony, a smile for a tear! A smile, some muscles move on the face and the reason could be so varied! A reflection so strong! A radiation so bright! Both Within and Without! She writes about escaping the entrapments of the own mind! The biggest cell we call My Own Prison (borrowed from Creed)! Do we really escape it? Captains with a will can, Captains with a spurt of a will can fly for a while before returning back to the cage! Captain with Wills ☺ They talk to the smoke… They listen to the autumn leaves that fall! And they are free! They just break up in waves and particles, move back and forth and travel in time! And be Free! Who can keep the Mind so bound?

And then we return to the Snapshots of Life. Our ships anchor up at some island, we run around in the Jungle, we are free! Within and Without! Eating fruits from Gardens! Sipping water from the springs! Inhaling life and the essence of being and exhaling memories to be preserved as snapshots! Colourful albums of memories! Again giving reasons for exercising those tiny muscles on the face and bring the sweetest of the smile! The most infectious smile! A small picture and million memories later, feelings engulf us, levitate us in the peace and happiness of the being and consciousness! Of creating melodies together! Meeting folks who love music, dive into the deep ocean of tunes and words! Music, as mentioned earlier… It plays a pivotal role, it soothes or sadness, buffers our anger, elates our happiness and sometimes, those precious times when we listen to the loved songs one more f*ing time, a tear that lingers and dries before allowing itself to be visible. The songs, the stairs and the darkness on the beach front where our ships will always remain anchored! Transcending the changes brought by time! Another day, another song and another smile!

And all that remains are the lines by Rammstein from the song Seemann:

... Jetzt stehst du da an der Laterne
hast Tranen im Gesicht
das Feuer nimmst du von der Kerze
die Zeit steht still und es wird Herbst...

...Now you are standing by the lantern
you have tears in your face
you take the fire from the candle

time stands still and it becomes autumn...

Chaostion Marks!

Why is the human mind so intricate? Why does it give externalities a lot of space? Why is it so malleable yet unyielding? Was Newton more of a philosopher because all his three laws apply to psychology too?

Still, Why is that the heart rules the mind?

But then what is a king without a kingdom, or a kingdom without a noble king?

And yet, you have to add something to complete to make it incomplete!

Voter's ID

So here goes the story.

My name was already there in the Voting List.... So I thought, easier for these folks at the Commission to send me the ID. But no, I had to go to get a photo done. Ok. I go for that and get it done! Nice and smooth procedure with a swanky laptop and a Web-camera. So after that I had nothing else to do but wait!

So I wait. After about 2-3 months the ID shows up at my place. After asking the generous lady, who came to drop the ID at my place, the reason for the field 'Father's Name' being printed as 'Other's Name', the answer was really dramatic. She said in a gentle tone, "You should be happy that your name and photograph match!". What more to say? Speechless! This being a National Voter ID, and there are chances that the data could be messed totally! So there is a disclaimer folks! Just like the chaotic democracy we live in, everything is chaotic and unorganized!

Ok coming to the other part, my birth date is printed as - XX/XX/1982. Wow the only part they could print was the year, and they print it wrong! What about XX/XX (dd/mm)? How can I use this as a Birth Proof? Damn! Why couldn't they add another X? I could have used it in pick up lines! (I guess I am being too hopeful :P) But then again, what if I am not allowed to vote because of the double XXs?

I guess the only thing I can do now is wait for my Unique ID! That sounds good! Another million forms to fill! Another hundred lines to join! Another set of frustrations to flow! But I guess all of this is a part of living in a chaotic developing democracy yeah?

Guru Gyan!

K: arey baapre
R: kay?
oh my status again?
K: genocide alert,,
R: hehe... je ghadtay te innocently lihite
underline innocently thrice
K: thrice
aint that too less
R: nahi re... hyachya peksha jaasta nahi lihita yet... majboori ka doosra naam gandhiji hai :P
K: why gandhi?
why not R?
R: nahi nahi
R is never majboor...
K: oh how can it be like that
R: even if she has to be for some reason
K: R is R
R: she takes it on udhari basis from gandhiji
but never owns it
K: oh nice
beautiful
khadi on rent is it
R: yeah.... selective alternatives....
I CHOOSE
in a free country
K: awesome
R: ;)
K: who said the country is free
there is no Free Lunch
R: my country is
talk about someone who's getting free lunch almost 80 % of the time
K: lol
thats being cut from my salary
that aint completely free
R: naah.... its like putting thngs on sale
K: totally
R: triple the price and then give a 10% discount
K: first increase the price...
R: so your salary is tripled
K: precisely put
:)
R: then a meagre amount is cut
K: right right
tripled yeah
R: haha u must hate me for what i am saying
:P
hehe
K: just like the triple underline in ur innocence right?
R: that's pure reality
innocence personified
K: there is nothing such as reality my friend
reality is just but percieved facts
which can be miscontrued on the way
R: facts nevertheless
plainly put as reality
in common man's terms
K: reality is just but percieved facts
which can be miscontrued on the way
R: i am a common man
K: that was the complete sentence
R: i got that
K: u talk about genocide
and still you are a common man
and still the country is free?
R: sab Maya hai
u'll have to go beyond illusions to understand the concept
K: now u are contradicting urself Oh Common Man
R: that's teh sad fate of common man....
no choice but to contradict oneself at every step
to survive
K: fantastic
Contradiction is a Common Mans Curse
could it be?
R: boon...
only opportunity where a common man can conveniently contradict himself to save his skin
so a BOON
K: but the very fact that he has to rely on Contradiction to Save his skin
R: tragic
but true
K: precise words
R: baas aata
bhaari zhala
K: Ok bye
R: ya
bye
K: Peace
R: prevail for
Ever

Smart Burglars!

Well, burglars are catching up! Next time you put up a nice picture of you and your recently acquired LCD TV or Macbook air or anything fantastic on the networking sites... Big Burglars is watching you ;)

This piece of study is really alarming. Now Burglars are using Facebook, Twitter and other sites to track what you are up to and then plan something really nice! A nice surprise for you ;)

Well, putting pictures is not as alarming as this:
'An alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be 'friends' online with people they don't really know, this presents a serious risk to the security of people's home and contents," said the insurer.'

Am sure all these BB dudes have a nice shopping cart application on their PC's which they use liberally when they see your swanky new Gizmos and find that you are planning to take your dog to some nice sandy place.

So folks, be careful!

19 days between Mumbai and Zurich!

"An average wage-earner in Zurich and New York can buy an iPod nano from an Apple store after nine hours of work. At the other end of the spectrum, workers in Mumbai need to work 20 nine-hour days, roughly the equivalent of one month's salary," the study said.

This is taken from the Reuters article (R) about World's Best Wages. What caught my eye is use of the iPod as a comparative parameter :).

An important factor one has to think about is the Indian perspective wherein people flock from all over the country in Mumbai just because it is known as a place where money flows. This brings forward the huge divide between the various India's we have in India. And Mumbai is a perfect place where most of these various Indians are located in the smallest possible place. BKC complex and the nearby Dharavi Slum nearby, the Bandra-Worli sealink and the nearby Worli seamen communities, the Swanky west as compared to the deteriorated east.... and the comparable patches in between and so on!

But one thing is common, almost everyone in Mumbai has a radio phone... and this is prominently seen in the locals where almost everyone is listening to something! Ah but what about the iPods?

Oh but we were talking about the iPod, or buying the iPod, or like me..... just dreaming.... when will I buy the nice iPod Classic and have all my stuff on it....

Of Beer bearers ;)

While looking for some information here and there.. (basically just lost in the Google Mayajaal ;)), I came across this amazing link which gives ten unusual uses of beer. Click here for the complete list.

Some of the uses I liked are:
Number 10 - Soak it in
Number 9 - Soothe an upset tummy
Number 5 - Fertilize your garden
Number 3 - Wash your hair (that means spray the beer whenever you can at a party... but first let the women know the benefits of beer on hair and skin ;) and of course after you drink it as much as you wanted to!)
NUMBER 1 - Barbeque Chicken (Beer and Chicken.... WOOW!)

Well I guess my next search is going to be the uses of Whisky and stuff... let's see how that goes... or maybe I can write one if I can think of some ;)

So here's a toast to C2H5OH!

Describing Love...

How would you describe Love?

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get
Or
WYSIWYN - What You See Is What You Need

Wonder what made me think of this!

Ayurvedic Medicine for Swine Flu - Wow!

Well, a simple search landed me on a page that told me a medicine comprising ‘cow milk, cow urine and cow dung’ is good. :P They further transcend the talk and mention ‘Cow Urine Concentrate’…

Now with all due respect, I know that Ayurveda is one of the most ancient and brilliant medicinal sciences. I believe in it for sure, but why not make it sound a bit better? We don’t want to make it sound that Ayurveda is all about cow byproducts, that too after it ruminates and ruminates over food. :)

Or maybe I just am getting too jaded at work :) I need some yeast byproduct... :)

Shantaram!

Been days since I wanted to write something about Shantaram. The book has been a revelation. With an amazing story line, awesome character sketches and very intriguing philosophical insights in the form of the perspectives of Lindsay (maybe based on the authors own personal accounts) and the magnetic personality of Kader Khan. The dialogues between these two characters are really fascinating.

The journey starts with Lindsay landing in Mumbai and the subsequent explorations throughout the multilayered society in Mumbai. His relations with amazing characters like Prabhaker, Abdulla Taheri, Didier Levy (one of my favorite character), Lisa Carter, Vikram Patel and others.

So from the Mumbai slums, the underworld, Leopolds, the Taj, the film fraternity, Enfield Bullets, Haaji Ali and other amazing places it takes one to Afghanistan…. For an interesting discussion with the author check out Spectrum from The Tribune where Harsh A. Desai talks to Gregory David Roberts and reviews his novel Shantaram

It is really a journey when one reads the book….

Definitely worth a read….

And am really waiting for the prequel… :)

A beautiful tale...

This poem 'A Puppet Story' is a blend of amazing array of words weaved with beautiful and touching emotions. Really one of the best poems i have known.... and so is the poet... :)

A prolific writer...

D.... amongst my favourite writer.... has penned this beautiful set - What are you? Am truly amazed with the grasp her words have.... keep writing D

Ode to the Horde!

So folks n people who type n type
Work hard and eat fruits them ripe
When on weekends their cards they swipe
And ooh lala so fun o fun

10.30 they start to rise
Get in the cab to work so wise
With dreams n fun in their eyes
And ooh lala so fun o fun

Then go to the tapri and have a chai
3 the dudes and 1 or 2 the bai
On nicotine n caffeine high
And ooh lala so fun o fun

And weekend comes and drink the coke
You mix stuff n be happy blokes
N remove the masks and the cloaks
And ooh lala so fun o fun

And when I think of you pals
Best bros n lovely gals
Cant rhyme or write them memories
They are ooh lala so fun o fun

Ironic

Coming back to the blog, when am truly short of words! Looking around for inspiration, found many, but i felt at a loss for words.. What with the little white cheeked bird perching happily on a branch and coming down the road fearlessly to peck on something fallen down... Then ahead through the old school lanes where memories fill all the vacuum and moments bring back the smiling faces... The houses along the road that remind me of the Mumbai life... The people rushing to work...

Then the beautiful brown moth on the office wall which i stopped to gaze and behold... such intense creatures these big brown moths with huge wings... lying still.... allowing you to engulf the mystery about them...All this... and i get lost in translation... the usual... feelings not flowing to the right words... feelings that might not be given justice when wording them…

The clouds but no rain.. the purple pink flowers fallen alongside the road... and the snapshots of the morning continue... with me back to being the sponge… absorbing all…