Thanks to UV fer telling me about this song. Covered by a bazillion artists, this is probably one of the best Stones songs. Good guitar work, complementing drum beats bass, piano and Mick Jagger's lovely vocals make for a most touching and beautiful song. Seems like nothings going to stop these aging rockers.
Friday 29 December 2006
Thursday 28 December 2006
An evening through a verbal video camera
Yesterday, my friend called me out for a brief foray outside the confines of my house. He wished to purchase a Christmas present for another comrade, and said he could use the company and some assistance. Never being a man to give up a chance to leave home, I obliged.
Destination 1 - Karama Shopping complex
My friend had in mind this little glass memento, we spent about half an hour just trying to find an appropriate shop. Rather surprised and embarrassed to realise that we couldn't find a piece at A.C. Milan, we left the area.
Burjuman seemed like a more appropriate place to continue our quest for the elusive crystal ball. A certain Ms. Distraction seemed to be in the vicinity as she veered us off our path and down the stairs of the Zara showroom. And there, like two possessed women(sexist remark not intended), we tried on a heap of clothes. Of course with the scarcity of greens in the money desert, we made no purchase.
Destination 1 - Karama Shopping complex
My friend had in mind this little glass memento, we spent about half an hour just trying to find an appropriate shop. Rather surprised and embarrassed to realise that we couldn't find a piece at A.C. Milan, we left the area.
Destination 2 - Bur Juman Centre
Burjuman seemed like a more appropriate place to continue our quest for the elusive crystal ball. A certain Ms. Distraction seemed to be in the vicinity as she veered us off our path and down the stairs of the Zara showroom. And there, like two possessed women(sexist remark not intended), we tried on a heap of clothes. Of course with the scarcity of greens in the money desert, we made no purchase.
Destination 3 - Centrepoint; 20 meters away
At centrepoint, our quest for the grail came to a close. Lifestyle bore the fruit of our long search, it came in the form of a little crystal bowl, that looked cracked yet wasn't. 39 Dirhams later, we were out of the store present in hand.
But in a sheer crafty moment of thought, I decided that I wouldn't lend my 'services' regardless of how minimal for free. My fee; would have to be in the form of a Subway sandwich. Another thirty minutes passed, my friends wallet; a lot lighter, mine...I never brought it along, remained at home.
At centrepoint, our quest for the grail came to a close. Lifestyle bore the fruit of our long search, it came in the form of a little crystal bowl, that looked cracked yet wasn't. 39 Dirhams later, we were out of the store present in hand.
But in a sheer crafty moment of thought, I decided that I wouldn't lend my 'services' regardless of how minimal for free. My fee; would have to be in the form of a Subway sandwich. Another thirty minutes passed, my friends wallet; a lot lighter, mine...I never brought it along, remained at home.
Destination 5 - Home, where else?
Stomach and my friend satisfied we left for home. The journey was short and 15 minutes was all it took to make it back home. Prior to parting, I mentioned that a greeting to my friend's comrade should be passed to him on my behalf. Innocently, and rather instinctively, we both gazed at the bag, which we presumed was nestled in my friend's right hand. As luck would have it, it wasn't. Screaming was in order, and so we did. 15 minutes cut short to 10 was all the time it took to walk back to the mall in search of the disappearing present. By now it would be quite obvious to one that the present would have displaced itself further away from where we might have left it, and surely it did. The present was lost.
To the apparently unfortunate matter at hand, my friend remarked "Aaah, what the heck, it was my parent's money." Not wishing to comment more on his lacked of concern, I smiled and we walked back home. 3 hours of lost studies after I had set out, I got back to the most pleasant threatening stare my Mom had given me in quite a while, and I settled myself down before my table, and switched the camera off.
To the apparently unfortunate matter at hand, my friend remarked "Aaah, what the heck, it was my parent's money." Not wishing to comment more on his lacked of concern, I smiled and we walked back home. 3 hours of lost studies after I had set out, I got back to the most pleasant threatening stare my Mom had given me in quite a while, and I settled myself down before my table, and switched the camera off.
Wednesday 27 December 2006
Christmas dinner pics
Amandy!!!
And back by popular demand, Ali Yar Khan with Rajiv and half of Amandy
Group pic
Anish solo; rediscovered man
Experimental pic of self
Random pic
Juhi, Romit and evil Anish
Ali, adukit and Amandy
Ali and Amandy
Ali and Rajiv
Amandy and Juhi
Anish and BharathMonday 25 December 2006
Dry County
I was listening to Dry County today, good ol' Jon sang "man spent his whole life waitin', prayin', for some big reward". What really caught me was the word prayer. I don't know about everyone else, but mine is a rather religious family, God is credited with every success that we achieve, and is the sole "cure-all" for any given situation. Back to dry county, it seems now that for any wish of ours we merely turn to God and assume that the "reward" shall be granted. But, I beg to differ from this opinion, regardless of how irrational or unfathomable my thoughts may seem.
Studying science, and Biology in particular, gives you an outlook into aspects of life you never knew about. Everyday we learn something new, I'm more than fascinated at the wonders of this life. Quite recently, we came across the topic of the origin of life. We were born out of a boiling primordial soup; with a few strokes of luck(I suppose), the appropriate chemical reactions occurred...and Lo behold...primitive life was born. And from this minute "life-form" many larger organisms such as ourselves have risen.
All of us, distinguished scientists, students, heck...even George Bush might know about this theory, but yet we persist with our conceptions of the "Creator", a supreme being who just popped in out of nowhere, and gave rise to us all. Rashness, of the statement aside, I find it rather irrational to even think that we could have come to this earth from nowhere as mentioned in various religious scribes.
I'd rather think of God this way; God is our control, regulator, moderator, and governing factor. After emerging from this soup, we gradually learnt to be civilized, hence the ascension of modern man with his emotions, abstractions, and other traits. Two such traits were unruliness and fear. A primitive man would indefinitely resort to an unruly means to an end if that must be the means to his survival for that day. Hence, the need came about to keep this unruliness in check, and the concept of a God came about, an all-knowing spiritual being to whom we were answerable for all our action, and one who with enough coaxing would heap down the earths many good gifts. Primitive man feared that if he couldn't satisfy God, he would be overcome by the many savageries that the earth bore, and complied to what he believed were God's bidding's; all that was good.
From there on, this idea progressed now we all have temples, churches, mosques where we all go to call upon this spiritual being and beg forgiveness for our wrongs, and in an inadvertent act of greed; ask for only good to come upon us. Yet, it might also be quite obvious to many, that success doesn't merely arise from an answered prayer, more often than not, it is the fruit of our hard work. Now, I'm not questioning religion or the mere existence of God, I think its more appropriate that we have our own perception of God, to which we are bound.
Remember what we used to hear all the time when we were younger? God lies within everyone of us. Hence God might also be an extension of your inner self, bearing in mind whatever morals you have learnt in however short your life may have been, you can look upon this inner self of yours, to asses your actions. Where apologies are in order you must oblige, where thanks is in order the same applies. When in need of something, calling on the God, is merely a call to oneself to muster the will power and sense of mind to carry out the task at hand.
Then the question of child being able to assess himself comes across, and yes that is rather impossible. Now our God takes on yet another form, that of our parents, notice the similarity; God - governor of all the world, parents - the governors of our entire world(life).
What I've been talking about is my view of God, taking on many physical forms, and is truly active and existent in our lives instead of being someone who we hope will come to our aid. I'd rather see my God in this light, as compared to the view of many fanatics who believe that God can perform any desired feat at the drop of a hat, and brave all obstacles travelling to a far away place to communicate with a God that actually lies within.
But, please note, that these are merely my own views and are not binding in any way to any object or belief, let alone atheism.
Jeetu...out
Studying science, and Biology in particular, gives you an outlook into aspects of life you never knew about. Everyday we learn something new, I'm more than fascinated at the wonders of this life. Quite recently, we came across the topic of the origin of life. We were born out of a boiling primordial soup; with a few strokes of luck(I suppose), the appropriate chemical reactions occurred...and Lo behold...primitive life was born. And from this minute "life-form" many larger organisms such as ourselves have risen.
All of us, distinguished scientists, students, heck...even George Bush might know about this theory, but yet we persist with our conceptions of the "Creator", a supreme being who just popped in out of nowhere, and gave rise to us all. Rashness, of the statement aside, I find it rather irrational to even think that we could have come to this earth from nowhere as mentioned in various religious scribes.
I'd rather think of God this way; God is our control, regulator, moderator, and governing factor. After emerging from this soup, we gradually learnt to be civilized, hence the ascension of modern man with his emotions, abstractions, and other traits. Two such traits were unruliness and fear. A primitive man would indefinitely resort to an unruly means to an end if that must be the means to his survival for that day. Hence, the need came about to keep this unruliness in check, and the concept of a God came about, an all-knowing spiritual being to whom we were answerable for all our action, and one who with enough coaxing would heap down the earths many good gifts. Primitive man feared that if he couldn't satisfy God, he would be overcome by the many savageries that the earth bore, and complied to what he believed were God's bidding's; all that was good.
From there on, this idea progressed now we all have temples, churches, mosques where we all go to call upon this spiritual being and beg forgiveness for our wrongs, and in an inadvertent act of greed; ask for only good to come upon us. Yet, it might also be quite obvious to many, that success doesn't merely arise from an answered prayer, more often than not, it is the fruit of our hard work. Now, I'm not questioning religion or the mere existence of God, I think its more appropriate that we have our own perception of God, to which we are bound.
Remember what we used to hear all the time when we were younger? God lies within everyone of us. Hence God might also be an extension of your inner self, bearing in mind whatever morals you have learnt in however short your life may have been, you can look upon this inner self of yours, to asses your actions. Where apologies are in order you must oblige, where thanks is in order the same applies. When in need of something, calling on the God, is merely a call to oneself to muster the will power and sense of mind to carry out the task at hand.
Then the question of child being able to assess himself comes across, and yes that is rather impossible. Now our God takes on yet another form, that of our parents, notice the similarity; God - governor of all the world, parents - the governors of our entire world(life).
What I've been talking about is my view of God, taking on many physical forms, and is truly active and existent in our lives instead of being someone who we hope will come to our aid. I'd rather see my God in this light, as compared to the view of many fanatics who believe that God can perform any desired feat at the drop of a hat, and brave all obstacles travelling to a far away place to communicate with a God that actually lies within.
But, please note, that these are merely my own views and are not binding in any way to any object or belief, let alone atheism.
Jeetu...out
Thursday 21 December 2006
The Beach
Jumeirah beach was empty and quiet, setting the ominous tone for what was about to come. The eight of us; myself, Eddie, Udai, AshiQ, Preeth, Bharath, Rohith, and Sahil wandered toward the rocks. On the little platform, we saw a group practising tai chi, quite obviously Bharath was mesmerised and remained affixed to that spot.
The rest of us decided to play "footie" with Sahil's tennis ball, eventually Bharath would join in. And in a stroke of mere bad luck, the ball flew out of our playing premises and into a deep crevice between the rocks that lined the shore.
And here began a rescue mission to save the little ball. Spearheaded by AshiQ and Preeth, we went in search of the little ball. Our main instrument was AshiQ, and our trusty little phone light, with a poor battery life.
The rest of us decided to play "footie" with Sahil's tennis ball, eventually Bharath would join in. And in a stroke of mere bad luck, the ball flew out of our playing premises and into a deep crevice between the rocks that lined the shore.
And here began a rescue mission to save the little ball. Spearheaded by AshiQ and Preeth, we went in search of the little ball. Our main instrument was AshiQ, and our trusty little phone light, with a poor battery life.
AshiQ threw himself into the chasm, and with the light shining bright saw the ball. Yet the question was, whether he should risk his own life to save it.
Face first he lay for a long time, and yet he couldn't reach it, the ball lay cold and whimpering. Eventually it was too much for AshiQ, he withdrew, and in an effort reminiscent of the movie Cliffhanger he clambered out of the crevice.
And then came our second stalwart; Preeth. Being of a shorter stature, it required two of us to lower him down. Anxiously we awaited his response. He claimed to see a football, and a petrified coke can; a grim prospective of what would happen to our dear little ball. Yet again our mighty rescue man, was unable to locate the ball, and had to emerge with his effort going in vain. Overcome by a rush of blood to the head, he declared that there was nothing that we could do, and we had to leave.
Sahil remained emotionless, but it was apparent by his passiveness that he was quite overcome by the loss. Bharath attempted to bring cheer to the moment by providing some relief. And we called it a day, and parted on our ways.
Silly story aside, yesterday was quite a fun day. At this age, most of us might be under the impression that a trip to the beach, is beyond us and would be a rather insipid affair.
But if you take a few friends along, and a guitar(for no apparent reason), like we did, enjoyment seems to come in many forms. And right now in the current time of nostalgia, reminiscence and a lot of tension, a little fun could be really useful.
But if you take a few friends along, and a guitar(for no apparent reason), like we did, enjoyment seems to come in many forms. And right now in the current time of nostalgia, reminiscence and a lot of tension, a little fun could be really useful.
What grinds your gears?
A little while ago, I was watching the Family Guy movie, and Peter Griffin gets a chance to rant about the things that really ground his gears. Being Peter Griffin, he go ticked of at the most petty of all matters. Taking on a cue from him, I'm gonna rant a bit.
Flourish and T.V graphics...."What really grinds my gears":
1.)Math: By definition, it's the study of numbers, geometry and other abstracts. On the contrary, I can't help but question it's necessity; I just don't like it(precisely why I don't often do well in it). But I think it isn't just me, I've come across quite a few people with an aversion to the subject. In our school Math is compulsory, and for some of us who are going into fields that don't require the subject, I don't see the point.
2.)Cockroaches: They're by far the sickest creatures that I've ever seen! And in the summer, the little buggers thrive around our buildings. One night, I was innnocently sitting on the computer, and found one climbing up my leg. Being the scaredy-cat that I am, jumped up and shrieked, and that got me into a bit of trouble with my parents for even being awake at that hour.
3.)Rumours: A hell of a lot of us have been at the brunt of rumours before. Initially it starts with a slip of the tongue on your behalf, and having a friend awaiting to catch on to these opportunities doesn't help. And then this becomes a trivial laughing matter which eventually gets forgotten. But sometimes, they get blown up, beyond all applicable proportions, and BOOM, social homicide has been committed against you.
4.)Superstitions: My mom tells me that it is most inappropriate to cut my nails on a Tuesday evening, and that I shouldn't wear black on occasions. Without trying to be rude and arrogant, I just ask her why, only to get no response. Some superstitions are so preposterous that it amazes me how people still believe in them; like the one about the black cat crossing your path, what did the poor little cat do. Quite obviously it's going to be quite befuddled on seeing a large human being jumping around to get out of its path, and might react strangely.
5.)Advertisements: So you're watching your favourite serial, Jermaine is finally going to find out who killed his wife after a long series of investigations, and you want to know too, oh no...not if the T.V channel can help it. At such a strategic moment they move into the commercials. Sure it's essential for major enterprises to advertise themselves to gain business, but not in the middle of a program. On some channels these advertisement chains run on for 15 minutes! And lets say Dexter's lab is scheduled from 4:00 to 4:30, you only get 15 minutes of the program you want to watch. I'd rather have them air the ad's after programs(they do it anyways), besides how many times can you see the ad for Western Union before getting utterly bored and irritated?
And thats what really grinds my gears...Jeetu out.
Flourish and T.V graphics...."What really grinds my gears":
1.)Math: By definition, it's the study of numbers, geometry and other abstracts. On the contrary, I can't help but question it's necessity; I just don't like it(precisely why I don't often do well in it). But I think it isn't just me, I've come across quite a few people with an aversion to the subject. In our school Math is compulsory, and for some of us who are going into fields that don't require the subject, I don't see the point.
2.)Cockroaches: They're by far the sickest creatures that I've ever seen! And in the summer, the little buggers thrive around our buildings. One night, I was innnocently sitting on the computer, and found one climbing up my leg. Being the scaredy-cat that I am, jumped up and shrieked, and that got me into a bit of trouble with my parents for even being awake at that hour.
3.)Rumours: A hell of a lot of us have been at the brunt of rumours before. Initially it starts with a slip of the tongue on your behalf, and having a friend awaiting to catch on to these opportunities doesn't help. And then this becomes a trivial laughing matter which eventually gets forgotten. But sometimes, they get blown up, beyond all applicable proportions, and BOOM, social homicide has been committed against you.
4.)Superstitions: My mom tells me that it is most inappropriate to cut my nails on a Tuesday evening, and that I shouldn't wear black on occasions. Without trying to be rude and arrogant, I just ask her why, only to get no response. Some superstitions are so preposterous that it amazes me how people still believe in them; like the one about the black cat crossing your path, what did the poor little cat do. Quite obviously it's going to be quite befuddled on seeing a large human being jumping around to get out of its path, and might react strangely.
5.)Advertisements: So you're watching your favourite serial, Jermaine is finally going to find out who killed his wife after a long series of investigations, and you want to know too, oh no...not if the T.V channel can help it. At such a strategic moment they move into the commercials. Sure it's essential for major enterprises to advertise themselves to gain business, but not in the middle of a program. On some channels these advertisement chains run on for 15 minutes! And lets say Dexter's lab is scheduled from 4:00 to 4:30, you only get 15 minutes of the program you want to watch. I'd rather have them air the ad's after programs(they do it anyways), besides how many times can you see the ad for Western Union before getting utterly bored and irritated?
And thats what really grinds my gears...Jeetu out.
First...or is it
This blog isn't my first, I started out way back in 9th grade thanks to Abhinav Sinha, but my good friend laziness caught up as always. Right now, this is my little place where I can let some thoughts out, and probably make sense. Apologies if it seems that I'm jumping onto the bandwagon.
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