Ek shaam ki dehleej par...

One of my friends had dropped by in LA, and we had a nice time, nice
being an understatement.Had one of those lucky days, where we said
nothing and talked a lot, after a long time.

The most apt song is one thats been sung by Jagjit and Chitra Singh -
'Socha nahi achcha bura'
the relevant lines being,
Ek sshaam ki dehleej par,
baithe rahe vo der tak.
Aankhon se kii baatein bahut,
munh se kahan kuch bhi nahi.

Saying bye was bad, but we will meet again soon, so 'happy happy joy
joy for now :)
KN

Gat ashi ki

Inadvertently the song most played these days on my mp3 player..  Don't like to hear it often because it makes it difficult to concentrate, for sometime...  Makes me think and hope a lot.. Just posting the lyrics from http://www.indianguitartabs.com/showthread.php?p=224055 Will post the meaning soon, need to verify a few points


Ne majasi ne parat matrubhumila,
sagara praan talamalala.... ||dhru||

Bhumatechya charantala tuj dhuta
mee nitya pahila hota||
maj vadalasi anya deshi chal jau
srushtichi vividhata pahu||
taii jananihrid virahshankitahi jhale
pari tuvaa vachan teej didhale||
margadnya swaye meech prushthi vaaheen
twarit ya parat aanin||
vishwasalo ya tav vachani || mee
jagadanubhavyoge banuni || mee
tav adhik shakt uddharani || mee
yein tware, kathuni sodile tijala
sagara, praan talmalala ||1||

shuk panjari vaa harin shirava paashee
hi fasgat jhali taishi||
bhuvirah kasa satat sahu ya pudhati
dash-disha tamomay hoti||
gunsumane mee vechiyalee ya bhave
ki tine sugandha ghyave||
jari uddharani, vyay na tichya ho sacha
ha vyarth bhaar vidyecha||
tee aamravruksha vatsalata|| re
navkusumyuta tya sulata|| re
to baal gulabahi aata|| re
fulbaag mala hai parakha jhala
sagara praan talmalala||2||

nabhi nakshatre bahut ek pari pyara
maj bharatbhumicha taara||
praasad ithe bhavya pari maj bhari
aaichi jhopadi pyari||
tijveen nako rajya, maj pry saacha
vanvaas ticha jari vanicha
bhulavine vyarth he aata| re
bahu jivlag gamate chitta| re
tuj saritpate, jee sarita| re
tadvirahachi shapath ghalito tujala
sagara...||3||

ya fenmishe hasasi nirdaya kaisa
kaa vachan bhangisi aisa
twatswamitwa samprat jee miravite
bhiuni kaa aanglabhumita
mam matela abal mhanuni fasavisi
maj vivasnate deshi
tari aanglbhumee bhaybhita| re
abala na majhi hee mata| re
kathil he agastis aata| re
jo aachmani ek kshani tuj pyala
sagara...||4||

Appreciation

These days I find myself appreciating poetry/ lyrics (especially Marathi n Hindi) much more than I did before.. Unknown 'facet' opening up... Nice!!

Diversifying,
KN

Saturdays :)

The alarm broke my sleep on the Saturday morn. Though I continued sleeping, (it being a Sat), my "hyperactive" brain started thinking stuff...

And one concept made me really happy and had me grinning like mad in my sleep..
The fact that it was Saturday, a day that I could utilise to do all that I want, read all the books, and talk all that I want... :) and in case, I dint do these things to my minds fullest, I still had one mire day to do it :D

The entire thot made me get up and look around in a stupid, happy looking grin :D
I did utilise it to some extent, .... read, chatted,called, and exercised...

Vive la Saturday... or whatever... ;)

KN

Goals...

You have built castles in the air.... Now start to building a foundation underneath it....  Build it with the sweat of your brow and the swing of the hammer...  Keep on building till you have completed the spire...  Now is the time when you wont see the effect of your actions.... cos results follow an exponential graph.... they change very slowly at the start... and its difficult to determine whether they are heading up or down... but once they pick up speed, the predetermined direction cant be reversed...

Tis time .. tis time to start... tis time to drop ur head down and put ur shoulder to the wheel... cos its a new dawn.. and a new start.... whether you make it count is what shall determine whether there shall be another dawn or not.......

KN

Maturity

Whenever I look back in time, I realize I was immature and not-so-wise some time back..... And that realization is always correct

:-D
KN

देवनागरी in blogger

अरे वा बराहा type-support in Blogger. कीती छान.
-- के एन

Perfection.....

I have always set perfection as my goal. Though I generally am far from perfect, I yearn to achieve perfection, in all and any endeavor.
However, realised that some things are better when they are a bit less than perfect. Sometimes perfect things hurt the most....

Life is...

During Dec, Gads,Mandy, Asmi n me had a long discussion in Electric Lotus on what life was...
It was not very philosophical, but we were just bringing up life's episodes that were good to remember/think about
Would like to add one to the list...

Life is...
            calling up a friend just because he left an offliner saying that he was really bored, and making him laugh till he is back to normal

KN

Time squirrels by

I spent my last week taking care of my friend Varun @ CalTech. Despite his surgery, this dude had the enthu to limp around to classes. After dropping him at one of his classes, I met a nice squirrel, which kept me engrossed for about 30 minutes....

It was a nice lesson dealing with many broad topics.... photography, patience, speed, stealth and finally the quirks of life.

Some snaps of the trblsome character below.

Few pointers, in the chronology that I learnt them:

1. Squirrels run around..... a LOT...
2. They are verrrry inquisitive, and can be lured by simple things like a hand-wave, or b
   
3. Half the times they don't catch you, if u r smart, and are content with munching on whatever they have found the latest.
   
   
   
4. Some planning is required, though sometimes a nice photo plops around without you doing anything :)
   
   
   
   
5. U need to be really fast and ready when the shot presents itself, unlike below :(
   
   
6. When the shot does present itself, it isn't necessary that you will capture it.If you do capture the shot, it isn't necessary that your memory card will store the image. :(( I executed an amazing snap, forcing the squirrel to jump, capturing it in mid-flight, after setting all the cam controls. The cam preview showed the squirrel frozen at the middle of the picture, between the fence and the tree, but the ^&%*%$* card dint record. I had missed a few previous snaps due to it, but missing this snap hurt the most :((

All in all, it was a great time... I found another squirrel and could get a few good snaps, before the card messed up again. :(







....... Squirrels are fun :D:D

Peace of mind...

Was able to 'find' some peace of mind, after a couple of weeks..
as i have been saying recently,... "Tan ki Shanti, man ki shanti bournvita"
(shanti, is intended, no typos.. the bournivta is just becos the jingle felt incomplete w/o it ;)

Very apt song: Trouble by Coldplay

Peaceful,
N

Voice

Voices can make such a big difference. Two examples.


1. Was returning home from someplace, stopped at a signal. A girl came up from behind, and I overheard her talking in marathi. Call me regionalistic, but unexpectedly hearing someone speak in my mother-tongue felt great. Am unable to describe in words, bt it was a great feeling. Felt as if someone had dipped my heart into elixir :)

2. Was slightly disturbed over some small things. Had generally called up a friend. We dint talk for more than 3-4 minutes, but at the end of that call I was smiling away to glory, (without hearing any anecdotes/witty comments).... Some voices just have that quality which borders on the 'bubbly/vibrant' or like in this case, "pure/innocent", which make you remember that the world is a cool place :) while others may make you morose or gloomy even after you may have won the biggest achievement of your life...

I can continue in an in-depth blog.. but will stop here..
Heres a silent toast to all the positive voices in my life

Au revoir
KN

Every man dies, not every man lives

Just watched "Braveheart".. A beautiful movie, to say the least. Its a wonder what a man, or more importantly his vision and his belief in it, can do.

William Wallace was able to raise the Scots into a unified army. He defeated the English twice, capturing the town of York, which was the biggest city in Northern England. Had he been properly supported by the Scottish nobles, Scotland could have been an independent nation,  but treachery played against him.

The above words (title) are uttered by William Wallace when he is a night away from a painful death. The princess of England is pleading him to confess and ask for mercy (they show her to be romantically attached to Wallace, after being married of to a wimpy prince). Wallace denied her pleading to accept a painful death. He claims that if he accepts Edward as his king, then all that he is would be dead already. The Princess tells him that the King was old and there were chances of him dying soon , who is also shown to be on his deathbed during Wallace's execution

However the question now comes is that Wallace knew that the King could die soon. If he was indeed the smart guy he has been shown as, he would also have realized the fact that without him there was no hope for the Scots. In this case, should he have sworn allegiance to the king and hoped to bide his time till the King dies and the wimpy Prince ascends the throne?

The final question thus is that should you concentrate on yourself (Wallace's pride) or the greater cause (here Scottish freedom). In the movie, had Wallace lived enough to see the Kings death, maybe , just maybe the Princess would have helped him get out of prison and he could have lived his dream of a free Scotland.

Undecided,
KN

Treachery, the bane of men

Just watched "Braveheart"...  This movie doesnt stop amazing me..  The movie has portrayed the struggle of Scotland led by William Wallace against the English king Edward Longshanks. William was betrayed twice (according to the movie), once in a critical engagement of battle, and at the end he was invited to a meeting, which was but a trap.

Its a pity how nearly every nation and to extend, every ideal has succumbed to treachery. Its a pity how people have given in to the promises of the oppressor, knowing very well that he has later stabbed people in the back, with the hope that their fate shall be better, and that they shall get the riches and land and titles as promised. History is rife with such examples. Even LOTR says that men are corruptible (The Nazgul). Indian history is littered with such stories, where men have sold out.

It is a sad truth of life...
Heres a prayer to maximize the people who choose the right path.
Amen

भय इथले संपत नाही..

Grace yanchi kavita parat post karat ahe... this is the full version, thanx to Mandar... dedicated to a few ppl...
KN

भय इथले संपत नाही...मज तुझी आठवण येते...
मी संध्याकाळी गातो...तू मला शिकविली गीते...

हे झरे चंद्र सजणांचे, ही धरती भगवी माया
झाडांशी निजलो आपण, झाडांत पुन्हा उगवाया

त्या वेळी नाजूक भोळ्या, वारयाला हसवून पळती
क्षितीजांचे तोरण घेऊन, दारावर आली भरती

तो बोल मंद हळवासा आयुष्य स्पर्शुनी गेला
सीतेच्या वनवासातील जणू राघव शेला

देऊळ पलिकडे तरीही, तुज ओंजळ फुटला खांब
थरथरत्या बुबूळापाशी, मी उरला सुरला थेंब

संध्येतील कमल फ़ुलासम, मी नटलो श्रृंगाराने
देहाच्या भवती रिंगण, घालती निळाईत राने

स्त्रोत्रात इंद्रिये अवघी, गुणगुणती दु:ख्ख कुणाचे
हे सरता संपत नाही, चांदणे तुझ्या स्मरणाचे

ते धुके अवेळी होते, की परतायची घाई
मेंदुतून ढळली माझ्या, निष्पर्ण तरुंची राई

Alarm clocks

I sooooooo hate alarm clocks.... especially alarm clocks with snooze functions...
One of them ruined my dream today morning...
was dreaming about about something... lets keep it at 'something' ..... and the damn clock screamed... i shut it up, and mysteriously the dream continued.... the clock rang again... and again i shut it and surprisingly the dream went on....
The third time however the dream switched off... and I was -->_<-- close to the best part....

I sooo hate alarm clocks with snooze functions ;)

"Sulking"
KN

Bhay ithale sampat nahi

A verry touching song...
-KN

Bhay ithale sampat nahi
maj tuzhi aathvan yete,
me sandyakali gato
tu mala shikavali gite.

Te zare chandra sajanache
Ti dharati bhagavi maya,
zadanshi nijalo aapan
zadant punha ugavaya.

To bol mand halvasa
ayushya sparshuni gela,
sitechya vanavasatil
janu angi raaghavshela

Stotrant indriye avaghi
gungunati dukha kunache,
he sarata sampat nahi
chandane tuzya smaranache.

Who said US isnt fun

.....U shud just know whom to hang out with ;)

Just spent the best 14 days in the US, loungin/chatting/road-tripping/walking/strolling/eating/sleeping/roaming arnd LA/watching HIMYM etc
Gadya and Mandy 'dood' had been here... and along with Timtim and a few (sadly) guest apearances by Bhalu, we were "what is up LA" (ref to contxt How I met Ur Mother, Season 2, Episode 1)

So, US rules.. more updates sooon...
KN