Inordinate cacophony!!

Well that's the word that comes to my mind when i  tune in to most of the songs of recent times.

     The maxim 'OLD IS GOLD' could possibly never me more true..atleast when it comes to old hindi songs.. this remains the sole undisputed truth.
I wouldnt have probably dedicated a whole blogpost to this very subjective notion of mine,but for this one odd song that i heard the other day...Which compelled me to write this post.


Music has always been about soothing ones senses and touching ones soul after penetrating the layers of tensions and worries dat one has to face in day to day life...

But music today seems to be heading towards a diametrically opposite direction..

After a whole days work one would probably like to listen to songs like - tum pukar lo,woh sham kuch ajeeb thi.. pal pal dil ke pass..likhe jo khat..and not to hookah bar and fevicol se..
No wonder most hindi  music channels show old songs in the later evening time slot.

But music today seems to be heading towards a diametrically opposite direction..

I have always had a penchant for old hindi songs..(sticking to songs from hindi movies)
There is a certain kind of life,innocence and equanimity in the old songs.. The music is laced with some profound lyrics that effortlessly give words to the inexplicable feelings of the human souls.. 
What resulted is a deft piece of poetical masterpiece that withstood the power of erosion by time..
Hence most of the old songs still continue to impress unfledged ears.

But the new age songs! well it pains to hear such awful music and even more awful lyrics. The songs have lost their sobriety and the lyrics have never been so abysmal earlier.

There is no dearth of talent in this country.. there are some wonderfully written songs these days as well.. but those songs seems to be eclipsed by the popular fast-paced awful numbers.
Its inadvertently the result of the advent of discotheques and effect of westernization...
But one thing is for sure,these songs have a very small shelf life.. and very soon slip into the labyrinth of oblivion..

What's music if it can't remain alive in the ears of listeners for times to come!! 









.

Back after a loooonnnngggg gap!!!

Hey people,

I guess this has been the longest gap between any of my two blog posts.. I had  nearly severed ties with this blog of mine.. One of my friends kept asking me every week 'did u write  new post??' That kind of pushed me into opening  this book of life once again :)

I will try being more regular :)

Till then take care and be well :)

Umpteenth attempt to discover life yet again :)

Hello friends!! I am finally back to my avocation after a hiatus of 3 months...Its not that I have been very busy working, I was probably busy balancing myself in the roller-coaster ride of life...
       Well I choose to call life a roller coaster because it couldn't get more true for me...or for that matter anybody else..Perhaps resilience is what I have in abundance and I take pride in acknowledging that! [smugs] 
Another long year just passed by... It has being a very eventful year for me...Out of college and into the corporate world...Another threshold of life smoothly crossed..and for having  done so I am beholden to a lot of people whose constant reassurance has helped me sail through the unsure times..
         Under the tutelage of life I have learnt a lot of things in this span of  365 days...a number of realisations dawned yet again....and I could not find a better platform to give words to my feelings..Life is a book in itself and with every passing day you read  another page of it... I cant but get amazed at the ease with which life successfully pulls you out from meandering into any kind of banality..No matter how much you dislike outgrowing from your childish self, life just holds you by the collar and brings you out of your element..It caresses you and the very next moment sneers and derides you with all its vanity...You can only gape with astonishment and even before you bat your eyelids,life just teaches you another lesson..
        Vacillating between reality and surreality...falling and recoiling from the snares of delusion...wading through the hazy desires...and juxtaposing gloomy and sunny days of life...Yes plodding through all of these I have definitely evolved as a person....There is no two minds about the fact that what comes out of this duel is a stronger and more experience "you"...
                           Life basically is too deep and intricately woven for words...Describing it will be a futile process.... living it optimistically is the only way to sail through it....
                      Before i park my pen(although virtually) i will like to wish and hope that the new year gifts each one of us with bundles of happiness,multitudes of love,success and unmatched bliss!!!
                                             Happy New Year people!! :)

certain days never cease to loose their excitement...

    No matter how old one grows,the excitement,anticipation and anxiety that a 'birthday' entails,never fades. 28th october resurfaced these feelings in me once again..I was almost swamped and inundated by wishes. It had been long since i was last lavished with so much attention,love and care..
                  I have not felt so special for a very long time now..The fact that some of my friends took the trouble to stay up till the hands of clock joined palms,is in itself gratifying...My birthdays are usually very simple with no elaborate celebrations..thankfully it fell on a sunday and i didnt have to rush to office..since it was "MY DAY" all the items in the three meals of the day had to reflect my likings..Ma cooked all that i fancied..
B'days are incomplete without scrumptious meals..as i almost stuffed myself at the lunch table,i wondered at the ease with which my mom juxtaposed all her duties..after having spend tedious hours behind household chores,she also managed to cook some delectable dishes..i wish i had a modicum of her impeccable multitasking abilities...
It was my "happy wala birthday" and hence my happiness knew no bounds..the very fact of it being my birthday made me so happy that the absence of the surprises wouldn't have belittled my mirth..
My exhilarations for the day reached its crescendo when a delivery boy came at my doorstep with a black forest cake..My endearing sis had sent a cake for me... i loved this surprise :)
                  very few people have their birthday celebrated over two days...i am one such fortunate being... the following day my office mates surprised me with a cute teddy and a bag... and also a big black forest cake.. this was the second cake :)
         all in all ,this b'day was a gift box which opened to a world of happiness and multitudes of love..I now have to wait for 365 days for time to come a full circle again...Or the most I could do is to wish that my not-so-parsimonious luck would show its magnanimity sometime sooner again... 

until then let me dwell in the jubilations of the memory of this day...

A NEW PHASE BEGINS

  There has been a paradigm shift in my life!Corporate life-my new world..Entered the so-called professional life..Its been quite an experience..and I am here to share my experiences with my readers..
      
      There are certain days in our lives that we encircle with red ink on the calendar...10th September 2012 was one such momentous day..that day marked the commencement of my professional life..I joined one of the major IT hubs of our country today..I know software professional are a dime a dozen these days and I am yet another new entrant in the coterie of  IT professional... although it was and still is beyond my comprehension that why on earth did  I study electronics and communication when I was destined to end up here!! well..I believe certain things happen for a reason which we discover somewhere at a later point of time...and I am anxiously waiting for that time to come...however,this job is a new beginning for me,a new start,a new life... :)
     The first few days has been very hectic..I have been jostled out from a nothing-to-do life into a so-much-to-do life.... I could hardly find any time for myself,let alone others..Thankfully,the rigours of the job aren't strenuous as yet..but the time spent in travelling is like ages!! Innumerable traffic signal points,packed to capacity buses(where if you are a hapless person and have to end up standing,you will almost feel like atoms being packed in a molecule,wherein your movements become highly restricted..phew!!),dearth of autos and rickshaws,never-ending queues in bus stop and to top it all-the unbearable Kolkata heat..All the necessary ingredients to make it a journey you would love to abhor!Gosh! By the end of the day my energy is pared to the bones..
    I could see the waning side of my exuberant self.. :( But as they say-with time you learn everything.Today,at the end of one month,I am quite used to it...I am liking my office..in fact enjoying it.I have befriended some wonderful people,learnt a lot of things.I also have some of my old friends in the same office as mine who are always there to fill the gap..Its a new challenge thrown at me and I have to muster the courage to not only face it but also excel in it..
    You know what the best part is??my feelings were inexplicable when i received my first pay slip..My first earning  in this lifetime..The toil was worth it!! Unfathomable happiness,unmatched satisfaction and pure bliss :) My languid soul was enlivened  by the joy and smile on my mother's face when I had bought something for her with my first pay.. It was just priceless!! The hard work and mounting pressure seemed a pebble in front of this mountain of blithe..Its a feeling of a lifetime.One of the most special feelings and I know nothing can ever tantamount to it..
      Basically life teaches  you everything.We should always look for the silver lining in the dark cloud..A modicum of joy is hidden in everything one does,the difficult task is to discover it..And when you do find it,life becomes a pleasant journey..I hope and wish that my professional life which has just kick started continues to give me more such happy and blissful moments and I can max myself out in this roller-coaster ride...

Advertisements- warts and all.....

 It was another monotonous day at home....now that my college is over,I practically have nothing much to do..So I usually end up hacking around whole day...as usual I snuggled on my sofa and switched the television on..fortunately I found a  repeat telecast of my favourite tv show that I had missed the previous day..But thanks to the ad-world, one cannot watch a show continuously for more than five minutes..sometimes when your favourite show is at the most crucial point, these ads, like uninvited guests, blatantly interrupt your peace of "tv-viewing"...although there is not much you can do about it,apart from being involuntarily pestered!!
            Nyway, talking about advertisements, I came across a tv commercial, the most ludicrous one I have ever seen..it was of a shampoo brand that claimed to make your hair  soooooooooooooooooo strong, that if one uses it, the next to impossible task of pulling a truck with one's hair will seem to be a cakewalk...!! It flabbergasted me! It is seriously beyond my comprehension that why do they have to validate their point with such unbelievable and close to insane ideas!!
 Ads are supposed to be creative and are supposed to intrigue us..but such ads are irritating..most of them are of insane relevance... these days when shops selling soft drinks are in every nook and corner of the city then why would someone jump off large buildings,cars,stalls and deliberately do weird stunts just to get a bottle of soft drinks???? my reckoning- no one would! firstly it is baseless,secondly is it worth it?????
  could anybody explain me in what way does chewing a grain or two of a certain brand of carcinogenic products(tobacco) instill confidence in us??or how does it make us successful!! the least it would do is make us an addict! but the becoming successfull part of it is seriously irksome!!!
       The ads  of toilet cleaner, so very frequently shown, wherein they show such repulsive sights of dirty toilets!! gross!!!! if that actually helped in making such filthy toilet look like a new one, then next time try public toilets!!!!! making them clean would be the biggest achievement , let alone making them look new! humbugs!
  until very recently, another ridiculous ad was aired very frequently..It was of a toothpaste brand..a boy wakes up and starts brushing,just then...out of nowhere... a gang of tv reporters bang his door open and start questioning him!! my 1st query- do they leave the doors of their houses open?????  my 2nd query- Is there really dearth of news for the tv reporters,that they have to end up entering someone else's wash room for collecting such weird info?????? baseless!!! illogcal!!
  And to top it all ------>>> THE "BODY SPRAY" EFFECT! fake, absurd, irrelevant,silly,disgusting and annoying! I mean where do they get such half-baked ideas that just spraying such deodorants would turn one into a magnet..so much so that angels will drop down from heaven and cling onto them???????? terribly horrendous!! It night have a pleasant fragrance, but the way it is depicted is just blown out of proportion in the worst possible way!! the plethora of influx of such "bad ads" only bears testimony to the fact that it is just sheer mindlessness that rules the creative business today.. they just don't focus on the basic utility of the product...
 
        But then there are certain ads that have appealed to me personally...to name a few- mastercard and its tagline- "there are certain things money cant buy, for everything else there is mastercard" how ingenious... loved it!! another really funny ad aired some 5-6 years back figures in my list of favourites...it was of monster.com.. May be the name "HARI SADU"  rings some bell :) besides mentos, raymonds, saffola,vodaphone  have advertised creatively.... a particular ad of kinley, probably the first one, was also one of the best ads ever picturized.. before I forget I must mention coca- cola's recent ad "ummedon wali dhoop,sunshine wali asha" is also one of my favourite ads :) such works of creativity are really commendable and they actually serve the real purpose of advertising... people look forward to such ads...a true mark of creativity..
     there is no dearth of talent, but creativity needs to be channelized in the right direction...with a strong discerning sense and a modicum of ratiocination, advertising world can actually come up with logical ads which not only arouses the curiosity of viewers but also inspires awe in them... at least then, we, as viewers , would be saved from being driven to exasperation and would get to view sensible ads :)

Home is where the heart is... :)

"Home is where the heart is".... my heart definitely dwells in here...there is  a special thread that binds me to this place...probably because this is my birth place..the place I first viewed through my unfledged eyes..these innate,unbreakable ties that one shares with one's birth place is inexplicable..I present to you an account of my birthplace "SILIGURI"....
                                 SILIGURI is a burgeoning town or more aptly a cosmopolitan city with a rhythm of unity in diversity...:) owing to its strategically important location,it is aptly called "The Gateway to North-East India"..It connects to magnificent tourists spots....Darjeeling, Gangtok, Sikkim, Dooars to name a few..It is popularly known for its 4 T's - TEA,TIMBER,TRADE & TOURISTS...the road to Siliguri is flanked by tea gardens on either sides..the city itself presents a picturesque glimpse of Himalayan ranges...as the sun shines in all its glory,the clarion hills presents an awe-inspiring view... one can only gape at wonder at the puissance of the majestic hills...Siliguri is undoubtedly a paradise of scenic beauty and also a shutterbug's delight :)
                       On a fortuitous clear day,the snow-capped Kanchenjunga peak presents an image not so much of a mountain but of a meticulously drawn painting by an adroit painter.... The view can instantly invigorate any languid soul.. :) such is the power of nature!!!   the reddish hue produced by the setting sun at dusk is a treat to the eyes...while the sun hides itself behind the mighty blue mountains..its rays adorns and illuminates the evening sky...a spectacular view!!! a number of hamlets find their abode in the mountains..at night when the lights of these houses are lit,the view of the mountain from a distant is just so captivating...It is akin to a palace being decorated with candles on a Diwali night :) I reiterate my point... a shutterbug's delight :)
                              The best part of Siliguri (given the fact that i am a shopaholic) is its market! situated in the heart of the city it houses an eclectic collection of foreign goods as well as native items,with a blend of ethnicity and modernism.....goods here are a confluence of items from Nepal,Bhutan,China and of course our very own country :)  besides,who has not heard of the famous "Hong-kong market" :D such is the importance of the local market that even the mushrooming malls cannot draw as many consumers as drawn by the local markets...
          coming to the climate,the salubrious weather really makes Siliguri a piece of heaven on earth.....I bet any visitor will fall in love with the eternal beauty of this place :)
         On a more subjective note, Siliguri to me is my home town and the mountains my neighbourhood.. :) I have grown up witnessing the majestic mountains,the gorges cutting through them and the tiny rivulets adorning  the hills...many a times have I seen such bright sunny days,when the cumulus clouds appeared as white beds of cotton nestled atop the mountains...many a times have I felt the cool Himalayan zephyr caress my face...many a times have I wondered at the immanent ethos of the people here...these mountains seemed to have answered my unanswered questions and pacified me at times of distress... nature has always intrigued me and still does...this intangible feeling will dwell in my heart till my last breath... no wonder I have grown up to be a nature lover :) now that I stay in a "metro city" I know the difference between the fast paced city life and the simple town life and also the difference between the claustrophobic feeling rendered by unscrupulous mushrooming of buildings in a metro city and the enlivening feeling rendered by a smaller city where people exist in close communion with nature...whenever I return to this place I realise that it was not the home that  I missed but the simplicity of my childhood...
                This apparently is my last visit to this place.. the very thought of departing from this place saddens me.. :( Nevertheless ,the memories of this place of my adolescent years will always be engraved in my heart...The imprint of the absorbing panorama of the distant hills  spreading out into the blue horizon will continue to enchant me...I may travel the world,but this place for me has been my world for years :) I conclude by quouting my favourite lines "A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it..." :)