A small spark..

There is something cool about saying - "I come from the land of a billion sparks!"

This sentence, spoken by Chetan Bhagat a few months back at Symbiosis College here in Pune, has somehow stuck in my head. Yesterday I saw one possible interpretation of it.

I was riding along the road, when I saw a spark. Or I thought I did, cause it was something really bright. Turned out to be a smile. A bright radiant smile. It was serene, and not even remotely defiant, but it almost seemed to mock at the countless scowls that surrounded it. Maybe that contrast was exactly what made it stand out so starkly. It was the best smile that I've seen in weeks. It came from a soul. It came from a heart. The heart of a man who was happy.

A man who was carefree.
A man who was living in the moment, without the past weighing him down, or the future pulling him ahead too fast.
A man who was either completely oblivious or absolutely immune (or both) to his surroundings.
A man at peace.
A man, who was standing on top of a heap of waste-bags loaded into a garbage truck.

Surrounded by busy, "successful" people with "respectable jobs", holding their handkerchiefs to their noses, but trying to go around the garbage truck, acting as if the truck itself did not exist, leave alone the man perched on top of it.

A single smiling human amongst a wave of mindless rat-robots... That's a spark for you!

Av

Hibernation Update - 2

Hi everyone,
The suspense is over. The results are out!
I am now a certified Nutrition & Wellness Advisor.
Get over it. Its true.
:D
Luv-n-Luck,
Av

PS - Oh btw, I scored 95% on the certification exam.

Hibernation update..

Hi everyone,

Especially everyone who has been pestering me to post something. :P
I am presently on intellectual hibernate mode, but having said that, I do have something up my sleeves that I shall be posting soon.

P.S. - For all the people who are wondering about my Orkut line (Exams Rock!), the result of my exam should be out VERY soon, and I'll be posting it here.. :D
Watch this space!

Luv-n-Luck,
Av

Blogging on the "FLY"!!

For a few days, I was thinking about what would be a good follow up to the last post. Then it struck me that yet another one of my compositions is in a similar vein to the last one, in terms of the hope, possibility and anticipation. Also the theme of this one is also loosely based on the idea of rising to the next level. What is interesting is that this composition also plays upon Death and Life using the word "fly". However, in juxtaposition to the last post, the word "fly" denotes going away from Death, and not closer to it. These two compositions were written by me as an exercise in twisting ideas and words around to suit one's intentions. (Its not actually as evil as it sounds.. Hehe..)

The real story behind the curtain is that ever since the first time I read William Wordsworth's and Robert Herrick's contrasting poems on daffodils in fifth grade, I always wanted to compose about something from two points of view. With these two compositions, I have not exactly done that, in the sense that both the compositions are in a optimistic vein. However I have endeavoured to treat a single word in two exactly opposite contexts. While the last song dwells on the absolute, unchanging finality, this one talks about

WINDS OF CHANGE

You've lived this life
One moment too long,
Just leave it behind
With me come along,

You're trapped in your world
You're trapped in your mind
Its time you wake up and
Leave this illusion behind.. (1)

Take off your masks
Shed off your skins,
Get out of these
Cities of ruins,

Lets sail to those lands
far beyond the sea
And when we reach there
You'll be glad you came with me.. (2)

Fly with me my friends,
Fly with me tonight..
Fly high my brothers,
Fly by my side..

Lets fly..
To where the children of tomorrow spread their wings,
Lets fly..
To where every moment new joys brings,
Lets fly..
To the world which yet seems out of our range,
Lets fly..
Gliding along the winds of change..

Now its time, to move ahead,
Now its time, to leave the pain,
Now its time, to come back from the dead,
Now its time, to live again...

Just as a sidenote, this was the song that I'd sung for my first-ever public performance with the guitar, and that after about 5 years, I sung it again for my guitar students last sunday. :D

Luv-n-Luck,
Av

ITS TIME..

I woke up today morning inexplicably humming a little something that I'd composed years before, and it took my mind back to the that time, which was a very uphill, learning period in my life. It also made me ponder upon the importance of keeping your core, your integrity, your hope and your belief in yourself intact in tough times, because that is the only thing that will see you through.

I wish I could make it sound "celeb" by saying something like Lars Ulrich says ("That was a time in our lives when me and James used to be very obsessed with death") about the song Fade to Black, on the Metallica documentary. However the real deal is that I was not obsessed with death when I composed this, I was just terribly low because I was going through a period of growth and learning the hard way. Having said that, I also must say that while the composition talks about death, the song is about hope, and not despair. I had originally used the word "die", but it sounded too negative and absolute. So I substituted it with "fly" to give it a sense of possibility, hope, freedom and eagerness towards what is to come. Here goes..

ITS TIME

Its that time of my life,
When my eyelids feel heavy.
Heavy, with the weight of life,
Heavy, to the pull of death..

It’s time for me to fly…

Its that time of my life,
When my life’s time is shrinking.
Shrinking, to the point of no return,
Not that I really want to return..

It’s time for me to fly…

Its that time of my life,
When my soul is ready to embark,
Embark, upon a new journey,
A journey to eternity,
A journey to immortality..

It’s time for me to fly…

Its that time of my life,
When I can hear the humming
Of the wing of death
The wing of death, as it comes to me,
Comes to take me along,
Comes to take me away..

It’s time for me to fly…

Its that time of my life,
When i can feel myself submerging
Into a cocoon of darkness
The darkness of the brightest eternal light,
The light emanating from my creator..

It’s time for me to fly…

Its that time of my life,
When i feel weary,
Weary, of dying a thousand deaths
A thousand deaths, in every breath,
Every fleeting breath of life..

It’s time for me to fly…

It’s time for me to fly to my maker,
It’s time for me to take refuge in his arms,
It’s time for me to merge with the one,
It’s time for me to join the company
Of the lost souls of the netherworld..

It’s time for me to live...


This is the only song that I have written till date that does not rhyme, but the repetition of the words within the verse creates an internal sense of rhythm and combined with the single line refrain, it opens up extremely interesting musical composition possibilities.
The composition is loosely about Life after Death, but some of my closest friends who have read it before have come up with very interesting perceptions of individual lines, right from carnal to spiritual. I would like to hear of more from everyone who is reading this. Please write back to me.

Luv-n-Luck,
Av

Birthday Cakes!

My birthday this year was very special. It wasn't meant to be. Infact I had no real celebration, no huge birthday-bash. It was pretty low-key. But then again, that was just my plan.

My friends had not intentions of it being low key. So it happens that my birthday has stretched over 5 days, in which I have cut 4 cakes, have been given birthday bumps 2 times and have had my face covered with cake thrice! So for the next coupla posts, i am gonna post a few pictures of all these happenings. The first one is

THE CAKES!!










I want to express a very big thank you to all the people who have made the occasion very special by wishing me in person, over telephone, email, sms, telegraph, morse-code whatnot! I want everyone to know that I take your love and best wishes straight to my heart.
Each and every one of you is very special to me, in your own unique way.

For all the idiots who forgot my birthday, I still love you guys, but I shall not hesitate to kick you next time we meet!
:D

Luv-n-Luck,
Av

A post long due..

Many moons (and posts) ago, I said the following;

"While composing this poem, I have affirmed an interesting comparison I have believed in for quite some time now. Expect to hear about it soon!!"

And finally, after a bazillion posts, today happens to be the "soon"!

So here goes..

Composing poetry (or music), as I've long felt, is very much like delivering a baby, and here are Av’s TOP TEN REASONS why!

1) You can plan for it all that you want, but a poem will always take shape at the most unplanned moment.

2) It is really hard to make one, when you really feel like having one. On the other hand, if you take your mind off the task and relax, it is much easier to conceive. An idea, that is!

3) Sometimes after you have composed a poem, you are not really sure who or what caused it in the first place.

4) Sometimes you do not want to, or can not afford to write the poem at that point in your life, and you have no choice but to abort the budding inspiration inside you.

5) An idea/inspiration has to linger around in your head for a certain period of time before it is ready to become a poem and during this period some ideas will die prematurely before they are ready to take form.

6) Sometimes if a poem emerges before the idea is fully formed, it will not survive. (Read as, Av crumbling up the paper and throwing it into the wastepaper basket.)

7) After an idea is done with its gestation period inside your head, it will start struggling to come out, and you have no choice but to let it.

8) It is always easier to compose a poem if you are in a comfortable position and place.

9) It hurts like hell to do it, but it’s the most beautiful experience, and you couldn’t be any happier after it is done.

10) Years later, when the same words/melodies lend themselves to varied meanings, you look back at them and wonder, “Did I really create that??”

How is that for a creative analogy!!! However, poets are not given half the credit that mothers are! So here is a poem I composed a couple of years back, to highlight the brave deed that composition is!

POETRY CAN BE DANGEROUS!

To all my friends and even my foes
I have a word of advice,
If you are thinking of composing poems
Make sure you think twice!

Writing poems is something nice
Or that is what everyone thinks,
But very few actually do notice
The problems that it brings!

The gift of putting words in rhyme
And rhythm is considered rare,
But no one thinks of all the trouble
The poet has to bear!

For one, when you feel poetic
Nothing else can you contemplate,
Everything else except your poem
You have to procrastinate!

It’s always at an awkward time
When by this impulse you are hit,
You drop your work and start composing
Under a violent poetical fit!

You compose lines upon lines of verse
And see your poem through,
But if insatiated, you still compose
Yet another poem or two!

May god forbid, but if it so happens
That your poem remains uncomposed,
The inspiring idea will hammer your brain
Till you start to feel quite dozed!

And if your poem remains halfway
Then the situation is even worse,
The half-ghost of the half-poem continues
To haunt your every new verse!

So make sure to think twice about
Becoming a poet before its too late,
I just decided to write in verse once
And to this day I can’t talk straight!!

Hahahaha! Like always, I'm eager to hear some feedback from all you folks, and as I suspect, quite a few of you will be taking the list further too! What the heck, I might do it in one of the posts myself. Get me started!!

Luv-n-Luck,

Av