The Other Side of Life

This is what I love about music..Every time I hesitate about something, every time my mind refuses to register the truth, every time my heart yearns to shout out stashed away emotions, every time my soul wants to break free from complications, there is a song that does the speaking for me! And so when I heard "Cast No Shadow" by Oasis, I was not surprised, neither at the timing that I heard the song at, nor at the alarming accuracy with which it converted my thoughts into words..For the privilege of the uninitiated, here are the words of this absolutely marvellous piece, by my reigning favorites, Oasis. CAST NO SHADOW Here's a thought for every man  Who tries to understand what is in his hands  He walks along the open road of Love & Life  surviving if he can  Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say  Chained to all the places that he never wished to stay  Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say  and as he faced the sun he cast no s...

An innocent remark by a friend recovering from a shockingly awesome trip to Goa propelled me into writing this post..After a rather longish detailed description of the trip, he quipped, "You have NO IDEA how rocking beaches are..We totally ought to have one in Delhi.." To him and to all those souls whose single Goa trip gets them talking about beaches, here goes the post... Well, I do have some idea of beaches, having spent many a summer vacation at my grandparents'  house on the beachside in the tranquil city of Vishakhapatnam ..To give you a slightly better picture of how our itinerary revolved around beaches, here's a sneak peak:    05: 00 am:  The house starts buzzing with activity, the harmony of the Suprabhatam falling on all ears..Just to re-emphasise, I am talking about the ungodly hour of 05:00 am in the morning..(Friends who know me and my infamous associations with alarm clocks well would appreciate the importance of this statement! ) Once you are up and ...

LOL ...That is easily one of the lamest titles I have ever seen! :) So here's the deal. When I got my hands on a Robin Cook book after a gap of 4 years, I would be lying if I said I was happy..Because, I was ecstatic..Robin Cook was probably never the best author on earth, and most definitely, not a winner of awards, but it worked for me back then. And so running into his latest book sent my adrenaline into a tizzy, taking me back to those days of confused young minds, debating how to sneak in a book in between hectic coaching classes and teachers driving poor minds crazy! I would be understating if I said I liked Robin Cook..I loved Robin Cook, and I had in fact set the indelible record of reading each and every one of his books, till of course, he decided to write one more. And so I had to read Crisis. Crisis is a fast paced story set in the suburbs of Boston. The lead protagonist, Dr. Craig Bowman is a hard working dedicated medical practitioner, caught in an increasingly deep...

I have a candid confession to make..I had not even heard of the genre called "Country Rock" before a chance encounter with this band! And I must say, this has been a pleasant surprise. Lady Antebellum is a country rock music group, creating quite a few rave reviews with the "New Artist of the Year" award by the Country Music Association, and two Grammy Nominations in its kitty. It is composed of Charles Kelley on the lead and background vocals, Dave Haywood on background vocals and guitar and Hillary Scott on lead and background vocals. The band has an interesting mix of voices and sounds. The male and female lead have a comfortable symphony, with terrific vocals, not quite superimposing on each other, and yet making their own marks. Also to credit is their overall look! Very unique combination of two guys and one female, they manage strike a good rapport with listeners. I would not give the band a high score on lyrics, though they have done a pretty good job with t...

What better way to begin blogging than with a review of a music concert! It was Pandit Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar in concert at the beautiful Nehru Park , as a part of the SpicMacay "Music in the Park" series. I was lucky enough to be there, but so were the other thousand odd music lovers who had turned out in huge force, sharing mattresses and chairs, discussing music, weather and the Maestro. My heart swelled with pride when I looked around at the assorted crowd: youngsters in Kurtas waiting to have a piece of the famous "culture cake", middle aged couples desperate for an evening away from normalcy, old people reminiscing Panditji's first time, foreigners impatient to see what the hyped "Indian culture" is all about. It was a weird mix of people, but a sight that made me proud of the city I had been brought up in. In an almost heavenly weather, good music has the power to take you far away, away from trivial problems and musings, and...