RIP - Michael Jackson

Of what's been a tumultous week for me, I have seen my idol at one point of time in life die a death i wouldn't wish for my enemies. Alone and emaciated to the bone with CPR breaking the ribs. I have grown up listening to Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Ace of Base, Metallica etc. and it sure hurts to hear something bad about these people. I know how sad i was when i heard that Creed as a band were breaking up, i loved their music. Then to hear the shocking news of MJ's death has not been easy. He lived a life full of controversies and negative stories but there is one thing his detractors can't take away from him is his music. The hope that music brought to the millions, the rythm of the beats, the shrieks, the dance moves, the attire everything was electric. Truly a legend lived amongst us and all we did was wilify him for all the good things he had given us. Music knows no boundaries, so they say but i guess that only came about after MJ hit the scene. The first black man so successful on the world stage and like every other superstar, Morrisson, Elvis, Cobain...he too died a lonely death again to drugs.

Many won't buy my eulogy to the King as to them the unproved paedophile tag is too much to digest. But i don't care...i loved him for his music and what he has given us. one could see so many people try the moon walk that one might forget who started it all. But there was one and only one who perfected it with ease. Those steps made people go wild and crazy and i as a child watching intently on TV seeing that move was left amazed. Till this day i try to copy it, to see if i can make something out of it but i can't. But the music was what made MJ special. The passion that he brought to the music can't be seen everywhere. The feelings with which he sang and the emotions. Everything was memorable. Agreed i never did understand the lyrics and i had to search for them to try and understand but still the characteristic shrieks were what i tried to copy whenever a Jackson song came on TV.

If you have seen any MJ video you must have seen a very common attire. An undershirt and a shirt open or tied at the waist. Coupled with it the three fourths or the super short trousers. a person not knowing MJ would think it is a comedy show but that's just what MJ brought to the stage - a difference. Who says you have to be bare chested or all dressed up or even in casuals. Mj had his own style just like his voice, his personality. He was a wonderful dancer no doubt about it and like his predecessor (Elvis - The King of Rock n Roll) he too had his own collection of sequined suits that adorned the stage in all his world performances. Guess that's what you have to wear if you are called The King. It can be said without a shadow of a doubt that it was MJ who put the P into pop music. The King of Pop stole millions of hearts and left another million broken on his sudden demise. Coming on the back of the news of his world tour, it really is heartbreaking.

The improper use of drugs prescribed by doctors no better than quacks have claimed a person, so loved all across the globe. If nothing else, MJ gave a ray of hope to the millions of black people in America that with some hard work they too can succeed and the results are there to see. The whole of NBA roaster - all the teams have hardly any white players. Almost all are black. It hurts to think about his death. It hurts to know he won't be around anymore. But there is a pleasant note attached here that maybe his troubles on earth are finally over and he can actually rest in peace in the heavens above in the Hall of Music. Goodbye MJ....we will surely Remmember The Time when we try to Heal The World but i do want to ask you, Will You Be There??????

Whoa!!!!!

Ever since i gave my IIFT interview this year in Feb, I have been on a roller coaster ride. I have started living the life that i had always craved yet never gotten around to living it. I have managed to make a few trips to destinations i never thought i could, would go. I have managed to go out with friends, some of whom i have known for long but happened to meet only now. I have even managed to do some creative stuff. In all i am beginning to feel like a man who is enjoying his life (away from office i.e.). I have been to new places to hangout in saadi Dilli where i had never gone before. I have tasted new cuisines and drunk new stuff. All in all i have done quite a bit over the last couple of months. Still i would say that something is missing. I'm still not fully satisfied.

To change this whole scenario and add that extra bit of spice to the recipe, i did what i had been planning to do for so long. I made up a plan to go watch a PLAY. Yes, to stoke my cultural buds and develop a new hobby. It was no ordinary play, but an attempt to present all of Shakespeare's works - plays, sonnets etc. in a single show. For the record, Shakespeare had written 37 plays. Clubbing 37 plays into 1 show should have been real serious stuff. But kudos to the cast and the director and the script writer, they pulled it off magnificently. It was so hilarious that me and my friend were literally jumping out of our seats. Holding our stomachs with the laughter. They, both praised and ridiculed Shakespeare with equal elan. A wonderful presentation of the characters, with great emphasis on keeping everything within the modern context and timeframe. Keeping in tune with the script, the cast made good use of the audience as well to add to the hilarity.

One would think that Comic plays from Shakespeare can be accepted but how could the cast put humour in tragedies like Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet etc. Well taking a line from the dialogues delivered, "Why did Shakepeare write 16 comedies (out of 37)? They are all the same. We should do only tragedies, they are so much fun." And fun they were. A total satirical version of the plays where they ridiculed every character and yet weren't dispectful to THE BARD, it was really an enterprising display. The love of Romeo and the shrieks of Juliet on seeing her beloved dead were so comic that one could hardly keep himself from laughing out loud. The characters of Othello, constantly changing from a man to a woman and back to a man to meet the crew shortage (or to make it more hilarious), were also magnicifent.

To top it all off and present the cherry on a wonderful, delicious cake was the presentation of Hamlet. Ophelia going mad and rowning after being rejected by Hamlet, the queen drinking the poisoned wine, Hamlet and his uncle killing each other...everything was so electric and so entertaining. But the bes was yet to come. As soon as Hamlet ended they did an encore for the audience only to present it in a faster version. Very innovative and very classy. But the best was yet to come. After the encore they did another encore. This time the fastest of the lot. It was so hilarious to see the three crew members rush onto stage yelling dialogues and completing their as soon as they reached the centre and falling down dead to signal the end. It was really really amazing. They did a reverse version for it too where they acted all the scenes (quickly) in the reverse. From Hamlet killing his uncle to Ophelia getting drowned, to seeing the ghost of this dead father. All in sync without mistakes.

A wonderful evening spent with no qualms and complaints from any quarter. It was really a very special night as it opened up a totally new avenue for me to explore. Something that i have longed to do for so long. Finally the dream was fulfilled. To make the matters even more interesting was the fact that the crowd was also amazing. A typical Page 3 crowd or so it seemed. Beautiful women in beautiful dresses. Smart men, and no kids. There wasn't an empty corner in the auditorium. The auditorium too was in one of favourite places in Delhi, Indian Habitat Centre. Don't know why but whenever i get anywhere near IHC, i simply go ga-ga over it. So it was a double header for me to go to IHC to watch the play. This has ignited in me a spark to pursue more such activities, so that i can say that i am living a life after all............

Here We Go One More Time.....

So much has happened over the past month or so that i was overwhelmed even at the thought of writing about it. The magnificent election results where although the party i despise most - Congress went on to win, but it won handsomely. The feeling that the people have voted for a strong and stable government is simply amzing. Finally i agree with Rajdeep Sardesai about the Indian voter finally coming of age. Guess it must have been my inexperience that led me to believe otherwise earlier but now i'm really happy that the country has a solid foundation and can/should step up the much needed reforms. Agreed had BJP come to power there wouldn't have been stark differences in the policies being followed. After all each political party works in the same way. So it's good that we can look up to some non Left rule for 5 years now.

Second important thing in this sad instance of mine called life has been the departing of two of my closest friends in recent times. Both finally headed to Kolkata. Away from the mindless bullshit that we have to face everyday. I'm glad that they are going, pursuing their dreams. But it feels sad to let them go. What will i do without them. Who will talk with about stocks and the markets. Who will i joust with and make fun of. Whose login everyday will i look forward to from now on. Yes i'm losing two of my most prized assets :) but i wish i was going with them. God knows when we'll meet next. When we would sit together and enjoy the time like we do now.

I had hoped of writing two separate articles for these incidents but the mere thought of writing about them made me so much unsure of myself that i couldn't bring myself to write anything. It was like i had slipped into my now recurring zone of aversion where in i hate the very thought of writing. I started to write something else but couldn't take it through. Coupled with the laziness that has seeped in to my routine i have barely managed to write something right now. I also wanted to write about the comments i got on my last article. I was told that how i needn't be a world calss writer and that is surely not accepted of me, so i should stop criticising myself and think positively and write pleasant things. I was also told to do add spice to my articles, make them more interesting. To make them acceptable to a larger audience. And if possible take it along a different route altogether and try something new and creative. Something that would make people really look up to my next blog.

Guess i would have been able to do that had i had a wonderful imagination and in some sense a positive outlook to life. I'm constantly berating myself for a tiny or major fault. There's a unknown complusion of trying to be the best and leave no stone unturned in my stride, just because i know that because of my poor observation, i would leave hundreds behind. There's this fear of failure and not living upto a certain set standards by god knows who and in the process constantly overevaluating myself. I agree i have a pessimistic outlook to life which somehow had changed to optimistic outlook a couple of months ago. But events have made me change myself again. I nhave time and again asked myself, how should i let go of this dark nature of mine. How in the world souuld i write, think, act in a positive manner but have come to nought each time. What can i do is something i have no answer to.

I know that this article of mine will again cause a lot of peevishness at me from my friends, but i neededc an outlet for all the bullshit that was developing inside me. I need an outlet where i could scream at myself or anybody else, just because things didn't quite work out the way i imagined them to. It would be harsh to say that i have lost hope, but yes my faith in hope has been dented seriously. Lack of oppurtunities and luck has certainly made me take a different look at hope. Luck has never been on my side and when it has, it has come with a rider. So the two things people cling on to all their lives have deserted me quite early. But i'm not scared of that. I believe in myself and i know that with luck or without it, i will surely make it where i want to someday. Too ambitious, maybe, but if i don't think this way then i might not amount to anything in life. I have faith in myself and i know that someday i'll be the person everybody would be talking about.....God bless us all.....................