TMS

The third edition of The Medicine Show was less rousing than the previous ones. The usual acts could not leverage the elemnt of surprise- the singers & the dancers...even the theatre practioners decided to sing this time.

The wedding band was a suprise touch--the sight of them solemnly playing Muqabla had many of us cracking up.

The staged stand up comedy act did have a twist in its tail...but that was it's only merit.

It may be tough to put up a good show month after month--perhaps a bimonthly would generate more crowds & quality acts.

The venue, too, was not apt...one is tired of sitting on carpets, floors and what have yous for a view of the performances.

Air waves crescend

As the marketing manager of one of India's leading servicing providers remarked, our mobiles are our toys. Our rattles sometimes, figurative comforters, toys we throw in fits of fury.

Mobile monetisation remains a challenge- it may be one area where user generated content could take off.

It is definitely a sector to watch- mobile penetration in India is much higher. It is still growing at a very rapid pace.

For bottom of the pyramid tappers too, the mobile is a potential goldmine. messaging may not appeal to the illiterate target audience, but IVRS may work.

Sax on toast

Attended a very refreshing concert- piano & saxophone by two Canandian women on Canada Day at the IIC yesterday. Pink Panther as an encore was delightful:)

O.M.O.

Feel so proud & independent to have my own place- master of all I survey--although I have broken several banks to get & set up my place:)
Enjoyed the first edition of The Medicine Show at TLR more than the second one- although this was a welcome celebration after completing the bulk of my shifting. I liked I f$%#ing love you--didn't know the two could sing too:)

Love is a many splendoured thing

Just read Art of Loving by Eric Fromm- made a lot of sense. Care, respect, responsibility and knowledge are his relationship cornerstones.

The Naked Ape today

Just read a couple of chapters of The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris. Interesting stuff, specially where he talks of exploration. The child scribbles, then has an Eureka moment when she makes a face. Pictorial representation starts then, which chimps cannot do. Singing and dancing are also primitive exploratory activities which can continue well into adulthood. He also defines play, which is very close to art for art's sake. Writing too is included, as a documentation of thought. Neophilia seems to be a family characteristic of the Maskaras.

Sunday Funday

Had a good time at The Medicine Show, The Living Room. I specially liked the three women singers and their funny lyrics-
"While I'm waiting
for the man I'm dating
and he's stuck in a traffic jam
& so am I...
I'm putting more makeup to pass the time...
Leave your car I say...
He says Darling I can;t, it's the latest model,
which is not what you are:)"

Not sure if these were the exact lyrics.

Milton's Invocation, Paradise Lost

1: Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
2: Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
3: Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
4: With loss of EDEN, till one greater Man
5: Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
6: Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
7: Of OREB, or of SINAI, didst inspire
8: That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
9: In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
10: Rose out of CHAOS: Or if SION Hill
11: Delight thee more, and SILOA'S Brook that flow'd
12: Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
13: Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
14: That with no middle flight intends to soar

Random musings

I’m reading the Lady & the Monk by Pico Iyer- measured out in coffeespoons- a chapter a day, to remind me there’s a life outside work.
Weekends, I can feel myself distressing, my taut nerves relaxing, breathing easier. Batteries recharge, I think, I am my own master.
Learning dance is one thing, practicing it another and dancing freestyle quite another. But all three are fun.
Being needed is a nice feeling, a required one, whether one considers work or play.
It is only when one gets a chance to think does one think of telos.

Where to stay in Khajuraho

Clark's Hotel Khajuraho is a good food option there- they serve Continental, if my memory serves me right. Most hotels in Khajuraho http://www.wutravel.com/hotels/india/khajuraho/?a_aid=fd90eed9 have a bird's eye view of the temples from the hotel itself- it's literally like living in a temple town, in days gone by. Also catch the Sound & Light show in the evening, the keychains with position 69:)
Meanwhile, I'm busy planning my next holiday, in the Independence Day long weekend:)

Hill Bill

Music in the hills
Wine at night spills
From the sunset deep purple
Pink Floyd, Hey Jude circle
Pleasuring our senses
Forgetting our tenses
We sing along charged by them
Ads remixed, resort repasts yen
To return to a new high
On the hills. Can't. Sigh.

Fascinating face gazing

http://www.facesexperiment.co.uk/ is where I went to see how well I can read faces. Am waiting for the results. Was tough. For the most part my reactions were influenced by the adjective used in the wuestion. I also tended to vote for the faces I found attractive, regardless of the question. The faces were very similar and there was no Can't say option either. For some reason, I found it easier to decide who I want to vote for among the women faces.

Do share your experience, if you have participated in the experiment.

Munsiyari

We drank in the hills
Savoured the green
Sipped yellow sunshine
Until our souls belched
Aahs of contentment.

Frozen waves of mountains
Stood silent.
Dark clouds circled
The cotton light.

We sleep when the world is
Woken up
Dark lightens in blue
Then froths in green white

As if we are in the ocean
Watching it arise, awake.

Peaks peek a booed sun
One by one
Like when we drew in school
The sun amid mountains.

Butter slicing across skies
Sun's rays like we sketched
Like a diamond ring in the sky
Lighting, blinding us

We shy away from the sun
The mountains stay put.


It was just us and
The peaks powdered with snow
meadows stretched below us
Silence around, bas
Goats, baaing sheep
Tortured horses
Locked eyes with the peaks
Golden streaks.

Rave

Soi 46 in Defence Colony is only 6 months old. Soi means Lane, and 46 is the shop number. The food is excellent- we had thai green curry, flat noodles and stir fry. It has a lounge bar ambience with giant cusions and comfy sofas. We junked on the plasma TV. We arrived just in time for last orders, so we had the tiny place to ourselves:) The prices are reasonable. The bamboo on the ceiling outside the entrance is a nice touch. I think it's going to become my fave.

Pach Pach

Adventures mad
Many we've had,
Stood by each other
Whatever the weather.

All these years living together
Made's mind reading a nobrainer.
Lots learnt from you,
Much left yet, true.

Stay bubbly you, stay simply perfect
With dogs, cameras, travel and gos effects.

Shram ki pratishta

www.mediamantras.com

'Nuff said:)

Writing is the culmination
of all our experiences, not work.
That is the compartmentalisation
Of our lives.

Movie it

Sometimes I feel like writing in English. I feel like doing a movie round up right now. I liked The Reader very much, Milk too, not Revolutionary Road or Emotional Arithmetic. The Class was OK. Barah Anna was fun, Firaaq was documentaryish.

What's up

Thank you Alex G Bell
Now used as the cell.
I'd be lonely without hearing your voice in my head
Travelling through my ear, across metres sped.

False Claim

The new Tata Safari Dicor ad is positively worrying. One feels that one has to live up to it. However, even as it asks us what we would remember when we look back on our lives- the corner office ( we wish) and shows us the great, unexplored outdoors...to enjoy those locales we need to reach the corner office.