To The Girl Of My Dreams

The poem, like the picture, will be a little coarse, but that's how I felt in the morning, after a sleepless night. This post is another one inspired by a girl I couldn't get the guts to talk to. But did she leave an impact, eh..

Hey, Girl of my dreams

Let me get some sleep.

I remember how beautiful you are.

You don’t have to remind me.

It’s hard enough being teased

By you, when the sun shines.

But to do the same thing

With the moon around ain’t cool. Ain’t cool.

A man is a slave to his habit.

But to your habit, why am I a slave.

You waltz in and waltz out.

Sweet to look, even with sore eyes.

Each night you enter my dream,

And wave a casual 'hi'. You do. You really do.

But by the time I raise my hand,

You fly away with the wind. Sly.

You had me, the day you stood

Leaning gently against a tree.

So why the mystery appearances at night?

Look at me baby. Don’t you think I could use some sleep?

Let me suggest a thing dear.

Avoid me in the nights and

Flirt with me in the days.  

I will get some sleep and you, some love.

Am I an artiste?

Like all people obsessed with art and are no good at it, I am struggling to find something that motivates me to write. On deeper analysis, I am convinced that there are two reasons why every writer or an artiste, be it a musician, a sportsman or a painter, struggles to keep improving himself.  This post is about the two things that distract any artiste. Continue reading if you are one of those who are obsessed with the idea of constant self improvement, but are no good at it.

The first is sheer lack of inspiring moments in life. Actually, let me re-phrase that; the inability to see moments of human passion and struggle all around us. Stories worth writing about are present all around us. Tunes worthy of a song abound us and the option of perfecting a cover drive is available every time you pick up a bat. But the pressures of everyday life and the fast paced thinking, that we are so used to, make it hard to see and appreciate these moments.

The second reason is a more sublime one. It is the smugness that you get after you have done something that you are proud of (And invariably its only a trivial thing). And from my experience, this effect definitely causes an artiste to plateau. Getting it right once is good, but it is just a start. The ability to repeatedly achieve mastery over an art is what makes an artiste. Even a monkey can pull off a Prabhu Deva like movement, if it kept repeating the movement a thousand times. But will it be able to do it again in lesser attempts? That, in my opinion – the desire to keep getting better constantly, is what makes an artiste. And smugness has no place in this endeavor. 

So, coming to the main question - Am I an artiste? Well, I have only one answer to the question and there are no two ways of telling you this - "Check the picture above". (Hope the hidden metaphor in the picture strikes you..!)

Adios..!

Talent is a Four Letter Word



Talent is the most useless thing to have. Because being talented doesn't encourage you to change yourself and adapt. But it still gets you the results. But what happens when things change and require you to adapt. The results stop coming and then an amazing realization dawns upon you - 'Change is very hard to make'. To put it short, you are in the middle of nowhere and stuck without a map or a compass.

So am I arguing that talent is totally not required? Not at all. All I am saying is that talent is over-rated. Take a cricketer as an example; you don't have to master all the shorts to become a good batsman. Sourav Ganguly mastered the drive and the cut and ended up scoring more than 10,000 international runs. His talent wasn't even comparable to Sachin's or Dravid's, but he was as popular and successful too. His attitude led him to cover his weaknesses and use his strengths. His success only proves that talent is useless unless you know how to use it.

Nothing drives home a point than a comparable analogy. Here is one for this. Talent is like water in a bucket and attitude is like the bucket that gives shape to the water. A bucket without water is of no use and water without a bucket is lost. My point: even a small drop of water needs a bucket to give it shape.

This article was inspired after watching this video by Harsha Bhogle.

The Vanilla Theory And Carnatic Music

The book Freakonomics inspired me to think of reasons beyond the obvious for everyday phenomena. And as an amateur classical musician I often wonder why Carnatic music, arguably the most evolved art form in the world, is not popular with the masses. Interestingly Steven Levitt (author of Freaknomics) and Thomas Friedman (author of ‘The World Is Flat’) combine in ways that they not of to offer a solution to this phenomenon.

The obvious reason that any Tom, Dick and Harry would give for this trend is that Carnatic music is boring to the average listener. While empirical evidence would support that view, it is my opinion this is only half the truth. And you know what they say about half truths?

“Vanillas simply don’t sell in today’s world”, goes an expression used by Thomas Freidman in ‘The World Is Flat’. Simply put, it means that you would rather gas up your car at a station where your car’s glasses are wiped for free, where the air is checked for free and where you can have the option of shopping or guzzling down a pizza, than at a station that only fills your tank. The latter variety of petrol bunk is simply a vanilla. The former is like vanilla ice-cream mixed with black forest and with chocolate sauce and nuts as toppings and also served in a fancy cup that carries the logo of your favourite actress. Should I even ask which one made your mouth water?

Apply the same analogy to music. Carnatic music is a vanilla - plain, simple yet delightful to taste and something that is easy to relate to. And film music like the ones made by geniuses like AR Rahman and Ilayaraja resemble the second variety of ice-cream – it has vanilla and a lot more. Go back to what Thomas Friedman said – “Plain vanillas don’t sell in today’s world”. And that, I believe is the reason why the high degree of evolution in Carnatic music does not add up to popular appeal. There is no problem with the vanilla; it is simply that the vanilla doesn’t sell by itself anymore.

This is just my view on this issue. It may be correct or it may be wrong, because it is just a hypothesis.

So where do I stand on my own explanation? Obviously the second form ice-cream with all the chocolate sauce and nuts, appeals to me. But the taste of the simple vanilla is lost in this. And nothing beats the simple vanilla ice-cream. Vanilla need not be a hot favourite for it to be mine. 

To My Valentine, With Love

When I first saw you walk past me,

I knew you were special.

When I first spoke to you.

I knew you were a delight.

When I first held your hand,

I knew you were the one.

But when I wondered how to call you,

I didn't have an answer.

Friend? Crush? Girlfriend? I don't know,

Wonder how we still keep going though

without giving this a name.

Will it still feel the same,

if I give it a name? Or

will it restrict the freedom we always had?

I can't count the Feb 14s that have gone by,

and I can't count the numerous chances

that I have had to call you my valentine.

Will I have another chance? I don't know.

So here goes. My sweet Valentine,

Let's make it through for another year.