Professional Bloggers!

Yes, you read it right. There are people who are actually professional bloggers! And when I mean professional I mean real professional. Their only job is to write blogs and they make a living out of just writing blogs! They are not a part of any company, but just individuals earning thousands every day. I was initially fascinated by the idea. Just imagine lying around in your bedroom and just blogging away. No office, no boss and yet you can earn better than half the population :).
I suddenly thought that money could indeed be earned very easily. Well I am obviously wrong. If you are to earn money from your blog, first, you have to be a great writer. Second, you have to atleast post 7-8 blogs a day. Third, do the first and second regularly so as to keep your readers coming to your blog everyday. There are quiet a few other things to do to become a professional blogger. After going through all that is needed to become one, I decided that grass is always greener on the other side :P and yes my idea of blogging as a profession has been discarded (and rightfully so. Who wants to see me write hundreds of blogs anyway!).

simple to complex India

Remember the time when buying a car meant picking a budget and buying the one car that suited that budget? Am talking about the days when the options to buy a car were very few. Am talking about the mid to late 1980s. I still remember the options people had. If they had a small budget, maruti 800 was their only choice. A bigger budget and may be a premier padmini. A slightly higher budget and you had the options of choosing a wide range of colourful Ambassadors :)
Anything above that, you had to import that car. Ahhh, Life was so simple!

These days, buying a car is like going on a head spinning amusement park ride! you think of buying a car and the chances of going mad are more likely than ending up with a car you completely like. Don't get me wrong, having options is great. In fact, the influx of quality cars in India is steadily on the rise, but what happened to all the simplicity? If choosing a car has become so complex, can't imagine how many simple things in life have become complicated!

Merke Merke

Whenever I listen to the song "Merke Merke" from the movie kanda naal muthal, It makes me feel good. never know why. It is a great song and every time I listen to it, I am tempted to go and watch the tastefully made movie. My first impression of the movie was that it was a decent movie and the song did not capture my attention. But when I watched the movie again and again, it kind of grew on me. Now I feel that the movie is great and the song is just pretty awesome! For guys who like the songs, take it!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGKY9AXQoVE

and if any one has the urge to watch the movie like I do now, go to youtube and watch it :)
The quality is not tht good, but the movie is!! :P

mustafa mustafa...

He found it hard to let go. He never wanted to let go, but he had to. His eyes welled up. He was leaving and he had to accept it. But one thing he always knew, he will always remember everything! He felt sad, his eyes were wandering around trying to get in every detail for the last time. His wandering eyes suddenly saw something, something he had been seeing for so long that he never thought of having a second glance at it. But now it made complete sense! He looked at it and read it aloud and wept...

A new year and some new thoughts...

A very happy new year to all of you. Time certainly flies by, doesn't it? I still remember all the new years for the past 6 years! why only the past 6 years? well those years have been the most eventful in my life. I have no clue what I did for the 2000-01 new year celebration. But every new year after that seems to have been etched in my memory. So how was my new year celebration? well, to be honest it was good, but not great. It was good because I was able to ring in the new year with friends with whom I have been celebrating the new year for the past 6 years! It was good because nobody in Boston have ever heard of 'OOO' pottufying until we did it right smack in the middle of the road :) and It was good because it was my semester holidays :P

So why was it not great? well, there was a little sadness in a corner of my heart. I have been privileged by the fact that I have had a great bunch of friends. And the fact that we are still in touch is even amazing. But this new year, a small part of me wanted things to slow down. Friends are going far apart geographically, and some are starting a new family. All this meant that I would have one less person in my life to celebrate things with. Do not get me wrong, I am happy for them, but the fact that we might not get together as often as we want to bums me out. I understand that change is the only constant thing in this world, but if we strive, could we not overcome it?

It all comes down to priorities, doesn't it? If you and I think that we should meet at least once every year, is it not possible to do so? hmmm.. I just hope that no matter what happens, I always stay in touch with my friends. After all, friends and family made you who you are. Keeping in touch with family is a given thing, but sometimes keeping in touch with friends is overlooked. Given how things are going right now in my life, I just want to say to my friends "Guys, no matter what happens, I always will have the time for you!". Happy new year once again!!!

A distressing situation

I am no learned scholar. I have not read any of the scriptures of any religion. But, I have always felt that no religion ever encourages violence, and even if it does, it does in the context of fighting for justice.

There has been so much of violence and protests in the name of religion that it I am beginning to feel sick. On one end there is fighting in kashmir..the other end there is an out-cry on the ram-sethu project..and in between all this is the utterly shocking tehelka expose on the 2002 gujarat riots!

Why is there so much trouble?? Whenever a person rebels it is because that he believes that injustice has been done in his case. But what troubles me is that they some how bring religion into the equation and then all hell breaks loose. Should there not be a mediator of sort who should tell them that it might be because of a mis-understanding??

Well, I agree that everything is not a mis-understanding and that some awful things are done purposefully. But is violence always the answer?? This is where religion helps people. Most religions I know say that you should fight for justice. This, I think, justifies a person's intention of engaging in violence. But is this right?? one person starts the fight and obviously gathers people with similar ideologies around him to fight for justice. Should there not be a compromise somewhere in between all this?!!

It is a shame that all this violence is present in India and the world in the name of religion. When will this ever stop? Can the peace, preached by all religions, ever reign supreme???

Music, lyrics, visual and the voice

I could stay awake just to hear you breathing..
watch you smile while you are sleeping..
while you are far away and dreaming..
I could spend my life in this sweet surrender..
I could stay lost in the moment forever..............
every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure!!

If you have guessed by now, these lines are from a song by aerosmith... The reason I put it up here is to just wonder how could any one express themselves so beautifully.. Words are beautiful enough, but when delivered by a great visual and a great voice, it makes that piece timeless.

Whenever I think of some amazing songs, quite a few come to my mind. Out of those songs, I would like to mention a few. The first one is 'Tanha dil'. This song by shaan has great lyrics, and the video is very good. There is no question about his voice either, It is very good. I dunno exactly why I like this song, but I like it a lot. I think it brings out a feeling in me which is generally hidden deep inside. The second one is a song which I think I would recommend to everyone. Even the craziest of head banging rock fanatic might like it. It is not fast by any means, but it has got a soul of its own. The song is 'krishna nee begane' by colonial cousins. The fusion of the voices of hariharan and lewis is great and above all the video for it is stunning. It is deeply moving, and when watched in a specific mood, can bring a tear to your eye. I have seen people shed a tear after seeing that video. That alone makes it one of the greatest visuals ever. The next song I like, is not because of its great visuals or because of great lyrics, but because of a great voice. The first time I heard this was when I went to a live show by KK.
Ppl have told me that a live performance can give a good measure of how good/bad a singer is. when he sang that song, I was quite simply blown away. My god what a voice! After that experience I wanted to go to as many live shows as possible. I was imagining how great it would be to hear a spb or yesudas live. Damn that would be good. unfortunately I have not been able to go to a single live show after that :-(
I am no music fanatic, but I just wish that I could hear all the great singers at a live performances. That would kind of help complete a very incomplete life.