Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

I have a confession - I'm a TV junkie.

Well perhaps not junkie in the traditional sense.... hmm I'm seeing serious contradictions in this here line.
No, when I say junkie, i mean being absolutely addicted to a few select shows. I don't just watch any crap that's played on the idiot box and we know there's a LOT of that on. I especially don't like those reality shows. You know the ones I'm talking about... Where you, the viewer (voyeur) is intimately privy to the goings on within a household etc. I don't mind the American Idol types so much coz that's more about the talent than the "emotion" aspect. Plus you get to see some seriously good performances.
But I completely detest shows like Big Boss, Survivor and such like. Kinda creeps me out coz I feel acutely uncomfortable after a few minutes. I guess the general public at large does possess some streak of peeping Tom-ism, given the success and ratings of these shows.

Actually most of the shows I watch are courtesy the Internet and several accommodating pirate friends. I been watching some seriously good shows over the past couple of days and just HAD to write about them. I am a big fan of strong character driven shows. If there's a few laughs in there, then all the better.
Here's a few shows that are an absolute must watch if you like (seriously) good entertainment:-

• Boston Legal - Just got done watching 4 episodes back-to-back of this show before starting to write this post. The leads played by James Spader and William Shatner are effin' brilliant. Plots which range from dead serious to bust a rib laughing funny to mind boggling bizarre. Dialogues which are witty, crackling and sometimes so fast that its blink-and-a-miss. I haven't written too much about the show here but safe to say that it's some of the finest television you will ever get to watch - Guaranteed!

• House M.D. - This show had run for a fairly long time on Indian television before I started to watch it. Hugh Laurie is magnificent as the cynical, arrogant know-it-all (which he almost always is), Dr. Gregory House in this medical drama. The USP for me is the sparkling dialogue not to mention the absolute sarcasm projected by House. You will also get to see occasionally Laurie's musical multi-instrumentality. He plays the piano, drums, guitar and the clarinet (He's also part of a group of TV stars who have formed a group called Band from TV who play a lot of gigs for charity)

• Studio 60 from the Sunset Strip - Here's a show which not a lot of people were familiar with primarily because it got cancelled after just one season. It stars two of my favorite actors - Brad Whitford and Mathew Perry. Perry of course everyone knows (and loves) from F.R.I.E.N.D.S and Whitford had a primary role in the West Wing. Fantastic chemistry between these two and it only reconfirms my belief in Americans not knowing good entertainment even if it were to hit 'em between the eyes.

• The Wire - I've briefly mentioned this show in an earlier post. I just got done with it yesterday and all I can say is Wow! I am not all that into cop dramas but this is probably the most grittiest show I have ever seen. Shot entirely in the city of Baltimore, the Wire looks at life in this city from the eyes of the cops, drug dealers, addicts and the media. One of the things while watching this show was the need for subtitles. The language and street language spoken in the first 2 seasons is virtually incomprehensible without some help. One of the things about the show is its virtually unknown cast. They almost all seem like regular people you might run into on a street in the US. Another unusual fact is the producers using real life cops and former convicts and felons to play characters on the show.

There are a lot of other shows which are favorites like Entourage, Californication, Weeds, Family Guy, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, 24, Heroes, How I met your Mother, Niptuck etc. And there are shows which I haven't had the opportunity to watch like Oz and The Sopranos.

If you have any inclination towards watching good television, do yourself a favour and watch some these.

Post title courtesy Groucho Marx

Getting away from it all

A lazy Saturday in progress... Woke up late, had a bit of breakfast. Then later headed with the Madman and the Banker to Hard Rock for lunch. I'm sitting now at the Madman's house writing this post on his Mac (bloody annoying to get used to, being a PC user my entire life) which I think I could get to like given enough time and well.... my own Mac.

I'm sitting on the steps of the entry to his house in front of this tiny lil garden posting while the Madman snores away contentedly inside his room.

The past few days have been an equal mix of dread and anticipation. Dread stemming from the fact that there is now only 2 weeks to go before I leave my company. The anticipation is a result of a trip I will be taking towards the end of the month. What started out as a week long trip to Koh Samui has blown up and become a South East Asia jaunt of sorts. I will be travelling for about 6 weeks and will back in Bombay only in the new year. Places on the list are Bangkok, Koh Samui, Singapore and KL. Trying to squeeze in either Vietnam or Cambodia as well although it doesn't look too promising.

The aim besides travelling is to catch up with family and friends (old and new) living in these places. Also to try and visit places of interest located near to the above cities mentioned. Last, but definitely not the least, on the agenda is to play a serious amount of poker. The Hold 'Em scene is thriving in Singapore and KL and it would be good to meet up and play with different players. I think my game's been stagnating off late and this might be a good way to refresh it.

It's the coming back after which is bringing back those anxiety attacks. The thought of job hunting (successfully) given the current bleak market scenario is a daunting one. But I'm not thinking too much about now coz that'll just succeed in ruining the upcoming vacation.


Where the hell is that Fairy Godmother when you need her?!?!

Will sing for my drinks

Pre-Diwali day in the office. Slow since morning... slower post a pretty heavy Diwali lunch with the team. I'm only writing this post coz i'm in serious danger of snoozing at my desk... zzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzz

Most of the agencies & clients' offices are shut today and in some cases till this coming Thursday. We're out till Wednesday. This being the last set of chuttis till December, its causing a feeling of blah amongst a lot of my colleagues. ("yaar no public holidays till Dec.... how will we survive??")
And that is of course promptly followed by "you lucky bastard, you toh dont need to worry since you're quitting in a couple of weeks."
I am.... weeeeeeee!

Definitely in the mood for a few drinks and some karaoke tonight. So I'm thinking of going to Soul Fry this evening and might end up going alone. Alone because most of my friends are either out at their Diwali teen patti sessions or at the Russell Peters show tonight.
Haven't done the whole going-drinking-alone-at-bars bit since my last job when I was posted out of Bombay. Perhaps this is the night to relive old habits...

If you hear someone singing some Billy Joel (Piano Man/We didn't start the fire) or U2 (Without or without you), or Elvis (Jailhouse Rock) it could be me. Or not.
I haven't copyrighted those songs on karaoke as my own... yet!

So why don't you drop by,

say me a hello or even a hi,

I'll sing you a song or tell you a joke

if buy me a brew or two,

coz I'm flat broke.

Note - The Author was formerly a vocalist in a band. However he has limited lyrical ability as can be seen from the above post. Additional testimonials towards the same will be provided by his former bandmates who used to giggle and snicker when he'd come to their garage jams with lyrics he claimed were masterful. He does not speak to these former bandmates anymore.

The Chicken or the Egg?

I was reading the Oct issue of this music mag called Blender. It was an article about a Damn Yankees album.
I quote below the writer's Asif Khan's opening paragraph:-
"Throughout the history of music, there have been eras, which as a thumb rule have occupied the timeline in units of decades, and have had the birth, emergence, establishment and decay of genres, which held their mainstay and defined those lengths of time."

I kept wondering why it looked so familiar when it hit me suddenly...

The closing paragraph of my post dated 24.09.08:-
"Special mention also about that musically confused/chaotic decade - the 80’s. With most other decades, there is an association of a genre with a particular decade - like blues and jazz for the 40's and 50's, rock for the 70's, grunge/alternative for the 90's, hiphop for the (early) 2000's. But the music from the 80's has always been referred to as that. 80's music. No particular genre ever made that decade its own."


Tell me its not just me...

It's 5 o'clock somewhere...

So I went to Goa on the weekend of Bapu's birthday and I'd promised myself I'd write about it. I'd started this post a lot earlier but didn't get around till today (20.10.08) to posting it. As with so many of my trips to Goa, I'm not sure what to write about at the end of them. I mean it was a great trip but I'm not sure I am up to describing it in its entirety. Goa's like that for me. Just an extended experience which turns into one big, alcohol-induced hazy and kinda secret memory. So I'm just gonna put down some of the highlights...

The Journey - So the traveling circus was J, Ed, MK, DKS and moi. Now J and Ed are married as are MK and DKS. Fortunately I'm very close to these folks that I don't feel like the "single" fifth wheel sort. Also helps that I have a fairly thick skin about these things :D

We decided to save a few bux by going one way by train and returning by flight. I'm not sure it was worth it the following morning when I'm totally exhausted from sleep deprivation (I rarely am able to sleep in a train and not at all on a bus) to the point of wanting to strangle the cabbie who was so obviously overcharging us to get us to our hotel. Anyway we reach our hotel and what followed was 4 days and 3 nights of drinking and eating a LOT of (esp. sea) food.

I think I'd grown gills by the end of it and could probably have swum back to Bombay in case I'd missed my flight.

Blackjack - I got the boys (that's J & DKS in case you're still wondering) hooked onto Blackjack on the train trip. And it continued right thru the trip and even on our return flight back to Bombay. I was the house for most part and they were playing against me for 10 bux a hand. Which reminds me - they frickin' owe me money. The house always wins baby!!

In DKS's case I also started tutoring him on the basic of poker. My young protégé displayed a decent grasp of the game and might be good if he decides to pursue it further.

Whiskey Sour - Another highlight of the trip was the discovery of my new favorite cocktail.

A lovely... lovely... "oh-my-God-hit-me-with-the-nearest-blunt-object-to-stop-the-hangover" lovely drink. J called for this drink our first evening at the bar opposite where we were put up. After that every night before going to sleep we'd indulge in one or two or ten of these. Be warned tho - this mofo will sneak up on you and maaaaaan the hangover's a b*tch to deal with in the morning.

But hell we was in Goa after all...
I generally avoid drinking whiskey or whiskey based drinks coz I tend to become a lil nasty when I drink too much of this poison. But I think I will make an exception for this drink :)

Zeebops - This is a shack that's located on Utorda beach in South Goa. It took us just under 90 minutes to get there from our base in Baga but it is so damn worth it. The food is fine, the beers are chilled but what you come here for is the view.

One of the best beaches I've ever been to in Goa. There's not a lot of people here, the water is cleaner and clearer, the sand too seems softer. Even with my limited foto-taking abilities, here's a pretty picture I took of the beach...

"No Smoking Unless You're on Fire" - The ban on smoking in public places went into effect the day we landed in Goa. Despite being a smoker, I'm all for this law. I mean sure, it's an inconvenience if you gotta go a long way off to get your fix but it wasn't as bad as I originally thought it'd be, having already had a taste of it when I was in Singapore a few months ago.

And sure that don’t stop us from bitchin' about it but this is a good thing. My only gripe remains with people who can't ask me simply to put out my cig. Instead they give you dirty looks and make rude under-the-breath comments. That used to just succeed in goading me to continue blowing smoke rings in their faces. A lot of "us" are regular civilised folks who will immediately stub it (or take it) out if we're told to. There's something to be said for common courtesy. Give it a shot sometime...

The Lighthouse - That first night with our "softdrink" bottles in hand we ventured out in our vehicle which was a Gypsy. Everyone was kicked about roaming about Goa in an open-top. Very Dil Chahta Hai types (wait... didn’t those guys ride a Merc?!)

So our Goa expert J (he's probably made more trips here than all the other places he's ever visited put together), decided to take us to the Lighthouse out beyond Candolim. It was probably 10 at night and barely any street lights. And then suddenly it almost seems like we've left civilisation behind. Only the forest-like woods on either side of the road keep us company as we reach the end of land and see the lighthouse. It's big white beam of light going round and round with reassuring certainty.

J was gung-ho to take us right out to the adjoining cliffs to see the light beam play out over the surrounding Arabian Sea. But in our slightly tipsy state, we chickened out but I could the disappointment in his voice at us missing out on a superlative view.

On our drive back, we went by a helipad type area located pretty close to the lighthouse.
Dr. Mallaya's aerial steeds use this area to land and take off. Aah to be rich... We came to a standstill in the centre of the LZ. Switched off the engine and indulged in some stargazing. One of the simple pleasures denied to us city dwellers. A diamond studded velvet blanket which gazes benevolently down, mysteriously twinkling here and there. Its a humbling feeling when you look up and realize just what a tiny tiny speck you are in this grand ole universe. The alcohol, I think, went down the smoothest in those 30 minutes.

That about covers the so called highlights. There was a lot more alcohol, tons of fingerlickin' food (btw crumb-fried Anything tastes good), loads of laughter, stories old and new, reminiscings of trips past and memories to last me a lifetime. The last time i had gone to Goa with these guys was about a year and a half ago.

Hopefully it won't be another 18 months before we do this again.

Without music, life would be a mistake...

Well… just re-read my last post and after some serious cringing I have come to the conclusion that it was just a badly written thank you note to mah peeps (there’s that black thing again…). So in my present stone cold sober state, I’ll just say thank you and I’m very grateful for your presence in my life.

I was also going thru some of eM’s old posts last week. She’s like a celebrity of sorts now. From a famous blogger to a published author. Quite the feat. She writes pretty good. See… that’s my writing style. But if I were an author I’d jazz that up just a bit – “Her, often vivid, descriptive style of prose is quite becoming… especially her accounts of love and life in the urbane landscape of the towering metropolis… quite enthralling indeed.”

Nice eh?! Felt downright British there... by Jove!... ole Blighty… Tally ho… Spotted dick! (what the...??)

While I haven’t read it yet, I do intend to get me a copy and who knows maybe get it signed by her since she lives in this city now. Damn! That would be a first. I don’t have a signed book by a real live author... err... or a dead one either. So all of y'all need to go out there and buy a copy too. Help a fellow resident of Blogosphere make a few bux and all that.

So coming back to that post of hers – it was about certain songs from different times in her life. Which got me to thinking about some songs/artistes which are so ingrained in my mind that I swear there are times when I just need to think about them and I can literally hear the music in my head. Goosebumpy sh*t that…

So onto the list of 4:-

1. Beat It by Michael Jackson – I distinctly remember seeing the video of Beat It way back when on television. Now I might have been just a 5 year ole chile but my memory is absolutely crystal clear on this. And I remember it was shown in connection with some award ceremony. There was a blurry memory of a picture which looked something like a big tuba like thing in the bacground of the stage. It was only years later that I managed to connect the dots. That's right... I was watching the Grammys that night in '84 on Doordarshan. Till date, everytime I listen to this song, it never fails to gee me up. I think this song really started off my on-going love affair with rock. Killer guitar riffs along with that super fantastic solo by Eddie Van Halen (with that speed shredding and his signature tapping) really make this a standout track. Aural delights aside, this solo is a visual treat too. Take a gander at this.

2. Let's get rocked by Def Leppard – My first e-v-e-r rock song. In them days, mix tapes were the rage and pretty expensive to make as well. So when my buddy Z got one made by a local dj, he was kind enough to give me a copy. (btw said local dj went by the name of Aqueel – yup the same dj Aqueel of Yeh Vaada, Disco '82 etc fame) I remember Joe Elliot’s raspy voice in the intro demanding if I wanted to get rocked. And no sooner did the first few bars blast through my Panasonic cassette stereo, I surrendered. Def Lep holds a special place in my heart. British pop-rock at its best and their heavy use of vocal harmonies influenced us when we did our own songs. Hysteria and Adrenalize are two albums I will never grow tired of listening.

3. Billy Joel – I can’t really pinpoint any one song by Billy Joel because I pretty love 'em all. Again an artiste whose tape I must have run ragged on that trusty ole Panasonic a million times. If I had to pick, it would have to be Allentown, Its still Rock n Roll to me, Tell her about it, Movin’ out (Anthony’s song), The Longest Time, New York State of Mind, Just the way you are, This is the time… aah forget it... just waayyyy too many. Billy’s song writing is unfussy and uncomplicated. I've thought of him as a storyteller more than songwriter. His stories are mostly simple ones… but whether they are or not, they'll get to you coz thats the way he writes them. If there was one thing I could have just for a while, it would be to have the talent to write a love song the way Billy does and sing it for my woman.

4. Nothing else matters by Metallica – My first “metal” song or so I thought going by the band’s name. I’d been given a free copy of their self titled album (also referred to as the Black album) by a school buddy whose dad was a biggie with Universal Music (back then it was Music India Ltd). That cassette lay in one corner of my bookshelf for all of like six months gathering dust. I can’t quite remember why one day I tore off the plastic wrap and slid it into… you guessed it – the Panasonic. It definitely had to do with someone at school telling me I just HAD to listen to this particular song. Of course I was hooked after listening to the song the first time. Played it for another 4-5 times in a row which was a task considering all the rewinding I had to do. For the younger readers of this blog, Rewinding (and Fast Forwarding for that matter) was this process one had do with tapes in order to get to any song you wanted to listen to which was situated anywhere after the first song in a tape. Quite like shampooing - RWD/FFD --> Stop --> Play to check --> Repeat if necessary.

Special mention also about that musically confused/chaotic decade - the 80’s. With most other decades, there is an association of a genre with a particular decade - like blues and jazz for the 40's and 50's, rock for the 70's, grunge/alternative for the 90's, hiphop for the (early) 2000's. But the music from the 80's has always been referred to as that. 80's music. No particular genre ever made that decade its own. There was rock and pop and metal and rap... just one big mish-mash. Musically I am pretty much an 80's child. My sense of rhythm and melody developed from listening to the artistes and music of that era. The harder, harsher edge to my music probably stems from the grunge and alternative influences of the 90’s.

Of course there are a lot more songs… tons more in fact but I think I’d have to start another blog for that. Since lazy me has no intentions of doing so, I'll just settle for listening to some Def Lep and MJ and Billy and reliving some memories past.

Man I miss that Panasonic…

P.S - In connection with my 15.09.08 post, I came across a supercool video of Incubus at their concert in the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver. If you like the original song, then i think you will love this trippy bass heavy version of Drive.

The Big Three Oh

12:17

Another day… another year.

I hit 30. And thus goes a conversation with me and this foo called Life.

B - yo Life! I need to settle some scores with you dawg. About where you and me is at this point. I thought I oughta feel different but I don’t. I thought there be something more by now but there ain't. I thought I would be in another place, but I’m not. Just a feeling of unfinished business y’know.
Why did I think more would come of this day? Of this time?
My life seems the same it was not too many years ago. Why is that? Did I not warrant something special to happen to me by now? Did I not want that enough… whatever that might be or was I not enough of a man to get out there and seize my opportunities?
Am I content with what I am and where I am today? Don’t seem like it, if I’m here questioning you like this…

L – mah man… I am a mystery. Sometimes even to myself. I’ve seen a lotta bodies come and go. Some of them be commonplace… some not so. Some of them be punks… some not so. But some… some… they be the extra-ordinary. They be the unusual… the remarkable… sometimes even the curious. You’ve come across all of these in your short time here on this earth.
What did you do when you came across this myriad of specimens?

B - Some I ignored coz they weren’t worth it. Others I didn’t care for because they weren’t of much use in my life. But that some you mention…. Some…
I call some of those my family… yet a few others my friends… In so many cases I wasn’t sure if I would ever be tight with these people. Yet not a day goes by that I’m not thankful enough for whatever reasons there might be, for these people wanting to be part of my life.

L – There are reasons… eventually you will come across them for what they are. They are in your life because they mirror you in so many ways. Its what brought you close in the first place.
Yet there are still life lessons to learn. What lacks in you is completed by them and in so many ways it goes around the other way too. So you turned 30 today… a lesson in itself. You got yourself this far didn’t you?! There are still some more miles to travel… some more lessons to learn… some you will learn from these you call family and friends. Still more from the people who are yet to come into your life…
It’s a waiting game son… when you reach that light shining at the end of the tunnel, I’ll be waiting there for you. And as you end this journey we shall both look back and then you can ponder on what I was all about.
You might just end up marveling at all the wonders you’ve seen…

Warning – The Author was completely fucked up, drunk out of his damn mind in a seriously inebriated state post his consumption of several vodkas and loud singing. This post shall be treated as a Rambling. No references of the same shall be made in future meetings with said Author. The Author would also like to assign culpability of the occasional use of 'black' language in the above post to the episodes of The Wire that he be watching recently, aight?!

Present State of Mind

11:27 pm

Incubus - Drive
Brandon Boyd: "The lyric is basically about fear, about being driven all your life by it and making decisions from fear. It's about imagining what life would be like if you didn't live it that way."


Incubus - An evil spirit supposed to descend upon and have sexual intercourse with women as they sleep
Drive - To impel or urge onward by force in a direction away from one

Casablanca

It's raining lightly as our young hero steps out of the fossil-fuel powered automobile. He looks towards the heavens and they look back down silently watching him as he sparks up his smoke. Tis be a quiet movie weekend unlike the tomfoolery that the hero and his comrades indulged in the previous Saturday night.

As they head inside the theatre, our hero looks forward to observing two stalwarts, from the land of Hollywood, sparring with each other, their cinematic skills and thespian fortitude tested on a righteous mission. As they enter the waiting area, he heads off in search of something to eat. Walking away, he hears one of his mates say “Isn’t that…?” And the rest of it trails away out of earshot…

While deciding what fare to indulge in, Sir Madman walks to him and says, “Did you see the Damsel? Or did you purposely ignore her?” Puzzled he asks, “Damsel is here?!” and looks over the Madman’s shoulder and immediately spots her. He’d recognize that head of hair anywhere. Suddenly a variety of emotions – happiness followed by panic, followed by Be-Cool-Idiot followed by more panic, and he does the only thing his slightly dazed brain can do. A smile and a wave.
Damsel comes over, arms opens and a 7.5 second embrace follows. Awkward silence, as our hero pulls back pondering what he could/should possibly say to her…

Damsel: hi, how are you? You look like you’ve lost some weight…
(Translation – Greetings & Salutations! The black shirt and dark jeans possibly makes you look thinner but then it’s also been almost 3 months since we saw each other)

Hero (casually shrugging): Ehhh…
(Translation – hi yourself, its great to see you too. You still look fine... very fine! the same. In all this time, I kept wondering if we’d run into each other sometime… somewhere. It felt almost right that we did… here… a place we’ve come to many a time before. Perhaps you feel the same. How are you? Work keeping you busy these days…?! Glad to know that you have healed enough to put on your dancing shoes. Keep at it with your musical endeavors coz I know you have a wonderful sense of/for the music. Which reminds me, weren’t you planning to go abroad sometime now…)

The Miner walks in and greets the Damsel. Feels like old times. Everyone dressed in regulation Saturday night denim-and-black garb. For a few seconds we were the same group from not long ago who were going in together to watch a movie. After some more conversation and laughs, she heads off to her mates and we follow shortly after.

Once the movie ends, our hero wonders if he’ll see her once more as they leave. His mind is miles away as he stares blankly at the gate guard, ticket extended waiting to collect his flamethrower. He takes it, mentally now galaxies away, and ambles towards the escalator. As he half turns a hand sticks out, waving at him and he weaves around it and moves down, thinking, “Oops I almost bumped into someone there…”
Escalator moves down and he steps off.

*10000 Watt light bulb flashes overhead*
Trring trring… “Hi, sorry was that you who just waved out to me?” With indulgent (hopes our friend) humor in her voice, due confirmation of the same is conferred.

Stepping out, he sees its still drizzling about the same way it was while coming in. Some nicotine is desperately needed. Deep drag. Followed by a deeper drag... And he starts to follow his group back to their vehicle. He sees her walking ahead of him and catches up trying clumsily to explain himself. Realizing what transpired at the escalator could be mistaken for a frigid ignore, some apologetic words are mumbled by him. She smiles… he smiles. All is forgiven.
They walk separately but in the same direction. As he is about to board his transportation, some final words are spoken. Goodbyes are exchanged.

As the scenes from the evening play out in his mind, our protagonist feels something akin to calm settle over him. A seemingly scary situation settled itself fairly quietly in the end. Positive thoughts course through him for the rest of the ride home.

As someone once said, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine…”

Dont know about you Bogey, but I'm glad she did.

For those about to Rock...

I've been goaded into making a post (you know who you are!)

Nothing major happened this week. Had a holiday on Wednesday coz of Ganpati. Mid week chuttis are so nice no?!
I was at V's house for Ganpati lunch something which I’ve been going for the past few years now. Her Mom makes the most awesome modaks... yummmm...

Of course the whole post-lunch discussion of "soooo-when-are-you-going-to-get-hitched?" was brought up. What’s with all Matashrees anyway?? I thought girls usually have the whole pressure thing exerted on them but even us guys too?!? Aaaahhh... So what if I’m turning 30 in a couple of weeks... Do I have to get married (or even consider it) just coz I’m turning the BIG THREE O. Nah I think not.
So as V's mom was going on about me getting her a bahu, V was rolling her eyes and giving me pitying looks probably thinking, "Oh you poor boy... I have soooo gone thru this not too long ago".

Lunch got done and I then headed to catch the early evening show of Rock On with the siblings and my pals J & A. I got tickets for this theatre in Mahim called Starcity (the artiste formerly known as Badal of the old Badal-Bijli twin theatres). Went there to try getting tickets before lunch. House Full on the board and as I turn away disappointed, I get psstt-ed at. "Boss, Rock On mangta hai kya?!" Aah what an idiot I was! Of course there is gonna be a tout at these places. So I asked him for 5 tickets and he said it'll cost me 750 (that’s a 150 bux a pop – yeah OK I needed a calculator for that). I’m used to paying no less than 200-300 for a single ticket whenever I go to a PVR or Cinemax or some such. Even for my math-challenged brain the cost of the tickets seemed far too less. It then clicked that I was in Badal of Badal-Bijli in Mahim fame and not a PVR Juhu or Fame Andheri. The original price of the ticket was Rs.100 wonly. I actually asked the blacker very sceptically, "Aap black mein hi bech rahen ho na??” Dude must have thought I'd smoked up some bad sh*t or something :)

Rock On wasn't as bad as I’d thought it would be. I remember telling the Miner that I fully expected this movie to be a complete dud. Regardless of its eventual reviews, I’d have watched this one anyway because I feel a connect with the movie. Having been part of a band myself long ago, I was always hoping someone would make a cool movie about bands, the lifestyle and the gig scene from an Indian context so this was nice to see.
My biggest disappointment with the movie was the soundtrack. Farhan might be a pretty good actor but he can’t sing. One song (the title track) for promotional purposes could have been done by him but not almost 60% of the tracks. I mean it’s a movie about a band for God’s sake. The music HAS to be good. Disappointing clichéd stuff by Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy and the sheets on which most of the lyrics were written were only good enough to be used as toilet paper. (What the fuck is - “Mere taash se heart ka king, mera ek chandi ka ring”) Javed saab apne bete ke vaaste, you could have written waaayyy better lyrics than that.
On a positive note, I loved Zehereelay sung by one of the true rockers of the Mumbai gig circuit in the 90’s – Suraj Jaggan (of Dream Out Loud). It’s a completely wannabe hard rock song where the movie makers I’m sure have tried to poke some fun at the stereotypical Black Tee and bandana clad bands you see on the Mumbai (or Indian) gig/club circuit. But the outstanding track for me is the wonderfully serene Phir Dekhiye sung by Caralisa Monteiro. Sweetly sung with a hint of coaxing and mischief in her voice, this is one lovely song. (Caralisa - Marry me!).

The ride back home after the movie brought back old memories of the band days…
- hanging with the guys while they were auditioning for vocalists…
- them finally picking me coz I was there (“yaar tu hi gaa le since you know everything”)
- our first ever gig which had more than 3000 people…
- getting the “shakes” so badly at the time that I nearly dropped the mic…
- playing in front of the totally biased (for us :) college crowd…
- the cute girls at the Sophiya’s college fest…
- our first television show/competition…
- getting hassled by the judges during said competition and in turn pissing them off…
- roaming the streets of Noida at 10pm trying to find booze so we drown our sorrows…
- Not finding any booze anywhere!...
- deciding we wanted to get into the Indi-pop scene…
- doing the rounds of record labels…
- getting shot down by all of them…
- all the support and affection of our family and friends who remain our biggest fans till date… (Man that last one almost sounds like a shout out on our never-released CD)

Funny thing is I look back now and believe we were a band ahead of its time. OK that might sound a wee bit like I’m full of it but its not… honest.
I’ll tell you what I mean… we started covering alternative rock bands and had a pretty mixed playlist. Of course we played the usual Bryan Adams, Queen, pop-rock stuff. But in them days there weren’t too many bands who were also playing Stone Temple Pilots or Goo Dolls or Green Day in the same set. A few years after we passed out, it seemed that every other band was playing stuff similar to ours. I don’t wanna say we were as good as Zero but when I first saw/heard them, it felt exactly like the kind of sound and material we would have done.
Then again when we tried to get into the Indi-pop scene. Our brand was straight up soft rock with Hindi lyrics (nice ones too unlike taashes and kings and sunglasses).
But no – “you guys sound too western… only guitar and drums and synth… you need to have more Indian instrumentation…”
Of course a few years down the line, one of the most popular bands on the scene is Strings. Soft rock with Hindi/Urdu lyrics. Just a case of (bad) timing I guess…

As I stared out of the window, I'm thinking perhaps we hadn't wanted it badly enough for it to happen. So many musicians have struggled for years before finally making or quitting it. In the end, there are no regrets. I stumbled into it almost accidentally and its influenced my life profoundly and probably made me a better person today.
I used to be a very introverted person back in college not to mention shy and quiet. Today I’m a lot more outgoing than I was then - I guess being the front man for a band will do that to you.

P.S – I still get the damn shakes