- 14:38
- 0 Comments
I came to discovering my individual taste in music much late in life. I am a product of the generation that knows what cassette means. We witnessed the rise and fall of MTV, Walkman, Planet M, Discman. I am from the generation that paid for music, so exploration was pretty limited.
Growing up, I was exposed to some amazing and eclectic music by my dear father...I would wake up on Sunday mornings to Boney M, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd and fall asleep to Kenny G, Ananda Shankar, Hariprasad Chaurasia's flute....As a tween I turned populist and veered towards OSTs and boy bands (in my defense, who didn't?) College is when I came on to experience a lot more music...James Blunt, Simple Plan, Nickelback...I felt cool that I knew them.
But, it wasn't until I met her that I experienced my musical awakening.
Year 2008. Amy Winehouse killed at the Grammy's.
It was also the year I graduated college and embarked on finding me. I admit to searching her after seeing the Grammy coverage and that is the day I realized how far I was from experiencing real music . And for that, I owe her big.
This song kills me each time, everytime, over and over...
AMY opens in theaters today and I can't wait to catch the show.
The trailer itself gives me goosebumps.
Oh darling girl, heaven is beautiful with you in it.
Here she is live in Glastonbury in 2007 before the Grammy fame. I love you.
- 00:08
- 0 Comments
A major side effect of blogging in my experience is the involuntary, hyper activity in my brain. I am sometimes deeply troubled by this narcissistic documentation of my humble life (is it shallow? am I shallow? etc) but at the same time, ever since I have started writing here, I am suddenly more actively thinking about who I really am; what makes me, me? One such recent musing was, if there is one new thing I could do, what would it be? One thing led to ten, and here we have a specimen of my hyper active brain !
SCULPTING
No part of my brain is remotely capable of imagining how, how, HOW that veil has been sculpted. How does one look at a rock (or marble; sometimes mountain) and envision something as magnificent as this! If there is a single art form I want to understand, experience and master (wishful thinking!) it is sculpting. No contest.
BALLET
Close second to sculpting is ballet. I have no idea how I got my fascination for ballet considering it is not one of the most publicized popularized art forms in this country. I remember walking around on releve as a kid but only at 26 did I take my first ballet lesson. My dream is to watch a live Swan Lake or Jewels at Lincoln Centre but bigger dream is to be able to master even a teeny tiny bit of performing in this life. Seen above is my favourite ballerina, NYCB Principal Sara Mearns. This girl is sassy, passionate and downright sexy!
I mean, just look at her!
FENCING
Again, no idea why or how the interest. But I just HAVE TO try it out atleast once in this life.
GOLF
I'm just gonna say it out loud. I. Just. Don't. Get. This. Sport. Fearing severe judgement, all I'm gonna say is, I like me some adrenaline while sporting. Some rrrrrrrrr... #justmyopinion
ELECTRIC GUITAR
From the age of 10 till yesterday, every single time I heard / hear this song, I imagine myself playing the lead...on stage...with my own band... Don't judge me OK. I was 10. I thought my whole life was ahead of me to do anything I wanted. Turns out, I can do many things. Except this.
CARPENTRY
puts up but this one I've had my heart on for years
HOW TO CUT THEM EFFING WINE BOTTLES!
I knoooowwwww there are 4444 DIY ideas on Pinterest on this subject but let me tell you I am yet to find one that actually works (or make one work) or doesn't make me fear serious injury
POOL
In my tweens, playing pool was rad! And being asked on a pool date was the height of coolness. Therefore, fellow girls and boys made it their life's mission to ace the game. Basically everyone from my generation in my city, except me. Even today (actually, last week) I just don't seem to be able to grasp how to keep the damn cue stick stable! I also don't understand how to hit them balls goddamn harder!
P.S. I have never been on a pool date :(
P.S. I have never been on a pool date :(
LIGHTING
My profession allows me exposure to a fair amount of both film and print shooting and I am always mesmerised by the science that goes behind lighting a set. On a recent project (seen above) we were able to create an outdoor, marketplace ambience with bright sunshine inside a studio with just the help of lights! I wish I could share the final photograph here but trust me, I was stunned when I saw how differently the set got captured on camera. So magical!
I am starting to grow more aware of the kind of photographs I take, thanks to this blog. I should get
deeper into this going forward.
LASTLY
How to filter the thoughts in my head and corresponding words that come out of my mouth. Yes, very embarrassingly, I am one of those people. Its amazing the kind of stuff I actually say out loud and get away with. I am in constant fear of hurting someone with the unfiltered content and that'll be the day I go mute.
If you could do that one thing, what would it be?
- 05:12
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1) The Ghetto is the first watering hole I pledged loyalty to and its still going strong. I think what makes patrons go back over and over, is the unassuming coolness of the place which is not a result of trying too hard. Actually, they don't try at all. They just let you be, so you can get lost in the dark (literally) world of rock n roll lit only by fluorescent graffiti and black light.
The two pool tables are almost always occupied so go early if you want a shot at playing.
P.S I suck at pool but managed to get a grasp at it and pocket a few. Woohoo! #sonotashowoff
Oh, and they invariably end the night with this song. How can you not love this place?
2) After a long, long time, I finally managed to spend a Sunday just by myself. And there is nothing else I would've done than spending three hours at Trilogy the eternal library, finishing up my over- due book. Out on a limb, I will say, even if you are not a reader, you could be a member to just use the reading room. The peace and quiet in this place is un-effing-believable! Right at the heart of this mad, mad city, that too! I really spent 3 hours there- reading, pausing, staring into nothingness, reading again, pausing to scribble. At one point I kicked off my shoes and walked all over the place checking out other books, got back to reading...you get the drift.
Adding to my booky Sunday, was a chance encounter with Bargain Books Hut at Bandra. I have no idea how I didn't know about this place! Its not a regular book shop with measly discount. Its a concept store designed around heavy discount so all the titles in store are discounted, some very heavily I must add. The range is not bad at all. Almost all segments are covered. I will be going back for some coffee table books which tend to be quiet expensive.
- 03:01
- 0 Comments
You know that time you spoke to your beloved in hushed tones, snuggled under the sheets, giggling...and you fell asleep with the phone in your hands and dreamt of rainbows and hearts and him / her? And then you woke up all smiley and ad-y to find out on facebook.that last night he was with someone, somewhere he shouldn't have been. It crushed your heart and you lost faith in humanity. No?
Me neither.
But picture this. You walk in to an empty house after a hard days work, look around aimlessly...no one to say hi to, no mood to eat alone. Should I call someone? Nah.
You're lying down on your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling and suddenly you spring up and grab your music player. The voice in your earphones soothes you and as you drift off, you feel everything is gonna be OK.
And then when you wake up, this happens.
I cannot even.
I live in Mumbai, just incase you were wondering. The stunt was pulled in Delhi.
If you think I'm being dramatic well the incident was grave enough to attract international attention so yeah, take that!
I kid you not, every where I look..on the internet or around me, fans are going crazy! It became a trending topic on Facebook and like a LOT of upset fans I took to FB statusing to express my angst. Helped only slightly. I then went on to impose a ban on him which lasted exactly 1 hour.
Needless to say, Twitter went beserk and while celebs tom-tomed their dumb luck for the country to burn over, creative fans took the grief to humour with these gems.
@Bing Bang BING BONG...he and I could use a drink right about now.
Buzzfeed posted this with the most apt title WHATS HAPPENING NOW!
So yeah. Thanks for this Chris. I still love you.
Me neither.
But picture this. You walk in to an empty house after a hard days work, look around aimlessly...no one to say hi to, no mood to eat alone. Should I call someone? Nah.
You're lying down on your bed, staring blankly at the ceiling and suddenly you spring up and grab your music player. The voice in your earphones soothes you and as you drift off, you feel everything is gonna be OK.
And then when you wake up, this happens.
I cannot even.
I live in Mumbai, just incase you were wondering. The stunt was pulled in Delhi.
If you think I'm being dramatic well the incident was grave enough to attract international attention so yeah, take that!
I kid you not, every where I look..on the internet or around me, fans are going crazy! It became a trending topic on Facebook and like a LOT of upset fans I took to FB statusing to express my angst. Helped only slightly. I then went on to impose a ban on him which lasted exactly 1 hour.
Needless to say, Twitter went beserk and while celebs tom-tomed their dumb luck for the country to burn over, creative fans took the grief to humour with these gems.
@Bing Bang BING BONG...he and I could use a drink right about now.
Buzzfeed posted this with the most apt title WHATS HAPPENING NOW!
So yeah. Thanks for this Chris. I still love you.
- 04:50
- 0 Comments
Cassey Ho is back with another 30 days challenge and I am super excited for this one. Getting my splits is a crucial requirement to upgrade myself from Funk Jazz to Lyrical Jazz level at Danceworx and lyrical jazz is what I really really really want to do. Problem is dance needs extreme discipline and working the body regularly and well, by now we know how great I am at discipline, eh?
This month, the drill is a little different from the last, where you did one stretch a day. To get splits it needs a little more work and here are the instructions from Cassey's blog:
"Ok but here’s how this month’s challenge is different than The Stretch Project. Everyday I will need you to do stretches 1-5, your foundational stretches. You may not skip them. So, the first 5 days, you are doing the first 5 stretches! Then beginning day 6, you will just add one move on. So on day 6, you will do 1-5 and 6. On day 30, you will do 1-5 and 30. Get it? So you will do 6 moves a day beginning day 6."
Read more at http://www.blogilates.com/#rcmkpEs3M7PscRDw.99
I had some trouble getting photographed in the last challenge which eventually lead me to give up. Yeah, gold medal for commitment! Thing is, posting a picture daily is sometimes the only motivation. I don't think the whole winner concept will work outside of USA but hey, I'll reward myself if I do an honest 30 days this month, I promise. So I am gonna do super RnD over the weekend to work with a auto timer and take a selfie.
Would you undertake a challenge like this?
- 00:36
- 1 Comments
1) I never thought I'd say this but I have started looking forward to waking early (!!) on Saturday mornings (!!!!!!!) now. It is so so exciting to start my weekends with an exhilarating session of squash playing. I have wanted to learn squash from as long as I remember but somehow it never happened. Couple of years ago I finally found a club close to home with the facilities but not a coach. Funnily, I haven't had a formal lesson yet. My friend who's been playing for years taught the basics and its pretty much easy to take it from there. I end up with tons of bruises & I think i'm one match away from a dislocated shoulder, but boy, oh boy! the rush is just worth every bit of the pain.
2) Saturday lunch from Bombay Salad Co. is becoming something of a ritual. I tried the Detox salad with Kale, carrot, broccoli, pomegranate seeds, baked fish, mixed seeds, avocado and its like eating a bowl full of sunshine.
3) The myriad of weekend activities that Bombay has to offer is just amazing. This Sunday I went to a Feast Market where independent, boutique cooks, bakers and spice makers set up their stores. The highlight for me was to sample treats from The Parfait Co. They are not retailing in the western suburbs yet so an opportunity to dig into their decadent pots of belgian chocolate & salted caramel parfaits was just unmissable!
4) Disney PIXAR magic at its best this movie! I just didn't want the movie to end. A movie hasn't touched my heart like this in a really long time
Its a good life. Blessed. So blessed.
- 03:00
- 0 Comments
