If even the longest of journeys begin with a single step and even the most amazing of discoveries happen per chance, then it would be safe to assume that a journey of discovering something as limitless and profound as music is bound to be besot with errors.
Nevertheless that first step is necessary, despite all our natural propensity to love bad music first. Well, not bad music, really. Forgettable music. However, that phase is a necessary one. Loving Popular music (pop), getting tired of it, and eventually forgetting all about it, is like a coming of age ritual every music enthusiast must go through. It sets the parameters of evaluation right. A dedicated listener is bound to travel beyond that eventually.
And one day, discover the sort of music that makes him high.
For me the first faulty foray into music was a mixed cassette (Sponsored by Bacardi Rum, for whatever reasons) seated on the "Newly out" section at a Stationary Store back home.Extremely tacky.
But it was an essential step. One that lead to other equally tacky choices of music - ranging from Aqua to Vengaboys, Britney Spears to Ricky Martin, all the essential trash one must have listened to in order to appreciate finer genres of music.
I grew up on a diet of Hindi music. The voices of Rafi and Lata played on the radio by doting parents. As I grew and graduated to school, the family evolved to hear current trends of music. Like say, Anu Malik? While I did revel under the tunes of Jatin Lalit and Anu Malik, I realized eventually that the tunes were forgettable, and the lyrics merely existing. I was coming of age, and realized I would have to explore more.
It took me twenty three years and a per chance hearing of the track, "Coming back to life" to discover Pink Floyd.
Perhaps I envisioned a great disparity between what I was and what I could become. Or perhaps, I was plain lucky to discover the kind of music that will save my soul.
Or perhaps, it was just an attempt to ape the west.
Whatever the reasons, the entry into secondary school, and its subsequents years of wannabeness, made me go through the usual boy and girl bands. Backstreet boys, West Life and all the usual crap.
And along came Eminem.
Blatant hate, explicit lyrics. This is who I am and fuck you if you don't understand me. The kind of stuff that every teenager would love, and I had found my first god.
Eminem was the crudest version of what rock n roll stood for. Yes yes, I know he is a rap artist and all that. But some of his lyrics had a rawness that other rappers failed to bring out. I have always considered hip hop artists to be a bunch of mumbling idiots, calling women bitches, and each other derogatory words. Eminem, instead, gave a hint about what music could be about.
But he got repetitive. He never went beyond the little spurge of brilliance that he initially showed. And the music wasn't great. Which is when I made my first foray into rock music.
It began with
Bryan Adams. For a kid in his first year of college, it held a universe of possibility. It was a first glimpse of what music could mean. A new perspective.
Over the years, I have gone through phases when I have found him to be cheesy. Come on, what proud heterosexual would sing "Let's make a night to remember"? You could be using it as your make out song with a girl friend, but it would still be gay. But before I write him off completely, lemme concede that there are days, when I find myself returning to Bryan Adams. Some of his songs are catchy. "
Run to You" is my favorite Bryan Adam track. It has the sort of riff that makes me give up whatever I am doing and croon with him midway...
I got my mind made up,
I need to feel your touch,
I'm gonna run to you!
Works every time.
Also, despite being one of the more popular songs, and despite my aversian for really popular pop songs,
Summer of '69 is indeed a work of genius. A riff that will stick with you for a lifetime, specially in the accoustic version, and lyrics that reminisce about a past and sing to a lost lady love who,
Standin on your mama's porch,
You told me that you'd wait forever,
Oh and when you held my hand,
I knew that it was now or never,
Those were the best days of my life.
Must Hear: Heaven, Cuts like a knife, Hidin' from Love, Win some Lose some, 18 till I die.
Around the same time as Bryan Adams, I also happened to hear
Bon Jovi. Now, here was an artist, that went beyond the sloppy display of love. Bon Jovi, thus became my first legitimate hard rock band. Everybody is familiar with the all so popular "It's my life". But my favorite song by this artist happened to be
"Livin' on a prayer", a song about sadness and giving it a shot for love even as,
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers baby its okay,
Someday.
The first two years of college were the years I discovered many bands like Police, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Meatloaf. It is not possible to describe my journey with each of these bands without making this post extremely long. Suffice to say, that I came across some really good songs.
Message in a Bottle by The Police is one such song, in which Sting sings very soulfully,
I should have known this right from the start,
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life but
Love can break your heart.
However, during those years in college there was one band which I found amazing.
My first palaver with Guns N' Roses happened when I ended up watching this video of
Paradise City. They manage to exude so much coolness and style, that I found myself entranced with a lifestyle which I could not yet name. I was still freshly introduced to the nuances of this genre of music, to realize that Guns N' Roses was one of the last straws - The final bands of Classic Rock. I went to the local music store and bought their Best Of GNR cassete. I fell in love with their tracks. Slash was coolness personified, and Axle was a master performed (I hadn't heard of Freddy Mercury yet).
Guns 'n Roses, along with Slash and Axle Rose became my new gods
It was also the time that I flitted across Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Metallica. There were some offhanded good songs, but I found myself struggling with the music, trying to grasp it. Ages later, I am able to appreciate the sheer energy of
Hallowed be Thy Name by Maiden or
A tout le monde by Megadeth. But apart from their "Best of" CDs, it is still music I find difficult to comprehend. Heavy metal is not my cup of tea.
What I seemed to be waiting for was the kind of music that would change my life. As I soon found out, my kind of music happened to be classic rock.
But this revelation would come to me after two great discoveries. One, a tribute band called Led Zeppelica. And another, a movie called The Doors, by Oliver Stone.
Led Zeppelica, a
Led Zeppelin tribute band played at IIT saarang Chennai. We had smoked up before the concert, and their music changed my perspective of music was all about. Back home, I downloaded all of Zeppelins music. Saw all their videos. It began with
"Stairway to heaven", like it usually does, but the fixation stayed while I discovered the high pitched stanza 2:15 minutes into
"Going to California", when Robert Plant croons,
Seems that the wrath of the gods,
Got a punch on the nose
And it started to flow;
I think I might be sinking.
The fixation stays even today, as I head to BB Kings at Times Square, New York, every time a Zeppelin tribute band plays.
There is something about Led Zeppelin, that makes their music so indelible. The folksy haunting guitar work and the screeching voice of Robert Plant forms a combination that along with the stoner trip lyrics make it an out of world experience to listen to their stuff. What other band could have written a line that says,
Been dazed and confused for so long its not true,
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
Soul of a woman was created below.
Must Hear: No Quarter, All of My Love, When the Levee breaks, Rock 'n Roll, The Battle of Evermore, Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Ramble On, Good Times Bad Times, Fool in the Rain, Dyer Maker.
The second milestone event was discovering
The Doors. It introduced me to the baritone voice of Jim Morrison and the often cynical, often simple words that made his songs fabulous.
It was a time of realization that some of the best music came from the 60s and 70s. The retrospective era. The era of The Doors.
Be it the cheerful melody of "
Love me two times" and "
Love her madly", or the more aesthetic "
The End", it was the kind of music that would make one fall in love with it.My personal favorite - "
L.A. Woman".
With the joy of discovery came the urge to discover more. And along the way, I discovered Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd stays the numero uno band in my list.The soul quenching music, their progressive tunes, the philosophical lyrics of Roger Waters, the experimental overtures of David Gilmore's guitar, the occasional meandering into the absurd chimes and bells, psychedelic lights and sound effects in their concerts, Rick Wright's extended guitar and keyboard solos...
Need I say more?
One of the reason Pink Floyd entrances me so much is the sheer charisma of each of its band members. It was one of those bands that was overflowing with genius, making an eventual break up inevitable. From the Syd Barette era, where we witnessed songs like Lucifer Sam or Arnold Lane and saw two Psychedelic Rock genres of albums (Piper at the Gate of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets), to the Roger Waters led era, with amazing Concept albums like Animals, The Final Cut and The Wall.
Sometimes, genius becomes too carried away with itself, which is what happened in Roger Waters' case, leading to a fall out between the band members. What eventually followed, was a David Gilmour era and one of Floyd's top selling albums, Division Bell. Pink Floyd was a band that performed on many many levels and delighted fans on many many more. My personal favorite favorite songs, well everything actually, but to mention just two, "
Shine on you crazy diamond" and "
Wish you were here".
Consecutively, I began to listen to The Beatles.
The sing song nursery rhyme like lyrics of John Lennon's songs usually had a wit and humor that made this one of the most inspiring bands to listen to. My favorite Beatles songs range from the tripped out "
A day in the life", the high spirited "
I've got a feeling" to the seductive crooning of "
I want you (she's so heavy)".
(Cont'd)
I love movies.
A movie, unlike mindless television, presents a concept - it packs it neatly, adds the essential cinematography, the philosophy and the background score - to make it appealing and complete by itself. The odd two and half hours tells you a story in its entirety - it does not finish with a "to be continued", does not interrupt you with mindless commercials ( unless you watch it on television, and mind you, I don't!), and isn't selling you anything, other than what it intends to sell - the story.
It is therefore no doubt that I love movies. Surprisingly, I realized I haven't enlisted my favorite ones anywhere. And that is exactly what I aim to do now.
I was wondering if I should I classify these movies based on their genres - as drama, suspense, action, etc. Or should I just rank them from 1 to 30. But while I was coming up this list, I hit upon a slightly different type of classification, based purely, on what kind of movie i like.
Here it is then, for your browsing interests:
1) Movies with guns:We all love those, don't we? The man turns and he under his trenchcoat he is packing a big one that goes, "Baaam! Baaam! Baaam!", and blood flows relentlessly.
When I talk about movies with guns, I am talking about movies with power. Movies with gangsters, to be precise. And the King of all such movies is The Godfather.
But if you ask me what my favourite gangster movie is, I would have to say, Road to Peredition. Something about the quiet melancholy the movie projects appeals to me in a way no other movie does. Also it has arguably one of the best background scores. And to top it all, a star cast that consists of Tom Hanks, Daniel Craig and Jude Law, to name a few. This movie here, is thus my all time favourite gangster movie.
A close second comes Donnie Brasco.
The interaction between Al Pacino and Johnny Depp is phenomenol. Two of my favourite actors sharing screen space and chemistry, with a brilliant plot! Simply superb.
Other movies to follow are Scarface and Goodfellas. Both are movies with very powerful characters and powerful storylines.I did see quite a few other movies of the same genre, the closest being, "We own the Night", starring Jaquelin Phoenix. It was pretty impressive, yes. But nothing, and I believe, nothing can beat the classics I have mentioned above, and for that reason alone, I haven't watched American Gangster, which is playing in theatres now. And I stick by my decision.
2) Movies with Style:When it comes to style, no movie in history will ever achieve what Pulp fiction
has attempted. And this, incidentally, stands as my favourite movie of all times. Every line in the movie, every character, and every background chord defines the style and pace of this movie that righteously deserved its Oscar - despite competitions like Shawshank Redumption and Forest Gump.
Other movies with style, that are my favourites would be True Romance (which tries to carry off the sparks of Pulp Fiction and somewhat fails), Snatch (A Guy Ritchie movie), Sin City, Grindhouse, Kiss Kiss BAng Bang, Kill Bill series, Blow, The Doors and Almost Famous.
I would like to say a bit about the last two. Unlike the others, these movies talk about music. And the style it propogates. The Doors by Oliver Stone, is one of the most well shot movies, with the amazing background score of the doors themselves, and a hint of mystery which only Stone himself could have achieved.
But the Ace of the pack is Almost Famous.
dsssdddddd
An observant and fun filled look at rock 'n roll culture, it takes you through the nuances of the era and yet leaves you with an objective perspective. Another of my favourite movies.
3) Movies with Brains:Some people would wonder why watch a movie that makes you think too much. Those people, please get off my blog page.
I love movies that stimulate your intellect. Movies that make you go, fuck! How the hell did they think of that?And the list of those kinda movies begins with Fight Club.
Yes, its based on a book. And yes, movies based on books are always more sensible, more refined, more intelligent.
Same with fight club.
The movie is filled with brilliant lines.Its the kind of movie you can't take your eyes off, for fear of missing something. Or the kind of movie, you have to inch forward to, so that you don't miss any of the narrators incessant monologue.
An example of its class is the first scene of the movie when Brad Pitt puts a gun to Edward Norton's head and asks him if he has something to say. Edward Norton replies, "I can't think of anything to say".
The rest of the movie is a flash-back, and we return to the same scene and Brad pitt's question with the gun. This time, Edward Norton says, "I still can't think of anything to say".
Brad Pitt looks away, smiles and says, "Flash-back Humour".
Classic scene with a dose of intelligence that might be lost on a few.
Another movie with brains which I feel was great, was The Matrix. Its concept was brilliant! Part 1, I mean. I hate sequels as a rule, and there has only been two exception to that rule - the Kill Bill series, and The Back to the Future series.
Other smart movies I liked were Batman Begins, Memento, The Prestige and V for Vendatta.
4) Movies with heart:The list begins with Shawshank Redemption.
I have stated, even earlier, that movies based on books are usually good. And one based on Stephen King's book, definitely makes its way to the top of my list. This movie, about hope, friendship and retribution, is the most beautiful movie to ever be made.Also in the list is Forrest Gump, Finding Neverland, Big Fish and Scent of a woman.
Big Fish, a movie about tall tales told by an ordinary man,is the kind of movie that brings a tear to your eye, and makes you feel young and nice at its end. Also bringing a similar feel good factor is The Green Mile, another movie based on a Stephen King book, which excels in its narration and screenplay.
5) Movies with reality:Crash tops this list, with its observant look at racism in America.
The subtle significances in this movie became apparent to me only when I came to the States myself. For different reasons, I found American Beauty appealing. It was a look at American families and how they are disfunctional, but hey, everybody has watched that one.
What everybody wouldn't have seen, and should, is Trainspotting. It is a look at drug abuse - the kind of movie you would find revolting, unless you have actually been a part of the scene yourself. And in that scenario, you will just be thankful its over.
6) Movies with mindless nothings:The list begins with the Back to the future Series.
And follows up with movies like Road Trip (for some reason, I like that movie - its mindless, and its got beautiful naked chicks), Old School(same reasons as before) and the American Pie series.
The kind of movies you can just watch, and not think, and have a few laughs while you do so. Unfortunately, I have felt that humor is deriding in Hollywood movies, and getting more and more retarded with time.These days, funny seems to be all about putting something nasty in somebody's food.
But a few movies, do still make a difference. Like The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Big Lebowski. But they are few and far away, and we can only wait for a time when Hollywood would come up with genuinely funny concepts.
7) Movies with hype:Every once in a while a movie comes along that everybody is talking about. They tell you its brilliant, that its splendid. You can't wait to get your hands on it. And when you finally watch it, you wonder what the hype was all about?
Magnolia tops the list for me. The movie that everybody claims is magnificent. I watched it filled with expectations. I felt it was a wannabe movie. Trying too hard to be Oscar material.
The Departed joins the bandwagon of over-hyped movies for me. It was made for the Oscars, and probably won it, because Martin Scorcesse has deserved one for a long time. And yet, I wonder, didn't Blood Diamond deserve it more?
Other such movies were Hotel Rwanda and The Pianist. The problem with these movies, I felt, was that half an hour into the movie, I get the point. That they are trying to survive. But I don't want to see that for the next two, sometimes three hours. With nothing beyond that? Surely, movies are supposed to propagate a concept aren't they?
Requiem for a Dream, another movie about drug abuse, with all the things wrong that Trainspotting had right. It leaves you depressed and sad, but other than that, is not proving a point. Not telling you anything, and not even providing entertainment at that. Thus how much ever the critics like it, this movie is a strict no for me.
8) Movies from Bollywood :I grew up on a diet of Shahrukh movies. Its treachery not to mention them, at least in passing. But instead of lurking over these insufferably bad attempts by Bollywood, lets move on to some of their good ones.
My favourite movies: Waisa bhi hota hai Part-2, (starring Arshad Warsi) - if you get your hands on this DVD, WATCH it!!! Other good hindi movies I like are Andaz Apna Apna, Kabhi haan kabhi naa
(yes, Shahrukh, I had to mention him at least once), and ofcourse Rang De Basanti.
With that my map of my favourite movies is complete. I watch new movies almost everyday. But this is the top list, and in most probability will remain so.
And if I ever do come across a spectacular movie,
I will let you know.
Almost a year, I have written, and the constant reader has read. Absolutely delighted, I have written much more, and much more, the constant reader has read. Sometimes, I forced it down the reader's throat, ostentatiously marking my blog updates in orkut (being the exhibitionist that I am). And yet, the constant reader has stuck by me, for most times, and has played friend, critic,lover, sympathizer and anonymous stalker with equal zeal.
The other day, a friend questioned my declaration of a comment as "arguably one of the best" in my blog. And I hastened to point out my diplomatic usage of the words, "ONE" of the best". But it got me thinking, and I realized, that credit has long been due to all you lovely folks who keep coming back to the world of "only ficus".
This now, is an attempt, to list a few of those folks who keep reading, and who give me enough food for thought to write the next line, the next update and the next post. I have tried to encompass a list here, but if I left anyone out, the error is all mine :D.
It begins with Shruthi(chinks/Lizzie Borden). Regular reader and commentor, she is also the person who introduced me to the world of Blogging. And on those early days, when nobody knew the existence of this blog, she kept me rolling with her inspirational lines. Her comments did not always follow protocol, and were subject to complete randomness, but it was her interest and effort that jump started my blog, and in all probablity, renewed my interests in writing.
And then there were the next wave of readers, like Salman, Rahul and Chaitu (Maddy), who left their little quotes and lines, and propelled me towards believing that the stuff I wrote was readable. That was, and has been my biggest challenge and fear. That everything I write should be very readable.
Next came Akhtar, with his laconic (and sometimes, curt) one-liners, that never failed to make me feel good. If an IIM graduate could enjoy it, there was no doubt. My work definitely, had a bit of intellectual pull in it that attracted him!
And suddenly, when I was least expecting it, came this:
"hey..! i stumbled across ure blog, a case of serendipity u mite say..(u seem to like the notion of love a lot, but i hope u didnt like the tearjerker of a horrendous movie of the same name..!) and i think u write really really well..reading ure posts, one thing that i've imbibed is that i now have a new found respect for stephan king, who my left brain had typecast as a morbid writer who derived sadistic pleasure out of scaring the living daylights out of ppl..! anyways looking at ure style i think u might like a bit of jjaser forde books too..give them a shot if u can.. and thanks for those woody allen classics..! one of my personal woody allen faves, another one abt 'god' he says.. " If u want to make god laugh,tell him your future plans"! keep writing..!
ps: btw jus to break ice, i'm shakti, one of veera's good friends."
Shakti Swaminathan, whom I met through my blog went on to become one my best friends in a short span of time.We shared movies, philosophy, and comments on each other's blogs.Indeed, writing is for writing, and not for getting famous, or making friends. But I cannot deny that I met the best people in my life through my blog. And that, by itself, has been worth everything!
Then came the second wave of people I met through blogosphere. Aditi (daydreamingoracle), Proma and Atashi among them. I got hooked on to some of their writings too. And their comments always inspired me to think a lot more. Aditi, for instance has this devilish side to her, and she comes up with the most vague and unthought of angle to my story. I chat with these folks now, and probably am building a bond that will last a lifetime!
And then there were the other readers.
Like a certain Ram, an Arun Nandi, and Jayashree, whom I hope will be the new wave readers, and whom I hope to keep interested in the rest of my writing.
Also to credit, are Jasleen and Tajpreet, who are usually my first readers ( apart from Shak, ofcourse), who give their valuable comments in first person. (My usual belief is, if they can understand it... anyone can...lol, kidding sorry sorry :D)
Other people close to my heart, like Lea, Nithya and Kunal keep making appearances and refuse to leave their valuable comments...or do it sparingly. But I know you are reading it, and that keeps me content :D. Ofcourse, Kunal tends to play the critic, and I tend to ignore :P.
Perhaps, this little attempt to thank the constant readers is an exercise in vanity. But I believe that putting this kind of a constant effort on something for the last one year (and for the first time in my life), is something to be proud of. And I would like to share this pride...
with you.
I was reading "On Writing" by Stephen King, and came across these two quotes about the beauty of writing. I felt compelled to add it, now that I have a random blog that caters to the very need.
And thus goes one of them,
"Writing is like the water of life! The water is free.
So drink.
Drink up lads, and be filled up!"
It appealed to me because it kind of hinted that writing wasn't an impossibly difficult task. Just like water, it was plentiful. What was really required, was an attempt to visit the word-pool, and fish out your story.
Writing does make one happy. ( Please, let me just harp on it one last time). It might not have any existential value, but it does bring value to your existence! This particular quote was simple, yet hit the nail on the head.
The second quote, which talks about the power of writing goes this way,
"There are no miraculous breakthroughs in writing. Just the ordinary miracles that come with an attempt to create something."
I encounter these ordinary miracles each time I attempt to write.You start off with no idea where you are heading, but before long, you have the characters speaking to you, deciding their own course of action. Its almost as if the story tells itself.
And sometimes, I am amazed. Ordinary miracles such as these, make me happy.
Since January of this year I worked diligently upon my blog.Along the way, I discovered that writing gives me the kind of happiness that is permanent, and not dependent on how people perceive me, or react to me in the real world.
In my blog I was the king. The hero. And people I met, at college, through orkut, or through other means told me they enjoyed some of my writing, and it got me more and more hooked.
A trip to India, where I spent time with some of my closest friends, discussing philosophies, mediating, debating (and downing galleons of tea, sometimes coupled with gastric disorders), made me realize that if there was ever a true vocation I would enjoy, it would be writing.
The masters degree in computer science, and consecutively a job in the computer industry ( if I were lucky or unlucky), would be routine, a mandatory option I will have to opt for, because of the path of least resistance I have followed until now.
But as Jude Law says in Road to Perdition, "You get paid to do what you love! Ain't that the dream?"
With a dream ahead, I see the need to diversify. To attempt fiction, and at the same time, keep a journal of thoughts and ideas that would propel me towards this hazy conquest.
And thus, becomes inevitable, a creation of two parallel blogs.
In keeping with the tradition of Nothing but ficus, I bring you, Nothing but Fictitious, an attempt at fiction. And a smaller, tidbits filled journal - Nothing But Factoids.
As the English poet John Donne said,
"Pleasure is none, if not diversified.”
