7 marks away...

Never, in my most pessimistic dreams, did I ever think that 7 marks could play the most dramatic role in changing my life. A life that already had few corners where happiness could be successfully preserved is now lacking smiles at any randomly selected point. The thought of what lies on the other side of those 7 marks, resides & prevails in my mind for virtually infinite amount of time. Unfortunately, I can't cherish it as I would have loved to, had it been real.
The state of constantly rusting in peace can have some remarkably disastrous effects on your brains, mind and your entire composure as a person. I'm out of my senses for a long time. My quality as a person (not claiming that it was considerable ever) has debased, humor has vitiated, presence is unwanted and in turn life is impaired. My career is at stake and so are many internal & external things.
The haunting thoughts of failure and spooky dreams of a disastrous future combine together to define 'nights' while the days are spent on things that I like to believe are productive, but in reality aren't. The dreams of an almost certain success and the belief that I'm the best of the best are tattered and torn. My self - esteem is at it's lowest and my self - confidence is far from existing.
However boring this article was, it was true. I guess I`m done. For all the readers of my blog (I'm sure there are few), here I stop & go on a sabbatical to learn more. 7 marks are the evil teacher, I must say!

A Fight !!

This is not a fairy tale neither am I going to tell you about the coolest pubs around. On the other hand, this is the story of the harsh reality, tough challenges and more importantly the fighting spirit, never – say – die attitude & perennial optimism.

Balkrishna Joshi, a 58 year old rikshaw driver, whose rikshaw I was travelling in at 10 o`clock in the night, had something about him that was special. There was something that got me talking to him and the conversation led to a story that was impressive in the true sense of the word.

Mr. Joshi, found himself in Prarthana Samaj, a famous orphanage in Vile Parle, at the age of 3. He cant remember the face of either of his parents. He was gifted with a disaster right at the beginning of his life. He left his now – forbidden home at the age of 18, as he realized that it was time for him to prove himself in a world full of challenges.

He started working in a soap factory as a worker. Then came the time when he had to get married. He strongly believed that his family should not suffer financially because of his small income and hence took up a job that would pay him more “Apne parivaar walon se main kabhi kaam nahi karaunga. Khud mehnat karke unhe sambhalna meri jimmedari hai”, says the man. He started working as a delivery boy in a shop. He would carry heavy luggage on his strong shoulders and transport it to different places. The amount of hard work that he used to put in was immense.

At the age of 39, the wise person, realized that with increasing age, its getting difficult for him to continue with his old job and got a rikshaw permit for himself. He has been driving a rikshaw for 19 years now. What I was shocked to hear was that the veteran rikshaw wala, is well – aware of the importance of education and his elder son is studying civil engineering whereas the younger one is in 12^th standard. “Main zindagi mein kuch nahi kar saka, par mere bete padh likh kar bade banenge, yahi ek ummid hai. Inhi ke liye itni mehnat kar raha hoon”, said Mr. joshi, as I was completely touched and impressed at the same time. When questioned about his income he says that he gets 4, 500 a month by driving a rikshaw. But is that enough to support his family? No, its not. And hence he works in a shop in the morning before hitting the roads with his rikshaw. That takes his monthly income to an approximate figure of 7,000 a month. “Zindagi mein kitni bhi mushkile aye, haar nahi manana”, advises the man.

I was completely stunned to hear this overwhelming story of the fight that Mr. Joshi has put forward and the way he has faced the hurdles in life. I was supposed to get some change back when I paid him the money, I asked him to keep the change but he returned it to me and said, “Sahab main haram ka paisa nahi leta. Mehnat pe vishwaas rakhta hoon”. That flamboyance in his speech and truth in his behavior bowled me over once again.

It was time for me to leave him alone & stop the bombardment of my questions. For the first time, I actually wanted to talk more to a rikshaw driver. We exchanged goodbyes and parted ways. One thing that I must mention here is that I learned a lot more about life from him than what I could ever learn inside the locked class rooms of the schools or colleges that I have attended.

A Tribute to Pink Floyd

Waiting for you with PARANOID EYES,
LOST FOR WORDS in the course of life,
Like a BRAIN DAMAGEd lunatic, with something more than just that YOUNG LUST in my mind,
still filled with HIGH HOPES for the HAPPIEST DAYS OF MY LIFE,
everyday I wished you were there, every day I WISHed YOU WERE HERE

With ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE I wanted you to colour me,
with SORROW in my mind I RAN LIKE HELL,
with all the TIME & MONEY that I had,
MAROONED was I, POLES APART were we,
I even thought of saying GOODBYE to the CRUEL WORLD,
THE THIN ICE was melting everyday,
before finally I STOPPed the useless chase
where I could find No love, no trust & no SIGNS OF LIFE.

Trying to re - build THE WALL,
was the given task,
starting to BREATHE fresh again,
was a difficult ask,
The EMPTY SPACES in the wall occasionally
questioned what would be OUTSIDE THE WALL?
but firm was I, I`ll be once again LEARNING TO FLY

I knew THE SHOW MUST GO ON
it was not the end & was time for
"Killing the past & COMING BACK TO LIFE"
Finally came the GREAT DAY OF FREEDOM,
the day when it was the HERO`s RETURN!

concluding this on a good note,
don't bother about the minute things,
life`s a SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS,
explore it, enjoy it - if you wish nothing can turn it gray,
Booze, rock, Pink Floyd
& ofcourse HAVE A CIGAR everyday!

I Rock 22 - Day 2

The traditionally better day of I Rock – Day 2, began with some real loud music by a band called ‘Dream Out Loud’, that was unknown to many. The music arrangement & the sound quality was better on Day 2, as both the major speakers were loud enough to be heard even at Fun Republic. Dream Out Loud mostly played OCs (Original Compilations) & that’s exactly where they went wrong. Most of their songs were monotonous, but the one that stood out was ‘Two Encounters’.

As Dream Out Loud walked off the stage, now was the time for one of the biggest crowd pullers around, ‘Them Clones’. Them Clones started off with an OC, that got the crowd headbanging. Though, their second song was the one that started the famous moshpit at I Rock. It was none other than the much expected RATM cover, ‘Killing in The Name Of’. No one else covers RATM better than Them Clones in India. They went on to play many OCs that were well appreciated by the crowd.

As Them Clones signed out it was time for all the metal heads & moshpit mongers to come in front and sway all the way. PDV (Pin Drop Violence) were given an exhilarating welcome by the crowd. Pradeep Bhatia, one of the better vocalists for me, had an electric stage presence as usual. PDV started off with the much expected ‘Get’em Off” as they went on to play many of the originals from their new album as well. Some of them were good, some were ‘ok’. The song that had to be performed at I Rock, was none other than ‘In - Dependence’ and PDV performed it with a great flair as always.

PDV signed off with a Pantera cover, welcoming the true ‘Dinosaurs of Rock’ on stage.

Farhad Wadia, the organizer introduced a friend of his as the first vocalist. He sang an OC that was about the city of Mumbai. Dinosaurs further went on to play what is one of the all time best rock songs, ‘Another Brock in The Wall - Part 2’. That remained the most beautifully sung song of the evening. The crowd got to hear some Led Zeppelin as the only female performer of Independence Rock arrived on stage. The range of her voice & her vocals overall were outstanding in every sense of the word, so was her stage presence.

The next vocalist of the band sang two songs, that were largely boring, though he made up for them by selecting something from the Division Bell as his final song. ‘Coming Back to Life’ lingered in the minds of the crowd even after they departed.

Farhad Wadia, the organizer himself , was the 4^th vocalist as he sang the legendry Pink Floyd song ‘Time’ dedicating it to I Rock. With Farhad as the vocalist, Dinosaurs went on to play a hardcore AC/DC number ‘That’s the way I wanna Rock n Roll’, which was very well received by the crowd.

In this entire story of varying the vocalists, Nandu’s lead guitars & Kieth Pinto’s bass were absolutely amazing as they sounded great with some flamboyant drum beats at the background.

The last vocalist of the evening was none other than the man himself, Gary Lawyer. Gary started off, with ‘My Sacrifice’, saying that’s how he feels while performing at I Rock.

He sang some fabulously euphonious music, though the only disappointment was that the show had to stop abruptly since it had already crossed the ’10 o`clock’ limit.

I Rock 22 terminated with some memories that will stay with the rock lovers for a real long time, as all of them hope for more I Rocks, probably even I Rock 50!

I Rock Day 1 - exclusively with MIHIR

Off Link Road, just behind Fun Republic, there`s a ground called ‘Chitrakut Grounds’. I wonder if any one ever goes there. But yesterday, all the Rock Heads of the city seemed to be heading towards only one destination...’Chitrakut Grounds’. The reason was simple. It was the first day of the biggest rock show in India -Independence Rock. I ROCK 22!

With people wearing Black all the way, typical Rock Heads with long hair & Rock chicks with their toned bodies, the I Rock competition began with a Mumbai band, ‘Black’. They started off with a Pearl Jam song, ‘Even Flow’, which was well played. They went on to play a couple of OCs (Original Compilations), which sounded good. By that time, the crowd had started entering in humongous amounts. What I like about the band Black was that they dared to play what arguably is the best Pearl Jam song ever, ‘Black’ and moreover, they played it with some appreciable fluency.

Then came a band called ‘Boomerang’ from a place where I didn’t even know people are aware that there exists something called Rock. They had come all the way from Aizawl. Boomarang, were surprisingly good when they played ‘Bulls on Parade’. They changed the entire scene at the evening. That was when the crowd started headbanging. Their OCs were decent too and they took a leave on the best possible note. ‘Killing in The Name of’ rocked each & everyone around.

The band performing after that, ‘Half Step Down’ looked dull to me in their first song. But as I heard them further, some of their OCs were amazing. ‘Rocking at the Top of My Head’ was undoubtedly the best OC played in the evening, as someone from the crowd shouted, “You are the next ZERO”. Now, that’s some compliment.

‘Afterburn’, the next band from Chennai, played only Metal. Even they tried their hand at playing a Pearl Jam cover but it didn’t sound as good to me as some of the previous ones.

‘Caesar`s Palace’, a band that beat the much talked about ‘Perusia’ in Banglore elims, didn’t look too impressive to me, but even they had their share of support from the crowd as they were playing at I Rock.

The last band to play in the competition was ‘Scribe’ from amchi Mumbai. Mumbai gave them a larger than life welcome as they arrived on stage. They played ‘Hardcore’. They covered some rare bands. Their music was loud.

Soon after ‘Scribe’ finished, the results were declared. ‘Scribe’ were declared as the winners though many from the crowd wanted either ‘Half Step Down’ or ‘Boomarang’ to win. Though some showed disappointment after the results, it was time for the entire crowd to welcome their beloved band. The veteran headlining band they were waiting for since a long time – ‘Parikrama’.

Parikrama arrived on stage with a crowd that was going mad. The respect for them on the Indian rock scene could be clearly sensed. Parikrama mesmerized the crowd with their amazing originals namely, ‘Vaporise’, ‘Open Skies’, ‘Rhythm Blues’ and ofcourse the much awaited song that everyone knows by heart, `But It Rained‘.

They covered Iron Maiden by playing ‘The Trooper’ and as expected by many, they terminated the electric evening by the legendry ACDC song, ‘Highway To Hell’.

‘I Rock 22 – day I’ got over with some tough competition among the bands, music that lingered for long in the minds of the crowd & the excitement of turning up for day 2.