Chaos

Visited the Indian Consulate today to get my Indian drivers' license attested. Entering the premises gave me the feel of entering a typical Gulf-based Indian building, with fancy but inexpensive yet not modern looking lighting fixtures, mosaic floorings...

The moment I set foot in the attestation section, I could smell chaos and I was flooded by my memories of queueing up in our banks back in Kerala. [I am fortunate enough to say that I've only had to step in the banks and my college university offices. My good luck spared me from having to go to any other government buildings in India during my 6 year stay there.]

Back to the consulate, no indication/direction whatsoever of queueing, or for any of the attestation procedures for that matter. People entering the room, head straight to what seems to be a counter of some sort, while people waiting in the Q feel the unfairness & voice their discontent...where else but in Indian grounds do you experience this.

Waiting in that tiny room/hall considering the number of people coming in, one tends to get claustrophobic. Virtually no air circulation, partially coz of the crowd. Thank God it's not summer. It would have been a total mayhem. Having got my job done I felt relieved when finally stepping out of that chaotic mess of a place.

Chicken soup for my soul

Songs, definitely chicken soup for my soul.

Some make me smile, some make me ponder, while others help me cry. Some of them send me blasting back to the past, others make me wonder about the future. Sometimes, they simply lull me to sleep. But I must warn, a few of them irritate me too. Some remind me of my fun days-college days; others remind me about my dear friends.

Some time at night on the 10th of Jan '06 (technically speaking, on the 11th), we (kith n kin who gathered together in Umm-Al-Quawin for Eid) all had this wonderful singing spree, a real jamming session. It was probably the first time since leaving college that I sang so much , with so much rigour n passion..aaw it was wonderful.

While in college we had this 'awesome gang of music lovers', complete with on-the-spot tabla n drums n what not.. myself, Shruthi, Prashant, Vishnu, Sankar, Ratheesh just to name a few. Those days we used to sing so much...gone are those days.

Nowadays I don't even hum a bit. So it was quite a session we had on that night, I think we covered just about every song that I knew. Thanx guys for that opportunity. In particular, Faiz for bearing with me :P n Thanju for singing my favourties :)

It really was much-needed chicken soup for my music-starved mind.

Valentine's

Aaah! Another one of those valentine days approaching, yet this is the first time even that I yearn for some companionship. Yep, you heard me right.

TAGGED!! :D

It took me some time to realize that I'd been tagged :D Tubelight:D

Thanx for tagging me. It means more things to blog about..it happens to be topics of high interest, things that I was thinking of writing about sometime. Tagging, the catalyst!

So here goes....
I got tagged by NIJAZ (Founder of Krazistan)

Total volume of music on my computer: somewhere between 17-20GB

Title & Artist last bought: 'Parineeta' (Hindi) & 'Udayananu Thaaram' (Mallu) , I normally manage to get English songs from my friends, so never need to buy one.

Song I am playing right now:
1. If you weren't mine by Daniel Bedingfield
2. Another wonderful song I first heard and recorded onto my mp3 player on Dec 31st, 2005; it goes something like this:

Under this ???? raincloud,
I'm getting soaked to the skin
Tryin to find my umbrella
I dunno where to begin
And simply irrational weather
I can't even hear myself sing
Constantly bailing out water
Still feel like ??????????
Coz I'm under the weather
Just like the world so sorry to be so bored
When I turn out the light u're out of sight
Although I knew that I'm alone
It feels like...feels like home.

Songs I have been hooked onto: you don't want me start off with that...I am the master of hooking onto songs for ages.

1. Khamosh Raat : Thakshak
2. Thoovennila : An unreleased album by some of our ex-CUSATians, one of whom is my friend (thats how I got hand of the album in the first place).
3. You were always on my mind: Willie Neilson (did I get the name right?)
4. I Love You : Martina McBride (OST Runaway Bride)
5. Breakaway : Kelly Clarkson
6. 100 years : Five for Fighting (commendable lyrics!)
7. Runaway: The Corrs (the remix)
8. American Pie: Don Mclean
9. Heaven: Bryan Adams (unplugged)
10. When Love & Hate Collides: Def Leppard
11. O Gosh my ranting....this list to be continued

As for tagging I think I'll take my 'kousins in the uae' blog. Its a team blog. Apparently its almost dormant, so to bring back some life to it, I guess this should work.


PS: Could anyone tell me the name of the song I mentioned above along with its Artist??Pleeeeeeezzz

Dreamzz!

You are in a shopping mall or at the local funfair & you thought you heard your 'posted-in-the-US' friend's voice? You take a glance at that person, nah..it's not him and you go back to what you were doing. And again you heard him, that familiar chuckle of his. This time you take a closer look - Viola! It is him!!

Of all places, that too in Dubai, he got 'this' crowded mall to do his gold shopping...man. Me & buying gold, that in itself is a rarity..on top of that to meet a long lost friend, talk about coincidence!! Well, thats how I met Thajeer standing right next to me at Alukas Jewellery @ Lulu Hypermart, buying a gift for his fiancee who by the way was with him.

Thajeer, who was on his way back to Kerala from his US posting, dropped in at Dubai to meet his other half, about whom no one had any clue about anyway (except for may be Abid). I don't think even in his dreams he thought he'd meet me..talk about running out on luck.hee.. hee.. Congrats to Thaj & his gurl, Haseena.

Boomerang

Sometime last year, I tried a hand at hunting. I was terribly inexperienced; ill-equipped too. But I was kind of desperate, forced to find a game immediately. Hence the trial.

With all the ammunition I had, I ventured through the edge of a thick forest. Cowardly as I was, still staying at the edge, I spotted an innocent looking creature and took a shot (felt quite guilty too).

Bang!! Guess what, I missed..it was kinda close. Was it relief or disappointment? I couldn't quite figure it out.

That was last year. It felt bad. I swore I would never do that again, never.

Ever since, I was curious about the inhabitants of the jungle. Let my guard down a tad, started walking about in the forest, wary all the time of being lost - exploring. Few days ago I came across the very same game I had once taken aim at, this time I know I can take it IF I wanted to. Talk about a bolt in the blue. The boomerang I had thrown exactly one year ago.

So do I take it or not? But I really don't want it. Since this past year, I came to realize what actually I came looking for. Its so not the creature I once had in my cross-hair. But ultimately, it is 'game', I too will cross the finish line, but is this the stuffed head I want hanging in my den? No its not. I hope it never will be. I hope I stick to my wish-list.