Observations, of late.

Everything is better when it's colourful. (Even if you can't go wrong with B&W)
Time flies. As fast as flying can fly.
Letting go is hard to do.
Real love is beyond language, religion, background, everything.
Sometimes real love is born simply from being forced to spend a lot of time together.
No, I don't mean the romantic kind of love. But, it applies there too, I'm sure.
Not that I would know much about that.
No matter how old you are, it will all feel like it happened in the blink of an eye.
Being the "older sibling" figure is one of the awesomest things ever.
Having older siblings is a safe feeling.
Yea, 'having siblings' is a feeling. Mostly, because I just made it one.
You will never be as cool as "the kids".
Not trying makes you cooler.
Bus rides are a peaceful thing to me.
Failure isn't the end of the world.
Dreams are a good fuel for life.
There's very little hard work and dedication cannot accomplish.
Working hard and staying dedicated is hard to accomplish, very often.
How much we keep in touch is not directly proportional to how much we love.
I wish that how much we kept in touch was directly proportional to how much we love.
There's no point being afraid of death.
Loneliness, when accepted, is a gift that will lead us to find a purpose in life.
I'd hardly ever re-tweet a saying like that. 
But, these "life-quotes", and "sayings" and "profound thoughts" that we don't always like to admit we read, are comforting.
It's nice to know complete strangers feel similar things we do.
It's worth keeping up with the news. 
Even if it is mostly depressing.
It's OK not to understand it once in a while.
Sometimes, if you're lucky, that mistake you just made will have helped you find the best way of doing what you actually set out to do, some other way.




(to be continued...)

On a day like today.

The Bryan Adams Concert.

11^th February, 2011.

First of its kind in the city of Pune.

I was there.

I just had to come home and pour my heart out, somewhere!

It’s been a rollercoaster of thoughts and feelings through today. And I just want a release.

I don’t even know where to start. First I thought I’d blog.

But, I didn’t want to appear drama-full. Or for that matter, offend anyone.

So I’ve resorted to good old, Word.

I’ll decide if it’s safe to share later.

(Obviously (with some alterations) I’ve decided it is.)

 So, this is Larika on

Bryan Adams: A first time concert, from the back of the crowd!

It was a bittersweet experience. I’ve been cooped up at home for a while now. So really, today, I was just happy to be out. (For something other than field work!)
It was for Bryan Adams! And I’m a big fan, of course! So obviously there was this intrinsic excitement, I could not help. I got a pass through a close friend who was kind enough to take me along. (I will always be eternally grateful.) I’m quite sure I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of going, if I were left to buying a pass and coordinating the whole affair on my own. Not having to make a choice is much easier. (That raises a whole load of other questions and reasons.) But, I’ll just say that, I’ll splurge when I’m earning and the money’s mine to spend as I like.

So, like I said, this was the first of its kind in Pune and although I was happy to have a pass, there’s no denying that the zone we were in, was pretty sucky. At this point, being a short person did not help either. It’s made for some pretty tired feet and slightly sore ankles.

But again, I’ll reiterate how… I, like many others, was just happy to be there.

Now, it’s true, I can imagine people who paid good money were probably ticked off at being barricaded at a considerable distance from the action, forced more achingly to have to see vast expanses of empty land before them, only because the organizers were (as I’ve heard it been put tonight) overambitious.

The sound was much too soft, definitely not the decibel level you’d expect to help fuel the adrenaline rush arena rock is supposed to create. (For the people at the back, anyway.) Not that it was an arena, but those epic guitar solos and little wise-cracks between the songs weren’t done justice to, for sure! (You're not supposed to be able to have conversations at rock concerts are you?!)

And again, I was still pretty happy to be there.

I happened to be around people who’d seen and experienced much better. So I could understand where they were coming from, when their take on almost all of it was… well, completely negative.

The only saving grace being, the music!

As much as I understood how they felt, I couldn’t stop it from getting to me.

There I was after all, at a concert for the first time in my life (Sean Kingston’s gig doesn’t really count ‘cause it wasn’t on the same scale and I’m not THAT big a fan, and RIO definitely doesn’t count ‘cause I knew just one song and I didn’t even recognize him when he entered. And then there are some other random ones that are just not the same thing.)…

So, yeah! For the first time in my life, at a full-fledged concert, with thousands of people! And I just wanted to sing the songs with the man himself, even if he did seem like just a speck from where I was.  I really had nothing to compare any of this to. So, apart from the apparent suckiness, I was still for some stupid reason, happy to be there. I guess that’s just the power of the music. To think that this was just Bryan Adams! I don’t know what I’d do if Bon Jovi came to town. I just know I wouldn’t put ANYthing past me.

I’ll be honest; it felt pretty wretched being constantly reminded of how terrible it was from where we were tonight. But, I wonder if the unfairness of it all would have even crossed our minds had we had front row VVIP spots. The truth is, the concept of concerts (on this scale) is entirely new (to the crowd in Pune at least) and some of us, we don’t even know what we’re missing. How much better it could get. So in our defence, what we don’t know doesn’t really affect us. 
So, I’m sorry if we’re the idiots who’re willing to stand 500 meters away from the stage with empty grounds in front of us – big enough to play cricket on, and see the flashing lights more than actual faces and watch the big screens, knowing full well, that youtube gives us a better deal (being free and in our faces and all) and still somehow be excited and happy to be hearing some of our favourite songs being sung live by the flesh and blood that made them famous to begin with!

In retrospect, it all seems pretty silly; 
the hype and the drama.

And it all seems pretty surreal; 
the idol and the dream.         

For me, I realised how the big screens and television and the movies and the media all make some very simple things seem larger than life. 
At least Sean Kingston kinda ‘looked’ larger than life; 
but today made Bryan Adams so real.
He was a tiny figure running up and down the stage. 
Keith Scott was the size of an ant on stage, from where we were; and still, bigger than freakin’ Godzilla with nimble fingers on the giant screen. 
Gary Breit was juggling synths, again, magnified times ten.

I guess that’s what being a superstar is. Being who you are and somehow shifting souls and moving masses even more than half the world away. After a brief conversation while walking back, I began to wonder how many of them do it because it’s all they really know how to do, and how many of them work strategically to be universally appealing. 
And how do they know where all our parallel universes collide to find common ground to enjoy the act they have worked out and ready to stage.

I’m sure there’s no fixed formula for fame. And different people have gotten “there” in different ways. I’m definitely in awe of their impact; how they do it. And I’m even more in awe of the giddy-headed fans, fainting at the sight of their favourite stars, standing in lines hours before their concerts begin.

Respect to both, I’d say.

Whether you’d like to admit it or not, we’re all suckers for the famous.
Some of us, for their work and some of us, for the fantasy-picture perfect lives they seem to lead. Closeted reality, no doubt.

But, why would we care?

‘Cause it’s true, we all just wanna be big rockstars, live in hilltop houses, driving 15 cars!

And I’m sure every rockstar had someone else make them go weak in the knees and blurry in the head before (and after) they made it.

Ugh! I could go on… =)

But, for now, I’ll say that for a first time concert, I’ll admit, it probably wasn’t the best.  But, Bryan made up for that by just being... Bryan!
And I’m not disappointed. My rock-concert-design dreams remain.
I’m gonna see it all, from bottom to top

And,

‘Around the world or around the block

Everywhere I go, the kids (will always!) wanna rock!’

At your own risk.

Consumption of the following substances is highly recommended.


Warning!:
You might die and go to heaven.

The way

I am in love with "The Way" by Dana Glover.
But I can't seem to find the song ANYWHERE!....
In fact, this (below) is the ONLY video I could find.
Shes a decent singer... and the acapella choir is cool.
But I want this song!! Grr!
So, if you happen to manage to get a hold of it.
Let me know! =)


And, apart from the two freakishly tall guys at either end,
notice the amount of fun the girl in the background is having!
Gotta love it!

The Way 

Dana Glover

Well I guess it's just the way it's got to be

I can't expect the whole world to stop turning just to listen to me

Besides everybody thinks that they're the one that's got something to say

It's the way it's been it's always been the way

It's a really fine feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

Cause I can hear the words but I just can't feel the soul

Said the tides are turning but nothing ever seems to change

When I turn the dial the groove still feels the same

Yeah, yeah yeah

Well I guess it's just the way it's got to be

Whose to say I'm the only one living in reality

But there's a melody I'm singing keeps me feeling like I'm never alone

I'll just sit right here and sing all the way home

Is anybody feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

Cause I can hear the words but I just can't feel the soul

Said the tides are turning but nothing ever seems to change

When I turn the dial the groove still feels the same

Well I guess it's just the way, that things will have to be, yeah

Well what if I could just live in that wonderland

Where Stevie touches my heart with his hands

And Aretha sings about a do right man all night long just for me

That'd be the way that it would be

My my my my my my...

Is anybody feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

Is anybody feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

Is there a James Brown, or an Al Green, or an anybody who knows what I mean

Oh my my, whoo whoo

Chaka Kahn, I feel for you

Is anybody feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

Is anybody feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling what I'm feeling on the radio

My my my my my my... 

This isn’t a review.

It’s just WHY I think you should watch Dhobi Ghat.

I loved it.

I’m so glad I managed to watch it today. A week late! “Better late than never”

Again, a completely last minute, impromptu plan – The only kind that seem to work !

But, I’ve been looking forward to this one.

And it definitely didn’t disappoint.

Having heard and read mixed reviews about it, I’m glad I made the time to see it and decide for myself.

The portrayal of these lives and their emotions is very real, crude and because of that, fresh.

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about how it just leaves you hanging; Inconclusive in a way.

That’s what makes it all the more brilliant. How many of us are living ‘done deals’ anyway!

But, I drew my own conclusions.

I replayed the last few scenes in my head on the way back home and I thought about what the little gestures meant, from the characters you grow to understand through the course of the film. Whether it was a tear rolling down, or crumpling a paper or running like a madman to do something completely selfless, to reserving your greatest work for yourself; there are so many questions that could be asked and so many meanings that could be drawn from a movie that ends the way this one does.

Which is why, I would LOVE to discuss it with ANYone who’s seen it and feels like discussing it! (*bebe=)) 

I was thoroughly enthralled by the way they managed to capture all kinds of love. All kinds of life.

This definitely isn’t brainless, “feel good” cinema. It’s the kind that makes you think.

But, apart from the philosophical stuff that there really is no end to,

the script and direction leave me looking forward to Kiran Rao’s next. The storytelling was just masterful, in words and by every frame.

Aamir, of course, is awesome; but this time, she really brought the “better” half.

A perfectly cast set of actors that did justice to their roles, Prateik Babbar standing out in particular, was just the icing on the cake.

Watch the movie.

And this was totally a review.