Lit meets Hollywood

Mathew Reilly is the Michael Bay of literature...:)

Wanderlust

I began reading about this Alstom employee who convinced his wife to leave a comfortable life behind and go on a 18 month road trip.

He has a travel blog, which he has promised to regularly update. Don't know about you, but I'll be subscribing to his feed. :)

http://wanderlust.bajan.pl/

Something about this blog evoked deep feelings inside me. Just look at the title - Wanderlust. And the subtitle - Sleep longer, walk slower, and enjoy the day! Simple, but powerful stuff!

I'm not saying that I'll be putting in my papers next Monday (so you can relax Divya Nag :)). It's just that I want to start getting out of my comfort zone, and do things, see places, take in experiences. You know what they say - "You live only once"!

Milestone...

Tomorrow is a milestone for me.

I complete 5 years working for Infosys. It has been an eventful journey, and to many of you, 5 years may not be a big deal even. But considering the behavior of an average Indian IT guy, I believe my sticking to one company for 5 years is a significant achievement (Don't go bursting my bubble, people).

I’ve had my share of ups and downs here in these years. I’ve even tried to convince myself that I do all this, I come to work with zest and enthusiasm because I love being an IT guy in a technology services company, working hard day in and day out, helping businesses grow by providing off-shore support to the tertiary sector (IT) of a company. Yet, I find it hard to make myself believe this is what I am. Is this my identity?

None of my hopes and aspirations I had as a kid had pointed in this direction. Did I lose my way somewhere? Perhaps. I took the beaten path. I don’t know whether I have taken the right decisions in life or not. I believe I am too young to ascertain that for sure. This is only my quarter life crisis. I have yet to deal with the biggies.

On a related note, just the other day, someone asked me a question similar to “Who are you?” …and I told him I was a Technology Analyst at Infosys… I mean, we’ve entered an age where our work not only defines us, but people even judge us by the work we do. I find it hard to believe that I could not describe myself in a better and more holistic way...Is it just me? Do other people answer these questions saying “I am a good husband”, “I am a patriot” ...I don't know what else...Something more meaningful, something more fulfilling and satisfying...It’ll be tonnes of fun to ask this of people and record their answers. But I’m too chicken, too lazy to do that alone…Will someone be my partner in crime?

Under the Glass moon

It was starting to be a heavy drive back home from office today.

At 11:30 PM, there was not a soul on the lonely Mysore road. I was tired, the air was nippy. So I rolled up my windows and settled into a cozy drive back, with the song - 'Under the Glass Moon' playing inside.
I am literally in awe of the band Dream Theater. I started out with the more melodic 'Take away my pain'. I love huddling up and listening to Change of Seasons, Falling into Infinity, or Octavarium.

But this song...
What an awesome opening, stunning riffs, and what a solo...Petrucci is a master.
Still, I can't get this nagging feeling out of my mind...Whenever I listen to it, I feel the vocals could have been better. Was LaBrie a right fit for the band?

A time gone by....

Just the other day, a topic came up in a music discussion group at work.
A colleague of mine, Ulhas V, posted this provoking image, and pondered - "Our children will never know the link between the two"



If you are among the people who are actually wondering what this picture is all about, then my friend, you have not been part of a beautiful time for music that has gone by - the age of the cassette.

I didn't have much exposure to popular mainstream music during my childhood days. Our cassette player was generally inaccessible to me because my parents figured I might damage it or something. Not sure what the reason was really. While it's true that my Dad used to follow ABBA and Michael Jackson during his time, he was more of a Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Illayaraja and Hamsalekha person. My tryst with music grew exponentially only when we moved to Mumbai. I began to feel the need, the craving for music, for an expression of my feelings. It seemed like a perfectly natural extension of my personality. I can never forget my first portable cassette player, my Sony walkman. Believe it or not, walkmans were still cool in India in 2000-2001. Cellphones were extremely bulky, definitely not meant to double up as a music player, and was more of a super luxury than a necessity. I bought many casettes during that time, lapping up the Bryan Adams, the Britney Spears, the Nsyncs and the Backstreet Boys. Rock, Metal, Hip hop and Trance came later in my life.

My walkman no longer works. May God rest its soul. Along with my cassette collection, it languishes in my house in Bengalooru. I can say my mom really knows how to preserve old stuff! But there's always a special place in my heart for my first cassette, I mean, my first purchase -
"Backstreet Boys The Greatest hits Chapter 1".


I've lost count of how many times I've listened to each and every song over and over again. And today morning, after 11 years, I once again listened to every song on my 2.1 music speakers. Let me tell you, it was bliss! I realized that I still remembered every track in its exact order.
And I was transported to my past - a simpler life.
Man, nothing evokes such powerful emotions as memories do.

Suffice to say, I had a lovely Saturday morning.
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