Re-re-re-repeats and general rants

I dont know what its about, but I have really been into re-reading, re-listening, re-watching and all things re ! Maybe this nostalgia is a sign of advancing age??

I have a bunch of books I bought lately which I havent read yet. Instead I find myself constantly trying to decide which of my books to re-read. Should it be the adventures of Rumpole, barrister-at-law, or the long journey of Frodo Baggins carrying his precious cargo? Will it be Ian Rankin's rugged Scottish mysteries or Satyajit Ray's Feluda stories set in often exotic parts of India? Neil Gaiman's Sandman volumes steeped in obscure histories, or Alan Moore's V for Vendetta set in a bleak, hopeless future? Even the contemplation brings me joy.

Coming to music, I was going nuts trying to find a few CD's I had misplaced. A bunch of Led Zep albums, which were once my regular listening, had been misplaced in an avalanche of electronic media. Sometimes, you keep the things you love the most in a place you feel is the most secure, and then you cant find it just coz its not where all your other stuff happens to be! Luckily, I did remember where it was, and with it found the wonderful unplugged Nirvana album, a collection of Hindi music I didnt even remember owning, REM's Monster and the wonderfully hard and heavy MI2 soundtrack. So, there it was. Audio nirvana!

I have just not had time for movies lately though. So what I have seen is just what was on tv, but then you still need to select which one you wanna watch, right? And again, I find myself preferring the ones I have seen before. Saw Seven recently, and was waiting for it with bated breath, although I have seen it at least thrice.

Apart from all this nostalgia though, hasnt there just been too much cricket lately? The IPL was great fun to begin with, but surprisingly as it came closer to the final stages, I found my interest waning somewhat. There is such a thing as overkill, and the IPL doesnt seem to get that, what with that Lalit Modi looking to add two more teams into the league.

But the beginning of the T20 World Cup has been interesting though. The last ball win for the Netherlands over England, the strong showing by Scotland against NZ, and the Windies beating the Aussies; all go to show that the 20-20 format is the one which has the most likelihood of producing upsets as there is simply no time to recover sufficiently from a bad period in the game. Lets hope for a few more interesting results. Maybe if Netherlands or Scotland go out and win the damn thing, the cricketing world will come to see the 20-20 format for the lottery it really is!!

(Image courtesy cricket.yahoo.com)

Bangalored!

So, whats the latest in my life? I have been 'Bangalored'.

OK, not quite what that term implies. I still have my job, the money's still rolling in, albeit like a roll of coarsely kneaded dough rolling down a Velcro strip. And then it rolls out again like a particularly swift bowling ball that finds itself given the heave-ho over a heavily greased alley. But for us Bangalore residents, there are other ways you get 'Bangalored'!

For those who don't know and never cared to find out, I have been living within a radius of 5 km's from work for the past 7 yrs. And the last 3 yrs of that have actually been at a distance of 1.5 km's from office! I know, sounds like heaven doesn't it? Not coz my office happens to be Disneyland, but just coz you don't end up spending half your life commuting to work and back.

But hey, that's all a sweet little dream now. The powers that be decided that enough is enough. The KS (no, not that KS) has had too much of a good thing, and its time he was woken up to the harsh realities of Bangalore life. Which basically means, they decided I would perform a lot better if my office was moved around 20Kms further away from home. Bangalored!

And how they howl with laughter, as I struggle daily in search of fabled paths, legendary avenues unknown to common men which, so they say, lead you through traffic-less dream kingdoms. Tears roll down their eyes with mirth, as the new flyover work begins as soon as KS starts his unusual journey towards his new, distant workplace. Roads get dug-up overnight to lay further challenges along his way. Will he give in? Will he be another victim of the dark land of Bangalore, gobbled up and churned out after being infested with road rage?

Little do they know, how they have underestimated the slayer! For as long as there is Robert Plant screaming out his need to 'Ramble On', as long as The Who confirm that 'We wont get fooled again', as long as Amit Trivedi growls 'Nayan tarse', as long as RHCP's Anthony Kiedis sings about the city of angels, as long as Deep Purple play on, I don't give a fuck. ;)

Over a year gone... its been too long. I'm surprised this blog is still alive! Thanks to the guys who thought it wasnt quite ready for the chop shop yet.

There have been lots of things keeping me away from here. Its been such a busy year. But was it really so busy that I couldnt write a few lines once in a while. Its not like i stopped reading, so I could have posted about the books i read. I've been watching movies, listening to music, could have written about that. And anyway, all my writing has pretty much been for myself! Not like a huge audience hankering for some action out there!! ;)

I read a couple of my old posts today, and just got a feel of how nice it feels to document a few of the moments that life sends our way. I had forgotten about the time when my not-yet-three year old son spouted out his favourite movie dialogues as we travelled to Hyd by train. This is worth putting down for me, so ya.. I'm going to keep writing. Have made those promises to myself before, i know.

Hope I keep this one.