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Showing posts from September, 2007

Life

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Came across this quote today : "Life is like Sea. As vast as you can imagine; As deep as you can think. Don't waste time measuring your life. You won't succeed. Instead, explore life. Reach for new harbours as you pass through different phases of life. Make friends on each destination. Enjoy your journey. " I am heading out for a short vacation to Spiti tomorrow .. ps: the pic is from my trip to phi phi island earlier this year.

Colonel Bogey's March

Heard this tune after aeon's. A simple tune that one can whistle and lingers on!! I never really looked into the creator and history behind this famous song until today. I always thought it was from an old classic film 'Bridge on the River Kwai' . 'The "Colonel Bogey March" is a popular march that was written in 1914 by Lieutenant F. J. Ricketts (1881-1945), a British military bandmaster who was director of music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Since at that time service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives outside the armed forces, Ricketts published "Colonel Bogey" and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford. Supposedly, the tune was inspired by a military man and golfer who whistled a characteristic two-note phrase (a descending minor third interval) instead of shouting "Fore!". It is this phrase that begins each line of the melody. Bogey is golfing term meaning one over par.' Details here The

Agassi and Graf

Remember those days, growing up watching these two champions battle it out in their respective sections. Graf, I was an ardent fan of hers and was one of the reason me taking up the game of tennis. I liked her reticent, no nonsense self , playing a graceful game of tennis and loved the way she let her game do all the talking. While Agassi, was the bashful young champ with flashy neon clothes and streaked hair. I initially didn't like his attitude (not his game :) ) and ofcourse always cheered the other players-Becker, Lendl,Edberg. But slowly my opinion changed and I liked his spirit when he came back from being ranked 190+ to fight and get back all the way to the top and also comeover his troubled personal life.. Watch these videos where they talk about each other... Agassi/Graf Interview: one more :

Stamps and Letter Writing

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Finally got the set of stamps I had been waiting for since May.They are really nice, with all the tintin comic book covers with the titles in different languages. Marc, a colleague of mine picked up a set of these commemorative stamps(100yrs of Herge) on the day of its release in May 2007, and sent it to my office address here but it never arrived , thanks to the Indian Postal Dept. Fortunately another friend of mine was visiting Belgium and Marc sent her the 2nd set he had picked up when he heard the 1st set was lost . As the long wait was over and I was appreciating the stamps on its arrival today, it took me back to my school days, days of pen pals and letter writing. There was a medium even those days to find new friends across the globe even without high speed internet, email/chat and no social networking sites. I had a bunch of penpals while growing from places like Greece, Germany,Mauritius,Sweden . We would correspond regularly via post and write about our growing up years,

Djoking Around

Have a laugh watching this video here I will be cheering Djokovic at the US open Finals tomorrow.

Two Wheels - Ride to TK Falls

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Took off early saturday morning from IIMB and headed towards the Bannerghatta National Park. Near the Park entrance, asked a few people around and headed towards TK Falls. As you take a diversion towards TK Falls you are suddenly transported into a different world away from the chaos of the main road. It's all serene and quiet, hardly anybody to be seen for distances . It totally green all around with farms and farmers working on them with their bullock carts , you cross a lake, few hillocks and a few huts. One needn't run to far away from the city to get a breath of fresh air ! However, don't expect a fall once you reach the destination, its just a small muddy stream :) Route - IIMB on bannerghatta road -> stop at the entrance to the bannerghatta national park -> take a diversion towards tk falls-> on the way back took another diversion on the way (turned out to be much longer and lots of tough up hills ) ->bannerghatta road Approx :40kms. Route Condition

Return to Sender - Letters from Tentland

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Yesterday after a longtime I headed to RangaShankara to watch a Dance/Theatre performance called 'Return to Sender-Letters from Tentland' . I love Ranga Shankara's , since it creates an intimate theatre atmosphere and everyone in the 300 odd seats in the audi feel part of the performances. They have a nice little cafe with varied food as well. This play is one of the most important and well known political plays of contemporary dance/theatre. Its about migrants , who are about 3% of the world population and their struggle . Its about the experiences and struggle of these migrant women in the unwelcome world of settled folks and their alienation being away from their own country. The play has six Iranian women (all of them Iranian exiles currently staying in Germany) performing surreal modern dances while wearing colourful tents . It's about freedom , its about fear ,its about veiling their desires inside the tents, it's about being different but finally it's

The Sea Inside

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Watched this beautiful and thought provoking Spanish film. Its based on a true story of Ramon Sampedro, a Spanish mechanic who became quadriplegic after a diving accident and fought a court battle for 28years to legalize euthanasia and to have the right to end his own life. What a performance by Javier Bardem !! The sea inside makes you wonder about life and the freedom most of us experience and take for granted. It also reminds you of the one truth we all know but try to avoid and think of i.e DEATH. Its also about the sea within us , the questions the unknowns , the search for something! It also opens up a topic that one can debate about forever-euthanasia . I also believe that people should have the freedom to choose death by euthanasia if the situation/circumstances arise and the concerned person has ample time to figure out that he doesn't believe that life is worth living. Most of the laws passed are by able bodied folks who have never experienced what it is to have their f