Current read - A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
I have to say this is one of the greatest books ever written. I haven't read all there is to read in this world, and I never will ... but even so, this judgement will ring true.
The facts are quite astonishing, as is the storytelling, but what fascinated me time and time again ... and I am only as far as page 160, is the shape taken by people's lives. People's lives are always more interesting than their incidents, given the human sympathy inherent in their experiences.
There is the genius of Newton, who stood head and shoulders above all others (including Einstein). Newton stuns not just with his accomplishments, but also with his quirks, making him the quintessential mad legend that has been the stuff of lore for ages. Whether it is his attempt to put a big needle in the space "betwixt his eye and the back of the bone surrounding its socket".... "just to see what might happen" or his attempt to stare at the sun for as long as he possibly could, or his assertion to Halley that planetary orbits were elliptical, Newton's story is downright fascinating. The part where he deliberately made the Principia unreadable to the lesser mortals with its obscurity, so he would not be hounded for explanations or discussions is just a bland testimony to his own elevated orbit.
Einstein on the other hand, did not begin to speak until he was 3 years old. He produced the Special Theory of Relativity (the first of the 2 Relativity Theories) while he famously was still a 'Patent Clerk, Third Class' at the Swiss office. Just before/after he published the theory, his application to promotion as 'Patent Clerk, Second Class' was rejected !! He also was unable to find work as an Associate Lecturer at a local University. His leaps of intuition that formed the Special and General theories of Relativity are just awe-inspiring. He has to be the aphoristic divine being having a human experience.
There are a number of stories of Geologists, Zoologists, Chemists and Botanists who made stellar contributions to their fields but were just not recognized despite earnest efforts at publication and or marketing. Something beyond human effort and tribulation seems to be at play at all times insofar as human fulfillment is concerned ... I guess the examples stretch beyond Science, what with a desparate Van Gogh shooting himself in the chest, and even failing at suicide, only to be celebrated posthemously!
Apart from all the magnificient stories, this book really leaves you with a sense of an aggregate perspective of human endeavour, compressed and racing through the pages. And that, is like watching a brilliant movie at a rate of knots. The facts, and their unfolding or the absence of their unfolding, simple keeps you asking for more, even as you contemplate your own purpose.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
What a crazy Friday. Explosions in sleepy Bangalore, some even as close as Madiwala. People wondering what to do next, whether to leave at 3 or 5PM. The anxiety mounts as you locate your near and dear ones over telephone networks that are creaking under the weight of this building avalanche. Thankfully, everyone's ok and you work out how they could make it home .... wait for a bit, then travel through these roads, avoid those, etc etc. You go around the office and offer to drive people back and make a plan to begin leaving.
When you drive, you notice that for once, the traffic cops have got their act together and intersections are not jammed. You make it home and turn on the TV. The media is going to town, reporting with the same vigor they apply to reporting that Kareena Kapoor or some other dimwitted starlet kissed some other dimwits son or daughter. There is no mention of the fact that the traffic cops are doing a great job. No one has bothered to report on anything of interest - which roads to avoid and which detours to take, etc. There is little reporting, and more titillation, albeit of a rather visceral nature ... the sort where you feel that your own life is in danger even as you watch the telly. Cheap thrills, Freud might say. Nevermind.
You are thankful, that despite the blast being a few kilometeres away, the fates consipired to isolate you and your dear ones, and mercifully at that. Two others of the city, a labourer and a factory employee, waiting near bus stops are not as lucky. May their souls rest in peace, while the Government and society pegs a value to the event, to ease the bereaved.
Anyway, the point is ... cities which rely on a few roads to connect their 7M populations are vulnerable. The blasts may well have been a scare tactic ... nevertheless, terror is here to stay, and so is life. God save us all.
When you drive, you notice that for once, the traffic cops have got their act together and intersections are not jammed. You make it home and turn on the TV. The media is going to town, reporting with the same vigor they apply to reporting that Kareena Kapoor or some other dimwitted starlet kissed some other dimwits son or daughter. There is no mention of the fact that the traffic cops are doing a great job. No one has bothered to report on anything of interest - which roads to avoid and which detours to take, etc. There is little reporting, and more titillation, albeit of a rather visceral nature ... the sort where you feel that your own life is in danger even as you watch the telly. Cheap thrills, Freud might say. Nevermind.
You are thankful, that despite the blast being a few kilometeres away, the fates consipired to isolate you and your dear ones, and mercifully at that. Two others of the city, a labourer and a factory employee, waiting near bus stops are not as lucky. May their souls rest in peace, while the Government and society pegs a value to the event, to ease the bereaved.
Anyway, the point is ... cities which rely on a few roads to connect their 7M populations are vulnerable. The blasts may well have been a scare tactic ... nevertheless, terror is here to stay, and so is life. God save us all.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Black - Pearl Jam
TEN by Pearl Jam is widely regarded as one of the most successful debut albums alongside Nirvana's Nevermind.
TEN has a number of really relaxing songs, Release, Oceans, Garden, etc. The harder songs were the bigger hits, understandably so, given the popularity of alternate hard rock back then - Jeremy, Why Go Home, Evenflow, etc were smash hits worldwide.
Black is one of my favourite tracks ... as always, I hope you listen to the original, even if you don't like my cover :)
Black (Pearl Jam cover) at Muziboo.com
TEN by Pearl Jam is widely regarded as one of the most successful debut albums alongside Nirvana's Nevermind.
TEN has a number of really relaxing songs, Release, Oceans, Garden, etc. The harder songs were the bigger hits, understandably so, given the popularity of alternate hard rock back then - Jeremy, Why Go Home, Evenflow, etc were smash hits worldwide.
Black is one of my favourite tracks ... as always, I hope you listen to the original, even if you don't like my cover :)
Black (Pearl Jam cover) at Muziboo.com
Saturday, July 12, 2008
"Areare Kunirama" and other disasters
Most people know there's very little to do by way of regular entertainment in Bangalore, especially if you are not the drinking-dancing OR trying to dance after getting drunk OR the drunk-senseless kind. On the odd occasion, theres a half decent play at Rangashankara which nowadays seems to be less and less frequent.
It'd been a very long time since I visited RS, so wandered out there with family today. There was a new Kannada play, "Arrere Kunirama". The introduction stated that the play was adapted from some famous French play, from someone called Mouliere, or whatever. I specifically choose Kannda plays they usually have decent scripts and good performances, given that the production is always going to be local and authentic, and mostly, subtleties and sensibilities are preserved as intended. What else can one watch a play for anyway?
The play began and what followed was an exercise in patience. Sorry, but this to be one of the worst plays ever made. The actors were terrible and loud, the jokes were abysmally poor and mostly slapstick, the dialogue could have been written by a dull 10 year old and in summary, the sum of the parts was in indeed worse than the mathematical aggregate.
I recalled sitting in one of those Bollywood flicks that I was tricked into going by some friends .... it was "Dhoom1", and waiting for the inanity to end. I have no idea how standards for popular movies and everything else continue to be so low. We're supposed to be one of the oldest cultures on this planet, right? Five thousand years or something.... in 5k years, our shining product was Dhoom 1 a few years ago. What is even more disappointing/shocking is the audience reaction in the theatre while watching Dhoom1. Gosh, I cannot imagine how people laughed at the jokes cracked by that Bachan's son and the other son-of-a-producer .... I mean, the guy with bad hair and big muscles who plays the sidekick of the cop in the movie. I neither remember his name nor care to register it. I have to say that no matter which way you slice it, the jokes were just not funny. No self-respecting primate living in the deepest corners of Ngorongoro or in the darkest corners of an Amazonian rain forest could laugh at those jokes.
That said, there are pockets of brilliance. To this day, the first play I ever watched in RS has to the best I've seen. It was called "The Barrister" and was adapted from a Marathi script. Absolutely brilliant play. Like all good, things, these pockets are hard to find. I just wished the Bollywood watching public would grow some taste and give up on the idiots running their family business.
On that note, the only Bollywood actor I have some respect for, Aamir Khan was on the telly in some interview, suffering the standard set of provocations. He was quizzed about his rather derogatory comments on the movie "Black", specifically about the time when he (very rightly, I might add) said the movie would have been better titled "taming the shrew" which is exactly what it was for the first part anyway. I recall some scenes where a crouched Bachan Snr circles the poor deaf-mute child in a dark room like he was fighting a rabid hyena. Thankfully, when asked to clarify his discomfort with the film, Aamir Khan simply stuck to his guns and simply said the film was a poor one. Like I said ... pockets of brilliance.
Most people know there's very little to do by way of regular entertainment in Bangalore, especially if you are not the drinking-dancing OR trying to dance after getting drunk OR the drunk-senseless kind. On the odd occasion, theres a half decent play at Rangashankara which nowadays seems to be less and less frequent.
It'd been a very long time since I visited RS, so wandered out there with family today. There was a new Kannada play, "Arrere Kunirama". The introduction stated that the play was adapted from some famous French play, from someone called Mouliere, or whatever. I specifically choose Kannda plays they usually have decent scripts and good performances, given that the production is always going to be local and authentic, and mostly, subtleties and sensibilities are preserved as intended. What else can one watch a play for anyway?
The play began and what followed was an exercise in patience. Sorry, but this to be one of the worst plays ever made. The actors were terrible and loud, the jokes were abysmally poor and mostly slapstick, the dialogue could have been written by a dull 10 year old and in summary, the sum of the parts was in indeed worse than the mathematical aggregate.
I recalled sitting in one of those Bollywood flicks that I was tricked into going by some friends .... it was "Dhoom1", and waiting for the inanity to end. I have no idea how standards for popular movies and everything else continue to be so low. We're supposed to be one of the oldest cultures on this planet, right? Five thousand years or something.... in 5k years, our shining product was Dhoom 1 a few years ago. What is even more disappointing/shocking is the audience reaction in the theatre while watching Dhoom1. Gosh, I cannot imagine how people laughed at the jokes cracked by that Bachan's son and the other son-of-a-producer .... I mean, the guy with bad hair and big muscles who plays the sidekick of the cop in the movie. I neither remember his name nor care to register it. I have to say that no matter which way you slice it, the jokes were just not funny. No self-respecting primate living in the deepest corners of Ngorongoro or in the darkest corners of an Amazonian rain forest could laugh at those jokes.
That said, there are pockets of brilliance. To this day, the first play I ever watched in RS has to the best I've seen. It was called "The Barrister" and was adapted from a Marathi script. Absolutely brilliant play. Like all good, things, these pockets are hard to find. I just wished the Bollywood watching public would grow some taste and give up on the idiots running their family business.
On that note, the only Bollywood actor I have some respect for, Aamir Khan was on the telly in some interview, suffering the standard set of provocations. He was quizzed about his rather derogatory comments on the movie "Black", specifically about the time when he (very rightly, I might add) said the movie would have been better titled "taming the shrew" which is exactly what it was for the first part anyway. I recall some scenes where a crouched Bachan Snr circles the poor deaf-mute child in a dark room like he was fighting a rabid hyena. Thankfully, when asked to clarify his discomfort with the film, Aamir Khan simply stuck to his guns and simply said the film was a poor one. Like I said ... pockets of brilliance.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Mark Knopfler - #7 Brothers in arms
Absolutely brilliant ... as always.
Songwriting at its best
"These mist covered mountains ... are a home now for me ...."
Fell in love with this song the first time I heard it all those years ago, and this rendition is as flawless as the others.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
I feel a new hobby coming along ... indoor gardening.
Am currently exploring the benefits of bamboo which is really quite a fascinating plant (or grass to be precise )
Bamboo pumps 30% more oxygen into air than comparable plants/trees and does a great job of preserving ecological balance everywhere. Some bamboo trees grow over 4 feet day.
Any tips on indoor gardening are very welcome
This is one of the better bamboo sites
http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/GrowingBambooIndoors.html
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