Kaiser Talkin'

For the love of the written word

Sathya — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:24:06 +0000

Click on each of the images to read …and once the image loads you could press ‘Ctrl +’ to Zoom In.

Three Guys and a dozen characters – Day 0

Sathya — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:28:18 +0000

Stories from Bhutan - The Land of the Thunder Dragon, Sikkim and Meghalaya

Personnages Principaux

Raghavan Aravamudhan, Hari Suman Naik and Sathyanarayanan Chandrasekar

Day 0

Starting Location – Bilekahalli.

Sleepless night. Fear of oversleeping. 5AM Wakeup calls to others. Cold Coffee at Java Green. 6:15 AM. Hari Joins in. Run towards Apollo Hospital Bus Stop on Bannerghatta Road. No Sign of the Airport Bus. Climbed onto one of those blue city buses. Got down at Mandovi Motors. Magically an Airport Volvo bus appears. “Auspicious Start” – We tell ourselves. Debate about B school and value adds. Argumentative Indians indeed. Reach Bengaluru International Airport(BIAL) well on time.

Character 1 – Sajit from Spice Jet

Reminded us so much about good friend Tony Thampan. Friendly guy. Walked back across the CRPF gunmen and got us 3 subway veggie delight sandwiches. Airport food is prohibitively expensive. You are better of purchasing food from outside the airport. INR 75 for Idly doesnt do much good. Leisurely chat for 15-20 minutes. Wondered if Spice Jet paid him for that chat. Valuable insights into Aircraft security and passenger screening.

Spotted senior(alum) going on one of those flights to “client locations”. Das(Guwahati) and Saikat(Kolkatta) to give us company on the flight. Spice Jet flight 528 – Bangalore to Guwahati via Kolkatta. Packed like poultry. Caught up on much needed sleep. Uncomfortable. 3:00 PM. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport – Guwahati. Dry and Hot. City seems dirty. Shared taxi to the Railway station with Das. City filled with petrol stations. IOCL, NRL, Assam Oil. Glimpse of Bhupen Hazarika and Baichung Bhutia. One advertising for Tor Steel rods and another for a brand of via China Television sets.

Character 2 – Unknown Cab Driver

Doped on cheap grass(Our Speculation). Mistook Maruti 800 for a Go-Kart. Couple of near miss situations. Lacked sense of distance and direction to say the least.

Back on the road. City surprises you quite a bit. Paan Bazaar is the biggest book market and not of betel leaves! Railway Station. Armed forces all around. Pretty unnerving rather than re-assuring. Railway Reservation Counter. Queues. Men all around. Wondered where the women were. One exceptionally long queue. Realized the reason. Pretty young lady behind the computer on that queue. Smiles.

Guwahati Railway Station. Quite clean. IRCTC Jantaa Ahaar. Nice concept. Reasonably hygienic and low priced food. Gorged on Dhal, Curry and Rice. Curd missing. 6:30PM. Guwahati Jhajha express. To disembark at New Jalpaiguri. Empty train. Moved over to a cleaner compartment. Reasonably comfortable except for the mosquitoes torturing Hari. Sleep interrupted by TTE appearing with his side kick/assistant/apprentice(summer intern?). Friendly people. Funny accent though. EOD.

Progress:

Bilekahalli –> BIAL –> Guwahati –> New Jalpaiguri

Three Guys and a dozen characters – Day 0

Sathya — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:27:29 +0000

Stories from Bhutan - The Land of the Thunder Dragon, Sikkim and Meghalaya

Personnages Principaux

Raghavan Aravamudhan, Hari Suman Naik and Sathyanarayanan Chandrasekar

Day 0

Starting Location – Bilekahalli.

Character 1 – Sajit from Spice Jet

Character 2 – Unknown Cab Driver

Doped on cheap grass(Our Speculation). Mistook Maruti 800 for a Go-Kart. Couple of near miss situations. Lacked sense of distance and direction to say the least.

Progress:

Bilekahalli –> BIAL –> Guwahati –> New Jalpaiguri

2010 Bill Gates Annual Letter

Sathya — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:59:04 +0000

2010 Bill Gates Annual Letter

8:00 AM to 9:00 AM

Sathya — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 07:04:16 +0000

Talking to him for an hour helped. It didnt remove the confusion that has been plaguing my mind for sometime. There still is no clarity. But just sitting opposite to the bespectacled gentleman with a more than gentle streak of ‘sacred ash’ was calming. Some new perspectives…more importantly a sounding board. I walked out of the lounge and into the Saturday Morning Bangalore chill – Pleasant. I made the trip across the city – I told myself … “Today I shall remain calm!” Maybe there is something chalked out for me too.

The Pizza Box

Sathya — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:08:39 +0000

You clutched hard onto the cardboard box with a pizza within. The other hand held a tin of red sweetened water and white soft tissues. This was not the time to pick the oregano seasonings. The mind was too busy with several other things, chief among which was the conundrum about larger choices that could decide where you went. You wait there with no sense of urgency but with gloom written large across your face. You saw the crowd lunging at the two blazered men albeit in different circles; you were standing in one of them. You told yourself what was happening around you wasnt honest – largely because there was lacking an honesty in intent. Or was it just you crying sour grapes? Your mind shouts within its confines – An emphatic no! Would you do this to get your name on a white sheet of A4 paper pasted on that notice board? But it was more than that – it could mark a new path. But what journey would it be that were to be founded on such premises. You ignore the rush of new shirts joining the circle – you retreated. With head bowed low, you walked away – heart heavy with thoughts and emotions you didnt have the strength to fathom. You sat on that concrete ledge and finished the circular, cold flour with assorted vegetables with a generous overdose of onions and tomatoes. You managed to pick the seasoning this time. You walked back slow to the room. Head still held low and heart still heavy with all those feelings. You told yourself – atleast you werent dishonest! Lights off, sleep is a good healer of open wounds pierced deep within the recesses of your mind – atleast if only till you woke up. From other part of the block – the cacophony of noises coming continued – Trance music! You went forward and latched your door from inside…

Maargazhi Raagam

Sathya — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:49:41 +0000

I have never known any of the Raagas, the Taalas of Carnatic Music nor with the Raags and Alaaps of the Hindustani kind… I dont even understand the concept of notes!! But I am a firm believer that you dont need to understand any of these to appreciate good music. The concept of rhythm or melody to me is just appeasing to your ears and then to the mind. Once it reaches the mind I firmly believe that it can work magic there – transporting you to mythical worlds, escaping from the mundane worries that plague you through the day. Not long ago there was this effort by TM Krishna and Bombay Jayashree to make a feature film with just Carnatic Music compositions. Top notch sound recording and an accoustic delight. You could sample the same at the embedded youtube video below. Sitting with Nam at Fun Cinemas in Cunningham road, surrounded by Silk clad maamis, Veshti clad maamas and the Fab India Kurta donning younger lot – the day was magical. Coupled with the December Chill it was a beautiful evening to just close your eyes and just hear the sound and allow your mind to do the imagination. A journey like none other!

Gaana Songs and Tamil Movies

Sathya — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:10:33 +0000

For some time now, Tamil movies have had some very melodious songs with Ilayaraja and then A.R.Rahman with special emphasis on melody and rhythm. But this post it not about the kind of music A.R.Rahman or Ilayaraja produces. This is about ‘Gaana’ songs. A genre which has found more than just an expression off late in Tamil movies.

Yes, those who swear by ARR and mellifluous music will be quick to dismiss some of these songs as crass and lacking in many things… but there is no denying that even for folks with two left feet, some of these songs make you want to break free of all those inhibitions. Move your hands, move your legs, throw yourself in any direction – You are not being judged! Celebration of millions of pent up emotions waiting for a release!

These were songs that started with the working community within cities and elsewhere and their modes of uninhibited celebration. Today thanks to adoption by Tamil movies, they have managed to moving across class divides. It is not uncommon to hear these songs being played today at the choiciest of pubs/restaurants and DJ nights. Read more about Gaana songs and how they have come to invade popular media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaana .

For Starters, here’s a list of some of some gaana songs that I find interesting. Viewer discretion expected while watching some of these videos. Dont be quick to dismiss it as crass – for the objective of this genre is to celebrate and celebrate breaking free of all inhibitions.

Yes, I almost forgot to add. Fans of Vaali and other lyricists who have done some awesome work will be disappointed too. None of these songs have any emphasis on lyrics. The lyrics “usually” narrate a story rather than attempt to be poetic in the narrative. The emphasis on “usually” is because many a times, they dont make too much sense. But then when people are on such high energy levels - “Who Cares!”

Disclaimer: Listening to some of these songs on youtube doesnt do too much justice to the beats and other related sound effects that defines this genre.

You would remember Naaka Mukka as the song that was adopted by Times of India to win the Cannes Award for one of its Ads…

The past few days and the next few days

Sathya — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:29:21 +0000

Quick Update – Past few days have been a mixed bag.

1. Summer placements for the current PGP1 batch was a blockbuster event. 4.5 Days for 350 students is not an easy task. Last year it was 4.5 days for 250 students.

2. Been a long time since I made the trip back home. I should go home sometime in the next few days.

3. I lost my watch at L^2. Well this was even before the dancing and drinking. Felt miserable about it and continuing to feel so.

4. Sloth. Procrastination. Longing. – Have always been a part of my DNA … Major guilt trips.

Next few days

1. Submissions and assignments galore. Too much to do. Too little time.

2. Thank you for youtube. Been listening to some real nice songs. Case in Point – Aaj Jaane ki Zid Na Karo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh_UZuNUZR0&feature=related

3. Deadlines. Deadlines and more deadlines. Term V coming to an end. Should start putting things together for the Stanford trip.

4. Should go cry with Andhra Bank for loan amount to fund travel in firang land. A miserable feeling.

5. Contacting companies for the Business Visits for the visiting team from Stanford. It happening in the last week of December doesnt help considering that’s the time when corporate folks would want to go on a vacation.

6. Yes, should find time to write. Been wanting to write… Is it twitter that is killing the urge to write? http://twitter.com/csathya

Where would Salman Khan be?

Sathya — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:47:01 +0000