The New Gen Hippies

I was screaming to the delight of the people gathered around to watch us. It seemed to resemble the opening of Zepplin's immigrant song.The crowd swaying and shaking their heads ,sometimes head banging with more vigour than us.Some high on weed ,some high on Music. But everybody seemed happy and was enjoying the evening.
We wore our hair long and had unshaven faces, some with real long beards and so was the crowd.I seemed possessed by the lizard king himself and we as a band seemed to radiate the energy passed onto us by all those rock gods.

I sang out loud..
"Woke up in the morning...got my self a beer...
..........Let it roll baby roll.... Let it roll Baby roll...
Let it roll............................... All night Long "

and the crowd would sing along "baby roll" and "all night long".

I seemed to be giving too much of an animated performance on stage as was the entire band.
We were performing as part of our community fest.One of the spokesperson spoke about our commitment towards free spirit and free living and how Our community is gaining in strength across all states. He read out messages from groups who couldn't attend this gathering.These were from Goa, Kolkota, Cochin, Mumbai and other parts of the country where our community had strong presence. He went on to speak about how God had given us something of his own.....the power to create. Instead we were creating orthodoxy. We created Bombs and created fear, led people into blind faiths.... and he went on and on

Let me give you an idea about our community.We opposed political and social orthodoxy, We opposed this pseudo secularism and religious fanaticism. We stood for peace, love and personal freedom.We wanted to enjoy the beauty of the universe and the beauty of being.People had laughed at us for trying to be different.We laughed at them for being all the same. We had our own individuality but stood united for our cause.The papers had been carrying out articles n news about this 'new gen hippies'.That's what they have been calling us.

We had carried out marches and gatherings in many parts of the country and had received huge support from various corners, surprising many..from those who rule the country to the slave clones.We had already petitioned for a Below poverty line and differently abled people census and wanted reservations to be allottted only to them.We wanted reservations in the name of religion and caste to be abolished.We do not want any forms/papers from Govt,Institutions or organizations asking people to fill in their Religion or caste.We have planned for more reforms to be sent for legal and government approval.And we were here to celebrate our progress and bands like us were the voice of the community.We believed music to be the great healer that God had sent us.We were adding new dimensions to Sufism and the Bhakti movement.Our mission was to reach out to the million faces and rock them all,blow their minds off,make them understand what real freedom is.

The crowd wanted more music and we launched our own hard hitting version of keep on Rockin' in a free world.This crowd of straight young men and women sang loud and clear "Keep on rockin' in a free world". I felt these words would echo far and wide. I felt the winds blow by and wished it would carry these words to all my countrymen.

"Keep on rocking in a free world"

It was 2 30 AM. I seemed to be sweating a bit and couldn't handle the mosquito bites.I could hear noises ..trams trying to out speed the other....
Ah... I woke up.. It was just a dream......another one of those dreams.Chennai is still hot, the AC had stopped working and two of my dear roomies Aju and Dr.Love just cant stop snoring.

I was telling Nayana a few days back about how I wanted to go back to the 60's and 70's . Dr. Love was telling me, how he also wanted to go back in time. These talks and my fantasies had resulted in a dream. A dream called 'New Age Hippies'

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* I felt happy to have witnessed a great game of Tennis a few days back. Federer Vs Roddick at the Wimbledon Final.
* I lost someone, someone who had a terrible childhood but made sure to give a lot of thrill and excitement to my childhood through his music.
Your songs were addictive and those moves were infectious. Will miss you Mike..

Sporty Confessions

I sat shocked and angry at the way India lost their first 2 matches in the super 8 round of T20 world cup. I swore not to watch them play again. I just Couldn't stop criticizing them for hours.When I realized that they had restricted South Africa for 130 runs in the third one, I thought these guys are playing for pride and i need to watch them win it. The performance they displayed from then on was so pathetic that i couldn't utter a word.Shattered and stunned I lied down for hours. So many thoughts crossed my mind. Why did this happen and why am I so concerned ? I'm not a player nor a journo, An analyst or administrator. What do I lose or gain ?

That's the funny part of the situation. None of the above might actually lose or gain from these games as much as I do.Yes its right , cos I'm this stupid fan like many of you.

I'm the one who bunked classes just to watch matches on TV. I'm the one who joined for tuition away from home so that i can sneak into the stadium to watch matches. I'm the one who sat late at night to see our batsmen play the Windies , or woke up at 4 AM to see the new jerseys when we took on the kiwis.I'm the one who tuned the old radio every minute to hear the commentary as Gods own country rattled opponents in Santhosh trophy.I'm the one who would watch the highlights over and over again just to relive the moment and feel the goosebumps all over again.

I don't know when this fascination for sport had took over me, but I knew many sportsmen by name even before i entered Kindergarten.
When I joined KG,the class in charge was Mrs. Lily.I was used to hearing the name 'Lillie' as my dad was a big fan of Dennis Lillie. I guess I didn't know the first name was Dennis then, but yours truly was so confused that he went home and asked daddy How could a lady be given a man's name.

It was great growing up with sporting events,To watch a fully charged John McEnroe or a skillful battle between Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, hear about the 83 world cup exploits and watch images of a victorious Indian team celebrating on an Audi down under, Catch glimpses of Maradona on TV, Collect pics of Gullit and Van Basten in a Milan jersey, Imagine yourself being a Gary Linekar or Paul Gascoigne during the games sessions in school , Cheer up as Lewis, Powell and Johnson created magic at the track and fields.
I cried when Baggio missed the penalty in the world cup finals and lost to the Brazilians.Sat late at night just to see Zola and Mijatovic score goals,browsed channels to watch Jan Owe Waldner in action whom I had heard a lot about but had never seen before.I have followed Chelsea's move from an exciting style of play to a cautious'how to win' style of play,Seen the glory days of Leeds and Newcastle shift to relegation. I had tears of joy when Ivanisevic finally won the Wimbledon as an unseeded player,Got motivated when Navotna and Capriati took roller coaster rides to earn a Grand slam.Took me high when our cricketers brought in so much of cheer and Our Davis cup team marched to the world group finals, Felt proud when we won individual medals at olympics, danced on the road when we thrashed our arch rivals in Cricket world cups.
They were not just games and players. They were very much part of myself. I lived every moment of it and shared every emotion.I cheered for them in their peak and backed them in their bad times, felt the thrill and excitement take over me every moment.

But here I was swearing never to watch our cricketers play. Lol
Whatever said....I wont be able to keep my word. Cos I'm this stupid sports fan.
I know ill be there just like the other sports fanatics following the ODI series against the Windies.

A weekend and a li'l romance

So much had happened since my last blog. The IPL, a month long Elections, Lankan war on LTTE, French Open, Cannes Film festival to Round 1 of T20 world cup.

Friday morning had arrived and i was happy that ill be having a weekend in hand.The daily ride on a rik to the office was gettin' a little monotonous. But that day was different. A short haired pint sized cutie got into the auto and sat next to me. The rik as usual was a little crowded.I don't know what made me take notice of her. was it because she was sitting too close to me or was it the way she was balancing her frame so as not to fall on me and yet keep the distance between us to almost nil.
I don't know what happened to me but yes i seemed to take a special liking for her. 'Sweet child of mine' ringing in my head soon gave way to soft romantic ballads. Finally when I got down from the rik, I made sure my cutie sees me give her the 'look and the nod' which to me was to convey" girl i'm impressed". Little did i realise that miss cutie doesn't know my dumb charades codes.

Ben had arrived by the time i reached home. Meeting him after 5 long years. Ben has still got his laid back style and swagger intact. He is here for his divorce after almost a year of marriage.
I was confused. Didn't know what to ask or say.Ben helped in breaking the ice once we started serving the drink and wanted to party on Saturday night too.
I didn't know on what basis to justify this partying.. broken marriage or return to bachelorhood ?

Saturday Morning i was all ready to see if I would bump into Li'l Miss Cutie again. In fact I waited 15 minutes before hiring a rik, but she wasn't there. Maybe I'll be Lucky on monday.

We did Celebrate Saturday night... not for any broken marriages but for Ben's health n future life.We went to 'Mugs n Motors' . They don't play any rock these days, play more of the gang n the bang kind of music.
I seriously don't understand most of this music and always wonder when many a doe eyed beauty request songs that praise 'Yo mamma' as if they were all making belated mothers day dedications. May be they concentrate only on the 'move' and 'shake' of those songs.Anyways its cool to see people dance to hiphop..laidback style.
We all danced......without movin' the feet though!!..But it was fun. Enjoyed the night boozin' and hoggin'.Woke up late the next day. Sundays as always, I don't rest in peace.

Finally it was Monday. Unlike the other Mondays, I felt good waking up early and gettin' ready for office. A smile on my face, a song on my lips expecting to see Miss cutie..
I waited for 15 minutes expecting her any moment, But She wasn't there.

So i cursed myself and my ego for standing there in the sun waiting for 'Anamika' and hurried into the rik to reach office. Angry n Embarrassed I sat there for some time.
Suddenly I heard a sweet voice next to me....
I saw Clear pretty eyes, wavy hair, a dimple that i couldn't take my eyes off from....
A new li'l Miss Cutie. She was on the phone talking with someone and suddenly the inevitable happened. The rik on an indian road is never a smooth ride and this cutie was trying her best..'balancing her frame so as not to fall on me'.I heard a familiar ring ...
"Sweet Child of Mine" played in my head again giving way to Soft romantic ballads....

Social Atyachar

( The songs mentioned in the last blog are from Richie sambora's "stranger in this town" and Bon Jovi's "Bounce")

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busy chatting about old times, planning future get-togethers’, the upcoming marriages etc. I was happy that not many had much of a chance to question me about my life n work. After a long time I’ve felt good meeting so many relatives.

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was in self exile for a few years before deciding to settle down in Chennai .

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me cos we’ve been through those bad times and now trying to resurrect our lives.

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of the social Atyachar..
Mat had a few tough years but he was doing relatively well as per my knowledge, but he had a terrible breakdown last week. Ive seen and heard of many cases of depression in the past 2-3 months. Im not talking about the filmy depression, but the one caused by the social atyachar.

Mat was one of those real intelligent ,well read guys, but unfortunately todays world is not ready to acknowledge, respect or recognize a man's worth (unless it is transformed to social status,materialistic n monetary figures).He couldn’t stand this social atyachar anymore. We live in a world where ethics is only on paper. There are very few Men around.

I hear Richie and his band singing……
“ These days are fast, Nothing lasts, in this graceless age..
………..There aint nobody left to take the blame
There aint nobody left but us these days..”

I believed a boy turns into a Man when he stands on his own, living his life straight without stealing or begging and he realizes the same when the ‘mind is without fear and the head is held high’.

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society judges only the end and not the means to it.

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All they can do is look up and ask “Why me”. Around them are happy smiling faces of so-called successful men and women and they wonder
“ Are we that bad ? , Do they deserve this more than us ?, How can I be like them without shifting from my priorities and ethics ?, When will this tide change?......”

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Music be the food of Thought. Play On !!

"Hey mister can you tell me
What this worlds about
It might just help me out
I used to be a dreamer
But my dreams have burned
You know how luck can turn
.................................................
Feels like a stranger to this human race
Its such a lonely, lonely place
....................................................
I walk alone in the darkness of the city
Got no place to call home....."

As Richie Sambora sings, Varun thinks of the past few years of his life. Yes the dreams had crashed. Its a new Life in a new city now.

" I mean no danger, I'm a stranger...I'm a stranger
I'm just a stranger in this town."

Oh boy ! More thoughts creeping into his mind. Well its goin' to be all about surviving from now on.Varun was thinking where all that arrogance, ego and pride had gone, they seem to have deserted him completely.

As he starts feeling really low, the next track begins

"I used to be the kind of guy
Who'd never let you look inside
I'd smile when I was crying
I had nothing but a life to loose
Thought I had a lot to prove
In my life, there's no denying..."

Ritchie and his band seems to play the song just for him and soon those emotions takes over. Those traits that always made him feel good and feel complete.He softly head bangs to Richie's guitar riffs and the poor loser turns into a proud loser, ready for harder riffs and more music.

The music plays on...

"Goodbye to all my yesterdays
Goodbye, so long, I'm on my way
I've had enough of cryin'
Bleedin', sweatin', dyin'
Hear me when I say
Gonna live my life everyday "

PLAY ON !!