10 Songs/Compositions i would die for !!!

10. “Home” – Joe Satriani : A lovely and beautiful tune, makes one instantaneously nostalgic. Like old wine, the sound will grow into you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frqPh7jsv0w

9. “Return to Innocence” – Enigma : A wonderful composition coupled with an extremely creative and interesting music video, this song has retained its charm and sounds as fresh as ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz_ProZKlq0

8. “Visions of Johanna” – Bob Dylan : A classic by the master himself, this song has stood the ravages of time and is legendary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPEoDJzn4lY

7. “Trains” – Porcupine Tree : The sound of the strings take you to another world altogether. A modern day classic and a song for all moods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1q50WKVRUM

6. “Nothing Else Matters” – Metallica : One of the most recognised songs the world over, this song is sure to haunt you long after it has completed its duration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcbAibPA2yY

5. “Yellow” – Coldplay : Heard this song the first time when I was in college, and it has never been removed from my playlist since. An amazing song, probably the best by Coldplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MwjX4dG72s&ob=av2e

4. “When the Levee Breaks” – Led Zeppelin : Read somewhere that the song was recorded in slow motion thus giving it a slightly lag. One of the songs that Led Zep had hardly ever played live. However, this song is a classic, brilliant, and late John Bonham will permanently house a corner of your brain once you are done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbrjRKB586s

3. “Echoes” – Pink Floyd : Those were the golden 70s-80s, when songs used to hypnotize you for about 30 minutes and still you wanted more. This 23-minute classic is force-multiplied when you watch Nick Mason in action. Strangely enough the duration song runs along perfectly with the closing scene of Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, an all-time great in itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGwPSPIhohk

2. “Stairway to Heaven” – Led Zeppelin : In the 1976 gig at New York, Robert Plant perfectly explains, “… this is a song of hope”. There can hardly be an all-time great list sans this classic. Take any one of Plant, Page, Jones, or Bonham out of this song and the song falls flat – the reason why, only Led Zep could create a song like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q7Vr3yQYWQ

1. “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” – Pink Floyd : Be intoxicated or not, Switch off the lights, close your eyes and listen to the complete 27-minute version of this song. I guarantee you will be lost in a new universe for about half an hour. Rumoured to be composed as a tribute to Syd Barrett, a tribute cannot be better. I have never heard a song that has started, progressed, and eventually ended, better. Definition of a complete song, this is my panacea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1i-RKqOFxQ

Kolkata - 2001

Wrote this article on Kolkata for my School Magazine, "Echo", in the year 2001. I was just going through it in my old hard-file archives, when I realised that 10 years from the time, the article is still so relevant.

"Nights fade to make way for the light of sunrise. This light activates every tiny object as it does to the human beings. The sleeping Geographical Entity wakes up. A single human head of the moment turns into thousands of the next. Yes, Kolkata wakes up to herald the approach of a Cyclone which has Kolkata in its eye. Yes, this is a Cyclone of human activity covering a 300 year old landmass.

Hawkers and walkers crowd the streets which were desolate hitherto. Beginning with a faint buzz Kolkata rises to a deafening clamour made by the hustle and bustle of the wanderers and the hooting of the traffic. Daily schedule starts and casts the most familiar image on Kolkata’s face. Kolkata is brought back to a living Entity.

If there wasn’t a cherry on top of the cake, the Kolkattans would space the gap immaculately. A conversation with one of them shows the in-depth sincerity and emotions that they possess. They are never fatigued. Either Politics, or Sports or Current Affairs, they have them all by heart. Whether on the street or in a vehicle they are always ready to invigorate their neighbours with a delightful talk. The hospitality offered by the Kolkattans sets forth an example for everybody. Service and help are the two keynotes to the character of the Kolkattans.

If Kolkata is a large and beautiful garden, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray are few of the brightest flowers that will continue to emit their beauty and fragrance incessantly. You can see the bi-coached Trams cruising through the main streets of Kolkata. You can travel in the underground Metro Railway. You would come across a Richshaw pulled men on foot. T\you can see the towering, beautiful Howrah Bridge standing as a firm bond between Howrah and Kolkata.

As you take a trip down the streets you will not only take a trip down the roads but also a trip down memory lane. History will summon you. You can still see the houses which, once housed the British. The cracked walls of the heritage buildings would remind you of the Partition of Bengal into East Bengal and West Bengal. The red walls of the Writers’ Building would reflect the sights of the British Administrators performing their respective jobs. The red walls would remind you of the bloodshed that dominated the city during India’s struggle for impendence. Through the by-lanes you would hear the youths marching hurling slogans of “Bande Mataram”, “Jai Hind”, “Simon, Go Back”, “Quit India”. Inside the Victoria Memorial, you can see the delineation of Queen Victoria, weapons and the early versions of the modern day Rifles and guns. Inside the Eden Gardens Cricket Ground you would see Pankaj Roy undauntedly facing the English Bowlers. Inside the Mohun Bagan Football Ground you would see the barefooted Indian Players as they march their way towards victory against the British to win the prestigious Durand Cup. This city stands proud and high up and proves why it was the Capital of British India.

Kolkata is a city of traditions. The “Durga Puja” tops the chart. In the early days the “zamindars” used to worship the Goddess and it has continued even to this day. In addition, now it has become a joint-public affair. Even the poorest Kolkattan would love to have a share of the festive mood of the “Durga Puja”. Who is unaware of the “Roshogolla” and Bangali “Mishti Doi”?- May be not even one in a thousand. On the day of the “Mahalaya” you can still see thousands crowding the Prinsep Ghat to offer “Tarpan”. How much young hearts do not have fond memories of the Albert Hall, popularly known as the “Indian Coffee House” ? films of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen still rank the highest. On the first day of the Bengali Calendar, ”the Poila Boishaakh”, people still give garments and gifts to their loved ones. On “Dashami” of the Durga Puja, people act likewise and the juniors take blessing of their seniors.

Kolkata is often called “The City Of Joy”, and joy and hospitality is what everybody receive out here. However the citizens, themselves, are not all joyful. You can still see the pavement dwellers endeavouring hard to get a “paisa”. You can still see the beggar begging for a morsel. Kolkata might not be advanced as the Western World but is fast coming up. Kolkata is the highest citadel where emotions and the divine law of hospitality are at their respective peaks. The city is a Gem. Kolkata – a City with days and nights with people having 24 hours of Day and almost no hour of Night."

It happened one harsh summer afternoon – abhisek suggested that i watch the matrix instead of doing what i usually do – play computer games. I will thank that suggestion for the rest of my life ‘coz through the act of implementing it i realised what could probably be my biggest passion – collecting and watching movies from all over the world. Today i and abhisek have together built a movie collection that we are quite proud of, and something that we believe can challenge any collector’s archive.
But this collection comprises predominantly English and foreign language movies and only about 10% Indian movies. Whenever i used to watch latin American, French, Italian or even west asian movies i used to wonder why in such an atmosphere of intense experimentation Indian film makers choose the safest middle path. Well not any more. Indian cinema has long been bifurcated into mainstream commercial cinema and parallel cinema, innocently or snobbishly named an “art film”. A marriage of the two is what eluded the Indian audience big time, except on certain widely separated durations. But today i see hope, and not only me alone... judging by reactions of the generation of my age, i guess everybody is hopeful. i see a few prominent players who are leading this revolution – Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee being two of them. The first time i took note of Anurag Kashyap when i came to know that he is the co-writer of the brilliant movie “Satya”. Then again i noticed him in what could be his best work till date, “Black Friday”.
But what delighted me the most was “Dev D” – frankly speaking i am not an old-timer and over melodramatic old black and white hindi movies don’t cater to my taste – so i have never completely watched the oder versions of devdas and certainly i did not enjoy an overacting and pretentious srk in bhansali’s chaotic devdas. “Dev D” was devdas at its present realistic best.

The movie had an ambience that can never get out of my mind. And there was the intense “Gulaal”. Dibakar Banerjee has on the other hand brought out the true flavour of North India.
“Khosla ka Ghosla” is brilliant. When you talk of Indian comedy films like “Golmaal” always come to your mind. “Khodla ka Ghosla although not as good as “Golmaal” , nevertheless is a work of great promise. “Oye Lucky!Lukcy Oye!”, was delightful but not as good as Khosla.... But this weekend i believe i have seen a film that is a path breaker in Indian Cinema - a film named “LSD”. Its a brave work and believe me, every move in the movie has moved me in some way or the other. I must say the movie has left a deep impression in my mind just like what Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez’ “The Blair Witch Project” did to me. Its a brilliant movie that i will watch over and over again. Bravo, fellow Bengali – you make me feel proud ! apart from these, there has been a marked difference in which the erstwhile tree-to-tree fleeting Indian superstars approach commercial cinema these days. Srk has come out of his comfort zone to perform challenging roles in “swades”, “chak de..” and “mnk”, though it must be said that its only swades in which he has not over acted. Since the late 90s aamir khan had switched gears to thinking cinema based on unconventional plots and has shown great promise both as a director and an actor. When you see young directors like farhan actor make movies like “dil chahta hai “ or a sriram raghavan making “johny gaddar” , you are only filled with hope. However there is always a fear that this trend might lead to the westernization of Indian cinema. Here it has to be noted that modern Mexican , French, Italian, argentine, Israeli, Iranian films mostly depict the local rather than the foreign. Hopefully india walks the same way or a better untrodden road if there be one !

One can hope only wish that the day is not far when the likes scorcese, spielberg, coppola, lean, Nolan start emerging from india

Pathanwadi, Mumbai - 400097 !

in Mumbai... they say, u should never stop ! unfortunately, before joining TCS all dat i used to think was.. "stay stopped, dont start !". so in an effort to accustom myself to a city, dats a polar opposite of Kolkata, i hav started puttin on a garb of pretence - as if i am the busiest in d world. with this pseudo sense of being busy comes the pseudo sense of being Mr. Attitude.... see, how well i analysed my newer self.. :D
but people who pretend too much need the minor-est of shocks to get back to who they really are.. 'coz these minor shocks r d ones dat catch dem off-guard nd unprepared.
so who gave me, "Mr. i-know-everythig", this minor yet massive shock...

a western railway ticket supervisor at the ticket counter.

dat night while returning from office i finally decided to purchase ticket from malad to belapur... i used d word "finally" 'coz for d previous 4 days i had hoped against all hope dat i wud b withdrawn from belapur :D ....
so i smartly walked to d ticket counter nd asked the man, "give me a monthly nd an ID card". better b said dat in case of monthly tickets u only need to give ur name nd a photograph, they dont ask much questions after dat. however dis man was different. in a distinct north-indian-english accent (in india every regiion has its customised version of british english), "whaat ij ur name ?"... i replied back, "somnath s-a-r-k-a-r". he asked "whhere do u live ?".. i replied back in a fake marathi accent (imagine a bengali trying to speak in a fake marathi accent with a north indian - 3 regions different regions of india utilised to make one national language work :D), "mala-ad". i had heard this accent during railway announcements inside d train. he asked back, "whhere in malad ?"... by this tym i was getting pissed... so i replied back in more fluent english, "pathanwadi" (though pathanwadi is not an english word :D). the man smiled and asked again... "what is the pin code for pathanwadi ?"..... oh o o o ..... i replied, "4 0 0 ........". the man laughed sarcastically, "dont ebhen know whhere u live.. he he . its 400097.. hehe". already naked, as i was without my garb of pretence, i just took the ticket, "thank u".. nd walked towards the auto stand... :D
i returned home nd after dinner i analysed dis whole incident nd i laughed for about 10 mins (my sis nd mom were asleep obviously)... hugely criticised myself nd went 2 sleep reciting, "pathanwadi is 400097 !"

Mumm in Mumbai !!!

so.. i'm in Mumbai.. finally !

hard to believe that i've already travelled around 2 indian states inside 3 months. not quite normal for a guy used to staying at home in kolkata for most of the time.

life in mumbai is xactly a polar opposite to my beloved Kolkata. it's a busy relentless life, not quite the comfortable and relaxed life in Kolkata. Needless to say... i miss Kolkata very much inspite of the fact that i am wid my family members here in Mumbai. in Kolkata, the very glimpse of a smile in every bengali face is sufficient to invigourate you. here you dont see smiling faces. people here are busy.. or at least pseudo-busy.
life in the software industry is not really tough but it's xtremely boring, as of now. ask me, why boring ?... i do what i've always done - sit in front of a PC throughout the day, but what i do in my PC is what matters. its not my usual FIFA practice sessions but rather uninteresting self learning sessions. all that the trainees get to do is complete a huge number of web trainings. and thanks to these web trainings, paint has become the most favoured application out here (copy paste your answers for later reference). a software engineer's life has not turned out to be something that i had xpected. coding has taken a backseat and its all about the xternal glitter. Back in the 16th century William Shakespeare had figured out that,

"all that glisters is not gold, often have you heard that told, many a man his life hath sold, guilded tombs do worms infold, but my outside to behold, had you been as wise bold old ....... your suit is cold"

(wrote it spontaneously without referring to google, so the mistakes - it's one of my favourite paragraphs in literature, Merchant of Venice taught in class 8-10). unfortunately people don't realise it this 21st century. i have given more tests on etiquette, english, email writing than the ones on programming concepts, yet i'm an assistant systems engineer. Being a fan of the films "Into The Wild" and "Forrest Gump", i would love to be a free thinking man but unfortunely am bounded in this world of formalities.

neways.. now im looking forward to my next trip to my beloved hometown. my life in kolkata was a continuous quantity but here in mumbai it has been discretised. my mother is coming here on the 22nd... and i'm dying to have the roshogollas that she's bringing along with her.

A "Bangali" in Thiruvananthapuram

Ask my parents, “what does somu criticise the most, day and night” – they would no doubt reply – “Bengal and Bangali”. The answer is certainly as true as my love for Kolkata.
Kolkata is not just a megacity, i view it as my friend, girlfriend, inspiration, mentor and almost-almighty. So i protect it the way i protect myself. So anything i feel is an imperfection, i would want to criticise and rectify it (sounds arrogant right ? well, c’mon its my blogspace, i can have this liberty).

So what happens when this kolkata-crazy guy lands far south in a place which comprises, approximately, 3 times the number of alphabets in kolkata ?

A hardcore Bengali in Malayalam-land railway station
Station looks clean, the people don’t look like they are abusing each other (if they are then i must confess they have the most pleasant disposition of venting their audible expletives and that Malayalam slangs sound better than Hindi and Bengali ones). Score +1. I walk out of the station – and for the first time in life i am not swarmed by auto-wallahs. Score +1. I walk out to the pre-paid auto booth. There’s a female policewoman monitoring every transaction and a few other policemen ensuring smooth public movement out of the booth. They all understand fluent English and even speak well. So, Score +1.

How different are Thiruvananthapuram roads from the ones in kolkata ?
Not much of a difference. Pot-holed roads aplenty. The auto ride turns out to be bumpier than I expected. Communists states always had the tendency following the footsteps of their fellow commie (is this a slang ?) states, and i don’t think its far when kerala adopts bengal’s petrol-to-lpg conversion policy for autos if the govt. really wants to mitigate pollution levels in the city. Thus, the journey from Thiruvananthapuram (i really like the full name) Central to our hotel turns out to be quite uncomfortable and irritating. Score -2.

Thiruvananthapuram food !!!!!
This was the most talked-about issue while i was preparing for my sojourn down-south. Bengalis always believe they cook better than anybody – but luckily, while I do hold Bengali food in high esteem i don’t believe Bengalis are the best cooks in the world simply because i have not even tasted 1% of the exhaustive list of food that the world has to offer. It takes some time to get used to the smell of coconut oil but in overall food is nice, though i feel there is lack of variety. Non Vegetarians will definitely love this place but Vegetarians would be disappointed. Coffee is fantastic and so are the fruit juices. Another drink that i love is the sharja. Its a thick liquid comprising milk, chocolate powder and banana. Dosa is okay but not as good as in Chennai. Same applies to sambhar as well. There’s a bhaaji made of coconut, banana and beans that i love as well. But the Kerala rice is very thick and Bengalis would definitely disapprove of it at the first go. Then again give it some time.
Since i am a “pure” non-vegetarian, Score +1.

The Malayalees and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC)
In India it is a common belief that all south Indians are the same, and by South India, we generalise Chennai. So i came to Thiruvananthapuram expecting Tamil-like people who are not quite famous for their hospitality towards the rest of India. However, Kerala is different. Malayalees are extremely helpful. I travelled across Thiruvananthapuram city extensively and i never felt like a stranger. You do not need to memorize directions in advance as the people will happily help you with the same if you are lost. The only complain would centre around the malayalees’ inability to stay outdoors after about 9:30 pm. Transport system is superb, like in Bengal, and available almost 24x7. I travelled to various parts of Kerala (Varkala, Kovalam, Munnar, Alappuzha, Kollam, Kanyakumari – TN) and not for once did i hire a private vehicle. Travelling is really simple. Just shake off your slumber and lethargy, get out on the road, go to the nearest KSRTC bus stand or railway station and travel wherever you want. Bus conductors are extremely helpful though they always appear to be in haste.
Special Mention: Indian Coffee House - the place one has to fall back to whenever there is a food crisis !
Score +5.

Overall view of Thiruvananthapuram.
Great place to travel to. Great place to stay. Araku Valley in Vishakhapattnam had always been my favourite place (among the ones i have visited) in India, only until i visited God’s own country. I was extremely excited on the 17th of December 2009, because that was the day i was scheduled to return to Kolkata, but deep inside i was quite sad that i was leaving behind a place that, i felt, made me one of its own. So it is only fitting that i end this blog vowing to return to Kerala at the earliest opportunity i have !

Where are you Christopher McCandless ?

This is Thiruvananthapuram, and i am here for my so-called “Induction Program” organised by a reputed company. Christopher McCandless was about my age when he decided against joining Law @ Harvard, only to lead the most glorious life, ever lived by an individual, in the jungles of Alaska. Neither do i have the guts to be a Christopher McCandless nor do i have such an elevated level of thinking.
So what is this “Induction Program” ? I would love to convince others that its a program, that apart from imparting technical knowledge, goes a long way in confusing an already-delusional class of fresh engineers and what’s more, you get paid for it ! Here we a study a programming language that i believe MIT developed only out of desperation not to keep their scholarly minds idle. Then we have something called grooming classes. Here they teach me how to speak in English. But imagine what happens when some asks you to pronounce “tortoise” as “tort-ese” and “poem” as “pawm”. Then the teaches says he has never heard anyone pronounce “envelope” as “onvelope”! English here has been reduced to what “sounds right” rather than what “is right”. What they don’t realise is that Indians today speak English better than anybody – Indians can adapt to several English accents in days, whereas we don’t really find Americans, Australians, latin Americans or the birtish as comfortable with so many different styles of English.
Let’s talk a bit about Professional Grooming. In short – this is where i learn how to FAKE! what matters most is the first impression. Here, let me bring in a guy named Swapnil Sonawane – this brilliant guy from nit-durgapur was unshaven and in faded tattered jeans when he cleared about 6 levels of programming and technical interview to emerge as the richest boy ever in the history of the college. So, just as the British do in temperatures of 15 – 25 degrees centigrade, i do the same in temperatures of 30 – 40 degrees centigrade, i.e choke myself in a neck tie!
I have sailed through really tough English examinations in icse, isc with 1 points, just like many of my friends, and have interacted with so many different kind of people – so i do believe i have the right to be an individual, not a programmed machine
Wish i could think the way Christopher McCandless did! He died a human being, we’ll die fakers! The biggest difference between him and us is the love for currency notes.