Mutterings that Matter

Monday, August 22, 2005

Walk of Life

Walking along the byways and streets of London because there is nothing else to do, I am holed up in London because my flight back got canceled due to weather conditions in Mumbai. So I head out to Hyde Park from Gloucester Road, and then begin walking all the way to Piccadilly Square gazing at the splendor and the grandeur of the British Empire. Aimless in my approach like a tourist would be and discreet lest I get mistaken for a terror creating manic entity. London is going through bad times and unfortunately for me I have a phobia prone guarantee color on my body that I cannot change, it’s hereditary you know.

Nevertheless my aimless walk continues. You may ask why do you need to walk, and I will tell you that it’s good for health and that I can choose to stopover whenever and wherever I want. But deep down I know that that is not entirely true, deep down I know I am cost cutting. Strange people we humans are, we are so good at justifying our actions to people and convincing them of the glory that is there in it.

There is however a certain charm in walking aimlessly without focus, with no stated agenda, with no milestones. You can walk and walk till your feet can’t take it anymore and then take some transport when the going gets bad to get back home. Along the way you meet people, you see places, you investigate based on your inquisitiveness, and you do things that you may not do if there was some agenda at hand. If you have nothing else to do this is great but if you look at it from a commercial stand point, well I think I needn't say it, that it takes time because you cover less distance in the time that you have, you see less, you meet less people, but who cares anyways.

Life is like that, more than half the time you walk aimlessly in search of fulfilling your birth vision on why you came on this planet, the rest of the time you convince yourself that you are doing the right thing by walking aimlessly. Sometimes you do find purpose along the way that you pursue, a purpose that you have successfully justified to yourself after long deliberations with friends and family. Still there is no guarantee that your aimlessness was the way to go or your purposeful existence is better.

Yet along the way you see or do something that brings a gust of emotion inside of you and you thank that power above for your existence. The photograph above is one such gust of emotion that came over me when out of the blue without expectation I saw the Big Ben. Strange as it may seem, mind you this is true for friends, successes, and places you come across along your journey, whether your journey is aimless or purposeful in nature.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

1st on Broadway

Times Square, New York, May 2005 - An experience I will not forget. Firstly, because I went to New York, saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground zero, and Manhattan, and secondly, because for the first time in my life I watched a world class musical on Broadway.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's productions have always evoked huge responses, and I knew why, when I saw The Phantom of the Opera at The Majestic on Times Square. I had earlier seen two of Andrew Lloyd Webber's productions enacted by an Indian cast - Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and my personal favorite Jesus Christ Superstar. However watching The Phantom of the Opera in New York was something else altogether. Here the theatre halls are booked for months for this one show, and the stage is modified to suit the musical's requirement, not anything like that in India, which at best make use of huge props that to an extent simulate the grandeur of a musical but fall short in terms of quality and realistic execution. It’s not that I doubt the capabilities of Indians, but there is not a strong enough theatre culture here as it is in say New York or London.

Nevertheless, going back to my Broadway experience, I can never imagine forgetting that experience; just fell in love with theatre. With goosebumps all over at every crescendo and a passionate streak at every decrescendo my attention to the experience was complete. There has always been a secret desire to be part of a musical myself and get accolades for my performance; and as the song in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat goes "Any Dream will do", for me any part will do.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Independence Movie Binge

Took a long freedom weekend with my wife on the 14th and 15th of August 2005 and celebrated it with four movies. Watching four movies in the space of 24 hours and that too in a movie hall is not something a lot of people think is sensible. When you mention it to them they are awestruck in front of you, but sometimes at the back of their minds they have emotions that have not broken free to tell me that I am stupid or insane or a spendthrift. On a personal front I broke free of my record of most number of movie show tickets purchased at one time. The last time I had picked tickets of two back-to-back movie shows, this time I picked four. With the advent of multiplexes it’s easier for people like me to jump from screen to screen rather than theatre to theatre to satiate their appetite for a movie binge.

Just keeping the spirit of independence, all the movies I watched, Madagascar, Herbie – Fully Loaded, Virudhh, and Sarkar, to an extent had the spirit of breaking free, either from captivity, or from the prisons of their minds, or against the establishment. Gaining Independence does not solve all the problems because the internal strife continues, and I think that was the message I took back when I watched these four movies on the backdrop of the 58th anniversary of Indian Independence. Here’s wishing us all the best in our own struggle for independence.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Environmental Power

Ever wondered how certain countries have become more powerful and advanced than other countries. Ever wondered why the most powerful nations in world today, namely the G8, Canada, French Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Republic of Italy, Japan, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and
United States of America, have become more powerful than the other nations. Not that people have been smarter or they were born before the others and hence had a head start, or they had a political situation to back their advancement.

Maybe that’s true, but in a very weird way the climate has played a part in them being more active and productive. They have a natural cool climate for some months or all months. This helped them to be fresh all day and unlike most other hotter climate countries they were able to think better and be more effective.

However, now third world countries are catching up, because creating an artificial cooler climate has become a reality with air conditioning. Look at the way India has grown in software and BPO sectors, while China has made remarkable progress in the electronics sector. All these sectors need a cooler work environment and look at the progress these third world countries have made because of the availability of an artificial cooler climate. There may be arguments that both these countries have other things like space and people, but environment simulating infrastructure that’s affordable has made success and advancement possible to a large extent.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Tryst with destiny

It’s been a little less than 150 years, since the first mutiny for Indian Independence and a little less than 60 years for us gaining independence. 2 days away from the 58th anniversary of Indian Independence when we had our tryst with destiny, and I’m wondering what destiny offered us.

Was this what the freedom fighters fought for? Was this what they envisioned? Maybe I’m not the right person to comment on that, but I think they didn’t know as well. They didn’t know what independence meant. They only knew what colonialism was, and they didn’t like it. So they fought for the alternative.

A lot of times we do that, blinded and angst ridden by what we are facing now, we hope for a better future. A future that we do not know of and have not experienced, but something that theoretically looks good. Once we get there we are become blinded and angst ridden with what we face, and then we begin our journey to the next best theoretical thing. They complain, they fret and fume, little knowing that they are to blame for the state they are in.

Some people however stay there, in the past, because they have given up, they have no strength to go on; they have resigned to their destiny. They take what destiny offers them and pretend to be happy or seek sympathy. They die waiting for sympathy and pretending being happy.

I don’t know where I will fall into, maybe I will fit partially in both. But the end result is what will decide; Will I die complaining or pretend being happy!

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

26/7 - The onset of Antlophobia!

There was a time when the onset of monsoons meant cozying up at home, watching the rains, having hot chai and pakodas, and experiencing the monsoons.
There was a time when one would get romantic about the rains and write poems and prose in glory of the monsoons.
There was a time when the sweet smell of fresh earth emanated after the rains.
There was a time when one would enjoy getting wet in the rains.
26/7 changed all that, there came an uninvited deluge. Gathering with it the rich and poor, tax payer and tax evader, office goer and street urchin; everyone faced what came over Mumbai, no discrimination whatsover.

Now, rains bring panic and fear. People want to get back to their loved ones immediately. 26/7 - The onset of Antlophobia or the Fear of Floods!

This is however not a doomsday warning, because the spirit of Mumbai has not died, the spirit lives on, triumphant and relentless. Nothing can shake this land of opportunities, because opportunities are visible only to the toughened ones, and that Mumbai has in plenty.