Raindrops keep falling on my head

So,  I was trying to get out of lazy mode this afternoon. But it was raining and boy, was that some rain. But I did get out my camera for a while. And I think it was so totally worth it.

What goes around comes around

I’m having trouble waking up in the mornings these days, which means I’m always late to work. I should have known this day would come.

You see, I was on vacation in India for the last couple of weeks. It was almost an evil pleasure to watch people hurry to work in the mornings (especially on Monday mornings) when I could choose to stay in bed or laze around. And I reminded everybody I met that “You have to go to work and I’m on vacation!!” It was such a sweet feeling. I could see the jealousy in their eyes and hear them quietly hurling curses my way.

And now Karma is biting me in the ass.

Feeling blue

The color of the sky matches with my mood today. But the star twinkles on.

Looking for the pot of gold..

Under this rainbow.
Spotted my first one this year ( the rainbow, not the gold)! And I thought it would make a good start for my first blog post this year.

2011: The year that whizzed past

I’m writing this post to keep up with my tradition from the last two years. I was just reading my post from last year. I think that the issues I had last year are not major issues anymore. So I guess it means I have made some progress with my life. Or that other issues have taken precedence.

I prefer to do my stock-taking-on-life at the end of the year. As some of you will know, I am ..erm.. lets just say…. not a very happy “birthday person”.

Made fewer trips this year, compared to the last. The major one to USA happened (thanks to a conference again), the highlight being the trip to the glorious Yosemite.

Travelled home to India not once or twice, but thrice this year. Not to mention, I am here at New Year’s Eve. Now, that must mean something, right?

Caught a few good concerts in 2011, Shaan and Raahat. Sadly though, I’ll never be able to witness Jagjit Singh and Bhupen Hazarika, live in action.

On the professional front, the research is going somewhere, I think. Presented my work at the conference this year. Took my Qualifying Exams and actually passed them. Hopefully, I finish in a year and half. Fingers crossed!!

But mostly, this year sucked! Really. I can think of more unhappy things that happened than the happy ones. And yet, I will choose to remember only the happier moments.

2011, I’m happy to see you go.

I hope the one coming up is a better one.

Celebrations

This was taken last month at my sister's engagement. Yes, that's my excuse for the missing posts, the last few days ;)

In concert: Shaan se!

Yay!! This is my 50^th post. I know it comes a little late but what the hell, it is still a milestone.

Would you believe if I told you that I was at a concert in which the star of the show was right on time but the audience wasn’t? What if I told you that he was there on stage the moment the lights went out and stayed on stage until it was over! Well! You just had to be there to believe me.

After my experience with the last couple of concerts, which not only started late but also started with extra un-needed fillers, I was expecting a similar story at this one too. But there he was, right on time at 8 sharp as soon as the lights were dimmed. It’s a pity that the audiences kept trickling until 8:30 or so. (I’m sorry but I’m I am a stickler for time. And I really respect people who respect time. )

There he was, Shaan in person, dressed in all black. I’ve loved him since his ‘Love-ology’ and ‘Tanha Dil’ days. I was in awe for the first few minutes. Once he started singing, I had to restrain myself from jumping up and down, clapping my hands in glee .He was all I expected him to be and more. I just kept grinning ear to ear throughout the concert.

Starting the evening with “Behti hava sa tha woh” and introducing Kishore Kumar/Kishore da, whose memories the concert was to relive. And after that he wondered out loud, “ I was told it is a full house, but I see so many empty seats” adding, “ Well, its an Indian show, we have to prove a point here!”

This time the concert was at the esplanade theatre and the acoustics were really great. I wish more concerts were held here instead of the suntec convention centre or elsewhere.

Throughout the concert, you could see people enjoying themselves. People absent-mindedly bobbing their heads to the beat, doing subtle head banging moves, tapping their feet and clapping their hands in glee. You could see that everyone was really happy.

I know it would sound absurd to many if I told you he sounded so much like Kishore in some songs but I must say he came very close. I can’t think of any other voice that would do so much justice to Kishore’s songs. Shaan executed each song to perfection.

He did quite a few Kishore numbers followed by some medleys. He sang most of the favorites: Yeh dil na hota bechara, pal pal dil ke paas, O meri hansini, Tum bin. He classified them based on the actors Kishore sang for, starting from Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Shashi Kapoor, and ending with Sanjay Dutt and Rishi Kapoor. It was an excellent mix of songs. Yeah, I know you can’t probably go wrong with any of Kishore Kumar’s songs but it must have been one hell of a job to pick just a few from them. As he sang the songs, he tried to mimic the actors and their mannerisms of the actors in question, which was fun to watch.

There was a female singer June-something, I think. She did the duets with Shaan and did a decent job of it although I’m happy that he did most of the singing. I went there to listen to him.

People who were hoping he’d sing his own songs too were not disappointed. He did a great “Main hoon don” and my favourite “Tanha dil” too, in addition to quite a few of the popular ones in the last hour.

When someone asked him to sing a Bengali song, he said “Arrey, tab to marathi gaana bhi gaana padega”. But sweet that he was, he sang a couple of lines in Bangla.

He kept forgetting his lyrics when he dropped some lyric-sheets during a song and sang adding his own words, which he admitted to doing and apologized profusely. I thought that was very endearing. He is one of the most down-to-earth singers that I’ve seen.

His message to the public was to quit smoking and chewing tobacco and apparently it is a message he gives at all his shows. He gave his message right before he sang “Khaike paan banaras wala”!

He was one of the nicest “stars” I’ve seen so far. He was extremely nice and he was one with the crowd, understanding just how to keep them happy. He sang most of the songs people asked for and even when he didn’t have the time, he sang at least a couple of lines when someone asked for a song.

It was one of the most memorable concerts for me. I loved him before but now I’m bowled over.  Shaan, I just became an even bigger fan of yours. Thanks for the great show!!