I CAN EAT MY DINNER IN A FANCY RESTAURANT......

Here's something to ponder while you sip your coffee, make plans for the weekend, get ready to have a nice meal or sit in an endless stream of traffic on your way back from work. Who is your role-model? And, in fifty words or less, why? Watch, allow me to demonstrate:

My best friends, Runa and Ruan are my role-models. They stand strong when I cannot, push me towards the right path when decisions are lost upon me, and help me to be a better person. Wonderful people, loyal friends, beautiful chicas, and of course, they have smokin’ hot asses.


So - husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, mom, dad, teacher, altar boy, rockstar or football fan - let me have it.

In an interesting turn of events, I won last quarter’s ‘Star Performer’ award and my team (Display Advertising) won the most prestigious annual award our company can give to any individual/team; and this is among 13,900 employees in the world. The gods of technology seem to be cutting me some slack. It was a good day. Now? I need chocolate...and tea...lots of tea.

Sinead O’Connor's 'Nothing Compares To You' cover by Stereophonics

I still really, really, really love this song.

As I was struggling through one of my longer runs on the treadmill, this song came up on my playlist. (Yeah, what’s up? I listen to this Sinead O’Connor cover while running.) One of the ways I get through the parts where I just don’t want to run anymore is allow myself a little psychotic lip-syncing singing along with whatever is playing. I was working my way towards the end of a run, and mouthing the words to this song while people did their stretches and lifted weights. And by “lip-syncing,” I mean puffing out incomplete lyrics, by which I mean crazily panting, “I CAN EAT MY DINNER IN A FANCY RESTAURANT.”

I’m at a point in my life where I’m fortunate to discover so many wonderful covers. As I’ve said before in other EC posts, I’m a sucker for good covers. And Sinead O’Connor’s famous ‘Nothing compares to you’ covered by Welsh band Stereophonics is pure class. There is something captivating about spitting venom over a gorgeous O’Connor backdrop. I simply cannot force my brain to move beyond this track. If you have only one song to listen to today this should be your choice.

Keep listening to good music.

Bon Voyage Ru Ru!

Ruan - coworker, best friend, and neighbor extraordinaire - leaves our fair city in a few days for 6 months in Canada. I'm terribly sad to see her leave but full of joy and pride for the panorama that awaits her. She’s been one of my favorite people, a wonderful friend, and I absolutely adore her. Just being in the same room with her is constant entertainment.
Any way I could try to describe Ruan would sound cliche, but she truly is an orb of energy, a force of nature, spirited and a tornado—all of those ways they describe characters in books, only this girl is the real deal. When we first met four years ago I had no idea that she'd become one of the most dazzling lights in my life. She's been my confidante, my shoulder to lean on, my sounding board - and most absolutely my true gal pal - and I hope that I've been all the same for her. I can't imagine a girl’s night, a holiday/office meal, a shopping trip, a visit to church, or a hangover without her. And I've been pampered by having such a great friend waiting for me every day at the office. We started college and then work at the same time so it’s gonna feel strange to stay on and not have her around anymore!

We did our unofficial going away for Ru last weekend and last night we had an official bon voyage celebration. We're definitely going to send her off with a bang. Or at the very least, a severe headache.

And we say goodbye to Ruan, although she'll be a part of our lives for a very long time. Runa and I wish her all the best and will welcome her back into our home and our happy hours anytime. Here’s to you, Ruan. Hope you find out all the cool stuff the new City has to offer. Hope you never have to worry about holding your liquor AND I hope you learn to swear constantly.

Here are some pictures of the farewell that took place last weekend, mostly because I’m really friggin tired and can’t think of anything more to say.


Also, you should listen to the Jamie Cullum’s new track, “Don’t Stop the Music” (Rihanna’s cover – tastefully done, might I add) while you look at them, because that’s what I listened to on repeat while I posted them. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d write more about the party, too. Sorry, internet. I’m slowin’ my roll these days.

We love you lots, Ruan. Our loss is Canada’s gain!

Happy 26!

While we're on a roll celebrating the joy of life, tomorrow is my friend Ruan’s 26th birthday. Ru is officially one of my closest friends, because she’s the person I see everyday at work, spend every free and fun moment with, we’re practically neighbors, we know the same people and are still currently BFF. Ruan once told me that she loved me even though she could barely walk and was having the worst possible day. This is only one of the many things to love about Ruan. She moved to my area after we passed out of college, which is great for me, in terms of friend locale and convenience. She sort of is like a Superfriend, but with more cuteness and craziness. She claims she's celebrating her day in low-key style at home with close friends and family but I suspect that's just a cover story. No doubt she's celebrating her birthday in family's traditional manner: at a sleazy joint, burning through a wad of singles, taking home some great gifts and waking up with a hangover. Happy Birthday Ru… Ray LaMontagne for you…



A real update before week's out, I promise. Until then, replaying this over and over again should keep you guys busy. Peace out!

Summer! I propose change!

I hate the weather! I mean it was just getting comfy cold and I was getting quilted out and all of a sudden...BAM! It's summer. Ick. If there is anything I hate more than walking around this city in the rain and slush, it is waking up in the heat. In my idyllic world, it is fancy jackets and hot chocolate weather atleast 361 days a year. That would leave two days for a tremendous rainfall (so that they have to close the office) and two days of stifling, scorching heat (where you can spend underwater because it's too hot to do anything else). See, I'm open to a small amount of moderation.

I'm looking forward to a few more days of comparative serenity. Nothing about last week was very crazy, but it was fast-paced enough and left me with such little personal time that I was a bit burnt-out by the time Friday night rolled around. I just have to make it through the next week and then a little vacation awaits. I'll probably be hitting Pondicherry (fingers crossed), where, with the exception of my date with Law & Order, I plan to spend all of my time slightly intoxicated, kicking water and working on losing my newly gained weight. Lord knows I'm up for the challenge.

However, the biggest test in my life now is to maintain my sanity at work and keep earning a paycheck. All in all, they've been very civil to me here. No reason I can't continue to do what I’m doing at this company and work towards outside goals. I just have to keep my patience and realize that I don't have to be stuck here forever.

And as my creative self, has always reminded me, I can always go out for Indian Idol Senior Edition in 20 years, if nothing else works out.

I’ve been kicking myself for not discovering this song any sooner. Well, yesterday Ru sent me this song and somehow it went right into all the nerves in my head. As an aside, ‘Love is not a fight’ by North Carolina-born singer/songwriter Warren Barfield, gets better and better every time I listen to it and the fact that I'm still hitting 'play' after turning in the review should say a good deal. And it gets me oh so happy by even writing about it here on my pretty little blog in any way.
My exterior pretended to be un-moved but in my head I was clearing up flowing awesomeness. Amazing doesn't begin to do justice to this song. What a revelation. A beautiful skillfully layered gorgeously instrumented work that has officially burrowed its magic into my brain.







To the good person responsible for getting me to hear it- Ru, thanks.

A Date with Karma6

So for those who want to know what went down yesterday here goes… Ruan and I went to Landmark to get a present for Tony’s upcoming birthday and I had found the perfect gift. For someone who likes Gordon Summers (Sting) so much I bought a book titled ‘Lyrics by Sting’. The book contains Sting’s collection of lyrics along with his commentary for each song and black-and-white pictures that would make any Police fan quite ridiculously happy. Giving Tony this gift was the best part of it all- the innumerable kisses I got back was priceless.

I found myself with nothing to do the entire evening, so I decided to go with Runa to palace grounds to watch the Independence Rock concert. The thought of seeing Karma6 in concert again sorta invigorated me. I never made it for many of the Sunday Jam events because there are hardly any girls at the concert and secondly, I don’t dig strange death metal music. I prefer listening to music that I can hear and understand, not cringe and head bang to. Runa and I got to the concert just when Karma6 got on stage to do their sound check. We screamed Tony’s name so that he could see where we were and then we waited for the magic to happen. Being at the concert, I came upon two conclusions. First, the guitarists- Prakash, Alwyn and Tony are bloody great. Effortlessly, they rocked with the purest sort of rough-edge glee. Fantastic. Mark had the crowd going with his classic rock voice that makes you melt like butter on a biscuit. This five-piece South Indian convergence of classic and new, rock and yes, we'll say it, roll, has made quite the impression on the Bangalore crowd. The band performed tracks by Mr. Big, Foo Fighters, Coldplay including the track that got them all on TV- the Earth song.

Overall, many of the tracks they managed to get right. Some others, however, are caught between good- but- not-a- good -fit- for a rock concert. If I had the time to stay on till the end of the entire concert I would’ve loved to tell the band that they put up an awesome show and I swear that with their own compositions they would make Bangalore gods to rock fans. Tony, the music genius of the band is going to be busy writing the lyrics for their upcoming album and I can’t wait for them to show B’lore their own stuff. My only complaint is the fact that there were some girls who were screaming crazy whenever Mark came around the corner. Ugh, I hate the stench of hyperactivity. And that's about all I can say about that fantastic concert. Woohoo!

So, I’ve created a new blog. It won’t be an everyday thing like this blog but it will be updated on weekends. I’m attempting to write posts dedicated to one man I honestly don’t know a lot about so I’m just going to wing it. Why would I decide to do this? Easy, the voices in my head asked me to. This will be quite the adventure, especially since I hardly stay in love for too long. So the new blog is about Jeff Buckley and my life with his music. Basically, a personal blog such as this one but just the songs played and reviews made will just be on Jeff Buckley’s tracks. I can’t wait to share the music that leads me to have an outburst of emotion. His songs do not let up in intensity and it will have you singing along. Even if this is not your style of music, his music is still gripping. The lyrics are believable and many people can relate to such regrets. The rhythm of the songs is moving and fit well with the lyrics. The lyrics are definitely the most serious and straight-forward part of Buckley’s normal freestyle type vibe. With a 5 minute plus running time his songs never seem long but rather it leaves you wanting more, which is usually why I put it on repeat. If you like songs with layers and no screaming (no offense to screamo fans) this is your guy, your blog. I’m open to suggestions and criticisms that will help me make this blog an interesting read. And with that I leave you with this track by Travis called ‘Side’.

Evuhleen's Downtown for Music

After work I went out with the girls and Ck for dinner last night. All I could think about was my new friend. I imagined the face of my intended, embracing me in his arms- uh! I didn’t know I could be so theatrical. I don’t think my self-esteem could handle it if it actually happened. My hyper state of existence has thrown me into a tangle of uncertainty and over dramatics.


My addiction to shopping is getting out of hand. I told Ck and Ruan to go ahead and order food while I took Runa to my favorite shopping place so she could get something for Tony’s upcoming birthday. I was famished but that didn’t stop me from spending a good amount of time buying some clothes. I worry that my priorities are misplaced.

I was all ready for it to be a horrible, hellish experience at work without Shreyas around to check on us. When the day came for him to leave to Goa for a holiday I kept asking him neurotic questions about the process and couldn’t take comfort in the fact that he was leaving the team to fend for itself but it’s been pretty painless and we’ve been able to do just about a good job on our own.

Last night, I was in a pretty good mood because I’ve got two new readers, who happen to be colleagues of mine. Both of them started reading my blog after hearing about it from friends of mine and one of them sent me a message online to tell me that she was a fan. I had heard that the other reader maintained a blog on LiveJournal, I decided to visit his page after the flurry of activity at work had died down. Sometimes I really just love the world. Fabulousness from this blog. Take a gander and see what you think.

In my mind whenever I think of the word ‘Guitar Hero’ I’m probably thinking Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Slash…way before I’d ever think of the video game. So, by now most of you guys might’ve heard about Guitar Hero. Personally, I wasn’t brought up on video games. So I don’t see what the big hoot about it is. The news related to the game is about some 16 year old that has dropped out of school to practice and compete in the game. Is that ridiculous or what? I mean, if you’re spending all that time perfecting the push of buttons why don’t you just learn the damn guitar. I’m hoping folks out there get it in their heads that there’s a difference between the two- buttons and strings.

Chan photographed by Jean Baptiste Mondino for Jalouse '05

Years down the lifeline of rock, entire uniqueness is tremendously uncommon. Everything is an offshoot of something. So when I listen to an artist or a song and it doesn’t remind me of anything I’ve heard before I’m real curious. Chan Marshall is at a point where, like it or not… is going to be included in my blog for more than a post. She’s here with ‘He War’ and she’s proved that she’s worth checking out. Go Cat Power!

The Ideal Weekend

I wish I could walk into a place, rest my thoughts with a nice drink and listen to someone sing. It’s hard to believe that B’lore, of all cities, has banned places like those.

Saturday, somewhere in B’lore city, I met Shreyas and Ruan for brunch. Alexis and Venky also joined us. For those who haven’t read my older posts. Alexis, is comparatively new to the music scene in the city but she has made quite an indelible impression on the audience. Venkat Subramaniam, known as Venky in music circles, is the Frank Sinatra of B’lore. And that is not an overstatement (hear him here). The 5 of us met with the intention of having a late breakfast together. Six pitchers of beer and innumerable stories later we realized it was late evening and that it was time to move ourselves out of the place. All I can remember as I write this post is the beer and the generous serving of bread, bacon, eggs, sausages and mashed potatoes. It reminded me of regular weekend breakfasts with friends back in my college days.

Returned home drunk and sleepy. Took a quick nap, then went for coffee and got back home because Runa and Ruan wanted to come over and watch ‘Grapes of Wrath’. We had read the book in college and I finally got my hands on a great print. But I was reeking of alcohol, a little too sleepy and it was bit late, so we ended up talking about the day. I spoke to Ash after the girls left. She’s a good friend who’s in Chennai at the moment (taking a break from b’lore or someone in b’lore). After the call I then hit the sack.

I think I’m going to do this weekend-breakfast thing more often. I never want to get myself into a situation where I have nothing to do but watch movies all day. This is how one falls into depression. I need exercise and people.

The weather makes me think of these days as weird and wonderful. It's definitely not wonderful when others have to put up with the nuisance of traffic jams and slushy roads, or worse, flooded areas; but watching the rain just fall, feeling the breeze brush past my neck and the cool air all around - leaves me feeling quite relaxed at this time of year. I'm going to remember these past couple of days as the ones when I breathed the air, learned to wait, stepped out of my world of inhibitions and hoped for better things.

There's beauty yet in this world. Sometimes it's right in front of us that we miss it altogether.

I spent the last couple of hours playing with my niece. Some jumping, some kickball. I gave her my drumsticks, again. Her father will soon have to buy her, her own. Much laughter, then goodbyes. A good Sunday afternoon.

A Perfect Circle- 'Gravity'. For my dearest Ash.

Celebrating Ru

I'm not a huge fan of tennis. But what a game last night! Nadal was fabulously insane!
A friend of mine had taken pictures of him when he came to Chennail some time back. Check them out here.

Summer is already over. I'm looking out of the window at grey clouds. A day for 'Caramel'.

My parents and I hardly talk anymore. I see them as soon as I reach home and then I'm in my room getting acquainted with the darkness and the music.

Had a one on one with my lead yesterday and had presentations all day today. Surprisingly, it went pretty well.

Sunday was spent dozing and munching, bed-bound for the day and watching movies (hello Untraceable and The Bank Job). By evening I was beginning to feel a little sorry for myself. Still, that was only part one. Part two had socializing with friends at dinner. Lots of meat was involved and it was only the addition of a rather nice bowl of soup that stopped me from being completely dead. This morning was good but my body feels like it's stretched by some torture device or something. I'm growing old.

Blimey.

I want to post more, but I am tired, so need to get out of work early and buy something for Ruan's birthday tomorrow. I'll post again tomorrow and I'll put my favorite track for this week up.

One person who sounds like an absolute angel and I am not exaggerating – Sarah McLachlan. She's got so much heart in her music that it moves through her lyrics, erupts uncontrollably with the unique texture in her voice and leaves a deep resonance in the minds of listeners. Her music is phenomenal and legendary. This goes out to Ruan. I'm lucky to have a friend like you. Thank you for everything. Not merely for those laughs and fights, but the gift of friendship. Happy B'day love!