million little pieces

Recently read a very interesting book called "million little pieces". One of the highly controversial memoirs of recent times; this book talks about james frey's addiction towards drugs and alcohol. The memoir starts of when james is taken to a famous rehab center (Britney comes to your mind rite?) in the US. It talks about his confrontation with himself in giving up the habit and undergoing reforms by constantly challenging and blaming himself for all his heinous deeds, instead of blaming the system and the circumstances. He believes in self control to overcome addiction rather than following the standard treatment prescribed by the rehab (indulgence in spiritual practice and social cause). In there, he falls for a vulnerable drug addict Lilly which gives him a new lease of life. He gets into trouble by breaking the rules of the rehab for the benefit of his gal fren. This book highlights the psyche of a drug addict and his take on various aspects of life like relationship, parental care, love life and friendship. The way he makes friends with other inmates in the rehab is very interestingly written. There he meets Leonard a father figure with criminal background. His next book deals with his life after rehab with leonard (yet to read it).

Now, why has it got into controversies? Oprah interviewed james in her show and added his memoir to her recommendations list. Later independent news agencies conducted an investigation to validate the facts and found out that some of it was fabricated and purely imaginative (which classifies the book to be fiction, instead of memoir). But james defended saying that most of it is true and only very small portion of it is imaginative. He said his intention was to increase the impact and make it a gripping story. He also apologized for cheating his readers. Overall it’s a good book and it tops my favorite titles as of now. This is a must read for all those wondering what actually happens in a rehab and what it takes to give up addictions. Will be back with another book soon.

(mis)adventure with chopsticks

Ever wondered what it takes to compete with chinese...flexibity and determination. To attain these qualities in life one should have dedication and will power (I can hear you saying 'cut the crap'). Well to experience the true flavour of Chinese food, we decided to use chop sticks!

Battle field : Our regular eat out Cascade, besant nagar
Warriors : my usual comrades bright, divs and my bro arun

It was a conscious decision on our part to eat with (try to) chop sticks in our fav place when my friends are around rather than trying out in a new place.
After watching some Chinese movies, I felt it wasn’t that a big deal. But it’s very easily said than done. The chopsticks given to us were made out of plastic instead bamboo, not to say that I am an expert in bamboo chopsticks. I read thro the pictorial instructions to understand how to use it. We dint dare to try soup with chop sticks. Bright and I ate noodles but divs and arun were gutsy enough to try eating rice.

Check out the video to see how hard it is…


We offered wholesome entertainment for those @ the restaurant. I could hear some giggles right from the beginning. End of this futile exercise my shirt had lots of stain as a souvenir for my bravery. Should say we attracted many eyeballs !

A guy with a big stapler

How will you react when you see a decently dressed executive traveling in a bike carrying a big stapler hooked on to his hip? Bewildered?? That was my reaction when I saw this guy, while driving to airport. I got totally carried away by this incident and I was very curious to know why anybody would hook a stapler in his hip...I even made up my mind to overtake him and tell him his act is totally ridiculous...Gone passed him I realized what a blunder I was about to do. While overtaking I happened to notice the bag he was carrying...it had BLUE DART emblazoned on it....sheeeshh

He being a courier executive carries a stapler all the time... Imagine the scenario, had I went and told him, he would have laughed at my face saying “naan etha yavathu enga yavathu vechu erupen… poi ethavathu vela eruntha paarunga…” In hindsight it sounds funny that i dint notice the obvious things before rushing to conclusion. But sometimes we don’t actually think thro before we rush to a conclusion. This is one such incident when I was out of mind!

From a rookie in rock music

Deep purple concert – Moments which will remain etched in my memory forever

We stood in the queue almost an hour before the gates were opened to be the privileged few to stay very close to the stage.To our surprise we bumped into few Bimites who traveled all the way from trichy to catch a glimpse of their performance. Kudos u guys...Keep up the rock spirit!

For us who expected the crowd to be overwhelming, it was a bit of disappointment I would say (tickets priced at premium). The concert was opened by a Bangalore based band called Gallej gurus..Though they played good numbers of their own compositions and few covers they couldn’t hold audience attention as crowd was impatiently waiting for the gods of rock to perform

Every body who took the stage right from the guy who set the mike to sound engineers who tested musical instruments were applauded…sent signals of desperation (something I dint like, but then couldn’t help it)…

We waited a long while for purple to get on stage, then came the moment when they set the stage on fire!I was dumbstruck when Steve morse jammed his guitar strings…. Result: inevitable reaction from my senses J goose bumps..

First few minutes every one of us gaped in awe and disbelief.. i couldn’t believe my eyes that I am watching them perform, then for about an hour it was one hell of a performance!!!!

Guess they were moved by the rock following in India..they took us through an enthralling musical journey by performing some of there hit numbers like black night, burn, speed king, fireball, hush etc.
Lighting arrangement made by them deserves a special mention… typical European concert types...

Half way thro the concert they started playing guitar solos of some popular bands like GNR,ACDC which made the rock enthusiasts go roaring..

Ian Gillan was as usual at top of his voice. His vocal at the age of late fifties is amazing. Towards the end of the show Steve morse and roger glover started jamming together..WOW (couldn’t find a word in dictionary to describe those moments)
Ian paice was truly exceptional at the percussion. Don Airey played magic on his synthesizer..

When the show came to a close we felt as though we have just embarked our journey in rock music…long way to go head bangers…
It was a memorable evening for head bangers as we enjoyed rocking away to the glory..I left the venue with 2 questions for DP in mind! What does it take to stay on top of the rock world?
How does it feel when you see thousands of people going frenzy?

P.S : Wrote this post months ago, but forgot to post it. Found it while clearing my folder and now it came in for your view.

My first posting

While blogging was slowly catching up in India, I was dormant. Basically I was very lazy to start punching the keys on a free evening rather than listening to music or hanging out with friends. Pouring out my ideas and opinions into a public arena may invite arguments. A sense of insecurity crept in when I thought my ideas and opinions can be defended or confronted in the public domain. But then, only by confrontations and repeated deliberations can one obtain clarity in any issue. But all of a sudden what made me think and start punching out my opinions?

Answer: Carnatic music (Surprisingly!!!)

Whole Chennai is buzzing around in Carnatic Kutcheris, I being a music lover always wanted to know what made this genre of music very special and very sacred. Though I have listened to such music at times (due to force, than by choice), this time around I thought I should try listening to Carnatic music (by choice of course). After hearing a lot about them from my work colleagues, I reached home and googled for some radio stations which may play Carnatic music. That’s when I came across this website http://radio.musicindiaonline.com/ which plays streaming Carnatic music. I started listening to it since 10.30 and this music still keeps me occupied. Sometime at 11pm I had a feeling I should document my present state of mind and pleasure I experience. What better avenue I have than a blog?

With absolutely no knowledge about this instruments or artistes, I have been kept occupied. It actually flows through your ears and creates an unidentifiable and inexpressible feeling which one has to experience and relish.

The solace and peace you derive by listening to it, I doubt if any new age instruments or bands would deliver them. While I pen about this, I would like stress that I am all set to goto Bangalore tomorrow night to attend the Deep Purple Rock concert. After all experiences and memories are the only assets which remain with you forever. Now that brings me to end this posting with a quote which recently caught my attention “He who can’t change his ideas is a prisoner of the past”. Very true isn’t?