Phew!! What a week it has been. If one did not know me better, I would be called the social butterfly :P Occasional perks of being a media person entails free passes to events. And thats what most of last week turned out to be. Caught James Taylor Quartet and The Brand New Heavies as part of the Skywards Dubai Jazz Fest. Nibbling on yummy finger food and sipping on one's poison of choice, enjoying the music and all in the comfort on your company's special enclosure makes for a enjoyable musical experience. Or not. Feeling exclusive must be great but not when it is coupled with a live concert which is all about engaging and interacting with the audience for the performers. Having said that, most people eventually went down closer to the stage to enjoy their music better. After the jazz fest, it was the women's quarter final matches for the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championship. Ramila and I watched the Zvonerova- Azarenka and the Pavlyunchenkova- Willliams matches from a great vantage point. Besides the thrill of watching Venus Williams in action, what made the evening memorable indeed for me were these two 7 or 8 year olds who were relentless in their enthusiasm to get everyone to make Mexican waves!! Weekend was movie time - Precious, The Blind Side and The Book of Eli (for the second time). I cried loads while watching both Precious and The Blind Side. Must say the short list of movies for the Best Picture is a fantastic one with each one giving the other a serious run for its money. I sure as hell hope that it's not Avatar beating the rest of the movies to the trophy.

Also over this weekend, I have finally acquired a T.V. for myself. So some part of my Saturday was spent buying it and then installing it. Felt great hooking the T.V. and the D.V.D player all by myself. When all this wasn't happening, Kruti invited me to a rehearsal of Malhaar - Dubai's first and only Indian choir. Malhaar is performing at the India Club on the occasion of Holi. Found the experience very interesting and listening to great music -both classical and folk just made me very happy!!! It's already Sunday morning and I feel like I have done everythingbut relax this weekend. Maybe I'll do that while watching a movie this evening on my brand new T.V. :P

LOL!! Laters...

P.S.:- Saptak, the latest offering by Mekaal Hasan Band is an absolute delight and a fitting follow up to Sampooran. Get Coke Studio also if you haven't already

Songs... They are always objects of associations especially memories- childhood, pranks, the first love, a stolen kiss, a moment of rapture,heartbreak, longing, fights, reconciliation or even comfort. A favourite song - a friend in need, a constant companion, earworm for an hour, a day or even a week. And a song is what I am going to blog about today. Actually make it two.. The first one is Miles Away by Madonna that a dear friend mailed to me saying that it personified our relationship. The lyrics to the song go something like this...

I just woke up from a fuzzy dream
You never would believe the things that I have seen
I looked to the mirror and I saw your face
You looked right through me, you were miles away

All my dreams, they fade away
I'll never be the same
If you could see me the way you see yourself
I can't pretend to be someone else

Always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best we're miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

When no one is around then I have you here
I begin to see the picture, it becomes so clear
You always have the biggest heart
When we're 6.000 miles appart

Too much of no sound
Uncomfortable silence can be so loud
Those three words are never enough
When it's long distance love

Always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best, we're miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

I'm all right
Don't be sorry, but it's true
When I'm gone, you realize
That I'm the best thing that happened to you

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best we're miles away

You always love me more, miles away
I hear it in your voice, we're miles away
You're not afraid to tell me, miles away
I guess we're at our best when we're miles away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away
So far away, so far away, so far away, so far away

The second song that I laid my hands on (besides many many more) today was the Bombay Theme by A R Rahman. I had been looking forward to getting this one for a long time since this piece of music always always overwhelms me. Found it as part of the maestro's compilation album Connections. So quite a few earworms for days to come... :)

Oh by the way, my Rajma turned out quite yummy. Hopefully the gobi mutter I am cooking while I am blogging will also turn out quite edible.. Laters..

After frantically devouring Mad Men back to back over the past month or so, I have run out of TV shows (downloaded, of course) to watch. This made me realize that I have completely grown out of the habit of watching shows on TV. Isn't that ironic considering I started by talking about my current favourite TV show? Yup, its become a case of continuous consumption that lasts as long as I have all the downloads. Gone are the days of waiting week after week with bated breaths as to what happened to the protagonist. Times are changing.. Post Mad Men, I am now trying to catch up with Big Love esp since its recent good run at the Golden Globes. Also watched "The Men Who Stare At Goats" this weekend. The movie is quite enjoyable with its subtle underlays humour often directed at the actors and/or characters. The movie made fall in love with Boston's "More than a feeling" all over again. "The Last Time" did not some how hold my interest as long as I thought it would. Also got passes to watch the Bollywood musical in town "The Merchants of Bollywood" at the Palladium, Dubai Media City. Loosely based on the true story of Vaibhavi Merchant, the production was extravagant with its WOW moments at regular intervals. Being a purist regarding Indian classical dance, there were few things that irked me about the performers as well as the audience but all in all a great show!! Another reminder that few joys are unparalleled to a great live performance. Listening to this adorable song from the movie Ishqiya called "Dil toh baccha hai ji". This latest Vishal Bharadwaaj offering starring Naseeruddin Shah, Arsha Warsi and Vidya Balan reminds me of Thiruda Thiruda at least from what I saw of the teasers and trailers when I went to watch 3 Idiots. Definitely look forward to this movie. Wonder if this too will be dark like Kaminey..

I am also chatting intermittently with my sister who recently two of her wisdom teeth pulled out. This caused a lot of irritation to my younger and her older brother who bemoaned his lack of wisdom teeth. Well she shared a quote which made me burst out laughing and I am signing off with " You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot farther with a smile and a gun!" :-)

So it's already another year.. a new year and one can certainly hope that it's better than the last. The year did end on a sad note for me since I lost the first man in my life - my father. And I mean with all my heart when I say one needs to go through loss to understand the full meaning of the word and to be able to say with empathy " I know what you are going thru". I know I can now never be the little girl who thought her dad was the bestest and the smartest and the handsomest and any other superlatives one can think of . No more "Oh, I can always check with dad.. he will certianly have the answers". No more "Dad, that joke you shared this morning made it very difficult for me to keep a straight face when our neighbour was talking to me". No more "Dad look at that frame, wouldn't it make a lovely photograph". I must admit I have not been the most obedient daughter. We have had our moments of friction but all said and done, Dad was always there for us. Dad has hugged me only once since I grew into a teenager and that by far will always remain the tightest bear hug of my life! Dad was the cool person I wanted to be! I am glad I did get to spend time with him as much as I did . And like my friend Deepak said to me "You will realise that this is but one of many lifetimes together and you will see him again and know that you have been there before". Comforting words indeed. R.I.P Dad.. Love you and miss you. Real bad...

Talking about loss, this post and revisting my blog to clear the virtual cobwebs due to inactivity was prompted by the fact that I just finished watching this movie about redundancy called "Up in the air"and the movie ends with the testimonials of people who were made redundant and it made me think of the day I was told I no longer had a job. And it made me tear up (also helps I might be PMSing). It is adversity that is indeed the true test of one's character. I only hope that everybody who got made redundant over the past year and a half or so, has found himself/ herself in a much better place.

Speaking of a year, Preseident Obama completes a year in office. The memory of watching him take the oath is one that will remain clearly etched in my mind. Moments that define/ create history are generally of that kind. What he or has not achieved can be debated to one's heart's desire but that he has created history in more ways than one cannot be taken away from him.

Here's to another year filled with hope...

There are days and there are days.. but after some point the everyday of life starts feeling like your life is part of Groundhog Day. And that’s what my morning routine feels like. I have my shuttle to work at around 8.43 am and the walk to the bus stop is about 7 minutes from my apartment. So I usually time myself to reach the bus stop atleast 3-4 minutes in advance to avoid any panic. And the walk from my apartment to the bus stop gives the “it feels like ground hog day” feeling everyday. As I step out of my elevator and walk out to start my day :- the janitor is sweeping the lobby and the security guard is doing his job. There is a daddy waiting for his little princess’ school bus to arrive while the nanny looks on. The janitor greets me, so does the security guard. I exchange smiles with the nanny and walk out of the building. Jaleel, one the maintainence crew is cleaning the other block of my building complex and we exchange pleasantries in Tamil. Moving right along, I turn right and I see this young man either walking out of his car after finding a parking spot or waiting for his friends to join him after he is done parking his car. I walk past him, turn right twice and I am at my busstop. And when you have this ritual daily, you bump into the same people at the bus stop. It’s the same everyday except unlike in the movie, the costumes of all the characters (except the men in uniform) changes. Hmmm.. makes me wonder if there will be an interesting twist to the routine some day :-)

It's been a long time.. certainly has because I dod not even remember the fact that the last time I had posted something was in May and not March. Nevertheless, finally things are settling down so to say. Michael Jackson's death did throw us into a frenzy of activity on air but all those extra hours were well worth it. Having never done any other form of media, Radio holds for me an undying fascination. I cannot explain the rush I get every time I sit in front of the on air console and have to hit the play button or do a link (even if its a dummy link for practise).. some things never do change and I hope this buxx never dies for me :-)

This weekend has been quite. Watched Last Chance Harvey starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. Like a review rightly described it, the movie was an ordinary story made extra ordinary by the calibre of the performances. It was a treat to watch Dustin Hoffman in a more meaningful role after his recent appearances in the likes of Meet The Fockers!! A tale of two strangers - an overworked and tired jingle writer, who is a stranger to his own family with a career going downhill and a middle aged woman working with the public statistics agency at the Heathrow airport, who meet each other at the airport lounge and begin what seems to be an unlikely romance, makes for a delightful Friday evening watch. The story has neither a plot that has not been written before nor are there any innovations in the "technique" so to say but what makes this adult romance poignant is the performances. It is an absolute delight to watch Hoffman and Thompson breathe life to the characters. A definite must watch if one asked me. Don't expect earth shattering cinema, but if you are in the mood for some good old romance.. then Last Chance Harvey is a good bet.

Well.. my head is full of half written posts.. which shall some day hopefully make their way to the blogosphere but right now, the dishes in my sink are driving me insane, so see you all later!!! :-)

Back Again!!

My sweet cubicle mate and colleague at my new place of work made me realize that it had been quite some time since I last visited my blog or posted something.
Post redundancy, life has been a whirlwind of activity- be it the play, getting in to the groove of my new job, making space for new people in my life, reconciling with the exit of some old ones, getting the every day of life sorted out. Phew!! The list is endless!! But I am not complaining.. Lord knows I am not!

Well it certainly looks like my tryst with broadcast and Dubai continues. My new job assignment is again with a radio network based out of Dubai. So a Dubian I shall stay for a little longer.

Coming back to things that have happened, the run of our plays was bitter sweet. While the performances were outstanding, the audience turn out for a few shows left much to be desired. But that did not dampen our spirits on most days :) Must admit, this was the first time I did manage step on a lit stage and the feeling of light on your face and the empty space which is the audience is quite something. No, I did not perform in this production but I certainly will in the future. I also managed to squeeze in a very very short trip to India for my visa run. Was great to see folks, catch up with friends, attain closure on some issues. That’s what I love about a visit home. Always grounds me, makes me take stock of situation and also helps me refocus ( if need be ) I think everyone should have a place to go to where one can gather his/her thoughts, rejuvenate oneself, take stock and move on. In my experience, people also help attain that at times. And I am so pleased to say I am blessed with both places to go to and people to meet who can help me achieve that!

My new job assignment is keeping me quite busy and not to mention gainfully employed ;) Since it’s a slight departure from my job profiles earlier, it’s also an interesting learning curve. All in all, life’s good!

P.S.:- I think I may have finally found a place to live too!! Details post the move..