3 years on

Its just a couple of weeks short of 3 years to the day when I left Rotterdam. I haven't set foot in Europe for 3 years now. That seems like a long time but the memories, the roads, the smells, the people, the architecture (!) and everything else has come flooding back today like a torrent from a damburst. I'm already picturing walking around the areas of the Biblioteca in Rotterdam, Hofplein, Zwart Janstraat and some hot baklava, warm broedjes and koffee at Dudok, cube houses and coffee shops, Irish bars and Albert Heijn. But before that:

• Wednesday lunch at Leidseplein
• Wedneday night beers around the Puerta del Sol with the Monhe
• Friday night Moscatel in Bairro Alto with many old friends
• Saturday two special people agreeing to spend the rest of their lives together
  

¡Vamos!

Madrileño

I mailed Nuno asking him for his address and the easiest way to get to his place. This was his response

Paseo de la Habana 54, 5ºIzq.-1

As for the metro route, get the pink line all the way to Nuevos Ministerios and then change to line 10 (dark blue) heading north and leave immediately in the next station, Bernabeu.

As the name states, my house is just next door to the Real Madrid stadium!

Although I continue to fester a furtive passion for Barcelona, I don't know how I can come back from this visit without embracing my Castilian connection heart & soul.

I'm a fan

Challa was in town last Saturday after a year in the sun and surf i.e. Hawaii. Needless to say Tavern happened and we headed back to VJ's place where Ananth was waiting. As the cosmic forces sometimes tend to conspire to your benefit, I had left my guitar at VJ's. We got in and after a little coaxing, Ananth opens his party pack, lights a cigarette and picks up my guitar. What followed was the stuff legends are made of...events that we'll probably be looking back at...drowned in sweet memory and lifting a jar. Neil Young, Marley, Stevie Ray and a lot of blues...blues blues.

I'm always at a loss to describe musical experiences that leave me in a delightful daze...like you're floating just a few feet above the ground after. What I am glad about...what really warms me from the inside is that we have people like this in our midst...music really has no borders.

Ananth is part of a band called the Galeej Gurus whose influences include Clapton, RHCP, Stevie Ray & Albert Collins. When they do release their album I'm going to buy a copy. And when Ananth cuts his first album, I'm going to be in the queue.

Tonight?

We all have our idiosyncrasies. We all have our quirks. And these in turn influence our preferences and tastes. Fridays always throw open the debate,"Where are we going tonight?"

I find it intriguing how a genial, slightly garrulous, slightly smoke filled atmosphere with some ale can stimulate so greatly. An atmosphere where the strains of acoustic guitar blend in complete harmony with a harmonica, where the talk is about appreciating the subtlety and genius of the music in the air, nodding in agreement at modern day troubadours and their messages, where the talk is books and travel, distant bazaar streets and spice markets, rustic cafés and their unique air. A place where one does not know whether its the music and smoke and ale, or the company or the talk that takes precedence but they all blend into this delicious yet undefinable whole..like hot baklava and sheesha and apple tea...all serving to take the senses to a parallel which is always fresh no matter how often one visits.

This would be my ideal refuge. A perfect Friday or Saturday evening.

Plausibly deniable but...

Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social restriction and social stratification, enforced by law or common practice, based on endogamy, occupation, economic status, race, ethnicity.

In August last year I spent 6 weeks in Gujarat. I blogged extensively about those experiences and I will revisit them to reflect on the year gone by since my time there. Given a more resolute will, I would have stayed back and continued to work there indefinitely: such is the pull of the people who continue to create change there. I met several ordinary people who were anything but.

One who I didn't meet then I got to meet last evening. Stalin K heads an organization called Drishti Media. They believe "with a firm faith in the ability of video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society." Two of his movies on untouchability and the caste system in India have been shot in association with Navsarjan.

Last evening, I saw a screening of his 2nd movie on the caste system in India titled "India Untouched - stories of a people apart". You can read a little about the movie here.

I have a copy of the movie and I hope to screen it for as many people as possible and make as many copies of the film as I can for those who might want it. Like "An Inconvenient Truth", this film too is one that needs to be shown and seen. Unlike climate change however, the solutions for addressing issues spoken about here are far easier to adopt and yet, will be far more difficult to confront for an India where an egalitarian society is unthinkable, where dignity of labour is unheard of and prejudices continue to thrive in the most upper class and educated of households and institutions. But watching this film could be a start. Engaging in a discussion with the Director after the movie, he says "I don't know if I'm a film maker or an activist first...and I try not to draw that line". We can be whatever we choose to be to earn a living and yet, we can also be an "activist". But I think realistically, lets sensitize to the problems first. If you're in India and want the film, let me know. If you're outside India and want the film, let me know as well and we'll figure a way so I can get it to you.

PS - Quite a contrast from the movie I saw on Sunday night what! heh.

Resolve

Inspiration comes in different forms to us all: meeting people, watching a movie, hearing music; it could be as intense as a conversation with the divine or as simple as a conversation over the phone.

I'm going to give something a little crazy a shot. I participated in the Mumbai marathon last year in the 6 km run. I ran for charity and managed to raise Rs. 45,000 or $1100 USD. The marathon in 2008 is again in January and this time I want to attempt two things that border the unlikely: I want to run 42 Kms and while attempting to do so I want to raise at least Rs. 1 Lac or $ 2200 USD for charity. I intend this money going to 2 organizations, one in Bangalore and one in Mumbai. I'll put up a more permanent news ticker with information on the charities in this space soon.

BOSS

Sensitivity, aesthetics, artistic appreciation, good acting, a reasonably sound story or even a botched but well intentioned effort to convey a social message. I go to the movies to sit back and enjoy all these things. Watching movies has been one of the most refreshing and relaxing of times for me. Being one among 7 others in a theatre in Rotterdam watching Seabiscuit is still something that is fresh in my mind. Dil Chahta Hai in PVR Saket left me in awe at how a simple portrayal of daily turmoil could be woven into something so aspirational. Watching Duet at a drive-in cinema in Madras was my first time sitting bewitched at A.R Rahman's melodies, heedless of the fact that I didn't understand most of what was being said in the Tamil movie.

I've seen films from around the world...documentaries, pot boilers, Hollywood tripe (think American Pie) , action films (I'm a huge "First Blood" fan and Guns of Navarone is an all time favourite), sappy chick flicks et al.

But never in all this time did I stumble into a typical Rajnikanth movie. I am still unable to decide if this gent revels in satire or is attempting some kind of prank on audiences by putting together this movie I saw last night called Sivaji. I won't get into the details of the film but I would encourage people to watch it just so I can have your reactions. :-) Oh and don't come here seeking a refund on your ticket!