ankur Warikoo

set apart its capacity, coolness and the ability to make the CD look obsolete…i love my iPod for the simple reason that it helps me connect to my past so effortlessly. as long as i remember, music has formed an integral part of life…and somehow each phase of my life has a song attached to it.

i wont mention a particular song lest daddy will kill me for bringing it up again…but a whole lot of other songs too bring back memories of a life once lived…and emotions once felt…

this morning…heard one such number…

took me back to possibly the longest phase of self-doubt i have experienced…

strange how it took just this one song to get me back…

…they say that i can move the mountains…
…and send them crashing to the sea…
…they say that i can walk on water…
…if i follow and believe…
…with faith like a child…

Jars of Clay is a gospel rock band…they sing songs in praise of the lord…and do an awesome job at it….! it might be tough to get your hands on a CD in India…but if you do….grab it..!

~a

8.30am
Friday
Mumbai Airport

tringgg tringgg…

hello

haanji sir…u hv reached

yes yes…where r u…?

at the exit itself…should i go and fetch the car…?

yah yah..plz do…where should i wait…

i will come where the laal peeli start

(figuring out where that is)…alright…i will wait…

After 10 mins

where are you boss…?

sir…right there…can you see the 2 media vans…right behind that…

boss…there are no media vans that i can see…where are you…?

sir…just where the passengers get out…am on the road…directly opposite…

i dont see you dude…ok…am standing right infront of the premium parking

ok..i have gone ahead of that…will come back after taking a round…

another 10 mins…

boss…its been 20 mins…where the f r u…?

sir…right there…premium parking…

yaar…either i am blind…or you dont know the airport well…are you at the jet arrival terminal

sir..i have been coming to the airport for the past 15 yrs…

you are at the domestic airport…rite…?

haan sir…are you at the right airport…

boss…mumbai mein ek hi airport hain…

MUMBAI…???? sir…i am in delhi…!!!!

WTF…!!!!

so…this friday morning…i spent 30 mins of my life trying to convince someone in delhi…that he is in mumbai…!

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but i give it to mumbai..! cant repeat it enough..but this was my first rendezvous with prime traffic in mumbai. it took me a mind numbing 2.25 hrs to reach the airport frm nariman point. a whole 2 hrs…! in the cab..! hands numb…mind zonked…life paralyzed..! i shudder to think the potential loss in national income that happens in the city cause of simply being on the road driving…when you could easily be working and far more productive than listening to radio mirchi and “pal pal pal frm munnabhai” for the godforsaken 586976th time..!

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VP and I finally launched our site. We have been working on the plan for the past 2 odd months…! its completely VP’s baby and I am simply an external advisor devoting time towards the strategy of the product over and above my fulltime ATK committments. Its been a fantastic ride so far…and atleast for me last thursday, when the product was launched, was a special moment.

for VP though…having handled the complexity of www.desimartini.com already, this was jst another site..!

our business plan…a matrimonial site specifically targetted at remarriage.

www.secondshaadi.com

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my routine browsing this afternoon took me to this show called ‘Britain’s got talent’…and a certain Paul Potts. at the end of his performance…i was sobbing like a 5 yr old…jst couldnt contain myself. i hv figured that singing has a spiritual connectiong with me. ever since i went to the US…music has become my meditation. unfortunately…my voice can allow me to appreciate it vocally…but i remember when i spent simple hrs…jst listening to music with tears in my eyes…!

this was yet another instance…and totally deserved…(in my limited capacity)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB9zwlXrB8


Life’s really good right now…

~a

..its the test of this desire…that’s what life is…
- Zaaveda Zindagi (Movie: Anwar)

i agree with that…! life..at all times…at each point..is simply a test. a test of how strongly you desire something…how much are you willing to work towards it…a test…each and every point.

so…i sat down the other day…with the music on…! ofcourse..people who can see my gtalk know that nowadays i am on an overdose of urdu stuff. gone back to jagjit singh sorts. and then came atif aslam. friggin amazing stuff. fanstastic lyrics…most of them…and his energy is jst killin. i mean…he is so good…tht at times i wish i cud be this teenybopper…at his concert…shouting at the top of my lungs…atifffffffffff…almost tearing my top off..!!

anyways…

so i sat down the other day…!! and omg…HAVE YOU HEARD ATIF ASLAM…HE IS LIKE…OMGGGGG…

yeah…the othe day…! i was wondering..what are the things that i would work for..! what would life be testing me on…each and every point.

this was my list…


Photography

life…everyday…asks me this…

“u friggin ass..! at a time when you were earning $525 a month…u bought yourself a $750 camera..! you used to cook your own food everyday…because paneer outside used to cost more than milk and vinegar…(ofcourse my time had no value then. notice how i used ‘then’ to lead you into believing that it does hv any value now..!!)..! so what the f did u with it..! clicked some snaps..! made a moron show at the ISB talent night..! and yeah…never got down to practising..! u friggin ass…!”

i know what i want to do. i want to become angus moon. for those who dont know him…he was the exchange student to isb from UCT GSB, last year (read here). and a professional photographer. not before he earned his living as a consultant. and according to him…he earned much more as a photographer than he did as a consultant (ofcourse with my friggin package i will have to click rajnikanth naked to make up for it…although i do know that clicking bappi lahiri naked might fetch me more!). now thats what i want to do. i just want to leave my job one day…and pick up my camera. and jst go clicking for a yr.

balls..! will never get that courage..! life’s a waste..!


Singing

yeah…thats true..! i hv always loved singing…although only 2 people hv heard me do so. only one survived. i do visit the other whenever i get the time..but the friggin asylum closes before my office ends.

i wanna learn singing. i want to sing the song i like…the way they shud be sung. and i want to believe that i did a good job. ofcourse i also know that anu malik thinks the same…so yeah…i also want the world to think i did a good job. which in turns means…i want to sing for an audience one day..!

let see if i pass this test…


Superman

my masi went to singapore right after her marriage. so when she finally came back to india after some 5 yrs…she was this genie…! with magical stuff…!! she had this thing called the VCR…! and this beauty of an invention named TV. and a certain video called Superman II.

each time i met her…which was like once a week or so…she used to make me watch it. without fail. till i reached the point wherein i visited her almost everyday…jst to watch it. the movie was my sholay..!! i knew each dialogue..(or atleast i thought..heck..i was in 3rd grade..and the movie was english!)…! ofcourse…growing up..it was easiest to blame masi for most of who i was..!!

hah..! i used to go to temples and pray to god…to make me superman. and i remember telling god…i promise i will use my pwers for the good..!! i am sure that used to be god’s stand up comedy hour…!! he wud invite jesus and mohammad…and indra (if he was free from his boogie-woogie dance performances) to view me…and would go…”listen to this friggin ass…wants to become superman..he is too funny..!!”

but i want to become one…whats wrong with that. really..! i get a kick when i do somethng for someone…wthout the person knowing its me. he jst knows its someone..! it cud be anyone..! and thats superman for me. u hv the power…but never the identity. you dont exist…and yet you do..in the most powerful manner possible..! and its an addiction for me..! the ‘overly involved’ me..!

ofcourse…they stopped making red underwear…and my blue pants are not the best fitting. but i can manage..!



so there…u hv Mr. blue pants…who can friggin sing….and flies arnd with this camera. yup…that’s me..!!

that’s who i wanna be…


issi shauk ka intihaam zindagi hain…!

~a