I Am the Walrus

August 30, 2008 | Filed Under Point of View, beatles, confessions, life's answers | 5 Comments 

When we woke up in the early 1950s we had a dream. A dream of shaping India into a beautiful country once again. But when we focus on trying to make it better, we forget about the demons that we house.

We did most things right but we ignored the demons. The demons came back strongly and today we are back in turmoil. We have constantly been manipulated by political parties for THEIR power struggle. What is it about wanting to rule the country that makes them do vicious things? What have they become?

Gandhi failed to see these demons. It was probably his biggest failure. Even Batman of Dark Knight failed to see these demons.

These demons build in a false sense of patriotism within us. This patriotism is sometimes of the country and sometimes of religion. They look into history books and pick out topics and point to us about some gross injustice that has happened ages ago. We can’t then think. Our sanity is lost and we are ready to die or kill. They have been extremely successful over the years.

Every day we build relationships, with friends and people around us. So much of effort goes in making this relationship happy and meaningful. You begin to start accepting the culture differences, in fact even valuing them. The foods they cook, the clothes they wear. The add so much value. But then we forget all that… as soon as an old grave is dug out. We become monsters.

Are we just trying to be politically correct then. Do we still feel that it is ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ and the twain shall never meet? Are we just tolerating each other?

India as a democracy let’s you think and practice what you want to. But why does a rightist philosophy have to mean that we only care about people of our religion? Isn’t Hinduism or Islam in its truest principle as socialist as it can get? Why do the communist parties believe that if we don’t all progress together we must not progress at all. A lazy communist and a religious fanatic are almost in the same league I would say. It’s just a question of which side of the river they are born on.

And yet, today… there are many people amongst us who see these demons. Who fight them everyday. It’s a silent revolution of sorts. Their numbers are not very large and their thoughts and ideas are too simple for people to take seriously. They do not carry flags or have agendas. They do not sport beards or rudrakshs, or even if they do, it does not characterize them. The change they are looking to bring will not happen overnight, it might not happen ever. They may get disillusioned and retract in their shell. They are after all humans. Yes they are humans and they never forget that.

I was talking earlier about ‘Us’ & ‘Them’ thing. A very interesting incident happened to me recently. I was in a rickshaw. And the rickshaw driver was wearing a skull cap, it was easy to say he was muslim. Though there was no way for him to know I was one too. I stirred up a conversation with him and asked him if there was something like the Mohammedali road food extravanza that happens during Ramzan in Pune, during Ramzan. He started telling me about where I would get these things. And then guilelessly he said that there you will find more people like ‘you’ than people like ‘us’. It was fun to talk to another muslim like i was a hindu. We still had great conversation.

I have never been a Hindu or a Muslim in the sense the world views them. But I am both. I am also a socialist. I love the agnostics and even the antheists. Communism has its own charm for me. And it should be noted that being Muslim, I have subscribed to everyone from Adam to Noah to Moses to Jesus to Mohammed. Of course I am an Indian, a Maharashtrian, a Bombaiya, a Punekar. I can go on for days not eating onion, garlic, potato, or killing cockroaches. I am complete believer of peace and non-violence.

I do not believe these are exclusive clubs. For me everyone is ‘Us’ but strangely the way life has played out, most people will categorize me as ‘Them’. Not everyone though.

Here’s something interesting -

From wikipedia – Lennon composed this song by combining three songs he had been working on. When he learned that a teacher at his old primary school was having his students analyse Beatles’ lyrics, he added a verse of nonsense words.

If the teacher comes to me, I will be able to tell him what the song exactly means. Here’s a snippet from the lyrics….

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
…….

I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.

Harish & The Gang

February 28, 2008 | Filed Under Goa, Travel, beatles, bob dylan, life's answers | 7 Comments 

Post dedicated to Sidd, my closest friend, and he who introduced me to Bob Dylan

And to the woman, who held my hand when the Beatles’ sang “I wanna hold your hand” (missed you guys)

On our first day in Goa, we visited the Stone House Cafe, in Candolim on the road to Taj Aguada. We were a gang of 11 and we thought the music was amazing. The food was good too as was the cocktail called rocket fuel. We ate and drank and went back to our respective rooms.

On third day, some of us had already left, we decided to go back to the place. It was the beginning of a night that I won’t forget forever. Pasqual – the crooner and the master guitarist – was sitting in his seat, playing his songs. We fortunately got a seat right in front of him. He acknowledged us, and dedicated the next song to Harish and his gang. Harish – spikey – the wall nut – had his face filled with happiness. And the song was “Wish you were here.” There have been few better starts in the history of the evenings I have lived. And all of us were remembering all the people we have loved and shared a bond with, particularly in relevance to music.

Then he sang “Light My Fire,” I had been mouthing the song all along in Goa. It was probably some kind of happy intuition. Pasqual was in my head. Choosing artists and songs that I have loved and adored since eternity.

When we started making requests like Dylan and Beatles, Reginaldo, a friendly British man came up to us like an excited 20 year old and asked us, how we knew all these songs. And then we went on to bond on artists like Leonard Cohen and Rolling Stones. Soon everyone was mouthing the classic rock platter that was served to us. Pasqual had become larger than life and even if he stopped singing, everyone around was singing. Chris the bartender joined Pasqual for American Pie. Chris the gracious man gave us a huge discount on our bill.

But the two songs, that rocked the most that evening were songs by the Beatles. The da-da-da-da…. part in Hey Jude was sung over and over tirelessly. The Stone House had ceased being a cafe and had become a Beatles concert, which is an almost impossible event to witness today.

As the night was coming to a close – Reginaldo dedicated ‘Paint it Black’ for the Bombay gang. Looking at Reginaldo gave me a strange feeling of traveling in time and seeing how I looked and was in the future.

When Pasqual played, ‘Smoke on the Water,’ I realized that the evening (or for that matter life) couldn’t get any better, and I was ready to die. And boy and me realized that if there was a moment of beautiful death, it was now.

But it got better, the evening was polished of with ‘Yellow Submarine.’ Which for me signifies Utopia….

As we live a life of ease
Every one of us, has all we need,
Sky of blue and sea of green,
in our yellow submarine.

We all live in a yellow submarine,
yellow submarine, yellow submarine,
We all live in a yellow submarine,
yellow submarine, yellow submarine.

There weren’t people, whom I would take in the yellow submarine. But there were a few whom I would love to be with on the yellow submarine, you know who you are.

When I look at back, I realize that I am not there.

Post also dedicated to all who I promised to see the Yellow Submarine (movie) with but which hasn’t happened yet.

let it be

January 20, 2008 | Filed Under Theatre & Movies, beatles | 1 Comment 

i saw a movie called across the universe. there were exactly 10 people in the auditorium. A couple sitting next to me, said “I am glad that I came for this movie”. They didn’t know about the movie.

I knew about the movie. And I saw the first show at an auditorium I love as soon as i realized it was playing.

You should watch it if:
- u love the beatles
- u love music
- u love someone (a dog or a cat even)

I have to make adjustments to my top 5 movies of all time, now that i have seen this movie. when the “let it be” song appears in the movie, i cry. (yes i will cry again when i see it again.) those who love giving me movies, should think about gifting me the dvd of this movie. or better still a divx version (big boy are you listening?)

people please go and see the movie, when a movie like this gets such a poor response my heart aches. it feels like there are only ppl in this world who see karan johar movies. if this continues, movies like these will stop coming to india and i will need to take up the profession of psychotic murderer. (hope i have scared you enough.)

do see the movie, am saying it nicely. just a request. see it before it disappears and i am guessing it will be this friday. i don’t see theatres keeping it on for more.