OLD IS GOLD...

Why do we love songs from our teenage and youthful days? Even if the world has better songs and bands, and whole lot of known and unknown options today???

I know now….

Its not just the lyrics, the melody or the movie nor the concert that you had been to, that makes them special. Its not even the number of times you listened to those songs, at a time when we had the liberty of being pretty jobless..Its not that we are too busy juggling with life's responsibilities, that makes the songs of today probably less appealing than the songs of ten to fifteen years back.

It’s the whole lot of memories attached to each of those songs that make it special for us, even today. I know it sounds stupid. But it is..am sure it’s the same for most of us…

Yesterday, on my way back from work, the radio was ablast with songs like mein pareshaan…..pareshaannn and rowdy rathore and many more, which at any day would boost my tired spirits. And then out of nowhere, the title track of Kal ho na ho played..and there….Time just stopped still….i was reliving some olden days. In fact to think about the song, all I did while watching the movie was cry bucketful of tears, but yes, those were the days of college, getting into crowded buses, waiting for long queues without complaints.., blast the music on weekends, dance in our hostel corridors…

Listening to those songs during a sleepless night on a bus from Bangalore to Calicut, meeting friends at coffee day, while our favorite music played in the background….the music that played in our friends car, the songs that were dedicated to our first crush……the 'numb' song that was perfect when i was at my feistiest....for me the list just goes on and on.

And when I listen to the infamous 'Hotel California'…it takes me back to a pink background with the picture of a satan and the title ‘Hell freezes over’, much to the utter dislike of my mother…That was my first rock album…gifted on my birthday by a friend who was dismayed at me drooling over the boybands of those times…

Although the satan did have an effect on me, as I moved from pop genre to Aerosmiths and Metallica’ and the Floyds….the boyzone, savage garden and the backstreet boys still don’t fail to bring back a smile even today…and I’m surprised I still remember the words as I sing along with the track…. And I still carry all those cds and gifts with me, wherever I go, from kerala to Bangalore, to Chennai and to dubai…

I don’t listen to them, except for the occasional reminder of them from radio stations that I plug in to. But I’m happy I have them with me….I took pains to get hold of every single album in those times…and to even think of the number of times I would arranged and rearranged folders and wrote them into CD’s, to walk all the way to my grandparents place to watch MTV most wanted and Channel V’s Billboard toppers….

Now all you need is a click, and every song from any part of the world falls right into your palm, into your ipad or iphone in milli seconds. Am sure The Jonas brothers and the GAGAs and Minaj's, Kanye's and Labrinths are good, but I don’t think I would have any memory that would get attached with the song….they would just remain as good songs and videos.....

Ooh la la..Krispy Kreme

It was one of those days, when I didn’t have to cook, and could enjoy an instant meal at the food court below my office. Mind you, this was the wrong food court to be. The food price could almost touch the gold rates, although this term is a lil stretched, but then I decided to explore a bit….

I was looking for something nutritious and a filling lunch…and as my eyes scanned the entire food section of so called ‘low carb’, low fat’, ‘non-greasy’ and boring menu, I stumble into this small cute box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts near the billing section…..

The placement of that box, in marketing terms was the USP. Everyone who comes in to the pay section would not miss the warm, gooey, cute little donuts. Oh, and how I fell for them shamelessly! Guess my chemical sensing system was at its highest peak that day, or working overtime! I just could not resist the signals that my nerve cells around my nose and mouth were sending to the brain. How do I explain those delicate, deep fried, sugar glazed, warm circles of flour, butter and sweetness??? The petite Philipino sales girl smiled devilishly, as she knew that I required no coaxing here. There were 3 of them, and I bought them all….

Now I could go back to my work cabin, and devour these sugary treats in less than a minute….but then I wanted to just remember every single biteand decided to opt for the benches beside a beautiful view of some of the best architectural creations. The weather was at its best with a pleasant wind, and a warm sunny light. And I opened the box, and snared at the Florian coffee shop sales guy who was at his break, with a cigar….I was not ready to take in some smoke along with this savory goodness….He either got the signal, or he was due to be back at his table….he moved away.

I was alone, with the wind flowing and spoiling my hairdo (or whatever was left of it), and I took every single bite, not missing any ounce of flavor, the softness, the fresh smell of butter and flour, and shamelessly picking up the glazed bits that fell from the bites onto my lap ( I can be messy at times)….but then, It was nothing short of a food paradise…Being reminded that this was just a portion of the food paradise, I got up, walking back, promising to try more….:-)))

2011+1

Another year passes by…A very troubled year ! the year of ailments and mental tensions….2011 taught me a lot of things  that the yester years could not…

Simple things…like, Health is wealth……. difficult realisations that beauty in the eyes of the beholder is mostly skin deep ( I completely disagree with the proverb) and a renewed realisation that whatever happens ….your family stays with you….

The year also taught me to accept things as they come (although it was not easy), the year was the biggest in terms of my patience being tested, and I guess I succeeded in coming out sane.

I have finally started to feel comfortable in UAE, its gonna be my home for at least a few years now, and I have learnt to like the mix of cultures and languages, the traditions, its just another way of seeing life, or rather experiencing.

Now I look forward to 2012….A very exciting year according to the Mayan calendar…when the 13th b’a’ktun gets completed…the year the world awaits to witness a major change….And I hope for some major achievements, as I yearn to learn new things, be it cooking, general knowledge or career. I want to enjoy simple things, and be of help to others. I want to get back to reading, a habit that I lost in the last year. As my wishlist just climbs the ladder, I also pray and hope that the world finds peace, and people around me are able to appreciate life better.

Enough of my verbal nonsense…Back to the four letter L.I.F.E, which does not fail to surprise me, always!!