Friday.

It is a beautiful day
And I'm going to Bombay.

PS: I didn't mean it to rhyme. I really am going to Bombay. And it really is a lovely day.

It was stormy yesterday, it rained a lot. Today is a fantastic blue sky, with a new fresh smell in the air. And I'm ready to go...

PPS: Split is performing in Bombay this weekend. 2 gigs.

One for Channel [V] Launchpad at Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday.
And the other at Razz Rhino, with 7 other bands. Good stuff.

PPPS: Mel wants me to do a photoshoot for him. He will then proceed to send these photos to his girlfriend's mum. He has threatened me. His future happiness lies in my hands.

PPPPS: This will also the be the first time I'm attending a Split gig with the new camera. All these months before, I've been the official photographer at all gigs, but with a tiny, small, unimpressive camera. This time, it will be different!



Photos soooon. Bye.

Swamy says...

Build your own castle.
Good idea! I will.

Quote of the Day and Song for the day

People will believe anything if you whisper it.

- The Whispered Rule

Song for the day:

Know your rights - The Clash

I had a dream

A most horrifying one. Mostly, I can't remember my dreams. Not the nice ones, nor the bad ones.
But this one, I think is one I've seen before. That's why its weird. And I have no idea what it means.

I dreamed about 2 snakes and a pig. It's a vague and abstract memory of a strange dream, so be warned, its likely to be a confusing narrative.

So, basically, in this dream, I am living with a couple of friends, and one day I find a big, fat, colourful snake coiled up in my bedroom. The thought itself is horrifying, that there's a snake, in my room, in the middle of a city. In the dream, I then obviously wanted to get rid of it while it was sleeping.

I'm not quite sure what happens next, maybe some screaming and fear, but what I remember next is that I run out of the room, lock it and decide to get someone to help. This someone turns out to be a friend. When we open the door, I find that there is no snake, but a pig in my room.

We're all amazed and dumbfounded by what was happening. Where is the snake? I'm still scared out of my wits.

Eventually, it goes on in this crazy fashion, to a point where we figure out that the snake transforms into a pig. And the last thing I remember of this ridiculous dream, is that we threw the snake out at some point. (It would keep reappearing everyday) and then in the end, the PIG wriggled back into my room from under the door. I still can't believe it.

It doesn't seem half as horrible now that its post lunch time, but, I don't wanna see that dream again.

Textures and Visions

I love it when after seeing a movie, I wake up the next day, having dreamed about the film and can still see scenes and random moments from the film. That's the closest I can get to living on celluloid.

Right now, I can see scenes from a film I saw two days ago. Sur mes Levres. 'Read my lips.'
Great film.

Namesake

Saw the movie finally last night. Decent stuff. I'd read the book ages ago, as soon as it had come out and I thought the book was ok too. Though, I'd forgotten the story, and it slowly dawned on me as the movie progressed.

Nice, delicately made film. Mostly good acting and fair justice to the book and the story. The narrative was smooth, easily flowing, and there were parts that were quite affecting and touching.

Of course, Mira Nair has still made a very conventionally styled film with Namesake. Doesn't seem like budget was a problem, but she's stuck to conventional cinema techniques. Which, I think, worked for the film. But well, nothing extraordinary.

PSt: That reminds me, there's a story behind how I got my name too. Well, I'm not sure I quite believe it, but Mom was pregnant, and she was in the fire temple praying, when she heard or imagined maybe, a voice tell her that, 'You will have a daughter, and she is Afrin.' Of course, there was no one around when she opened her eyes. (Mom's heard these voices again too, and one time right before I got admission into college and was really wondering which college I would end up at... and again at the fire temple, Mom saw a distinct vision of the holy cross, and she knew at once that I'd be going to St. Xavier's.) And so, I'm Afrin. Hello.

Detachable Attachments

I guess this title doesn't make much sense. Can't all attachments be detached. Ok, maybe not always. They might be stitched, or stuck, or surgically attached. Nevermind all that, I want to talk about my camera.

The pretty Nikon D70s.


Lovely feel, sound, sight, posession. So this one is my new attachment. Goes everywhere I go. Around my neck, or in my bag. She gets a lot of attention too. A bit scary sometimes. We dont mean no harm.

So, last Thursday, a colleague lent me his Nikon 70 -300mm lens. I've been meaning to buy a good zoom lens, and this one seems perfect. Thursday, also, a bunch of us left for our long weekend to Madras. It was fun juggling with two lenses. I barely ever had time to compose, and make pictures slowly and calmly. And since I wasnt really prepared to have two lenses, my camera wouldn't fit into the case if I had attached the new lens on. So juggling was imperative. I got a good idea of what landscape would fit best with which lens. Still learning though.

Here are the pics of the Madras / Pondichery pics. Mostly Pondicheri, and buddies, who like to pose.

Monsoon Madness

The title means much. First of all, it was the name of a party I remember organizing some 10 years ago, maybe. Where we got everyone to come up to the building terrace, and dance in the rain. I think it didn't rain that evening though. We had to use hose pipes.

Anyhow, moving along, it rained last evening. Yes, in April. After the scorching, unbearable heat, it was a fantastic relief. I didn't see it rain though. I was sitting on my ass in front of my computer, working. When I left office later, the smell of rain hit me so hard and the sweet texture of the air surprised me. I knew at once, even though it was dry by then. That it had rained.

So, I'm just writing this to express the sweet feeling I felt then. I've never thought about this before, but I love the rains very much. My birthday is during the monsoon. At least the Bombay monsoon. I particularly remember a Birthday when I came back from school early and danced, in our balcony while it poured outside. I almost remember what I was wearing too. Almost, alas.

Well, yesterday, it smelled so nice. I felt a crazy fever, or maybe madness, rising in my head. I needed to walk in the rain and smell the earth and the green. I needed to go away to a green hilltop and feel the rain. There would be a gentle river nearby and I would slip into it. I felt very restless.

But then, its not yet the monsoon.. Only a summer shower. I will go away somewhere when the monsoon comes. Until then, I'll be content to smile conspiringly to the smart cuckoo that hails the rains.

PS: Unfortunately, there are many times when I hate the rains. Especially in Bombay. But, then again, the rains will come and the rains will go.

Of A Baby Sister

Hehehehe... every time I think of my younger sister, I feel happy and giggly. I'm generally rather well-behaved, at least out of home. But, with my baby pookie, ( all indistinguishable names henceforth in this post will refer to Azmin), I behave like a 3 year old. I just can't help it.

I was 3 when she was born. Mom says my eyes filled with incredible wonder when I saw her first and Mom was a bit anxious about how I would react to the 'new one'. I then looked at her toes and fingers, and said, 'But they are so small!' and after that, till date, I went on the be the best big sister in the world. (This claim maybe subject to severe opposition from the little pigeon-head herself).

But anyhow, our growing up together was full of delight. My favourite part is this phase I remember distinctly, when I got her to take an oath to obey every word I said. The little tub was devoted to me. She refused to listen to any one but me, and even Mom would have to pass on instructions through me. However, that glorious reign didn't last forever. Her bad luck, I insist, else she would have been a much more fun person today. The goose doesn't quite agree to that either.

Oh, but we had a lot of fun. I remember taking her piggy back, and being a camel, a snake, a roller coaster, etc. This game was called Fantasy Land. I would lie on the bed, and ask her in a mechanical tone, what ride she wanted. And the I would ask her to press my nose and request a ride. Hearing her giggle and squeal was my great joy, enough for me to subject my body to all kinds of weird behavior.

Of course we fought. I have loads of memories of her tantrums and my impatience. I also remember biting her a couple of times, and pulling hair, and all. I also remember bursting into tears once when my doodledee got spanked by Mom. I begged Mom not to hit her.

In school, I looked after her a bit, but she was doing well by herself. Back home, in the building, she was scared of the boys. And cycles. Hahah (btw, Azmin still can't ride a cycle). Anyhow, slowly, she grew up.

Well, the bottlefly soon began to dislike a lot of things about me. My slackness, laziness, and rebellious behaviour. She disliked it so much, that she tried very hard to be the exact opposite.

I wouldn't study for exams until the last minute. She would be Miss-Completed-Homework. I never ever did homework, what a horror it was.
She was very tidy and kept things in their place. I prefer the jumble-tumble.
She's always on time and always prepared for everything. (I think a pre-mature Grandma-hood also).
Oh, but I love her and I'm amused and proud of myself of driving her to such frustration that she got determined to be the exact opposite. She's a very focused girl.


I can't believe she's 18 now. And living by herself in Pune, doing a fantastic course I would die to do. And meeting some very interesting people. A couple of years ago, she disapproved of everything I did, though I wouldn't hide a thing from her, my rock-n-roll lifestyle didn't have her admiration. I used to call her my Granny then, coz she'd nag and tell me what to do and what not.

Now, the past few months, she's loosened up. She's living a cool life. Cooler than mine anyway. She's very talented, and I am glad about how she's learning things. I've tried so hard to get her to read, see, listen to, and do all kinds of interesting things! She'll now admit that my influence has been good. I hope. My little bumblebee is a darling love and I'm super glad to have her. I know one person I can giggle with always.

Going to the Movies

Someone suggested I watch a film everyday last week. So I took it on as a challenge (and an excuse) and went to the Movies everyday last week.

Monday - I saw 300 again. Glad I did. Enjoyed it.
Tuesday - Pursuit of Happyness. Very nice, I thought. Will Smith and son, brilliant acting.
Wednesday - The Holiday. I was wary that it would be a chick flick. Maybe it is, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially Kate Winslet, she was awesome. Jack Black sucked big time.
Thursday - Water. Very disappointed. Liza Ray and John Abraham made a mockery of the whole thing. Bad dialogue, worse delivery, and not sensitively made. The little girl and the older widow were good, the only saving grace.
Friday - The Marine.

Yes, Friday's movie deserves a special note. Note that from Monday through Thursday, we got great seats in the cinema. Second row from the back. And the cinema would be mostly empty. The Marine was packed. We sat second row from the front. The entire cinema was full. With mostly men. I mostly like action-thrillers. The Marine, however, was not a thriller. It was just noise and explosions. And its climax was twice as long and three times more pathetic than the average Hindi film climax. Very sad.

Ok. Saturday and Sunday we saw movies at home. Mostly because there were no other films I wanted to see in the cinemas. Except Namesake, but that one was all sold out.

So, Saturday, we went for a nice long walk in the K.B.R National Park and then for a beer. And a typical Andra dinner. Varun ate quail. When we got home, I pulled out a stack of new virgin DVDs and picked Godard. Une Femme Est Une Femme. A Woman Is A Woman. Great fun, and very nice.

Sunday, I woke up early and wanted to get through as many of the DVDs as I could. We first saw Godard's Le Weekend. Hmm, this one's a toughie. I liked it, it wasn't too easy. My friends couldn't really take it. I saw it again, at once, with commentary on. Am glad for these features that DVDs have, it certainly helped with that film!

Next we saw Ron Frike's Baraka. A visual documentary, with no narrative or dialogue. Very visual. Shot in 24 countries, it's a view of global rituals, urban and rural analogies, and a visual treat. Very nice. And I found a random parallel between Godard's Weekend and Baraka. It's difficult to explain, but I'll try. In another post.

After Baraka, we saw Truffaut's The Soft Skin. Basically, the story of a famous novelist and his affair with an air stewardess. Nice film, but not spectacular. But I do like Truffaut.

The week was great fun and there are always more films to see! Wohoooooo.



PS: I must mention, I love being in a cinema. And turning around to see the glorious beam of light as the film is projected. It's the prettiest thing in the world... one of.