I’ve really not been able to put up anything on the blog the last few days or so, thanks to the fact that I’ve relocated to Chennai for my post-grad studies. Believe me, had someone asked me if I was going to be at this point 10 years ago, I would have rolled on the floor and laughed my head off. So this is definitely a major achievement in the life of me. I’m yet to get a laptop, but my roomie was kind enough to give me his laptop to get back to writing. I’ve got tons of things to write about. Will break it down and tell you.
I landed in Chennai on the 22nd morning with my home packed into two huge suitcases. Mostly rubbish like speakers, 5 pairs of shoes (Yes…5 pairs of shoes….don’t be so stunned), Chronicles of Narnia, curtains and a lot more. I took along one of the babies…my first. In case you’re confused, I am referring to one of my loves, my first guitar. I took the acoustic along, because I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to get back to playing music very actively. I land on the Chennai central station at 4:30 in the morning. And in pure SRK isthyle (from Main Hoon Na), got off onto the platform. And as I followed the coolie who lugged my bags towards the taxi stand with phenomenal speed, all of a sudden my head had the tune of Jimmy Hendrix’s Voodoo Child in my, head. And in comes one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite movies - ‘Almost Famous’.
For those of you who have not seen the movie, I recommend that you do. The scene is when the band Stillwater is finally moving up from being a band to THE band. The first step involves leaving behind their tour bus. The tour bus was something with which the band made it big. It was the place where the band wrote some of their greatest tunes and learnt what it was to be a band. But to move up, to achieve greatness, it was time to leave the bus behind and move to an airplane. And the scene that played out at the station was quite similar. The original scene had the band, along with their support crew, manager and a few groupies get off the bus. As the sunlight falls on them in the background, they proceed towards the airplane in a single file, quite purposefully with only their silhouettes visible; the band move with single bags in their hand, guitars in the other. No one looks back. And just as they disembark, in comes Jimmy Hendrix with his riff from Voodoo Child. Just as the band gets on the plane, the camera pans towards the bus to take one last parting shot. And the plane takes off towards the horizon.
Now, here’s the remake scene. Me, in my torn jeans, a bag in one hand and a guitar in the other, purposefully walking towards what would be my airplane and leaving behind what was my bus. And all this while the great Jimmy Hendrix plays out Voodoo Child in my head. I’m silent and am grinning to myself, telling me that it’s going to get a whole lot awesome from here. I move from the train through the sea of people on the platform towards the taxi stand. Just as I reach the taxi stand, the camera pans to the train. And my taxi, with my bags and guitar drive away into the traffic jam at 4:45 AM. ( Don’t be surprised….people in Chennai are up at this unearthly hours and are driving around )
In life, it’s these little classic moments with everything in place, everything poised so perfectly and most importantly when that moment actually means a lot to someone. Heck, it was so perfect, I could have almost proposed to the first good looking girl I saw…..lol….naaa….the moment would probably get spoiled with the sound of a loud echoing slap on my face. It’s quite uncanny as to how certain songs tend to suit the moment so amazingly. Allow me to explain myself. Certain songs…English rock….when heard by themselves never really move you or influence you enough to like them. However, the same song with the perfect scene and cinematography and situation is probably the best song you’ve ever heard. I’ve got a few songs that sort of find their way onto my Ipod like this. Voodoo Child is one of them. The whole scene from ‘Almost Fmaous’ set it for me. Normally, I’d never listen to a song like ‘You & Me’ by Lifehouse, but right now, post Smallville, I find that to be the most romantic song ever. It’s the song that plays out at a prom where Clark Kent finally gets to dance with Lana Lang, and they share their first kiss if ’m not mistaken. The entire scene went so well with that song, it was just brilliant. ‘Walking Away’ by Lifehouse is another such song which finds its way into the Ipod thanks to Smallville. The same thing with the title song of ‘Dil Se’ which I thought was one of the best songs of A.R.Rahman ever. Many such songs, but I don’t want to waste bytes on the internet listing them out.
I’m definitely not too pleased to be leaving the bus behind. But now I’ve got so much more to conquer with the airplane.
I landed in Chennai on the 22nd morning with my home packed into two huge suitcases. Mostly rubbish like speakers, 5 pairs of shoes (Yes…5 pairs of shoes….don’t be so stunned), Chronicles of Narnia, curtains and a lot more. I took along one of the babies…my first. In case you’re confused, I am referring to one of my loves, my first guitar. I took the acoustic along, because I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to get back to playing music very actively. I land on the Chennai central station at 4:30 in the morning. And in pure SRK isthyle (from Main Hoon Na), got off onto the platform. And as I followed the coolie who lugged my bags towards the taxi stand with phenomenal speed, all of a sudden my head had the tune of Jimmy Hendrix’s Voodoo Child in my, head. And in comes one of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite movies - ‘Almost Famous’.
For those of you who have not seen the movie, I recommend that you do. The scene is when the band Stillwater is finally moving up from being a band to THE band. The first step involves leaving behind their tour bus. The tour bus was something with which the band made it big. It was the place where the band wrote some of their greatest tunes and learnt what it was to be a band. But to move up, to achieve greatness, it was time to leave the bus behind and move to an airplane. And the scene that played out at the station was quite similar. The original scene had the band, along with their support crew, manager and a few groupies get off the bus. As the sunlight falls on them in the background, they proceed towards the airplane in a single file, quite purposefully with only their silhouettes visible; the band move with single bags in their hand, guitars in the other. No one looks back. And just as they disembark, in comes Jimmy Hendrix with his riff from Voodoo Child. Just as the band gets on the plane, the camera pans towards the bus to take one last parting shot. And the plane takes off towards the horizon.
Now, here’s the remake scene. Me, in my torn jeans, a bag in one hand and a guitar in the other, purposefully walking towards what would be my airplane and leaving behind what was my bus. And all this while the great Jimmy Hendrix plays out Voodoo Child in my head. I’m silent and am grinning to myself, telling me that it’s going to get a whole lot awesome from here. I move from the train through the sea of people on the platform towards the taxi stand. Just as I reach the taxi stand, the camera pans to the train. And my taxi, with my bags and guitar drive away into the traffic jam at 4:45 AM. ( Don’t be surprised….people in Chennai are up at this unearthly hours and are driving around )
In life, it’s these little classic moments with everything in place, everything poised so perfectly and most importantly when that moment actually means a lot to someone. Heck, it was so perfect, I could have almost proposed to the first good looking girl I saw…..lol….naaa….the moment would probably get spoiled with the sound of a loud echoing slap on my face. It’s quite uncanny as to how certain songs tend to suit the moment so amazingly. Allow me to explain myself. Certain songs…English rock….when heard by themselves never really move you or influence you enough to like them. However, the same song with the perfect scene and cinematography and situation is probably the best song you’ve ever heard. I’ve got a few songs that sort of find their way onto my Ipod like this. Voodoo Child is one of them. The whole scene from ‘Almost Fmaous’ set it for me. Normally, I’d never listen to a song like ‘You & Me’ by Lifehouse, but right now, post Smallville, I find that to be the most romantic song ever. It’s the song that plays out at a prom where Clark Kent finally gets to dance with Lana Lang, and they share their first kiss if ’m not mistaken. The entire scene went so well with that song, it was just brilliant. ‘Walking Away’ by Lifehouse is another such song which finds its way into the Ipod thanks to Smallville. The same thing with the title song of ‘Dil Se’ which I thought was one of the best songs of A.R.Rahman ever. Many such songs, but I don’t want to waste bytes on the internet listing them out.
I’m definitely not too pleased to be leaving the bus behind. But now I’ve got so much more to conquer with the airplane.
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