The Ruch Zone

RIP MJ

They called him a child molester, weirdo (whacko jacko, ha!), abnormal, monkey face, a complete lunatic. And now, after he is dead and gone, they only want him to be remembered as the greatest musician of all times. What they forget though is that he was and always be the greatest musician of all times. A legend. The one and only Michael Jackson.

I am saddened by his death. Infact i feel it more as the time goes by. There are too many memories of my teenage years attached to his music. Infact i can safely say that he was the reason I got into english music and stayed in it. And I like zillions of his other fans was looking forward to his comeback tour with loads of excitement and a bit of nervousness given it was after ages he was going to be performing. Alas, it wasnt meant to be and now we can only wonder how it would have been.

I still remember buying every album of his on the day of its launch, watching each and every video of his and trying to remember the lyrics of all his songs (must confess, couldn’t get all of it but what the heck...he sounded awesome), fighting with my friends over all the allegations he faced and defending him like a professional lawyer. I still remember trying to do the moonwalk and failing miserably every single time, having teary eyes while listening to 'Will u be there" or getting goose bumps while watching him perform on "Billy Jean". And of course who can forget "The Thriller? It scared the shit out of all of us but man, did that ever stop us from watching? Singing "bad" completely out of tune, dancing to "the way you make me feel", going crazy over "black or white", always regretting not watching his mumbai concert, getting a bit disappointed after listening to "the invincible" but knowing he would come back bigger and better.

Labels: long live MJ, Michael Jackson, MJ, RIP MJ, The legend

LIFE'S SMALL LITTLE DETAILS

I am a tired soul today. My head hurts, my eyes are drousy, my legs ache. I havent had the best of days as far as work is concerned and to top it all, I had the misfortune of watching Himesh Reshamiyan sporting a deadly gay look with an absolutely psychotic hair style while baring his insanely waxed chest on Z TV. This was just the perfect setting for me to whine about my life and what a drag it is and how work sucks and I am sure I would have got enough sympathetic looks starting with my mom who actually thinks I am suffering. Instead I have chosen to sit down and write about the simple pleasures of life. Things that make me smile, things that are absolutely indispensable for me. So, here it comes....

1. Sleeping on a hot humid nite and waking up to an absolutely cloudy morning (oh, i love it).

2. Spending a saturday doing nothing

3. Rolling down the car window to smell jasmine and knowing winters are just round the corner.

4. Watching back to back episodes of SATC and F.R.I.E.N.D.S after having watched them a zillion times already.

5. Reading Calvin & Hobbes over and over again

6. Meeting friends at a CAFE and that too not for a cup of coffee.

7. Remembering a song/name/place/incident which a few seconds ago I had gone completely blank on.

8. Laughing out so loud that my eyes start to water.

9. Managing to reach the loo when I am almost about to pee in my pants

10. Knowing how amazing my friends are and being sure that they will always be a part of me.

There are a zillion other things that I love doing but I wont go on. The point is that we get so absorbed by the wrongs around us that we forget to see the rights. So lets try and remember the small but important details that make us happy even if life gets really hectic because the truth is that nobody has ever been able to better their life hating it.

Labels: friends, fun, happiness, life, simple pleasures, smile

I recently turned 31 and hell yeah I didnt like it. Not because it changes anything for me physically or mentally. I still think, live, laugh and breathe the same way as I used to even when i was a 29 year old. But turning 31 or for that matter turning 30 changes a lot for people around you if and only if you are single. Its like you have been diagnosed with a terminal disease which cannot be cured . And when you turn 31 in the same state, then you've really had it.

It really doesnt matter, how well you are doing workwise, or what a great set of friends you have or how great you feel as a person, you still have a lot to feel bad for, actually a BIG lot to feel bad for. The relatives look at you with contempt (because you are setting a bad example for your younger cousins to follow especially if they look upto you in one way or the other), and they look at your parents with sympathetic eyes. Its the look of hopelessness. Its a scene straight out of a hindi film, where a surgeon comes out of an operation theater and tells the family that he tried his best and then he looks up at the ceiling and just shakes his head and walks off. Reasons I should marry vary from the fact that I wont find anybody good if I keep delaying to the biological clock ticking to the fact that my relatives really want to dance and party. HA. I cant say for sure what my mom feels when it happens to her but I can bet it cant be a good feeling. Poor woman, what all she has to put through for having a 31 year old single, just not ready to mingle kind of a daughter.

And for me the only reason for my single status is that I havent really found anyone who I think I can spend the rest of my life with. Now when you try and explain this to people around you, they give you a look of absolute disgust. The look of "Surely this cant be the reason".

I know, there are many people who would think that I am just being a brat and in my old age, when i would look at this blog (if I am still single), I would curse myself for being so difficult. But I can bet that there will be a few who would empathise with me for reasons only I and they are aware of. My advice to all my fellow sufferers is "life is too short so damn what the world says and live the way you want to. And lastly, when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over (this one I copy pasted from a forwarded mail but its so damn true)!

Aussies go down-under

I am sure all of you must have been affected by the recent India-Australia controversy in some way or the other, even if you are not a big cricket fan. I for one am extremely angry about the entire thing and am in fact running out of vocabulary to express my anger.

What happened two days ago was certainly not cricket. I was a very bad loser even when I used to play with friends. And honestly speaking, who likes to lose. But to degrade yourself to that level despite being world champions is not only shameful but also a bad sign for the game. I don’t blame them for the umpiring errors and neither do I blame them for wanting to win the game badly. This is the way they play the game. But when the creators of sledging, racism, abusive language start to get all sensitive about being called a monkey (by the way, the umpires didn’t hear it, neither did Tendulkar but the entire Australian team seems to have heard it), then you know its a desperate situation. And Hogg calling Kumble a bastard is no big deal since its coming from an Australian player.

The batsmen not walking despite knowing they are out is again no big deal. Everybody does it all the time. But not taking a clean catch and being dishonest about it is a different ball game altogether. And umpires’ not using technology and instead checking with Ponting is even better. Not that the technology would help considering the third umpire had a temporary blindness attack as well when he was asked to make a decision.

The ICC again reprimanding an Asian player is not shocking at all. We all know how that organization works and who are they reporting into. But unlike the other times, our board didn’t take this lying down and thankfully took a stand for the team.

Whatever is the final decision on the tour remains to be seen. But this should give enough fodder to our team, who till now has played quite ordinary cricket. Yes, we could have saved the last match if it wasn’t for all that bullshit that happened but comeon guys, we have gone there to win and not draw matches. So to all the passionate Indian cricket lovers, lets save some of our prayers for our countrymen, who have in a way hurt the Australians mentally. What remains to be seen is how bad they are going to hurt them on the field. I for one is hoping that its going to be really really bad.

Labels: Aussies, Bad losers, Cricket, India, India Australia Series, Racism, Sledging

A license to kill


Hello people. am back after almost 4 months. Reason could be that nothing inspired me enough till today to write a blog and now that today I have had such a fabulous experience, I wouldn’t miss sharing it with you all.


I am going on a month long vacation to Australia next week (ya ya, I am lucky). To make my life easier there, I applied for an international driving license. The first thought was that it wasn’t going to be an easy task considering the fact that it’s for Australia, where unlike India, traffic rules are strict and people tend to respect them. The RTI website had mentioned the required forms, which needed to be filled and submitted. What it obviously didn’t mention was the fact that I needed to get my medical test done. So I was kind of taken aback when the guy behind the counter asked me for it. I was like, with just 4 days away from going, this is probably the last thing I needed as this would mean getting my tests done from a clinic and submitting report. But I was in for a surprise. The guy told me that I could get one done downstairs and that too right away. Relived and a bit confused, I came downstairs to see where this could happen and I kind of felt lost. So I asked a guy standing outside a shop if he knew and he told me to follow him (was he waiting for me there? I mean he looked really enthu). He took me to a room where he asked me to fill up a form, which had questions like do i suffer from epilepsy, do I wear glasses, do I have a disease, which could be contagious in nature). I was told to just fill up my contact details and leave the rest to the doctor.


Then I was taken to another room, where a so not doctor kind of a guy was sitting behind a desk and was calling out everybody's name one by one. On my turn, I went ahead with anticipation that this guy would have the usual doctor equipment to do my check up. But it seems this doctor was a genius. As though all he needed was a heart to heart conversation and he would be able to diagnose the disease. He looked at my form and asked me If I suffered from epilepsy? Now, with god's grace, I haven’t ever experienced that but what I found amusing was this Q&A session. It was like I was on oath and it was given that I was going to be honest to the core. For all you know, I could have been getting fits every 30 seconds but this man saw truth in my eyes and proceeded to the next question. Do you wear glasses or lenses? I again said no. The third question was if I was suffering from a communicable disease. I really felt like saying that yes, I was suffering from a fatal disease and anybody who comes within 5 feet distance (after measuring the distance between us in my head) catches it instantly. But again I said no. So he very happily signed my papers and after a few minutes I had my license in my hand....


My first reaction was WOW, I have got the permit to drive in Australia. But after recovering from the jubilation, reality struck me and I was like what the hell was that? I mean, how could I get it so easy? Well, we all know how easy it is to get a license to drive in India and everyday accidents on the roads kind of shows what damage that process is doing but to get a license to drive in a foreign land and that too this easily actually was a shocker.
But then, nothing shocks me anymore about my beloved country and its systems. It amuses me and it also leaves a very disappointing feeling in my head thinking where are we headed to? Is there a hope or things would just go downhill from here? Whatever may be the outcome, I am hoping I and those who have got the license to drive in a foreign land are able to do what is required as far as those countries rules are concerned. As for the rules of our country, I don’t really know.....

SWEET 60

Today, our country has turned 60 years old. I know, I know. A lot of you would say that we are more than many thousand years old but the fact is that we are a 60 year old independent nation and when I look back at how we have progressed and digressed as a nation, I get a feeling of mixed emotions. Nevertheless, I would start off by saying that I am a proud Indian and for me being free is not something I take for granted. Really, if you see what’s happening around you (dont have to look too far....Pakistan is a great example), you tend to feel lucky to be born in a country, which not only happens to be the largest democracy in the world but also has survived many a crisis and yet can set an example for the world to follow.

Many great writers have written a lot about what makes India so special (Infact, the latest book I read was India, inspite of the Gods by Edward Luce.. a must read) so I wont even attempt to write anything more but I just want to say that we must feel proud of what we have because what we have is something really special. The question is how we can contribute in little and big ways and make this the best place to live in…

For whatever its worth, I for one strongly feel that if we can start off with the below, we can make a difference:

• Lets start treating our country like our home and not spit, litter, urinate, fight and kill each other on the road with gay abandon.. And this is for the so called educated class.
• We can start looking at our fellow citizens as humans rather than as Muslims, Sikhs, Baniyas, Bengali, Punjabi etc.
• We can also try and shell out a few rupees every month from our salary and help educate an under privileged kid. Because nothing works better for a nation than having its citizens well educated.
• We can also stop whining about India being corrupt and stop bribing traffic policemen, MTNL Linesmen, MCD officials and other such important figures.
• The list can go on but let me sign off by saying that most importantly; we must exercise our right to vote. Because that small effort alone can bring about an educated, crime-less, coalition-less breed of politicians, which will give our nation the right kind of ammunition to become the best in the world.
  

JAI HIND

Labels: I love India, Independence Day, India, India turning 60