The night peeped through its blankets, perhaps a little shy

It was a clear cloudless moonlit starlit sky

For a mile or more there was no one in sight

And we danced, and danced…. All through the night

I can still hear the music playing so softly

I can still remember the way you lead me ever so gently

I can still smell the warm summer air

I can still remember the way we danced without a care

You did not need to hear me speak

Some how there remained a vow of silence that we dint break

We did not have to know each other

To dance the way we did together

There existed neither an yesterday nor a day in the future

There existed not this world or this furore

There existed the music, and us

There existed that second, that minute, and our dance

picture credit: http://soli.inav.net/~dance/dance011.jpg

]]> http://www.anudreams.com/?feed=rss2&p=460 14 http://www.anudreams.com/?p=390 http://www.anudreams.com/?p=390#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:14:40 +0000 Anu http://www.anudreams.com/?p=390

Its been a long time since I have updated my blog. I sure owe you all an apology. Jus been a little caught up with certain other ventures. Well being back from a big long break, the first thing I want to write about is a review of five of my favorite Books. I have been tagged many a time with this request and today I would like to honor it. I have been reading books probably since the age of 6. I still remember my dad taking me to the bookfair and how I would get completely mesmerized by the sheer volume of books. I have slept with a book near my pillow ever since I can remember and even now my most favorite moment would be reading a book on my couch with a cup of coffee in hand on a warm summer day.

Here goes an ode to all those books whose pages I have run my hands through

I have lived through your pages

I have seen through your eyes

I have experienced a whole new world through your words

You may have been born a hundred years back

Somehow I can still feel your heart beat

Who says a book is a non-living thing?

Somehow when you speak I have always understood

Three Men in a Boat (To say nothing of the Dog)

This book was written in the year 1889 by an author named Jerome K Jerome. The book starts with three absolutely lazy and sluggish men (and a dog) planning a boat trip for a break (from nothing) across the river Thames and goes on to narrate their experiences. This is by far the most hilarious book I have ever read. Believe me, if you do not laugh after having read any two pages from the book, I will buy you a pizza. For people who have read it, you know what I’m talking about. Be it the incident of Uncle Podger trying to put a nail through the wall to hang a picture frame, the one where Harris tries to sing a comic song or the description of their dog, it is just absolutely relevant to this day. That’s one of the amazing characteristics of this book.

One of my most favourite lines from the book is “It is not that I object to the work, mind you; I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” I definitely recommend adding a copy of this book to your personal library.

you can catch a preview of the Book here

Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character)

This book is an edited collection of certain anecdotes, experiences and reminiscences written by Dr.Richard P Feynman who also won the Nobel Prize for his work in the field of physics and was published in the year 1985. I can hear you say “Probably a Geek!”, that’s where you are totally mistaken. The book is funny, strange, surprising and most shockingly interesting at various points. Feynman was not just a physicist completely secluded in a lab examining the structure of atoms through a microscopic device (I’m not exactly sure what physicists do even after having watched The Big bang theory).

He was a man who lived life to the fullest. He was passionate about whatever he did; be it trying his hand at drumming, sketching, dancing, writing or even falling in love. My Grandfather gave me this book to read when I was in the 9^th grade and wherever I go I still make sure I buy a copy of this book. I wouldn’t say it changes your life but it definitely changes your perspective of certain things in life. I guess in a way its because of this book I have always found geeks very interesting to converse with. Having said that one of favorite quotes by this man is “the “paradox” is only a conflict between reality and your feeling of what reality “ought to be.””

you can catch a preview of the Book here

Gone with the Wind

This book was written by Margaret Mitchell and published in the year 1936. I never know how to tag this book. Should I call it a love story, a book that chronicles the difficulties that people have undergone during the civil war or a book that narrates the story of one woman, with just Scarlet O Hara as the pivotal character? I simply cannot categorize this book. It’s one of those books that has everything; love, war, death, victory, stealth, villainy, pride and yet a certain amount of integrity etched into each character. It thrives in the shades of grey and not in black and white.

Scarlett O Hara of course grows in the book from being the most coveted teenage girl to a person who loses the man she loves, the place she had grown in and a woman who makes sure she gets what she wants by whichever means. Yet somehow at the end you still love her for the sheer force of her character, you tend to empathize and even admire her although admonish her at certain places. Rhett Butler, the first thing that pops into your mind is again the way he takes a crooked path to get what he wants in life. When I took up this book I could not get past the first 30 pages but once I had done that I could read a 1000 pages in 3 days. You cannot put this book down once you have got into it. A must read and a must have in your personal collection

you can catch a preview of the Book here

And Then There Were None

This Book was written by my favorite detective novel writer Dame Agatha Christie in the year 1940. It is a detective novel and also an unparalleled psychological thriller that keeps you guessing until the last minute the identity of the killer. Agatha Christie has published about seventy novels and I have read about 60 of them (still hunting for the ones I haven’t read so far) and in my personal opinion this novel is truly one of her very best.

I have noticed that it is one of Agatha Christies’s specialties to take up a nursery rhyme and build a thriller novel around. This one is built upon a rhyme called “Ten little indians…” and I will not reveal further, just in case you haven’t read the book. You can never say too much in the review of a mystery book since it spoils a lot of fun.

you can catch a preview of the Book here

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Written by J.K. Rowling, it is a novel that takes us into the world of wizards, witches and magic. I have loved the whole series. I have waited in queues to buy the first day copy of all the other books in the series. However the first book happens to be my favorite. I love it very simply for its innocence. It reminded me of all those Enid Blyton books I used to read as a kid and what’s even better is that The Harry Potter books had everything take place in a wonderful magical world. Yet what I loved about J.K.Rowling was the way she tied it to reality by having the magic and the non-magic folks coexist in one world. I can go on and on when I talk about this book.

Whether it’s Albus Dumbledore saying “Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” to group of students on their first day at Hogwarts or on a serious note advising Harry, “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live”, the book has words that make you ponder over reality as well. Love the characters; Love this book; the emotions, the magic, the innocence and the laughter. Hats off to J.K.Rowling for this truly enchanting creation

Picture credits:

Three men in a Boat – http://www.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=0765341611/LC.JPG

Surely you are joking Mr.Feynman – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d2/SurelyYoureJokingMrFeynman.PNG

Gone with the wind-http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Gone_with_the_Wind_cover.jpg

And then there were none – http://www.shawniekelley.com/images/and-then-there-were-none.jpg

Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher%27s_Stone.jpg

the first picture with the book and flower – http://www.flickr.com/photos/zitona/4053097146/sizes/m/

I’m neither an atheist, nor an agnostic
I’m neither a believer nor am I a non-believer
I’m merely an observer
I have jotted down  purely what I have observed

Please find the story here:

kurai ondrum illai
P.S: The picture is that of a friend who is actually sitting on the rocks along the shores of Dwaraka. Thanks for letting me use the picture, Raghu

She stares and stares and stares
into what, no one knows
as though caught for eternity in that canvas
and preserved for posterity

Please find the story here:

An artist and his muse

P.S: The painting called “Girl with the pearl earring” and my art teacher Ms.Camille Banuchi’s thoughts inspired me to come up with this write up.  Also Griet is the name of the girl who originally posed for Vermeer.
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?…” is a sonnet by William Shakespeare

“Am I doing the right thing?” she asked herself a hundred times. She had known him barely more than a month, he had asked and she had said “yes”. Is that even an appropriate amount of time to know someone? Everything happened so fast that she herself did not have the time to think it through. Her parents were more than delighted that she had finally emerged out of her shadows and embraced the future. Activities were going on all around her in full swing. She was going to get married tomorrow.

It was considered unlucky for the groom to see the bride before the wedding ceremony but he just couldn’t wait. “You are not supposed to come to the bride’s room stupid!” she mocked at him. He just leaned on the life size dresser standing before her, smiled and said “Had to see your nervous face and catch you on your most paranoid moment”. She wanted to ask how she looked but before she could, he chirped in saying “You look like an angel”. “Are these real gold by the way?” he added playfully pointing at her heavily embellished earings.

“Now get out of my room so that we can get married”, she said almost going to hit him as he dodged her.

They had met at another wedding. A cousin of his and a distant friend of her’s had invited both of them to witness the joyous occasion. They had spoken for about an hour regarding politics, a world without boundaries, the existence of God and the authenticity of big bang theory. They had exchanged numbers and forgotten about it for almost 3 months. One day she got a call from this guy asking if she wanted to visit the planetarium and she did.

Two weeks later they were playing antakshari a t a dinner party, at the end of which everyone was pretty tired, some were even plain high and it just boiled down to singing their favourite songs. He was sitting right next to her when he sang “kabhi kabhi mere dil mein khayal aata hai, ke jaise tujkho banaya gaya hai mere liye”. His voice quivering and definitely not trained to sing even the basic sa ri ga ma pa da ni sa but still somehow stuck a chord. A month later, he popped the question and she said yes. Somehow she was still nervous. Was it love at first sight? But she never believed in that concept…. She knew that wasn’t the case.

They just had their first baby daughter. She wanted to name her disha, he wanted sunaina… finally they reached a common consensus and called her diya. She had put her 3 month old to sleep and was just looking at herself in the mirror of her dresser. “you look like an angel” came the answer. “Shut up! Sometimes I think that’s the only reason you married me”, she quipped.

“I did not need a reason.” He said and added , “I do wonder however what made you say yes”.

“It felt strangely familiar. We were strangers but it felt as if I had known you all through my life.”

He leaned on to the dresser, looked at her and said “I felt the same”

I have been here from when the first customer walked in.
With a smile on my face and the best of all clothes, I said “come on in!”
What a journey it has been!
Human nature in a microcosm,I have seen

The youth, they have always cared about today
The old, they have always cared about yesterday
My owner has only cared about selling his goods
Sometimes it scares me to know about people, under their hoods

I have seen generosity in an old man’s deeds
I have seen greed in a human being’s needs
I have felt pain when a child gets lost in all that crowd
I have felt joy on just being adored

Now that I have become dusty with molds covering my core
No one really wants me around anymore
I’m going to be replaced by someone much younger
can they do as well as I have ever done! I wonder

Tomorrow is the day when I will be dismantled and thrown into a bin
Bah, to everyone in this place, I’m just an old mannequin
sometimes I feel like saying, “I’m as much a human being as anyone else here”
Alas there is no one but me to hear….

10 years earlier, when they had made their marriage vows, life was so much easier. They had tried to spend every single minute possible together. But now somehow things had changed. He needed more space… yeah that’s what he had told her “You can’t keep clinging on to me. I need some space of my own”. That had hurt. she had not meant to be so nagging. All that she had ever wanted was to spend time with him but for the past few years, after all the promotions at work, he could never make enough time for home.

Things had reached to a point where just seeing her gloomy face every single day was irritating for him. He just did not want to come home. Everything around her seemed to fall down and shatter into a thousand different pieces that couldn’t be put back together, she was drifting deep down into a deep abyss… she wanted to run away from it all….

She had reached her grandpa’s place when the car screeched into a halt. Her grandpa came out with a huge stick and torch He was not used to late night visitors.

“What are you doing here at this hour in the night?”asked the old man. “don’t ask me thatha. just wanna stay here for a few days”, said Anita. “Ofcourse! first change your clothes and sleep… we can talk in the morning”. His voice was so feeble and weak and yet it had the extraordinary strength of soothing all that she was suffering from. It had been over a decade since her grandmother passed away. That old man was living there all by himself. the whole family had tried to make him sell the place and live with them. He wouldn’t budge. There was something about him that made her go to him every time she had faced problems in life

Ever since she was a little kid, he could make her smile. Even during those times when she used fall down ever so often and had to go to the doctor to get a tetanus injection, she needed her grandpa’s hands to hold on to. He had taught her to read books, he had taught her the length and breadth of music or rather the absence of a boundary to it. She had had the best of times just going for an evening walk with him. They would discuss anything under the sun. Anything from bhel puri to Einstein’s theory of relativity.

She was there for almost a week now. She was not answering calls. She was not even stepping out of the house. She wanted to break herself away from everything. The only thing her old man was worried about was the fact that she had just stopped talking. The girl who was pretty much the life of their family, who could speak volumes ever since she was just five had just stopped talking, had stopped expressing herself.

They were walking along familiar roads in the evening around 6.30. she could feel the cool breeze just blowing her away. There was a chat stall around there. “lets have pani puri!” said Anita with a childlike excitement in her voice. “You have it! lakshmi would never approve of it!”

“thatha! its been so long since lakshmi paatti passed away. how come you are still living in this house? arent you feeling lonely? why dont you come and live with us?” asked Anita while they were having a quiet dinner

“She is here! she may not be physically present but i have never felt her absence. Sometimes it dosent matter if the people whom you love are with you or miles away from you. You just know they care. ” It made an ocean of sense. May be she had been wrong after all. Somehow she had never put herself in his shoes.

“Sometimes in life we all make mistakes! don be so angry with everything.”, he just had one sip of the rasam and quipped “you know what, your paati always used to put more chilli powder in the rasam than was required… and now I really miss it. It dosent taste the same anymore”

Here is my list of top 10 old tamil songs ( from which i have excluded AR. Rahman since i really wanted to list some old forgotten melodies)… i have also tried my best to order them chronologically(I guess… )

1. Senthamizh then mozhial

wonderful rendition by TR. mahalingam… i don think anyone in this era can even try to surpass the pitch in which he sung the song. His voice is just truly unique. The lyrics of this songs truly symbolizes the love songs of 1960′s…. really nice to hear

click here to listen to the song

2. chithiram pesudhadi

this song from sabash meena is truly a treat for your ears. sung by our very own TMS. This song brings everything around you to a stand still

click here to listen to this song

3. azhagiya mithilai nagarinile

One of my most favorite duets… hte song emanates simplicity and yet it can never go away from our minds. Sung by P.B srinivas and P.susheela for the movie “annai”

click here to listen to this song

4. kunguma poove konjum purave

One of all time favorite Chandrababu duet songs… I can say that i have grown up listening to chandrababu songs since my dad sings them in light music programmes. He would truly bring chandrababu back to life.

This song is one that i especially like because it has all the elements of chandrababu’s mischevousness in it… The song picturization is also very cute

click here to listen to this song

5. nilavum malarum

This is a song from a movie called “then nilavu”… almost all the songs in this movie are good. i guess “oh oh endhan baby!” and “paatu pada vaa”were trendsetters and put gemini ganesan on a different pedastal altogether…lets come back to this song now.

This song is picturized as a boat ride and has all the power to just completely calm your mind every single time you listen to it

click here to listen to this song

6. anubavam pudhumai

yet another awesome duet from kadhalika neram illai… we all know how awesomely hilarious this movie was. I can still watch the nagesh-balaiya comedy scene and laugh my guts out… we can never forget the “oh ho productions” and “there you are!”

All the songs from this movie were good… but this one is such a dreamy, slow melodious number that it makes you feel you can never hear such good singers anymore

click here to listen to this song

7. Rasathi unnai kanadha

my mom can remember me singing this song from when i was 3 yrs old…. (im not kiddind! ). I love the way the song flows… more than the lyrics, i like this song just for the music… ilayaraja truly a gifted maestro

click here to listen to this song

8. poonkatru thirumbuma

An awesome duet between Malaysia vasudevan and S.janaki for the movie mudhal mariyadhai… i guess this songs brings out the the typical village yesapattu… the lyrics are awesome. A must listen if you even remotely understand tamil

click here to listen to this song

9. nee oru kadhal sangeetham

This song from nayagan is truly a symphony of music, lyrics and picturization…. there is one line in this song that still mesmerizes me is “kadarkarai kaatre vazhiyai vidu… devadhai vandhal ennodu”… miss this kinda lines

click here to listen to this song

10. sirpi irukkudhu

This song can just not be ignored from the top 10 list…. the movie by itself was an eye opener… a picture showcasing the unemployment scenario prevailing back then in India. such a refreshing song by ilayaraja

click here to listen to this song

hope you guys liked listening to all these songs… you can list your favorite tamil songs too in your comments!!

Mom made my favorite ice cream today because i was so brave at the dentist uncle’s place. i did not cry at all. Mom said she was proud of me. I looked up that word in the dictionary papa gave me and added it to my wordlist. Papa came home late again. I have not seen him home early in the past so many weeks now. Mom says he has lots to do at office. I wish i could see him at home more. I always go to sleep without seeing him. Mom says i would not have so many toys if he dint go to office.

You know,that girl Neeta, she took my pencil which papa had bought from US. I’m not talking to her anymore. she is so bad. My english miss said i write very well. She made me read out a whole chapter in front of the class. I hate to do maths homework. Mom says it is very important but i dont get any of the answers right. I dont like it when teacher says my answers are wrong

Papa gave me a coluring set yesterday. it has so many different colours, a brush and a book. Papa says i draw well. I like to draw and colour it. It makes me happy. but mom says i have to spend time in studying too. I will always listen to mom. She always takes care of me. Sometimes she makes me cry but she always makes good food, she drops me at school, picks me back, plays house house with me and makes me laugh.

Now im sleepy.it is bedtime. i will write to you again tomorrow. bye.

Meera was looking at her own self, who she was, at the age of 8. somehow she felt things still haven’t changed a lot. Her mother was still her rock solid support. She still hated some people not because they took her pencil but because they took people whom she wanted to be with, away from her. She still saw her dad once in a blue moon as he was flying between continents pretty often and she still got exicited at the thought of having a paint brush in hand and a potrait board in front of her. But yes, as every one of us does,

she too wished she could go back….
back when she was just 8….
back when birthdays were cheerful, funfilled with friends…
back when exams were your worst enemies…
back when you could sleep at 10 (though you never wanted to)…
back in time…
back in space….