Overdrive - I

Once upon a time, in the far far away land of Ahmedabad, there was this Tall Thin One with long hair and a big nose. He had a crazy passion for drumming. Then there was this other Not So Tall Thin One, who was kinda crazy and loved gutars. These two got together and started off with Summer of 69 and Its my life (absolutele classics at that point of time). They jammed and jammed until one fine day, they realised- "What the hell are we doing?"

Then one fine day, the Not So Tall Thin One saw a vision- a vison of God- a God named Iron Maiden. He went out. He bought cds. He saw concerts. He learnt about a new concept- a concept called METAL. And then he realised, that if u want, u can make it Heavy Metal. That was IT.He picked up his guitar and started playing. He played and played until one day VOILA! That was IT! Fear of the Dark! The solo! every bit of it! The Masterpiece! And this guy had mastered it!
All this while, the Tall Thin One was busy with his feet. He practiced increasing the speed of his double bass.The Not So Tall Thin One got together with the Tall Thin One and just played and magic was created!

Meanwhile, about 200 km from this place, in a small town called Baroda, there was this Dude. He had a dream. A dream of a band which would rock. And rock hard. All he wanted to do was get up there on the stage and make the crowd go crazy. He, like these other two guys, was also into guitars and drums. So he looked around and he found a diamond in the rough. A Kid. He saw that the Kid was a decent guitarist, but needed direction. At that point of time, he was still stuck at Karan Johar classics. He picked up this Kid, polished him and started off a band of his own.

But that was not the end of it. Now after the band of the Dude dissolved, he made the journey to the city of Ahmedabad in search of a future. It was fate that the Tall Thin One was part of the same batch that the Dude was. They met. They talked. The Tall Thin One invited the Dude over to his place for a jam session. There he met the Not So Tall Thin One, an aloof mind-your-own-business type of genius. There he heard Heavy Metal. That gave him a kind of rush nothing else had ever given back. He trudged back to his homeland and told the Kid about this. Things were getting warm.

Then came the winter of 2006. The Dude made the journey to the land of Pune- the land of hot girls with hot legs and sexy boots. He met the Tall Thin One who in turn introduced him to a couple of other guys who already had a band there. They needed a bassist. The Dude had never played bass. But he was ready to de anything for music. So he picked up his bass and started off. Overdrive was formed.
Over the next 6 months, Overdrive became a name to reckon with. With an impressive setlist and a formidable line up, Overdrive was set to rule the world. And soon enough, the Not So Tall Thin One joined. Overdrive was almost complete.

But then disaster struck! Jatin, one of the most prolific guitarists, was taken away. He was called to the land of the Onsite. Kunal, one of the most versatile members of the band (and the lead vox) left the company, the city and consequently the band. This spelt doom for Overdrive. With the Tall Thin One, the Not So Tall Thin One, the Dude and the Kid, it didn't seem much. But it was not to be. In came the Kid. He filled the void that Kunal had left and Overdrive was back on its feet.

They worked hard to fill up the gap left in the band. And in 3 months we saw Soul...

It was a completely new set list... It was a revolution... It was BALLS OF METAL!!!

To be continued...

\m/

Being in Twenties!!

It was on my bus journey back from ahmedabad to pune that my mind started thinking on the following lines. Maybe it was just sheer boredom of watching "DHOL" movie for upteenth time or just the rain pouring down washing away everything in its path.

It is in the twenties that you stop going along with the crowd. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that maybe they are as confused as you.

You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize thatyou have certain boundaries in your life which are constantly stretching due to addition of things to your list of what is acceptable

You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

Maybe this relates to every one reading this. (definitely relates to me)
We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.
But then isnt that the main aim of any puzzle - To see if you can figure it out?

And it pours!!

Just when you get used to all the sunshine in your life suddenly the dark clouds appear, bolts of lightening are crashing down and it starts raining. Today couldnt have been different on two fronts

(inside office)
After two days of rest due to some management issues today suddenly everything comes crashing back with 278 issues pending due to two days of leisure!!

(outside office)
It was almost 7 pm and almost 12 hours on this seat when one of my team mate screams

"ITS RAINING!!"

And like mosquitoes attracted to UV light all of us headed straight for the window to see the spectacle. and why not ??

IT WAS RAINING (in all possible ways)

for the next 30 mins it was sheer bliss. almost the entire campus came to life with people playing around in rain and splashing away in puddles!! (yup we are IT professionals)

Its still pouring here and i cant wait to get done with my work and head out to was my pain off.. ;)
As one of my very good friend stated ones

"let it rain
and drive away the pain
let it rain
i wish i were insane"

TO INSANITY \m/

Despairing sonnet!!

My mind is numb
Feel no pain
Soul is crying
Nothing more to gain
Hear the far away thunder
The air is thick and warm
Just sit here and wander
Prepare for the approaching storm

The night is rolling
Like a slow moving train
Is this for real?
For i feel no pain!
Am i dead while living?
Will i live after dying?
Is god really forgiving?
To sins worth crucifying!

The time is still
Heart is drained
This burden of truth
No more can i bear!

Try Try till you succeed?

How many times have you failed and your dad/teacher/friend/enemy came upto you and said "keep trying! one day you will get there." And how many times does it actually happen that you try.. On the personal front, i never had the patience to keep trying..

However, since the time i have been working here i have realized that nothing happens in one go- the coffee wont come out right, your code wont compile, testers are bound to give 1000 bugs atleast etc etc and so i hit back to the cubicle repeting the "try try .." chant and inspire myself to get the wok done.

But today at work i just realized (thanks to a team mate)
its simple to give up
its simpler not to try at all
but its the simplest just to delegate your work..

And boy it worked wonders. Thats why i love this industry- you always have someone to whom you can delegate.
Long live IT industry, to anyone who thinks we are going down well think again, we are here to stay.

(status back to busy)

Victim Of Need!!

dont have much to describe as to why i wrote this ... just hmmm it got penned down..

Victim Of Need:
------------------
Look at me here
What is it that you see?
The luscious carved body
Or the battered soul within

You term me a social disease
And count me an outcast
But I am just trying
Trying to live and last

You make my pride bite dust
By calling me a parasite
But its only your lust
On which I have been feeding

You catch me contemplating
You feel I am lost
But I am just healing
From every nights ordeal

You think its my choice of pleasure
This torment of soul and body I treasure
But I am just a victim of need
The need to survive

I cant wait to start a new chapter
But the ink is dry, the lines disappear
Like words on sand, washed away,
By guilt from this sin filled river

\m/

Why me?

Yup its the same old question!And another article on this cliche of a topic. But no matter how much time i have wasted over this question i have never been able to come up with a satisfactory answer to reason with it. Only recently i realised that the answer to it is pretty simple.

It is me who decides why it has to be me.

After almost every situation which had me on my back to the wall, i would end up wih this question ringing in my head. Whether it would be staying up at night and staring at the wall, or having a friend call at night and ask to go to ashram road, or have someone call up at 2 AM and ask me to play master of puppets for her (this had been by far the wierdest request!), or any of those countless situations i can think of, instead of trying to think rationally , all i ever ended up was with a "WHY ME?" and then sit and speculate. Speculating, and not greed, i must say is the root of all evil.

But then couple of nights back while again echoing the question over another situation, i finally realised it had always be my decision to get into the situation. It was my decision to sniff the powder, my decision to take the fight, my decision to love someone etc etc. In short it had always be my actions who would put me in all those situations. Okay yaa maybe a few situations were not in my hand, but 95.6% (yes i calculated that number that night)of what i remember, it was always me jumping into things before reconsidering. Sometimes its great to do things for the thrill of it but then i guess we shouldnt end up asking the inevitable when things go bad.

Anyways my preaching here is done.And as i head back to the unresolved issue at my desk i just sit and ask one question"Why Me?"
Take care friends.