The Ballad Of Young Delilah

Delilah lives a secret life
She's but a romantic fool
Far away she's someone's wife
For another day, or maybe two

She's begun to cut her own hair
Delilah's forgotten all the rules
She's only trying hard not to stare
The way young lovers often do

And God smiles down disapprovingly
At Samson under the weight
"This was the deal between you and me
Why try and tempt your fate?"

"This is no way to die," says he
God doesn't pause to think
"All's fair and just, look through my eye,"
He says with a little wink

Delilah cries for forgiveness
Though she doesn't mean it so
She just dreads the deserts to the west
And the mountains frighten her too

"I don't believe you," he says
"You're a liar, you must go"
And back upon his tombstone lays
Samson when he is through

So she cries over his seven locks
While her own head lies bare
But as she darns the General's socks
She's wondering what dress to wear

Greying beauty by the day
She lives her dreams by night
She's long forgotten how to pray
But wears her crucifix in sight

She doesn't think of him anymore
Delilah, the General's wife
It's been a good year and a score
Since the day she took young Samson's life.

Rant, rant, rant

Took a welcome break yesterday to watch Deep Purple at the Cathedral School Grounds yesterday. They put on quite a show. Music-loving Bangalore lapped up every single bit of their act. I got to the venue three hours before the gates opened so I was in the front row, with nothing but the barricades in front. Luckily enough, guitarist Steve Morse stood right in front of our part of the crowd, and I even caught a few personal acknowledgements from him while I was cheering him on. It was inspiring to watch 60 year old men give it all they had, and the crowd was so enthusiastic they seemed all the more energized by it. I was actually dreading hearing Smoke On The Water one more time, but when Morse broke into that most used, abused and misused riff rock n' roll has ever given to the world, I couldn't help screaming in delight. Just what is it about that simple riff that gets to you so bad??

Two hours of screaming and jumping later, armed with legs that were killing me and a throat that refused to emit any noises louder than a whimper, I came crash, back into the real world. My Digital Signal Processing text was watching me accusingly, reminding me of the portions I skipped. Not tonight, my friend, not tonight. All I had the strength for was to down a bottle of strong beer and flop off to bed.

And now I'm sitting here, sick of solving five-page problems whose only reason for existence seems to be to turn out wrong every time I do them. I have 500-page textbooks to cram in two days, backlogs I have to study for all over again, and my body still is not happy about the way I treated it last night. My dog refuses to eat any food at all, except the medicines the vet prescribed her today. Most owners have to find ways to trick their pets into swallowing their tablets with their food, and here I am, trying to flavour her food with antibiotics so she'll eat a little. And with three books open in front of me, I'm updating my blog, and thinking.

Some of my classmates do not know who Condoleezza Rice is. They are unaware of the existence of a person named Kofi Annan. And if that's something, I discovered day before yesterday that one of my friends didn't know what to say when asked the name of the Prime Minister of India! They're probably busy under their books right now. They score the highest marks and they've already been recruited by respectable companies with impressive starting salaries. I dwell in the dregs of the class and wonder what really is important. A healthy balance, yes, I know, but what if that were not possible to achieve? Would I really prefer knowing what equation is solved by what method on what page of whose textbook to having a little worldly knowledge? Would I forego my love for poetry, music and literature for it? Or my social consciousness, my concern for the environment and for the future? I suppose not.

I know that these people will be happier than I can ever hope to be. They will earn fatter salaries as the years pass, raise healthy families, pray each morning and have a fixed deposit at the bank for their children. I know I will struggle to find my way in the professional world, be tormented by my search for the meaning of life, endlessly try to prove to my agnostic self the existence of God, and have endless debates with myself over the nature of relationships and family. I will be outraged when war breaks out, I'll weep when injustice is done and I'll squander my money in fruitless pursuits. I will never be as happy as them.

Happiness is most certainly overrated.

A Merry Axemas to all

What happens when you take December, a bunch of old cornball Christmas carols you've heard a million times before and some of today’s most noteworthy rock guitarists, put them all together and shake it all up till the whole thing spills over? No, you don't get another limp 'We Are The World', you get the most fun Christmas CD ever!

The moment Kenny Wayne Shepherd does the ten-second trill right in the beginning of 'Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer', you know this isn't going to be your average churchbell-choral-keyboard-synth-fusion Christmas album (whatever that is). Eric Johnson's beautiful rendition of 'The First Noel', Jeff Beck's bluesy take on the age old favourite 'Amazing Grace' and Steve Morse's brilliant improvisation on 'Joy To The World' are the other standout tracks. Joe Satriani plays a wah-infused ultra-quiet 'Silent Night' intro, and then breaks into a seven-minute rock boogie that's incredibly fun but falls somewhat out of context. Steve Vai, who also produces the album, plays a tune called 'Christmas Time Is Here', which honestly I hadn't heard before. The other tracks are Alex Lifeson (of Rush) playing 'The Little Drummer Boy', Joe Perry (Aerosmith) doing his bit on the classic 'Blue Christmas', Riche Sambora (Bon Jovi) on 'O Holy Night', and Japanese guitarist Hotei doing a rendition of John Lennon's 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)'. A bonus track available on some versions is 'Mount Fuji Christmas' by Paul Gilbert, which was another new tune to me but it sounds great.

The best part about this CD is probably that every Axeman featured here brings his own definitive sound to the tracks they play. Also, no vocals (thank God!). It’s a refreshing take on overplayed tunes. So whether you like the sound of guitars, the melodies of Christmas or are just out to get a fun-filled instrumental album, this one should do the trick. It's almost guaranteed to bring out a smile. Purists expecting 'ooohs and aaahs' had better step aside, yes, a little farther from that amplifier, please, thank you.

They also did a sequel to this called Merry Axemas 2, but I'd advise against that. The only song there that kept the spirit of this one alive was the hard rocking 'Deck The Halls' by Ted Nugent. The rest is just uninspiring noodling.

And speaking of Steve Morse, Deep Purple plays Bangalore Sunday. So studies can go do unpleasant things to itself for a day.

A Window Pane Wreaked Havoc On My Brain

We watch our lives through frosted glass. We see the light, but not whence it comes. It has no source to born of, no character to exist with, and no way to die but to diffuse into a vague weakness that mildly illuminates our personal prison cells. Leaden light breeds few shadows, and we thank what we believe in for blurring the lines. We exist best in the half-dark, in the nebulous buffer between understanding and faith. We live afraid of the light, lest we be blinded by it, or worse, jolted into lucidity and forced to face the fallacies we live. We are creatures of the twilight, content to allow higher beings to revel in the light, yet conceited enough to regard the other creatures that shrink from it inferior.

The shadows we see are nameless and shapeless, vague like the very light they stand in the way of. They move about silently, constantly reappearing at our windows as if in search for an opening to let themselves in. We fear them like we fear the light, for they hold the power to asphyxiate even the hazy light that we owe our brumous existences to. We fear the dark, but only as much as we fear the light.

But no more! I wish to throw these windows open, I wish to know the point sources of light. I want to know who stands in its way. I cannot live this illusion of light any longer. If clarity were to rob my sanity, so be it, for I desire it no more than I do this perpetual twilight. So be gone, darkness! I shall draw my curtains and open these windows. I shall let light in. I shall breathe the bitersweet scent of life, and I shall hear the music of the world. I shall kneel in the first shafts of morning light that stream through my windows like a holy light from heaven and thank the creator of light and life for truth, beauty and peace. I shall open my eyes to them. And I shall love.

A dedicated post!

I got an entire post dedicated to me (yes, it's called 'For Utsav') on Dive's very cool blog! I've been letching at his guitars, so he gave me some close up views of his custom made PRS with a few tech details. It's a beautiful piece of work- and you don't have to be able to do a 160 bpm fretboard run to see that. Go check it out. And pay special attention to the post title ;)

Thanks Dive!

My Own Little Birdie!

Quickie post before I dive back to the real world.


This is my little bird at birdsforbulbs. The idea is that, if you have replaced one or more of your light bulbs with Compact Flourescent Lamps and you drop them a line, they draw you a personal bird that goes on display on the site with your name. Rosemary, who draws the beautiful birds, also sends you a personal copy for your site. See my bird on the birds page- right in the center right there.

CFLs produce much lower harmful emissions, consume much less electricity compared to incandescent light bulbs, and last much longer. I've been using CFLs in the bedroom, the study and the kitchen in my tiny little apartment for the last three years, and absolutely love them.

Random Reading

Something I stole from Dive's blog. Very interesting. Anybody reading this do carry it forward and leave me a line.

Right. So the rules are:

1. grab the nearest book. no cheating! the nearest book.
2. open the book to page 123.
3. find the fifth sentence.
4. post the text of the next four sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
5. don't you dare dig for a cool or intellectual book on your shelf. pick out whatever is closest!

Here's mine:

"The terminated rhombic system may have a single travelling wave. Other travelling antennas are helical and thick linear antennas as shown. These antennas are not terminated but the behaviour is similar to a terminated system. The field patterns of thick linear conductors are similar to thin linear elements provided the diameter of the conductor is very large."

That's four sentences. Not everybody's favourite reading material I know, but unfortunately enough, the Antennae & Wave Propagation text was lying just a little closer to me than 'Shogun' by James Clavell, and rules are rules. It's interesting to know what books different people keep nearby.

Go at it!