Gym Shim Karle Ve!

Have you been hit by this new wave of fitness consciouness among Bollywood actors? Wondered about having a 6 pack sculpted look, the size 0 raaz...& sat back eating a delicious samosa or indulging in some sugar solace after a hard days work thinking....kal...kal se pakka I'll go on a strict diet regime & hit the road or the gymn! & If you did make it to the gymn the next day...have you ever left it singing....Teri Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Kadam, Aaj ke baad? I have :D ! & You too kya? :D!

So I go (off & sometimes on :P) to this gymn in London which, don't-ask-why is called LA Fitness! It's fun to see a bloke sporting a Superman T-shirt working out, or someone drenched in perspiration wearing a Tshirt with 'I Rather Have A Shower' or another with the picture of Da Vinci's Vetruvian Man. Sorry, but you'll need to go elsewhere to read about the hot babes & their state of dress (or undress as maybe the case) ...I don't notice them. But initially I did look around hoping that there's at least someone as fat ..ooops I forgot no 'F' words on this blog ;) ...so shall I mildly put it as someone as 'unfit' as I am working out in the gym!

But 20 people on the treadmill running rhythmically while watching Livin La Vida Loca played on the LA Channel does make you want to run too! I feel as if I was Born to Run when I hear/watch songs like Whenever Wherever, Hips Don't Lie, Crazy in Love , 4 Minutes to Save the World , Give It To Me, Black or White, Jump , My Life Would Suck Without You .

Getting a little serious, I want to keep reminding myself (& you my friend) that exercising should become a part of our daily routine. Even if for 30 mins...even if like me you've given up & got back several times...it's worth it. As my Father would say When health is lost everything is lost!

I love the videos played at the gymn & the different radio channels available. But at heart I am a Desi Girl...& thought I should make a playlist on my i-pod of catchy Bollywood songs that would set the pace. Songs that push you further; make you go that extra metre or add another crunch! Breathing with the beats, mouthing those punch lines that brings on the adrenaline. So here's a small selection of songs I already have....& I do hope you would add some more!

On the TREADMILL

1. Love Mera Hit Hit (house mix), Billu- It starts- Are you ready? Tu Baby badi fit fit soniye na kar aise khit pit ;)!
2. Ankhiya Na Maar (remix), Ek Khiladi, Ek Haseena -Whhooooaaa Lets Go!
3. Khalbali, Rang De Basanti - Ziddiiiiiiiii ziddi ziddi armaan! Ziddi hai toofan! Ziddi hum bhi yahan!
4. Jee Le, Luck - Zara zara kal ko tu pe le, aur mar ke tu jee le! Mud ke na aayegi yeh zindagi...Jee Le!
5. Aye Bachchu, Ghajini - Jeene ka hai chaska to aaja treadmill pein :P
6. Race Sanson Ki, Race - My heart is racing now!
7. Fanaa, Yuva - Hone do dil ko fanaa, Hone do dard ko tabaah!
8. Ahista Ahista, Bacchna Ae Haseeno - doesn't really make you run ahista ahista ;)
9. Dhan Tan Nan, Kaminey - I think the Dhan Tan Nan is simply contagious & addictive.
10. Pyar Zindagi Hai, Muqaddar Ka Sikander -an old gem...Asha and Lata in the same song! Great beats!
11. Judai, Jannat - on days I'm not enjoying the run *)
12. To Phir Aao Mujhko Satao (Remix) - Ghum Le Ja Tere, Jo Bhi Tune Diye, Ya Phir Mujhko Bata, Inko Kaise Sahein ...on days you're hurting real bad :P
13. Chak De Phatte, Khosla ka Ghosla - Chak de phatte!

....& well so many more Saki Saki (Musafir), Chori Chori (Garam Masala),Ya Ali (Gangster)

For CARDIO VASCULAR workouts -Slower paced than ones for the treadmill.

1. Mahiya (remix), Awarapan - Tune aisi ada se mujhe dekha.....good beats
2. Zara Zara Touch Me, Race - Zara zara ooo ooo :P
3. Aaj Ki raat, Don the Chase Begins -Aaj ki raat khona hai kya (other than a few kilos)...paana hai kya (not kilos..naa ji na! :P)
4. Hai Junoon, New York - Say Hai Juno-oo-ooon! Hai Junoon sa seene mein... :D

WEIGHT TRAINING

1. Ye Raat, Aks - R'ber this one? I don't think you'd find a song more perfect than this Raveena Tandon one! Can't think of more right now!

STRETCHES - Something soft and melodious.

1. Mar Jawaan, Fashion and Zara Zara, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein - The husky voice is kind of relaxing
2. Yeh Lamha, Chameli - Thaki Thaki si sham fir jawaan hone lagi!
3. Kaise Mujhe Tu Mil Gayi, Ghajini - haule haule... dheere se...wrap up the training!

Hope this list turns one from being moti-weighted....to being motivated!

So as the song from Dil Bole Hadippa goes -
Ladies & Gentleman have a rocking rockout with a desi beat!
Oh gym-shim karle ve,
Oh slim-shim banle ve jor lage ke!!!

One Afternoon At The Museum

I ran up the steps to the National Art Gallery trying to make my way past the tourists. I didn't want to be stopped by one of them wanting me to take their picture near the fountain or grand lions! Don't get me wrong, I usually love to observe tourists...but not on that day. I was in a hurry. The task was simple. I had to go to the Gallery shop and pick up a poster of Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's Water Lilies. Finish with Art and get to back to my daily business..asap!

But as soon as I stepped into the gallery I knew that I just had to see my personal favourites this time. I didn't want to allow myself to be drawn towards those paintings today! Only yesterday I'd brought two friends visiting from India and shown them the highlights of the museum ....the famous masterpieces by Van Gogh, Monet, Michelangelo, Da Vinci.

There's nothing like a few stolen moments of unplanned joy. After being spell bound by a few paintings I loved the most, I made my way to the Gallery shop to buy posters of the two paintings my friends had liked the previous day. What better souveneir to give them? A painting that we'd admired together!

I picked the posters and paid for them at the cash counter and when asked if I wanted a bag for them I replied that I'd like the posters in two separate bags please.
My mind was already mapping the route I should take to meet my friends when I looked up and noticed him for what he said. The tall, skinny, french bearded guy at the cash counter.

'Two bags! ...I was just thinking about the environment'

!!!

....my face must've fallen cause 'Hey no I'll pack them in two bags' followed soon after!

.... & that was it! How can I describe the emotions that over powered every thought and action subsequently? My thoughts lead me back to one of the wings of this huge gallery. I just walked past from one room to another lost in thought. Shops selling Japanese books would anyday have got more attention than those master pieces did then.

He charged me guilty and just dismissed me to attend to the next customer! Well who did this....this... 'Frenchie' think he was???.... admonishing me as if I were a child! Where's all the customer service gone to? I was carrying a rucksack as always...but that was for groceries, a bottle of water, books and umbrella & scarves....not for masterpieces!?! Was I then justified in having a holier-than-thou-attitude with respect to being 'environmentally conscious'? But it does look good to give a tourist a poster in a National Art Gallery bag which explicitly screams out 'I went to London'. But then the posters were already covered with cellophene paper did they need more packing? So for whom exactly and why was I taking the plastic bags? I had come specifically with the intention of buying those poster; I hadn't forgotton to carry cash so why hadn't I bothered to carry an appropriate bag??? I tried being a little soft on myself...afterall I almost always refused a plastic bag. But the little voice inside me just said louder that the pond with Monet's water lillies would soon be used as a landfill thanks to people like me! After all the debate and mental turmoil, I couldn't find any justification for my actions...there were none.

I suddenly woke up in a dimly lit quite room with some really old paintings & some art lovers as engrossed in them as I'd been in my thoughts. Ohh hell was that the time! I followed the signs on the doors and made my way to the main reception and then to the shop & was almost out of breath by the time I reached the shop's cash counter. The person at the counter couldn't have been more different; she was doing a double plastic wrap of the Van Gogh print 'Sunflowers' silk scarf. She informed me that Frenchie was off for his break. I must admit I felt quite lost and deflated. I should have darted out cause it was really getting late, but thought slowed my pace....& then I saw him again!

He was holding a canvas of a painting and responding to a customer's query. I couldn't see the painting from where I stood. But I know it was special. It had held his attention for a few extra seconds & kept him from disappearing. Why look for any other reason?

'Frenchie' looked at me and I read recognition in his eyes. I returned both the wretched plastic bags to him. I told him in my serious, apologetic and hurt voice that I'd wrapped the gifts in the newspaper I had in my bag & kept them carefully in the internal pocket. In a carefree yet warm manner he said that he worked part time at the Gallery, was doing a course on Art Appreciation, was a member of a Environmental Group ...and would I like to know more over a cup of coffee :)?

Notes
- Suggested reading - Plastic Bag Tree by Michael Rosen
- I hope to find a better heading than this Ben Stiller reminder!
-As written in September 2008

Childrens Poetry

In May this year I visited an exhibition on Childrens Poetry at the British Library. Would love to share some with you -

My Mother Saw A Dancing Bear by Charles Causley

The Spider And The Fly by Mary Howitt

The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast by William Roscoe - jaha na jaye ravi...waha jaye kavi....what wonderful imagination!

Who Has Seen The Wind by Christina Georgina Rossetti

Monday's Child the well known nursery rhyme! According to the poem I'm supposed to be full of woe!!! Ohhh ho!

Colin Mc Naughton's version of the nursery rhyme is quite funny too!

The Months by Sara Coleridge. If the days of the week are learnt it time to learn the months :) ! A wonderful composition...but I don't think I'd have been able to relate to it growing up in India.

Halfway Down by A A Milne. The poem is as simple and sweet as his Winnie the Pooh... a long time favourite.

First Day at School by Roger Mc Gough - Bring back some childhood memories of how I'd look up at everyone & school did seem a millionbillionwillion miles away from home!

The Lamplighter by Robert Louis Stevenson - I love the way the 'little child' sets out what he wants to do when he's older. I guess we all go through the phase of ' I want to be...'. My nephew figured that he needs to know how to read & write cause only then would he get to be a truck driver & get a licence!


Children are Kites

Thanks Amrita for making me aware of this poem...I wouldn't have found it on the net!

You spend a lifetime trying to get them off the ground.
You run with them until you are both breathless.
They crash. They hit the rooftop.
You patch and comfort, adjust and teach.
You watch them lifted by the wind and assure them that someday they will fly.
Finally, they are airborne;
They need more string and you keep letting it out;
But with each twist of the ball of twine, there is a sadness that goes with joy.
The kite becomes more distant and you know it won’t be long before that beautiful creature will snap the lifeline that binds you two together and will soar, free and alone.
Only then do you know that you did your job.

Preeti got me all nostalgic with Mera Naya Bachpan by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan. I remember learning this poem in school....but I realised what a truly fine poem it is only now. It also reminded me of a poem I had studied in Class 3! I haven't found it on the net & can't remember anything but a few verses -

Socha karte hai hum bacche, Kya rakha hai bachpan mein
Sheeghra bade ho jaye hum bhi, Chah yahi rehti hai mann mein
Hum bhi rob jamaye sabh par, Moochche rakhkar badi badi
Overcoat pehankar ghoomein, Liye haat mein ek chhadi
.....
it ends with the line -
Bacche honge bade...badon ko bachcha kaun banayega!


& theres more soon! Watch this space....

A Night To Remember..... All Life Long!

Date - 5th November, 2008
Time - 8pm to 10:30pm
Venue - O2 Arena, London


Have you ever been one among 20,000 people singing 'Happy Birthday' all together? Especially when the Birthday 'Boy' is none other than Bryan Adams! No asking him how old he turned because he'll just sing 18 Till I Die!

He is singing Everything I do which was the first song of his I'd heard & loved way back in school....but it's no longer a fav...9/10 on Mush-o-meter! He goes on to Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman - I know you'll find it weird...but I love the guitar in the song...but I find the lyrics a little creepy :P So well....Please Forgive Me!

Ohh wow...now we're off to experience the Summer of 69 - An all time fav! If you have gone through several practice sessions & finally sung on stage with accompaniment ...even one song....I'm sure you've thought of how great it would be to form a band & perform many many more times :)! How awesome it would be to play your first real 6 string till your fingers bled! Each time I hear this song it has a new meaning....Time & Music ...such memory churners!

Then there was Back to You ...one of my Treadmill favourites!

Absolutely love this one! He starts the song like the way I want it...the way its gotto be....making his guitar sound as if he was smooching & saying...Hey Baby Talk To Me, C'mon Talk to Me Baby....ohh how the crowd loves it...& when he actually gets on his knees while doing what he should the crowd wildly responded - 'If Ya Wanna Be Bad Yeah Ya Gotto Be Good' ....& whoaa! he is Gooood! :D!

I tell you these guys are amazing! Bryan Adams steps aside & lets his best friend,lead guitarist Keith Scott display his skills in a 'showcase song'. Scott's fabulous....he drives the crowd wild with his guitar. Later Adams gets back to playing the guitar & harmonica & singing! The Best Of Me & I Ain't Losin the Fight..got my Heart on Fire. Just hoping he doesn't Stop The Thing We Started!

& if the atmosphere isn't already charged Let Make a Night To Remember just made it one that I'd r'ber all life long. What an incredibly sensuous song! He most definitely turned me Inside Out ..love this one & no I don't find this one creepy :)!
We're all up and dancing....The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You! We're rhythmically jumping & pointing our hands towards him & screaming back 'You' :D! The song goes on for longer with almost a jugalbandi sort of effect which ends up sounding like an echo of YOUs...some short YOUs, some long YUUUUUOs, some high YOUs, some low YOUs, some almost barking YOU & others yelling YOUs! YOOOHOOO!

phew!

The night's drawing to an end.. he asks us to turn our mobile on..I do....& so do thousands of others & wow ...Tonight We Have the Stars which lead us to Cloud No. 9! I feel like I'm floating.. isn't too hard to see we're in Heaven! I'm breathing in the darkness...in the twinkling light, between the chords & the pause, through the highs & the sighs, amongst so many people & yet all by myself...& each breath gives me a higher high.

11 concerts in 11 countries, 11 cities in 11 days to release the album 11....& One Unforgettable Night!

The Great Bath

We'd walked a few metres to the hand pump with a bucket, mug, towels & the two kids squealing & shouting in excitement - the excitmenet was no less than that at the Dassra procession in Mysore! The kids were really excited as they were going to be given a bath at the hand pump, under the blue skies....oh how they love it!

As I started pumping water a lizard jumped out from the spout & brought back memories of my childhood & years as a teenager.

Aai has always complained about how quickly I grew independent & wouldn't let anyone give me a bath once I was 4-5 years. I think she was scared of me. I'd run about the house with her trying to catch me & when I'd got a bit of a lead I'd simply dart into the bathroom & arm myself with a mugful of water (since I couldn't reach the high door bolt)....dare anyone try to enter the bathroom! After her warning me on several occassions & me flinging water....full force.....she finally gave up! Ya wild thing I was! :P

I'm no Cleopatra who is said to have bathed herself in milk everyday! Good Heavens! I'd rather use all that milk in basundi (=thickened milk sweet) than in my bath tub! Nor did the idea of a Roman Bath appeal to me. You see...it's not just a bath that I'd enjoy...it was the bathroom...the only place at home where by closing one door I opened another door; one that was a passage to a whole new world.

I was perhaps the most enegetic bathroom singer you've ever known...& undoubtedly the loudest! I was teasingly informed many times that the gentleman living 10 houses away had complained about the noise I made, or that donkeys had collected outside the house! I'd play antakshari with myself...sing all the 'cheap' songs. Aai would say - You can at least practice your classical singing lessons! She didn't get it did she? It was another world for me...despite what they said I felt I couldn't be heard on the other side of the door cause we were in two different worlds.

My world was a place where I could -

- sing & dance to the songs I'd never dared to perform in Aai's presence.... become Amitabh Bachchan with the bathroom mug full of water (since there was no beer!) singing ...Aree o jummaa, meri jaaneman, baahar nikal .... :P!.. to... becoming Madhuri performing ...'Mohini Mohini..Namashkar..kahiye kya sunenge aap?' (the song Ek Do Teen).
Things couldn't have been more surreal.


-shed the tears that I never allowed to escape in Aai's presence ..become the 11 year old who' was all confused and upset after her Dad's demise. The tap & I would gradually quieten as we filled buckets.
Could things have been more real?

In the bathroom I discovered my world....I dreamt....& I decided how to live.

I didn't mind some neighbours calling me Zeenie Baby as a teenager cause Chura Liya was a Bathroom chartbuster...with a badminton raquet I sneaked inside the bathroom & the tap as a mike :D! For mobility I'd just fix a pipe to the tap & move around holding the pipe as my mike, the upturned buckets my drums, the stick used to soak the clothes my drum stick :P If the lamps lit up because of Tansen's rendition in Deepak Raga, my roof shattering singing made Phnom Penh my Lizard & bathroom buddy fall straight off the ceiling in a frenzy! I was obviously enthused by that & subsequently sang even louder in operatic style hoping that one day it would dive straight into the the pot! 'Dhooom'...or ehh.... more realistically...'Splash' I suppose (Lizards are not the most graceful creatures you know) .... Phnom Penh, my first admirer, he'd stare hypnotized when I'd sing aloud. I'd name him so after a Country-Capital lesson in Class 5. How can I ever forget the look on his face when I sang? & can you beleive my Aai & my Sister would try to drive him away from the bathroom...Phnom Penh!!!....the ONE ardent admirer of mine!

If you're not bored let me continue...we had 2 buckets in the bathroom - one dark blue and one red. The dark blue one served the purpose of a night sky and the red was like the gaudy red seats of the Royal Albert Hall or some hall I'd seen a picture of music conductor Zubin Mehta performing. The hard water would leave salt deposits on the buckets - as the red bucket was used to store water it had concentric circles which served as rows. I would put the empty bucket on over my head and sing into it as if im singing solo to an audience at the RA Hall :D Same with the blue one - orbits in my Solar system - me being the Sun around which the planets and stars are about. The light bulb coming through the translucent plastic would create a perfect mahol :) I would stand on a wooden stool ( podium sorts) and deliver lectures into the bucket! Mind you the accoustics in the bucket and closed bathroom with high ceilings was fanastic! At the end of all this when I would FINALLY emerge out of the bathroom my Dad would give me a standing ovation and say - what a good show that was!!! :D And Aai would say - '..and the show must go on' & push my dear elder sister( who was tired of waiting for me to get out) in for a bath and tell her to hurry up! :D

Of course there would be special bathroom treats. Some days shining katoris & spoons called for a Jal Tarang recital in my favourite room. On others I'd take a perforated vessel/sieve & pour warm water through that on top of my head - a warm shower bath! On days I didn't mind pushing my luck I'd soap the bathroom floor & skate in the little place it offered!

Ya ya ...by now I'm sure all your sympathy goes out to my Mother and the soap-in-the-eye baths she tried giving me!

Kacchi Dabeli Anyone? ;)

:P !

The Light In Your Eyes

I was standing at the aisle which had tomatoes in this huge supermarket, wondering which tomatoes to buy! Yup! Cause there were vine tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, normal tomatoes, the organic variety, reduced price ones, tomatoes sold loose, in trays of 4/ 6 pieces or in bags of different weights & I'm not going into which country they were imported from! As usual I stood there for a few seconds wondering what to pick up...sour ones, sweet ones, ripe ones, dry or juicy ones....!

I felt the presence of a thin man, around 6 feet tall near me trying to pick some tomatoes. What made me look up to his face was that he was feeling the different crates and their contents rather than picking the tomatoes. I realised he was blind & my natural, spontaneous reaction was to guardedly observe him. His hands seemed to be restlessly looking for something & I looked around to see if anyone else in the same aisle was watching him. But no I was the only one. I wondered if he was looking for a plastic bag & observed that there wasn't a bag roll on the tomatoe side of the aisle. If he wanted a bag did he need anyone to get him one?

He suddenly spoke very loudly - Can I get a bag? I had in anticipation, unconciously moved to the bag roll stand already. Quickly gave him the 2 bags I snatched from the stand. He mumbled a careless sort of 'Thanks' & also surprised me with his agility when he felt one bag slip & ducked down to save it from falling to the ground! I unnecessarily suppressed a complex smile. A happy smile in admiration of his reflexes mixed with a guilty one that wondered why I had been so gifted with sight. There are times where I feel apologetic and guilty for what I have; I know it is not right to feel so...but well I do at times.

He then said - Where are the potatoes? This is the first time I'm at this Tesco (the super market)
I replied - They're on the other side of this aisle, 3rd crate ahead from where you are now.
He said - 'Cheers mate', and moved on.

My directions and his instincts led him and the first crate he touched was the one with Potatoes!

A happy smile escaped and spread across my face.

The fact is my mind was full of confused, uncomfortable questions when I realised he was blind. I didn't know whether at that moment he felt his cup was half full or half empty.....& I didn't know whether he wanted or needed any help or how he would react to my 'helping hand'.

I then realised that I was the one with all the complicated questions about life while he gave me the answers. He told me his cup was half full :) !

Ironically, I felt that I was the one who needed the help and guidance to handle my confused feelings :)

I got back to my Tomato problem while he had already finished filling his second bag with potatoes and had moved on :)