The victory of the lowest common denominator

The concert was great..the sound, the visuals, the props, the hands and of course Roger himself. I had gone for the 'In the Flesh' tour in 2002 as well and had sorely missed Gilmour. But this time around the hands were magnificient and the lead guitar riffs gladdened the hearts of even floyd bigots like me. All in all..an evening to remember. But...

I was saddened to see that Roger had to come down to our level. His lyrics used to subtle, his anti bush sentiments used to be delightfully scornful. But subtlety is wasted on the non-occidental populace..so his latest song has lines like

'Are these the people that we should bomb
Are we so sure they mean us harm
Is this our pleasure, punishment or crime
Is this a mountain that we really want to climb
The road is hard, hard and long
Put down that two by four
This man would never turn you from his door
Oh George! Oh George!
That Texas education must have fucked you up when you were very small'

Pretty childish stuff i think..but these were the only lyrics that were displayed on the screen along with the song..and hence the only lyrics the srk-karan-bigb-lovers understood..so they cheered wildly and everyone was happy.

But then dont listen to me..i am just a cynical bastard.

An invitation

To everyone I have been talking to through this blog..to please make themselves available this weekend (friday or saturday) and get together for a few drinks and literary discussions of the highest order (we can also discuss Malika Sherawat if you want). Please be there (somewhere, anywhere everyone decides) and lets have some fun.

Slow slow office day

mail.yahoo.com
www.bbc.co.uk
ghetufool.blogspot.com
www.jhum.blogspot.com
mail.yahoo.com
orkut.com
saltlakeman.blogspot.com
varticity.blogspot.com
absolutelynothingisavailable.blogspot.com
mail.yahoo.com
www.bbc.co.uk
ghetufool.blogspot.com
www.jhum.blogspot.com
saltlakeman.blogspot.com
varticity.blogspot.com
mail.yahoo.com

tick tock tick tock tick tock

Can't write

Its not really a block..rather, its the reverse. After I visited this blog I have been itching to write about a lot of things that happened in my life. A lot of things that would make perfect blog material..but..like a fool i didnt make this an anonymous blog. 'Whatever I say can be used against me in a court of law'. So..I cant write.

But..if you start getting comments on your respective blogs from someone called IamNotShuv or something like that..and if you click on the profile and go to a blog with XXX nostalgia..please dont let on that you know its me.

Amazing picture!!

Isn't it an amazing shot? And you know why? Because the black camels are just the shadows of the actual camels (the white specks) shot from vertically overhead.

Taken by George Steinmetz for the National Geographic Turkey.

Seems like I have finally met my match in photography.

Manali!

That was on the road to Rohtang Pass, at midnight on a freezing full moon night. But that comes later. Let me start at the beginning.

Last Wednesday I suddenly came to know that all the top bosses are going to Manali for a 3 day workshop and I was supposed to join them. That could have meant 2 things - i would be promoted or fired. I didnt spend too many sleepless nights wondering which one it would be and utilised Thursday digging out my winter clothing from their moth balled existences.

The flight was memorable in one way - the propeller driven 30 seater Air Deccan airplane. Before boarding I suddenly got this premonition that I should talk to my son once before the thing took off but my fears were unfounded - we landed safely in Kulu an hour later on a nippy sunny afternoon.

4 of us had already decided to use this trip to freak out and so it wasnt surprising that we 'accidently' landed up in the same car for the hour long drive to Manali. A couple of stops for beer and steaming hot trouts later we entered the beautiful Holiday Inn hotel, just on the outskirts of Manali.

The post lunch kickoff meeting confirmed that out of the 2 professional paths, the powers to be had decided on the former, and the rest of the trip was gone in somehow going through the 10 hour meetings, freaking out for 8 hours and crashing for 6 hours.

There were a couple of great experiences...with one great thing in common. Manala Cream is reputed to be the best hash in the country, and boy, did it live up to its reputation! We procured a 'tola' from a small roadside shop in Manali and the last joint was smoked outside the airport before boarding the return flight. And it was AMAZING! Like 5 of us went out at 11:30 PM for a walk outside and suddenly found ourselves flagging down a car and heading towards Rohtang pass. We went as far as the road was open and then wandered around the snow for an hour in the biting sub zero temperatures. And the next day there was this amazing 2 hour trek up a mountain, with the reefers and the beers, and then paragliding down to the amazingly beautiful Kulu valley.

Well I am not much of a travel writer. But if you havent been there definitely plan (and not in the peak tourist season). Here are some of the pics..maybe they would help make up your mind.