El Arte no tiene Patria

Art has no fatherland - Incribed on the walls of the Hall of Mirrors of Theatre Liceu.

A dreamy philospher went today to two beautiful concert halls at subsidised rates as its the World Music Day today - 1. Teatre Liceu and 2. Palau de la Musica Catalana (in photos). There is this peculiarly unique combination of serenity and resplendence inside a concert hall which always amazes me. Each of these concert halls has a personality and a character of its own.

The grandeur of music is totally discernible in both the concert halls. Every nook and corner has been meticulously designed to bring that complete essence of music unto you- Music which makes you dream your own world into reality; Music that lets you -sing- the song of life.

Music really is the epitome of purity and omnipresence, isnt it? It is what your soul sings; probably that's why all the religious cults have devotional music to relate to God. Particularly stark is the sound (and symbol) of Om (Aum) in Hinduism. Essentially, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this sound forms the spirit of Hinduism! Quoting Bhagwat Gita (Song of God) -

Uttering the monosyllable Aum, the eternal world of Brahman, One who departs leaving the body (at death), he attains the superior goal.

God aside, nature itself creates music all the time. My piano tutor used to tell the students that before you even know any syllable of music, you must know that to learn music, you have to learn to feel it. If you cannot feel music, you cannot learn music. Very cliché but quite fundamental as well.

a special day

Happy Birthday to that special someone who has influenced my personality in many subtle and forthright ways. Some memories remain eternal; Some lessons unforgettable. Marking this entry as a token of my appreciation for the character his acts have imbibed in me. This is the song that all the newcomers in our family (the kids mainly) have learnt by heart - thanks to my dad :). And yes, its his birthday today. All his applauds, all those dissapprovals and "recommendations", those real-life-mathematics-based-toffee puzzles :P and very tough word-dictations :P are always close to my heart.

the 3 mistakes of my life

Just finished savoring my second Chetan Bhagat's. 'the 3 mistakes of my life' is the story of a young guy with two close friends, his desire to be a successful businessman, his small indian-style love story, packed neatly against the backdrop of Ahmadabad. It revolves around his life and the externalities which 'affect' it big time - natural sabotage, communal violence and norms of the indian society.

I don't relish much of fiction per se, but sometimes it's a nice break. I do enjoy reading what Chetan Bhagat writes - casual, easy, fast-paced turn of events with intermittently embedded smart witty one-liners.

Here are some of the funny one-liners to give a glimpse of his style :
...
'This is a suggestion. Don't take it the wrong way. But do consider taking a bath', my wife said.
I looked at her.
'Just an option', she said.
I this she is overcautious sometimes. I don't bite back.
...
It looked like a marriage party where only priests were invited. Most of them carried some form of accessory like a trihsul or a rudraksha or a holy book.
Ish and I exchanged a what-are-we-doing-here glance.
Omi went to meet a group of two bald-whites, one grey-saffron and one bald-saffron. He touched their feet and everyone blessed him. Considering Omi met these kind of people often, he had one of the highest per-capita-blessings ratio in India.
...
She had a track pant on that I think she had been wearing since she was thirteen and a pink T-shirt that said 'fairy queen' or something. How can a grown-up woman wear something that says 'fairy queen'? How can anyone wear something that says 'fairy queen'?
...
There were many others. This is something inseparable to Chetan Bhagat's style. Overall, a fast-paced, funny, (minimal-junk but not no-junk) nice read, but its fiction after all. Fiction of the cheesy type - the Bollywood type? Enjoy the humor - thats what marks his style I would say.

In the valley

Atop peppy pines, junipers and embracing grass-clad slopes,
Over chilled water springs and the beaming placid lake,
She flew in her dreams,
flew unto eternity, beyond those clouds shrouding the mountain peaks.

In sparkling waters, and on soft lavender blooms
In the green overgrowth on entwining trails around steadfast bens
She fluttered in her dreams,
fluttered blithe fully in the valley of beauty and bliss.

Silence whispered a sweet song,
When the moonlit valley cuddled her in its arms,
She smiled in her dreams,
with the twinkle in her eyes surmounting those of the diamonds in the sky.

Virgin sunshine and chirpy chirps,
Soft wet grass and morning bells,
Bubbly butterflies and the flora of spring,
She touched them all in her dreams.
She dreamed in the valley of beauty and bliss.

...

I spent two good days at the Vall d'Nuria. Nature does it for me. I like standing amidst tall high trees, so tall that they gracefully defy the famous saying "Sky's the limit". When you look up through the dense shroud of those leaves high above, you do but believe "N'ah, I don't see the limit!".

Song I am listening to : How Great Thou Art
We sang this song in our class assembly when I was in the eighth grade in high-school. The topic of our morning assembly presentation was Nature. Good Old days :). In spite of the disputatious stand I take on my confounded belief in the presence of "God", I like this hymn a lot.

An Evening @Jongleurs :D

Quite an evening...yeah it was! A marvelous evening at Jongluers with four great stand-ups - Keith Fields, Glenn Wool, Micky Flanagan and Ben Norris at their Camden location, London. The UK is often considered the stand-up center of the world, and Jongleurs often the largest comedy club in the world. Thence, my first involvement with stand-up comedy had to be quite an affair.

A mildest recollection of that evening involuntarily brings a grin on my face :D. Keith was hilarious. His innovative style of combining props (and magic :P) with admirable way of penetrating the crowd in style was incomparable. Yeah right... alleluia, it was a miracle! :D

Micky Flanagan and Ben Norris were great too, though they made me realize that I surely have a problem with the British accent. :D A performer who deserves a special mention is the one who replaced Glenn Wool. The new performer was a New York based stand-up comedian and I laughed my heart out on but all his jokes.

In general, the experience was unforgettably entertaining. Jokes ranging from traffic, travel, sex (some quite explicit), weather reports :D, frisky talks between friends, and well, the list is too long. Do experience an evening with stand-ups, at least once in your lifetime if you can. It can be matter-of-factly amazing.

About me, yeah..sure, would love to jongleurize another evening any day! Do check out the hair bands with ever dangling antennas that we happily donned in the true spirit of Jongleurism that night :D

Dating a Graduate Student

Depending on what your genre is, the title might arouse different reactions across the readers of my blog (if any :P). Do this and see where you land :

// Either the user is a grad or not a grad.
bool is_grad_student = get_user_input(is_grad_student);

// if is_grad_student, rest of the inputs are redundant, avoid sucking the user for more, assign default
bool have_known_any_grad = FALSE;
// assigning default values, may not hold true when is_grad_student is TRUE
bool did_like_him = FALSE ;

if (!is_grad_student) {
// user is not a grad student, get a feel of his tastes
have_known_any_grad = get_user_input(have_known_any_grad);

if (have_known_any_grad) {
// remember default = FALSE
did_like_him = get_user_input(did_like_him);
// TODO - put more cases here, this part is crucial
}
} // end of non-grad user inputs

switch (is_grad_student) {
case yes : Cool! Hey..what you say? we meet for a coffee or something to discuss issues more important than this just silly dating thing?
break;
case No : if (have_known_any_grad && did_like_him)
Fine! Go ahead..following post "might" interest you;
if (have_known_any_grad && !did_like_him)
Sucker! Yes thats what you are...Get lost!;
break;
}

Reached here? Nice to see you passed a crucial preliminary test. So what state of mind you are in right now?
1. ApPaLlEd (Oh damn this test! its so difficult to do it, who knows how easy will be to understand the post).
2. Wearing a tickling smile (hey I like the way you screen users)
3. I am Ok. (I dont understand why people tend to ramble so much before getting to the point!)
4. Ok!! (Holy Son of God! no more of your stupid ramifications of dumb cases, get down to the point or rather I will just exit now)

So, there you go, that's how difficult dating a grad is. Even a grad himself fears to date another of the same breed (i.e. grad). They will be all critical, contemplative, alert and methodical when you least want them to be. Some pretty day (like today here in barcelona), they will feel like -writing- about the Art Of Dating rather than -practising- it. Some gloomy day (like Mondays), they will be busy making plans for the week and promising not to repeat the same mistakes as last week, rather than sleeping till late morning to call it a long relaxing weekend...

And then when you are all rejoiced and wanting to party, they will be philosophical, acutely sagacious about their motive in life and blue about their past. Yes, my friend, dating a sane graduate student is not a piece of cake :-) For starters, I will give you some Don'ts, which are more crucial because even a single mistake can be a pure disaster.

1. Never ask for going out on a weekday. Though no day is perfect, but never ask him/ her out on the day of his/her weekly meeting with the advisor. That's the most jeopardous day. Fridays sound okay.
2. Never be impromptu when it comes to fixing a day for date. Do it well in advance, so the grad can plan his time accordingly.
3. Don't go to a awfully expensive place for a date. The less you make him pay, the happier he will be. A walk by the beach followed by a drink or two will be perfect!
4. There are two donts which should be a part of your "Bible for Dating Grads" (stolen from phd comics) PHD Comics: Grad student etiquette ...they indeed are the most important.
5. Don't screw your date by sounding unnecessarily geeky. A grad has an eye for a true geek.
6. Don't try too hard to give an impression that you are the perfect one! You shall be the sheer envy of the grad! Grads hate perfection. They will never dirty their hands with something that's already perfect. It is more important for a grad to see a clearcut scope / potential of making you the perfect one.
7. If your date (the grad) is down because of something (something = could be simply anything!), never get judgemental and extra-preachy. Grad hates it, its simply disgusting for him. It will rather be great if you could also make yourself feel bad about something really bad that happened to you in near or remote past, and dive into the sea of gloom and misery togehter with the grad.
8. If it doesn't work out, never forget to mention the possibility of a next date in future. No one other than a grad accords more to the gravity and meaning of "Future Work"!

The list of Don'ts is endless truly. I will add more as and when I have somthing urgently important for you to know. The problem of coming up with a formal complete solution to this problem of dating a grad student belongs to the class of NP Hard problems. Though do's aren't that important, but expect a list soon.

Happy Dating! Be Cautious...your date is a grad!

Disclaimer : Dont's are largely grad student specific. Never rely on anything published and/or certified anywhere in this world in this regard.period.

Rèquiem de Mozart

This classical music concert (orchestra) was the first ever of my life. The works that formed a part of the impressive repertoire were compositions of Mozart and Vivaldi. W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and Vivaldi (1678-1741) were two great European composers of their time.

The Orchestra was performed by “Filharmònica de Cambra de Pardubice” (in Basilica Santa Maria del Mar, Barcelona) , a group founded in 1969 in Czech Republic.

Those 80 odd minutes in the old Basilica of the city situated downtown were divine; immaculately serene, for one because of an inexplicable sensation of peace n composure that I experience when I am in a church, and secondly I just loved the compositions.

The compositions of Mozart, to me, were faster in rhythm and more intense; Requiem in D minor was the last work that Mozart did before his death on December 5, 1791. The Group played the same work in R minor. It is controversial as to how much of this composition was actually completed by Mozart. The Rèquiem is in fourteen movements, with the following structure:

• Intriot (Requiem aeternam)
• Kyrie
• Sequence:
• ----- Dies irae
• ----- Tuba mirum
• ----- Rex tremendae
• ----- Recordare
• ----- Confutatis
• ----- Lacrimosa
• Offertory:
• ----- Domine Jesu Christe
• ----- Hostias
• ----- Sanctus
• ---- Benedictus
• ----- Agnus Dei
• ----- Communion

An amazing experience! Looking forward to more such concerts.