Melody, Majaa, Mayhem and Madness - Mehfil - E - Unplugged

When i had met him for the first time after getting kicked out of Infy SuperSinger, he suggested we should jam in Infy Pune, phase 2. In a matter of a few months, this brainchild of our very own Nishant "Nana" Trisal, was flagged off in a most memorable session. Yes, Mehfil-E-Unplugged made its entry into the lives of work-worn Infoscions, to bring back a little zing into our lives.

The idea was to provide a setting for Punfoscions to relax and have a nice time before winding up for the weekend. With Mr. Trisal on the guitar and a few of us talented singers from Abhivyakti and the audience, we managed to pull off some really memorable renditions of songs - old and new, serious, funny and inspiring. We also ended up learning from our very own Sunder Balakrishnan that a bollywood/pop based jamming can be made better when a talented violinist like him is in company...:)

At times, the same old songs and the same patterns repeated, and to break them, Mitesh "Jhabar" Sharma and Rohit "Jageera" Dube brought in precious examples of their peculiar sense of humour, which left all present there in splits. Rahul "Amritas" Jha would usher in the winds of change, by playing some english numbers in his peculiar style. He, with one of his band mates gave us some wonderful guitar accompaniment.

Our colleagues like Ashutosh "Sonu Nigaam" Shukla, Shirish Sir, Farooq "Dancer" Hashmi, Anubhav "Dancing Flautist" Mujumdar, Bhageshri "Bacchi" Gulvady, Akshaya "All Rounder" Subramanian, Nishu "Chabeeli Alka" Dikshit, Mukesh "Mentor" Jadhav, Mitesh "Salsa Champ" Dalvi...our senior folks at Abhivyakti like Ravi Sir, Amit and Girish, were present there whenever possible and contributed in their own unique ways. Some of the Mehfil regulars like Pai Sir, Kumarpal, Nikunj and Nishtha were always a pleasure to jam with. Wow,already a long list, and so many others whom i dont know by name who should be thanked for being there and making those days really worthwhile!!:)

Enough of talks and thanks. Here are a few pics of the journey so far;

Nishant and Rahul

The first Mehfil

(L-R)Aniket, Sunder, Nishu, Mitesh Sharma, Sachin, Rohit 

Rohit, Rinky and others

Our champs, once more...:)

I had recorded a few of our performances. The qualiity is fine, though the final product is raw. But that is where all the appeal lies. When many creative minds come together on a lovely evening, what follows is something, i will leave for you to decide. I am sure the recordings will help you get an answer...:)

First up is a rendition of Sajni (Jal) by all of us. Jus listen to all that's going on in the background. Pure unadulterated joy!!

Recordings - Sajni | Online Karaoke

Now comes  Dil Haare (Jal again). This one rocks big time...:)

Recordings - Dil Haare | Upload Music

Missing the mayhem and madness and pure fun of our beloved Mehfil. Waiting for the good times to be back. I am sure they will be soon...:)

Arigatou Gozaimasu. Sayonara. 

Redesigning the blog and the few other important things

I guess for the first time in my life i feel proud to have made something which can be called as a piece of art - the new layout of my blog. More pleasing to the eyes and going more well with my lone, warrior, ocean deep theme of the samurai.

What days i am going through...my roomie is away to attend his marriage (which is tomorrow) and it feels i have lost all my will to cook food. We used to cook it and eat it together. It seems meals with rice always require company, just like how boozing is usually not practiced solo.

The dreams these days are really graphic, clear, and i have put a habit of recording as much as i remember. The trick is to be a lil sleepy all that while you are readying the pen and paper, so that you dont lose link. Very weird things i see; on some bridge in pune with my project mate watching some film shooting; my cousin, my mother, some people from office, cute gals, porn freaks, bottles of alchohol, burnt corpses, danda gangs(people who want to make the society better by thrashing people with danda's) etc.

Was very disturbed after reading a post on Paulo Coelho's blog on Child abuse. Read a number of stories from the followers, watched a couple of videos and realised that heaven and hell both are here on the terra firma. The absence of God from our lives, materialism, enjoyment etc. makes monsters out of us. In India, we are saved by the punya of millions of our ancestors and saints who are still meditating for our good. But for other unfortunate souls, its veritable pit of fire.

Thoughts float in this mind of mine

From a long long time

My sis has always said, dear bro

Write down the things u say so well

And i, the lazy bloke always procrastinating

Though here is this blog where a rare entry comes

From the confusing mirage, this life of mine

Which is a story as intersting as anyone elses

Wanting to be recorded,

And my thoughts wanting to enlighten me

And help me be better

And then make my World better than now

Ah my thoughts, i shall try my best

To give you justice

Whatever it takes, a few of you

Shall always find the right place.

Samapt! Jai Hind. Hari Om.