Writing and Blogging: In English

After blogging for 7 months and visiting innumerable others, I have observed the unique "bloglish" that populates almost all of them (mine included). One of the reasons I started to blog was to improve my writing skills which had stagnated after my Masters dissertation work. I was desperate to return to writing and writing well. I love writing in English and this was one of my outlets (an enjoyable one, that) to exercise my rusty skills. The experience has been very interesting in that I have learnt how really poor my writing has gotten and how much I need to work on it. Blogs have helped me learn some mistakes and I have being working on correcting them. Emails have almost destroyed the sanctity of good writing and blogs were the last nail in the coffin. Before anyone jumps on me, remember, acceptance is the first step in fixing something.

I am not a lingual purist but I like reading a well written blog. With all the commas and periods and capitalizations in their rightful place and the proper use of grammar, its a readers delight. Agreed that certain posts require region specific answers that do not need to adhere to the general rule. Some posts of fellow bloggers Jagan and Saran are examples to the region issue where Tamil almost always shares equal space with English. Sometimes it appears more personal and casual to write without the rules in place. Very true and definitely not a problem. But in other cases, where the discussion is not regional but global in perspective and content, does it work ?. Does the habit of using one's own English, really take us down a path of no return ?

I am sure some of you feel strongly against my opinion and I shall be glad to hear them. But for those who feel like writing better, here are some suggested readings:

Strunk, William, Jr. "The Elements of Style". Fourth Edition.
This book is the platinum standard when it comes to writing well. Simple, very concise (akin to Ammani's quick tales) and never deviating from the point.

Aldred, Gerald.J, et al. "The Handbook of Technical Writing". Seventh Edition.
This is more for technical writing and less for casual writing.

Van Laan, Krista, et al. " The Complete Idiot's Guide to Technical Writing"
For those who like it the Idiot's way.

Truss, Lynne. "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation"
I have not read this myself but it comes highly recommended for its engaging style in making its case.

Bryson, Bill. "Brysons Dictionary of Troublesome Words"
This is a thoroughly enjoyable tome on the oft repeated mistakes in written English.

Note:
Manoj recommends "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into values" by Robert.M.Pirsig for a good understanding of quality and all things thereof.

If there is heaven on Earth, its here, its now !

Being an Indian classical music afficionado in the tri-state area is a great feeling. The plethora of interesting concerts in the summer is a fantastic experience, embellished by the fact that I finally have the company, time and resources to enjoy them to my hearts fill.
The season formally kicked off last week with a fusion music concert featuring the violin duo of L.Shankar and Gingger. Playing their unique double violin, the artists pwww.srurovided a unique experience to the audience with a blend of western and Indian classical music. Between a fantastic Kamboji and pieces from the movie, The Passion of the Christ, there were eclectic compositions that were rooted in Indian classical music, yet made the best use of classical western jazz elements. In all, a great experience, topped by a personal tete-a-tete with ex-Shakti violinist, Shankar himself.
Last night, my wife and I were treated to an amazing violin performance by son and daughter of violin maestro Lalgudi Jayaraman, G.J.R.Krishnan and Vijayalakshmi at the local Chinmaya Mission center. A four hour marathon, the concert was brilliant. Completely relying on the classical underpinnings of the artists, the selection of Ragas was wide and thoughtful. Starting with a varnam in Kannada (you read it right, not Kanada), the violin virtuosos appealed to the connoiseurs of Carnatic music with their krithis in Kalavathi, Ranjani, Kedaragowla, Reethigowla, a detailed piece in Kalyani and RTP (Ragam, Thanam, Pallavi) in Hindolam. The latter was accentuated with a casual change of Raga to Kanada, Bhoopalam, Neelambhari and Hamsanandhi. Not to disappoint the casual audience, the Lalgudi siblings played some janaranjaga pieces like Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai (Ragamalika), Rama Mantrava (Jaunpuri), Manasasancharare (Shyama), Kurai Ondrum Illai (an MS piece - Ragamalika) and finally a Lalgudi Thillana in Misra Mandu. The experience was just awesome and I cant wait for more from the duo.
Next week is a Sruti concert, a jugalbandi this time with prodigies Ravikiran (Chitraveena) and Shashank (flute) followed the week after by another jugalbandi with Ustad Zakir Hussain and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma.
For the music lover in me, its just about close to perfection and I am in heavenly music bliss right now. I know this post probably appeals to a select few but I had to put it down since it was such a great feeling last night after the concert.

Humor anyone ?

One of the oft argued topics between me and my mother is India is about the programming content in the satellite channels in India. Note that I mention satellite since mainstream Doordarshan and its offsprings have long lost significance in the Indian household. When I was in India until 2000, I used to laugh at my mother and every other middle aged lady that I knew of, sitting and watching weeper after weeper being shown on Sun TV and JJ and what not. Then, I found it amusing to watch completely unbelievable stories being acted out by the worst actors acting can ever produce. The scripts were hackeneyed and so maudlin that it was as if the handkerchief makers had stuck a big time deal with all channels to ensure that the content would produce tears aplenty. Now, if only these tears are the ones you get seeing a Swades or a Braveheart or a Black(I still havent seen this one yet). Unfortunately, no. These tears and all other negative emotions arise from a torturing mother in law, poor daughter in law, philandering husband, drunk husband/father/brother/son, and all permutations and combinations of "bitch" and "a#$%&*e" that a writer with total lack of ideas can conjure.

I moved to the US and got exposed to a *LOT* of sitcoms. Fresh episodes aplenty of Friends and Everybody loves Raymond and Frasier and King of Queens and South Park coupled with reruns of Fresh Prince of BelAir and Cosby Show and the Holy Grail of comedy, Seinfeld have made me realise the joy one gets out of having a laugh, sometimes non stop for 22 minutes. I worship humor at the altar of Seinfeld which I have watched so many times, I have lost count. The subtle humor of Frasier and the utter crassness of South Park and Family Guy, make you wonder, why is there no such programme in India. I remember those days when I was young and Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi and Nukkad and Ghar Jamai used to make me laugh. I ever remember watching reruns of Dekh Bhai Dekh that elicited laughs aplenty. Where are those truly funny serials. Sun TV for its part has singularly associated serials with absurdity and crap. Their comedies are so pathetic, Ill refrain from commenting on them. The few minutes I spent watching TV in India during my last November trip are best forgotten.

This brings me to ask, are Indians people who want to cry and nothing else ?. If thats so, why do so many of us lap up the sitcoms in the US so much. Does that mean that the satellite channels are to be blamed for streaming crap after crap to homes all over the country ?. Or is it really the fault of housewives and old people who sit and watch the load of bullshit being thrown at them morning, noon and night ?

Will we Indians, in India, ever watch an Indian program and laugh out loud with gay abandon at the genuine humor of good writing, ever again ?

A B&W version of the front of my wedding invitation from last November. Uploaded on request from Noisyparan (http://noisyparan.blogspot.com) 

An experiment in self discovery. You be the judge :) 

Internet and Life

Before I start this post, I'd like to give a shout out to Regina Lynn, whose column regularly appears in Wired. She writes all about sex and technology. If you wonder what thats all about, check out her articles and you'll get a feel for it. Well, I am not here to really write about sex and tech. Regina does it much better. Her column inspired me to write this post and I thank her for that. I am here to write about the bigger picture, our life online and our life, not online.

Many of us who blog and/or read others blogs know very well what I am talking about. Is there any one amongst us who does not feel that our life is increasingly becoming more online, and less of reality ?. There are of course those exceptional ones who balance a fantastic online life with a great social life. But this is not about those select few to whom I bow, by the way. Its for the rest of us, who try to balance a work life, an online life and then our real lives. My wife often complains about me spending too much time on the computer when I am at home. I agree. I am at fault. But then, how do I fix it? We people, atleast those in the US, know about how everything from paying your bills to finding out routes to communicating with people to meeting our potential future partners, do everything on the internet. So how then do we escape the cluthes of the technology that really is only supposed to be there for help, and not take over our lives? Not exaggerating the scenario, I do have a good social life. I go out regularly and my wife and I do stuff that is fun and does not involve the computer. But I can also see that the quality time is courtesy a good wife who shares a penchant for doing stuff, sans the computer. I dread to think of those days before my marriage when I was wedded to my computer and all things tech. If it were not for those few friends with whom I shared some good times, my life would have started and ended with Startup and Shutdown.

I know many readers here are single, working in some good company and making a lot of money, but really not knowing how to spend their time in a way that excites and challenges you. To those people Id ask, any luck yet ? Have you made the critical breakthrough that reinforces your mental supremacy over the control of the machine ? Have you succeeded in seperating your online life from your real life, in flesh and blood ?. If so, where do you draw the line ?

The Complete Song

Like most of the readers here, I love listening to music. I listen to many forms of music from Indian classical to hindustani to Jazz to blues to hiphop and reggae. While this post isnt about all of them, its about the one form that I listen to the most of the lot: Indian film music. Indian film music has a charm of its own that fuses the best from the aforesaid and many more styles and comes up with an amalgam thats unique in very many ways. Sometimes its inspired and sometimes its blatantly lifted. Sometimes its completely original and sometimes its a mix of all the mentioned. Whatever be the case, film music enthralls the listener to an entirely different level from where he or she is.

I listen to a *LOT* of film music: hindi, tamil, and occasionally telugu and malayalam. Out of the lot of songs, there are some that have a retentive quality thats quite fascinating. I call these "complete songs". A complete song by my definition has all that you expect from a song and more of the same: an addictive and immensely hummable tune, captivating voices singing it for you, likeable and situationally suitable lyrics and as an added feature, nice visuals that pop in front of your eyes, when you listen to the song. If ones inspects these criteria carefully, you can note that there are but only a few songs that will fit the bill. I am in the process of making a list of such songs in the hope of creating a personal "Complete Songs Collection". Any suggestions are very welcome. Some examples to start with are:

1. Chayya Chayya - Dil Se ( ARR, Gulzar, Sukhwinder Singh, Swapna Awasthi, Manirathnam , SRK, Malaika - anything more you can ask for?)
2. Engeyum eppodhum - Ninaithale Inikkum (MSV, Kamalhassan, Rajinikanth, SPB, Kannadasan, KB and the disco fever of the 70s)
3. Ilamai Idho Idho-Sagalakalavallavan (Ilayaraja, Kamalhassan, SPB and the power of dance, I can listen to this one piece all day without getting tired)
4. Chandralekha -Thiruda Thiruda (ARR, Anupama, Vairamuthu, Manirathnam and a whole new meaning to music that rocks)
5. Mettu podu - Duet (ARR, SPB, Susheela, Kadri, Vairamuthu, and KB - if only the marriage of carnatic music and film music is always so good)
6. Thakida Thathumi-Salangai Oli (Ilayaraja, SPB, Vali(?),Vishwanath- the complete song featuring the best of the complete actor)

I have a few more almost there songs but these really are the benchmarks against which I can measure the rest. Any more you can think of ?