It rained today...

And so it came down this evening , a welcome respite from the heat’s fury that had gripped the city since a few days….Rain !!!!! Oh ! I love rain soooo much. I had come from office a little early today evening and was pondering what to do.The best constructive way was to try my skills in the kitchen. And so, I started cooking macroni.As I was grating the cheese , the queer and known smell of earth which comes after rain entered my nostrils. I was instantly happy and I pushed open the kitchen’s window…and there I saw raindrops falling from the sky.It was enough to give me a high as I stood there watching the raindrops fall from the sky onto our earth. I went downstairs and stood at the stairs so that I could have a better feel of the rain.There , I saw my friend coming home trying to save herself from the rain . She came upstairs and we both stood there admiring the beauty of rain. And then we both at the same time felt that we should go out and enjoy the rain rather that watching from a safe distance .Giggling like little girls we immediately rushed down and indulged ourselves in the rain . We went into the park of our society and enjoyed strolling there in the rain.
All drenched after sometime , when we started feeling cold , we came back towards home but then we had another desire growing in our hearts—Ice-cream !!!! We went to the shop nearby to get our favourite ice-cream. Happy and contented we came back home . Little things in life can sometimes give so much happiness and joy that nothing else can be compared to them …
And another thing that has come into my mind just now…why hasn’t anyone until now tried to capture this aromatic scent of earth after rainfall and sold it in bottles? Believe me , I’ll be the biggest customer and the person who does this will make great business as every person I know in this world likes this particular scent !!!
I have this business idea !!!! Anyone ready to actually endorse this and try out? It will be a huge success, I know !!! :):)

Music...a passion

Music is something that gives me immense pleasure.I can go on hours and hours listening to music that I love.When I am alone I like soft music in my room.I often sleep to the mystic sound of favourite music. My mother realized my musical instincts very early and so I started learning Hindustani Classical music at the age of 9. I remember my music classes used to be on every Wednesday evening 5 PM and I didn’t like the timings as it was my playtime !!! It then got shifted to Sunday mornings which was then suitable to me !! I had picked up very quickly and came to know many ragas and taals over the years…from raag bhairav to bhoopali to yaman to asavari and many more…and of course the various taals that they are based on dadra , kaharva , teentaal and so on. My highly learned guru was a Bengali lady and so she also taught me Robindra Songeet . My hands were well set on my Harmonium which I used to play . Little kid that I was, I often didn’t do the ‘Riyaz’ as other engagements also attracted me like my friends playing a new game or my brother playing a new video game. It has been years now that I have not played my Harmonium which still occupies the same place in my room in my house in Ranchi…Yes, I make sure that whenever I go home I take it out , dust it , tune it and open my old Music Diary which still has a sticker over it written –“Upasana Sinha,Std 2 ‘B’
and play it… My fingers now fumble and I realize I am not that adept as I used to be and I have to look at the notes and play while earlier I could play even with closed eyes. Of course… as my Guru always said ‘RIYAZ’ is very important , the more you do the more hold you will have…
It has been more than 10 years now and the little fingers that used to play the keys of the harmonium now play the keys of the laptop and do all sort of technical miracles. I am really amazed when I compare the 2 keys – first – of my Harmonium and second of my Thinkpad. Clicking the keys of the first kind can render innumerable tunes of music to soothe one’s mind and lift one’s spirit. A feeling that perhaps no money can buy..a state of mind that no other engagement can replace .The latter is no less.Clicking on my Thinkpad , I do things that helps global organizations streamline their entire process.I implement SAP in their business by which my organization claims that they (Client) lower costs, posts profits !!!! Big profits..big deals , big money …may also soothe some people’s minds… who knows…Diiferent people have different temperaments and different ways to see life and be content.

Well …since sometime I am having an urge for something… I want to learn playing the piano and also learn the dance form salsa. While salsa is much in vogue these days in NCR and there are many dance schools which send pamphlets in the newspaper that I get everyday morning about their experienced and trained dance teachers,I don’t know about piano classes in Gurgaon …This reminds me of the Grand piano that my father says was in our ancestral house in Munger, Bihar.Apparantly , my Great great grandfather was a great connosier of music and had the Grand Piano transported all the way from England in those days. Sadly enough, the piano was destroyed in the fury of the Great Bihar Earthquake that had hit Munger very badly in 1934. The remenants of that piano , a few rods and keys though still remain in the ‘Tehkhana’ of my ancestral house ‘The Lawn’ in Munger,Bihar. I have seen them with my own eyes there although I feel a little scared going down there as it is dark there and bats will fly above you as you enter the creeking iron door… Anyway, lets leave the scary part..the good thing is that my family still retains the Polyphone music box and it lies there grandly in the Living Room.I think it is nearly 100 years old. I remember once my dad went to an antique shop in Kolkata to enquire about a spare part for our polyphone and will you believe?? The guy started enquiring the make , details and all and was ready to pay a handsome piece for our Polyphone as it came in antique category!!!Of course my dad went away as he didn’t want to put a kind of family heirloom in some antique shop.

Well, coming back to my latest desire of learning salsa and piano… I’m figuring out what to do . im sure if I find seriously I’ll find some Music school in Gurgaon which will offer both these art forms…I’m making up my mind and checking my office schedule.It’s a li’l hectic these days as I’m working on a critical assignment. I think piano classes will have to wait…till then I’ll play them in my dreams and play with the keys of my Thinkpad in actual so that my organization fulfills client expectations on time and make them post profits so that the CEO of a Top German chemical company rests in peace!!!!!

उमंग

आज फिर ये मन कुछ सवाल कर बैठा
कुछ ुल्झे से सवालो के जवाब पूछ बैठा
क्या ये जीवन ेक छन्भन्गुर है..
जो ेक पल तो है पर अगले ही पल ओझल?
िस छोटे से जीवन मे
चाहत है तो बस ितनी
कुछ पल तितलियो सन्ग खेल लू
कुछ पल जुग्नुओ को पकड लू
िक डिब्बी हो जादू की
जिसमे रन्ग सभी समेट लू
जिसमे आसमान के तारे भर लू
जिसमे फूल सारे सजा लू
जिसमे गीत सारे भर लू
यही मेरी पून्जी हो
यही मेरी धरोहर
पर ाकस्मात ही ये सोच बैठ्ती हू
क्य ैसी चाहते जायज है
क्य जादू की डिब्बी मे ये सब कैद कर सकती हू
या फिर ये मुठ्ठी मे बन्द रेत की तरह है
जो मुठ्ठी खोलते ही फिसल जायेगे
बस फिसल जायेगे

Jackey and Hilary

When you love someone,
you find that pictures of them stay with you
all the time in your heart.
Pictures of the way you think of them
when you think of them.
With mummy, it's that day
you broke the drum at the BBC.
Whenever you think you've lost that person,
you start with a picture
and then you find them again.
You want to know what I think of
when I think of you?
When people say Jacqueline Du Pré to me,
I think of a day on a beach
a long time ago.
Long before you played the cello.
Before that Jacqueline Du Pré
or this one.
And we were playing a game.
When I was but 13
or so...
I went into a golden land.
Cimbarozo Cotopaxi took me by the hand,
over the Orinoco...
across the blazing Kalahari desert
through the untamed grasslands of the veldt,
over the steppes...
and home.
Do you remember what you said to me that day, Jackie?
You said that EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT...
And in the end, it was.




I heard these lines today morning when I tuned into my TV. A movie was going on and although I had tuned in casually , I ended up deeply engrossed. ‘Hilary and Jackey’ the movie shows the beautiful relationship between 2 sisters and the story of the very noted and celebrated cellist Jacqueline Mary du Pré
The movie got into my nerves so much that I instantly started hunting for all that I could know about this lady. Thanks to Google which happens to be my best friend , I found a lot to satisfy my quest for knowledge.

According to reviews for this movie : It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths.

It truly is.

The movie based on the true story of Jacqueline is about 2 little girls who are taught by their mother to play musical instrument – Jackey plays the cello and her sister Hilary plays the flute.Jackey becomes a genius and wins International acclaim. The movie portrays Jackey’s homesickness when she was away from her family and her longingness for a sense of security.
The last quarter of the movie chronicles in detail the last fifteen years of Jacqueline's life: she is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis ,loses control of her nervous system, becomes paralyzed, goes deaf and mute, and finally dies. The film ends with Jacqueline's spirit standing on the beach where she used to play as a child, watching herself and her sister frolicking in the sand as little girls

I digged out the following details about this noted cello artist.

Jacqueline Mary du Pré (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987) was a British cellist, acknowledged as one of the greatest players of the instrument. She is particularly associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation of that work has been described as "definitive" and "legendary". Her career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, which forced her to cease performing at the age of 28, and led to her premature death.
Amazon.com Review
Jacqueline du Pré saw the outlines of her short, brilliant, and tragic life when she was still very young. The first time she heard a cello (she was 4 years old), she said, "Mummy, I want to make that sound." She got a cello for her 5th birthday and made her professional debut at age 16. She went on to become one of the century's most amazing musicians for 10 years. Then her career was ended by multiple sclerosis. She seems to have foreseen that crippling illness, which killed her at age 42 after years of slow deterioration. She was 9 years old when she confided in her sister, Hilary "Don't tell Mum, but... when I grow up, I won't be able to walk or move." Before she was stricken down, Jacqueline du Pré led a life of unusual richness and complexity.

Her friendship with musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman, Zubin Mehta and Pinchas Zukerman and marriage to Daniel Barenboim led to many memorable chamber music performances.


So , this is what I did this Saturday morning…It’s a good movie and a true story . It’s really sad that such a Great artist had such a short and difficult life. It is said – everybody salutes the rising sun . People who taste Fame and Power though live life Kingsize , but it’s only untill it lasts. And that ,I feel is a very pathetic case when you are used to a certain way of living , of people acknowledging you and then one fine day , everything is gone . While the Sun was rising ..everybody you knew and you did’nt know was with you..but in the Sunset of your Life , you are all alone.
But if at that time you are with your soulmate , all your anxieties will disappear and you will feel complete watching the deep orange sunset together overlooking the dark sea…..

And I now remember a very cute forwarded mail which I am putting here.

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger?
There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese.....

Thumb represents your Parents
Second (Index) finger represents your Siblings
Middle finger represents your-Self
Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner
& the Last (Little) finger represents your children

Firstly, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back
Secondly, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip
(As shown in the figure above):


Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)..., they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.

Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings)...., they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.

Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children)...., they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse).
You will be surprised to see that you just CANNOT....., because Husband & Wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!!

Please try this out.............

It’s cute and It’s true…….