Thanks to you...

Thanks to you,

There is a lot of music I can't

Listen to happily anymore.

Damn.

That was the way it was for quite some time after graduation. I couldn't listen to any of the music we sang and shared during those three years.

So, there was this whole folder worth of music from that period that I couldn't listen to without having to fight the urge to just run away.

Away as in anywhere.

I couldn't move on if I clung to memories.

And I couldn't listen to several of my favorites without getting all whimsical and moony.

So, now there is this new me who's been shaping up over the past year who is always experimenting with the new genres and styles.

And it has done me good. Real good!

I discovered

• Death Cab For Cutie,
• Carolina Liar,
• Sondre Lerche,
• Fray,
• Emma Lee,
• Iron& Wine,
• Sara Bareilles,

• Ryuichi Sakamoto,
• M.I.A [yeah, I know she's been around like for ages, but I had never checked her out earlier. And man, what a costly mistake! She's awesome!]
• Joss Stone [but I haven't gotten the hang of her yet. Any help?]
• Katie Melua
• And I'm very much and sincerely, in love with Malayalam folk songs. I guess the folk-crossover-rock band "Avial" did it for me.
• Kings of Leon
• Elisa
• Azure Ray
• Dixie Chicks had made a great impression on me when they'd come out yelling anti-war and anti-Bush and were boo-ed for that since everyone was pro Bush back then. They are not just any random bimbos. Na ha. And their music? I'd never really cared for country. Until I checked these ladies out. They are sooooooo good at this!

And a helluva lot much more. But the thing is, I'm showing a definite leaning towards mellower stuff. That's because I'm rooting for the Jazz and Indie camp, of course. But can anyone please yank me back to the Rock camp. I'm dying to return to the time when I was all about head bangin'. =)

*Thanks to my beautiful, out-of-this-world amazing 7 friends and all the other great friendships I've been carrying with me since my Brennen days. I love you all soooooo much that my heart breaks. In a good way. =)

When I was at my geek-awesome mode [yes, there IS such a mode]

Apologies for taking soooooo long in a blog update. Was away from internet, was away from home. Spent a week in a new city [specifically speaking, 12 hours or so away by train] as part of field trip, spent most of that time visiting libraries. Yeah well, you thought library and information science courses would be tedious and geeky. But you didn't realize there were so many uber cool and rad libraries in one city itself right?

BUTTING IN BETWEEN: Lordy, if I say I got a tan from there, that'd be an understatement. I got practically sun-burnt! No gorgeous bronzed look for me. I just look like my favorite comic-cameo star at the moment.

 ok... maybe I was exaggerating a leeeetle bit. = p

AND BACK TO WHAT I'M SAYING: Trivandrum rocks for all the right reasons for me honey.

The cleanliness of the city, the i-don't-give-a-damn-about-you-even-if-you-are-weird attitude of the people; parks; fantastic architecture of most of the buildings and structures I came across; finally being able to visit one of my favorite family friends after years; and of course- at the expense of a remark that will make me look absurdly like a geek- I loved most of the libraries I visited while I was there.

*********

But the best were- in order of their awesomeness for me-

Numero uno is IIITMK. Freakin' awesome! While we were there, listening to everything the head told us on the library, the trainee blogged about it right then and there. Talk about live blogging!

Kerala Legislative Library. Probably the library which really makes you strain your brain cells a lot. The legislators call you up for data that will help back up their arguments in the legislative assembly all the time. Which means you gotta find both pros and cons of same topic for both the opposition and ruling party. You gotta feed them with the right kind of info if you don't want to face upset legislators- which I'm pretty sure can be scary.

CDS library which specializes in research of Economics. And man, do they have the best landscape and architecture or what?!! Laurie Baker is the coolest architect when it comes to economizing resources. Way cool.

University of Kerala Library is hot property too. Though it ain't looking so very hot at the moment thanks to the huge scale renovation going on. And that's where my mom's best friend works. =)

*******

I loved staying with my batch mates and friends at a hostel for a week. Yelling at each other while taking showers over the cubicles, moaning about the food, doing some reckless, idiotic shopping for pipes and blowing them in the middle of the town and being pleased [and a tad sad] that no one gives a hoot that you and your girlfriend are over 20 and blowing pipes.

I loved the last night of the trip where we stayed up all night playing antakshari and the afternoon I spent shopping with my partner-in-craziness Shesly in Kanyakumari. Like any trip, there were fun parts and lousy parts. And some fun-cum-lousy parts. Like the Kovalam beach thing we did in the middle of a drizzle. Gah. Would've been fun if I hadn't been wearing one of my favorite clothes and my favorite footwear-that-shouldn't-be-wet-too-much.  In the end of all the sand and sea, I emerge from the beach complete with very black-looking bare feet- courtesy the sand. Urgh. Definitely not my idea of fun.

Anyways, to cut all of it short, I'm off for internship, which means- more of less online presence. Which is exactly why I'm planning some posts to be published while I'm away so you guys won't totally forget me. =|

Love,

Raphael.

PS- which reminds me, I'm giving out my real name from now on since too many rellys read my blog anyway. No privacy people. :\ damn. But I'd prefer if you just call me Raphael, since that's the name I had name myself had I had the opportunity. Yes, that's the cue to say "weeeeeeiiiiiiiird" and close this page. Ciao for now everyone!

PPS- Or shouldn't I?

Of heartbreaks and the Heartless

For some, Heartless may remind them of that really popular number by Kanye West, plus the equally amazing Fray cover and makes-me-wanna-swoon cover by Kris Allen.

But, I meant Heartless as in, me. All me.

Last week or the previous one- not sure when; I find it hard to track which day I'm breathing in; anyway, some time back, there was a flurry of break ups, anticipated break ups and all. Good ol' Eddie [Edward] got dumped by his girlfriend. Serves him right, maybe now he'll try to remain single for at least 7 whole days, ha! Then, the same day another friend buzzed about what looked like his break-up related misery. But later it turns out he wasn't even dating in the first place to have been dumped. Or so he says.

Anyhoo, this love is takin' its toll on me.

I just can't stand listening to break ups without laughing at inappropriate grave parts of the "heart-rending" story. When I'm forced to console someone with love failure, I end up overdoing the consoling part, making it seem like someone died.

I never can empathize much with a dumpee. You took the risk and fell in love; you should have been ready for this consequence too! In short, I'm what people call Heartless, all cold-logic, mean. But I'm what I call, self-preserving and practical.

=)

So, don't I ever feel love? Yeah sure, I fall in love, crush and burn every other day. But that's all. All you have to do is show an ion of interest back, and I skitter to the remotest planet possible. Why?

Because I have least possible faith in myself and don't think it possible that I might actually be likeable to people other than friends.But then there are times when I think, hey, I'm too good to be anyone's girl!

I just have crushes on people. Ranging from Sirius Black and Darcy to Keira Knightley. Yes, even Keira. She tops my list of straight, same-sex crushes.

I'm mostly a "So What" and "I Will Survive" kind of person, though thanks to my love for indie and jazz music, I find I'm turning into quite the mellow, laidback romantic.

But right now?

I'm in a very dreamy state thanks to a South Korean novel "Coffee Prince" and the hit drama which followed [same name].

Pause.

I don't and can't read Korean. I'm reading an English translation of the book and have watched a couple o' episodes of the drama which was loosely translated off the book.

End of Pause.

Clickie here in case you had like to check it out. It unintentionally raises a lot of questions as regards homosexuality, which I loved about it. Apart from the unique love story line.

For now I have succeeded in getting dahlings Gilsha and Remya interested in the story.

And here's something I penned down when I was in a mellow and dejected mood. [sure, the 2 emotions can blend together]

Even if I walk away,

Even if I don't turn back,

Even if didn't smile

Or look your way.

Please don't leave.

I'm scared of a lot of things,

About myself,

About you,

About relationships.

Things that make me run away

Every time I fall for you,

Again and again.

So stay.

Hold me tight,

Lock your fingers with mine.

Pull me back

No matter how hard I may try to run.

It's still in the draft mode, so grin and bear.

French Connection

All thanks and love to Vaika for turning my otherwise possibly mundane Sunday into a much, much nicer affair.

 

Because, the darling came home with her current classmates, plus our ex-senior from college, PLUS his cousin. So basically, a car with 6 hep people pulled in front of my place this morning. What's the big deal?

Well, the deal is that her classmates are not Indian. The 3 gorgeous ladies are exchange students from France. In short, veryyyyyyy cool! I'm not even able to decide whom I liked better- Maud? Alice? Or Suzanne? Though they are so alien to Indian culture and everything- I don't think our usual Indian guests could have been this nice, sweet and easy to talk with.

 

Reason why they dropped in at my place is the French Connection. I live kinda close to Mahe- which by the way, was a colony of the French and still has some traces of French culture lingering all over the place. It's not as explicitly obvious about its French Connection as Pondicherry is. But still, the exotic-ness is always in the air. Though not so visible and is mostly limited to shops and streets with French names.

 

They loved the sweet dishes mom had prepared [with just the teensiest bit of assistance thrown in by me]. Unfortunately sweetheart Vaika had to grin and bear it. She HATES sweetness. Ok, Hate is too strong a word. More like, can't handle, can't stand. We had opted out spicy dishes since Alice, Maud and Suzanne may not like the strong spicy stuff.

 

After the food, some snaps and general chat on how they feel and what they like about Kerala, do they watch Indian movies? [yes- last one was MNIK and it was ok-dokey. They're still trying to get the subbed version of Water [or was it Fire?] and no luck with that.

 So if you happen to know a link or anything that might help, gimme a shout! I'd to turn on comment moderation because of incessant, irritating spam. Looks like the spam king is out to get me. Aaaaaaargh.

 

Within the one hour or so that they were here, and I'm already in love with all three of them. I guess it's the French charm.

 

Hope they had a good time altogether in India!