Fix You - Coldplay

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you'll never try, you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBO6_u6Mb6s

Arz Kiya Hai

Har ek baat pe kehte ho tum, ke tu kya hai?
Tumhi kaho ke ye andaaz-e-guftagu kya hai!
Ragon mein daudte phirne ke hum nahin kaayal,
Jab aankh hi se na tapka to phir lahoo kya hai!

[andaaz-e-guftagu - style of conversation]
-----------

Unke dekhe se jo aa jati hai moonh par rounak
Vo samajhte hain ke beemar ka haal accha hai...

Dekhiye paatein hain ushaaq buton se kya faiz
Ek barhaaman ne kahaa hai, ke ye saal acchha hai...

Humko maloom hai jannat ki haqeeqat lekin
Dil ke khush rakhne ko, Ghalib ye khayaal acchha hai...

(ushaaq - Lovers, but - Idol, faiz - Glory, [in this context]Profit)

---------------------

Aah ko chaheeye ek umr asar hone tak
kaun jeeta hai teri zulf ke sarhone tak...

aashiqi sabr-talab aur tamanna betaab
Dil ka kya rang karoon, khoon-e-jigar hone tak

[Love demands patience, but desire can not wait,
What color should I paint my heart while it bleeds to death]

Humne maana ke tagafur na karoge, lekin
Khaakh ho jayenge hum, tumko khabar hone tak

[I agree that you will never give up on me, but
I will turn to dust by the time you become aware of my misery]

- All these are written by Mirza Ghalib, the timeless genius. I have tried to translate them for ease of understanding.

Bring In the Spring!

Yippeee! There are tiny leaves budding out from the tree outside my patio!! Life is taking form again. Time to swing in the spring baby....

dukh bhare din beete re bhaiyya ab sukh aayo re, rang jeevan mein naya laayo re...

Time to get my camera out of my closet...and my skirts too! :)

Did You Know?

There are totally 7 Indian classical dances.

Kathak (Northern Indian)
Bharatanatyam (Tamil)
Odissi (Orissa)
Kuchipudi (Telugu)
Manipuri (Manipur)
Mohiniattam (Kerala)
Kathakali (Malayalam)

Commitophobic

Okay, here's an excerpt from the episode 'The Deal' from the comedy series 'Seinfeld'. It's my absolute favorite series, and this one's a delight to watch.

Jerry is doing his stand-up comedy in a club and he says:

"Why is commitment such a big problem for a man? I think that for some reason, when a man is driving down that freeway of life, the woman he's involved with is like an exit. But he doesn't wanna get out, he wants to keep driving. And the woman is like 'Look! Gas! Food! Lodging! That's our exit, that's everything we need to be happy! Get out here, NOW!!' But the man is focusing on the sign that says 'Next Exit 27 miles' and he thinks 'I can make it'."

Enjoy the episode: http://www.megavideo.com/?v=WVZF8LWA

Resolutions, anyone?

Calvin: Well, it's a new year. And I'd say the first 10 hours haven't been up to snuff.

Hobbes: Did you make any new year's resolutions?

Calvin: You bet! I resolved to quit hiding my feelings so much! From now on, the world's gonna know exactly what I think of it!

Hobbes (rolling his eyes): Yes, you've certainly been the model of self-restraint and under-statement up until now.

Calvin: Well, no more.

(Suddenly Calvin is retrospecting this conversation, while Hobbes shows himself indifferent)

Calvin (after a short thinking pause): And I've ALSO resolved not to put up with sarcastic tigers.

Hobbes: If I see any, I'll tell them.

:)

The American Irony

There is this website for comics (www.gocomics.com). It holds hundreds of comics and registered users can comment on a strip of their choice, and view other users' comments, besides other things.
Yesterday I was browsing through the Pink Panther strip (shown alongside). People started to comment on how taking the stairs was good for health as it gave a good workout. One of the readers wrote the following:
"I work at an HMO, and they encourage this. Ironcially, I’m a temp, which means that I can’t afford their insurance, so my bad knees, asthma, and impoverished poor diet means that I have to take the elevator. To quote Will Rogers, “God bless America for a sense of humor.” "

God Bless America for declining credit to people with poor credits, so they never have a chance to build a good credit. God Bless America for declining affordable health insurance to the already ill. God Bless America for serving red meat and cheese on everything edible, but drinking 2 % reduced fat milk. It sure is a place where anything is possible!

All Game, No Sport

Hunting for pleasure is considered a sport by many. Somehow the idea never goes down well with me. I have heard people brag about their skills of killing for pleasure. I for one don’t hold any respect for these individuals. Here’s my two cents on this subject.

My idea of a sport is when both parties are equally equipped, aware, competitive and fair. Any game without these pre-conditions cannot be considered a sport. You hold a gun in your hand against an unsuspecting animal/bird, and credit yourself as ‘skilled’ when the poor soul is hit by your bullet. What’s the challenge about that? The real deal is when you fight someone equivalent, else it’s just a lop-sided venture that will leave you an inflated ego and a carcass to hang on your ‘wall of fame’ (I’d rather call it the ‘wall of shame’).

A sport can never be harmful for any of the competitors. The whole idea of calling it a ‘sport’ is that. ‘Sport’ is a positive word. It brings nations, races and cultures together. We are all one when we compete healthy. If there is loss of life then sport becomes ‘war’. It becomes negative, atleast in the way I see it. Taking a life, that too just for your personal pleasure, can never be justified, and much less categorized as a sport.

And now we come to the less-talked about issue. As long as it’s not a human life, it does not matter. If an American soldier dies in Iraq it makes the headlines. But what is the value for an animal’s life? Much less thought can be granted to a bird. There will be no uproar and more importantly, no consequences on meaninglessly taking these lives. And so they are of no value to us, right? Wrong. After so many species going extinct because of the human race, and still so many more on the brink of extinction, we still haven’t got the point. The convenient pretence of ignorance is just a cover-up for having fun at the expense of a life lost in vain. Sure, there are laws against the killing of endangered species. So what do we do now? We kill the un-endangered ones. We don’t stop the killing, we just switch the game. Almost as easy as switching brands.

The way the targets are caught cold in their moment of weakness and then shot at is inhumane. Most of the times, the animal is blinded by sharp headlights of a vehicle and then mercilessly shot down. A woodpecker is whistled at, so that he freezes in attention, is easily spotted, and gunned down. A flock of flying birds is an easy target, and one of them is brought down to the ground and separated from his flock by a gunshot. The bullet is bound to hit atleast one of them.

Just because someone gave you a license to possess a gun, does not mean you have a license to kill. Life is precious, no matter whose life it is. There are hundreds of other sports that you can hone your skills with. We have caused enough damage to the ecological system and the food chains. It’s time to let the animals run free in the wild, and the birds fly home every year with their flock. It’s their right to be, they are as alive as we are.