When the Curtains Fall

There was once a time when watching the Grammy Awards was something worth looking forward to. Last night's Grammy Awards was just a lesson in how not to be a bad musician! The entire show sucked big time. Thankfully, I missed the part where Lady Gaga inaugurated the show with her bizzarre moves and lyrics. Beyonce thought she was shaking up the stage but seemed possessed by supernatural forces. Her vocals weren't too shabby until the part where she touched her crotch. And then, the focus, of course, shifted elsewhere. A barely-clothed Pink then came gliding down the stage and suspended herself from the ceiling while being drenched in water, throwing some of the droplets on the audience below. Taylor Swift who does have a good voice sounded like she had not slept in years and was completely off-key. Miley-precocious-Cyrus came out looking and acting like a 30 year old. Perhaps the only decent group was Kings of Leon. But nothing to rave about. The only uplifting performance was Bon Jovi's appearance with Living on a Prayer. But that was about it. The whole show resembled a cheap commercial. Where are all the good musicians? If this is the kind of crap we have to listen to, I'll be damned!

The Debut

Had a splendid time with my rockin' friends on Friday night. It had been a while since I had stayed up until 3AM so effortlessly.
Pics of the band members from two previous nights and a picture of me while taking a break to think about what to sing next. Songs included a variety, some of which I like and some that were slightly new to me but I plan to add my fair share to the list. We sang: Eric Clapton- Cocaine; Kinks- Lola; Black Sabbath - Paranoid; Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird; Bobby D- Like a Rolling Stone; The White Stripes - The Hardest Button to Button; Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees; Neil Young- Like a Hurricane; Hendrix - Hey Joe; Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy; Social Distortion - Ball and Chain.

Finally, It's Time to Sing Again

Tomorrow night, I join four of my male colleagues to become part of a rock band! And I get a chance to sing after a gap of 10 years! The band has been recently created mainly for our own satisfaction, and primarily to give all the musically-tuned folks a chance to let go of academic life and live with music for a couple of hours. It is a band that follows some of the heavyweights in rock from the 1970s with the addition of a few newbies. We have not thought of performing professionally as yet but for now, this is a start. The one thing I am really excited about is that I will get a chance to use those vocal chords again which had been lying dormant for so many years! And, I also get to work with a bunch of very talented men. Get, set, go!

Here's to becoming a 'Freebird' with Lynyrd Skynyrd, one of the coolest songs on the list of 20 I need to get through tonight! And then inevitably, there's Dylan....



If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me
For I must be travelling on now, 'cause there's too many places I gotta see
But if I stayed here with you girl, things just wouldn't be the same
'Cause I'm as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change
Bye bye baby it's been a sweet love, though this feeling I can't change
But please don't take it so badly, 'Cause the lord knows I'm to blame

Orianthi and Vai

New female guitarist and sensation Orianthi jams with Vai. Great stuff called 'Highly Strung.'

Violet

Today was a bit of a difficult day. Wound up in the emergency room as my poor husband had a stomach virus. Thankfully, he got better as the day progressed but while waiting in the patient's ward with him, we witnessed a tragedy unfold in front of our very own eyes which was enough to make me sick.

Amidst all the scampering of feet in a square blue room with small cubicles, a doctor's voice suddenly shouted out 'trauma' and within seconds an old lady carrying a little infant walked in and dropped to her knees. The baby, (and we later learnt this) was only four months old, had been brought in by her grandmother and was not breathing. A thousand doctors settled on her like flies and began to revive her. They were trying their best. And amazingly they were calm. And then came the part which no one would have liked to witness but a part that is played out everyday for doctors working in the trauma-division. A young and visibly distraught man, the father of the baby, came running into the room shouting, "what's going on? where's my girl?" And when he was told that his little four-month old angel had suffered a cardiac arrest and lay motionless, his entire world crumbled in one second. Yes, sometimes it takes just one second for people's lives to change forever. The young mother also arrived after a few minutes and was given the same devastating piece of news. A team of doctors worked on the baby for two hours and it seemed like they even operated on her. However, due to her serious condition and situation, she was air-lifted to another hospital, leaving behind two broken parents.

I really wish I had not witnessed something like this. For a moment, I felt like it was happening to me. Because this could happen to anyone. I felt woozy and sick but tried to control myself just seeing how brave the doctors were. But I wished that someone would take away the pain that the parents were experiencing. I wished the baby would miraculously jump up and get better.

At any rate, this story shall remain incomplete as I shall never know what happened to the little baby or her parents. After all, they were complete strangers. But I did catch the little baby's name. It was a girl. Her name was Violet. Like the beautiful flower. And I sincerely hope and pray that Violet got through the day to see a new tomorrow.

Patchwork

A block of fond memories from my recent trip to India. Pictures of myself, my family and some of my cherished friends.

One More Goodbye

After a wonderful three weeks in India and after meeting a thousand friends in Hyderabad and Calcutta, I have tomorrow to think about the time when I shall get a chance to meet everyone again. Goodbyes are always sad. And saying them over and over again is even harder.