Category Archives: experiences

Vagabonding and Lucky Ali

When it comes to traveling, unfortunately, I have been like a Kite with Chinese Manjha. Basically, I have been to some places but always tied to a certain place with a cord that could never be broken. I have hardly traveled. When I see YouTubers with backpack travelers, it just fills me with envy and amazement (that their fellow people allow them to travel alone? Or is it just the mind that is conditioned to be stationary). The show Lonely Planet on Discovery back in the 90s used to be one of my favorites. In fact, you need not even watch a TV Show (or Google Earth) to travel anywhere. There are songs and music and voices which can take you places.

The music of Lucky Ali is like that. It gives a sense of a person traveling to somewhere alone with a backpack across the countryside. There is a feeling of leaving the civilized world behind, and sometimes returning to the civilized world but there’s travel involved. His videos also visualized a person going somewhere, meeting people, and searching for something while the destination not being very clear. The lyrics and the somewhat different-than-usual music and voice always painted a picture of a vagabond.

There’s a video of Lucky Ali performing live in Goa floating around on the Internet nowadays. And then there are some more videos of him where he is bearded, humming things, and living a life of his own. Maybe he himself wants to keep his image like that. A Musician traveling to places with his guitar, now aging with every appearance, still having the soulful voice and the magical gift of making music that stays with you long after you’re done listening to it.

When ‘O Sanam’ was released, I had no inclination towards or knowledge of music. The only song I grooved to at that time was Pak-chik-pak-Raja Babu. I was not even a teenager then but Lucky Ali made me hooked at a different level altogether. I told myself that one day when I will travel alone, this would be the first song on my playlist. I remember I used to never miss visiting one of my relative’s house because they used to own the audio cassette of his second album ‘Sifar’ and just getting to listen to ‘Dekha hai Aise Bhi’ was bliss.

Travel and Music are two things that take you places, literally and figuratively. Movies involving traveling always have peculiar music too. One recent example was the movie Karwaan. Traveling is something I have always wanted but never got the courage to really try traveling alone. Maybe a time will come for that, maybe it won’t. Till then, I can keep listening to Lucky Ali.

Having said all of the above, I am not a fan of his Live performances. Maybe the reason is that when you see a live performance, it is stationary and the melody is not just the same. It looks like he is struggling to sing and he would better be traveling and singing someplace else.

Photo by Andreas Selter on Unsplash

Phew

About 3 weeks ago, 7 out of 9 people in my family fell sick and the RT-PCR turned positive. 2 had to be hospitalized while others somehow managed at home. Slowly and slowly everyone is regaining their health back and things are now looking better. Hospitalized have returned home. Others who were at home who took an uncountable number of medicines are also getting back to their feet. There are still some vitals that are going haywire but we are trying to get them under control.

Those who say that they can trust their immunity against Covid, have no idea about surviving for a minute when you feel difficulty in breathing. Try walking without breathing for a minute. Those who say that Masks don’t really work have not seen how Glucometer readings go sky high and Oximeter readings touch rock bottom. Bottom line is that, if you have had it and had no symptoms, consider yourself super-lucky because it didn’t even touch you really!

The amount of money spent has gone through the roof. Forget money, the damage it has left behind on health will take months to get back to normalcy. Things have just turned towards better but the fight is still not over. There is a long way to go and a few vital stats might always give a headache.

For those who are still struggling, and while those who couldn’t, all I can say is that I hope we see a better time soon.

Avoid the crowd. Wear Masks. Keep Washing Your Hands. There is no other way possible at the moment. Vaccines are still months away.

I hate to be superstitious but Fingers Crossed.

Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash

Be like a Monolith

There are mysterious Monoliths showing up at various places across the world. Then they disappear without any hoopla.

They show up. They create suspense whether they are alien, or they’re some prank, or they’re naturally occurring, or they serve no purpose, or Banksy is the culprit, or an art installation, or bad welding show-off. We don’t really know. That’s quintessential 2020 then and there.

Then they disappear. Some people say people have been seen taking them down and cleaning all the traces. No video has been surfaced yet of installation or removal.

I think there is a lesson in it. Actually, there is none. And that’s the lesson that some things do show up and then they disappear. They leave no clue but only conspiracy theories.They can create mystery and might damage things. Or they might not.

One can’t understand everything. That’s the beauty of it.

Be like a Monolith in some stranger’s life. Or don’t. Who cares!

Here are my renditions of Monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey

December Mornings

December. Early wintery morning. TV tuned to Sports Channel hours ago before the actual match scheduled to start. The sky is looking bluer and the ground is seemingly greener with seagulls doing their thing near the advertising mark on the ground. Audience lazying around on grassy slopes and people of all ages with hats on cheering from the stands. Australia vs India is on.

That’s how most of my Decembers used to go a decade or so ago. Today while I watch another India vs Australia One day Cricket match, nostalgia swept me over.

Earlier India used to lose most of the matches and things now… well, haven’t really changed much but the fight is much tighter now.

Everyone has some memories of watching sports in peculiar ways. It formed a really big part of me growing older. Today’s another such day.

How did your December Mornings go?

Photo by Marcus Wallis on Unsplash

Highs and Lows, Positives and Negatives

Every day we experience positive and negative emotions. They are amplified with the readings on Glucometer, Oximeter, Blood Pressure machine, and what not.

Some highs are good, some are scary. Some lows are needed, some lows aren’t.

When to give up? Is a question which keeps popping up once in a while each day. But seeing everyone else fighting and somehow winning gives us hope. People at least have tried to stay hopeful despite dramatic drastic situations.

There’s so much around to feel bad about. In loads. We should try to hang on to whatever good is there, I think. Even if good is scarce, we still need to and have to keep trying and hoping that good news would be around the corner.

Do you have it in a different Color?

These days, as part of caregiving to folks in my family, I have to visit the pharmaceuticals shop at least once a day. Everyone is slowly improving, thankfully, but the medicines list is never ending. When I go there, I try to stay as outside as possible while people keep flocking in with, and sometimes without proper masks to buy their own medicines which are also similar versions of what I came for buying. This means that the issue of infection is obviously more prevalent than what newspapers report. Mind you, newspapers are already reporting huge numbers which are jaw-dropping in their own sense.

Anyway, the mask buying thing is pretty interesting. I have seen several people who come and buy the masks as if they are buying vegetables or a piece of clothing. Of course, safety is what they should intend for, but their concern is not how good the mask functionally is. Many people ask for different colors than usual White or Gray or Surgical Aqua Green Blue. They want designer masks. They want masks with sockets in them so that ‘Oxygen can flow normally’. I didn’t see anyone asking if the mask is meeting the specification or not.

Our collective energy is being focussed in trying to curb the virus infection in multiple ways possible. But trying to change public perception regarding Science of the Mask is an art in itself. There have been several animations and videos but we are still far from making everyone understand the importance of a proper mask which is the 1st thing we should have done.

P.S.: Seth Godin reminded us all that Google is not your friend. It is just a tool that was free but might not be future. Today is World Backup Day so why not start here: https://takeout.google.com/

Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash