Kinshuk Sunil

Note: I am not a music critic. My understanding of music is fairly poor. In my dreams, though, I hold a mighty pen that scribbles to change the world. Take this review with a pinch of salt, impartial I try to be, since, the artist is a family friend.

Manu Rajeev releases ‘Aaliya’ his debut music album! Manu has done a feat that no Malayalee has done before, to release an all Hindi music album. Aaliya is a blend of sounds from across India and the world; taking its form from Hindustani and Carnatic, the songs transform themselves into a new Indian pop-rock extravaganza. The songs also have strong roots in traditional folk and Sufi music of India. Not sticking to the confines of traditional Indian music, Manu scales new horizons expertly blending Indian traditional music with that of the west. The New Indian Rock blend of this young maestro deserves a genre of its own.
The album has ten songs. Veteran lyricist Rakesh Nirala pens the literature for Manu’s music. Taking up the pen alongside the veteran is Mrityunjay Kumar and also the singer, Manu himself. All songs were composed, arranged and sung by Manu Rajeev. Parul Bhatnagar also lends her vocal talents to this album. The album was released on T-Series.

That was official. So I recently happened to listen to this album, Aaliya, which is the debut album of Manu Rajeev (My good friend The Kitty’s elder brother: the reason, why everything is so toned down). The album has ten songs. Quite a few IMHO for an album, but the blend is nice. The album has strong Rock/Sufi blends, not like what Rabbi did; but a unique-ty in itself.

The title track is ‘Aaliya’, which is a great dancing number and will have you dancing on the floor within minutes. Another wonderful song is ‘Achcha Hai’, which is my favourite number in the album. A soft, sad romantic song that touches to your heart. Another song I really like is ‘Deewarein Kyu’, a tragic romantic number. And then there is ‘Meri Taraf’ that announces to the whole world that ‘I have come, look at me’.

However, I should also mention what’s not done best in the album (obviously in my opinion, opinions will differ). Kill Him is a song the album would like to forget. Another number that doesn’t blend too well with the album is ‘Too Fast’ (despite its great Hip Hop music).

The lyrics are well written and touch the heart. Compositions are melodious and so is the singer. Languages and genres are wonderfully blended in the album and have a nice ring to them. All in all, an album I would certainly recommend to hear.

And, I have been deliberately harsh with the album, so as not to sound to praising (aka spamming) so go out, listen to this and make your own call.

Aaliya by Manu Rajeev
Rating: 7.5/10
Publisher: T Series
Plus Points: Nice Blend of Languages and Genres, Some Touchy Numbers
Negatives: Some Tracks are forgettable, Low Track count.

More info about the artist and the album is available at: www.manurajeev.com

I have been making an attempt to trun people around me into bloggers. Have had a few successes, many failures. Given the state of affairs (read: my not bein a proper blogger, myself) I haven’t had much to say and lead people about.

One of the questions’ I have always been asked is: “What is a Blog?” and I have defined it thus:

• It is a online diary, where you share your world, with the whole world.
• It is an unrestricted publishing media through which you can take about your opinions.
• It is a collective of knowledge and information on a specific subject, which you develop and continuously groom.

And the next question generally turns out to be: “What’s the deal?” And well, it gets more torturous. Lately, I have decided to have a better understanding of the subject myself, before trying to have converts.

And, weird though it may sound many people at my end of the globe don’t know much about blogging.

What made me rant about blogging? Copyblogger’s post: What is a Blog?

Bored, surfing through the net I found the references to Toondoo a site that helps you create online comic strips. The process is hassle free with loads of customizations. You can even design your characters, just like you create Yahoo! Avatars.

What you see here is my first attempt at comic making. Its not a highly creative content but I was only testing features. No points for guessing that the character is me. So this is just me, Earth and well, consequences of Civilization.

Happy surfing!

Kinshuk

Friday, January 11th, 2008. Afternoon.

Busy working on my website, suddenly all HTTP traffic on my Airtel Broadband Connection stopped. That is to say - I could download stuff from different protocols such as Bit Torrent and eMule, Chat on Messenegrs, even browse SSLed sites through the HTTPS protocol, but when it came to sites with the HTTP protocol (almost all of the web), Firefox said “Connection was reset”, while Internet Explorer said “Page cannot eb displayed”.

Flummoxed, I turned to my friends for help (through the messenger), to find a solution to the problem. Sexie, Sanjay and Dinku were prompt to rescue, followed by Ms Riti. By this time it was already 9PM and the only headway I had made was an assumption that somehow, something was blocking port 80 for my network connection (!!). (Note: This is how you get things wrong, for future reference) Since I had recently installed Windows Vista Updates, I started uninstalling them to undo any system changes they might have made. To no avail, offcourse.

And then I had the brilliant idea of migrating back to Windows XP, since I was facing many issues with my Vista Installation. So I commenced on the journey to revert from Vista to XP, which obviously meant I had to delete my system partition. After a long and agonising process where I jumped Vista > Ubuntu > Windows XP, I finally sat satisfied for I now ran Windows XP on my system and now was the magic moment to try and surf the net.

Bam! The realisation: All the pains taken in switching the OS were a waste. The problem persists. Repeat: The Problem Persists.

And now in the most blinding moments of illumination, I realised that the problem was at the backend. Something to do with the Airtel Connection and not my system.

Half crazy by anger, I called the Airtel Call Center, they walked me through - 5 minutes, problem solved. I stared blankly at my monitor, not believing the pains I had taken for such a simple problem.

So a post that was meant to abuse Microsoft for poor quality software ends with a self-lament of foolhardiness.

God Bless. Peace.

Its 3:32 AM right now. I haven’t slept for the past 74 Hours, 23 minutes and 15 seconds. By the time you finish this post, the time span would have differed. To what avail?

Insomnia, they say, is a weird thing. It’s worse. Trust me.

But I have to kill time, I have to do something. There was a time when I would try to sleep and end up staring at my room ceiling or a street lamp out of the window. Now I don’t share my room any more and it gets weirder. I can now recall every face I’ve seen during the day - known or not, whether I interacted with it or not. I can tell from their faces if they were happy or sad, had they had some quarrel, were they fed, they felt lonely, were they in familiar turf or lost, and lots more.

I can see them and talk to them. They are here, as a part of me. Strange, Isn’t it? Little Wonder, I am a cranky fellow.

Ever talked to a rickshaw driver or a rickshaw puller or a bus conductor for that matter? Anyone whose only concerns are elemental - earn enough dough to feed his family. You’d be surprised by certain revelations of life. They are not as coarse as they are assumed to be. They are not as gross, as they look like. There are perspectives to life you can learn from them.

Weird thing - perspective to life, it is. Weirder than weird. Right now I am uploading content on my website,editing few skins for my forums and blog. Tweaking stuff here and there, but in my mind plays like a loop, what a rickshaw driver had to say four days ago. Weird thing - perspective to life.

I remember Max Payne say, “When you are looking down the barrel of a gun, Time Slows Down…” Weird thing, time. The moment you want it to slow down so that you can savor every second if it, it flashes past. When it should run fast, it slows to a trickle - enjoying you wreathe and squirm in misery. Misery. Small Word. Little Wonder, time has never been a friend of mine.

The weirdest of all things is the vulgar hour and all the thoughts in my head, and I am still stuck uploading content. Weird thing.

So I take to reading blogs my friends write. The first blog I read talks about South Indian temples in northern India, and I go into a reverie about the Plurality that Mark Tully talks about in ‘India’s Unfinished Journey’. Read the Book. But I move on. I read about game development. I visit a website whose design I like: www.ideafactory.com. Strangely, looking at this website always makes me realize - I need a job. Weird thing, Job. I am only 22, going on 23.

I move on to GTA IV, then to Splinter Cell: Conviction, then to Spore - the game I am waiting for. Now I find myself on IGN, but I don’t remember when or how I reached there. But I am hungry. I should go to the Kitchen and get something to eat. But its dark, out of the scope of my monitor’s glare. I am scared of darkness. Stubbs’ out there. Maybe. Little wonder, I am hungry.

57% update complete. I recollect all conversations I have had in the day: in-person, on net, on phone. I don’t like people sucking up, only because they want to be in your good books. I see this happening in one of my friend’s blog and I always get amused. When would the world change? Little Wonder, I am changing.

04:25:29 AM. I remind myself I have to sleep. But, I think I would want to talk. Hear more than be heard. I am quiet these days. I don’t talk much. I don’t feel the need to express. I am more open to what people have to say. Hear them out. Listen to Them. Its a weird thing how people feel I care for them when I don’t. Only because I was ready to listen to whatever they had to share. I just deleted 37 mails. I receive about 117 mails on an average. That is only so because the world now uses Syndication. If I include syndication, my count crosses 500 posts a day. Weird thing. I remember a friend (I have been preaching on IT) say that she wasn’t exactly confident of my IT prowess, as she hasn’t seen any in action. Whatever that might have meant, it touched a sensitive spot. What have I achieved. Not even sleep, which is a mass product.

I should sleep more. Good Night. Sweet Dreams. Or should I say, Rise and Shine!

Its 04:43:21 AM. 75:34:43 Hrs Awake.

I Am Awake. Alan Wake. [All the Puns in the World, Intended!]

God Bless. Peace.

PS: This is my centennial Post and I will be announcing something really special in my next post, post #101… a number considered auspicious in my culture