NCPA Screening of Verdi's Aida at the MET

Attended with Neha, at the Godrej Dance Theatre, NCPA ,
a screening of Verdi's Aida performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. 

The triumphal scene, of Aida, as we saw it..

Fabio Luisi (Conductor);
Liudmyla Monastyrska, from Ukraine, as Aida,  the Ethiopian princess
Olga Borodina (Amneris),  the Egyptian princess
Roberto Alagna (Radamès),  the commander of the Egyptian army
George Gagnidze (Amonasro), King of Ethiopia
Štefan Kocán (Ramfis),
Miklós Sebestyén (The King), and ~1700 others

http://www.ncpamumbai.com/event/ncpa-the-met-present-aida-%E2%80%93-verdi

Tomay Gaan Shonabo

তোমায় গান শোনাব , তাই তো আমায় জাগিয়ে রাখো,
ওগো ঘুম-ভাঙানিয়া , তোমায় ....
বুকে চমক দিয়ে তাই তো ডাক
ওগো দুখ-জাগানিয়া , তোমায় .. .


এলো আঁধার ফিরে,  পাখি এলো নীড়ে,
তরী এলো তীরে,

শুধু আমার হিয়া বিরাম  পায় নাকো ,
ওগো  দুখ-জাগানিয়া ।।

আমার কাজের মাঝে - মাঝে
কান্নাহাসির দোলা তুমি থামতে দিলে না যে ,

আমায় পরশ ক'রে, প্রাণ শুধায় ভরে,
তুমি যাও যে সরে,

বুঝি আমার ব্যথার আড়ালেতে দাঁড়িয়ে থাক,
ওগো দুখ-জাগানিয়া ।।



Nirbhaya, Damini, Amanat,  Delhi's braveheart, India's daughter, my salutations, my offerings and my apologies to you.... 
(through the immortal words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore - Tomay Gaan Shonabo, written c. 1923...)

My Top 10 Tendulkar Moments

My Top Tendulkar Moments

They illustrate emotions around awe, hope, pride, elation, worry, respect, anger, horror, anxiety, elation, belief, disbelief and love for 23 years of my life..



a) The Hero Cup Semi Final Over vs South Africa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaSetI8IcH4

b) Elation followed by pin-drop silence at the Eden when Tendulkar is bowled of Shoaib's first ball.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJbfbfnR20A


c) The Perth Test Century -  The 114 that made the man out of the boy. Against Big bad Merv.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Aj6EINaDXc

d) SCG one - his classiest for me -  Didnt play a single shot towards the covers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI4E2wnLucM


e) The best 3 hours of Indian batting overseas - Sachin and Azhar backs to the wall attack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ40mTqVtcg

f) Desert Storm - Tendulkar shredding Warne, Moody and Kasprowiz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAKhaJg3Rf0


g) The Saqlain Dismissal at Chepauk?  The disappointment for being nearly there yet so far.. Batting with 6 hours of excruciating pain to save a Test, when all as usual was falling around him
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3104t7x3UFM

h) Retorte 1- the 3 shots that ended Shoaib - second over at Centurion, 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwXxGe4bL7M


i) Retorte 2-  Who's your Daddy? This 38 ranks for me better than the numerous other centuries, or high scores Sachin has accumulated over McGrath..  He did it purposely so that McGrath would be frustrated.. cos he knew that McGrath's line and length would be lethal on this pitch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-h8D-a87U
j) the first 200 in One Dayers..    just a bit above his 100 vs SA against Steyn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjHmfsR7qkY
    Phew..  I had a top 25..   so many ones vs England,  West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, even the 100th 100 against Bangladesh ..  are missing..  even emotional ones like th 1999 one after his Dad's death.. or individual moments, like his elation after his catch of a berserk Shahid Afridi, the 5 mcGrath pulls followed by the dismissal, the Henry Olonga lesson, the left arm spinners, his horror in seeing Ganguly run out due a ricochet of his straight drive..  His 194 in Pakistan, or the Abdul Qadir lesson folklore as a 16 year old..   I could go on..   I am sure many others can as well.   Over the last 5 years.. a lot has happenned in my life..  Many important things..   I have felt the urge to blog about many more events personal or otherwise as well..   Yet, Sachin's retirement from One dayers is the strongest cue that urged me to document my emotions in my long decrepit blog...   Its as if a phase of my life has just passed away...  

Small Glimpses of Shanghai

A Sneak Peak of the MRI

One of the snaps taken of my left knee..
taken from the NMC Radiology Unit @ Deira.

Its a nice output to see for myself, after being strapped and pushed inside one of those gigantic Philips scanning machines humming at 50 decibels.. and put through 1.25 hours of intense boredom and a equally severe urge to move a muscle, lift the leg or simply scratch my backside to stop the itching. Why was that a problem? I was warned "Dont move a muscle. Even if you move an eyelid, the scan time goes up by 10 minutes". Now thats called Negative Reinforcement.

10 Days in the UAE ..

Us with the Abu Dhabi Corniche as the backdrop..

At the Madinat Jumeirah with the Burj Al Arab behind

On the way to the Jebel Hafeet summit













Tired after the shopping at Ibn Battuta










Neha at the Dubai Marina ..










At the Hult College Campus

In the Church during the Christmas Day mass

Cake cutting before that... .

This is a nice yet one of the pretty low key songs rendered by Jagjit Singh

मैं भूल जाऊं तुम्हे - Jagjit सिंह

मैं भूल जाऊं तुम्हे, अब यही मुनासिब है,

मगर भुलाना भी चाहूं तो किस तरह भूलूं?

मगर मगर भुलाना भी चाहूं तो किस तरह भूलूं ,

के तुम तो फिर भी हकीकत हो कोई ख्वाब नहीं.

यहाँ तो दिल का यह आलम है क्या कहूं ,

(कमबख्त)... भुला सका न यह वो सिलसिला जो था ही नहीं।

भुला सका न यह वो सिलसिला जो था ही नहीं,

वो एक ख़याल जो आवाज़ तक गया ही नहीं।

वो एक बात जो मैं कह कहीं सका तुमसे,

वो एक रब्त जो हम्मे कभी रहा ही नहीं।

मुझे है याद वो सब जो कभी हुआ ही नहीं...

अगर यह हाल है दिल का , तो कोई समझाए

अगर यह हाल है दिल का , तो कोई समझाए,

तुम्हे भुलाना भी चाहूं तो किस तरह भूलूं?

के तुम तो फिर हकीकत हो कोई ख्वाब नहीं..

के तुम तो फिर हकीकत हो कोई ख्वाब नहीं॥

के तुम तो फिर हकीकत हो कोई ख्वाब नहीं॥

* ------- *

A chance revisit of my Cusine-al roots

Venue :
6 Ballygunge Place , Koramangala, Bangalore..

Attendees : 3
Cost : 1235 /- ( excluding tip)..

Entree :

Topshe Maach Bhaja ( Batter Fried Mango Fish)
Aamer Chutney ( Mango Chutney on the table.. small sliced mango marmalade)
Papad ( Poppadums)



Drinks:

Aam Pora Sharbat ( a roasted green mango sherbet )
A blue berry-ish mocktail.. (named 2/6 Biren Roy Road.. after Sourav Ganguly's residence)


Main Course ::

a) The First Round!!

Steam Rice ........ with
Chital Macher Peti Roast ( Clown Knife Fish with gravy)..
Bhanpa Elish ( Steamed Hilsa in Mustard paste) ..
Tomato Chutney ( Tomato chutney with Dates and raisins)..


b) And the Second..

Loochi .... ( Deep fried flatbreads of maida ( fine wheat flour) ... ) .. with
Kosha Mangsho .. ( Dry (gravied) Bengali Lamb )..


Dessert:
Channar Malpoa ( Small pancakes made using reduced milk and cottage cheese dripped with syrup, crunchy at the ends, served hot and topped with dollops of vanilla icecream)..



Savouries:
Some assortment of mitha paan ( sweet betel leaf preparations) , and flavoured supari ( betelnut) , sweet fennel
Timeless pictures of Amitabh Bachhan going out to bat at the Eden, Sunny Gavaskar , Pele at the Salt Lake Stadium in front of a packed crowd, a young Sourav Ganguly, Victoria Memorial, of Satyajit Ray and Mother Teresa..





Bliss!!!!


Period .