Lost and found....my pencil sketches....

This weekend turned out to be serendipitous...

During school, I belonged to the "drawing hobby" group. And we had developed a craze for sketching portraits of actors and actresses. I had done fair a bit of sketching too...

I had lost these sketches a long time back. But quite unexpectedly found them in the corner of one of those less accessed cupboards.

Although not in the league of the best portraits, if you strain your eyes a little and be a little considerate towards me, probably you can come close to guessing the persons, whom I have assumed to have sketched. :-)

Here they go...

supposed to be Aishwarya Rai..


supposed to be Hritik Roshan....


supposed to be Madhavan...


supposed to be Shar Rukh (from Dil Se)...


supposed to Salman Khan...

supposed to be Kajol...

Thats it...those were the sketches that I had done... Hope to do more and hope to achieve greater resemblance to the subject.... :-)

[PGW Quotes] first installment...

Came across a few of my favorite PGW quotes...

" It was a confusion of ideas between him and one of the lions he was hunting in Kenya that had caused A. B. Spottsworth to make the obituary column. He thought the lion was dead, and the lion thought it wasn't. "

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun"

"The shock to Colonel Wedge of finding that what he had taken for a pile of old clothes was alive and a relation by marriage caused him to speak a little sharply."

"He had a face like a gorilla. More so indeed, than most gorillas do."

"it was as if nature had intended to make a gorilla and had changed her mind at the last moment"

"his IQ is about thirty points lower than what you’d expect from a not-too-agile-minded jellyfish"

"He uttered a sound much like a bull dog swallowing a pork chop whose dimensions it has underestimated."

"It was the look which caused her to be known in native bearer and halfcaste circles as 'Mgobi-'Mgumbi, which may be loosely translated as She On Whom It Is Unsafe To Try Any Oompus-Boompus."

"Sir Roderick Glossop ... is always called a nerve specialist, because it sounds better, but everybody knows that he's really a sort of janitor to the looney-bin."

"His locality at this moment is as difficult to ascertain as that of a black cat hiding in a coal cellar on a moonless night"

"He was built on large lines, and seemed to fill the room to overflowing. In physique he was not unlike what Primo Carnera would have been if Carnera hadn't stunted his growth by smoking cigarettes when a boy."

"Unlike the male codfish which, suddenly finding itself the parent of three million five hundred thousand little codfish, cheerfully resolves to love them all, the British aristocracy is apt to look with a somewhat jaundiced eye on its younger sons."

"Honoria . . . is one of those robust, dynamic girls with the muscles of a welter-weight and a laugh like a squadron of cavalry charging over a tin bridge."

"Fond as he was of Pongo, Lord Ickenham could not see him as a breaker of hearts. Yet it appeared plain that his loss had left a large gap in this girl's life."

"After all, golf is only a game,'' said Millicent. Women say these things without thinking. It does not mean that there is any kink in their character. They simply don't realise what they're saying.

[Favorite songs] ತೇರಾ ಏರಿ ಅಂಬರದಾಗೆ...

After long I found this song on Youtube... also somebody has written the entire lyrics in the comments..so thot i will just copy paste this song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_DMD0LzVGY

ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ: ದೊಡ್ಡ ರಂಗೇಗೌಡ
ಸಂಗೀತ: ರಾಜನ್-ನಾಗೇಂದ್ರ
ಗಾಯನ: ಎಸ್.ಪಿ. ಬಾಲಸುಬ್ರಹ್ಮಣ್ಯಂ

ತೇರಾ ಏರಿ ಅಂಬರದಾಗೆ ನೇಸರು ನಗುತಾನೆ..
ಮರಗಿಡ ತೂಗ್ಯಾವೆ...
ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾಡ್ಯಾವೇ...
ಬೀರ್ಯಾವೇ, ಚೆಲುವಾ ಬೀರ್ಯಾವೇ
ಬಾ, ನೋಡಿ ನಲಿಯೋಣ ತಮ್ಮಾ
ನಾವ್, ಹಾಡಿ ಕುಣಿಯೋಣ ತಮ್ಮಾ

ಬೇಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾಗೆ ಬಣ್ಣ ಬಣ್ಣದ
ಹೂವು ಅರಳ್ಯಾವೆ
ಆ ಹೂವ ಮೇಲೆ ತುಂಬಾ ಸಣ್ಣ ಚಿಟ್ಟೆ ಕುಳಿತ್ಯಾವೆ
ಬಾಗಿ ಬಾಗಿ ಅತ್ತ ಇತ್ತ ಬಾಳೆ ಬಳುಕ್ಯಾವೆ
ಆ ಬಾಳೇ ವನವೇ ನಕ್ಕು ಕಣ್ಣು ತಂದ್ಯಾವೆ
||ಕುಂತರೆ ಸೆಳೆವ, ಸಂತಸ ತರುವ||
ಹೊಂಗೆ ತೊಂಗೆ ತೂಗಿ ತೂಗಿ
ಗಾಳಿ ಬೀಸ್ಯಾವೇ
ತೇರಾ ಏರಿ ಅಂಬರದಾಗೆ ನೇಸರು ನಗುತಾನೆ..
ಮರಗಿಡ ಕೂಗ್ಯಾವೇ...
ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾಡ್ಯಾವೇ...
ಮರಗಿಡ ಕೂಗ್ಯಾವೇ...
ಚಿಲಿಪಿಲಿ ಹಕ್ಕಿ ಹಾಡ್ಯಾವೇ...

ಭೂಮಿ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಚ್ಚ ಹಚ್ಚಗೆ ಹಾದಿ ತೆಗೆದಾವೆ
ಆ ಹಾದಿ ಅಕ್ಕ ಪಕ್ಕ ಬಳ್ಳಿ ಬೆಳಿದ್ಯಾವೆ
ಸಾಲು ಸಾಲು ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಗುಡ್ಡ ಮೌನ ತಳೆದಾವೆ
ಆ ಮೌನವ ಗಾನ ಎಲ್ಲರ ಮನಸಾ ಸೆಳೆದಾವೆ
||ಭಾವಾ ಬಿರಿದು, ಹತ್ತಿರ ಕರೆದು ||
ಮಾವು ಬೇವು ತಾಳೆ ತೆಂಗು
ಲಾಲಿ ಹಾಡ್ಯಾವೆ
||ತೇರಾ ಏರಿ...||

ಭೇದಭಾವ ಮುಚ್ಚುಮರೆ ಒಂದು ಮಾಡ್ದೇನೆ
ಆ ಸೂರ್ಯ ಒಂದೇ ಬೆಳಕ ನಮಗೆ ನೀಡ್ಯಾನೆ
ಗಾಳಿ ನೀರು ಎಲ್ಲ ಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜಗವ ನಡೆಸ್ಯಾನೆ
ಆ ಸಿರಿಯ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಂಡರೆ ಬಾಳು ಸವಿಜೇನೆ
||ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಬೆಳೆದೆ ಸ್ನೇಹ ಕಳೆದು||
ನಗುತ ನಗುತ ನಾವು ನೀವು ಸವಿಯುವ ಸುಖವನ್ನೇ

Kudos to the directors and actors..for such awesome films and songs...

[Favorite Music] Flute by Pravin Godkhindi

For all those fans of melody out there, the Raagini series (Flute instrumental rendering by Pravin Godkhindi) is a must listen. For a start, the volume 1 is available on http://kannadaaudio.com at the following location - Raagini Volume 1

After having listened to the first volume, I went and bought all the three volumes of Raagini from Landmark in Forum. Each and every song is really good. I personally am an illiterate when it comes to classical music. So I enjoy these raagas in their very raw form and that is melodious sound, without actually being able to grasp the nuances of each one. The only factor that takes me near to these raagas are the wonderful old kannada film songs, in their flute form.

My personal favorite list goes as follows.
1) Mishra Pahaadi - the song is 'terayeri ambaradaaga nesara nagutaane...'
2) Desh - ಯಾವ ಮೋಹನ ಮುರಳಿ ಕರೆಯಿತು ....
3) Pahadi - ದೋಣಿ ಸಾಗಲಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಹೋಗಲಿ ...
4) Jayant Malhar - ಪೂಜಿಸಲೆಂದೆ ಹೂಗಳ ತಂದೆ ....
5) Manj Khamaj - ಮೂಡಲ ಮನೆಯ ....

Ever since, I have laid my hand on these, they form my background while I work, drive etc.

[Favorite Films] The pursuit of happiness...

'This part of my life.....is called remembering my favorite film'........."The pursuit of happiness" is one of the best films I have seen. Its a truly inspiring one and the fact that it based on the real story only makes it more special. The film has plenty of dialogs that stick and also a lot of scenes which only make me think how blessed I am.

Before I go into those specific scenes /dialogs that I want to talk about, a brief summary about the whole film can be found in the wiki page here. Now let me get to the parts of it that I savored most...

Offer of the Job - My all time favorite scene. I am sure anybody who has endured the movie till the end is waiting for this scene. Chris is asked to come inside the room where he was interviewed. The dialogs were to this effect

Chris: I decided to wear a shirt today for it will be my last day. (History: he had not worn a shirt for his job interview.)
Partner: Well, why dont you wear one tomorrow for it will be your first day.

And bam... all the pain, suffering, comes back to Chris in that one moment and just passes out of him through his tears turning his eyes red. And after that comes my favorite part where he runs down to the street. He is not able to control his happiness and seen jumping. I like the way its been pictured with the normal life passing by him with poeple moving on, around him. And he wanting to share his happiness with anyone and everyone, finds no words to communicate. He doesnt have that anyone right near him. He has to run all the way to his child's school to share the news. I always contrast this with the ease in which I called my mother as soon as I was made the offer of my first job. It was as easy as dialing a few numbers on my cell.

Repairing the Bone-density scanner - From the time he recovered the stolen scanner to the time he sold it, it has been one hell of a time. He first unsuccessfully tries to sell it only to realize at the last moment, right in front of his customer that it has stopped working because of a fuse. Then with only a few dollars left, he buys a fuse. On the way back, his son out of a child's curiosity wants to take a look that. He neither wants to disappoint his child nor does he want to see anything happen to that fuse. I liked the way he hands it over and at the same time keeps a watchful eye on that fuse. Finally, inside the dorm when he fixed the machine, I love the scene when he switches the machine on. They show the whole dorm and the to his much relief the machine LIGHTS up. This is kind of symobical in a subtle way, because starting from that point, everything in his life seems to light up.

A night in a sub-way restroom - This again is an interesting scene for he wants to somehow spend the night at the sub-way. And at the same time he does not want to make it explicit to his son. He comes up with this whole time machine/caves etc etc story. This kind of reminded me of the famous "Life is beautiful" where the father made the whole stay at the concentration camp appear like a story to his son. However, the difference being, in this film the son is not so innocent to not realize whats happening. Specially, when somebody starts knocking at the door of the restroom, the desperation/insecurity is nicely portrayed by Will Smith.

The spirit of Chris Gardner - Another thing that amazed me about the story was the spirit of Chris. Under no circumstance would he give up. The confidence in himself is well portrayed in the interview. I do admit that desperation sometimes adds to your confidence. But the interview in itself, though a little unrealistic tries to convey the message. I still remember a few dialogs from that interview where he says - "Sir, I am the kind of a person, who, if I do not know the answer will tell 'I do not know the answer', but I bet you what, I know how to find one and I will find it no matter what" and towards the end when partner asks "What would you say to a person who hired someone who had not wore a shirt for the interview." this is one of my all time favorite reply that "I would say that he must have been wearing some damn good pants..." .
The same spirit is also seen when he is seen literally carrying his whole house along with him. Once in the lift when somebody asks him about so much of baggage, without a wink he replies saying he is going out of station on work. He never gives up and also we should notice that there is not an inkling of inferiority complex either.

Finally, after having gone through the entire film, my train of thoughts...("arjun express") comes to a halt, but is still able to hear the echo.."This part of my life......this small part..is called happiness"

[Favorite Songs] ಹಕ್ಕಿಯ ಹಾಡಿಗೆ ...

My all time favorite poem/song.... This is also a song of the movie "Mysore Mallige" (by K S Narasimhaswamy)

ಹಕ್ಕಿಯ ಹಾಡಿಗೆ ತಲೆದೂಗುವ ಹೂವು ನಾನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಹಸುವಿನ ಕೊರಳಿನ ಗೆಜ್ಜೆಯ ದನಿಯು ನಾನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ಹತ್ತಿದ ಕಾಮನ ಬಿಲ್ಲಿನ ಮೇಲಿನ ಮುಗಿಲಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಚಿನ್ನದ ಬಣ್ಣದ ಜಿಂಕೆಯ ಕಣ್ಣಿನ ಮಿಂಚಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ತೋಟದ ಕಂಪಿನ ಉಸಿರಲಿ ತೇಲುವ ಜೇನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಕಡಲಿನ ನೀಲಿಯ ನೀರಲಿ ಬಳುಕುವ ಮೀನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ಸಿಡಿಲನು ಕಾರುವ ಬಿರುಮಳೆಗಂಜದೆ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಯುವ ಆಸೆ
ನಾಳೆಯ ಬದುಕಿನ ಇರುಳಿನ ತಿರುವಿಗೆ ದೀಪವನಿಡುವಾಸೆ

ಮಣ್ಣಿನ ಕೊಡುಗೆಗೆ ನೋವಿಗೆ ನಲಿವಿಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿ ಹಿಡಿವಾಸೆ
ಮಾನವ ಹೃದಯದ ಕರುಣೆಗೆ ಒಲವಿಗೆ ದನಿಗೂಡಿಸುವಾಸೆ

Owing to my lack of poetic skills, I am unable give you a translation of the poem and do justice to the spirit of the poem/poet. And hence, for those of you who do not know kannada, I am really sorry.

A raw dry prosaic summary goes here.
"ಆಸೆ" means desire/wish. This poem is about what the poet wishes to be. He wishes to be the flowers which nod approvingly to the songs of the bird. He wishes to be sound of the bell around a cow's neck. He wishes to be the sky which spreads over the rainbow. He wishes to be the sparkle in the eyes of a deer. He wants to be a bee that floats in the fragrance of a garden. He wants to be a fish in the blue waters. Having said all this, the poet then moves into a different mode saying he wants to MOVE AHEAD undaunted by the thunders that cause heavy rains. He wants to LIGHT UP his tomorrow. To the earth's bounty, to pain and pleasure, he yearns to hold a mirror. Finally he wants to RESONATE/ECHO with the love and compassion of the human heart.
Well, as some of you experts might have already noted, I am miserable at translation. And I might have not done full justice. Kindly correct me wherever I have gone wrong.

The love for this poem is not only because of its meaning. I like the tune of the song also. And not to mention, the actress on whom it is pictured in the film. The initial days of Sudha Rani who plays the role of this innocent village girl.