Rhythmic Dissonance » Life

And the Blog Goes On!

Raj — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:44:40 +0000

With very regular readers left by the time I wrote the last post almost a year ago, not too many people seem to have noticed the dearth of posts. To share some updates, I got married last November and moved into a new apartment in May. Also, moved the blog to a new web host in July. And in all honesty, I didn’t really miss blogging in this one year. With Facebook, twitter and (now) Google plus, there are enough tools at my disposal to share my thoughts (in brief) or updates. And I don’t have a lot of time anymore to write about anything else anyway. But since this blog has been a part of my life since 2005, I have decided to keep it going for now, in whichever way I can. So expect some updates soon, if you are reading!

New Music Recently Discovered Through TV Shows

Raj — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:37:26 +0000

Just like movies, TV shows can also be a great way of discovering new music especially music which you would never listen to otherwise. In my case, most music I discover is similar to the music I like but by artists I don’t give a try. Its weird that most music I discover is Alternative/Indie and Electronica. Or is it simply a case of self-selection?

So here’s a list of few songs I discovered recently through TV and liked enough to listen again (and mention here!):

1. Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club: I really like this song. The video isn’t too bad either.

2. Walking on a Dream by Empire of The Sun: Very trippy, very M83-ish. The video is extremely weird though.

3. Bonafide Lovin’ by Chromeo: A funny song! The video here is a fan video but suits the song very well.

4. Let Your Love Grow Tall by Passion Pit: This is a happy song. Again, its an amateur video that suits the song pretty well.

5. Only Man by Audio Bullys: The song’s alright but the video is really cool!

Honorable mentions:

Run by Stephen Fretwell: Theme song of ‘Gavin & Stacie’
One Way Road by Paul Weller: Theme song of ‘Lead Balloon’

Hyd and Seek

Raj — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:59:10 +0000

After a longish, fat filled vacation at home, I returned to Hyderabad (Hyd, in short) almost three months ago. I have since started working, rented a house, and bought all kinds of things to make it livable. The experience of living in the city (i.e. in the real Hyd and not inside the walls of ISB) so far has been okay at best. And that is after living in Banjara Hills, one of the better parts of the city and working in Somajiguda, the city center.

Based on my interactions with the shop owners/attendants, auto drivers, service reps, people offering their apartments on rent and some general public, I find most people in Hyd to be lazy, unhelpful and a tad incompetent. But then maybe it’s too early to form an opinion. I am open to giving the city a chance to redeem itself.

Things are good otherwise. I have started working out again, determined to los all the excess fat that I have accumulated in the last couple of months. My parents are visiting me right now and life is fun. The brilliant weather adds to it. Oh, and I love my house!

I plan to start lots of new things/activities soon to make life interesting again (the title probably gave away the non-imaginative state I’m in) because I really miss my life before MBA that I left behind in Bangalore. And I need to do enough to justify having done whatever I did in the last two years. And I need to do it fast!

Hope

Raj — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:32:05 +0000

Some of the best birthday memories I have are of me returning home from school to find my sisters lovingly putting things into place for my birthday party and doing everything they could to make the day special for me. I wish I could go back to that time.

I can’t usher in this birthday with the same fervor that I do every year but I am doing the best I can.

So, Happy Birthday, myself!

Here’s wishing that the year ahead will bring happiness for me and my family.

Loss

Raj — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:33:43 +0000

Disbelief, shock, despair and overwhelming sadness are some of the emotions that me and my family have been going through for the past 10 days now. I lost my sister on 1st November.

Half and Half

Raj — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:59:53 +0000

So half my management course is over already. That was fast, now wasn’t it? And we have an ongoing 10-day vacation before the elective terms start. My original plan was to spend large part of this vacation in Bangalore catching up with old friends but thanks to the incessant rains and the accompanied flooding, my plans were ruined. I hate it when that happens.

I am still trying to salvage the holidays by doing as little as possible everyday. We also found a way to convert our apartment into a theater every night with the help of a projector. Take a look at my movie reviews page here. I’ve watched all the movies for October 2009 in the list since the vacation started and will continue watching more movies till the vacations end.

Super Randomness

Raj — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:13:33 +0000

So, a lot happened since the last post. Here’s a gist: Term 2 ended. I took a four vacation and visited home. Term 3 began. All hell broke lose. Term 3 ended. The world was beautiful again!

In the five day break last week, I tried to make the most of the beautiful world and I chose to mostly do nothing to enjoy the days properly. I did, however, watch a cult Hindi movie, Gunda, which was nothing short of a classic. Scene after scene of pure unadulterated, unintentional comedy.

And on Saturday, not only did I find this clip on you tube of a hillarious scene from the movie Clerk but my flatmate, Amit, also ordered the movie which is finally available after years of wait. Yay!

Moving on, the weather has been phenomenally good in Hyderabad for the past den days or so and the greenery in the campus looks livelier than ever before.

Term 4 began today and the usual grind has started.

Real, Surreal

Raj — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:42:53 +0000

I realized something the first time I stepped out of the college campus. That if you live in a campus for too long, the campus becomes your whole world and all the small problems within the campus seem big and extremely important. But only when you go out and see that there’s a real world outside can you put things back in perspective. Which is why I’ve made a point to go out once a week so that I don’t lose touch with reality.

That’s not saying that I don’t like the world inside the campus. In fact, I love it! I don’t remember ever working for as many hours a day as I do now. My life here so far has already shown me that I’m capable of much more than I thought. This might come as a surprise to some of my friends here, especially my study group mates, but I actually enjoy working on the assignments at weird hours of the day. Whats scary is that I’ll have to leave this make believe world in around 9 months and go back to the real world.

In other news, I have a great (at least I think so!) view from my bedroom window. And just so you all could agree with me, here’s a picture!

Also, the part of Hyderabad I’m in isn’t too bad. Its pretty close to the upmarket areas of Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills which have some of the best hangouts. But I still miss Bangalore, particularly my neighborhood of Kalyan Nagar and Banaswadi.

Playing The Game Right

Raj — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:13:45 +0000

Profuse apologies for the lack of any posts in the last one month. One of the primary reasons for it was my struggle to juggle everything. There are just too many things to do and very little time. Between the classes, social clubs, professional clubs, case studies and assignments, there’s never enough time to do anything else. I do manage to listen to some music and watch episodes of Lost to keep myself sane. What makes time management even more difficult is my disturbed sleep cycle. For some reason, I am sleeping more than I used to. I blame Hyderabad’s weather for it!

But now that the first term is almost over and I have recovered from the slight (yeah, right!) humbling caused by the mid-terms, I think I’ve finally figured out the right balance that I need to maintain to extract the most out of my one year here. I’ve set some goals for myself and I will try to get involved in most things that will help me achieve that goal. Nothing too serious! Just the things I need to help me grow. I’ve been active in the Running club, Toastmasters club and Dance club and think it will stay that way though there might be few additions in the later part of the year.

There’s an upcoming term break next week. Hopefully, it will help me rejuvenate and prepare myself to play the game.

Back to School

Raj — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:15:30 +0000

How different and consuming the past two weeks have been could be gauged from the fact that I did not listen to my iPod even once, which by the way, is the longest I’ve been away from it because no matter how busy I might have been, I always found time for it.

It has been a happy journey so far. Meeting so many talented and diverse individuals and trying to remember their names has been the theme so far.Things will change from tomorrow though as the first term begins. I’m all set to soak in the college classroom experience once again.

I’m all settled in this new routine but I’ve made sure to incorporate some of my old daily habits for the sake of having some familiarity.

Although the school is technically in Hyderabad, this place is a world in its own and could have been . anywhere in the world. I’ve only been to the city thrice and am yet to explore all the touristy places. I guess it’ll happen in due time.

Wow! Lots of scattered thoughts. Just give me some time and I’ll put it all together. I’m off to breaking my iPod abstinence now!