First weekend in Canada!

Amongst all the anxiety about stay and food, i landed here at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 16th November 2009. It was not such a bad experience with the flight, for the first time i traveled outside my homeland. And now, it has been 5 days already here and i have just borrowed a laptop to write this post.

When i touched down here, i thought that it was really cold. The temperature was closing in to 0 and sometimes touching and going into the negatives. I must say that now it has started becoming a lot better. I somehow realize that Darwin was so right when he mentioned about adaptation being the prime source of survival and that survival would be for the fittest. I have heard stories about the temperature going below -25 degrees here in the winter...Scary...and hence i believe that i should not care much about the pleasant weather right now (Hovering around the 0 degrees).

Anyway, first look of this City was not different than what we find in India, i should say...3 AM in the night at Bangalore would be just the same as 5 PM in the evening here. No people on the streets...No tall buildings...But the only thing, the drivers would like are the streets. I must tell you, they are pretty scared when they find a pedestrian crossing when the signal is not down (Yeah it happens here as well but then you might be run over in India if you do so). The trees look dead already and you feel that winter has arrived a lot before than any part of India here.

Today i had the chance to visit the downtown of the city. I plugged my Ipod in and it felt as if i was so close to being with the people that i was hearing on the pod. It feels a little lonely here though on the streets but i hope that's temporal and i make friends here real quick. It's so interesting to learn about the culture people possess here and then there is this challenge of them accepting you the way you are. People travel by bus here and the transportation is just great...haven't seen any discrimination yet and i feel and hope that i won't face it for the time i am going to stay here.

The girls i have seen so far are both HOT and Beautiful. Well, the surprising part is that, you don't have to even walk a meter to find them. I have honestly been influenced by the western things during my teens that i seem to like some of the stuffs that they like...but i am looking for that lead up, so that i can connect to them better.

Sure as hell, i am going to be different person when i go back from Canada. I thought that US would have been a better place to be in...but i have started to like this place more than i could have imagined...I wonder where Bryan Adams or Chad Kroger stays...Wish to trace them soon :)! Until the next time...

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Yeah it's official. I am flying to Canada on next Saturday - 14th Nov. How do i feel about it? Well, i am not very excited to be honest. This is one time when i can surely feel what being an Indian means. It's kind of strange when people in the office hear about your trip and congratulate you. As if it is some Bumper lottery that i have won. Well anyways, sarcasm and oppurtunities are not the best of friends. On this trip i would want to do as few things which otherwise may have never been possible. I want to meet new people, as many as possible, learn their culture. Secondly it's the land of Brian Adams, NickelBack etc and hell man, i got interviewed, just a few days by Radio Canada International...at that time, i surely did not know that i would be headed to that country. Thirdly, i wish to play and spread my band's music as much as i can over there. It would be a dream come true if i can play at some show there with atleast an acoustic guitar. Opps, i forgot to mention about the work, well ofcourse that's also a plan...

Apart from the usual things, the worst part of the stay probably would be the temperature at this time of the year and esp and Ottawa. I would be completing my 25th Birthday there in just a few days. It just throws those wrong signs when i realise that i am really getting old. Christmas would be an exciting time to be there. I wish i go and come back and the days just finish up in a whisper...I definitely would miss my friends...and my mom...

A bright sunshine!

Well, as the subject line reads, i am really on the lookout for a bright sunshine to come into my life. Big times for Dark Project, as we move from strength to strength. Last Sunday we played at the Opus Bangalore. You can count the number of bands that have played there from Kolkata. I had promised the band and we did it. Pub Rock Fest is on Saturday Night in Kolkata. I am flying from Bangalore on Friday afternoon for it. I shall hit back to Bangalore on Sunday evening and i have a team outing to take care of on Monday. PRF is one of the biggest platforms to play for any band and we are no exceptions. It's so very true that the idea of Rockstars has a different meaning in the country. We are normal human beings, going about our day to day lives. We don't dope neither we are a drunkard. I make sure that in every show we play, we are as closer to the audience as possible by keeping our feet to the ground. Actually, the Rockstar attitude will not work in this country for the next few years to come. Idolizing bands, worshiping them in what they do is still to arrive in our country where the only stars are the ones living in the tinsel town called Bollywood.

I have really busy days ahead of me, considering that we have radio shows after this and then we are off to Mumbai to play a couple of gigs. Considering that i have full liberty from my office in doing all these extra cirriculars, i am really thankful for the co-operation my managers have shown. If you are a girl reading this, then you might understand the fact already that my life misses the word called "Stability". Yet this is the age to take it all and drain it all...I hope that the good gods would be kind to me.

Alls said and done, the focus now is for this Saturday. I don't want to risk the show by any chance and hence getting myself fully geared for it. We have to work on an acoustic set as soon as this show gets over for the radios. I think that missing piece in Dark Project, reference to Live gigs, is finally falling into place...I hope i am personally able to survive this onslaught both physically and mentally...After all, i am not a Rockstar yet :)!

The Quirky shows and me!

Well, all of sudden, its again, raining posts. No wonder i have the headroom to think now. Tomorrow would be the start of a new week at the office and i just want to pen down some random thoughts in my head currently. Actually as a reader do not try to search the head or tail for this post as that might only lead you to the Jurassic Era(Worst Reference of the T-Rex after Jurassic Park - 3).

So what i have been upto these days, other than sitting at this lame terminal is, watching two of America's most popular Sitcoms. One is the very generic, How I Met Your Mother and the other one, The Big Bang Theory(Neither this is related to the origin of the universe nor is the name of a C-grade porn movie). I believe i am late joiner into the HIMYM club but TBB is also an equally cool show to watch(Yeah only sometimes and not always). Its kind of funny how this character by the name of Sheldon Cooper in TBB resembles to one of my best buddies for the past 8 odd years, Sauvik Biswas. There is a whole new defination to the phrase, "Pleasure in Pain" for both of these charcters. Yeah they are not the one you are thinking, they are "The Sadists" in their own rights.

Infact Sauvik is a nice guy and so is Sheldon. Both of these charcters live in their own timeline (Mr.Einstein there is one more Dimension now, a subdivision of your fourth, its called "Selfish TimeLine". More aptly as STL. Don't be curious/skeptical about the word "Selfish" as it only means living-in-your-own-world here). There are benifits of adding this attribute into your already-overwhelming-list of traits. With this quality, you would be able to enjoy even the biggest tragedy's of life. Well, guess what is the most frequent one that you would enjoy? Yeah correct, BREAK UPs. Though you might enjoy the synergy that comes with this trait but on the hindside you may become rigid and a little of Staunch. You may always want to add your PJs at the most grave moments even when you are in the middle of a Lament. Ever so much that people would slowly have metrices defined by your name (Ref : In IIT KGP they said that 1 Sauvik of PJ is deadly for any normal living human being). Slowly you would decipher that it is your cult way of getting to the nerves of people. No wonder you would love South Park and sing songs of Uncle F*cker. And as soon as you sleep (even without the knowledge that you have gone into sleep) you would find yourself sleep walking to the hall of fame.

All said and done, but with all due respect, its hard to be One Sauvik or even One Sheldon. Its worth to take inspirations from them at when the things arn't going right for you. You can just flip the funny side and say...Hey Sauvik, i just cracked a 1 MiliSauvik joke (Ref : This particular post)...and before you as a reader can decipher and laugh at it...I am SLIP walking to my bed.

2 years of ...Experience!

So it happened. I have completed my 2 years of Work (I was working before that too) as a software professional. Well, too much of an out pour when i am trying to figure out what to put in for this post. What should i say, i moved to Bangalore on 1st August 2007. But before that, i was a part of the Chennai Safari for 10 days. Bangalore looked like the place to be when i landed for the first time. Temperature always under 30. No humidity and arguably the best working environment in the whole country. My office was no different considering the stories i have heard from other parts of the country. Lotsa hot chicks on the streets of Bangalore and so many expensive cars. This was new to me, considering that i hail from a very small town in Bengal where a Santro would be a rare site. But no, i kind of feeling glad that, i have landed into the Rock City of India, the place where all international artists pay a visit. I had heard a lot about Bangalore Rock Scene from over in college, but during my juvinile days, i had known it to be the land of Rahul Dravid, Anil and Srinath.

Things started off quite decently at office. I got into project right away, without any formal training that we hear about. I had always this fear that i would have to work even on weekends and that the IT industry is too unkind for people as far as work is concerned (Refering to services companies for the time being) but touchwood, i never had to come even once in office over on a weekend thus far. Yes, it has been dipsy dicey at office with the amount of work i have done, sometimes it has gone to extreme of staying back till midnite from morning. But i should say, this is one thing in my life, which has been consistent. Something which has given me a sense of security over the past 2 years. But that's like the glorified look of the things. How about the muscular pains that i have developed recently. There is also this sense of scrutiny that has come into life now, whatever i see in my life goes through the cycle of effort estimation, documentation, coding and then execution, followed by a tentative time for the verification. I have made some people's life a little difficult by following these norms who are actually happy human beings. I have learned a new meaning of respect now, where we don't only worship our seniors but also find ways to impress them by ccing every mail to them. I have understood that, smart knowledge is respected more than extra intelligence. Sticking to deadlines is one good aspect that i learned but then that has lead my patience going for a toss when i am in with normal people. Somehow i stand at the nook of realising that this industry will not let you survive if you want to deliberately do things which are good. You have to smart and man that is the key word.

It has been funny too at the same time, when i have come across people who have given a whole new meaning to that word smart. I have seen people saving money and people throwing money to make more money. I have seen plastic cultures of showing respect and appreciation. I have also seen that how a human life gets constricted in front of 15 inch monitor and a 20 inch long keyboard. I have seen how people slowly give up on everything and make coming to office the part of their lives. How people actually search for ways to celebrate and break the monotony.

Well, i have been a victim of the above, but i have tried my best to fight it as well. I have given up on sports mostly which has been my second love after music but still today i ensure that i atleast play a game or two of table tennis. I have continued my music, in way the office has helped me to build the contacts and communication skills which just got sharpened. Its just like a dusk waiting for the dawn but i don't know how many more years are ahead of me and how many more years i am going to sustain in this industry.

Love Hate Tragedy!

DJ!

Leave this town!

2 years and we have the sophomore album by Daughtry. I am in the process of listening to it. I know lot of you might think, its an industry made sound. Cliche, formula. All agreed, but it makes me feel good. I have always wanted to sing like him. I have always wished that there was atleast an American Idol in India. Unfortunately that is not possible and i don't want it either. I just would die without singing. I want to fly with it. Somehow i don't have the wings, somehow i am not the one spotted yet and maybe i would never be. Sometimes i wish to break free into the open skies but then insecurity pulls me back. I strum by guitar till the strings break and ask god, that i wish there was someone to listen to me. There was someone who would keep me inspired to sing. Anyway, i shall keep it coming, its my living necessity as same as air and water.


Cheers to music!
BTW...check out our new single: One song for Dystopia...here is the wallpaper to it :)! Keep rocking!

Long awaited Freedom!

What happened to me for the last two years? Guess what...4 shows with Dark Project, 1 at IIT KGP, 1 at HIT, Haldia and 2 at Some Place Else, Hotel Park, Kolkata. One disastrous solo performance at my office campus. An album done, called "Liberty & Entropy". Joined one of the coveted software firms from College. Came to Bangalore for the first time and settled for this phase of my life. I also lost my love in the process. A girl whom i had deeply loved, things did not work out. I am kind of bogged down in my life. The fuel to run Dark Project is enormous till date. But then, its disheartening to convey it when i see the attitude of certain people towards art and music. I somehow know that i am definitely at the wrong place. I need to break out and break free but then the chains that bind me are too tied up for me to achieve freedom right now.Talking about Freedom, "Liberty & Entropy" is my first attempt towards that goal. This album has the outright dedication from Me, Sauvik and Ugyal. I am happy that i can see the reflection now on Digi and Abhishek. I am thankful to Chux for being there for me always. Its been a long wait...for me. I want to relish this moment, but my hands are tied up in getting it to you and many others like you...So i can't afford to relax and enjoy this glory.More than an album, this is a monument of perseverence, the driving factor that me and Sauvik had took on back in School. Even i can't believe that i have been able to live with it for the last 7 years. People came and they went by but i am glad that we were always focussed on what we wanted to do...This album gives me the pump to move ahead and assists in me affirming to "Never Say Die" attitude...If you think it was easy...then think again...And now that i am probably all alone, with my Mother supporting me. I will not let it go by.Toast to Dark Project...my soul carriers in this mortal world, take a bow:Sauvik - You have been my inspiration. My guide, to whatever i have achieved.Ugyal - I know what you hide inside...your belief for Dark Project, is amazing.Chux - The best Roomie and partner i could have ever imagined in this new life. I will never be able to give you back what you have given me.Abhishek - Distances don't matter and i told you this on the first day. You are impetus to everything i do in life.Digi - A big brother, with only a month's gap between our birthdays. I am surprised pleasantly that i am still following you and vice versa.Nochiketa - Unconditional support, thanks for that.Korak - Thanks for believing in us and Dark Project.and above all...My Mom - She is a lady with the heart and courage. I would not live my life without her. The support i get from you can not be replicated by anyone.The moment of Truth...29th May...hail the world...hail Dark Project...A new life and a new freedom!

Vote for freedom!

Unfortunate indeed that the gap between this and my last entry is for over a month. I really could not find time due to my ocassional commitments with Dark Project shows and of course a yet so hectic life style at the office. 

Well good we are coming up with a new album but i would keep that off from here as i have a separate place, where i talk about it. This time it's all about the elections. Vote banks are all that we seek for. Notable point is that we always end up having over 50% of the "Junta" voting. A real sad story where you can say that the government is selected without a consent of half of the population who should have voted.

I remember seeing Barack Obama taking the oath for his presidential tenure. If i remember correctly then it was -5 degrees in washington that day, yet it was truely amazing to see how many people had actually turned up to see him. Some of the channels showed reactions from their citizens and each an everyone of them believed they had a change to take over. I won't comment about the after math, even considering that it is too early to do so.

Instead we shall turn our heads back to the nation. I would ask you, would you be there for the oath taking ceremony of our Prime Minister or how many of you would actually look forward in listening to the speech live on national television? I believe i know the answer and so do you...Question to ask here is why? Is it called lack of accountability? Is called taking things for granted? Or is it called Lethargy where you think that things cannot change here even if someone rubs his ass over the word "Change"?

Maybe we won't see an answer in all of these questions. What might give us the clue is the very fact that we still are imprisioned. We are still suffering the after maths of slavery. After all that we fought to get out freedom, our bones have lost the courage to fight. The last day, i was asking someone about her casting her votes, she replied by saying that she doesn't even have a voter's id card. With Amir Khan on television in the middle of every commercial break, i believe we were a bit deaf to hear that. 

You can't even deny us blaming the politicians and always hiding behind the sentence, "All are corupted". Too easy to say, if i ask you to step in for the nation, would you? There are enough reasons for you to site at that time, after all you have dreamt of MBA or an MBBS or maybe the old school engineering degree but politics? Not at all. 

Bottom line time once again. Freedom did come on 15th August 1947 but it is now a chapter in the history books more than anything else. We are strangled in our own lives and have become a slave to it. Wake up India!

No wonder..how we do it!

[Substitute the word "unbalanced" with "imbalanced" on my last post. It's only an illusion that i really missed it, rather diplomatically it was a conscious effort to see how conscious you were while reading it.]

I plan to write this post about the perfect mantra to success. This one would really interest those who are our so called "MBA aspirants" or the ones who are like me, "the non-aspirants". So here we are.

Long time ago, there was a girl, who asked her boyfriend, "O can you get me an MBA degree?". The boy asked in agony, "Why do you need that?, I am already an Engineer?". The girl replied back, "What about the status Q? Don't you know that it's the master key to open the locks of the gates my father has closed for you?". The boy is really in a dilemma. He gets sleepless nights, staring on the walls, thinking the goods and the betters that would happen if he really listens to the girl. In comes the question of priority. In comes the fact about where he would want to see himself in 5 years time. He takes a call finally, he tells the girl, "Look i don't want to wake up in the morning everyday and be the person that i really do not want to be, if MBA is the key to success then, i would want to be me"!

So by this time, i think we have a divided opinion about whether the boy really did the right thing or not. Let us look into both the aspects one after the other.

What if our protagonist had agreed to whatever the girl had to say. Mmm...He would have studied his ass off to become a MBA scholar from some mediocre institute if not the best ones. He would have had a Bently car waiting for him in the next 5 years time and of course he would have had a family with the girl (having baby sitters taking care of his ward). And then he would have a pile of nuts to crack. Now the problem is that, the same girl asks the man,
"You have no knowledge of responsibity, you always come late from office. Is work you life? Am i not anything to you?".

So our protagonist sits lame and wonders, if i were not an MBA. Well enough cast on one side, now back to the other. What if he was not. Mm...He would be an employee of an IT company (considering that they are best employers of our country). Living in a rented house, coming by office bus and yes, maybe still "Unmarried". But a lot happier, he still has a handful of dreams and complete control on his life. What happened to the girl? Well she is happily married to a guy in USA, who might not be an MBA but she has changed her preferences because now its all about shaking your booty in the United States of America. The place where she had always dreamt to be from her childhood.

Huh! So we are here, a breather. What confusion is this life? Well nothing actually. The positive way of seeing this is that, Live your life the way you want to. Most important than all,
"Follow Your Dreams"!

Do you deserve this?

No time to hover around. I shall directly come to the point. Let's roll back 20 years from now. The term "Engineering" (I was a 4 year old kid) , was like a substitute to "Genius", rather the other way around. I would grow up as a child, thinking that its too big for me to fill in those shoes of being an "Engineer". I never really bothered about it and neither my mom might have ever thought about it a single day. So i aspired very little and i became..."Luck by chance"... Well not much the same way like my ancestors in this profession might have done it. None the less, the "Engineering" mania was on in full throttle until....errrr.....Some terminology which laid dormant in English dictionary...suddenly wakes up bigger than anytime...Well enough of suspicion...I am referring to the giant, the killer, the slow poison called "The Recession"...

"Engineering" was a decent investment...approximately 1.5 lacs for 4 years and then a guarantee to sign the dotted line for a multi national company. Sadly the days are no more same and it has happened before than most of us might have anticipated it 4 years back. Suddenly the final year passout students are sitting at home, listening cautiously to whatever the rumour trademills are running. Suddenly there is a pause in confidence, when a father would meet his old friend in the market and say...my son is an "Engineer"...All of a sudden an engineering student starts feeling that he had made the wrong choice...Somewhere he hides the truth...the truth of taking a short path to survival. Depressions everywhere...What do we do now?

One thing to understand here is...that recession maybe bad to many...but this is the time when you can really ask yourself the BIG funny question..."Do i really deserve it for what i have put in"...Hikes that would give the exponential curves a shame...Did we really put in all these to get that much? I guess we know the answer...So what do we do now...that we have already plunged one feet into the sinking boat which was full of gold mines...If you really ask me...this is the best time that you would know yourself better. You would know your limitations and realise your abilities. This is the time where sustainance is more important than demand. The best always comes out when its tough...So is for us...Buckle up your seat belts...Take the plunge with both hands say to yourself that "Yes i will survive"...Believe me in 3 years from now...you would be different man...Actually this is the best time to really pay for taking that short route to success. To show to the world that...yes we were the chosen ones...:)!

After all...we created this money...we created this world...its sometime when the social ecosystem gets unbalanced due to our ever growing needs...something which is an artificial phenomenon takes the shape of a God's desire...and we really fail to prove that we deserved it all along...