Bryan Adams in Pune!!

It rocked from the word go! I have been a fan of Bryan Adams' since I was a kid, since I was in class 5. The first album I heard of his was So Far So Good and I was hooked on to it. By the time I was in high school, he was back with his hits, The Best of Me and a few albums in between. This is one guy who has stuck around churning one hit after another, entertaining fans all over the world and supplying a long list of songs to lovers everywhere :)

I wanted to see him live for quite sometime now. When he first came to Bombay in 1995, I too had just moved to Bombay and there was no way I could go and see it (my Dad wouldn't take me and I was too young to go alone). He made 3 more trips to India since then and everytime for some reason or the other I missed him. Finally, one day while returning from office in Pune, I see this huge poster informing about his arrival and i had made up my mind that I am going.

After a little help from a colleague of mine got a decent 50% off on tickets and got myself and a friend the second cheapest tickets (actually can't really call Rs.3500 cheap but then again these fuckers levy such a huge entertainment tax that it makes things a pain in the ass). The show was to happen in Amanora Park in Pune. Its really a different corner of Pune considering the fact that I live in Kothrud. The show was to start at 6:30, though I knew that it'll be started with some local band, "Highway 61" in this case. Reached Magarpatta (bang opposite Amanora) at around 5:00, picked up my friend and then we walked. We walked and we walked. We walked a lot. Must have been more than 3 kms. All we kept seeing were, long lines of vehicles and posters with arrows pointing ahead. Anyways after the "holy-walk" we finally reached the place.

Let me fast forward a bit. We got good places to stand, there were 2 RJs boring shit out of people, then there was some performance and a weird ass fashion show which I really didn't care about. There was also a performance by this band called Highway 61. They played well and blah blah but seriously, we had gone to see Bryan Adams and didn't give shit about the other performances.

Finally at 8:15 p.m. Bryan and his band came out and suddenly the energy level jumped up by a factor of few thousand and the noise level by a few hundred decibels! That guy is 51 but believe me he'll be 18 till he dies. He was witty, energetic and absolutely fantastic! He sang most of his hits and entertained us for 2 hours. Summer of 69, Here I am, Please forgive me, Everything I do I do it for you, Straight from the heart, Can't stop this thing we started, It's only love, 18 till I die, Let's make a night to remember, The only thing that looks good on me, Heaven, You've been a friend to me, cloud number 9, when you're gone, Cut's like a knife, Somebody and One night Love affair (a song I hadn't heard before). I am sure I am missing out a few more he sang. I think he sang close to 20 songs that night.

It was funny to see him introducing himself, "Hi! I am Bryan". And then he looked up at one of the nearby buildings where there was someone sitting on the window watching. He had a monologue with him and even offered to give him tickets if he came down :P

The band was awesome. Keith Scott rocked like a true rocker. Runing all over the stage, jumping around doing crazy stuff and simultaneously playing flawlessly. He did some super riff work on some of the songs and he improvised on a few. After one such improvization, Bryan ended up asking him how he manages to do that :D. Mickey Currey did an equally awesome job with the drums as did the rest of his band.

As is his normal way of singing When You Are Gone, he called a female fan to sing the song with him and she did a good job :) The funniest part was the "Encore". Usually in rock shows, they always keep a few songs for the encore where they go out, and then come back in to sing. A lot of extremely stupid asses started leaving the place once they went in, instead of shouting, "Once More!" Is it that difficult to understand that the lights will go on when the show is over??? Luckily the guys in the front did a good job with the requests!

Well it was an absolute dream come true for me on the 11th of Feb 2011. Next time I am taking the 10K tickets and standing right in front of the stage!

Stuffed and Praying for Time

I think most of my past one month has gone in eating. Good food, good places and most of all good company. :) Well today was good too, I bow before the Bengali women for their awesome ability to cook good food! And heading my list of super cooks is my mom. I ought to tell her once in a while how good she cooks :)

Well I feel extremely slow and lethargic. Most of my blood is definitely concentrated in and around the stomach muscles trying to digest the food that I have stuffed in. Well as Po would say, "My Kung-Fu is not that good while I am digesting", I follow, "my writing may not be that good while i am digesting :P".

Here's a song for tonight... since I don't think I'll do justice writing anything. A song called "Praying for Time" by George Michael. A good song with good matter, says how things are. Me on the other hand am for praying for time too. A little different though.

These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers

This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we’ll take our chances
Because God’s stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all Gods children
Crept out the back door

And its hard to love, there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it’s much, much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time

These are the days of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year

This is the year of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say what’s mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much but I’ll take my chances
Because God’s stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can’t come back
Because he has no children to come back for

Its hard to love there’s so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say its much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time

Daughters

It has been raining for the past 3 days. Just continuous rain with awesome wind. Do I like it? No, not really. Getting wet when I want to get wet is a different thing. But getting wet while going to work or returning is not the most wonderful feeling. And sitting in wet clothes is pathetic. Anyways we need the rain, Bombay needs all the rain that it can get, so that we don't run out of water 6 months down the lane.

I don't really feel like writing too much. Just too bloody sleepy. Did a leg workout after more than 2 months. Its already aching. I am dreading the thought of tomorrow cause the real pain comes after 12 - 18 hours. So what I am gonna do is take the easy way out and note down another great song.

Its a song called "Daughters" by John Mayer. Really an awesome song.

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Oh, you see that skin?
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now I'm left
Cleaning up the mess he made

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

Boys, you can break
You'll find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong
And boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without the warmth from
A woman's good, good heart

On behalf of every man
Looking out for every girl
You are the guide and the weight of her world

So fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

I find this song extremely deep and meaningful. I don't know how many girls would connect to this song but I think a father does play a major role in a girl's life and her outlook towards other men. The mother is just as important. A girl does grow up to be like her mother, no matter how much she claims she isn't. And I do believe at times its not about what more the guy can do but its more about what it is that the girl wants. Its never easy trying to understand what a girl feels but I guess at times its best to be silent, patiently listen and wait. Its probably not how to solve a problem that a girl looks for, rather helping her realize that she can solve it.

But then again, I must be wrong... I am not an expert :)

Walk On

The whole day passed in a sort of a daze today. I was pretty zonked. Whole body's still aching, extremely sleepy and a little fatigued. So I plan to sleep early today. Get at least 6 hours of sleep. Want to end the friday energetically :)

I am trying yet again to use Netbeans. This is my third attempt at it and something tells me that this time it'll work out. QT4 needs to be controlled too. It's quite different from QT3 and has a steep learning curve. I should have made the shift long back. Anyways, better later than never :P

Really not in a state to write much of significance. I am reading up on what I wrote yesterday and most of the places seem to point to one thing. Think positive. What you think will manifest. Think hurt, negative, sorrow and it'll manifest. Think happy, success, health, love and it'll manifest too. So I am gonna try the positive thing. I have gotto keep walking because there is a greater cause, a higher destination.

Here's a song by U2 called Walk On. It eggs me ahead every time I hear it, reminds me what its all about and all that I'll leave behind.

And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage that you can bring...
And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on...
Stay safe tonight

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can't sell it, or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Home... hard to know what it is if you've never had one
Home... I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the heart is

and I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Leave it behind
You got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you feel
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress-up
All that you scheme...