Snapshots of life

" Every now and then, once in a while, life gives us a miracle "

I've been searching for this quote on google for an hour now. I have no idea where I've read this quote or if it's formulated inexplicably in my head.

There are so many times that I go through this extremely colorful photo album in my head. Snapshots from my life. Like these tiny polaroid photographs. Only they imprint themselves in the fabric of your consciousness. On those rare occassions when my thoughts enter some forgotten dimension in my brain(in a dream or otherwise), it never fails to elicit a smile.

I don't know how, but somehow, the best part of those thoughts appear.

Hence, this series that I call Snapshots of life - my personal miracles . Just some yesterdays, some beautiful yesterdays...

And I start of with this small picture and a million memories.

Quad damage.

Screams.

Familiar faces. Some unfamiliar ones.

Guitar feedback. Drum rolls.

"Vocals on the monitor please. Add some reverb please."

A strong smell of alcohol. Cigarette smoke.

A tiny whiff of Mary Jane.

The finger. Victory Signs.

And then the riff starts, and I lose myself in the music....

October 2007. I was in my final year of engineering(Finally) and going through a hard time mentally after some losses on the family front and some other issues.

A friend from college who I'd played with for some college fests called out of the blue, to meet with his band. It turned out they needed a vocalist and they were ready to give a female rock vox (which in those days in Pune was not such a common occurrence) a try.

One lead, one rhythm, one drummer, and me.

I remember the first meet over coffee that day. One moment we were getting introduced, and the next thing I knew we'd spend two and a half hours speaking of musical influences and bands like we'd known each other forever.

Then the first practice. Two guitarists and me. And the lights were out on that October day. But we sat in the garage in the dark and sang Pearl Jam's "Alive" to acoustic guitar and watched Angela Gossow from Arch enemy on the tiny laptop screen for inspiration.

We spent hours and days jamming. Making music. In the garage( where this picture was taken) and then once the renovations were over, up in our guitarist's room.

Now when I look back I just remember those extended practices. Led Zeppelin one day and Megadeth on another and Incubus some other time.

We did do a couple of gigs. Two and a half to be precise :) They were all fun. Being on stage is a totally unique experience in itself. The gigs were neither too earth shatteringly amazing nor absolutely unwatchable. But they were a fabulous experience.

The band was great while it lasted - two and a half months. We broke up in the beginning of the following year primarily because of creative differences(lol...ego would be a simpler way to put it).

Each time I go to a show, I remember the "being in the band feeling". The heady enthusiasm. It is truly a lovely picture.

And,

I miss Quad damage.

The Case Of The Blasphemy Of Rockers

Heyy !!!! So here I am again. Told you guys earlier that UPDATE was gonna be the real …(n I mean REAL) problem for ahem..both of Us. Looks like She did some updating here..( sorry for that senti poem guys….don’t think that’s actually me.. though I’m not sure... naaah…besides I don’t think there’s place for another one in this blog [:P]…)
All you Rockers out there, this one’s for Ya’ll( This IS more in ma league..) So I’m not gonna go in the details of what Rock’s all about ( Yeah…if you’ve even got the IQ of a 2 yr old you’ll probably know a lil about what it is). Here in India, the Rock rage is just about catching on. Since India is a land of traditions and conforming with social rules, Rock which was always been the mouthpiece of rebellion, is slowly becoming a huge favorite of the youth who want to break away from any chains binding them.( Ya n besides all those “socio..rubbisho” philosophies it’s darned good music which has lyrics to think on and sounds to completely blow your mind.)
I don’t claim to have loads of knowledge on this subject, but I believe that rock started originating from the time Bob Dylan started penning his liberal and rebellious thoughts on paper. And I also truly believe that Rock is all about being who you are and doing what you like without giving a damn about who says what. Ya so I like parties and people..( Ya …alright but I don’t )…maybe you like to smoke.. maybe she don’t….(no questions asked …no shit said.)
But heyyy… What do we have now.. “Dude( remember how that dumb guy in that movie said it..picture that now), I’m a rocker .. I have to smoke like an oil tanker on fire.. drink like my stomach is a toilet bowl and do them weed, speed …n whatever ”( Well and then I hope he goes n throws up on his bloody guitar..some rocker)
Ya .. some rocker… a lot of the guys I know would just start smoking, doing dope n all because they like the music and want to get into the clique(which is uber cool if it’s the right peeps) . And the rest of them don’t even like the music. It’s like if you gotta be a rocker you gotta do this man.. So what happened to doing what you want to do?
Go anywhere around town and the number of Nirvana T-shirts I see makes me wanna never look at Cobain’s face again in my life. C’mon you don’t have to wear an Iron Maiden T shirt to prove you’re a rock fan. And guys death metal in my opinion is just clanging vessels and a wolf trying to make itself audible from over all that.( You may like it…. but don’t just pretend coz that joker next to told you it’s “in” ..get a life)
I went for the Campus Rock Idols (CRI) competition, of the Pune leg in Feb (they might as well have called it the Campus Growl Idols coz that’s all most of the bands did… the only Rock show I felt like running away from.. {makes a face}).. It gave me a headache. And no one really had any stage presence. They were just trying to ape other better known bands.. ( But people people people… there is a HUGE difference in a fake n the real thing n we ain’t no idiots)
(Gimme a break people stop being wannabes). Another rather amusing aspect is their literary developments( Soon the Ivy league will start granting them PhDs in poetry). They turn poets overnight ( Y'Know rockers are also supposed to be poets…duh{smirks}). Their poems are only about flesh n blood( now don’t you go n think this straight outta the bible… this is the real thing) and biting heads off till blood drips, and I don’t what other gore(..just as long as you keep the blood comin) though they can’t make a correct sentence to save their life.
Really all you so called Rockers out there you really would be way cooler if you stop trying too hard. And think about the Music man(“ Ya like Jack Black said in the move` Rock ain’t about getting loaded and acting like a jerk….’ Although you may do it once in a while but only if you want to – not the wannnabe standing next to you”) In the End it’s gonna be the Music that will set you free.
So until next time … rock on…(..Ta)