Love, or something like it...

From – Twenty Poems of Love 

 

I can write the saddest lines tonight.

 

Write for example: ‘The night is fractured

and they shiver, blue, those stars, in the distance’

 

The night wind turns in the sky and sings.

I can write the saddest lines tonight.

I loved her, sometimes she loved me too.

 

On nights like these I held her in my arms.

I kissed her greatly under the infinite sky.

 

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.

How could I not have loved her huge, still eyes.

 

I can write the saddest lines tonight.

To think I don’t have her, to feel I have lost her.

 

Hear the vast night, vaster without her.

Lines fall on the soul like dew on the grass.

 

What does it matter that I couldn’t keep her.

The night is fractured and she is not with me.

 

That is all. Someone sings far off. Far off,

my soul is not content to have lost her.

 

As though to reach her, my sight looks for her.

My heart looks for her: she is not with me

 

The same night whitens, in the same branches.

We, from that time, we are not the same.

 

I don’t love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.

My voice tried to find the breeze to reach her.

 

Another’s kisses on her, like my kisses.

Her voice, her bright body, infinite eyes.

 

I don’t love her, that’s certain, but perhaps I love her.

Love is brief: forgetting lasts so long.

 

Since, on these nights, I held her in my arms,

my soul is not content to have lost her.

 

Though this is the last pain she will make me suffer,

and these are the last lines I will write for her.

This year's V-Day Google doodle was created by eminent pop-artist Robert Indiana.

 

Check out Google's V-day Doodle - Love Story style!!

 

Take a bow Rajan and Pseudonym!

It was a Wednesday night and by the time Pseudonym came on, it was nearly midnight. Hip Pocket had just finished their gig comprising, primarily, old classic rock covers – think Rolling Stones, The Who, Doors and The Beatles – all very competently done, particularly the vocals. Then, after the weeknight crowd had thinned and the average age of those who hung around moved significantly southward, the five-member band got on the stage. The female singer seemed young enough to be denied entry into any bar or pub let alone be served liquor. Her mates – on guitars, bass and drums – didn’t seem much older. Another wannabe band, I thought to myself and decided that I would stay till my half-full mug of tap beer was finished.

How wrong I was. Pseudonym are a band that did mainly covers that night but with a finesse that surprised me. The young singer – Suyasha Sengupta – handled Nirvana (Come As You Are), Radiohead (Creep), Green Day (American Idiot) and even Red Hot Chili Peppers (Dani California) with extraordinary ease, the right dose of angst and, when required, melancholia. This, I made a mental note, was a band that could go places. Chatting with the band after their set, I learnt that Pseudonym was formed in 2006 and that most of the band members were either still in or just out of college. Their choice of tunes to cover put them in what many people call the “alternative” genre (I’ve never understood that nomenclature – alternative to what?). Rajan Bhaumik, Pseudonym’s drummer, told me that the band tried to steer clear of clichéd music. From a list of gigs they’ve played, I find they are quite prolific and seem to be regulars at Someplace Else. It’s a pity though that Pseudonym haven’t debuted anywhere outside Kolkata. For venues in Delhi or Mumbai, they could be a good band to book.

Read more of Sanjoy Narayan’s article “High Notes on Park Street” @http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/download-central/2011/02/12/high-notes-on-park-street/#more-1769

 

 

 

 

 

Magical Photographs

I have become a complete sucker for Wedding Photographer’s websites!

How beautifully they shoot even the most mundane event and it’s touched with sheer magic!

Here are a few sites I came across:

http://www.unitedwithlove.com/real-weddings/

http://www.carynazurephotography.com/

Opulent Weddings

Came across this image and absolutely loved it!!

The details of the beautiful jewellery and the bright mehndi coupled with the delicious bokeh in the background, made this an instant fave!

 

Courtesy: South Asian Wedding Baltimore Bride

Hungry for Love!

 

Oh Hell! :-P

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term exam. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well...

 

Here is the "Bonus Question" on the exam: "Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?"

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

 

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

 

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

 

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

 

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:

 

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

 

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

 

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa (a girlfriend of mine during my Freshman year) that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you", and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

 

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

 

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A."

Fantastic Google Doodle on Jules Verne's Anniversary

 

The Enigmatic Captain Von Trapp

I am pretty positive that there’s no red blooded female alive who hasn’t felt her heart flutter when the delectable Captain Von Trapp appeared on screen in The Sound of Music!

So here’s to Christopher Plummer! They don’t make men like him anymore!

Wanderlust (Dream Destinations): Stephansdom, Vienna

Stephansdom or St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna

 

Located in Vienna, the cathedral of Stephansdom is the seat of the Archdiocese of Vienna. Built in the Gothic style, out of white limestone, its prominent features include the multi-coloured glazed tile roof and the mismatched north and south towers. The building stands a massive 136 m in height and 107 m in breadth.

Mozart had a longstanding relationship with the Stephansdom. He played at the cathedral and even was appointed a music director in his old age. He first discovered that he had turned deaf when he could only see birds flying off the cathedral walls when the famous church bells were ringing. For the record, Mozart was married here and also had his funeral held in the Chapel of the Cross.

Stephansdom is famous for a statue of Christ, popularly known as “Christ with a  toothache!”

This cathedral has several well appointed formal chapels such as St Katherine’s, St Bartholomew’s and even one dedicated to St Valentine!

 

Check out the following websites for more information:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/austria/vienna-stephansdom

http://www.aboutvienna.org/sights/stephens_cathedral.php

 

Image courtesy: aeiou.com