Jagjit and Gulzar’s “Koi Baat Chale”

Finally got my hands on Jagjit & Gulzar’s latest release “Koi Baat Chale”. It was a long wait after Marasim, but after just listening to it once, I can tell you it was definitely worth the wait. The best ghazal album of the year for me, without a doubt. I am no seasoned reviewer of ghazal albums or any other kinds of music for that matter, but I couldn’t help writing a few words on this album. It starts with Gulzar reciting the following lines, and you immediately know you are up for some treat.

आदमी बुलबुला है पानी का
और पानी की बहती सतह पर
टूटता भी है डूबता भी है
ना समदर निगल सका इसको
ना तवारीख तोड पाई है
वक्त की मौज पर सदा बहता
आदमी बुलबुला है पानी का

skype bluff call…

Strange it may sound but I really got a bluff call on my skype the other day…reminded me of the days when very few people in Nepal had telephone, and those who had one but didn’t have a lot of contacts with a phone, just dialled a random 6-digit (what has now become 7-digit) number and chatted with unknowns…heard a lot about good-humoured as well as bad-tempered bluff conversations when I was still a high-school kid without a phone! Anyway, here I was writing-up yesterday’s post on my blog, I get a ring on my skype. The name sounded familiarly unfamiliar. Familiarly unfamiliar?? Let me explain. The name was very common/familiar name, and some of my friends did probably use it as their ID on MSN and such, but I didn’t have anyone with that name on my skype contact list – hence unfamiliar. So, I get this ring and ignore it for the first few calls. Then suddenly the chat window opens up:

A dream nightmare…

A short preamble before I start the actual material in this post. This is a slightly different post than what I usually put up here. A story that has been in my mind for the last two and a half years, which I somehow couldn’t forget, nor jot down properly and completely. I had bits and pieces of it scribbled here and there in my diary but that too on days when I had the same recurring dream (or nightmare if you will) linking to this story that I am going to tell. As far as I am concerned, it is completely fictional and created out of my thoughts mostly, and partly out of my dreams and/or nightmares. And I wish nobody has to come up to the situation portrayed in the story and not be able to do anything about it. Anyway, I must stop here before I start babbling away too much. The story begins/continues below. Enjoy!

To whom it may concern: (When) Will I be getting a surveillance camera in front of my house?

Well, I might already have one overlooking my house somewhere from the front or from the back garden, which I may not know of. BBC reports that UK is already “the most surveilled country” among the Western industrialised states. The news piece is based on the Surveillance Society report, which can be viewed here.

The two worst countries in the 36-nation survey are Malaysia and China, and Britain is one of the bottom five with “endemic surveillance”.

Apparently, there is one camera for every 14 individuals in the UK. And it is not just through the CCTVs that we are being watched. According another news report on BBC, we could not only be watched from CCTVs but could also be monitored through our credit cards, smart travel cards or even through our store loyalty cards. Here though, I am not going to talk about technology-based surveillance and monitoring. I am going to talk here about the old-fashioned spying – surveillance and monitoring of the activities of an individual by another person, usually an agent of the state or other surveillance agency, or now, as it has been suggested, by other individuals/citizens who come in frequent touch with the individuals being monitored.

hey, is that my MP !?!

Source: The Himalayan Times

Yes, the person dozing off during a recent session of the parliament is my MP. I’m very surprised disappointed to see Raghuji Pant of all people doze off during the parliament session. Why? Because he is the MP of my constituency – Lalitpur 3. Further, I’m also disappointed because he used to be a journalist, who are supposed to be very alert and attentive, especially when people like the PM are speaking (which I think was the case when this picture was taken as well!). Next time he comes around asking for vote, and if I happen to be at home, I sure will tell him to stop dozing off during the parliament session if he wants my vote!