Three Brothers & a Violin…

L. Vaidyanathan, L. Subramaniam & L. Shankar were born to V. Lakshminarayana and Seethalakshmi, both accomplished musicians of Tamilian descent. All three brothers received their musical training from their father, who was a professor at the Jaffna College of Music. The three had three more siblings who were also well versed in music but did not attain the peaks of glory as these three did.

I am attaching videos of Subramaniam & Shakar; Vaidhyanathan seems to have kept a low profile with no videos of consequence being available. I guess you can pick up from here.

First, L. Shankar as a part of the group Shakti with Vikku VInayakram, Ustad Zakir Hussein & John McLaughlin. Just take a look at the bow speed.

Now, take a look at Shakar’s Masterpiece – Raga Abheri

And here is L. Subramaniam, live at the Royal Albert Hall

I guess these are all brilliant works – I have a small piece of fusion by L. Vaidhyanathan and that is also brilliant. These guys are gods in their own right. Blessed with talent. Enjoy the videos.

Ajmal Amir Kasab speaking…

Salaam-Alei-Kum, this is Ajmal Amir Kasab speaking.

When they recruited me in the Lashkar-e-Taiba, they told me about how badly Muslims were treated in India – they told me about one Mohammad Azharuddin, who was subjected to the cruelty of being the longest captain of the Indian cricket team – in a period when apart from a hero cup or Asia cup, they didn’t win many tournaments. How cruel! That would have happened with only Muslims – the LeT told me that Tendulkar, because he was an Hindu, was spared that misery.

LeT also told me about Salman, Shah Rukh & Aamir – they are being hassled by the media so much! See how Hindu stars are spared by the media. Very bad discrimination.

So with one APJ Abdul Kalam – he was made a President to torture him! Imagine all the stupid people around him that he had to tolerate – they might as well have exiled him.

So, on hearing such discrimination, I decided I’ll attack India. And when LeT told me I’ll go to Jannat, I thought they were either joking or they meant that I get to see that serial kisser’s movie.

But really, this is Jannat!

When I was in my village in Pakistan, all I got was justifiable abuse from my father for being useless & hunger. Now, I get good, clean clothes everyday. I have a barber who attends to me where I stay. I get newspapers & quality food (people actually taste it before they give it to me, just to ensure the salt is correct). And I have more security than probably the President or Prime Minister of India. I heard that they have even adjusted the traffic around the area I live, just for my peace. I spend my valuable time usefully by lying down and dreading about a day when I might have to give up this Jannat. I also recollect with satisfaction about how diligent & efficient I was in my job – I killed well, yeah.

People wonder why I smile so much in court – how stupid? People work hard all through their life and still get ripped off by Financial Houses, Hospitals or the Government itself. After so much, people still go hungry or sleep on pavements (where they risk being killed by a car more than malaria). Given the good life I am living, I’ll obviously smile. Do they know that if LeT even suspects a member to be a traitor, they execute them immediately? And here I am – they have video taped evidence against me, photographs and hundreds of people who saw me doing my job. And they still want to continue what they call a “path-breaking legal process”. Call me a pioneer or visionary for the idea.

You know, this is what gives me most satisfaction – that I have become an entrepreneur who has created so many jobs. What would all these Judges, Lawyers, Journalists, Politicians, Jailers, Cops & Thinkers be doing if I hadn’t happened? They’d have been jobless I guess. And just because one case won’t suffice, I also gave them a second one - I knowingly entered the platform of the railway station where I murdered about 70 people without a platform ticket – just to create more employment. So there you go – am actually more good to India than most average Indians.

Well, that brings me to the conclusion of this essay – a collection of these can published (generate more jobs) at a later date as a memoir – publishers can contact the HO of international terrorism in Islamabad to buy the rights – just talk to one Asif Ali Zardari, he’ll ask for 10%, but once you give that, he’ll take care of the rest. What’s more, he’ll have many more memoirs to publish – a guy with lots of “contacts” in the terror world. 

Will they give me a Bharat Ratna? Or will it be a Padma Vibhushan? Or a Param Vir Chakra (don’t tell me it is only for battle scarred soldiers, I am a soldier, a fidayeen - killed a cop before I was arrested)? I just hope they do it while am alive – because if they award it posthumously, I won’t be able to generate more jobs – you know, the TV Interviews & inspirational talks about my journey.

Hmmm…Lot’s to think about…Chalo, Khuda Haafiz.

It’s all irrelevant…

The Court will rule that consensual same sex relationships are not criminal – but the Court hasn’t yet punished people who attacked women in pub because they thought the women were being obscene.

Meanwhile, why are activists so happy? Weren’t they in a relationship when it was illegal? Did being on the other side of the fence stop them from being gay? I don’t think it did – and if it did, I don’t think the ones who stopped are gay enough. Then what’s there to rejoice about?

Especially in India, there’s a long way to go between what’s on paper & what’s in practice – I wish a child of the judges who ruled is gay. I would love to see how s/he accepts the truth & treats them “equally”.

But this is not just with Gay rights – naah, that’s not what I am against. I hate this “looking-for-legal-approval” behaviour. When it comes from the Ganja smokers sitting in German Bakery that Ganaja should be legalised, I hate it. Cause it’s illegality has never stopped those guys from smoking it 5 times a day. Same with women rights – Bharatiyaar sang about the new-age woman and women were proving themselves in every field – but there’s always this gang that need a legislation. Why?

Look at what important issues we have at hand: There’s no water in places & there’s flood elsewhere. Online Admissions is screwed up & Kapil Sibal is already giving up on his bright ideas on the education reform. Crime against women is at a all time high & Kashmir continues to simmer. Financial world is struggling to pick up & unemployment numbers look threatening. But we rejoice because someone said what we are already doing is now legal.

India is out of ICC T20…

Great! We did need a reality check but nothing like this – can’t chase 130? With Gautam, Rohit, Yuvraj, Suresh & Mahi in the same team? Amazing.

ICC T20 has once again proved that the strongest team on paper doesn’t essentially mean we have a winner. In fact two of the three favourites touted to win the cup this time are already out – India & Australia. Apart from Pakistan, all teams in the Semis seem to have an equal chance to win.

Mahi & Co. will have some serious thinking to do – how did a team of world beaters become duds? I would put the blame on a few things: Fatigue, Lack of clear startegy, Over experimentation & Not sticking to any plan. Hope they’ll get things in control soon.

F1 loses its charm & MotoGP is in…

I have been an ardent F1 fan since 2003 and have enjoyed the pitched battles initially between Fernando Alonso & Michael Schumacher and later on between, Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton & Fernando Alonso. True, Kimi was lucky to win in 2007, so was Lewis in 2008. Both Massa & Lewis got the break of their lives with Ferrari & McLaren. It is also true that both in 2007 & in 2008, the championship was decided outside the track. But still, what’s happening in 2009 is a disappointment. What would you call three former world champions who are about 50 points behind the current leader with the season just about touching the halfway mark?

F1 has always been the pinnacle of the Glamour & Sport combination. There’s big money involved and the sport itself is life-risking. But for championships & race results to be decided in court rooms & by stewards is just the slap on the face a fan doesn’t want. And as if that wasn’t enough, we have Brawn GP (although it is run by one of F1’s greatest minds, Ross Brawn who was instrumental in creating the Schumacher Charisma), a team whose existance was under question just about two months before the season start. And now, their drivers are 1 & 2 with three 1-2 finishes out of 7 races already – pathetic? Not to deny the fruits of their hardwork but it is disgusting that 8 teams can’t even compete with them because their interpretation of a stupid diffuser rule was different from the Brawns & Red Bulls. What a pity?

And then, the 2010 season only promises to be an even bigger flop – Mr. Max Mosley (caught performing a Nazi influenced BDSM fetish orgy last year) the President of the FIA (F1’s governing body) has a great idea to ensure proper competition – a budget cap (which is I believe less than 50% of what Ferrari & McLaren, the 2 top teams until last season spend currently) that would put the underprivilaged teams at par with the top ones. If there was a stupid decision ever to kill a sport, Max would qualify hands down.

Defeating the argument is the current season – with all their budgets & technical superiority, Ferrari & McLaren stand 4th & 6th in the championship. So money alone, isn’t clearly the distinguishing factor.

The ticket prices are too high leading to empty stands, crowd favourites aren’t winning anymore & recession is hitting sponsors who are backing out of the sport & their deals all of which is leading to a severe strain on the financials already. Max is planning to deliver that death punch on F1 which would probably see the sport actually dying. But whatever happens, it would be an achievement for Max.

On the other hand, MotoGP is awesome – I haven’t seen a single race till date that has been decided off track, the four-pronged battle for the title last year between Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo & Dani Pedrosa was a treat to watch. Though Dani & Jorge dropped out of contention, the track battles between Rossi & Stoner was vintage stuff. The MotoGP US Grand Prix 2008 at Laguna Seca was like watching Lord Shiva perform his rudra dance on earth – amazing!!! And once again Rossi, Lorenzo & Stoner are back at it this year with 9 points seperating the top three racers – now that’s what we call competition.

I mean its ok if your favourite doesn’t win every race – it is important for the sport to win. And MotoGP does just that. I would recommend all of you to watch the races – the next one is at Catalunya this Sunday. Watch it and am sure you’ll get addicted.