Mysorean

Perennial dilemma of a seeker…

Mysorean — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:25:55 +0000

Sometimes when I give too much importance to my emotions then I see the quality of my life deteriorating. Activity of the mind becomes uncontrollable. Closing eyes seems to take you to the heart of the matter but only to increase the activity further. How do we break free from our tendency to identify ourselves with thing that we clearly know we aren’t?

It is equally strange to identify oneself as one’s phone or computer as it is with our emotions. Emotions are accumulated the same way the phone or computer was. Why can’t I use emotion to convey or receive a point like a phone and switch it off for the rest of the while? What is it with this stupid compulsion to continuously generate and get involved and attached to these emotions?

Why is it that I want everything else and everybody else around me to be in a certain way to enable me to be in a certain way? Why can’t I remain the way I want to? Which is a bigger tragedy – others not being my way? Or I not being my way? Cleary the latter is a far more significant problem than the former.

The whole point with “I” is that it is already the way it has to be. My perception is so clouded with these damn thoughts about work, home, family, properties that I acquired so on and so forth that I am unable to clear my sense of perception. These thoughts transform themselves into such strong emotions that after a while there is no perception – only emotions and thoughts. And that brings me back to my original question – why emotions?

What does emotion need to exist? Obviously something is driving its existence and pushing it into the realm of the mind. What is that something? When Ï” am a complete being being by myself whatis the need for a horrible crutch like emotion? Ok – I don’t know by experience that I am a complete being but yes without it being complete it couldn’t be the source of creation. When will I destroy myself to let this source of creation take form and express itself? For that to happen I need to break all that I identify myself with. Including these compulsive emotions. How well they disguise themselves to confuse me about myself?! It is amazing that the amount of distance they build within me between Ï”and my desire to experience Ï” seems to be infinite but also a matter of a moment of deep realization. THis crippling duality and the absolute stillness – when will I make the journey? Have I started? Or am I just standing on the shores waiting for the river to invite me? Unless I let go of the bank I won’t experience the river, but if I knew how to jump into the river – the question remains whether I would have chosen to do so?

The question arises mainly because even after having tasted the Divine I am unable to break away from my compulsions and shortcomings. I continue to live with them and do not seem to have escaped from them.

The 200

Mysorean — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:47:55 +0000

I was at office when Sam called me and said, “Do you know what the score is?”. My reply would have impressed my boss, “No”. Sam told me the score and Sachin’s distance from the landmark. A voice rose from inside, “WTF are you doing here? Yeah right, that email is going to get you into the Guiness book of world records for the most number of cumulative ‘regards’ anyone has sent to anyone’. So I packed (yes I scatter myself all over at office!) and left to a cousin’s home at a stone’s throw from office. Went there and asked her to switch on the TV. Sachin was on 190. And that’s where I was when It happened. And that needs to be recorded. Like where I was during that WC’96 quarterfinal with Pakistan at Bangalore. Like where I was when ARR won the Oscars. Like where I was when Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the first individual ~~Gold~~ Silver (Thanks Yesh!) for India. Like where I was when the tsunami, 26/11, 9/11 happened (I don’t mean to be insensitive here, just a reference to the past, that’s all). For me that’s a record! ;)

And what do I say about the 200. It would be akin to a trash can talking about the platinum jewellery that adorned the lady throwing trash into him. No seriously. This man has completely become cricket himself for the last 20+ years and people still worried about him not ‘finishing a game’ or ’scoring a second innings century’ or whatever nonsense that people think he should have done. It surprises me as to how people cannot see what the man has already done. Well, most people go by the statistics and say his average is nowhere near the Don’s nor does he score big ones like Lara did. But now that he has scored something that nobody has done before, praises seem to be coming in like the tsunami. Why does it take a landslide to see a mountain? Why can’t we just appreciate people or things for what they are?

Sachin on his part has gone about his life in the most commendable of ways. Except for running his hands over the seam of a ball once, I don’t remember a single controversy that they could pull him into. To have remained clean and in-control for so many years in the murky scene of Indian cricket is by itself an achievement nobody can ever equal. Even when he failed as a captain the transition to being a player was so smooth that subsequent captains (much junior in terms of age) have always felt grateful to have Sachin in their team. You just cannot keep the man out of action. He will always be found in the centre-of-the-pitch congregations to decide who will bowl next or what is to be done along with the captain Vice Captain and others. And if he wasn’t there, he would chewing at his nails in the same way we would be sitting in front of our television sets and getting involved.

I need to clarify that I am not writing about the 200. I would have been surprised if he had retired without consigning a few of these statistics to his ‘done’ folder. A 200 here, a 400 there is all smaller than the man himself. He is not because of the 200 he has scored, the 200 is so big now because it was Sachin who made it. Frankly, did 194 ever evoke such a formidable picture to you? The substitute runner due to cramps that Saeed Anwar took still shames me into embarrassment to say that an unfit guy made the highest ODI score. I am not ignoring the tough conditions in Chennai to last that long. But at the international level you fight your ghosts – Sachin was punching the right side of his back when he was at 193. And we know the history of his back problem that cost us the 1999 Chennai Test match v/s Pakistan. Now, that’s why the 200 appears so big. It isn’t a big figure as you will see in the coming future. I won’t be surprised if Sehwag or Shane Watson or someone who is capable of breaking this record, actually come close to doing it and declare themselves retired hurt just to keep the respect that Sachin has accorded to the figure 200 now. I remember Micheal Atherton (or someone else it was, I don’t remember. Can someone please clarify? Clarification: Mark Taylor it was) declared his individual test innings at 334 (which is Don’s Highest score in Test cricket) as he didn’t want to go past the Don. I am sure the same will happen to this 200*. People will find it immensely tough in the first place to break the barrier of 200, but once they do it they will realise the overwhelming feeling of overtaking Sachin Tendulkar at that point.

As this man goes on about his life in a scrupulous and meticulous manner setting himself, naturally, as the ideal role model for generations of people to come. Let us take this 200 as an opportunity to bow down to the greatest sportsman that India has ever known. Thanks Sachin for providing us unbridled pleasure through your complete involvement with the game. It has been a privilege and a great pleasure to be living in the same time as you are. Thank you so much!

PS: There is an uncanny resemblance of achievements between Sachin and AR Rahman. Whenever either one has achieved something incredible the other follows it up almost immediately. I am referring to the Grammys being followed by the 200! There are many more such things. Probably another post for that topic! :)

How to write a business plan

Mysorean — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:56:28 +0000

One of the occupational hazards of working for a VC firm is that you need to go through business plans of every kind. This is especially true of the space in which my fund operates. Early/seed stage deals. This (irrelevant business plans) could arise due to various reasons and we shall not get into that now. This post refers only to those who are making business plans for the purpose of fund-raising. Let me get straight to the point.

What is a business plan? I think most people refuse to ask this question when they start building out one. It is a set of well-accepted business jargon that people continue to use and reuse. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. A business plan, in my opinion, is a document created for a certain purpose detailing the core aspects of the business addressing the basic questions of what, how, why, who, when and a few other purpose-relevant questions.

I have created a basic set of questions that the VC wants answered but does not know how to word it in a way that the entrepreneur understands it.

Each question can be answered in a single slide. So a business plan can be utmost 11 slides. Anything more than that means that either the entrepreneur does not know how to word it, or worse does not know the answer.

Here are a few basic dont’s:
1. Don’t create ppt’s of 35+ slides. And don’t send such plans (> 2MB in size) by email. If not anything it is bad email etiquette.
2. Don’t put up the market slide up first. Without the context of what you are doing, it is virtually impossible for the VC to understand what is happening in the slide. So, it’s always better if the market slide follows the value propostition slide.
3. VC’s, generally, like to see disproportionate (usually jargonised as ‘exponential’) growth. That doesn’t mean you show something that’s unrealistic – look at it from a market point of view and see if there is that kind of a space for your product/ service to actually grow. If there is then don’t worry, the VC will also figure it out. If there isn’t and you are trying to fabricate stuff, then the VC will figure out even quicker than you can complete your argument!
4. VC’s love stories. If you once went to Google or Microsoft with your revolutionary idea and they rejected it. It’s okay if it was rejected, but remember to tell them the good points that they said about your product. The VC will definitely take note.
5. Please listen. Don’t keep talking continuously. The VC, however inhumane, is still a human being. He has to go back and deal with a family. In all probability, yours is not the only business plan he is going to see in a day. So, be compassionate. The chances of reciprocation are higher.
6. If you are in advanced negotiation stages with other VCs, make it a point to reveal it during some point during the discussion. It will help save time for both of you (VC and entrepreneur). Sometimes, this might be a chance to get two investors in at the same time (co-investment).

Unable to think of anything more. As of now this is it. In case you need any more clarifications/ have any suggestions please drop in a comment here below.

Transform The World, Start From Within

Mysorean — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 10:51:46 +0000

In every human being, there is an aspiration to become better, more loving and more concerned about one another and the planet. But people are trying to work towards it from the wrong end. People are trying to be loving, they are trying to be good. When you look at yourself, if you are happy and joyful, naturally you are a very loving, generous, wonderful human being. This is true for everybody. On the other hand, when you are in a state of unhappiness, frustration or any other sense of unpleasantness within yourself, you may be nasty. There is no point trying to be loving, trying to be pleasant to somebody else.

When you are feeling pleasant, you are naturally pleasant to everyone around you. The fundamental thing that human beings have to work towards is to make them-selves truly joyful and blissful. Trying to produce good human beings has never really worked. When people are joyful, they are all wonderful human beings. Joy is the best insurance against all evil. People will always find ways to subvert values, morality and ethics. But when you are very joyful, when you are very pleasant within yourself, you are naturally nice to everyone around you. So, my whole work is to make human beings truly blissful.

Spirituality does not mean going away from life. Spirituality means becoming alive in the fullest possible way so you are not just alive on the surface, you are alive to the core. If you look at how full of life and joyful you were when you were five years of age and how alive and joyful you are today, has the level gone up or gone down?

For most people, it has gone down. It need not be so. With age, physical agility may go down but the level of joy and sense of being alive need not go down. If your level of joy and aliveness is going down, it is as if you are committing suicide in installments. This happens because you only focus on certain aspects of life, but without including every aspect, you cannot live a full life.

Unfortunately, most of the time, belief systems are passing off as spirituality. The moment you believe something, if you believe “this is it”, you are bringing a certain degree of rigidity into the very life process that you are.

This is not spirituality.

The spiritual process is always a quest, a seeking; that is why when you say, “I’m on a spiritual path,” you say “I’m a seeker.” When you say “I’m religious,” you say “I’m a believer.” There is a significant difference, because believing means you have assumed something that you do not know; seeking means you have realised that you do not know, which brings an enormous amount of flexibility. Whenever you say, “I do not know something,” you are flexible. Whenever you think, “I know it,” you become rigid. This rigidity is not just in attitude; it percolates into every aspect of your life. This rigidity is also the cause of an enormous amount of suffering in the world.

How human beings are, that is how the society will be. So, creating human beings who are flexible and willing to look at everything rather than being stuck in their ideas and opinions definitely makes for a different kind of society. And the very energy that such human beings carry will influence everything around them.

This is a speech by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. It was emailed to me by Kirthana.

Federer 1, 2, 3,…,15

Mysorean — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:28:16 +0000

Found this wonderful article summarizing the 15 Federer wins in numbers. I think they should replace the number Fifteen with Fedteen! Awesomeness personified, humility magnified and perfection achieved. The greatest. Period.

1 – Federer’s new South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking after winning the Wimbledon title; Number of times in the past 17 Grand Slams that he has not reached the final.

2 – Number of times Federer reached all four Grand Slam finals in the same year (2006-07)

3 – Australian Open titles won (2004, ‘06-07) and three times he’s won three Slams in the same year

4 – Times (or more) reached final in each of the Grand Slam tournaments

5 – US Open titles won (2004-2008) and number of times Federer has lost to Nadal in Slam finals

6 – Wimbledon titles won (from seven consecutive finals)

7 – Consecutive years of winning at least one Grand Slam title

8 – Eight losses in his streak of 21 consecutive semi-final or better Grand Slam appearances

9 – Countries of opponents he’s beaten in Grand Slam finals (Australia, Chile, Cyprus, Great Britain, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, and U.S.)

10 – Record consecutive Grand Slam finals reached between 2005 Wimbledon and 2007 US Open

11 – Appearances at Roland Garros before winning first title (same as Andre Agassi) and number of different opponents he’s beaten in Grand Slam finals

12 – Titles won during his 2006 season, when he came within one match of completing a calendar-year Grand Slam

13 – Titles won in his streak of 20 consecutive semi-final or better Grand Slam appearances

14 – Ties Pete Sampras for the most Grand Slam singles titles in the history of men’s tennis

15 – New Grand Slam titles record

keekate

Mysorean — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:37:19 +0000

That’s what my son calls Cricket!

And that’s exactly what I am upto nowadays on the weekends. This game makes me look forward to my weekends. There is a club called RunsNwickets – which was formed by some wonderful people (KK, Anba and Guna) that I have had the fortune of coming in touch with. The unique aspect of this club is that any cricket enthusiast based out of Chennai is welcome to join in! And that’s exactly what this club is excited about – cricket enthusiasts. If you are one and are in Chennai, just walk in.

Coming down to my experience with the club so far, though short in time, has been most wonderful to say the least. Had two nets sessions and two cricket matches in the last 5 weeks (we play only on Sundays) and brought back those old school and college memories of real cricket. Played lots of tennis ball cricket in the meanwhile (since college) but nothing matches the sound that emanates from a willow that has just timed a cricket ball sweetly. The smell of the cricket kit and the pink colour of your palms is unbeatable!

Before we begin to romanticize my cricketing exploits on this blog, we must understand that I am over 100kgs heavy and over 6ft tall. And my wife says I didn’t run even when she complained of contractions. Little does she know that I was actually doing my 100m sprint! ;) In case you still didn’t get what I mean, this is what it is: If I stand straight and look down I can’t see my two feet! (I can’t get more direct than that without affecting my self esteem!!) While my ability to run between the wickets is suspect, the inability to be a good fielder is confirmed.

My record so far has been this in the two matches I have played in so far:
First match:
Fielded first. Was at third man and long off. Did not let a single ball go through me. And did not concede an extra run where there was none. No dropped catches. I got a pat from my captain and team too for my fielding esp since there were quite a few misfields and dropped catches!
When my turn came to bat, we had to make 61 runs of 30 balls. I made 8 off 8 balls which included a boundary and thought I did a good job. But my running between the wickets, I must admit was pathetic. I would run the second run as if I did not have a thigh bone. I was at the wicket for about 20 mins i.e. till the last over and if we had a coach, as we did in schooldays, he would have dropped me the very next minute!
Scorecard is here. (Yes, club cricket tournaments in Chennai have online scorecards!)

Second match:
Batted first. Was scheduled to bat at #5 or #6 like last match but our top order stuck in there brilliantly. We posted some 180+ runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
Fielding was just about okay. Same position. I intend to make that my own because it suits me and my current physical outline. Same things again: Didn’t drop a catch, didn’t concede any extra run, no misfields. But no improvement either. So no pat nothing. Need to get my act together in the next match coming up on Sunday. Pray for me! :)
Scorecard is here. PS: I didn’t take any catch. The scorer thought he had be generous and credit one to my name! ;)

A small note on tennis before I end: Just finished watching Federer’s third round match at Wimbledon 09. Smashing form he is in. Though he dropped a set I would still say it looked like he wanted to give himself some more time on the centre court! Go Federer Go!

A namaskaram can take you beyond

Mysorean — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 11:08:08 +0000

Yesterday my colleague and I had a longish discussion on ‘free will’ and ‘determinism’ (Ok ok, don’t close the window, they are in fact the world’s way of communicating simple things. Look at these links [1] and [2]. Don’t read in detail – just the first couple of lines will give you an idea of what they mean) and his conclusion was that ‘Illusion of free will is necessary for society to carry on’. Okay so at a fundamental level I don’t believe in either of them. And no this is not going to be a long post about my philosophy and all that. Just a word on how my experience transcended both the above-mentioned concepts!

I was involved in a very minimal way in fund-raising and volunteering for Isha Foundation during the Mahashivarathri celebrations on Feb 23rd. I asked my colleagues and few of my relatives and friends for money for getting the fund-raising in place and it was done. The real thing happened when I was volunteering. I was in the reception committee whose primary objective was to ‘welcome guests’. I was asked to stand near the gate and welcome people with a namaskaram (folded hands gesture). Thoughts ranged from “Oh no, I can’t do this”, “I have never done this even in functions of my own family where the invitees were my own people and here it is all public anyone can walk in”, “How can I? I mean I am so shy and all that” to “Can I run away from here?”, “Why did I even volunteer here?” so on and so forth.

But then I had given my word. I went there – near the gate. Stood for a second and just started with my mind kind of stunned into silence I guess. It went blank. I started lifting my hands and putting them together with a smile to welcome whoever walked into the gate. Everytime someone walked in – I would do it. It was a ritual and I did it. Some people responded. Some didn’t. Initially my namaskarams depended on the response. If they smiled back then I would hold on a little longer otherwise it would drop off.

Then something incredible happened. I decided to welcome whoever came in with the same complete (as complete as I could do) namaskaram irrespective of their response or who they were – children, adults, etc. I was trying to create a condition inside myself that ‘whatever happens to you (the visitor) inside here will be good’. As I started doing this, my hand ache, my elbow ache, the pain in my legs, everything went out of my mind. I was offering myself completely to each person who was walking in with 100% sincerity and a blessing of ‘good will happen to you here today’. The smile came on automatically, I didn’t have to put it on. It turned into one of the most enjoyable experiences. Imagine getting the opportunity to welcome 10,000 people with a blessing. Won’t you smile on your own? Oh sure, anyone will. I guarantee you.

Now comes the even better part. As this enjoyment increased, I could sense growing excitement inside me. I would start looking outside the gate waiting for people to come. As soon as I spotted a visitor, I would bow down to them. Looking at me everyone responded. Even no-response meant that it was a response because they weren’t used to a person bowing down to them. And I used to get excited seeing people entering the venue with a feeling of ‘Ok. I have come to a good place where something good will happen to me’. I began seeing at as an opportunity to break some constraint inside them, unblocking some block inside their minds to let them be free and take in whatever is being offered by Sadhguru completely.

The namaskarams just got more intense as I kept creating more intense conditions inside me. Then came the point where something inside me broke and took me to a totally different plane. I saw no difference between me and the person coming in. It was the most intense experience of my life. The namaskarams were not being done anymore, they were happening as an expression of joy. Tears started flowing out of my eyes. But I was smiling. I could see people coming in were also moved. Of course, a few of them got scared too. But this didn’t carry on for a great while. This must have happened for a few moments. And that was it. That’s when I understood that anything that we do can take us beyond our current state of experience of the body and the mind. It depends on how willing we are to break whatever we have created inside ourselves – free will, determinism, whatever – and concentrate and give ourselves totally to what we are doing.

Maa Tujhe Salaam

Mysorean — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 06:17:39 +0000

This is by far the best dance performance for the song I have seen till date. Great formations and near flawless coordination. Considering that these are kids who are doing this, its even more awesome. I just wish I can get my hands on a more professional video version of this. For now, this will do!

Rahman’s music is available to those who are willing

Mysorean — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:28:34 +0000

I am yet to come up with a way of writing this. Rahman won the Oscar – not one but two. And he did it in his characteristic matter-of-fact style. His acceptance speeches have already attained legendary status. He was christened a ‘Living Legend’ by one of the news channels. Another channel was discussing with one of the great Bollywood personalities who was saying some stuff about Rahman that we have already heard a million times. And that’s precisely the problem with Rahman – you cannot say anything about him that has not been said before. And he never gives you even a hint of a chance to say something about him!

Let me try recounting what my experience of watching the Oscars live for the first time was. I woke up startled by my phone alarm at 6.30AM and I rushed to the television (without even brushing my teeth, if you may!). And the Red Carpet was already being stamped all over, by those for who it was laid out for I must add. I never got to saw the Red Carpet – we always had these famous film stars come over and talk about what they are wearing. duh? I guess the Red Carpet would have flown away if it was any more superficial. With that I lost any hope of catching my star – A R Rahman and his wife – there. But he was there apparently. Like this picture on NDTV’s website shows:

Obviously he was not important before the Awards function!

The seamless way in which the show was organized, co-ordinated and executed was a treat to watch on the television. Danny Boyle said to the organizers on winning the Best Director’s award, “…I wanted to thank you for that and also for an extraordinary, what a beautiful show you’ve done. I don’t know what it looks like on television, everybody, but in the room, it’s bloody wonderful, really. So, well done, everyone…” It looked beautiful on television too Danny. It was just stunningly well-coordinated. The opening sequence by the charming Australian Hugh Jackman was probably one of the best live performances I have seen. I admit I haven’t seen many (live performances) but if you have seen it you will agree like the audience in the Kodak theatre did. They gave him a standing ovation. He deserved it. Among his witty ways of introducing the key people, I really liked the part about himself the best – “An Australian, who played an Australian in a movie called Australia” and the next one was about Brangelina – “I don’t have joke on them. But I am contractually obligated to take their names atleast five times on this show”.

The first category to be awarded was the “Best supporting actress” one and I was absolutely amazed by the way they announced the nominations. Oscar awards are meant to signify excellence and the nominations are supposed to be the litmus test through which you actually qualify to be the best among the best. And the entire event lent itself to excellence right from the way the stage floor was done, the display screens coming together and splitting away, the curtain made of a chain of Swarovski crystals added a touch of grandeur, the lighting heightened the excitement and I was personally floored with the sensitivity of their mic and sound systems – I could hear Anne Hathaway breathe when she performed with Jackman. Coming back to the award, it was when Penelope Cruz gave her acceptance speech is when I realized how big a deal it was to win the Oscars:

“I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival”.

I will not lie. I had tears in my eyes when she said those words. It was just so damn touching. I didn’t quite know who exactly she was till now, from now on I will ensure I watch her movies with the same intensity as she has chosen to act. She sees this stage as a moment of unity and here back home we have people saying “Oscars mean nothing”. Penelope spoke words that defied her age. She has my undivided attention henceforth!

Then came the first Indian moment. In fact when the Sound Editing award went to ‘The Dark Knight’ I thought it was only obvious that the Sound Mixing one also went the same way. But no, it was meant to be a ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ sweep which started with this. Resul Pookutty made a moving speech about how it was not just an award but history being handed over to him. So true I thought. My mind was racing ahead – I was already thinking about Rahman.

Then came many awards. Each of them making moving acceptance speeches. Everyone of the award presentations blended so beautifully with each other. I would say it was flawless. While I was sitting amazed at the way it was organized, the original score nominations were being played out. An orchestra played out the themes of each of the nominations – I could only identify ‘Latika’s theme’ from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Rahman was backstage because he was due to come on next for his performance for the nominations of the best song. As it was being said, “And the Oscar goes to….”, and the envelope being opened, I guess my heart rate increased to equal Rahman’s and every other true Rahman fan. Simultaneously the maid servant of my house made an entry and the presenter announced “A R Ruhhman for Slumdog Millionaire” and that was it. My maid servant must have thought that I had a heart attack or something because I shouted so loudly that it would have blown anyone away. Irrespective of me, she just walked across the TV calmly and went on with her work. Here I was almost dying of happiness and she walked as if nothing had happened. Quite ironically, Rahman also walked as if he had won just another Filmfare or some such award. It was just such a simple thing for him – it was another award. For me, his true fans, Americans and the rest of the world the Oscars are like the pinnacle of excellence and Rahman did it like he always knew how to do it. In fact that’s true – he was always at the pinnacle of excellence in every film that he gave music to. Each one is a masterpiece. I sat numb through his acceptance speech.

In fact I think I was numb through his performance also or I don’t know if I didn’t like it. That guy who came in towards the end just made the whole thing sound so out of tune. I had to see the video repeatedly to confirm my feelings. Rahman himself was a little out of tune I guess for “O… Saya…” but I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t have been able to get a sound out of my throat! And then came the “Jai Ho” award. It was written I guess. And this acceptance speech literally swept me off my feet. Wow!

I could go and get ready to get to office finally. I got a message from a colleague “Dude, don’t come to office without sweets”. So I went with the auspicious Tirupathi laddoos that my wife had got from there a few days ago. No, she didn’t go there to pray for Rahman. I am the only guy who is so much in love with this man! The world now has opened up a possibility of letting Rahman berserk on a global scale. Now more people will fall in love with him. Till now, it was just me and my Tamil friends and then it was Hindi friends and now it is going to be everyone. Just about everyone. Rahman’s world was written already; looks like the time has come now when people like me will have to let go of him so that billions of others actually have the option of making the maximum out of him. Rahman’s music is available to those who are willing.

I chose love…

Mysorean — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:39:53 +0000

…and I am here. God Bless!

Those were Rahman’s words on winning his second Oscar (for Best Original Song – “Jai Ho” alongwith Gulzar) of the day. This is his full acceptance speech [Link]:

I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially Danny Boyle for giving such a great opportunity. And the whole, all the people from Mumbai. The essence of the film which is about optimism and the power of hope in the lives, and all my life I had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I’m here. God bless.

When he one the first one too he was quite at ease with the whole situation. This is what he said when he won his first one [Link]:

Before coming, I was excited and terrified. The last time I felt like that was during my marriage. There’s a dialogue from a Hindi film called “Mere paas ma hai,” which means “I have nothing but I have a mother,” so mother’s here, her blessings are there with me. I am grateful for her to have come all the way. And I want to thank the Academy for being so kind, all the jury members. I want to thank Sam Schwartz, I/D PR, all the crew of Slumdog, Mr. Gulzar, Raqueeb Alam, Blaaze, my musicians in Chennai and Mumbai. And I want to tell something in Tamil, which says, which I normally say after every award which is… “God is great.” Thank you.

If you didn’t know he won two Oscars today, then you have been living on the Moon or something! What a day! Thanks to all those who passed on their congratulatory wishes on the win! Really value each and every of those calls, sms’es and mails! Thanks guys! Thanks!