A Tribute to MJ

Today was one of those days when the world stood still. A day when you dont think of anything else other than that one thing. Today the 26th of June, 2009, the world lost one of the legends of modern times, the one and only Michael Joseph Jackson, The King of Pop.

Its really hard for the fact to sink in that He is no more. I have always been a big fan of his, and was looking forward to his final tour which was scheduled for next month. My admiration for his music, his dance, his aura goes a long way right to my growing days. My First memory of MJ was a poster of his which hung from one of the walls of my Uncle's room. A big fan of his, Choto Mama got the VHS of "THE MAKING OF THRILLER" which was a rage at that time and as a matter of fact of all time. The Thriller video was quite spooky and i think that got me hooked into it. I really loved the "creatures crawling in search of blood, to terrorize your neighbourhood" part and the evil laugh at the end. Beat It was another class act which was superbly choreographed depicting the punks from the ghettos trying to settle a score. And then the last, the ever vanishing MJ in Billy Jean. Yes, You can say that the admiration, the worship had started at a very tender age.

In the Winter of 1990, my Dad presented me my first cassette.Those were the days of cassettes and when you finally own one it was your most valuable possession. You always remember the first one and will always treasure it and in my case, I just loved it. It was Dangerous. I remember playing it over and over again on my walkman, esp Heal The World the last song on side A and Black or White the first song on side B. The "Eat This" act by Macaulay Culkin in the video of Black or White was one thing i always wanted to emulate. Then the tracks Remember the Time and Will You Be There O.S.T from the movie Free Willy were also my favorites.

Though after that there was a gradual decline in the popularity of MJ due to the allegations that he faced and his failed marriages, but that did not stop the hits from coming like, the Earth Song and They Don't Care About Us. It really seemed he poured his heart out in these two classics. The MTV award performance in 1995 was another once in a life time performance . The dance moves , the all too famous moonwalk and the performance with Slash of GNR fame was legendary. Not only was MJ a great singer and a dancer he was a great writer too, one of his notable work was the We are the World song, sung by many renowned singers of the 80s like Lionel Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and many others. There were also classics like Bad, Smooth Criminal, Dont Stop Till You Get Enough which I always liked and often listen to.

But , we can no longer expect any new chart buster from the Legend any more . His Music will always sooth e our ears , his mookwalk and the Robot steps will always please our eyes. His presence will always be felt in every note of the octave. As he leaves for the heavenly abode joining the likes of Elvis, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Jim Morrison, I pray that he finds Peace, as he always urged the world to find it through his Songs.

A part of the 1995 MTV Music awards

Aur Kya Chalu Hain!!!!!!

Today as i was sitting on the bus, lost in my thoughts, i hear the all too familiar words "Aur Kya Chalu Hain" being uttered by someone nearby. As i turned around i saw this guy talking over the phone to a friend of his. The bus in question here is the mode of transportation that transports the fresh energetic me to office every morning and brings back the dull, half dead human form back later in the day. So its obvious that this guy who is a fellow passenger, also is part of the IT bandwagon like thousands of us young Indians.

"Kya chalu hain " in proper shud hindi would be "kya chal raha hain " which means Wats Goin On. A shorter version of this would be "Aur Suna" or "Aur Bata" popular among the guys from the northern parts of the country said in a very nasal Punjabi accent."Chalu" is a very popular word here in Mumbai lingo and can be used in many contexts like, meter chalu hain, ladki bohut chalu hain, A.C chalu hain(The Rangeela master piece). So now you know why Mumbai is known as the city which never sleeps, as yahaan sab chalu hain.


Its amazing how these few words define the present youngistan. Its the best tool you have got in your possession in a long and boring conversation. Just after dinner, you receive a call from your friend after not such a long time, or from a colleague whom you have just met earlier in the day and you just cant hang up after 2 minutes. So what you do? you just pass the ball on to his/her court by saying these golden words "Aur kya chalu hain". Its not that you want to know how the other person is doing or whats new is happening in his life, but actually you no longer intend to speak or have the energy to do so. And i don't blame someone if he does so, as how long can one crib about his work pressure, how long can one curse his boss and the peanuts that he is being offered, how long can one analyze the reasons behind the Indian team's latest loss or how long can one talk about his soul mate's soul crushing techniques. May be the other person can talk about something new which can be interesting and can prolong the conversation to few more minutes. So hoping that there is something more to talk about, you pass on the baton. Invariably the reply from the other end would be "Kuch Nahi Yaaar, Tu Bata". So here you go again and the conversation goes on to a series of Tu Sunas and Tu Batas.

Though unintentionally at the end of it all, you end up spending some valuable time with your friend and you know that he is hale and hearty and is doing just fine. So next time don't forget to call up your friend and don't ever forget to ask "Aur Kya Chalu Hain!!!!".