A slightly ugly Indian

Sensational headlines rule the day. And maybe my post title is sensational too. But read on and let me know in the comments if the blog heading was warranted or not. Let me also make it clear here that all the views here are my own and only my own. Don't start frothing at the mouth and sending me hate mail. Correct something in this post and I will clarify it if I find it right.

This post is about the Ugly Indian. Yes, I know many of you have heard of them. Maybe some of you have even worked with them or even volunteered for a spot-fix. I'll admit that I was inspired by what the Ugly Indian stands for and does - basically to shut your mouth and get work done. This is usually done by getting together some volunteers and selecting a "spot" that requires cleaning and "fixing" up. The volunteers gather at the spot at the allocated time, start cleaning up and maybe even painting, fixing the area. As the work is completed, people just go back to their normal lives. There is no brouhaha about this work at all - no social activity like name taking, introductions etc. All this is very interesting from a sociology perspective. In this modern age where everyone wants to tag themselves to any activity on the internet and it is all about "scoring points", these guys are different.

Well, as I got an email for a spot-fix at a "major" spot somewhere near M.G Road and it being quite close to home, I opted in and confirmed my spot. Reached early morning and was happy to see someone from the Ugly Indian there already - a Mr. N. More people joined in and it was nice to see that we all were just given a few words of advise and the work started in right earnest. Appreciate Mr.N for overseeing stuff and putting in a real helping hand at times. Also, I would like to make clear at this time that they had provided many tools for us to use - gloves to protect the hands, hoes, shovels, trowels, paint, mugs, water, brushes etc. So we were never wanting for any particular tool. All in all, work went on well and all the people who volunteered had an equal hand in cleaning up and brightening up the spot. All in all, took around some 5 hours of solid back-breaking work.

Well, I was quite satisfied with the little bit of giving-back-to-Bangalore that I could and me and the last few volunteers left were casually chatting with Mr.N. It was then that I asked him if they would provide such tools and logistics support if we decided on a spot-fix ourselves. But Mr.N said that they don't. I was a little surprised by that but hey, there is nothing as a free lunch right? I really don't see any sense in the Ugly Indian providing such support either - but perhaps there is an enterprising soul out there reading this post and thinking up a plan of renting out such tools to anyone who decides to set up a spot-fix. Win, win for everyone!

But what quite honestly hit me quite hard was what Mr.N said next. I think - I am not sure - that what he said next isn't known to everyone. That they have a signed MOU with the BBMP. Now, this might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people. But it is to me. Why you ask? Well, it is simply because the Ugly Indian (in my sight at least) paled from being a warrior who took on the powerful government (whose work it was in the first place) and cleaned up sections of the city without expecting anything in return, to just another "NGO". That they request permission from the BBMP before they even started work at any particular area. In fact, this was also told to me by Mr.N that they have a list of "spots" - a list maintained along with the BBMP and that the Ugly Indian would send a request to fix a spot and once the BBMP approved the fix, they would go ahead and get it done.

I know I will face a lot of flak for the above observation. People will say that the good the Ugly Indian does outweighs the fact that they have an MOU with the government. And I agree. Totally. But for me, it just removes the "goodness" of the work that they have been doing and places them on some level that I would place a normal NGO on. The romantic view of the nameless warrior is gone to be replaced by some guy, though filled with good intentions, doesn't take on the government but requests the government's permission, to act like he does.

The MOU, for me, has changed my perception of the Ugly Indian. I thought I was the only one who might feel this way but after I spoke to friends about the MOU, they felt the same too. Perhaps I should have also Kaam Chalu, Mooh Bandh instead of posting about it up on my blog but hey, some people might think like me and see it from my perspective.

EDIT - 20/04 - Also, some people haven't seen it from this viewpoint - that we "volunteers" at "spotfixes" are getting the government's work done for FREE! Instead of forcing the government to do it's job, we have ended up doing their work!!

Lamb Of God in Bangalore

Wow, for all you metal-starved people, some good news. Lamb Of God is performing in Bangalore on May 15th! After the bleddy "Rock In India" croaking, thankfully we have a real metal band back in Bangalore.

Up the Irons! Horns!!

Mr.Big to perform in Bangalore

Yup. Their official site says that they will be performing at Bangalore on the 10th of October this year. Well, I really liked their songs before and thought they were one of the best bands when I was in school. Would not miss the concert!

Bangalore to Nagercoil roadtrip

Woohoo! Finally made it from Bangalore to Nagercoil on the bike after these many years of thinking about doing the ride! I'd even mentioned it on my blog all those years ago.

To be frank, me and J wanted to do this ride with some friends (Bluetooth and Horny) from the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club but somehow they all had to drop out due to some personal reasons. I had already applied and got my leaves approved for a week and so was quite disappointed that we did not start off on Saturday 30th May. Then we thought we might start off on Sunday but that also got cancelled. Utterly pissed off, I was getting ready to go to office the next day. But J said that we could still do the ride alone and I thought why not and we actually started packing only on Sunday night. Thanks to Balls, he'd loaned me his Cramster saddlebags and the Cramster magnetic tank-bag. If you are any tourer, you should get these. Nice stuff and hold quite a bit too. Finished packing at around 23:30 and we were supposed to wake up at around 03:30 next morning and leave the house by 04:00 hrs!

But get up and early we did and we actually managed to leave the house by 04:15 in the early morning. Quite chilly and no rain but it was damp and the roads were wet with incessant rain the previous night. Made it past Electronic City Phase II in good time and then had some problems with the huge lorries near Attibele just before Hosur. Roads were quite slick with slush and mud and was constantly on the lookout for these lorries sidelining us into the barricades. Made it through and Tamilnadu invited us soon after. We reached Hosur and went "over" it just after 04:50. Kept pushing and did not actually want to stop for some time but found that the speedometer cable had come loose and stopped at Krishnagiri at around 05:45. Put up my first Twitter post....


Continued onward and reached Salem at 07:30. Thought that was pretty good speeds - 200 kms in 2 and a half hours. Stopped to fill up on fuel and had a nice breakfast at some hotel just on the outskirts of Salem. The one thing that amuses me is how people discuss "these wierdly dressed bikers" and ask us questions as to where we are from and where we are going.

Started off again and one good thing about the highways is how you can by-pass all the small towns with some disdain. Though it does make for a more "boring" journey, I would rather sacrifice travelling through towns to make up on time. J actually missed marking the timings on small towns but she did get some good pics on her mobile. The EOS 1000D is not a very small camera to be easily clicking away from the pillion seat!



Got this really nice straight stretch of road. If you view it on "Large" you can see the road stretching out straight into the distance...


Made some small stops on the way and reached Karur at 10:20. Crossed the Amaravathi river (tributary of the Cauvery) bridge and it actually looked quite dry....



All this while the roads were really good and even though it was not all 4-lane, there was always atleast 2-lanes and these were quite traffic free and nice to ride on. We reached Dindigul at 11:40 and stopped for some tender coconut. And damn, once you stop only do you realise how damned hot it actually is. Cocooned in a jacket and riding gloves, it becomes really hot once you slow down or stop. And you get some really ridiculous stares! :)

I was warned by members of Team-BHP that the roads between Dindigul and Madurai weren't great and had quite a bit of traffic on it. I didn't actually find it all that bad except for one place just before Madurai where a mini-lorry nearly swerved into us. But that was the only "incident" in all of this ride.

Entered Madurai before we even knew it and was near Fatima College by 13:00. Though I had lived and studied in Madurai some years back and my sister did her B.Sc from Fatima College, I really don't remember much of the directions around town and had to ask people for directions. Before we knew it, we were caught up in an insane traffic jam in the center of town where a large lorry was trying to bust its way out of a very small street. J calls Madurai "Mad-urai" for the mad sense with which people ride, walk and drive in this city! There are new one way-sections but I rarely saw anyone really follow them. We were getting roasted in the heat and the slow movement of traffic was really making us tired.

I really believe now that this slow movement and the heat was making us more tired than the long ride! 450 kms in 8 hours. Not bad. Lost directions that a helpful member from Team-BHP had given us and finally ended up stopping near the Periyar bus-stand looking for a decent place to stay. Ended up at a clean place - the Taj! Naa, this was just Hotel Taj. But decent looking and a clean loo - most important. Quickly carted up the bags and ordered some food and crashed out. The guy had warned us that the AC would be off from 4-6 since there was a power cut at that time. I remember hogging lunch and lying down. Remember the AC go off and quickly come back on. Got up around 7 to get some dinner. I actually told the guy at the reception that his warning was no good - the power had not gone. He actually laughed and said that it had actually gone off. Damn! So tired...

Damn, it is so nice to talk to people at Madurai. Always helpful, they give you directions without any anger and even advise you the prices of ricks and other transport. And the food is just so good. Got into a small shack to get some awesome tasting Kothu parotta and chicken. Got back into the room to wake J up. And we really did enjoy the food. Lip smacking!

We'd decided to visit the Meenakshi Amman temple in the early morning and start off around 11 from Madurai on the second leg of our journey. Slept quite early since we were still a bit tired.

The next day dawned quite bright, early and noisy - being close to a bus-stand and moreover, life in Madurai starts quite early. Actually think it never goes to sleep. Love the city since you can get food at any time of the day! Started off towards the temple at around 08:00 and decided to have breakfast. Aah, lovely dosais and "real" sambhar with 3 different types of chutney. And very inexpensive. Damn, these are things that I miss in Bangalore.

A cycle-rickshaw puller offered to take us to the temple but J didn't like the idea of having someone else cycle us and we declined. He was quite the talkative fellow and advised us on where we could buy some handloom stuff. He actually even offered to take us for free! Laughingly declining, we reached the area around the temple and man, it does take your breath away to see such amazing architecture. Got some good pics....


Took quite a bit of pics at the temple. Hope to put them all up on my Flickr page as soon as I do some post processing.

We went inside the temple entering via the south gate and on checking the bag, the security personnel posted at the temple found a switchblade, the Victorinox and a pair of tweezers. After a bit of explaining, they said they would return the "sharp and dangerous" items once we returned. Damn, these terrorists make life miserable for us. But thankfully, they returned all these back to us once we were going out of the temple.

Visited the temple tank and got a view of the Por-tamarai or Golden Lotus...

Once out of the main gate, we went around for a little shopping to pick up something. I remember this place from years ago where you could get some really cool brass items.

Back to the room, we decided to start off as soon as possible as it was past 11 and the heat was getting quite bad. Quickly packing up, we checked out and were off on the bike at around 11:30. Stopped for a quick money and fuel stop and we asked for directions towards Tirunelveli. We left Madurai city at 11:45.

I was a little anxious about this second leg of the journey though it was only 240 kms. The last time we made this trip in a friend's Matiz, I remembered to roads to be quite bad. But this was all laid to rest as the roads have all been done up and even these roads were good upto Nanguneri.

I remembered all those years ago when we used to travel in these parts in the morning by state transport, how bad these roads were. And the state run buses would always go through all the possible towns along the way to pick as many passengers as possible. I lived in Kovilpatti for a year and remember only the match-factories, the Lakshmi Mills and the incredible heat! But these days, you do not even have to enter these towns. All can be by-passed by the new roads. We went past Kovilpatti at 13:50 and the heat was actually quite intense. Passing Kayathar at 14:35, we stopped at the Kattabomman memorial for a while. I have always wanted to stop at this place and take some pictures. The wind was incredibly strong but the sunlight was worse and I could not really take any great pictures from here. All I could was stand at the base of the memorial and take a few quick shots...



I've always been intrigued by the legend of Kattabomman who was a great chieftain and one of the first to oppose the British rule in India. After his defeat, he was unceremoniously hung from a tree and his fort was razed to the ground. Moreover, they sowed the surrounding lands with castor oil and salt so that nothing of value would grow around the area. Catching up on some history was interesting.

Starting off again, I could just smell home around the corner. But the heat was quite intense and we had to stop for a tender coconut at Sankarnagar at 14:50. Got 2 of them and quite quenched of thirst, the shopkeeper gave me quite a scare asking for Rs.35 for 2 tender coconuts! Damn, he did not even flinch when I told him that it was cheaper in Bangalore. I finally had to pay Rs.30 for two and fuming, start off on the journey again. We quickly reached Tirunelveli at 15:00.

Passing Nanguneri, the roads divide into two - one towards Nagercoil and the other straight to Kanyakumari. Wanted to actually ride on to Kanyakumari and then go to Nagercoil from there. But decided not to since it was hot and all we had on our minds was to reach home.

All this while, we had not even mentioned to Dad or Mom that we were riding down. So I tried calling dad to tell him that we were "planning" a trip down to Nagercoil by bike starting the next day. But he didn't pick the call so we decided to just ride home and surprise them. The final stretch was really a drag cause of the roads, the traffic and heat. Reached Nagercoil at 16:30 and it really stretched my patience to bake inside the jacket while traffic moved at a snail's pace near the main bus-stand at Nagercoil.

Reached our home at 16:35 and the odometer read exactly 690 kms. Thats 450 kms for the Bangalore - Madurai stretch and 240 kms for the Madurai - Nagercoil stretch.



But the best was for last.

I loved the ride, the roads, J's non-fussy company and the dull throb of the Royal Enfield engine all along the journey. All Mastercard. But the look of shock and surprise on my mom's and dad's faces - priceless!

Thanks J, for pushing me to go on the ride and for silently suffering the lousy pillion seat on the Thunderbird. It was a fun ride....

One pic for the RTMC....


with the Tiruvalluvar statue in the background....

Drunk women

Sanjeeb sometimes has this really hilarious way of putting things across.

Met him recently and we were discussing the moral policing going all around, especially in Bangalore and Mangalore. We were thinking how even some well learned (sic) guys working in our offices thought the women were to blame for the ills befalling them and how they all seemed to think that the women brought the problems upon themselves. He described a conversation he had in the office with one such "learned" individual...

Sanjeeb : Sad man, the way women are getting harassed even in Bangalore these days.
Pseudo-progressive-dumbfuck-fascist-cultureupholder-pinkchaddiwearer: Bullshit! How can women or girls go to bars and pubs and drink. They will either get sloshed or try and pick up guys.
Sanjeeb: But that don't mean women can't have a good time.
P-p-d-f-c-p: But once they start drinking, then they start wearing all these revealing clothes..
Sanjeeb: wtf?!?! But you can drink?
P-p-d-f-c-p: Yeah men can drink. And once these women start drinking, then the children also later start drinking because of the mothers and spoil our culture.
Sanjeeb : Err, is that how you started drinking?
P-p-d-f-c-p: (ppd his pants and went crying to his mom)!!

Bloody 'ell mate - I am going to be marked for this!

Mapunity

Me and Abhilash were in JC Road some days back and Abhilash vanished into a cycle shop looking for an el-cheapo bicycle that he can buy. You know the hard time his heart had when he went into a Firefox shop (as in the bike, not the browser) on CMH Road.

Well, I digress here. I met a Pradeep from Mapunity in the shop. If you have not checked out this site, now is the best time. These guys actually do some great work with Traffic Information Systems. He told me that they have recently introduced live traffic feeds on the site with cameras mounted in some traffic hotspots in Bangalore. I wanted to write this as a scoop, but alas, I did not find the time and now I see that everyone knows about it. But still, check out the traffic pics from these locations. Who knows, you might get to watch something interesting.

BTIS

Iron Maiden coming back!!

Hehe...(rubbing hands in glee). Iron Maiden is coming back again to India!!. Though this might be sometime next year, MTV's Headbanger's blog mentions that this time, they will be playing all their older material. Steve Harris mentions about playing songs from their latest album - "We thought we needed the challenge and it proved the right thing to do. However, it can be hard on the fans playing so much new material. So now l guess it’s payback time". Hell, I love this kind of a payback!!! Looking forward to the real Iron Maiden now!!!.



Damn, the tour is appropriately named - "Somewhere Back In Time". Fucking hell!!!

Bangalore Nagercoil Roadtrip

Damn, this is something that I have been wanting to do since I bought the bike. I want to ride all the way from Bangalore to Nagercoil. From MapMyIndia, I see that the distance is 678.1 km. This seems like quite a distance on bike and we'll need two days to cover this distance. Naveen AC, an old friend from way back when I came to Bangalore and working in my first job was online yesterday and said that he'd be here in December. He suggested the ride to me and since I was already interested, I think we'll end up doing the ride this December. Any one else interested?

Educated Fools and Traffic

Damn, have been looking to write on this for a really long time. I have recently been riding a lot in Bangalore. And I ride a RE Thunderbird. So if you live in Bangalore, you will know how much of a pain it is to ride one of these beasts in lousy traffic. What I really get tired by is just riding the bike. Blame it on traffic and the other fuckers on the road. I mean, its such a fucking pain to hold the clutch for hours on end and at the end of the ride, you are left with one aching palm!. Other observations - too much traffic, lousy roads and the lousy bastards who ride on them. I mean, why the hell do you, when you see traffic moving in only one direction and the other direction free, go and park your vehicles all across the road?. Do you realise that you are blocking traffic both ways now? This is not a fucking race!. And we have the balls to call ourselves educated!!. Bookish knowledge and perhaps we can ace any written or oral exam on the fucking planet, but educated - we are not!!. No fucking way!!!.

And women - I have a lot of respect for you. But why is it that when you are behind a steering-wheel or hold a handlebar, become insane? Do you lose your head when you see so many men around you or is it so much traffic?. I agree, there are so many men who are lousy drivers out there but to the percentage of women who ride/drive, a large percentage are lousy drivers and make dumb-ass mistakes on the roads. Why do you suddenly (and this applies to the male population too) take turns without looking at the rear-view mirrors? What the fuck is a rear-view mirror for?? I don't remember it ever being put on a vehicle for cosmetic purposes. Damn, how much fucking long is it going to take to just flick your eyes to the rear-view mirror and get it back on the road?? Is it that hard to judge what to do based on that?

And why the hell do we use the horn so much? Is it some god-or-whatever-being-given weapon that we can use without any concern for human-kind? It so fucking pisses me off when people use it on the road with so much aplomb. Traffic is jammed up. Its not moving. Its gonna take some time. Or the signal is red. There is no way anyone can move until it turns green - or in most cases, yellow. But still you want to use the horn. I ask - what the fuck for? And another piss-off. Why the fuck do you want to move before the signal counts down to zero? I mean, are we getting there faster if we move out before that? Do we reach earlier?

And why use the cell-phone while driving? Its a fucking crime to use it when driving a car. But I have seen some jokers on bikes use them!!. I mean, do you write a fucking will and final settlement every time you leave the home in the morning. Fucking hell, atleast do that before you leave. I am sure your wife and kids will be happy about that!. They'll have a future once you lose yours!.

Like rear-view mirrors, I also think that signal-lights are not put on vehicles for cosmetic purposes. They have a fucking use. When you want to turn right, you flip on the right indicator. When you want to turn left, you turn on the left indicator. Its kinda simple. All it takes on a bike is a flick of the thumb and on a car - go figure!. Notice that I said "when you want to turn". Cause I see so many people use the indicators, but only just before turning. Voids the need for fucking indicators I think. Damn, we should have been blessed with fucking ESP.

Damn, driving in traffic sure pisses me off and in fact, I do give a piece of my mind to every fucker who fucks up on the road. So the next time you hear someone scream and call you names on the road, it might just be me!! Fucking educated fools!!.

On a happier note, was very happy to come across this site called Bangalore Transport Information System through Metroblogging Bangalore. It aims to make it easier for the common man to locate directions to parts of Bangalore and even provides information on the auto rates for that distance. Good effort I must say and they are looking for feedback, so please do give it to them.

Iron Maiden banner

Well, you people might remember that we guys created a banner for the Iron Maiden concert reading as "FUCK. WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!". This was done the night previous to the Iron Maiden concert and there is a whole Flickr set that I have up on my Flickr Photo collection. Damn, was really glad to see this banner caught on one of the Youtube videos out there....Hit Go on the video link to watch. You can see us unfurl the banner in 30 seconds and see another set of people raise it up in 1 minute. Now, I can die in peace!!....

GTHC

Damn, came across this very interesting community on Orkut. It stands for the Galloping Thunder Horse Club. Its for people who are interested to go on long rides - on a frigging horse!! In these days of going on long rides on cars and bikes, these guys are interested to go on long rides on a horse. Not sure how many of them own horses, but I guess asses are also allowed. Teeheehee. Check it out and its a very interesting community. Join up - you dont need a horse, all you need is an ass!.

The way you can become a member is to go on 2 rides.

Iron Maiden Concert

Well, its true when they say time flies by fast when you are having fun!. Damn, these 3 days went by in a flash and we all had a great time. We ended Friday and started Saturday by painting a banner to take to the Iron Maiden concert. It simply read - "Fuck. We've been waiting for you". What happened to the banner when we tried to unfurl it and pass it along during the concert is another story. But we had fun planning the banner and painting it. Saturday came bright and early and we missed our tickets at home and went halfway through. Finally managed to reach the venue and we weren't able to push into the front rows like we usually do!. Well, the opening act was a fucking joke and Lauren Harris - can you sing?

Maiden came on stage and everything else is a blur cause I was fucking having a great time!. The best part is that they are coming again - and this time no Eddfest. Old Maiden songs!!. Great time guys!!.

Iron Maiden Countdown - Tomorrows the day!!

Yoohoo!!! Maiden will be here tomorrow. Damn, haven't decided on the logistics of getting 10 guys out to the concert but Anoop and Anwin working on that. Might have to even hire a cab. Manu and Joel turning up from Vellore and Nagercoil. Renie from Chennai. Then its me, Anwin, Anoop, Abhilash and Karthik. Damn, looking forward to the concert!!. Going to be one hell of a party!.

Moving on to my daily quota of Maiden, we move on to another Maiden era. The return of Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. This new album was quite apropriately named "Brave New World". This ones got some great songs. My favourites are "Ghost Of the Navigator", "Blood Brothers" and "The Nomad". Somehow Maiden started sounding a little different from now.

And we "arrive" at "Dance Of Death". The cover is lousy. Plain and simple. Damn, what were they thinking? You look forward to Maiden covers and this one is a dissapointment. Oh well, lets move onto the music. One of the best songs on the album is "Montsegur". Beautiful lines...

As we kill them all so God will know his own
The innocents died for the Pope on his throne
Catholic greed and its paranoid zeal
Curse of the grail and the blood of the cross

Templar believers with blood on their hands
Joined in the chorus to kill on demand
Burned at the stake for their soul's liberty
To stand with the cathars, to die and be free

The book of Old Testament crippled and black
Satan - his weapon is lust
Leaving this evil damnation of flesh
Back to the torture of lies

And the title track is a pretty good song too. Starts off with some pretty haunting lyrics..

Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
About a thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
I'd one drink but no more

I was rambling, enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move

But the best song on the album has to be "Paschendale". Based on a battle of WWI, it takes you into it.

And I think i meet my deadline. The latest album from Maiden, much awaited - "A Matter Of Life And Death". To tell you, I liked this album more than the last two Maiden albums. This album is truly Iron Maiden!. The first song that hits you will be "These Colours Don't Run". Hmm, can't really write too much about this album except that you have to listen to it!!

Ok, I finally finished it.

Iron Maiden Countdown - 2 days to go

Well, if its 3 days to go, I seem to have lost the count somewhere. Or so you think. Wait for the grand finale!!. Damn, writing this bit of commentary/countdown has been very interesting. It has made me listen to Maiden all over again. I also am getting more hits on my site. But I would love to hear from all you people who visit my site. Just leave some comments. Feedback you see...

Moving on, its "Fear Of the Dark". Damn, this album is worth its cover itself!. What amazing artwork!. And the album has some great songs too. "From Here To Eternity" has some great lines...

She fell in love with his greasy machine
She leaned over wiped his kickstart clean
She'd never seen the beast before
But she left there wanting more more more

But when she was walking on down the road
She heard a sound that made her heart explode
He whispered to her to get on the back
"I'll take you on ride from here to eternity"

Haha, those are lines with innuendo. There are more songs that I love on the album, but I would love to hear them perform the title track. The live versions are killer!.

Skipping the live albums, we have finally reached another era in Iron Maiden, albeit a short-lived one. This is the one where Bruce Dickinson has left, replaced by Blaze Bayley. Too many Maiden fans really hate this album. They even go so far as to call it a joke. I say, bullshit!! This is another of my favourite Maiden albums. I pretty much like the whole album. It starts off with the "Sign Of the Cross". It starts off slowly but builds into a crescendo. The song just keeps playing in your head over and over again.

Another beautiful song on this album is "The Edge Of Darkness". If you have watched "Apocalypse Now", you can relate the lyrics to the movie. There are even lines that appear in the movie. Love the movie, love the song!. Fucking awesome lines....

He's acting like a god - an insane lunatic
Your mission - exterminate with extreme prejudice
The route is dangerous and your progress may be slow
Here is the file and it's all you need to know

Here I am the knife in my hand
And now I understand why the genius must die

Now I stand alone in the darkness
With his blood upon my hands
Where sat the warrior the poet
Now lie the fragments of a man

Errr, we move onto Virtual XI. Umm, err. No really, I even like this album. Though not really a strong Maiden album, it somehow feels a little undermade. If thats a word!. But whatever people might say, you can never find fault with Harris' songwriting abilities. Dude can really write some really great songs. Outstanding songs are "The Clansman", "Don't Look To the Eyes Of A Stranger" and "Como Estais Amigos". Even this album can grow on you.

Tomorrow, another era in Maiden. Bruce "Air-Raid-Siren" Dickinson is back!!.

For complete lyrics for Maiden and other "Dark" bands, visit DarkLyrics.

You can read more on this amazing site that has everything Iron Maiden - here.

Iron Maiden Countdown - 3 days to go

I would think there are some great songs in "Live After Death", but skipping it...Somewhere In Time and the song that comes upto your mind would be "Wasted Years". Obviously. This is probably the only Maiden song that creeps into those "Compilation" and "Best Of" CDs brought out by any and every music co on the planet. I kinda love the song for its fast phase and catchy lyrics. There are better songs on the album, my other favourite would be "Stranger In A Strange Land". The lyrics go like...

One hundred years have gone and men again
they came that way
To find the answer to the mystery
They found his body lying where it fell all that day
Preserved in time for all to see
No brave new world, no brave new world
Lost in this place, and leave no trace

To read more on the song, go here.

Woohoo!! and we come to probably my favourite Maiden album of em all. "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son". Damn, this whole albums a fucking trip!!!. Starts off with "Moonchild". Damn, great song. Beautiful lyrics.....

I am he the bornless one
The fallen angel watching you
Babylon, the scarlet whore
I'll infiltrate your gratitude
Don't you dare to save your son
Kill him now and save the young ones
Be the mother of a birth strangled babe
Be the devils own, Lucifer's my name

Moves onto "Can I Play With Madness". Damn, one cracker of a song. I love these lines.....

I screamed aloud to the old man
I said don't lie, don't say you don't know
I say you'll pay for this mischief
In this world or the next
Oh and then he fixed me with a freezing glance
And the hellfires raged in his eyes
He said you wanna know the truth son?
Lord, I'll tell you the truth
Your soul's gonna burn in a lake of fire

Aargh, go and listen to the complete album!!.

And we move to "No Prayer For the Dying". Damn, this was the first tape that I owned of Iron Maiden. I remember my sister buying it for me from some place in Madurai - of all places. She probably was chanting the Lord's Prayer all the way!! Hehe.... I still have that tape!. I don't know too many Maiden fans who really like this album, calling it pretty much a lame album. Well, to all you lame jokers, this is one heck of an album too!. Granted, Bruce sounds like he is reciting some songs, but still. I love the title track....

There are times when I've wondered
And times when I've cried
When my prayers they were answered
At times when I've lied
But if you asked me a question
Would I tell you the truth
Now there's something to bet on

You've got nothing to lose

If you play computer games, especially the sniper sorta games, you will love "The Assassin". And you can certainly expect this song to be played by Maiden....Bring Your Daughter... To The Slaughter. Damn, I remember singing that song in school. Me, Anand and Anwin chanting the chorus during maths class. Fucking hilarious!.

You can read more on this amazing site that has everything Iron Maiden - here.

Iron Maiden Countdown - 4 days to go

Ok, my time is running out and surely I cannot cover one song from every Iron Maiden album from now on. So moving onto 3 albums a day. Lets see how it goes.

What other album to start off other than "The Number Of the Beast". Bruce "Air-Raid-Siren" Dickinson's first album with Maiden. They were, for the very first time linked to stories of Devil-worship after this album. The title song is beautiful and starts off with a haunting set of lines from the Bible :

Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea,
for the Devil sends the beast with wrath,
because he knows the time is short...
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six.

This song always brought about nightmares when I listened it to the first few times in school. I remember even my cousin asking why I listened to "Devil-music"!!. Haha, even a close friend of mine suggested that Maiden needn't have been so overt about the devil part of it. But if you closely follow the lyrics, you will see for yourself what Maiden try to say. The song ends with these gripping lines...

I'm coming back I will return
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn
I have the fire I have the force
I have the power to make my evil take it's course

For the complete lyrics, go here.

Next album, "Piece Of Mind". An outstanding song on this album is "The Trooper". This song has an amazing rhythm to it and is quite a fast one. You can pretty much imagine the war by listening to the song. I wouldn't know too much about the history on this one, but its a song I wish Maiden play on the 17th!.

For the complete lyrics, go here.

And we move on to another of my favourite Maiden albums - Powerslave. The album cover is really cool. An Egyptian theme and Eddie shown as one of them Egyptian kings. Damn, this album has some really cool songs. My closest favourites are "Rime Of the Ancient Mariner" and "Aces High". Aargh, I love the whole album.

The "Rime Of the Ancient Mariner" is a really haunting song. Based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, its also Maiden's longest song. Its best to just listen to the song on a good set of headphones and just go into it. Let your imagination run riot, listen to the lyrics and imagine you in the mariner's shoes. I suggest that you check out this link for the complete explanation - here. And for the complete lyrics - here.

Aces High speaks for itself. If you really cannot imagine the strength of this song, you really have not read any of the old WWII comics that was my staple diet when I was a kid. Just observe these lines..

Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers
Let off a sharp burst and then turn away
Roll over, spin round and come in behind them
Move to their blindsides and firing again

Bandits at 8 o'clock move in behind us
Ten ME-109's out of the sun
Ascending and turning out spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them I press my guns.

Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving, goin' again
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high.

My good deed for the day is done. You can read more on this amazing site that has everything Iron Maiden - here.

Iron Maiden Countdown - 5 days to go

Well, another day, another Iron Maiden song that we all love. I might have listened to lots of Iron Maiden songs, but the very first CD that I bought was Killers. The bloody cover itself was hypnotic. I love Eddie in that pose with an axe in his hand. Even though this album does not have the usual epic songs, it has a central theme - all dealing with "killers". Lovely, I say!. And I love the vocals by Di'Anno. The guy has a natural voice that suits this album and he does a great job. I wanted to write about one song, but I really love the whole album. The title song is obviously the best in the album and "Murders In the Rue Morgue" comes a close second. For all you Maiden fans who do not really like Di'Anno, this might be a boring album, but this ones a killer for me!.

In "Murders In the Rue Morgue", the lyrics are great.....

Murders in the Rue Morgue
someone call the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
run before the killers go free

There's some people coming down the street
at last there's someone heard my call
I can't understand why they're pointing at me
I never done nothing at all.
But I must have got some blood on my hands
because everyone's shouting at me
I can't speak French so I couldn't explain
and like a fool I started running away.

If you concentrate on the lyrics during the song, a chill runs down your spine. Foreign place, murder and blood on your hands!. Check out the complete lyrics for this song - here.

Killers - the song starts off with the perspective of the victim, beautifully portrayed in these lines....

You walk through the subway, his eyes burn a hole in your back,
A footstep behind you, he lunges prepared for attack.
Scream for mercy, he laughs as he's watching you bleed,
Killer behind you, his blood lust defies all his needs.

It then moves on to the perspective of the killer and ends with this beautiful set of lines. Watch out for the likeliness with the first few lines of the song itself.

You walk through the subway, my eyes burn a hole in your back,
A footstep behind you, he lunges prepared for attack.
Scream for mercy, he laughs as he's watching you bleed,
Killer behind you, my blood lust defies all my needs.
Oooh look out, I'm coming for you!
Ahahahaha!

Check out the complete lyrics - here. Just love this album. Gonna listen to it again.

You can read more on this amazing site that has everything Iron Maiden - here.

Iron Maiden Countdown - 6 days to go

Todays song is Phantom of the Opera. This is one of the best songs from Iron Maiden. Its based on the classic novel of the same name and primarily showcases Steve Harris' songwriting ability. The guy is such a great songwriter. You can read more about this song and more on the albums on the Iron Maiden commentary - here.

You can read more on this amazing site that has everything Iron Maiden - here.

Iron Maiden week

Wanted to start these series of posts yesterday itself, but as usual, no fucking time!!..

So here goes.....will try to post on some of my most favourite Iron Maiden songs for the coming week.....

As usual, no promises

Dogs maul kid in Bangalore

That seems to be the headline on any newspaper these days. I remember first reading about this sometime in the beginning of this year. Its quite insane that something like this can happen these days. What really causes this case of dogs turning man-eaters? Its like the "Man-eaters of Bangalore". Jim Corbett is surely turning in his grave!!.

But really, whats happening? Dogs are naturally afraid of humans and will not confront us unless cornered. Unless what I learnt as a kid has been overtaken by some other new discovery. So is it the pack hunting sense that they have in their instinct coming to the fore? Some weak, juicy victim - in this case a human child. Cause after all, dogs were wolves once.

So how contain the menace? When I first came to Bangalore, I remember seeing packs of dogs roaming around without a care in the world. Friends used to be scared to drive back at night on bikes. Garbage dumpsters have resident dogs. But when asked why nothing is done about the dogs, people pointed out the small cuts on their ears. They have all been neutered. Hmm, seems like even neutered dogs like human flesh, especially the weak and young kinds. What are you waiting for - a fucking whole generation of dogs to go by for the population to drop? So whenever a question comes of killing stray dogs, in come the RSPCA, SPCA, PETA and every other acronym in the book with something to do with animals saying that its cruel to kill them. Ok, do you do something about it? Granted, you try to get as many animals into your shelters. But the shelters are overflowing - like Indian jails. So again, you turn a blind eye to the problem and the cause!. So fucking hypocritical - like all vegetarians. I didn't know that its cruel to kill a dog but not cruel to let the mauling go on. In my native town, we would have gotten rid of the dog menace by bringing in a circus to town. Choice of food for the King of the Jungle - dogmeat!

But really, the only reason this problem still exists is because of all the animal rights activists who raise a hue and cry whenever a question of killing animals (even for the greater good) comes up. Atleast be passionate or believe in what you stand for, you jokers!. You love animals, do something to protect them and take them off the streets. Let me remind you here that the people I am targetting are not the real people who are passionate about animals and even go to the extent of creating shelters out of their own money. I am talking about the run-of-the-mill jokers who think its the "in-thing" to be supportive of animal rights (that term always makes me laugh).

All I can say as an ending is that love animals, love the killer dogs - kill them. And please don't give me crap about putting them to sleep - damn political correctness.