Long time Gone..

It has been such a long break for my blog. The past few months went by in a fashion that I am not very glad about. No creativity, maximum idling, lack of focus, direction and a complete lack of the jest that usually has me jumping and blabbering at almost everything.

Now I am not very sure if I am back to normal (or abnormal, depends on how you see it) yet but this feeling of writing a post here seems to be a start in the right direction. As they say, when things are really down they can only go up..right??

A lot went by in these past few months.. A quick recap.. I went back home for a leave and spent the most part of it on getting a few formalities completed for a home loan. I am an expert in applying for home loans now. .:P

I decided to start driving a four-wheeler as I desperately want to try my hand on the land-cruisers out here..Met an old school friend who, we both just found out, is also from Dehradun..Ohh…I bought myself a harmonica which I wanted to be a diatonic one but the old uncle at the music shop gave me a tremolo one.  Now I can finally work on playing like Bob Dylan..:) And the cherry is for the last..I finally bid adieu to my Acoustic guitar and bought an Electric one..!! Ibanez Gio for beginners..Anybody in and around Noida who wants to buy one, please contact me..I’ll tell you about a great store..

My vacation went by without much happening so when I came to Noida to complete the formalities for coming out here, I decided that maybe I should treat myself by buying something for myself. I was thinking of moving up a notch and get a semi-acoustic Fender or Gibson. So I went to this store in sec-18, just behind the McDonald’s there. It has a pretty impressive collection of acoustic, semi-acoustic and electric guitars plus of course the accessories. The best thing about them is their service and the guys who sit there for telling you about the instruments. Both of them are from the North-East, which half-implies that they pretty well know their strings. I don’t remember their names but they are well-versed with everything about the guitar.

I was being a little uneasy about it because I wasn’t very sure how much it would cost me. Turned out that a entry level Fender semi-acoustic was for 12K which I didn’t like much. Like it always happens, the things that you like seem to have the highest price tag, the one that I liked was 22K. So while I was mulling over whether or not to buy one, the store guy said, “Why don’t you buy an electric guitar?”

“What, can I get a good one for this much?”

“Of course, you’ll get an entry-level Ibanez or Gibson”

Mannn…I was quite excited on hearing this. He then showed me around the Electric guitars section and while I was going all gaga over the Fender Stratocaster and the Les Pauls (way beyond the budget), he pulled me back to safe grounds by showing me a Gibson and an Ibanez, both entry-level. He even rigged them up with the amplifiers and the processors and asked me to just play a bit to get the feel of it.

Now, you must realize that I am not a very accomplished player, most of my learning has been online which means I am mostly tone-deaf and play whatever I have practiced for a while..So this getting to try it was a big deal for me. I just tried a few riffs I know..”Summer of 69”, “one last breath”..just the usual…

He asked me about the kind of music I like to play. I said country and he said go for Gibson. That was when Miss Shrinkhala came in who had her birthday that day and was coming all the way from Meerut to greet US on HER birthday. Now, I know it should have been the other way around, but c’mon..you know we get busy at times..:P

So she walked in and while I was already inclining towards the Ibanez, she pretty much sealed the judgement. And so it was the Ibanez Gio.

Next came the billing part. It was 14K only..:) Now comes the good part. The store-manager was a young guy named Bhupinder, soft-spoken and someone who knows his trade. He asked me to pick a strap and a good quality cable. I wanted to buy a stand which wasn’t too costly so I took one but decided to give the extra cable and strap a pass.

Say Hellooo..:)

I then went over the billing counter and started filling the customer’s form. As I was filling in my name and place of residence, Bhupinder asked me, “Joshi Ji, Dehradun ke ho aap?”

I said “ Nahi, we live there, Main Almora se hun”

Lo and behold, He says. “Ohho, tab toh haath milao yaar, mera ghar bhi dehradun mein hai aur main bhi Almora se hun”.

Now it just so happens that the ‘Joshi’ surname is a pretty respected one around our place because ages ago, we used to be the Clan priests (read Shaman :P) or something. Even now, in villages, we have our ancestral gods and the temple where the priests are from our, now extended and scattered, family. But I guess, sometime back in the past, they all must have been together.

So Bhupinder tells our NE guy, “Bhaiya ko straps aur cable dikhao”

I went over and hesitatingly took the most cheap looking strap.( wrongly thinking that cheaper meant soberer..is soberer even a word??:P) the NE guy gave me a Fender cable and as I went back to the billing table, Bhupinder started adding the prices from the drop down list.

Strap : 1200, Cable: 900..

I was like, “Kya yaar, pyaar pyaar mein saaman de diya inhone mujhe”.

And then he pressed a button and there the figures went..Poof…zero zero..

I said..” ?? “ (more like an expression)

And Bhupinder bro said, “ Yeah, a gift for being a first time customer”. 

Call it regionalism or whatever but I think it was my good nature..:P

When I came back here and tried to play it, something entirely different happened, about which maybe I’ll tell you in the form of a tutorial someday when I get good at it.

I was here to tell you a story about a dream but ended up writing this. Of course, this is just meaningless talk about something entirely about me but just maybe if you stick around I have a very funny story to tell you the next time around. Maybe tomorrow..maybe a day after that..Till then, Adieu…

Have been thinking for ages that I need a good camera.

Ohh yes, I thought of an interesting thing to do over the internet. I am going to find a Spanish girl somehow and ask her to tell me the Spanish lyrics of the  song “Senorita” from ZNMD..good idea right..you may try it too if you are a guy, or find yourself a Spanish guy if you are a girl..All the best..I may end up not ACTUALLY trying this, but if you do, do let me know..

PS: If you are reading this blog for the first time, Please ignore my views on Anna and India and corruption and all that in older posts...Lets just keep this civil..I HAVE realized the futility of such uncontrolled expressions..