The Reader (Innocent version)

After the Check-in, the security checks and what not, I was allowed to walk into the waiting lounge of the New Delhi Domestic Airport. The shops didn't attract much of my interest, so I had two hours of time to waste before boarding my flight to Bangalore. I went upto the food court there, took a Zinger meal form KFC, and found myself a seat overlooking the airport view outside. Though it was a domestic airport, I personally thought it was a grand view. Passenger Aircrafts like Boeing 737s are about two stories high, but watching them from a higher place up, that too through the unobstructed view of the glass panel walls of the airport terminal - it feels like you're some King overlooking the majestic view of your Empire.

I stuffed in my headphones into my ears, played some soft Japanese Music (Noto Mamiko, by the way, she sang the ending themes for Hell Girl :D ) and took out my Notebook and Pen. I thought I'd write some fiction. But writing fiction isn't an easy task. I need to have a plot, then I'd require to cook up some situations that'd force my characters of the story to follow my plot, and some finer points that a writer should never neglect, had to be taken into mind too. After some though, I started writing something.

I don't know how much time had passed, but some four pages later, I heard someone say "Are you a writer Mister?" I turned around and found a girl of about 10 or 11 years of age looking at me. She was extremely fair, and her accent told me that she wasn't an Indian kid.
"No, I'm not a writer, but an Engineer. But I like to write some stuff up in my free time." I replied.
"You are not a writer... but you like to write..." she said in a doubtful tone with a face filled with an expression of curiosity.
"Yes, I like to write down my thoughts in free time sometimes." I tried to help her train of thoughts. She turned her eyeballs away with her small fingers over her lips. Then she suddenly looked at me again.
"So you write a Diary?" she said with a questioning tone. It turns out I totally derailed her thoughts... or wait. Were they on track at all?
"No, I write stories that build up in my  mind."
"So, you are a writer after all!" Her face suddenly brightened up. "So tell me Mister! Tell Me. Do you write good stories?" The brightness was too much for me, so I looked away from her to resume my own train of thoughts which by now seemed to be low on fuel. She asks me if I write good stories or not. Truth be told, no one ever read the stories I wrote so I didn't know if I should praise myself. I had no first hand proof or recommendation that my stories were any good. 'How am I supposed to know if I'm a good writer or not??' was the question that ultimately kept hitting me. But I finally thought of something to reply to her.
"I can't say, because no one reads my stories." To this answer, she made a curious looking expression.
"If no one reads your stories, why do you write them?" She asked me bluntly and innocently. But her bluntness to say, was sharp enough to pierce through my chest.
"Well young girl. You see, not everyone writes for others to read. Some people, like myself for example, write for self-satisfaction. I guess a girl of your age won't understand." No sooner I said my last few words, her expression changed suddenly. She turned angry and her pitch rose up.
"But I know. I'm not wrong! My Mom is a famous writer and she told me she has to write so that other people read them. My Mom can't be wrong!" I was considerably taken aback by this retaliation. One or two families sitting around us started looking at us. But my thought process started again. She was the daughter of some famous writer... so how many female writers I know who had Kids? My rather primitive brain didn't have enough information or resource, so it gave up thinking about this rather quickly.
"Well, your Mom is right. Writers write so that other people read them. But I'm an exception. I write for myself. Other people may not like what I write." She partially returned to normal. I guess she had a mother complex.
"But how can you say they won't like it if you don't let people read it?" she was now becoming exceedingly difficult for me to handle.
"Ok. So why don't you read one or two of them to decide for yourself if I'm good or not. I can't say I'm good, but at least you can see for yourself." and to this suggestion, her face brightened up again. She jumped over the two seats separating us to the seat next to me.
"Please Please show me your stories." I had a tough time trying to stop her from not falling off during her jumps.
"Ah! Wait. I'll search for a story that'll you may like." and having said this I started searching for a suitable story. 20 seconds into the search I realized all my stories were adult. Probably because I'm still single or something but somehow, unknowingly all my stories had something significantly adult. I couldn't make her read these kind of stories. But soon enough, I found something suitable for her. I handed her my notebook with that page open. She took it with much enthusiasm. But soon she made a troubled face.
"Is something wrong? The story not good?" I asked her naturally expecting her to reply 'Horrible.' or 'Hideous'.
"No. I can't understand what's written. It looks English, but I can't make out the words. It's a very bad handwriting." she replied promptly. I never felt as embarrassed or ashamed over my handwriting as I was feeling now. Even though I've been reprimanded by my parents and my countless teachers about it, only this small 11 year old could take my feeling of shame to a totally new height.
"Well then, let me read it out to you. I'm sorry for my bad handwriting though." I said, trying not to think heavily about it. She gave a smile immediately and handed me my notebook.
"Yes Please!" was her response. I was temporarily stunned. This girl didn't think my handwriting was an issue. She just wanted to listen to a story. That's all.
"But before I start, tell me why would you want to read my story when your Mom would have written far better stories?" I asked her. But she became silent.
"She writes good stories..." and then she looked at me with big innocent eyes "...but I can't understand most of them. I mean... she works so hard to write them and all... but they are all sad..."
"Well, don't think too much about it." I cut her short. I got the feeling she couldn't tell her mom that she didn't like her stories or didn't want to read stories that are probably for more mature audiences or types that she doesn't like. Simply put, she won't say something that'll hurt her Mom. "OK. Now, pay attention to my story. Promise me you'll tell me if it was good or bad. OK?"
"OK." She smiled again.

Then I told her a story that was a total mix of Harry Potter and Star Trek. I tried to act out the dialog so that she could take interest in the story. Every time I tried doing so, she'd laugh out in giggles. Finally I don't know how long it had been, but the story was over in what I assume was 20 minutes. Her beaming face was blinding my eyes. "Mister, this story was very very Interesting. You should let other people read your stories!!"
"Ah! Well... I guess I can then."
"Mister! You have more stories right? Please tell me more stories." and she got upto my lap. Her cute face was directly staring, or rather pleading to me.
"OK. Relax. I think I have another here." I turned the page hoping to find a story suitable for a 11 year old girl. I think I did, but 5 minutes into the story, I realized she fell asleep, resting herself on my right arm. I sighed. It must have been a boring story that she fell asleep. I didn't move... I just sat still so that i didn't wake her up. Her Mom must be here somewhere and it would be bad if this little girl out of excitement or curiosity or whatever mighty lord put in her head,  started chasing after me.

I looked out at the view in front of me. The airplanes were taxiing, and some were preparing for take off. But their movement felt like some video game screen where I could control which plane had to move, which ones had to take off or which one had to be sent for repairs. But soon, I rejected my thought because it started resembling like some Facebook game my friends played non stop. 15 minutes after she fell asleep, a lady called out "Excuse me!". I turned around. It was a foreigner lady.
"Ah! Are you this girl's mother?" I asked her immediately before she could accuse me of being a kidnapper or a child abuser or what not.
"Yes. Is she asleep?" she asked me with a concerned face.
"Well, yes. I'm afraid my last story must have been boring." and then I told her everything that had happened up till now before she could turn any of my aforementioned fears into reality. It turned out that she believed my story... well, I told her the truth anyway.
"I'm sorry my daughter has caused you so much inconvenience." she said in a friendlier tone than before.
"No. No. She is a very cute and very adorable child. I'm afraid I'm the one who must have caused you some worry." I tried to be very formal and very Gentleman-like.
"No. I'm happy that you took care of her. I wanted her to eat her Salad but she doesn't like them and ran away from the food court. I tried searching throughout the waiting area but couldn't find her. I was about to make the authorities make an announcement about her, but I caught a glimpse of her from a distance."
"Good that you came about. I must mention she is very proud of you."
"Ah! Is she?" She giggled in a similar manner.
"Yes. Even though she thought I was a writer, and wanted me to read out my stories, she still considers you to be the best."
"Well. I'm a professional writer, but recently I've hit the writer's block. I was frustrated and couldn't pay much attention to her. My editor let me take a leave, so I could come here to get over it. But I guess my breakup with my husband is still weighing down on me even though it's been quiet some time."

And then the announcement about my flight's final boarding call was made. I gently pushed the little girl away from my right arm as her mother picked her up. I picked up my bag, took my notebook and tore the pages of the story I had narrated to the little girl.
"Here take this. This is the story that your daughter liked. I'm sure she'd want to read it later on."
"But... isn't it your material... I mean you're a writer too. Right?" she said in a hesitating tone.
"No no. I'm just an engineer who writes sometimes for his feeling of self satisfaction." I said. She was hesitant, but she ultimately took the sheets form me. I then immediately rushed to get to Gate No. 9 to board my flight.
"But Mister. May I know your name?" she called out from behind. I turned around.
"Try writing a story your daughter will like for a change, rather than what your audience would like. I'm sure your daughter will love it and it'll help you get over your writer's block. Bye!" I said and ran off to catch my flight to Bengaluru.

===============================================

Author's Notes
-----------------------

This is a completely fictional story I started writing when I had to wait for two hours at the New Delhi Airport for my Flight. I initially thought I'd write a Description of this Amazing new Domestic Terminal, but somehow the notebook I had was filled up with story about some girl that didn't exist.

Come to think of it, the guy at KFC didn't notice my presence (and hence didn't take my order), let alone a cute 11 year old girl. :P

Plus, I wanted to write something like the way Ruskin Bond writes... hence this rather... Ordinary story. But if you're reading this far out in this post... Thanks for reading :)

P.S. - I also notice I've written a shorter story compared to my other works :)
P.P.S - I've italicized the dialogs for ease of reading.

The Script - Alpha Edition...

Well... Like I said in my last post... I and my friend Mr. V were working on a script for a short movie we were planning to make. Like Mr. K (the person who'll direct this movie...) said... this script is a good mix of Warchosky Brothers and Cohen Brothers with the same unexpectedness of Hitchcock. Then Mr. V said that he intended to look into small details like Stanley Kubrick.

So, this is something I wrote after collecting our ideas. As of today, this is not a final script, but this is what our script would finally follow. Let's see (yes, it's an open challenge) how many understand what actually happened here. :D
=================================================

Chimera

=======

In Intro.... Heavy Atmospheric music.

Single bed Bedroom. Untidy table. Tidy room otherwise. An abstract painting hanging from the wall at one corner of the screen. A large sea map on the other corner of the screen, having many large and small red crosses and dotted and dark lines.

Alarm clock rings. Mr. M wakes up. Rubs his sleepy eyes and taps the alarm clock shut.

Bathroom Scene. Mr. M comes inside the bathroom and splashes his face in the sink.

Next scene. He sits on his untidy table. Grabs his expensive looking smart-phone/cellphone. Makes a call.

Mr. M - Hey. What's the news today. Heh? 40 120... any more coordinates... ya man... every one of them. Don't leave even one.... ya go on.

Mr. M begins to take notes

Phone rings. This time Mr. M is on the map hung on the wall.

Mr. M - Ya. Note the hot spots... ya... starts at 40 120 and...

Music goes louder/heavier and voice is muted.

Music continues and scene follows... (to be shown within 20 seconds) (It would be preferred from the authors point on view that Ms. A is shown in the background one way or the other.)

1. He takes home deliveries for lunch.

2. A scene where he is going down the staircase to a kiosk where he buys and smokes cigarettes.

3. He is shown smoking while marking on maps.

4. Shown taking home deliveries again.

5. Shown talking on phone while sitting on the table and smoking.

6. Shown taking home deliveries again.

The Music dies and the camera goes into the door and clips out into the corridor of the building focusing on the door in front. Out from the door comes out a girl. Same age group as Mr. M. She is shown having a bright smile on her face and tip toeing out of the door and down the stairs.

Chirpy and happy music starts.

Cellphone rings and she picks it up.

Ms. A - Hello? Ah yes sweetie I know I'm late. But you know Mrs. Sharma who lives on 2nd floor... ya the one with the fat black cat... he he he... well she came up and asked me to help her with something. I didn't feel like putting her down... oohh... no... don't worry. I'm on my way. I won't miss the fun... I promise.

She walks out of the building hand-waving the guard and he slightly bows down his head to return her greeting.

Music goes louder and scenes follow.... (To be shown within 20 seconds) (It would be preferred from the authors point on view that Mr. M is shown in the background one way or the other.)

1. She is shown talking on the phone while shopping.

2. Goes downstairs to the kiosk to buy cornetto.

3. Shown talking on phone with a cola in her hands.

4. Shown taking home deliveries

5. Shown saying hello, talking and then smiling with a light laugh, while going down stairs.

6. Shown taking home deliveries.

Music cuts back to a soft, preferably melancholic piano tone

Mr. M in bedroom on the table. Reaches out for a box of cigarettes and then looks at it, makes a frustrated expression while shaking the box.

Mr. M gets up and goes out. Next scene is of the Kiosk where he orders a whole pack. Mr. I who is also smoking intervenes.

Mr. I - Hello there. You live in No. XXX right?

Mr. M - Err... Yes?

Mr. I - Well, I'm your new neighbor. I moved in just yesterday. I had little time due to shifting and all, so I couldn't say hello to you earlier.

Mr. M - I see.

Mr. M doesn't say anything for 10 seconds and there is silence between the two.

Mr. M - You also have another neighbor. Keep away from that woman. She is very friendly but may have ulterior motives.

Mr. I - Is that so?

Another 5 seconds of silence

Ms. A comes into the scene

Ms. A - So, New neighbor. Set into the society yet?

Mr. I - Ah! Well, sort of. But I've yet to meet others living in this society. I hope to meet and know them soon.

Ms. A - Well. Here I am.

Mr. I - (Laughs) Well well. Indeed. So. Wanna join in for a cup of coffee or tea?

Ms. A - Ah! But I have some chores to do. I can't accept your invitation now.

Mr. I - Is that so? Well, don't worry. It won't take even 5 minutes to prepare and then, it's just a cup of tea. I won't hold you for any more than 15 minutes.

Ms. A - Hm... well. If you insist so much I think I'll come.

Mr. I - Good. I have some rare blend of coffee I'm sure you'll definitely enjoy. You won't regret it.

Ms. A - OK. Let's go.

Mr. M has his head hung low... face palming... and taking sideways glace at Ms. A.

Scene fades out

Scene fades in where Ms. A sits on the sofa and And scene follows Mr. I going into the kitchen.

Mr. I - I'll be with you in a minute.

Scene goes up-to the window where we see the silhouette or faint image of a man. Then the scene pans back and Ms. A is sitting on the sofa.

Ms. A - So. What do you do?

Mr. I - Make coffee for guests. (Laughs)

Ms. A - Ah! Yes. Indeed. (Laughs as well...)

Mr. I - But on a serious note. I'm a Senior Inspector.

Ms. A - Ah! Police. Must be a fun life.

Mr. I comes into the scene with a tray having two cups of steaming hot tea.

Mr. I - Not really. If it were criminals I had to chase, then for you it would have been fun. But really, I have a boring job of busting a smuggler's information network.

Ms. A - Smugglers. You don't chase them on seas?

Mr. I - No. It's the coast guards who do it. We just inform them.

Ms. A - Ah. But that reminds me.

Mr. I - What?

Ms. A - How do you know of people informing the smugglers when they must be informing their comrades about you?

Mr. I - How I do it is classified information. But I can tell you that I was sent here because there is one in this society. Very soon my informer spy from their gang is going to identify him for me. And then he'll go down. That'll be the exciting part won't it be.

Ms. A - I don't think so.

Ms. A gives an ultimate cruel smile

Mr. M attacks Mr. I with a flower vase. Mr. I faints to the ground and then Mr. M looks at Ms. A

Scene goes into Ms. A and with her cruel wicked smile

Ms. A - I think you already know it's dangerous to stay here any longer and that too leaving him unfinished.

Mr. M - Just what are you? Sitting there calm and cool?

Ms. A - I knew this was going to happen one day. I guess I was mentally prepared.

Mr. M runs into the kitchen and then comes out with a knife in hand... goes out of the scene and two seconds later the camera pans towards the dead body where Mr. M has already stabbed Mr. I and is now looking towards Ms. A with intent.

Ms. A - What now?

Silence

Ms. A - Uncomfortable? Come to my flat then. It's safe, and we can sort out this mess there.

Both Ms. A and Mr. M go out with Mr. M looking at Ms. A with killing intent

Scene fades out black. Heavy Music. Fades in or Pans in over the shoulder of a man reading a newspaper. In the newspaper, the focus goes into or zooms into a report

= COP AND CRIMINAL FOUND DEAD IN TWO SEPARATE FLATS =

DD/MM/YY, Location

On the evening of DAY, a Senior Inspector was found dead in his flat. He had just moved in this flat and was investigating a gang of smugglers. His death was due to multiple stabs with a knife, which surprisingly was found near the second dead body, which was identified as the informant of the smuggler network. However the flat, in which his body was found was empty for 4 years, while his own flat was next door. The cause of death of the criminal was idenified by the police as suicide....

(The following scene is in flashback mode using sepia, solarize, noisy TV effect or what ever)

Scene fades in where Mr.M sits on the sofa and And scene follows Mr. I going into the kitchen.

Mr. I - I'll be with you in a minute.

Scene goes up-to the window where Mr. M walks up-to the window. Then the scene pans back and no one is sitting on the sofa.

Mr. M - So. What do you do?

Mr. I - Make coffee for guests. (Laughs)

Mr. M - Ah! Yes. Indeed. (Laughs as well...)

Mr. I - But on a serious note. I'm a Senior Inspector.

Mr. M - Ah! Police. Must be a fun life.

Mr. I comes into the scene with a tray having two cups of steaming hot tea.

Mr. I - Not really. If it were criminals I had to chase, then for you it would have been fun. But really, I have a boring job of busting a smuggler's information network.

Mr. M - Smugglers. You don't chase them on seas?

Mr. I - No. It's the coast guards who do it. We just inform them.

Mr. M - Ah. But that reminds me.

Mr. I - What?

Mr. M - How do you know of people informing the smugglers when they may be spying on you?

Mr. I - How I do it is classified information. But I can tell you that I was sent here because there is one in this society. Very soon my informer spy from their gang is going to identify him for me. And then he'll go down. That'll be the exciting part won't it be.

Mr. M - I don't think so.

Mr. M gives an ultimate cruel smile

Awards??

I'm so totally new (and scared) of this award system in blogsphere. Well, a couple of days ago, I got a ton of awards from Samadrita and received one tonight from Ayu, and I had recieved a couple of awards from Chocolover as well.

Well, I'll be frank here. I thank all these people for giving me awards (naturally because they liked something about me or my blog), but the award system scares me O_O. I dunno... maybe it's nervousness or shyness or whatever the psycho(logist)s call it... None the less, being such a popular thing in Blogsphere, I'd mention my thanks and the awards I receive from the person.

1) From Samadrita -> She Gave me the following awards. Thanks a ton for them :)

2) From Ayu -> She passed on to me 2 awards ->

But then, there are rules to accept this award ->
1. List 10 things that make you happy,
2. Pass it on to 10 happy bloggers.
3. Notify the nominees about this Happy Award.
So,
I'm having a tough time remembering 10 things that make me happy. For now, all I can think of was Anime/Manga and a full roll of Polo... But don't worry Ayu, I'll definitely remember ten things that can make me happy and then I'll pass this on to 10 other people. :)

...


Reading blogs also makes me happy sometimes, so that's 3 points now...




3) From Chocolover -> Well, I remember getting one recently and one she passed to all her followers a couple of months back. ->

Thanks a lot :)


======================================
So, finally. Now what?
I'm feeling like a oscar winner who wasn't expecting all this... O_O
Do I say "Thank you Mom, Thank you Dad. It's because you gave me a computer that..." and say stuff randomly.
I don't know, but of what I observe, I'm to pass these awards or my own original award to my fellow blogger buddies. So wait until I make a new award. I'm learning to use the Adobe Creative Suite now a days. :D I'm sure I'll make something great with it :D No... I'm dying to make something great with it. :D After all, Adobe Creative Suite is what Makoto Shinkai (Creator of "5 Centimeters per Second") uses to make his animations :D

My never ending list...

Well. It's 12th of February already, and my list of things to do is going already too long... -__-

Well, I have 3 music compositions in the pipeline. One is a simple kind of jolly instrumental (it's the usual stuff when I think about it), one is a song titled "Between Me and I" written by my friend Mr. V. The instrumentation is about 70% complete... I can't make it sound psychedelic enough so I guess it's not gonna finish anytime soon. Finally the last in the pipeline is a song I've titled "The Path of Melancholy" and is this poem/lyric that I've taken from Chocolovers' blog. Well, the song is complete. I just need to sing it. But I won't sing it cause I hate my singing voice just as much as everyone hates my singing voice. I'm right now looking for someone who can sing in the lyrics for me... @_@

Add to that, my new list of Wallpapers to make and my target to 3D-Model my own scene of Unlimited Blade Works and my College and my Exams and the preparations for competitions... *sigh*
I start feeling sad.

Then Mr. V, my old pal enters my room.

Mr. V :: So, are you working on my song.
Me :: Hell with the song. I'm feeling sad. Do something to make me happy.
Mr. V :: Then do what you did last time...
Me :: What did I do last time??
Mr. V :: You wrote a happy happy poem... you said you even posted it in your blog and got praised for it. Try writing a happy poem again...
Me :: Ya, but how come love is the only happy happy topic that appeal to people. I surely won't post stuff on my blog that people won't like. I use it to showcase my creativity. It'll be the end of me if I start writing same kind of stuff all the time.
Mr. V :: Hoh... is love the only thing that can bring happiness to people?
Me :: Hmm... well cold coffee from Cafe Coffee Day works for me... so does Pizza... and some good stuff like KFC and Yo! China...
Mr. V :: Why are you underweight??
Me :: That's not the damn issue here... tell me what thing other than love and relationships can make people write happy poems?
Mr. V :: Why not your coffees and pizzas and KFCs... they can make you happy right? That's all that matters. For the Creator, it doesn't matter what people like when he creates. It matters to him what he should showcase to the people from his vast pool of creations. You agree to this right?
Me :: Hmm... yes. You do have a strong point here. This means you're suggesting I write songs about Coffee, Pizzas and all the junk food.
Mr. V :: Ya sure. It can't be bad knowing it's coming out of you.
Me :: I'm not that confident about myself you know...
Mr. V :: Just give it a try man. See, I can write poems and songs about weed, cigarettes and Alcohols. You can do better and with a more widespread and acceptable theme of "Food"
Me :: ... -__-

This guy convinced me to write something as mundane and abnormal as a happy poem on Junk food.

Add to this fact that I already have a horde of short stories I wanna write so badly... *sigh*
God... why did you give me a brain that just doesn't stop dreaming??

But then, our train of thoughts were immediately destroyed by "WEEDLOVER", my senior who dragged us out from our rooms to play Counter Strike. "@s|-| and >:D, come in 10 minutes to play CS otherwise I'll "..." (Insert objectionable language in place of the three dots). It seems the people love me as a retro player in Counter Strike, so add that to my never ending lists of things to do. *sigh*

We Dreamers have such a tough life...

P.S. By the way... I play Counter Strike with a screen name of >:D or Killy...

An Evening of Confession

A bright orange sunrise
A sparkling velvet ground
"Is this a Dream?"
An near empty side walk

All that was there
Were flowers so colorful
"Is this for real?"
They were smiling and cheerful

A Scent of flowers swept by
The orange sun lit up the smile
"Such beautiful eyes!"
My eyes were hazed for a while

Not just the smile
The whole figure shone
"Is she an angel?"
I was there alone

She walked up to me
My heart is pounding
"This isn't a dream."
She's right in front of me,
Smiling

I was waiting for you
I'm happy you came
"Were you waiting for long?"
No, I know the time you come

I know the time you come here
Because I was always watching you
"And I too couldn't help but watch you"
And that's why I've come here

I can't help but tell you
I wanted you to know
"And I too wanted to tell you"
I want you, I love you

I hugged her gently
I caressed her long hairs
"You are my Angel"
And then she said
You are My World.

=============

Despite my lousy Poem writing skills (or so I think...) I wrote it in 15 minutes - This is the fastest poem I've written till date (which otherwise takes a few days). And yes, I wrote it out of my own mental frustration of not coming across any "Non Sad" poems all over the internet and the blogs I follow. So, thanks to Chocolover and Samadrita for driving me nuts with their really good but really emotional poems about sad girls (No offence or sarcasm to them here... Don't take it the wrong way Please... -__-). This poem is here because they indirectly motivated me somehow...

And yes, I wrote this while listening to the OST of "ef - A Tale of Memories" that is composed by TENMON and Eiichiro Yanagi. Their Beautiful compositions (which include "I'm here...", "Forget me not" and "Countdown") gave me the imagery to write this poem. I recommend this Anime to all anime lovers and the OST to all Music lovers. The music is really superb in this Anime OST... truly inspiring for me. :)

Latest Inspirations - Makoto Shinkai

Well... it's been two days since I saw three animations all made by Makoto Shinkai. He is the creator of the following movies/short animations.

1. She and her Cat



2. Voices from a Distant Star



3. The Place Promised in Our Early Days / Beyond the Clouds


4. 5 Centimeters per Second



I had already seen 5 Centimeters per Second, but it was only two days ago that I laid my hands on the remaining 3 movies/short animations.

First I saw The Place Promised in our Early Days. I was like "WOW" after watching the detailed artwork and the completely new concept for a Sci-Fi. The violin Music that the girl played hit my head everytime... it was just beautiful. Overall, the movie touched me.

6 Hours later, I saw She and her Cat. It was wonderful, but weird. There was a theme, but no story, no explanations, and no ending. All this story wanted to show you was how a cat spent his life with her master. The fact that he made each and every frame of the animation himself was enough to impress me... I just saw this 5 minute animation and the last line drowned me in thoughts... but my thoughts (rather deep) are not something I can write down in words... >_< Voices from a Distant Star. I'll be frank. I still haven't recovered yet. I've lost sleep for 2 days now, and have temporarily lost my cold blooded thinking ability...Reasons

1) This guy made this total 25 minutes of animation himself. The only help he took was of his fiance for the girl's voice and his friend Tenmon for the music (which has hit my heart this time... not just my head... and I'll soon put a new post on it...). The rest of it... he made it himself... He did something that was beyond my imagination, until now...

2) The visualization and ambiance of this story is simply superb. I still find it hard to believe that one guy made it himself on his computer... o_O

3) Even though the story is shallow, i.e. doesn't cover details and stuff... yet I could feel the characters, especially the Girl. I could feel her loneliness and her longing to be on Earth with Noboru (The Boy).

4) He made a 24 minute animation with two complete human characters... and all dialogs were carried by them alone (Leave the Female voice in the Space Ship).

5) Incomplete Ending or Open Ending. This forces my mind to trace possible endings. Being a natural pessimist makes me think of the bad ending first. Only a lot later I could calm my mind by thinking the happier ending.

6) Waaaaah!!!!! I don't Know... why... why this movie made me sentimental. WHY!!!!!?????

The last time any movie made me that level of sentimental was Benji the Hunted. I accept that I cried in one part of this movie... but otherwise... no movie has made me cry.

Well... Voices from a... didn't make me cry... but it did make me feel terribly sad and even more terribly lonely... The ending song - Through the years and far away, amplified my sadness... However, getting back to my topic of this blog...

Makoto Shinkai is an inspiration because he made his stories come to animation on his own power (mostly) . He wonderfully tells a story that is so damn simple and straightforward, yet is so complex that you'll sit and think about it. His works cover human emotions with such accuracy and tenderness that you can't help but feel the character come alive in reality.
Yes, for me he is an inspiration because he has shown me that any story or creation can also have details on human emotion, and that can be show via art and animation.

In Love with Fate/Stay Night... and it's Songs

Saber - From a Scene in Fate/Stay Night

Cover of the Fate/Stay Night A.OST

In recent days, nothing has caught my imagination more than this Anime Series. Originally a RPG Game (also categorized in the H-Game Sections... O_o ), Fate/Stay Night is all about 7 Masters, who control a Servant each and their Battle to win the Holy Grail, which will grant the winner all their wishes and desires. The Story centers about Shiro Emiya, who Unwantingly and unknowingly becomes the Master of Saber, and how their relationship develops as the story progresses.

I was attracted to this Series by Saber... I'll Dedicate a full post to her later. But what really pulled me the most into watching the Anime was the Awesome, Inspiring and Heart Touching Background Music this Anime Series carried with it. The music charged the atmosphere of Action and Fight scenes, added a strain to the soul in Emotional scenes, and put a knot in your stomach in the more Romantic Scenes (which is rather difficult to observe in this... o.o )

Thus, this post is all about the songs that came with the Anime. Or to be exact, the ones that really threw me off my feet. I'll go in the same sequence as the OST listing...

03. Unmei no Yoru

I'm yet to come across someone who hasn't praised this song after hearing it. This is on Ultimate instrumental, where the fast Beats, combined with the Opera Vocals really charge up the atmosphere and the people listing to this song. Listen to it, and I'm sure you'll praise it too... :)

06. Kodoku na Junrei

The Music made me feel like I was actually looking a the most Beautiful Girl I've ever seen, amidst the soft breeze, a bright sunlight and Lush Green Garden laced with Beautiful Flowers; and I'm slowly falling in love with her. Yes, this music has a very serene, peaceful and slight romantic feel to it. This song can only make you think of Beautiful things. For me, it's some Girl sleeping in my Dreams (Not someone in real life... so Mom and Dad... Don't get worked up about this OK?? -__- )

16. Uketsugareshi Kokuin

This song, Unlike the previous one, has a more sad touch to it. Nonetheless, this song invokes Deep thought of all that is going on around you and is hurting you to some extent. However, there is some hope... a very slight touch of hope, that can save you. At least that's what I felt...

23. Emiya -Kawaii Kenji Ver.

This song has amazing Beats, that start off suddenly after a vocal chorus. It was made to suit the Archer/Emiya fight sequences. And this song fits perfectly into it. I somehow always fail to see any other image/emotion while listening to this song. Another instrumental that pumps me up... :)

27. Kishi ou no Hokori

People may think this to be Violin version of the Song, "06 - Kodoku na Junrei". But if you ask me, this is a song that concludes "06 - Kodoku na Junrei". Meaning this... I saw the most Beautiful Girl in the World, fell in love with her and am now she is sleeping on my lap, amidst the soft breeze, a bright sunlight and Lush Green Garden laced with Beautiful Flowers.

31. Keiyaku

This song is a softer version of "03 - Unmei no Yoru". This is cool and gives a feeling that something big/troublesome is about to start.

37. Tenchi hou Take

This is one song that pumps my blood upto my head the instant it Begins. This song potrays an ongoing struggle/battle/tragedy. Right upto the end, the "On the Edge" feeling remains. And in the end, things end suddenly, in a way that is not expected or wanted.

39. Gunyuu Shissou

(Ignore the Electric Guitar in the Beginning. The song starts when the OST cover appears)
A faster violin only version of "03 - Unmei no Yoru". This song unlike "Unmei no Yoru" which has this "On the Edge" feel as well, this has a feel that "I'm gonna win, and nothing can Defeat me". The tempo is faster.

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To Conclude this post, All I can say is that these are the few songs that have inspired me to no limits... Especially "06 - Kodoku na Junrei" and "27 - Kishi Ou no Hokori". I've fallen in Love with these two (In real life this time), so much so that I've been practicing these two on the Keyboard for about a week now... I still have a long way to go to be able to play perfectly, but once I'm done perfecting it on my Keyboard, I'll try to record and post a video of me playing it. :)
Hope that day comes soon. :)

Dialouges : Part I

This is another interesting thing...
Dialogs in a Movie... A good Movie.

I rarely come across dialogs that impress me and catch my attention the moment they are spoken out. I rarely come across dialogs that have enough power to render the audience speechless (or at least render "me" speechless). Good or Great Dialogs require a great deal of Imaginative thinking... so much that the average brain might short circuit and explode to become a useless piece of data churning Machine (later simply put by Mr. V as "PULP". I ought to envy him -_- ). I hence have great respect for these dialogs and the people who write them down. My brain has become PULP in many occasions

I have a friend, Mr V, who is a huge movie buff (watches one movie a day... without fail... in any form, genre or language...) has this Diary, where he writes down the best Dialogs he can find in a Movie. I've posted some here, and will post more later. For now, this ought to be enough to convice people to pay attention to the dialogs while watching a Movie, and not their Girlfriends (or simply Girls if they don't have one... ).

From Lucky You:
'You want sympathy? You'll find it somewhere in the dictionary between shit and syphilis'

In Troy, When a kid goes to wake up and bring Achilles (Brad Pitt) to the war to fight a huge man....the kid says "He is the biggest man i have ever seen.I wouldn't want to fight that man"
And Achilles replies "That's why no one will remember your name."

From v for Vendetta:
V: [Evey pulls out her mace] I can assure you I mean you no harm.
Evey Hammond: Who are you?
V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.
Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.
V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is....... Whats the difference?"

From Scarface:
"I speak truth even when i lie."

From The Pursuit of Happiness:
Will Smith comes to the interview with bad cloths on
Interviewer : What would you say if man walked in here with no shirt, and I hired him? What would you say?
Will Smith : He must have had on some really nice pants.

Amazing Instrumentals :O

Here are two musical Performances (Both found on You Tube :D ), that have left my jaw on the floor. And I can't seem to get it back up, whenever I see them again.

First is this one performance by some guy (I don't really know who he is... but if he's reading this, I request him to send me a mail or something... ^_^ ). I've also posted the original song so that guys can know how well this guy has played the piano, playing even the slightest of the cello bass and other change and breaks in tunes

The Original Song
>Shiro - Long Tails
>>Yoko Kanno


The Piano Video
>Unknown


Second is this Amazing Guitar Duet by some two guys who play the Contra Jungle Theme. It's a must watch for everyone.

Contra Theme - Doubled
>Unknown

And now about Kyodai... ^_^

What should I say about this game??

Well, first this is actually a solitaire game, that the author (Popular now as Nao) ingeniously added a multi player functionality. He added backgrounds, music (great music!!! ) and one heck of an immersive interface. Soon he took the graphics and functionality to a whole new level by converting it into 3D. Now you could move around in space, with special dynamic lighting features :), shadows :D, and what not.

But what kind of game are we exactly talking about here?? I mentioned solitaire... but it's not a card game. It's rather a tile game with extremely simple rules. The current versions have eight games (totally great... some by their gameplay, and mostly by the gameplay environment), a Skybox backgrounds (the ones that were used in Counter Strike, Half Life, and other VALVE games), songs from Miguel in CD quality ( ^___^ ) and heck of a lot features that you won't find in other versions of Mahjongg.

If you want, try out a shareware version from Here.

So, finally... eh? What? Why I play this game?? Good question... (:

Actually there something about this game that strikes me. This game has some magical ability to soothe me. When I'm all worked up, angry, depressed or whatever bad stuff like that happens to me; I just spend half of an hour in this game, and by then I feel like I'm living the best life in this world. My anger, depression, profanity or whatever bad stuff has vaporised (and remains vaporised for at least one day). I keep this game and play it... maybe for this reason alone.


P.S ::> Another thing that I find totally crazy about this game is that it's programmed in Delphi X_X

One of my Musical Inspirations

One of my Musical Inspiration has been Miguel Samiez. I was introduced to this guy when I got hold of my first version of Kyodai Mahjhongg 16.0 in 2001. The background track "The Sad Song.mid" kept playing, as I was slowly falling into the depths of this game (This game will have a separate post... ^^; ). But it took me one whole year to realize that this music was the imagination of Miguel Samiez. By then, I was in total love with his songs "Fairy Tale", "Timeless", "Forever", and rest of his other track (all midi files :| ) and here onwards a feeling of music was born in me. The moment I realized that this guy made music for the game was when I read the help files and manual of this game. It told a story... of how the author of this game started this game with nothing to support himself with and how a part time composer of him (Miguel :) ) decided to make songs for his game. I won't go into the details of this story... but I found this on the internet...

Bluescape - Miguel Samiez
This site gives just two minutes of demo clips from his Second Album -> Bluescape :)

Miguel Album Clips
This Site has all the albums released by this guy till date... but they are also 2 minute clips... :| (Jeez... I can't do anything... couldn't find full length songs... the day I do... I'll add it to this very post ^_^ )

My first Animation...

I still remember the desperation I felt at having my own signature for the Animax India forums... Everyone out there had a signature... I felt I should have one too. (Come on... I know I can be very emotionless, but in the end I'm a human too ^^;;; )

So, I start up The GIMP. And spend two days reverse Engineering various animated GIF images, and experimenting with various pulgins of GIMP. Two days later, I start off with a random experiment which eventually became my first signature in the Animax forums.

I just made it... not knowing what I wanted to do. This is how I've been learning things from the beginning. So, when I saw that it had turned out good, I just used it :)

Below is what I made in the end of my first animation project... I feel kinda proud of it... ^_^