U might want to read this before going any further!
Rolling Stone
December, 2025
The return of five funkmen!
Ever since their first concert Fuel For Fantasy (more popularly known as FFF) had come a long way. 14 albums and over 50 hit singles (including the largely popular ‘Epiphany’) the band had reached success they had never known before. From their first album “Our first rock album” to their last one “FFF: The unsung songs” these guys reached dizzying heights of success. In many ways they seemed to be the perfect formula for the success of any aspiring rock band. Consisting of friends who met each other in college, the band was put together largely due to the efforts of their bassist Golu. They more or less shared the same inspiration of music, played together locally for a couple of years covering many bands in the process and acquiring a style of their own along the way. Briefly separated after college for about 4 years to pursue their own academic interests, the band realized that they were destined to play music together during this time and quickly got back before turning pro. All the while bonded together with a friendship that seemed to surely last forever, in 2008 the rockers of the world stood up and noticed as FFF had arrived. The band enjoyed a string of successful albums and fans eagerly lapped up everything thrown their way from the FFF headquarters (even the abysmal solo effort by Golu proved to be a creative success). Yet…nothing lasts for ever and FFF was no exception. A cliché that surfaces time and again in rock bands, their rhythm guitarist G was rocked with a severe case of heroin addiction and went into rehab for a long time. The band had sworn not to play with anyone else thus stalling all future projects and waiting for G’s return. The wait didn’t turn out to be as simple as they had expected. It was during this time that their drummer Viral would reveal having an affair with Golu’s grad school sweetheart turned wife. This severely cut off Golu’s rapport with Viral and his further involvement in the band. Golu was undoubtedly one of the creative forces of FFF and his distance was a serious impediment. There were other problems too. Sidney (the lead guitarist) proved to be a “dominating bastard” (words used by Golu himself in the December 2010 issue of the “Rolling Stone”) There was a difference in opinion regarding an opening act for rock legends ‘Metallica’. Golu wanted to do it and Sidney did not. To make matters worse their front man Zubin was struggling with a few personal problems of his own. G, after his return to FFF echoed every fan’s feelings when he said, “I never thought I would be returning to a band that would end up doing much worse than when one their guitarists turns out to be a drug-addict”. Somehow they managed one last tour with a replacement drummer as no one in the band was on amicable terms with Viral. FFF for the first time had performed with a lineup different from what it was 20 years ago. The tour was a failure drawing only the hardcore fans. The FFF that people knew and loved seemed lost forever. Their fans prayed for a miracle.
And it came...in the form of G’s relapse to heroin addiction. Depressed by the current state of the band G took to drugs once again and this time found himself dangerously close to death. Convinced he was not going to make it, his last wishes were to play with FFF once again. For this the band put all its differences aside (which included a public apology by Viral) and started jamming again. That was all G needed. He hooked himself back to life with a new found vigour and FFF was back. Their comeback concert was aptly held in Mumbai, India to a crowd of over 50,000, the same place where they were first formed and first performed. Put together in only 2 weeks, the concert was a mess…..G smashed a few guitars, Zubin forgot his lyrics, Viral managed to punch a hole into his snare drum, Golu was rocked with bouts of nervousness and Sidney was just being Sidney. But the fans didn’t mind. They knew that FFF was back and here to stay for a long time!
Sam Etaro
Kick-ass Rock Journalist,
Big fan of FFF,
And part time drummer too. ;)
Disclaimer yada yada: In the above post the only thing that is real is FFF. Everything else is made up and I wrote it for fun. This shud defly not be seen as my view of the way things are going to turn out in the future! Although I wudnt be too shocked if Viral pulls off something like how it is described above :P
And just so things make sense to others too...FFF stands for Fuel For Fantasy...a college band comprising of:
Zubin Jacob(T.A.V): Vocals
Gurzada Pawankumar (G): Rhythm guitar
Sidney David Rosario (Sidney): Lead guitar
Dheeraj Singaraju (Golu, T.A.B):Bass guitar
Aviral Saini (Viral): Drums
who no longer play together as the band members are on different parts of the earth.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 28, 2005
I wonder...
I recently read about the murder of Manjunathan here
In brief, Manjunathan was an IIM-L graduate who worked for Indian Oil Corporation and was murdered on Nov20th in Uttar Pradesh when he refused to play mute spectator to the illegal adulteration of petrol.
Things like these (remember the murder of Satyendra Dubey) always make me question my largely hedonistic point of view in life. These are people who go against the system and stick to their beliefs and are killed for it.
I wondered if I would have the courage to give up a definite lucrative job in a probable MNC that comes after an IIM degree and instead work for a government organization like the IOC.
I wondered if I would just accept the corruption of the system as a byproduct of the society I live in and get on with my life.
I wondered if at some point of time my conscience would stab me into doing something but the fear of the pain that I would put my family through if something would happen to me would prevent me from doing anything drastic.
At this point of time I don’t know at all.
I am not making any claims right now.
All I can do is pray that I can give back something to my country…somehow!
And that at least some amount of good comes out of this so that this man’s death doesn’t go in vain.
But then...what about all those who probably were killed for being honest but don’t have an IIM or an IIT degree. The news of their deaths doesn’t even reach us! Who prays for them?
In brief, Manjunathan was an IIM-L graduate who worked for Indian Oil Corporation and was murdered on Nov20th in Uttar Pradesh when he refused to play mute spectator to the illegal adulteration of petrol.
Things like these (remember the murder of Satyendra Dubey) always make me question my largely hedonistic point of view in life. These are people who go against the system and stick to their beliefs and are killed for it.
I wondered if I would have the courage to give up a definite lucrative job in a probable MNC that comes after an IIM degree and instead work for a government organization like the IOC.
I wondered if I would just accept the corruption of the system as a byproduct of the society I live in and get on with my life.
I wondered if at some point of time my conscience would stab me into doing something but the fear of the pain that I would put my family through if something would happen to me would prevent me from doing anything drastic.
At this point of time I don’t know at all.
I am not making any claims right now.
All I can do is pray that I can give back something to my country…somehow!
And that at least some amount of good comes out of this so that this man’s death doesn’t go in vain.
But then...what about all those who probably were killed for being honest but don’t have an IIM or an IIT degree. The news of their deaths doesn’t even reach us! Who prays for them?
Friday, November 25, 2005
Speed Demon
I would very much like to think I am one!
The Traffic Police Department of Mississippi however tends to disagree.
Yesterday morning I drove to Memphis (in a friend’s car) to attend a Thanksgiving dinner. I have been driving for a while but this was the first time I was going onto a highway and hence was just a little bit apprehensive. I completed the 80miles journey without any event and was quite pleased with myself for handling it so well.
Today morning was the drive back to Oxford and having pulled off yesterday quite fabulously I was sure nothing would happen. The journey was almost coming to an end and after taking the exit from the highway towards Oxford I mentally gave myself a pat on the back assuming that nothing could go possibly go wrong now.
I was so wrong.
Now the streets of Oxford were quite deserted what with it being the day after thanksgiving and I was cruising along when I saw a speed limit signboard that said 30mph. I immediately looked at my speedometer and realized I was doing 55mph! For those who are unaware, if the speed limit at any street is X mph then as long as it doesn’t say “strictly enforced” you can go at X+10 mph. So here I was going at 15mph over the limit. I immediately slowed down but it was too late. I heard the cop’s siren and noticed his car right behind me in the rearview and I pulled over. Now the law here requires people to stay put in the vehicle when you are pulled over. But somehow I decided that it was worth a try to get out and convince him that I didn’t really mean to speed. I don’t know what my body language suggested but he concluded that I was not going to be co-operative. He called out to me asking me to go back into the car. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand him clearly cuz he was speaking with a very thick southern accent. I took a step towards him to hear him better and that’s when he took out his tranquilizer gun and shot me in the thigh. I recovered around 2 hrs later to find myself in a hospital room and I cursed myself as to why I had to get myself into this shit in the first place!
:D Ok...All that really didn’t happen!
I pulled over and the cop came up to me, spoke to me very politely and gave me my speeding ticket (my first one...:)...not that I want more...I’m just kicked about this) and went away. There wasn’t any of the drama as above but I found out I might end up paying anywhere between 100 to 150 dollars as the fine...which of course isn’t a very nice thing!
First time that Ive broken the law and have been caught!
Will try and avoid it in the future! ;)
DRIVE SAFE EVERYONE!
The Traffic Police Department of Mississippi however tends to disagree.
Yesterday morning I drove to Memphis (in a friend’s car) to attend a Thanksgiving dinner. I have been driving for a while but this was the first time I was going onto a highway and hence was just a little bit apprehensive. I completed the 80miles journey without any event and was quite pleased with myself for handling it so well.
Today morning was the drive back to Oxford and having pulled off yesterday quite fabulously I was sure nothing would happen. The journey was almost coming to an end and after taking the exit from the highway towards Oxford I mentally gave myself a pat on the back assuming that nothing could go possibly go wrong now.
I was so wrong.
Now the streets of Oxford were quite deserted what with it being the day after thanksgiving and I was cruising along when I saw a speed limit signboard that said 30mph. I immediately looked at my speedometer and realized I was doing 55mph! For those who are unaware, if the speed limit at any street is X mph then as long as it doesn’t say “strictly enforced” you can go at X+10 mph. So here I was going at 15mph over the limit. I immediately slowed down but it was too late. I heard the cop’s siren and noticed his car right behind me in the rearview and I pulled over. Now the law here requires people to stay put in the vehicle when you are pulled over. But somehow I decided that it was worth a try to get out and convince him that I didn’t really mean to speed. I don’t know what my body language suggested but he concluded that I was not going to be co-operative. He called out to me asking me to go back into the car. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand him clearly cuz he was speaking with a very thick southern accent. I took a step towards him to hear him better and that’s when he took out his tranquilizer gun and shot me in the thigh. I recovered around 2 hrs later to find myself in a hospital room and I cursed myself as to why I had to get myself into this shit in the first place!
:D Ok...All that really didn’t happen!
I pulled over and the cop came up to me, spoke to me very politely and gave me my speeding ticket (my first one...:)...not that I want more...I’m just kicked about this) and went away. There wasn’t any of the drama as above but I found out I might end up paying anywhere between 100 to 150 dollars as the fine...which of course isn’t a very nice thing!
First time that Ive broken the law and have been caught!
Will try and avoid it in the future! ;)
DRIVE SAFE EVERYONE!
Monday, November 21, 2005
Drink in from the Goblet!
Let me say what I should probably be saying at the end of this post. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is an excellent movie and I would highly recommend it for both fans of the series and those who haven’t seen or read any of the movies/books.
Now lets get into my artsy-fartsy review of this movie :)
Warning: Might or might not contain spoilers. Mostly...might not!
The most striking thing about this movie is the fact that despite the omission of a zillion things from the book the essentials have been faithfully stuck to and the result is an enjoyable movie that is appealing to everyone.
The movie begins with the Quidditch World Cup and the special effects are a treat to the eye and made me realize how poorly I had imagined the whole thing when I was reading the book. Unfortunately, the world cup isn’t a pivotal part of the story and even before you finish explaining what is going on to the chic next to you (who doesn’t care much abt Harry and his friends) the wonderful imagery ends. Things unravel at a very good pace and the bulk of the story revolves around the ‘tri-wizard tournament’, a competition amongst three wizarding schools (I couldn’t help notice that Hogwarts was the only co-ed one...the other two happen to be a complete girls and a complete boys schools) in which four competitors (two from Hogwarts and one from the each of the other two) compete for the much coveted tri-wizard cup. The many subplots in the book have been omitted and during the course of the tournament events unfold culminating at the end with the return of Voldemort and another not-seen-before-in-the-previous-movies shocker which will surprise you only if you are someone who follows the series through the movies alone.
Someone worth mentioning is the very pretty Emma Watson (who plays Hermione Granger). I feel there is a little bit of a mismatch between the books and the movies that concerns her. The books have always described her as a plain-Jane who isn’t exactly known for her killer looks. In this story there is a part where she gets a complete makeover for a dance (the Yule Ball) and everyone is just floored by her new look. However when you see this particular scene you don’t really get the same feeling. She looks just as pretty as before. Instead of going from plain-jane to stunning-beauty she turns from pretty-girl to pretty-girl-in-a-nice-dress. Not that I’m complaining :)...its something that occurred to me.
The movie does have its little negatives here and there. Somehow I felt the goofy-humour content is shown a little more than necessary, to the extent that it takes away a little bit of the seriousness. Dumbledore and the others act goofier than before doing silly things and it kind of bugged me a little. But then again I guess I’m just being a purist!
And finally...Ralph Fiennes is GOD!
I was thrilled when I heard that he was playing Voldemort and my expectations of him as being a chilling, cold, evil overlord were fantastically met! The guy is awesome when it comes to these evil roles. He was excellent in the red dragon (as the ‘tooth fairy’) and of course the nazi officer in Schindlers list. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is one of the many things to look forward to in the rest of the movies!
Like I said at the beginning...its worth your time and money! So watch it!
Tata
Now lets get into my artsy-fartsy review of this movie :)
Warning: Might or might not contain spoilers. Mostly...might not!
The most striking thing about this movie is the fact that despite the omission of a zillion things from the book the essentials have been faithfully stuck to and the result is an enjoyable movie that is appealing to everyone.
The movie begins with the Quidditch World Cup and the special effects are a treat to the eye and made me realize how poorly I had imagined the whole thing when I was reading the book. Unfortunately, the world cup isn’t a pivotal part of the story and even before you finish explaining what is going on to the chic next to you (who doesn’t care much abt Harry and his friends) the wonderful imagery ends. Things unravel at a very good pace and the bulk of the story revolves around the ‘tri-wizard tournament’, a competition amongst three wizarding schools (I couldn’t help notice that Hogwarts was the only co-ed one...the other two happen to be a complete girls and a complete boys schools) in which four competitors (two from Hogwarts and one from the each of the other two) compete for the much coveted tri-wizard cup. The many subplots in the book have been omitted and during the course of the tournament events unfold culminating at the end with the return of Voldemort and another not-seen-before-in-the-previous-movies shocker which will surprise you only if you are someone who follows the series through the movies alone.
Someone worth mentioning is the very pretty Emma Watson (who plays Hermione Granger). I feel there is a little bit of a mismatch between the books and the movies that concerns her. The books have always described her as a plain-Jane who isn’t exactly known for her killer looks. In this story there is a part where she gets a complete makeover for a dance (the Yule Ball) and everyone is just floored by her new look. However when you see this particular scene you don’t really get the same feeling. She looks just as pretty as before. Instead of going from plain-jane to stunning-beauty she turns from pretty-girl to pretty-girl-in-a-nice-dress. Not that I’m complaining :)...its something that occurred to me.The movie does have its little negatives here and there. Somehow I felt the goofy-humour content is shown a little more than necessary, to the extent that it takes away a little bit of the seriousness. Dumbledore and the others act goofier than before doing silly things and it kind of bugged me a little. But then again I guess I’m just being a purist!
And finally...Ralph Fiennes is GOD!
I was thrilled when I heard that he was playing Voldemort and my expectations of him as being a chilling, cold, evil overlord were fantastically met! The guy is awesome when it comes to these evil roles. He was excellent in the red dragon (as the ‘tooth fairy’) and of course the nazi officer in Schindlers list. Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort is one of the many things to look forward to in the rest of the movies!
Like I said at the beginning...its worth your time and money! So watch it!
Tata
Saturday, November 12, 2005
iPod...therefore I am!
Yeah...I now own an iPod shuffle! :)A friend of mine leaving the lab gifted me this!
I have to mention that this is an extremely neat toy to have. Really high clarity of music and very handy to use. The only downside probably being you cannot see the playlist and if you want to choose a song if you have skip your way rather than just jump to it. Then again ... the 'shuffle' option does compensate for this cuz its nice to have songs play in a random order. So yeah...its pretty cool. And now its time for me to ROCK ON with my new iPod! :P
PS: I didnt come up with the name of this post...I wish I did but I didnt! I saw this on a book and its a neat title for sure!
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The one that got away!
Sometime in mid October 2005
It was just another day in my life...nothing extraordinary had happened till then and I certainly did not expect that to change. After spending a good 6 hrs of the day trying to get some research done I decided to give my poor brain a break and work out my body instead. So off I went to the swimming pool to do my usual laps (After great thought I decided to refrain from mentioning the usual number of laps that I swim cuz I am not sure whether the said number would be impressive or insulting!) So there I was in the pool ‘doing my thing’ when I notice this chic 2 lanes away. Now it’s quite normal for me to check out all the chics at the pool...but I was checking this girl out also because
A) She was a kick-ass swimmer...you could look at her swimming and say stuff like “Is that a shark? Is that a speedboat? NO! Its super-swimmer-chic” or something like that...AND
B) She seemed to be checking me out!
Now before I proceed any further I want all of you out there who are smirking to wipe the stupid expression off your face. Yeah...some girls find me hot...or not (as you shall find out)! But at that point I was convinced she was checking me out. Every time she was doing the fro part of a to-and-fro lap using a float-board, I could see her looking at me. And this happened quite a lot. Why was this girl checking me out so much…the question plagued me for a full 1 minute and then I remembered something!
Now take a break from this story and imagine that you and I are in a room standing around a circular table with a large circular bowl filled with a clear silvery liquid. I am holding a wand and I touch my head with it. Out from my head clinging to the tip of the wand come out silvery threads of thoughts which I empty out into the bowl. Yes...you are right...we are looking at a 'pensieve' and I want you to bury your face into this bowl with me so that you can relive the flashback I had during that time at the pool. (In case you are not a Harry Potter fan, then all you need to know is that I remembered something else looking that girl at the pool and I am jumping into it right now)
Sometime in mid February 2005
I had just finished 'doing my thing' and was walking out of the recreation center when this random girl I don’t recognize walks right in front of me and says
Random Girl: Oh...you are done?
Me: Excuse me?
RG: You done swimming for the day?
Puzzled Me: Uhhh...yeah...just finished...Uhh...you going now?
RG: Yeah...I see you swimming all the time.
Still Puzzled Me Oh! (smiles stupidly not knowing what else to do)
RG: Alright...Ill cya arnd.
Now thinking ‘WTF’ Me: Yeah...cya!
And then she was gone. Now all this happened in a matter of a few seconds and since things like this don’t happen on a day to day basis I was quite unprepared. The worst part is that I don’t remember her face. Even now I don’t even have the slightest clue as to how she looks. We probably must have crossed paths numerous times later but never once did I manage to recognize her...MAAAYBE UNTIL NOW!
As I say this you see silvery threads circling all around your face and with a bright cool flash you are out of the 'pensieve' and back to the present situation poolside
The same sometime in mid October 2005
So here I was, thinking that maybe it’s the same girl and that’s the reason she seemed so interested in me. Although I had set out to rest my brain it refused to do so and did some logical analysis for me...
->Probability of cute chic checking you out with so much interest: 1%
->Probability that she is a possessive stalker: 50%
->Probability that this stops you in anyway whatsoever: 0.001%
->Logical conclusion: Go talk to her!
Whom am I to say no to my brain. So I waited for her to finish swimming. She got out of the pool and made way to her towel. I got out and followed her to pick up my towel (Im no pervert! Everyone keeps their towels in the same place here). As she was rinsing herself I approached her and said Hi.
And I smiled...
a not very confident “Hey...how have you been...its been a while” smile
but a subtle “Do I know you? If so smile back and start talking else take it as a polite southern hospitality thingie and continue rinsing”.
And she smiled back...
a not very open “Oh my gaawd...its you...the hot guy Ive been waiting forever to talk to but after that disastrous first meeting I was scared of being thought as a freak but now that you have said hi Im going to take you back to my place and make you do things to me that would condemn us both from heaven forever”
But a very subtle “Huh...why is this freak saying hi to me while I’m rinsing myself!Im sure he is an engineering graduate student...they often tend to be so desperate and socially stunted. I better smile back politely and get the hell out of here before he tries to hit on me”
And then she left!
And I still don’t know if this was the same girl from before!
Cruel world: 1
Ro: 0
It was just another day in my life...nothing extraordinary had happened till then and I certainly did not expect that to change. After spending a good 6 hrs of the day trying to get some research done I decided to give my poor brain a break and work out my body instead. So off I went to the swimming pool to do my usual laps (After great thought I decided to refrain from mentioning the usual number of laps that I swim cuz I am not sure whether the said number would be impressive or insulting!) So there I was in the pool ‘doing my thing’ when I notice this chic 2 lanes away. Now it’s quite normal for me to check out all the chics at the pool...but I was checking this girl out also because
A) She was a kick-ass swimmer...you could look at her swimming and say stuff like “Is that a shark? Is that a speedboat? NO! Its super-swimmer-chic” or something like that...AND
B) She seemed to be checking me out!
Now before I proceed any further I want all of you out there who are smirking to wipe the stupid expression off your face. Yeah...some girls find me hot...or not (as you shall find out)! But at that point I was convinced she was checking me out. Every time she was doing the fro part of a to-and-fro lap using a float-board, I could see her looking at me. And this happened quite a lot. Why was this girl checking me out so much…the question plagued me for a full 1 minute and then I remembered something!
Now take a break from this story and imagine that you and I are in a room standing around a circular table with a large circular bowl filled with a clear silvery liquid. I am holding a wand and I touch my head with it. Out from my head clinging to the tip of the wand come out silvery threads of thoughts which I empty out into the bowl. Yes...you are right...we are looking at a 'pensieve' and I want you to bury your face into this bowl with me so that you can relive the flashback I had during that time at the pool. (In case you are not a Harry Potter fan, then all you need to know is that I remembered something else looking that girl at the pool and I am jumping into it right now)
Sometime in mid February 2005
I had just finished 'doing my thing' and was walking out of the recreation center when this random girl I don’t recognize walks right in front of me and says
Random Girl: Oh...you are done?
Me: Excuse me?
RG: You done swimming for the day?
Puzzled Me: Uhhh...yeah...just finished...Uhh...you going now?
RG: Yeah...I see you swimming all the time.
Still Puzzled Me Oh! (smiles stupidly not knowing what else to do)
RG: Alright...Ill cya arnd.
Now thinking ‘WTF’ Me: Yeah...cya!
And then she was gone. Now all this happened in a matter of a few seconds and since things like this don’t happen on a day to day basis I was quite unprepared. The worst part is that I don’t remember her face. Even now I don’t even have the slightest clue as to how she looks. We probably must have crossed paths numerous times later but never once did I manage to recognize her...MAAAYBE UNTIL NOW!
As I say this you see silvery threads circling all around your face and with a bright cool flash you are out of the 'pensieve' and back to the present situation poolside
The same sometime in mid October 2005
So here I was, thinking that maybe it’s the same girl and that’s the reason she seemed so interested in me. Although I had set out to rest my brain it refused to do so and did some logical analysis for me...
->Probability of cute chic checking you out with so much interest: 1%
->Probability that she is a possessive stalker: 50%
->Probability that this stops you in anyway whatsoever: 0.001%
->Logical conclusion: Go talk to her!
Whom am I to say no to my brain. So I waited for her to finish swimming. She got out of the pool and made way to her towel. I got out and followed her to pick up my towel (Im no pervert! Everyone keeps their towels in the same place here). As she was rinsing herself I approached her and said Hi.
And I smiled...
a not very confident “Hey...how have you been...its been a while” smile
but a subtle “Do I know you? If so smile back and start talking else take it as a polite southern hospitality thingie and continue rinsing”.
And she smiled back...
a not very open “Oh my gaawd...its you...the hot guy Ive been waiting forever to talk to but after that disastrous first meeting I was scared of being thought as a freak but now that you have said hi Im going to take you back to my place and make you do things to me that would condemn us both from heaven forever”
But a very subtle “Huh...why is this freak saying hi to me while I’m rinsing myself!Im sure he is an engineering graduate student...they often tend to be so desperate and socially stunted. I better smile back politely and get the hell out of here before he tries to hit on me”
And then she left!
And I still don’t know if this was the same girl from before!
Cruel world: 1
Ro: 0
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