Indian Idol Top 16 Performs On Stage

Image courtesy: setindia

The first eight contestants of the Top 16 performed on Monday night, 10th May on the Indian Idol Season 5 stage. And perhaps for the first time in its history, all the participants who performed on Idol's stage sung outstandingly. An indication of the judges' ears for talent? Maybe. Even then can it be attributed to all three of them, since Annu Malek (hope I got the spell right, too many people influenced by numerology these days, changing the spelling of their names like anything!) has been a part of all the seasons? Maybe, having Sunidhi Chauhan and Salim Merchant helped a great deal in making stringent and careful selection of the participants.

The first performance by Naushad was the harbinger of how musically sound the evening was going to be. His near-perfect rendition of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's 'More Piya To Hai Pardes.. ' from Bandit Queen was succeeded by Tia's version of Sunidhi's 'Shut up and bounce.. ' from Dostana. Tia's singing lacked a little but she made up for it by her performance with a little ziggy-wiggy! Next up was 17-year old Meghna with Madan Mohan composed song 'Maeri Main Kaase Kahoon...' from 1970's Dastak sung by Lata Mangeshkar. She captured the essence of the song with her emotive singing, though like she herself admitted there were slight problems. It was up to Noida's Lakshay to get contemporary with Salim Merchant's recent hit 'Aye Khuda.. ' from Paathshaala. His upbeat performance was carried forward and taken to the hilt by Manisha, by far the best so far, with 'Solemiya.. ' from Popcorn Khao Mast Ho Jaawo, a forgettable film with some good music. Rakesh kept the audience smiling and cheering with his joyful rendition of 'Tere Bin.. ' from Rabbi Shergill's debut album. His performance was followed by a 'breathless' singing by Sreeram with 'Guzarish.. ' from Ghajini. The last to sing was Shivam, who pepped up the atmosphere with his performance of 'Halka-halka sa yeh nasha.. ' from Chocolate.

The audience had a gala time, so did the participants. And the judges, well, they went with the flow of the show. If at one point, they went teary-eyed because of an emotional confession of a participant*, they were up on their feet giving a standing ovation to another contestant's overwhelming performance^. But one thing remained the same throughout. They were amazed and happy with the quality of singing and performance. And two of them even performed with the contestants as well. Sunidhi fulfilled Tia dreams by singing 'Shut up.. ' along with her, while Salim teamed up with Lakshay for 'Aye Khuda..'. I say, take a bow judges and contestants alike. Now, it's the remaining eight contestants' responsibility to keep the flag flying high!


[* Sunidhi Chauhan was moved to tears when Tia, who idolises her shared her disbelieve on finally performing on the Indian Idol stage, a dream she had been harbouring for the past three years.

^ Salim Merchant's comments for Manisha's performance was a standing ovation. She was moved by the comments of the judges]

Pious Brothers Win The Amazing Race Season 16

It was a close call between the cowboy brothers and the Pious siblings. Finally, Daniel and Jordan Pious gets to the finishing line of the race first, cheered on by the rest of the contestants, taking home the $1 million grand prize.

Daniel and Jordan
Image courtesy: tv.yahoo.com
The cowboys Jet and Cord McCoy, surely gave them a run for their money finishing their task early and catching up with them. Coming in first in the eighth leg of the race despite being the last to arrive in the previous leg, the cowboys couldn't manage a similar feat in the finale. For a while it seemed they would take over when Dan and Jordan, after finishing their last task, were unable to find a taxi for a long time. I was rooting for Dan and Jordan, and it was exhilarating to watch them win it.

Brent Horne and Caite Upton were pissed at each other and the cab driver throughout the finale (not a lucky day for them!) and ended the race as the second runners up. While everybody cheered them on, Brandy and Carol could not get over the fact that they had been u-turned by them, heating up the finale. Fact is it's a race and like Caite puts it, she is the only female contestant to finish the race.

All in all, it was another entertaining season of the Amazing Race and sure fires up hope for an exciting Season 17. Can't wait to watch. But with the Amazing Race Asia Season 4 soon to be aired in a few months time, the wait should be much easier and entertaining. Well, Allan Wu it's time for you to say 'You are the first team to arrive' while Phil Keoghan goes out saying 'I am sorry to say you've been eliminated'.

Something's Staring...

Something is staring at you right in your face... How do you escape the unflinching glance? How do you pretend there's nobody? How do you go about your daily routine when you know no matter where you go or what you do there is always going to be this shadow of an issue following you around?

It's a problem that has a way of complicating itself more when tried to be solved. It's a disease that would not kill but would accompany you to the grave. It's a wound, starting to heal but gone bad due to frequent scratching. It's like a nightmare that has not ceased to exist even after the eyes are wide open and you have woken up from your sleep. It's like your past, never prominent enough to be worried about, but always holding you back from living your present to the fullest.

Let's Live!

If we always had what we wished for we would pretty soon get bored of wishing! It’s good that disappointment is a part of life. With disappointment there’s hope, hope for the fulfillment of it the next time around. And that’s what keeps us going… going through one more day of sunshine or rain… of laughter or pain. It’s true the heartaches become too real to bear sometimes. But, we must remember that in those moments we can feel truly alive. Life makes its presence felt more strongly. Even our heartbeat is audible to us!

It’s an amazing life! The fact that with pain we feel closer to living and more distant to it with joy is a strange irony. And since nothing is forever, every moment leaves an impression that stays in our mind though the moment is lost. Life is a story of all these moments and a memory that they form. So, let’s weave these moments into a life. Let’s live!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I remember your laughter, how you’d smile mischievously and then the smile would broaden and then burst into peels of laughter. I remember your quietness, how you’d go so far away in your thoughts with a lost look in your eyes. I never knew what you thought of or what you saw in your visions, I was just glad to see a silent reassurance in your smile when I called out for you.

I remember your anger, how you’d all of a sudden go so silent on me. No word spoken or any frustrations shown just complete silence even when serving out the dinner to me. I remember your disappointments, how you’d try to still be a part of my changing life which had somehow outgrown your need in everything. You would still be there, telling me about your day and hoping I share about mine but be left disappointed every other time.

I remember your strength, how you would without a trace of worry in your face go about things bravely even in the most vulnerable times. I never knew it until the day I was a witness to it. You must be glad to know perhaps how much of that strength sister has imbibed from you. There is so much of you in her. She's making you and all of us proud.

I remember your fear, how you held onto me once and told me how afraid you were of what would happen to you. I was ill-prepared to react. That was the first time I realized you were not as strong as you’d show to us. I was scared to know that here was someone whose mere presence drove all my nightmares away and even she had fears. It was one of those rare moments when I came to realize that you were after all human with all the emotions and feelings a human could feel. It was one of those days when I realized that you too needed to be held, to be heard, to be seen, to be hugged, to be pampered, to be spoiled and to be sometimes chided and teased as well.

I hope and pray, god is pampering and spoiling you up there, as we silently celebrate your birthday today, in our own quiet ways, the way you lived your life. Don’t be sad or worry if you see us missing you once in a while. We need those moments to feel your presence in our lives. Even though we know you’d always be there with your arms around our shoulders, guiding us and letting us know we will be fine.

I Was Born

9 March, 4:02 am
I was born exactly at this time, nearly three decades ago, in a small village in Manipur. Mom had not been keeping well for few months and was weak during my birth. Maibi (or dais - traditional birth attendants/midwives) was being sent for when she went into labour. But before her arrival I popped out of my mother's womb surrounded by anxious relatives. The house was humble and with too many people living in it, my mother was moved to a makeshift room during the later stage of her pregnancy. The verandah to the right side of the house, a shelter for people to sit in during festivities and/or ceremonies, was converted into an extra room with kitchen for mom's convenience.

It was Holi. The town would soon be seen reveling in the festivities. But there was double the reason for celebration in our house. Father, who was with the army, was promptly informed of my birth. He was posted in Jammu and Kashmir at that time. When the news reached him, he was out collecting snow for boiling drinking water. He says he threw the container away and ran like a madman to receive the call.

I am the only one who was born in my hometown in a remote village, Sugnu. So, besides my mother's milk I was fed on chabon - a starchy liquid formed during the process of cooking rice in a pot. When the water begins to dry, the starchy liquid is collected from the top and after adding a pinch of salt it is fed to the baby. It was a poor man's cerelac! My brother and sister would sometimes gang up on me saying I am a lawai macha (a gawar or dehati - a village bumpkin) while they were born in cities and grew up on cerelac! The teasing bit was also because I could not speak my mother tongue - Manipuri properly. It was more crude and rustic. It's another thing I still can't!

Despite our different circumstances and the different environment we were born in , we have somehow managed to turn out good. And despite leaving our hometowns for studies then work, staying together then separately, we are still connected.

And as today I think of where life has brought me and how much it has shaped and moulded me through the years, I find myself celebrating my birth with these two wonderful beings I call family.

With our celebrations I rejoice and remember and miss the person who gave life to us, knowing somehow that a corner of the Heaven must be celebrating with us too...

Learning To Let Go, Learning To Live

What do we do when we know our lives are not what it was suppose to be? But what exactly are our lives suppose to be? For a fact, we know that this or that is what we want to be doing or what we want to achieve… a good job, a great house, a car, nice little family, etc… etc… How do we define the lives that we are supposed to be living? Is there a picture or an image of how everything, every little detail of our lives, would be pieced together? Can there be a moment or a series of moments where we can feel and see and experience the lives that we know we want to be living? Is there even something called a life we are supposed to be living? Isn’t all these only a figment of our imagination, our dreams, our hopes, our perspectives, our ideals of how things should be?

I guess the whole idea is to let go of the ‘idea’ itself… of letting go of trying to control everything in our lives, and start appreciating them for what they are… even when they are lost, being thankful for their presence however short their stay might have been, then letting go… moving on… with no excess baggage… how on earth do you expect to take another step forward if you haven’t even lifted your foot from where it was before on the ground? You need to lift it up, completely, to be able to move on and continue…

To just give in to what you feel at the moment… we plan, we think, we envision… but the best moments are those where we just surrender to them, and live them…

Rules may be important, but when it comes to a life… remember there is nothing better than having no rules at all… life can never be closed… it’s open… give it the freedom it needs… let it be free… and then perhaps you will see, you are no longer tied up anymore yourself…