I’m posting this verbatim from Varuna’s blog about Vipassana meditation course that she took at Dharamsala (Himachal, India). Vipassana Meditation Retreat Course – My 10 days of Experience in Silence Four years back when my sister did her 10-day Vipassana course, I looked at her with disdain and thought how could she waste her 10 days doing nothing...

There is an old anecdote that my Father always tells me and my brother. “When you were little kids of 5 and 8 respectively (my brother is 3 years older than me) – people who would visit our house would often ask – who is listening to these ancient songs of Talat Mahmood?”. It turns out that both of us would find ourselves crooning to the music of...

Tried learning Simon & Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence recently on my Guitar. Lyrics: Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of...

A medley of Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Me Khayaal Aata Hai..immortal nazm written by Sahir Ludhianvi. I combined the song that was sung by Mukesh for the movie, Kabhi Kabhi starring Amitabh Bachchan and combined it with the rendition I heard in the play, Ek Mulaqat starring Shekhar Suman and Deepti Naval based on the life of Sahir and Amrita Pritam (or rather their love...

During Secret Life of Walter Mitty that I was watching last night, this David Bowie song “Space Oddity” comes on where Kristen Wiig comes on screen and plays it on Guitar for Walter to motivate him. As Varuna is doing her Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC) at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI), I thought of recording a verse for her on my Fender...

On Herath (Kashmiri Shivratri) 2017 last week, I was at Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary beyond Almora, in Kumaon Himalayas and I decided to dedicate this Kashmiri Bhajan to everyone on my Guitar. I don’t speak Kashmiri but my wife tried my best to teach me 🙂 Pls forgive any mistakes…Herath Mubarak.. In the background you might see: Trishul, Nanda Devi and...

On 148th death anniversary of Mirza Ghalib, I paid my respect and a small tribute to Mirza Ghalib by singing Jagjit Singh’s rendition..