#84: Learn a song in a new language

To begin with, let me confess: This post is written by an absolutely horrible singer. I'm one of those guys who're shown on TV during the Indian Idol auditions, just to make fun of the poor chaps (maybe even worse). But I do love music and I do love to sing along, especially to songs whose lyrics strike an instant emotional chord with me. Learning the lyrics is no problem for Hindi or English songs, but that's not what this post is about. No sense of accomplishment in that, is it? I'm talking about the songs you really like just for the sound of it, even though you understand just a few words here and there (or maybe non at all). For me, they'd probably be "Bulla ki jaana" by Rabbi Shergil or "Ee bhoomi" by Swarathma.

Now, here's the fun part (and this takes only about half an hour to an hour usually). Play the Youtube video on one half of the screen and the lyrics (with translation) on the other half. The first time, read the lyrics along with the song and try to discern one word from the other. You'll be surprised by how clear the meaning gets at this stage itself, as you recognize familiar words or word roots. Now, just try to sing along and learn the different paragraphs of the song one by one. This step is probably the most frustrating, but once you have the stanzas sorted out, its incredibly easy to put them together. All it takes is just a few keywords in each paragraph. A few practice runs with the music and before you know it, you have the lyrics by heart.

By this stage, the purists are probably saying "Okay, so you learnt the lyrics. Great. But that doesn't give you the right to torture me with your voice does it?" To that I say "Well, I'm not looking to win any talent hunt shows with this. This is something I did for myself, and man it feels amazing to be able to enjoy the true essence of a song this way" 

I don't know if you'll ever try it out, but if you do, let me tell you this: when you finally sing the whole song without the lyrics in front of you, all by yourself, you'll come away having experienced a sense of achievement that definitely makes this a "Top 100 Moments" experience.

#85: Re-runs of your favorite cartoons

If you are a 90's kid like me, you'll probably remember this theme song:

"Earth!! Fire!! Wind!! Water!! Heart!! When you powers combine...I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!!"

"Captain Planet...he's our hero....gonna take pollution down to zero...He's our powers magnified and he's fighting on the planet's side"

Looking back, I'm pretty sure being a "Planeteer" was far more fun than being a "Belieber" or whatever other things teenagers are into these days.

The reason for this sudden nostalgia? Well, watching the re-run of this cartoon a few days back made me realize how simply and elegantly it gets the message of saving the environment into my mind, something beyond the scope of any Environmental Studies textbook. Sure as an adult, you do see the scientific inaccuracies and the blatant stereotyping, but then again, that's not what the 8-10 year-old me saw. Who would've thought that such "heavy concepts" could actually be made fun? It also brought about the idea of people from different corners of the world with different powers could come together to fight a mutual opponent. It essentially introduces you (somewhat metaphorically) to some of the changes that are either under way or need to be made to find solutions to some of the biggest threats facing humanity today.

I may have talked only about Captain Planet here, but there were just so many more, it wouldn't be possible to include them all here. So here's to a generation fortunate enough to grow up in an era of such meaningful cartoons. Trust me friends, do revisit your favorite cartoons some day. I did, and was surely pleasantly surprised.

#86: New Headphones, New Instruments

With an endless variety of headphones available in the market today, we audiophiles love upgrading to better headphones don't we? But what's the best part about getting new headphones?

For me, its that first moment when I plug them in to listen to my favorite song and the superior sound quality makes me realize..."Wow!! This song is so much better than I knew it!!" Those subtle nuances in the vocals of your favorite singer that you never noticed before, the instrument playing faintly in the background never heard before, discovering these is like falling in love all over again.

       

Of course you then repeat it with all your favorite songs and before the day is up, you end up humming and smiling like the infatuated hero in a Hindi movie. Little silly, but truly awesome!!

P.S.: Please do leave your comments and suggestions or requests for #85. Thanks for reading

#87: The Unexpected Win

Have you ever entered a competition (quiz, debate, sports, art and craft, anything at all really), knowing all well in advance that your chances of winning fare no better than this guy here.

                           

Doesn't it feel great to be the underdog for once? To be doing something out of your comfort zone just for the fun of it. When its not about winning but just having a good time. Believe me, in today's competitive times, this is a rare luxury, meant to be cherished. (Top 100 Moment? Not yet)

Here's the icing on the cake: Remember that moment when mid-way, with scores tied, you suddenly realize - "Wait a minute, if I continue whatever it is that I'm doing, I can actually beat this guy!!" (Top 100 Moment? nah, just a bit longer to go)

Well the cherry, on top of the icing on the cake is that if you carry on with nerves of steel, a whole lot of rubbish football or half-cooked quiz answers later, you may just find yourself yelling..."What?! I won?! Seriously??!! Woohoooo!! Yeaahh!!" Top 100 Moment? Hell Yes!!

P.S. I dont know if you've been in this place before, but if you have, admit it, you felt just this way didnt you??

If you like this post, pl comment in the "add a comment" section below and do leave suggestions and/or requests for #86. Thanks.

#88: One last squeeze of toothpaste

How many times has this happened to you? Waking up for a 8:30 lecture at 8:20, only to realize that you're out of toothpaste. Something like this:

What do you do? Yes, you know that you should've gone to the supermarket earlier (Note to self: need new shopping list), but no time to ponder about that now. Well, I say...

You'll find many ways doing this on the internet, but my personal favorite is the grand old adage..."Squeeze from the bottom and flatten as you go up". That's right, just use the handle of your toothbrush to flatten the tube and collect all the toothpaste near the top. Now, squeeze hard enough and thanks to the thixotropic nature of toothpaste (ICTians will get this), get that little bit of toothpaste onto the brush and be on your way to pearly white teeth and avoid being thrown out of the class by the over-punctual profs (ICTians you know who I'm talking about). Go ahead, you're now ready to...

If you like this post, pl comment in the "add a comment" section below and do leave suggestions and/or requests for #87. Thanks.