Anish Nadh’s Blog

The grass was just not enough for Mani, the Malabar goat, who was always in search for the tasty leaves. He was often seen munching on long green blades of grass  and occasionally reaching over the fence to nibble on his favorite! The  jackfruit tree leaves from the neighbour’s.   Mani was the only goat at the farm, his other siblings either passed away due to some disease or were butchered during an occasion. The farm owners were planning on getting more Malabar goats as his companions. He was lonely, but had complete access to the farm. At night they kept him locked away from the hungry leopards that prowled in the night.  When they installed the Christmas tree out in the open, a certain curiosity came upon mani. The dark green leaves from the tree looked delicious! He nibbled on the grass and found his way through to the ornamented Christmas tree. Was this better than the Jack fruit tree leaves? He sniffed at the leaves! Unfamiliar! He licked, bit and nibbled...

Our cup runneth over. In other words, the water from our sump is overflowing. We are blessed with water beyond what we need. It is available in abundance. But is there a thing like too much blessings? What if we are blessed with more than what we can chew?  We didn’t install the water stopper in our sump. Now that we have the Cauvery water connection as well, there’s too much water. And water often overflows, going to waste. We have got a plumber to fix this immediately after we turned the inflow off. This should be done in a couple of days. The blessings are on hold now, until we extinguish some reserves so the repair can happen from within the sump and the healing can begin! 

I’m working on the script for the Christmas play with Soumya. My job is to edit the script a little and to train the kids into performing this on the final day. This is tiring and requires a lot of attention and care as a lot of children are involved.  My style of teaching is to allow the kids to come up with their own parts. I must also select some songs that can go in between the scenes. I think it will shape up fine. Fingers crossed! 

My parent’s fridge stopped working. Their fridge is over 12 years old. The new fridges are quite expensive so we decided to fix it. The repair work costed us ₹4000 and now we have a working fridge.  When my parents asked me to get it fixed, my instinct wanted me to buy a new one. We always think of replacing things instead of fixing it. Broken furniture? Get a new one. Fridge? New one. Relationship? New one. We have changed, we are different. 

 Everyday I put on my shoes before my class and go there a park nearby to jog. I don’t enjoy it! But I push myself. I do a round of waking alternated with the slowest jogging you’ll ever witness. It pumps my heart, gives me movement in the shoulder area, my legs hurts but I still do it. I must. Sometimes when it rains it’s difficult to go jogging. I wait for every opportunity to get out for that comfort zone. As for jogging, I’m gonna fake it till I make it! 

 I chew dry figs between my smoothie sip everyday. This adds the honey like taste between the sips. I don’t know if fry figs are artificially sweetened but it’s got a chewy and crunchy texture. The crunch comes from the seeds. Yummy!

I have the biggest crush on her. The first time I saw her was at an MCC fest! She was part of a choir! Her hair loose, prominent jaw, pretty eyes, enthusiastic. Our eyes never met.  I kept seeing her in social circles, she was also part of many popular bands I know. I met her at opus! I loved that she was involved more in singing her songs, the way she moved, I barely listened to the band. I just watched her.  I found her on Instagram, found her little blog. I also watched close friends make music with her! She’s a goddess, I can’t have!  My ex told me a girl like her would never go out with me. Perhaps she’s right! But Deepa Jacob you will always have my heart! 

I slept early last night at 8:30, just to wake up early by 6:00 but my body just woke up at 3:30 am. I listened to a few podcasts, and was surprised I was alert and focused at the time of the hour. I’m not sure how practical waking up so early will be for me. But I’m going to make an attempt to sleep early and get some sun early morning. 

We have the Snapchat streaks going on with some of my buddies! I started streaks with Valerine and it’s been 758 days of Snapchat pictures shared back and forth with her. I also have this with other friends in the range of 500s.  Snapchat streaks helped us stay in touch during lockdowns. It was quite assuring to tell each other we were ok. Some friends were hospitalized during Covid and even that did not stop them from snapping! If a snap didn’t show up we would call or text to find out if they were ok. This got us together even though we were locked down or in different countries!  

 I stayed on bed till 1:00 noon! To wake up to a message from the client. “Our event had been postponed to Feb, We might need few changes.” So no pay until Feb? Nothing is clear!  I worked over 20 hours with Emmanuel and deserve to be compensated but the client also happens to be an acquaintance. I have to pay Emmanuel from my pocket,  FML!! 

I started my day at church. Went for breakfast and stayed back for the quiz. After a heavy biryani lunch Emmanuel and I worked on the video for a client (Telstra) then I went to commercial street with Jude, Sharmi and Andy to buy Christmas items for church. I drove to and back to church continued editing with Emmanuel. It’s 10:30 and the video is still rendering. I’m hoping to go home and crash! 

God has indeed made my small music school a blessing to many of my students. We are seeing wonderful results! Moreover, we are at almost full capacity! Looks like I’ll have no life from now on. God has always shown the right path to me. I just stayed organised and just put my head down and worked. I know this business has ups and downs but even though there’s not much money made, my heart goes out to the happy faces of my hard working students who play exceptionally well and some of them find joy just practicing while some like a competition.  Thank you lord for blessing me. I’m grateful. 

I was approached by Sharon to make a video compilation for their company’s harmony day. I agreed to it and  I was sent a ton of tracks! Nothing syncs! This is going to be the longest 3 days of my life! I’ve included Emmanuel to this project, the incentive is that we will get paid but this is too much work. Fingers crossed! 

Sometimes you are pulled   From all directions, some unknown  You are stagnant!  What do you do?  You stay in that comfort zone?  Let me tell you what I did, friend  I fixed the stagnant lake I’m in! Birds flew to me, fishes grew in abundance  Once a stagnant lake,  Now brimming with life.  Then I felt it  That pulling stopped!  There, they all came,  And started taking away,  More than I can give.  So I guarded my lake,  Put up a fence  Also a guard I kept.  To protect my fishes,  And to let only birds in. 

We booked tickets to goa. It’s Solomon’s 30th birthday, so he wanted to celebrate it grand in Goa. I’ll definitely visit there.Goa, maybe explore the local cuisines this time. Every time I discover something new. This will be my fifth time there. I’ll have my glasses on, video on, vibe on and will get maximum sun. Hoping to have a good time.  God bless. (Andy this is for you) 

To get the best out of my students, I’m introducing the following after taking a feedback from the parents. I’m going to make this worth every dime they pay!  1. Resubmissions: if quality of work submitted is not on par with expectations. Some even submit every day. I’m persistent.  2. Student mini concerts: Online concerts by students for a student audience, to showcase their talents, to develop their performance acumen, dealing with performance stress, develop confidence, public communication etc.  3. Theory lessons: Open to all students at no extra charge we learn music theory, where students present a topic. This will include quizzes, games and prizes to winners.  Being the worst student myself, I empathize with my students. I believe, I know what it takes to bring out the best in them. We learn together.  Some of them puts up a last minute assignment with mediocrity signed all over it. I’m not expecting perfection, just seeking improvement. You can eas...

Mary had a little lamp. She lit it up for Diwali, She broke it after.  Mary had a little lamp.  Mary’s lamb was made into a biryani! 

 My parents are planning a Kerala trip so, I’m gonna be eating out for almost a month. I think it makes sense to take a ZOMATO or Swiggy subscription, to avail free delivery and some discounts.  I ordered ramen today and was perplexed with the exorbitant rates charged in delivery and taxes! I can see how inflation is picking up. Time to plot another plan! 

I have the most intelligent conversation with Denzil. It’s mostly about music, science, girls, lifestyle and sometimes religion. Every time I talk to him I go back with a better perspective on things, a new view on things.  When we spoke yesterday, he said he stopped smoking and he’s working his butt out. We also spoke about some of the fun times that we’ve had in the past.  In Netherlands, he has attended concerts of some of my favorite bands, he’s even watched Steve Vai and Dream Theater! He also plans to attend Joe Satriani and Hans Zimmer’s concerts in the coming year!  He is my go to guy for any science related facts and he can dumb them down for me to understand drawing parallels to everyday events.  He’ll come back to India soon! Looking forward to meeting him sometime early next year. 

“30 days has September, April, June and November, February has 28 all the rest have 31 but leap year comes in once In 4 (years)”  Strangely, I remember this word to word! Learnt this while I was in my middle school.  This strange world of memory fascinates me. We remember things we repeated years ago and it comes back out of the blue from no where. So does songs, tunes, chants, multiplication tables, most of these become part of our lives and we use them on a regular basis.  Steaming parottas packed inside banana leaves that I opened while in Kerala last year, got back memories with my grandpa who always bought this for me when I was a toddler.    Maybe there’s someone who remembers every word they’ve  read! Having a great memory will eliminate the need to be relying on devices. Imagine being able to calculate 376477 x 684637 without using a calculator! 

Mother of all,  Giver of fruits, forbidden,  Turned the path for mankind to Know!  She showed light To things both good and evil,  While she herself tread carefully between!  She had songs,  Not her own!  She chose the best as the moment turned on.   In her presence,  You are embraced with love  With her soothing voice she calms your evil thoughts  You know she’s the devil,  But you are one too, Together you are nothing but chaos! 

Yesterday, my parents and I planted two papaya trees  and a guava tree outside our compound back gate. This was done for the community. Any one can pluck this, maybe the birds will love it too! This was mom’s idea, she just needed a helping hand and dad and I took turns making small pits outside  We also groomed a tree outside, it was blocking some essential sunlight for the plants inside. This was tiring, as I climbed the tree after many years to church some branches. We then used these branches to protect our fruit trees from wandering cows and tended sheep! Ironic our community trees will have to be protected, but this is for a short time, enough for the plants to adapt to the new surroundings.  Now to wait for the fruits! 

I wake up to loud sneezes from my dad every single day during winters! Sometimes I hear them as early as 3:00 am! Over the last year, we tried everything! Homeopathy, Ayurveda etc.. but the sneeze gods kept on giving!   Last night I happened to notice a rectangular hole in the wall, above his bedroom window, meant for ventilation! I assumed it was the cold air that got in through that orifice that irritated his sinuses! Now it made sense why in Bangalore, the buildings never came with these ventilation holes. My Kerala-tradition loving dad had asked for this one to be installed in his room!  I pulled myself up on his window and stuffed a pillow into the ventilation and viola, I fixed his sinus!  Now, he has a bit of a stuffy nose! He will get better soon! 

It’s  8:30 and I’m still on bed. I haven’t got anything done. So, tonight I’m going to sleep early and make an effort to wake up early and finish my tasks.  I will go get some sun now and will skip yoga today. It’s getting too cold here and very difficult to just get up. Why Bangalore weather! Why? 

Maybe not. I’m not motivated to go to church. I usually go there to hang out with friends or if I have to play music. I’m not connecting with church as a place of worship. I don’t like listening to sermons, especially when the preacher seems uninterested. I’m not in the mindset to worship.  I have had the best connect with God during my alone time with music. I remember working out an arrangement of Blessed Assurance and tears started rolling down. I was filled with the spirit and this happened in my room.  Maybe I have to find a purpose, with my role in church. I used to be active with the Sunday School, helping out with songs, music and skits. The best growth I have had musically and personally came from these experiences of being involved with church activities.  That maybe my next step. May the lord lead me and use me, I’m waiting for the right moment, 

The true beginning and end, The unknown,  The unfathomable.  There is God.   If life is movement, There beats a heart,  Even in the tiniest of atoms,  There is God.  Everything is God,  The omnipresent,  In good and evil,  There is God.  As we digest the forbidden fruit,  From the tree of knowledge,  In that snake, tree and fruit,  There was God. Years have passed,  We still search for the elixir,  To life everlasting,  To be God! Did you know the strongest,  Suffer in silence?  Even in suffering  There is God  God is also in humour!  So Pretend you are Sylvester from looney tunes,  and lisp along while you   “Tssuffer in Tssilence” Coz only a fool will say “There is NO God!”

Mom lost her almost expiring passport. We went back to the passport office to check if we left it there and the busy officers assured us they don’t have it. Now we wait for the new passport to come. We have completed the police verification and other procedures.  I was with mom through the search without complaining. I have no idea how I can get her to be more organized. I asked her to organize the papers and files and keep them safe. She just nodded and will put it to laters as usual. 

I’m noticing that the winters are getting strangely cooler than usual. Maybe because I lost my natural fat insulation. I end up shivering into the night. This reminded me of something our prime minister once said, “There’s no climate change we are not able to bear it. We have changed.” or something like that.  A comfortable hoodie, with some hot water is what I find my solace in. Maybe I will add a hot water bag and socks, going forward. 

It was a fun hang with new friends, some old at Vistar. I liked the ambience of the place especially loved that it had little fruit trees, like mulberries and guavas that you could pluck out of.  I enjoyed the food. It was quite evident that it was fresh, hygienic with no added artificial flavours.  We started our day with some music and found ways to evade the group sessions. I spent my time loitering around the area, played with Joslin’s pet lab Tyson.  It was a nice day that ended with some cooling rain! I got back home and spent some time teaching my niece. And hit the bed. 

Kids complaining of tension is something else. It’s the adult’s vocabulary to say I’m tensed, Im confused etc and the child picks it up from them.  Yesterday my niece didn’t want to study! She said I have so much tension. Maybe the rat race to be the best is piling up on her. She hates studying now as it’s a lot  to remember. I sat her down, knowing not what to do, I told her we don’t have tension. Only people working in the the sun, doing manual labour has tension. I said this knowing I was wrong. I’m hoping some physical activity in the evening will help her.