vellehiblog

[vellehiblog]

Upkeep and patience

Been trying to play for a decade nearly. This pic is a reminder that to tune this instrument it takes a hammer, and to redo the head of the drum is painful for both me and I guess the tabla.

Basically implying that my efforts amount to nothing even after 10 years. Every good thing takes time. If it doesn’t please take care of it even more.

Over the decade I have also learned, that if I love the instrument, revere it, there is a chance it will love me back and bless me with the ability to play it.

[vellehiblog]

Always WIP

I was presented a very unique problem, when the family decided to update the audio system for the home entertainment set up. I have a passive speaker system run off a Bluetooth enabled amplifier, that while being used by my pc, was perfect for the family setup.

Sigh! The things I do for love.

Off came the wires, and within the next 2 hours or so, the Apple TV was happily singing through the Bluetooth connection, sonorous and most mellifluous.

Yet I was left muted.

Now, for most it was an easy fix. Get off the counter desktop speakers, a sound bar, a Bluetooth speaker and you are done. But. Hmmm. This doesn’t really work. I admit the best sound setup is one that disappears and all you hear is just the sound and forget the square/circle it comes from.

But it is my square / circle. And this can be a curse sometimes. I think what I buy reflects me in subconscious ways most times and a very conscious way the rest of. It’s not just speakers, it’s my pair of sound producers. Off the shelf might work but if I can’t affect my personal surroundings in the choices I make, meaningfully , I feel I wasted money. In the end, a new set of passive speakers, a Bluetoothless amp, and an additional headphone amp, to sort of control everything was bought and setup. It works like a charm. It’s extra, for sure, unique like the last one, but far more extra. And that is fine. I will not see them when they do their job well.

Somehow, this I relate to life. Are we making decisions consciously, and that matters at all price points. Perhaps be a little extra in your life, for nobody else will. Great maestros of India in the music world say, listen to everything but when you sing, colour it in your own voice, which I take, means make it your own and not become the crayola throat monster.

In a similar vein, the drunkest person can right the most descriptive book on what it means to be drunk, yet it can not cause you to be high just by reading it. Following others to the t, will always be soulless second hand experience.

Most things I get or place in my fortress of solitude has to have meaning for me. These do. And now I can sleep easily, money for nothing and chicks for free. (That was the most unnecessary dire straits reference. Also, Yes it’s dusty)