That Was It

As a kid, I remember listening to Beat It as my first Michael Jackson song. I recall sitting on the passenger side with my dad and singing whatever I could manage at the top of my voice, windows down. To date, I have not met one person who didn't like a Michael Jackson song. And I have a feeling I never will.

I do not know if legends are born, or made. What I do know, That good ol' Jacko would have most certainly managed it both ways. He had.. An aura to him. Of dreams, ambition, dedication, and most of all, humanity. I've rarely seen a star on camera who spoke of love and togetherness and brotherhood with such urgency and passion and came across as genuine at the same time. He probably mentioned the word 'love' more than our bollywood movies. And that's a lot. But we, heartless animals as we are, killed him.

On 25th June, 2009, Michael Jackson collapsed in his living room as his son watched, under the impression that his dad was just clowning around. At the age of 50, The Thriller succumbed to a heart failure. Somehow, his death at 50 seemed more shocking than Kurt Cobain's murder at 27. Because inside, Michael was still a child. A child who always wanted to go higher, dance tirelessly and please the ones giving him attention. It seemed just unbelievable and completely preposterous that those shiny black shoed feet won't glide over the dance floor ever again. Michael was too lively to be dead to the world.

Personally (and trust me, this IS a very personal post) I hold us as the cause for Michael's obviously early demise. Mj was known as the greatest performer of all times. He holds a world record for it. The youngest of the Jackson5, he loved the camera, his fans and the attention and euphoria he got from stardom. He was a crowd pleaser and was therefore ready to do anything to keep the throne as The King Of Pop. And he started falling to this pressure. Slowly, he started turning up in news for the most shocking, and somewhat outlandish, reasons. Because people had slowly started getting bored of him. Sure, the fans remained crazy as ever, but the general public wanted more. Michael kept giving away pieces of himself, and we kept lunging at them like hungry, rabid dogs. And before he knew it, before we knew it and before anyone else in the world could possibly imagine it, Michael was dead. As dead as one could ever be.

The London Concerts he was going to throw will always be an unfinished dream of his, and an unfinished memory of ours. I wish he rests in peace and I wish more of his kind are born. Although, yes, no one can be Michael Jackson. He was the only one. That Was It.

The King of Pop.
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

In fond memory of Michael Joseph Jackson. You are sorely missed.

Love,
Dead Poet.

P.S. : From one memory to another,

Why It Rains

It rains to keep the heat away,
It rains to keep the sun away.
It rains when people die,
It rains when babies cry.
It rains when legends are born,
It rains when leaders are sworn.
It rains for the little kids without a roof,
It rains because happiness is a spoof.
It rains because smiles are induced,
It rains because friends are never used.
It rains when lovers meet,
It rains to give them peace at the back seat.
It rains when the joy is true,
It rains when sorrow engulfs you.
It rains because You are beautiful,
It rains for the pixie dust I save for You.
It rains to give the flowers life,
It rains to clean the murderer's knife.
It rains to keep the coffee warm,
It rains to make friends rocks in a storm.
But mostly, it rains to hide the tears away,
That you could see anyway.

Love,
Dead Poet.

Being Alive

Hinduism says, depending on how you live your life (the theory of karma), you are repeatedly reborn until finally you go to heaven, the real abode of soul.

Buddhism preaches that you move a level up or down in every rebirth, the supreme being human, yet again depending on your attitude to life.

Egyptians, on the other hand, whose preachings are the most a materialistic atheist like myself can relate to, say that there is no rebirth. Each soul is given one life to live, one life to love and at the end of its tunnel, old man god (I take it to be a voice activated computer) asks you two questions.

*Boomy voice* Have you found joy in life?

*Same level of boomy, but a bit smug now* And have you brought joy to others?

As I said before, I am an atheist. I promise to write about that someday, but the point to my handing out of pamphlets on three distinct religious preachings is the common point emphasized in every single one of them, particularly Egyptian. Living (and trust me, I mean living) your life.

David Blaine will possibly hit Egyptian heaven. His coffee money trick is my
favorite to date.

I recently saw The Bucket List (yes this late. So?) and I can tell you this; I probably had an enlightenment equivalent, if not more, to Buddha’s. There is this element to the movie that really makes you sit up and go, “Do I want to end up like them and have just 6 months of my *respectable random number* years to fulfill the real desires in my life?” And the answer (at the risk of sounding like a politician) is no my friends. It most certainly is no.

In a recent interview, Shah Rukh Khan said that at then end of life, everyone is interviewed by god himself (Secret Egyptian! :O) and when he is asked what he really did in his lifetime, he wants to reply with a cheeky “everything”. And mean it.

Okay. For once, just this once, try letting go of all that you’ve been told. It doesn’t matter if you’re a religious person, an atheist, an agnost. Just think. Do you really know that there is another life waiting for you? That you will be reborn once again, given another chance to live life? No. What I know is, that I have this life. You have your life. We all have our lives. And you can’t fight afterwards if you get to know there is no rebirth, ‘cause hey, there’s no bringing back the dead.

We need to start making a change. Slowly, if you want. But, really start living your life. Don’t think about the next moment. Blink, and do it. Don’t think about what “they” would say. Because “they” have only one job. To sit back, and bark. Microsoft word is telling me that the previous sentence isn’t a proper one. Am I going to change it? No. Because I like the way it sounds. I’m in 12^th. Should I be wasting my time on a blog? No. But I will. Because I LOVE doing this.

Do what you love. Go against the flow. Break out of your own cage, and do what you really want to do. Heck, photography isn’t a big career in India. Not all break through. But you like photography, right? Do it. Because all said and done, all advice given and all councilors consulted, at the end of the day it is you who has to live your life. Read the sentence again. YOU. YOUR LIFE.

So, for the first time peeps, Homework. Make a list of 3-5 things you really want/wanted to do in life and post them here on the comments. See how many you can check off. And note down right next to those things, how great you really felt when you checked them off. The emotion that will run through you, will be called feeling alive. One life to live, one life to love. Till then, if you have the woes, write down in that list “I will never be sad, and follow Dead Poet’s advice to wear a toothy smile.” Trust me, it will work.

Love,

Dead Poet.

P.S. :

1. Sky dive

2. Drive a Lamborghini Gallardo

3. Feel really goddamn happy for having done a good deed. X

4. Become a chef and have my own restaurant.

I have one checked off. Let’s see about you. Post the list. :)

And obviously, no note on living a life is complete without Jon Bon Jovi. Enjoy. And Learn.