Life is a rollercoaster ride. One should normally see ups & downs. Keeping calm and staying calm will always see you through crisis.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Life without music is ‘lif’ missing an ‘e’.

What would your life be like without music?

No music, no good neighborhood.

You’re playing Rihanna so loud. This is a residential society and we are too old. Keep the volume down for god’s sake!

No music, no Indian staff could sit at odd hours answering queries in ‘outsourcing’ call-center companies. Music can keep the callers ‘on hold’ for half a day.

There’s a popular saying in India. “The trumpeting announces the arrival of an elephant”.

No music, no ice cream vendor.

No music, no freeway driving.

No music, no movies.

No music, no cows will produce milk.

No music, no weddings in heaven.

No music, no political campaigns.

No music, no religious processions.

“Pizza for me at lunchtime!”. That’s ‘music to my ears!’

A Walk in the Clouds.

How do you celebrate holidays?

I live in a city which is urban and people mostly come here to work and build a career.

On holidays, they all go back to their native places. The city will look completely deserted during the break.

I cherish the look of the empty city and relish a walk in the middle of road. I call it ‘a walk in the clouds’.

I wish I had known one would essentially return to where he/she had started, despite covering the full circumference of Earth.

Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

Chromosome. For the journey humankind has taken to come this far.

What’s your favorite word?

Just one only. But the ominous signs are plenty. Beware!

What personality trait in people raises a red flag with you?

Seeing the rain. Soft rain. The smell of ground. And catching the glimpse of a fleeting ‘rainbow’ in the distance.

What brings a tear of joy to your eye?

‘Zen and the Art of Conversing with Artificial Intelligence’ – is my new project. I blog so I make the venture a huge success.

Why do you blog?

The rude shock of seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Mr. Universe and Mayor of California sleeping on the floor in front of a hotel.

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

I and the place I live have a ‘chaotic love’.

What do you love about where you live?

The everyday traffic. Constant buzz in both the ears because of noise on roads. Suffocating air. Soot on face.

Heads that suddenly appear out of bus windows spitting a copious amount of saliva all over on body who happen to drive closer, the sewage clearance trucks leaking the collection all through on road and firecrackers lighting the sky with a deafening noise continue till late on a Sunday.