Akshay_Fur Elise

I had made this small video for Akshay in 2012 for his birth anniversary but never went public with it on You Tube. He had learnt to play Fur Elise in his piano classes when he was eight or so, apart from Yankee Doodle and other songs. The music of Fur Elise is so mesmerising it defies words...parts of it are melancholic and parts of it joyful. After listening to it you feel as if all those tight knots inside have loosened up and you can relax. Did you know Beethoven never played Fur Elise in front of an audience during his lifetime. What a pity! He had composed it in 1810. It came to public notice long after his death due to his illegible handwritten notes. Today Fur Elise is a must-learn piece in every piano class there is. That's the world's way of showing gratitude to a musical maestro!

The Last Airbender

This was one of the movies we all watched together at a multiplex in Bangalore with Akshay. He had watched the movie keenly, paying equal attention to the action scenes as well as the spiritual side of the plot.

The story is wonderful. Air Nomads have amazing quality of bending air. Since air is the element that stands for freedom, the Airbenders free themselves of the worldly things and become seekers of peace and spiritual knowledge. When you see preteens doing this it makes for a good story...yeah! The Air Benders are pacifist by nature and avoid confrontation to achieve their goals.

These sketches of Aang are from Deviantart, a social networking service for art display.

FIFA Memorablia and a Doodle a Day

Akshay was following FIFA 2010 closely and had pictures and posters stuck on the wall next to his bed. He would cut out Messi's pictures from the KFC boxes. He would scan the Gulf Daily News for match details and other memorablia. His passion for the game was no passing fancy and he was keen to be in Brazil for 2014.

Google's doodle a day for FIFA 2014 would definitely have regaled Akshay. According to Ryan Germick, the doodle team leader at Google, interactive doodles can take months to make but this time they are doing it in two to six hours! They have an Inspiration Room at the office and entire walls are plastered with football memorablia.

One doodle celebrated Paul the Octopus who correctly predicted eight matches in 2010. He died in his aquarium in October that year at the age of four. That's supposed to be a long life for an octopus!

The Mexican wave was another interesting one. The letters are for the audience that support their teams in a Mexican wave. Letter L is the odd one out, as he is always late to catch the wave. The Mexican wave concept originated in 1986 in Mexico.

Football Frenzy

Things are getting serious at FIFA as the knock out stage approaches. It is evident when players start biting at the shoulders instead of snapping at the heels! I had shared this fun mail about the game plan of different countries with Akshay during the last World cup. Does it hold good for 2014 as well? Figure it out!

The French are a Beauty! Love the noodle map on the Brazil board! Akshay would probably have drawn out the game plans for the different countries himself this time

Mesmerising Messi and Other Animals

The football fever has gripped the world and Akshay's favourite Lionel Messi is at his mesmerising best.

Some of Akshay's friends are probably in Brazil to watch their favourite heroes live in action. The craze for animals guessing the match winners continues this time also. After Paul the Octopus in 2010, this year every country seems to have an animal of its choice. The Chinese have a panda and a turtle. In Ukraine there's a psychic pig. In the deserts of Dubai, Shaheen the camel has made four correct predictions so far.

The Germans have got Nelly the Elephant as a soothsayer. Roo the dog does it for the football fans of England. Flopsy the Kangaroo and Big Head the turtle completes the animal list. We Indians have our feathered friends who do some astro stuff. Surely, someone will have found Polly the parrot to help them with their bets! Nico the macaw is popular with Africans as is Newton in England!

Furry Friends

One of the interesting mails that I had shared with Akshay.We have all read the story of the lion and mouse as kids. This real life version of it, is with a leopard. The little mouse has come to lunch with the leopard!

Four Legged Fun

Archy was Akhsay's best friend. Akshay loved taking care of his dog. Giving him a bath and brushing his teeth were a routine on weekends. There was a phase when Archy's digestive tract would indulge in random acts with sound effects. This prompted Akshay to break into poetry which he had sent to us.

Hush little Archy don't you cry, if you fart we'll all die!!!

That fart humour is such an essential part of boyhood was evident in the 2010 break in Bangalore, when all the toot jokes prompted even Nanima to recollect a short poem in Telugu on toots that her father had told her. She made Suchit write it down in a notebook. It was really hilarious! By the way did you know there are almost 150 words for fart in usage!

This is Archy after a long hot bath