His shiny thala and her mustache

guitar riff of phil collin's another day in paradise. it's cold. i have lived in my island for the last year or so. its fun. i enjoy. i do nothing. the nothingness to think. me in paradise. like mr collins say. 'just another day in paradise'. no internet. no way to even think about internet. broadband is more like a broad daylight robbery. think twice. lets think about it. specially its arousing the way he sings the last chorus bit, the dramatic light casting shadows. Ohhh Ohhh. It's another day for you and me in paradise. Performing orgies one after the other. Hey wait I don't even have internet. I don't got a webcamera on my computer's camera. I'm not gonna be working at president's office. Lets sing about it. Lets think about it.

Journey to meet Dhon Adhambe - Part 1

Thursday morning 7:38am captan Abdullabe started the engine and my journey begins on this small but beautiful dhoni which is destined to reach Baa Atoll, my destination. I played thaas (cards) with my friend Haneef, Abdusattar, and Ibu on the 8 hour boat trip which we stopped for lunch cooked by the boys of Kappi and for Haneef to pray facing Mecca the Qibla.

Today is a hot day and the sea is very calm and almost not windy. This made me thirsty a lot. we fulfilled our thirst with coca-cola by Universal Enterprises and Resorts Pvt Ltd and aquafresh water by the same coke company served in silver bottles named Bon aqua very fresh.

At 16:14 I was on the island with my two modern backpack filled with 3 shorts, 6 t-shirts (branded) and 1 long jeans (Denim). After keeping the stuff at the house I went to meet Hassan and Kareem who were playing football on the dhandu. I joined in and few runs and I was dead tired and sweaty. But it was very nice experience. All the girls wearing burugaas are looking at my shorts. wow.

At six o-clock I went into the gifili (a room with a well known as a valhu) and I put the dhaani (a stick joined to a large coast milk can) inside the well and fill it up with water. Poured it on my head with cold water of the island. It was so araamu. Each drop of water touched my skin with a sensation that I wished to last forever. The dhaani filled with islandy cold water pouring onto my head cleaning the accumulated salty heat of the trip of my whole life. I felt like this is honestly the most satisfactory experience a person can ever have in an island. Meditative, dark, no sound except the sound of waves and an occasional bird flying with nature, and a giggle behind the coral walls of my gifili, my meditation garden of delight. I repeatedly did the dhaani movement up an down, up and down over my head until I reach the movement of no return and then I let go as pure white coming out of the shower. I dressed well and came to my folding bed (faijehi endhu) and nothing, nothing has changed in this island in the past 800 or so years since it was populated first by the settlers from Sri Lanka, except may be my iphone 3Gs and the Wataniya signal that enabled me to write this blog entry. I sleep now and good night.

Zero Degree Atoll's 2nd Album

Their first album Dhoni was pure genius. I was in my early teens when I first listened to the tape of Dhoni. At that time it was too expensive for me to buy my own. But since I liked it so much my boss gave a tape to me as a gift. A white colored tape. With a nice picture of a Dhoni flying on the cover. All the things are written in English, not handwritten. It was one of a kind. From the cover to the music inside.

I was used to wonder-mark and pen hand written Haaburi and Dhohokobe tapes sold in audio shops of Male' who think that playing music the loudest makes them the biggest shop. Small one bedroom size shops with a large 15 story Velaanage size voice. Just like our band leader. A small man with a big mouth.

Now back to Zero Degree's 2nd Album. I'm now in my early thirties. Zero degree still has the same materials they produced when I was in my early teens. Close to 20 years and nothing new! How sad. The most creative musical act could not evolve. Why? When I last checked all the band members are still alive. They were playing to a teenage audience tonight at the Alimas carnival. But still the same stuff.

I am really sad. Can anyone answer why there was no 2nd Album? And will there ever be one?