The Story of Non-existing Braveheart

Business Standard is a pink paper published from India.

This tweet raised my eyebrows, as the word, 'Braveheart' has been the Indian media's cliche for a rape victim. I searched the major dictionries and the Corpus of Contemporary American English.

There was no word called Braveheart in any of the dictionaries. At least officially! And there is no reference in the Online Etymology Dictionary. "Braveheart may now be used allusively to encapsulate a view of Scottish nationalism maintained against English oppression," says Encyclopedia.com

There was Mel Gibson's Braveheart in 1995. I remember the hype on the glossy mags and television. I did not watch that movie.

To impose a non-existing word on the media audience is a crime. 

Virtuoso Guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen in India

In the India of early 90s, there were no CDs, DVDs, or mp3s. There were only audio tapes. And one among them was a recorded version of Malmsteen's Rising Force album.

I, along with a few of metal friends, was overawed by the sheer creativity and neo-classical wizardry of Malmsteen's lead solos. There were a few who hang up their guitars, admitting that they cannot ever play like Malmsteen. Malmsteen along with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai was too much to handle in those days.

In fact we did not want Malmsteen to join other bands. We wanted him to keep on releasing one classic album after the other. David Chastain faded into memory because of Malmsteen.

I was overjoyed when I read Malmsteen is making his first visit to India, that too for a not much hyped festival in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Disappointed that I could not go to watch the master, or think about going, I thought a post on Malmsteen is due.

Let me share one of my favourite Malmsteen songs: