Thoughts...

Big Mouth...

2009-08-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

I am not among the ones who are embarrassed easily. Until recently, whenever I was asked about any embarrassing moments of my life, I had to go for a long voyage in the past; only to return empty-handed. Needless to say; not anymore. Both of the below mentioned incidents happened after I started working.

I knew this 'Bindaas' attitude girl at work. For the sake of anonymity we will call her 'X'; and for obvious reasons as you will see. Now X & I used to be pretty close & our conversations used to quite thick. This happened when I was working for a consulting project. One of the consulting teams was an internal client; & it was from this team that I came to know this girl, lets call her 'Y'. Now 'Y' was a sweet girl & in the course of my work I had come to know her a little bit. We used to chat sometimes, beyond the related technical Topics.

Now one day while I was discussing something technical with 'Y' on messenger; I was pinged by 'X'. She was pretty excited & the message read something like this:-

X: You know what? I watched porn yesterday; for the first time in my life.

Before I could reply, I got a call. I did an Alt-Tab & got involved in the call. After 15 minutes, when I was done...

"Oh that sounds cool, so what kind of Porn did you watch?"
"What?"

I looked closely & I realized my mistake. To my horror, I had written it to 'Y'. Nothing in words can describe the feeling. I immediately called her up trying to explain things.

"Y, the message wasn't for you. I accidentally typed it in your window."
"Ah! It’s OK; I do understand."
"Y, I am really sorry."
"It would be really good if we drop this topic right now."
"Hmm...OK... But I do hope that you understand."
"Please..."
Uh... OK!"

I really don't know who among the two of us was more embarrassed at that time. I dreaded the time when I would have to meet 'Y' in person; fortunately that hasn't happened till now. I also thought that it was the last time I would be hearing from Y. Strangely enough; we became pretty good friends after that incident.

The Second incident happened a year back. I had returned back from Scotland when one day, I saw a familiar face. It was this guy whom I had met when I was in Edinburgh. We said 'Hi' & started catching on the different 'How's who'. If you have a South Indian Friend, you would know by now, that the flavor of English is a tad different when you strike a conversation with them. For the sake of argument & not declaring them guilty without examples, most of them they lay an extraordinary amount of emphasis on the word 'Dude'. Following is how the conversation went through: -

"So how is Craig?"
...
...

"Ah, That babe is smoking Hot!"
"Which one?"
"That one..." (Pointing out the subject of my interest)
"Dude that's my Fiancée"

I was tongue-tied for a second & was about to say something to cover up my foolishness when he said

"Dude, relax... I was just kidding. I just happen to know her from a earlier project"
"Hahaha... I knew you were, anyway I wasn't talking about that girl, I was talking about that one" I said not be outdone; pointing out a beauty in a red shirt.

"Dude, that's my sister"

I started laughing at his second attempt to pull my leg. How naive did he assume me to be to think that I would be caught in the same joke again. I was laughing my guts out, till I saw his face. I had always wondered about the origin of the phrase 'red & blue'; I learnt it that day, the hard way. He turned slowly & walked away without saying another word to me. I never heard from him again.

And this is how I realized what the Yankees mean when they say "Me & my big mouth".

The Kill...

2009-07-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

It was raining. The whole place was covered with a lush carpet of green. It looked so beautiful. The thing is it only looked beautiful. It smelled of swamp & still water. There was not a single dry patch of land to stand on. The so humid air & the sweat from your continuously perspiring body made it sure that you didn’t had a single dry patch on your body as well. ‘Blend with the Nature’ some might jest. Believe me when I say, “Africa is not a pleasant place to be in rains.”

It is uncomfortable at the start. Slowly, but steadily when you start getting accustomed to the damp surroundings; you realize that the physical matter of your body isn’t as flexible as your mind, neither is it strengthened by your will power. The point being your skin gets red, a little puffy & develops rashes where it comes in with constant contact of what all ‘water proofing’ clothing you are wearing. The remaining exposed parts which don’t have to undergo this torture are tormented by the mosquitoes. If your will power is really as strong as you boast it to others, you would be very carefully weighing which is better, the skin rashes on the covered parts or the mosquito bites on the exposed part. The weaker mortals would by now of course; be vacillating between the different methods they have at their disposal to commit painless suicide.

And for all this trouble all I could find around was alligators, Boas & ant-eaters.

I smiled at my own thoughts. I had made a terrible choice of season for my last visit. However, the experience gave me the leverage to form proper decisions this once. I felt content, No; that would be an understatement. I was content. “The holidays can’t get better than this” I thought.

Dressed in brown khakis, full sleeved sweatshirt; trying to blend in with the surroundings I lay there quietly. I was actually enjoying the sweet sun on my back, the cool, damp breeze on my face. Slowly absorbing, relishing the beauty around me. My whole body was relaxed but like the mind of a trained ninja my senses were alert; I was keenly aware of every sound in my vicinity. The brushing of wind against the branches, the rustling of dry, dead leaves, the soft click of every twig being snapped, I could hear everything. This is something one has to learn early in my profession. “To shoot an animal, one should have the instincts of the animal” they used to say in my training workshops.

Kathy always hated it. She neither had the patience nor the will power to withstand the rigors of the sport. Adding more to my woes was her extreme environmentalist attitude. According to her, we, both the hunters & the photographers, were a potential threat to the delicate balance of wild life. She was of the opinion that most of us who shot never understood ‘Why we shoot & what we shoot?” She would often quote Paul Rodriguez

“Hunting is not a sport. In a sport, both sides should know they're in the game.”

I had tried countless number of times to get her interested in the sport by explaining her the intricacies of tracking, silently following the animal & getting the best shot, without ruining the trophy or putting yourself in danger. Tired after umpteen attempts, I had given upon her to appreciate the thrill of the sport. It had taken me quite a while to persuade her to accompany me to this trip.

I looked towards Kathy, She was enjoying it; the happiness showed on her face. She was continuously scanning the landscape for any activity. I knew how it felt; the first trip in the wilderness of Africa. She must have felt my eyes on her, for she turned towards me. I gave her a smile, a nod & turned back, leaving her to scan the landscape. I had closed my eyes, relaxed, was already drowsy when I heard it.

The Bontebok is one of the majestic animals of Africa. Chocolate brown in color with a white stripe from forehead to nose and an even whiter underbelly, they were once found in abundance in Africa. Extensively hunted for their lyre shaped, ringed horns they are now more or less extinct in the wild. It was this rare trophy which had vowed me to the wilderness twice this year.

Silently, I repositioned myself, lying propped on my forearms, my body weight entirely supported on my shoulders. Though not a very comfortable position for the novice any wild-life enthusiast worth his salt would have mastered the technique of lying in this position for long hours. I stole a glance at Kathy, she had spotted the antelope by now; & could barely restrain her excitement. I signaled her for silence.

I always believed that it’s the thrill of the hunting that is more fascinating than the actual trophy. Well, I still do believe it, but a Bontebok is a trophy worth exchanging an arm for. I prepared myself. I unlocked the trigger, removed the cover from the lens & prepared for the kill. I wanted the cleanest shot possible. The Bontebok displays a distinctive character of jumping high in air before running up to a speed of 50 mph, popularly called stotting. Shooting a stotting Bontebok is extremely difficult and there are only a handful of people in the world who have achieved the feat.

Unlike others, I had shifted to autos not because I trusted them more than my judgment, but because the speed they provided allowed me more chances of a second shot. Squeezing the trigger would cause a low sound, inaudible to the normal ears, but enough for the antelope to stot. It was a long shot but I was ready. I zeroed in on the kill, & adjusted the optics for the last time. The habit learned over the long years had triggered my mind to reduce the breathing rate the moment I had spotted the Bontebok. Shooting between breaths causes the least shake & is known to enhance the chance of a clean shot by almost 50%. I slowly let out the air from my lungs & pressed the shutter.

A clean shot, the click made the Bontebok jump in the air almost half a meter & I pressed the trigger for the second time. The shutter opened at the correct time & the Bontebok froze in mid air. I had got what I wanted, the assignment was complete; the editor would be quite happy. I pushed away my D200 with the 600 mm lens & reached for the second one. The 600 mm lens used for wild life photography is quite heavy compared to what I was working with now. I zeroed on the puzzled Bontebok once more, took a deep breath & pressed the trigger.

A click & the Bontebok froze in mid air again. Another clean shot! It then fell straight down. I was always amazed how much a shot can be muffled with the use of modern silencers. I shouldered the Springfield. I ran towards the antelope, unsheathing my hunting knife in the run. By the time Kathy had reached me, I had bleeded the antelope. I put a cut on the underbelly of the Bontebok & started gutting it.

“How could you kill it; you promised me there will be no shooting on this trip… Oh God, how could you kill something so beautiful?”

I looked at her with contempt “You mean it would have been ok to kill it if it would have been ugly?”

P.S –

• D200 is a premium SLR of Nikon series.

• Springfield is a hunting rifle often used to hunt bucks, antelopes &

deer.

• Bontebok is an endangered antelope species. There was a time when

only 17 were left in the world, but the species has now recovered.

• African government gives legal license for hunting in order to

maintain the proper balance between species. The revenue

generated is then used for different wild life projects.

My extramarital affair

2009-04-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

I woke up all sweaty; with a parched throat & a splitting headache. I tried to gather my senses & recollect what all happened last night. I pushed the sheets aside and then I saw her lying besides me! At a step short of heart attack I could not help but admire her beauty, her beautiful curves & her pale flawless skin.

I went to the mantlepiece & poured myself a large one of scotch, pulled the bean bag towards myself & tried to remember what had happened last night. It's true I had been eyeing her for quite a long time now; but never got the right time. My wife had taken an instant dislike towards her; however, that didn't deter my feelings towards her.

Piled up with work yesterday in office; I was planning to stay a little late. In evening some old friends came to my desk & confided their plan in me to visit a Pub. And they insisted that I join them. I left the pending work & went ahead to have a 'merry' time with some of the best techies I had ever worked with. It was always a pleasure to go out with these people. Very few people would ever guess or get to see the merry side of these ultra sombre & hyper-serious techies.

A little drunk, quite jovial but extremely worried about the pending work; I left the pub. I started walking towards my home & it was then I saw her. As usual she was in the store at her designated place. Lots of probing eyes glued to her body. I decided then & there that I wanted her. Of course the fact that my wife was off to see her parents for a week added firmness to my decision. The 'Dutch courage' added fuel to my stupid decision.

I quickly went to the store & the next thing I remember was jumping in bed with her!

I was still pondering over the happenings of yesterday when my 17 year old daughter kitty entered the bedroom with my morning espresso. A habit garnered in the youth is a weakness when you are old; that for me is the nasty espresso. Fortunately my beautiful wife & my beloved daughter save me this torture every morning.

"Hello Dad; Good morning"

"Good morning Sweetie"

"I Guess you were pretty late yesterday night" She beamed with an angelic smile.

"Yeah..." was all I replied trying to take my eyes off the bed.

Sensing my odd reaction she looked at the bed & gasped.

"Dad!"

"I know, I know"

"What? Why?" She said trying to absorb the situation.

"What's Mom gonna say when she sees her here?" she looked at me accusingly.

"I was counting on you in helping me to keep this away from your Mom" said my guilty self.

Her accusing glare didn't soften at all. At that moment I felt it would be more comfortable to land in a frying-pan than to meet eyes with her. Her Mom is definitely going to be what you say 'Out of the frying fan, into fire'.

"I don't think I can help you with something this big."

"Hmm..."

"Why don't you take her back where you picked her from?"

"Now Sweetie, I know I have done wrong; but you should show some respect. She isn't just some piece of Trash!"

"For me she's worse than that. & I bet Mom would feel the same. How could you even do this to her; after all she has done for you?"

If she was trying to make me feel guilty; I must admit that she came out with flying colors.

"You gotta help me with this Kitty; if not for me, then for your Mom."

"I would suggest you to make a clean breast of it to Mom & may be... I say 'May be if your luck is any good' she might forgive you."

I could see the sense in her words. Quite a few marriages have been ruined for more trivial matters than these.

"So should we leave her here; till your Mom is back?"

"That would be your safest bet, in my opinion."

Both of us waited for her Mom patiently. Me, quite nervous for self; she, pitiful for me. The time seemed to crawl slower than snail; the sweat on my neck & brows seemed to be flooding. Finally the doorbell chimed. Kitty went to open the door; seeing my obvious discomfort.

"Hello there, so how was the week without me? I bet your Dad had a great time & you missed me a lot."

"Or is it the other way around?" my wife continued, seeing me.

"I will get something for you to drink & leave you two to talk" said Kitty, quietly slipping away.

"What has got into you guys; nobody seems happy to see me back" She teased me again.

"No Darling; it's not that! It's just that.... Oh God... How do I say it? I have done something terribly wrong."

"I guess you haven't committed a murder." She was still thinking that we were pulling a trick on her.

"Here... Come... It would be better to show you" I directed her to the bedroom holding her hand.

She was still lying in the bed. In the same position I had left her; her naked body half covered by the sheets. Her skin blemish-less; her unlit face emitting an aura. I am really ashamed that she was still attracting me towards her, like 'Sil' from Species; in front of my wife.

Holy God! Is this how much I love my wife; after all these happily spent 19 years together?Consumed by my own guilt I completely forgot about my wife standing besides me. When I turned towards her, she was gasping for breath, out of rage or helplessness is something what I couldn't figure out.

She tried hard & finally managed to get some words out, before sitting down, all spent up & red in face.

"How could you buy another Macbook?"

P.S - For the benefit of all the suspicious people, I don't have an extramarital affair. I am just in love with my Macbook. Heck, I am not even married!

Mistakes or Flukes...

2009-03-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

'Serendipity' is just another way of acknowledging a masterpiece fluke.

Things happen the same way in Photography world; the only thing is photographers aren't as honest as scientists! What I mean to say is many a times, what you would be thinking as a pretty normal shot turns into an awesome shot. Taking it even a step further some mistakes rather than ruining the photograph gives a dramatic effect. And hence the apt saying 'Learn from your mistakes'.

I bought a tripod almost a year back, and I use it extensively for landscape shots. However accounting to my laziness, I still don't use it for photographing people. This is a shot I took sometime back, just for the sake of fun. I knew it I had ruined it when I didn't hear the shutter close even after 3 seconds.

A 5 second exposure, with a rear sync flash did the trick here. The flames are the shake effects of the indicator lights of the motorbike behind. The model is my friend 'Puppy' aka Yogesh.

The catch is not in avoiding mistakes, nor is it in living by flukes. It is in analyzing the masterpiece flukes!

"I am learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life.... Procrastinating & rationalizing"

- Calvin

Long Distance Relation...

2009-02-28T11:04:00.000-08:00

I was watching "We are Marshall" the other day.

The story rotates around Marshall University who loose the whole of their football team in a tragic Plane accident. Jack Lengyel the new team coach & a couple of formers who were fortunate not to be in the accident try to keep the 'Football Program' alive.

Its a nice movie, Mathew Mc Conaughey as Jack Lengyel, the new team coach is really worth watching. Following is one of the best dialogues between Jack & Don, The University President, where Jack tries to persuade Don to go & see the Sports association members in person, rather than sending petitions to them:-

Jack : Don, are you married?

Don : Yes sir, 25 years this year.

Jack : Now, I am going to bet... that you didn't propose over the phone.

Don : Ummm, no.

Jack : And I'm pretty sure, that she didn't accept with a letter.

Don : Uhhhh.

Jack : Don?

Don : Jack?

Jack : Don?

Don : Jack?

Jack : Don... you can do this!

Overall worth watching, though not as good as 'The Invincible', 'Remember the Titans' or 'Coach Carter'.

P.S - Was Just wondering what would Jack say if she had done that? :))

When I am gone...

2009-01-19T06:33:00.001-08:00

"That be not told of my death,

Or made to grieve in account of me,

& that I be not buried in consecrated ground,

& that no sexton be asked to toll the bell,

& that nobody is wished to see my dead body,

& that no mourners follow my funeral,

& that no flowers be painted on my grave,

& that no man remembers my name,

To this I put my name, for I have lived my life to full."

- Thomas Hardy

Height at Night

2009-01-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

Finally after quite a long time, I went for a hike. 'Skandagiri' is a hill some 70 kms from Bangalore on NH-7 Highway. It's famous for night climbing in moonlight.

We of course, depended more on torches than crescent moon. This place is also known for colorful sunrises. As per Murphy's law, all that could go wrong, went wrong. One of our bikes got punctured, we did loose the way in night, climbed back & then had to climb again. Well, to put in a nutshell, of the 14 people in my group who climbed; each one of them was a zombie, by the time we climbed down.

However, it was worth the effort. Here are some pictures I managed to take:-

Bangalore Skyline before sunrise, as seen from the top of Skandagiri. The shot is a long exposure of 20 seconds on my tripod(struggled quite a lot to carry that to top).

The hill in front atop the clouds is Nandi Hills. The shot has been taken just after sunrise. Because of the speeding clouds here, Nandi Hills is visible like the pupil of a blinking eye.

Took this shot at the top. The boulder lies at the edge. Gives a good reference scale of the sizes. 'Kudos' to the morons who were standing near the edge to get themselves photographed.

The Rising of Mankind...

2008-12-29T05:32:00.000-08:00

"I heard a thousand blended notes,

while in a grove I sat reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What Man has made of Man."

- William Wordsworth

Peace

2008-12-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

"I do sit there with you,

alone, with sunshine on your face,

& your smile on mine,

forgetting all the worries in world,

& I for the first time feel the peace."

One of the few photographs which my friend really likes.

The Old Man & The Mountains

2008-12-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

"The clouds will but pass,

and the sun will shine again.

The winds will but calm down,

and the breeze will then flow again.

But the mountains will still be there,

and so will the rocks be.

A little weathered may be,

a little old definitely.

Some of them will change as the clouds & the sun,

but I will definitely be the same, waiting.

Not for the ones who change but who are still there,

a little old, a little worn off, but still the same."

P.S - Dedicated to my friend Sid, who understands what I write, or at least seems to!

Cherishing the memories

2008-12-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

"And there I sit on a slow afternoon,

When I have seen seventy odd years,

Sipping a cup of slowly brewed coffee,

Lazying in the bright sunshine,

And gazing into the blue eyes of water,

Fondly cherishing the memories,

I gathered here in the warm blood of my youth."

Nights Shots!

2008-11-07T09:07:00.001-08:00

Another Night of Power-cut. And like a Vampire my creativity woke in the dark!

'We work throughout the night'

'Fighting against the storms'

'The Twins' - Flaring at 200 mm in my 18-200 mm VRII Nikkor

'The acnes of the beautiful'

Bang... & Crackers

2008-10-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Whoever told you that 'Diwali' is just a festival, must have been drinking; not that Diwali is complete without people boozing :)

But this year I celebrated it in a different way. By shooting Fireworks. Well, this was my first go at shooting fireworks, The Photos haven't turned up very good, but much better than I expected!

'The Nebula'

'The Shooting Star'

'The Trails'

'Meteor Shower'

'The Kids'

And 'The Gang'

Still have to work on White Balance. Anyway, Happy Diwali!

A Little Ahead Of Schedule...

2008-10-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for masterpieces, be it a Gadget, a Book, a piece of music or a Photograph. However I never thought I had the 'grey cells' to appreciate oil paintings; until one fine day I came across an Oil Painting named "A Little Ahead Of Schedule". Strangely enough, I came across this painting when I was reading an article on Photography.

I saw it; it was love at first sight. I was just awestruck by the beauty of it. I never thought that a painter could have such in-depth knowledge of lights. Let me show, what I mean.

'A Little Ahead Of Schedule' - Tom Fritz

This one took me by head. I have decided that whenever I do make my own house; I am going to have one of the paintings by Tom. For people who liked this & would be more interested to see Tom's work, visit Tom Fritz .

Blue mornings... Bucket List Part II

2008-09-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

You wake up one morning with a splitting headache. And the first thing you ponder on is, whether you had too much to drink yesterday? The answer leaves you all the more puzzled (believe me Puzzles don't help when you have got a head splitting ache). Anyway, you drag yourself out of the bed, brush your yellow-stained teeth, wash your wrinkled dry face, and try to pacify your coarse, messy hair. You look at the mirror. And find somebody totally unlike you staring back. That is when you realize that this isn't you. This was never ever meant to be you.

Have you ever had any of these mornings?
If not, you are a part of an extremely small, but very lucky bunch of people on earth. And since I don't believe in luck, I am taking the liberty of presuming that you are lying. (Don't do that, lying is bad, lying to yourself is even worse). Anyway I am not here to ponder on my readers conscience, reaction, behavior & interaction with themselves. Being the person I am, I don't care about that.

Are you wondering, why did I write all this then?
Because, recently I am having too many of these bad mornings.

I mean recently I have been wondering too much about what am I doing, & what do I want to do with my life? I earn decent enough money, I am comfortable with my job, I don't have any worries or immediate responsibilities to take care of. I have seen a bit of europe. In a nutshell, I am more than satisfied. Happy? No!

Why?

I really don't know. But this is not exactly what I thought I would be doing when I completed my engineering. May be there is no pressure on me. There is kind of no competition for me, at work. I don't have to strain myself beyond the normal slugged capabilities. May be its because this is the first time in my life when I don't have an immediate future goal. May be its because my life is too settled, too easy & too comfortable. May be its because I am getting things too easily nowadays. I don't know what is it exactly, But whatever it is, the sense of adventure, excitement in my life seems to be fading slowly!

May be it is because, the only people I care about are so far away from me. May be it is because I too do need somebody to talk to. May be it is because I do miss them. Or may be it's because I am not used to handle such emotions.

Whatever the reasons may be, they got me thinking.

Given a chance what differences would I love to have in my life? Now that's a difficult question to answer!

But I will take my shot.

The first thing I would like to change in my life is to be financially carefree. I don't want to spoil the joys of my life worrying about where my money is going. I would prefer to live like, what my friend Jai says as 'Living from hand to mouth'. I would rather spend my life peacefully gazing at an African sunset, having a quiet evening at Mt. Titlis in Switzerland, snorkeling in the clear waters of Australia, driving a Ford GT across the streets of Detroit or having a wood burned tea in the calmness of Himalayas! I no longer want to be bothered about the suave pleasures of luxury & richness.

The second thing I would like to change in my life is emotional detachment. I am more or less tired by the emotional attachment with people. They more often than not, leave me grumpy, dry, moody, sulking, emotionally wasted, energetically drained & hurt. Except for the handful of people I really care about I want to break all the emotional ties with the rest of the world. I don't want to be emotionally dependent on people any longer. I want to learn how to live alone, & be myself. I guess my first desire comes from this one.

I would like to go around the world, see the different cultures, topography, geography & people. May be it's the effect of watching 'Into the Wild' too many times. May be I am being too romantic. May be I am too cynical. May be I am getting old & this is the 'Middle age crisis' for me. May be I am tired of this world. But the truth is I want to break off all the ties & run away.

I don't know whether I am off my mind or I do need a reality check...

This is my 'Bucket List Part II'

Mere do haramkhor roommates...

2008-09-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

The lights went out one fine evening. And the restless bug bit me. So here it goes...

"Kisi ko 'Riyaz' karte time disturb nahi karte hain"

"Nahi to aise maar padti hai"

"Ab khoon kharaba hoga"

The models are my 2 roommates, Puppy & Sid.

A affair of 4 days...

2008-09-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Loner by nature, a crack shot with camera & a Nikon fanatic. Silver gray haired, lean but muscled; with an unconventional sense of style. Prefer to let the pictures speak for themselves, But does lend help to the words, to let them express their self.

Beautiful, sexy,with large eyes. Overflowing black locks, complimenting the pale complexion. The poetic sense is as natural as breathing. Wild & romantic streak is barely restrained by her intelligence & sense of responsibility.

Two totally different people, separated by huge distances but connected by inevitable love. They come together for 4 days. Just 4 days! In these 4 days, they together make something so beautiful that just the memory of it lets them live away from each other. Away not for days, weeks or years; but till their death.

Seems a wild dream, or more aptly a fairy tale. Well, It isn't! This is the love story of Robert Kincaid, a free lance Photographer associated with National Geographic & Francesca Johnson, an italian housewife settled in , Madison county,Iowa.

I have been trying to get hold of this book since a long time. And since it is not so easily available I was more than elated when I got my hands on a copy. One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Amazingly written. 'Robert James Waller' has focussed his ideas very well. Don't confuse this with a normal love story; it's way more than that. A slim volume, but one that should be read slowly. Though written on a very simple line & even more simpler style, it will definitely invoke lot of thoughts in your mind & force you for introspection. Would recommend it to all the reading enthusiasts.

Three Stooges...

2008-09-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

The famous three stooges, back again together after a period of 3 years. I wish the fourth, & the only one to be ideally named as a stooge(Tinu) was there.

Rishi, Jai & me at Rishi's Place, Vashi, Mumbai

Flashback!

2008-08-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

My last year in a glimpse...

'Life moves on' - Edinburgh Castle from a different angle.

Outside my Place! Shot on tripod.

'Joys of Childhood' - Shot at Silverknowes beach.

'Thoughtful' - Me, Harsh & Sampu! Aveimore Skiing resort.

'I do things besides making Love Birds' - Naughty Cupid! Shot at Brussels.

"We carry the goods for you" - Line of Trucks, Dover port

Keukenhof Garden, Holland

Skinny Bridge, Amsterdam

Rhine Castle, Germany

Snow-clad Windmill, Belgium

'On the run', Piccadily Square, London

'Grass is always greener on the other side', Sussex

'The endless opportunities', Sussex

'Penny, Emma & Lucy', York

'Trust', York

'We drive CTE' - The mad people of my classic team

A stroll in the evening...

2008-08-24T15:45:00.000-07:00

I normally don't shoot people on streets, feel a little shy & awkward for that. Somehow today, felt like taking a couple of pictures & here are the results...

The guy here was raising money to visit his dying father in Jamaica. He was playing free 3 minute chess matches. He had played more than 246 matches since morning & hadn't lost a single one. The girl in the picture made an amazing sketch of this guy playing. She asked me if I could take a picture.

Address 128, Princess street, Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the outer window of a Waterstone's book shop. I really loved it.

This champ here was sitting alone in 'Princess gardens'. I know nothing unusual about it! But I expected a guy of his age to be chilling out with his buddies, girls or lazying around listening loud music. He however was intently sketching 'Edinburgh Castle'.

'Where the executioner's face is always well hidden'. 'Save Environment' exhibition at 'Princess Gardens'.

This is the Edinburgh territorial clock. At its full lush, reflecting the colors of summers, its 5 minutes faster.

P.S - All of these pictures were shot at 'Princess street'

My school Memoirs Part II - Teachers & Beatings

2008-08-21T14:07:00.001-07:00

School is a wonderful place to be at. And what's school without teachers. Teachers, they are like second parents. They besides imparting useless knowledge in you; help in moulding the delicate conscious of a child to make a better grown up & teach you to differentiate between right and wrong.

Yeah in the course of setting you on the right course, teachers do have to beat you up sometimes. Lucky are those who got good teachers. Luckier are those who got good beatings from teachers. Believe me school memories are like a 'Dal Tadka' without Garlic if you didn't get a beating in school days. By my narration & bragging, you might have guessed by now that I do count myself among the 'lucky' ones. Of course there was lot of hard work; read mischiefs, from my side which favored the odds towards me.

According to my advanced theory of 'Teachers-Beatings' every of my fav teacher would beat me up at least once. Yes and the theory has proved to be correct except for on one rare occasion. Confused, let me explain.

4th Standard

I was overheard by a teacher abusing one of my classmates. Her name was Mrs. Manju Tiwari. She was my science teacher & hence my fav. I got a beating. The end result; I never cussed, till I reached 12th standard.

5th Standard

Mrs. Anjali Sharma. Again my science teacher. I had picked up a musical key chain which belonged to a classmate without asking (Some of you moral people might prefer the word 'stealing'). Gosh, I got my hide tanned that day. I can swear that till date I have never forgotten the beating of that day. Lesson learnt - Never steal anything.

6th Standard

Mrs. Ramesh Kakariya. My maths teacher. Besides being my fav maths teacher, I must acknowledge that she is one of the very few teachers I have come across who knew how to teach & she loved doing it. She had the honor to lay her hands on me more than once. Always, because I was too lazy to do my homework. I remember once after getting punished, I started crying & told her 'I will tell my mom that you beat me up today'. Well, you can smile & imagine my intellectual growth by this time. She didn't smile. She just gave me a hug & said 'I am sorry, I promise I will never beat you up again'. She kept her promise. I never missed my maths homework after that. I can vividly remember that till the time I passed off from school, even after many years she stopped teaching me, she would always tease me "I would like to see your Mom now".

7th Standard

Of all the times I have been beaten up, this one was the most puzzling. Mrs Kaur, She was a mild mannered soul & I was in her good books. I don't exactly remember the chain of incidents, but she did give me a beating to remember her by one day. The thing that always puzzles me is why did she do it? I am not saying that I wouldn't have done anything wrong to deserve it. Being what I was, anybody could find 10 reasons to give me a punishment in a single day. She had been teaching me for the past 2 years & I had never seen her beat up somebody, except for an occasional slap. Then why did she choose me up?

BTW, the bad influence of my life, Jai, & me were pretty close by now & the graph of punishments vs time had shot up exponentially.

8th Standard

I had always been into comics. But this was the golden era for me. I would buy, borrow, exchange & even visit libraries to read comics. Well, my passion for reading comics was overflowing, I was reading one tucked nicely between my textbook during a class, when all of a sudden my hindi teacher 'Miss C.K Soni' asked me to stand up & recite a para of the poem. I was in the world of 'Super Commando Dhruv' fighting with all the baddies of the world. The return from 'Raj Nagar' was a little painful. The beating was just a part of the prize. Miss Soni told the story to every teacher in the Staff room & for months to come, every teacher would ask me if I had a comic between the pages of my text book. Of course, this made me famous.

9th Standard

My most fav teacher, Mrs Shehnaz Siddiqui. I have never come across somebody like her. She found me saying something(nothing good) about my sanskrit teacher. No she didn't gave me a beating, just a single slap! It didn't hurt much either. But after her class, she called me aside & took me for a walk. She sat with me for 45 minutes, giving words of advice. I had sat with her on those pavements before also, but then generally she would be gossiping with me asking about the girls I liked & things like that. That day it was different.

I got punishments on countless occasions even after that. But I was never beaten up by teachers. Partly because I was a good student, partly because I started bunking classes from 10th standard & partly because of the things she said to me that day.

Yeah I did mention about my 'Teachers-Beatings' theory. The rare occasion where my theory fails is during the times of 11th & 12th standard. My Physics lecturer, P.K Sharma was the coolest chap in the whole school & had all the good traits of a teacher. He never boasted. He was humble enough to acknowledge that he didn't knew the answer of this particular query & he would work on it. He once told me "You are very intelligent, perhaps one of the most brilliant young minds I have ever taught but you are not a good student. A good student should have 3D qualities:- Discipline, Dedication & Determination. Which of the three do you think you do have?" I preferred silence as the only reply.

My another fav was Mrs Kumar, my english teacher. While I never gave my Physics teacher a chance to complain, Mrs Kumar had umpteen chances of that served her on a platter. She never took it! Her fav complain was "I have taught both you & Naren; & you are nothing like him". I tried explaining her a couple of times that she shouldn't compare the genius & the greatest buffoon of the family. Couldn't!

If you are thinking that the number of times I have been beaten up are really less, let me clear that these laurels of affection are the ones which were handed over by my fav teachers. And these are the ones which I still do remember, 8 years after school time! Let me put it this way "How many do you remember?"

Am I too mean?

2008-08-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Am I too mean & egoistic?

Or is it that I just don't care?

Am I too focussed towards my goals?

Or is it that I have lost the humane touch?

Do friendship, love, honor mean anything to me?

Or is it that I am just another sucker for success?

Just random waves of thoughts!

I guess cold doesn't brings out the best in me.

Had a team lunch today. The whole team is nostalgic that I am going back; & I am feeling nothing!

I wish I could be the 15 year old again, when I would run to Dad or my Uncle for opinions on every small thing! I rarely do talk to either of them nowadays. On second thoughts, I rarely do get a chance to talk to people who really matter to me.

Sick Bay...

2008-08-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

"On a Day like today,

The whole world could change,

The sun's gonna shine,

Shine through the rain,

On a day like today..."

That's my morning status call from offshore which I take daily between 6:30 to 7. I woke up & found that my body temperature is higher than usual; my throat is hoarse, parched & I am barely able to croak words out!

"Hello"

"Hello Rajesh, This is N here, this is the morning status call."

"Ok, N I have a sore throat & I wouldn't be able to talk much. So tell me."

"Sorry Rajesh. I was talking to V, come again please."

I just cursed him & repeated myself again.

"Oh, Ok... What happened by the way, you got drenched in the rain or something?"

"Everybody is going to ask me questions today, whose answers can't be given in yes or no" I thought to myself.

I took a bold decision! To use one of my sick leaves & rest for the day.

"N, If there is nothing unusual, I would like to cut off the call now. I wouldn't be in today, so if you guys have any problems, call me"

I tried to compensate for the sleepless night. All of a sudden the bedroom door opens & a voice calls out

"Are you not planing to go to office?"

"No" I managed to reply.

"Why? Some date?" the voice asks again.

"You moron, do I look like I am going out for a date" my mind shrieked; but I calmed the fury and replied "Not feeling well."

"Ok, enjoy the day." replies the voice.

That's my friend Harsh.

Finally I was able to let myself go into the slumber of sleep. I was about to slay the dragon in my dreams when my cell phone went off again. I tried to clear my head, thinking who could be calling me. Fortunately it's just a reminder "Yesh's B'day"

"Damn the world, Now I will have to call her."

I called her up three times, nobody picked up. Believe me, I have never felt so elated in my life that somebody missed my call.

I knew I wouldn't be able to get any sleep right now. So I dragged my wary bones out of the bed & crawled towards the bathroom. Splashed some water on my face, gargled. I left the idea of brushing my teeth besides the wash basin & headed for the kitchen. I had a couple of sandwiches, a glass of luke warm milk with honey.

"Ah, that felt better" I said to myself.

"Cr croak oak oohhk" I heard. "Weird echo" I thought to myself.

I came back & started to play "Crisis Core" on PSP. Hehehe... It was my lucky day here at least, I completed 7 missions in one sitting. By that time I had started sweating profusely & shivering violently.

"Time for a break" I thought.

I took a paracetomol & dove in the blanket, heads down.

And then it rang again. I cursed all the techies, the whole of the Bank's staff, the whole of my company, the mobile phone companies & all the network providers in the world in a single breath.

"That felt good, I must do it more often" I smiled to myself.

"Hello Rajesh, I have some doubt regarding what I have done."

"Why the hell do you guys call me once you already have done something?" I said to myself. "Yes what happened?"

...

The rest of the conversation was totally technical & I had to convince the person that if he has screwed it up already, not to mess with it more. I told him to contact the environment manager & proceed only if he says it is important.

"Else I will pick it up first thing tomorrow morning."

"Ok, I will talk to him then. Do you want me to give you a call afterwards?"

"Dude, for gods sake, you are not my Girl friend" I thought "No, call me up only if you do have any problems"

Of course by now, you must have guessed that he did call me up again.

It was a bad-bad day. I talked to some 6-7 of my friends today on messenger or something & everybody thought that I was chilling out at home.

"Cool, Dude. So chilling out at home!"

"Sahi hai... mast ayyashi chal rahi hai scotland main"

"What happened, had too much yesterday night?"

"Who were you roaming around with last night, Man?"

"Hangover?"

Overall, I had a bad day. However, It did became better as the sun wore down & evening approached.

"Ah, all's well that ends well."

Rain, Rain, Go away... Little Johnny wants to Play

2008-08-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

"Don't be sad, my child; Hear the music" says the thunder "I am playing it only for you."

"I don't know what you mean. I can't hear any music." I shout back.

"But you have to listen carefully my child." The thunder god replies.

I concentrate, stretching my brows & then all of a sudden I am able to hear it.

The crystal droplets falling from high above in the sky. They travel so far, & just blow away to tiny fragments on the hot cobblestones. They make a tiny beat 'Put' when hey hit the tin roof or the tar road. The lucky ones are just absorbed by the parched earth. The luckiest ones hang from the green leaves, each one of them reflecting the rainbow at the horizon. It's as if the leaves are in love with the pearls & fear to let them go.

Shot outside my house, after a rainy day. Tried the max aperture of 3.5; shutter speed is pretty low though & hence the sharpness. It's hard to get out of bed when you are sick.

All of them do make a sound; collectively they make the music.

It's beautiful.

You can't feel it sitting in your comfortable abode. To feel it you have to be out in the open. Take a quiet stroll alone with the raindrops slowly hitting you across the face. You will feel lighter; the world would seem a better place to live in. Sit near a river under a tree, with somebody whom you love & everything you wanted to tell hem will be said by those raindrops. The world seems to have a pink tint now. It's a feeling. You have to feel that music. I think this is the most beautiful sounds you will hear from nature, besides the sound of wind roaring on a mountain.

Scotland is beautiful in rains, So is India.

Enjoy the music. I had my share; I hope you get yours too.

Time... Tick, Tick, Tick

2008-08-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

A teary eyed father is waving at his leaving Daughter. As she turns her back to him, the last one week he had spent with her, flashes before his eyes. The whole 1 week is over in 2 seconds. He smiles, thinking of the pleasant memories of the last week. He thinks of the long days he would have to spend now at his office, alone.

"Time has run away so fast in the last week, I bet it wouldn't be so slick in the coming days." He says to himself.

A skinny teenager is checking out his balance on an ATM machine. His dad had transferred him the money 2 days back but the amount has still not been credited to his account. The display turns up & reads

'Ledger Balance - 7000 Rs'

'Account Balance - 95 Rs'

He wishes the numbers to fall down from the above floor to the latter. But this doesn't seems to be happening. In the last 2 days, he has checked his balance 9 times & the amount seems to be stuck on 'Ledger balance'.

"The time seems to have stopped" The teenager thinks.

"The only thing you should value is time. The time you have today, will not come tomorrow & the time you have tomorrow will be different than that of today."

This was one of the fav sayings of my maternal Grand-Dad. Everyone of his lectures would start with this saying. I wouldn't pretend that I was an obedient child & took that saying to my heart, rather I used to hate it!

But today, when I look back down the lane, past the last 7 years which I have spent away from my Grandparents, I recognize the wisdom of those words. In fact I am not ashamed at all to say that I would have been in a much better position, if I had taken that saying to my heart a little earlier in my life. I would prefer to hand over this one saying to my kids when I have the chance to parent them.

"Well, my dear Sweetheart. I am gonna give you only piece of Advice. Now don't think that your Father is an intelligent man & is making all this up by himself. This advice has been handed over to your father by his Grandfather. The only thing you should value is Time. Know that the time you have today is not going to return tomorrow.

What you have today is unique. Try to enjoy it. Have memories from it that you can cherish tomorrow. It doesn't matter whether you are having a gala or you are sad. If you really live up the moment, you are going to have memories of this moment some years down the lane & you will have lots of reason to smile. If you don't you will have the same number of reasons for regret.

Wisdom comes from the realization that the present is yours. Live it to the hilt. Always remember, Fools cry thinking of the good times they had in their past. Greater Fools are looking for good times in future. The wise cherish the beautiful memories from the past & care for the future, but above all they live for the day. Because they know that the future will be a part of what they do today, & they are already in the process of making a memorable past. So value 'Time', my angel. "

I have always thought how fast do the hands of the clock seem to tick away when you are enjoying yourself, & how slowly do the numbers change when you are in a tight situation. Why is it that in the former situation, you suddenly get a glimpse of your wrist watch & gasp amazed 'Where did the time fly away?'. And how childish is of people to tap their 'Swatch', 'Rolex' & 'Omega' timepieces doubting that they have stopped somehow in the latter situation.

It's a strange thing. Isn't it?

Laughter at work

2008-08-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

These are some of the real incidents I faced here with my team.

Me & one of my colleagues were talking about movies

Me: So Khowlie, Did you watch the 'Dark Knight'?

Khowlie: No, its too fictitious for my tastes.

Me: Hmm...

Khowlie: You know I like an element of truth in my movies.

Me: That's great. So which movie did you watch last that

you really liked?

Now I was expecting him to say something like 'Into the wild', 'Bucket list', 'We own the night', 'American Gangster' or something on lines.

Khowlie: Oh, you see I don't watch lot of movies, But the last one

which I really liked was 'Bruce Almighty'

This one happened during Christmas party

Me: People owning a Lamborghini Diablo shouldn't live

in London!

Lisa: Do you have kids?

I was thinking to myself 'How does my having kids affect her having a Lamboghini?'

Me: No Lisa, I am not married.

Lisa: Grow up boy, whoever told you that you have to be

married to have kids?

This happened when I was trying to teach Graham how to write performance oriented Rex'es

Me: Now Graham, You see the MIPS on the machine

is constant.

Graham: Yes, I understand that.

Me: So the time taken for your script to run will be

decided by the cyclomatic complexity.

Graham: I think I understand that.

I gave him insights to how the loosely coupled & tightly coupled multi processor machines work. At this time, Craig who is the technical architect of the system & is one of the really fundu person pitched in...

Craig: Where did you learn all that stuff? I didn't knew

half of that!

Me: In college.

Craig: You are a freaking example of perfect Indian.

Me: And what is that supposed to mean?

Craig: You know everything about computers!

Love

2008-08-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

"Have the passion to love people when they need you,

& the courage to let them go when they want you to."

Read it somewhere, liked it!!!

Please Forgive me...

2008-08-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

Another of my Fav songs by Bryan Adams. This was sung for 'So far So good' album, 1993.

The lyrics are written by Bryan Adams & Robert Lange. It's amazing.

Its strange but the first time you hear it, it sounds as if its sung by a heart broken person. It's only when you listen carefully that you will realize that you cant be farther from the truth.

He is not asking for forgiveness because he believes that he has hurt her. What he is trying to say is that even though you ask me to forget you, I cant do that. And I am sorry for that.

If you listen carefully, the lyrics will tell you that the singer is missing those times & no matter how much you ask him to forget it, he can't do it. He doesn't regret anything. He is happy. It's because that time is a cherised part of his life. It's as if its in his blood stream. Now you can't take out something from somebody's blood stream, Can you?

The song isn't sad, it's full of life! And that is why it's one of my favorites.

The Knight & his sacrifices

2008-08-04T09:18:00.001-07:00

Have you given away something which you cherish more than your life just for the reason that somebody will be happy? Have you ever wondered how hard is it to sacrifice some part of your life; especially when you know it will never be acknowledged? Have you ever wondered what pain a martyr goes through? Have you ever thought what it feels like to be on the receiving end of being somebody's second priority. & the worst is you have nobody to talk to about it!

Gosh, it is hell!

Now don't get the wrong idea. I am not talking about myself. Being the pompous & self acclaimed egoist I am, I would never do that. I am talking about the latest of the Batman series 'The Dark Knight'.

The movie's story is nothing new. But it does show you a different side of the Batman. The normal dark side of the superhero has been portrayed so much that people do forget what would be the humane side of the poor guy. The 'Dark Knight' gives away the happiness in his life so that the commoner of Gotham can sleep peacefully. He let goes of the person he loves most, believing that she will return back when things are better. No wonder they call him the knight, the bravest of the warriors who don't show emotions even when their world is getting ripped apart.

Christian Bale is awesome in the movie both as Batman, the superhero & Bruce Wayne, the multi Billionaire playboy. Aaron Eckhart, as Harvey Dent is also good, but he is awesome once he transforms into the character of 'Two-Face'. Of course late 'Heath Ledger' overshadows every other person in the movie as 'The Joker'. The way he says "This city deserves a better class of criminal & I am going to give it to her" is awesome. He certainly deserves Oscar for the movie, though I doubt if they give Oscar posthumously. The special effects wouldn't disappoint you either.

Best Dialogue in the movie, again by the Joker:-

"Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, we are tonight's entertainment."

However, for me the action & the special effects of the movie are secondary. I loved the way the director has handled the emotions of Batman transforming into Bruce Wayne. The way he still goes on, sacrificing the only thing worth cherishing in his life, even when he knows that he will never gain anything from it. I wonder how would poor Bruce feel if he comes to know that 'Rachel' did leave him for 'Harvey Dent' .

Whoever said that being a Hero is easy must certainly have been drinking. A must see for all action freaks.

Three cheers for all the heroes in the world, who have got the heart to sacrifice something in their life for the sake of other's happiness. I wonder where would this mean world be without them!

Deadly experience

2008-08-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

Last night my mom and I were sitting in the living room, talking about life... In-between, we talked about the idea of living or dying.

I said to her: ' Mom, never let me live in a vegetative state, totally dependent on machines and surviving on liquids from a bottle. If you see me in that state I beg of you to disconnect all the contraptions that are keeping me alive, I'd very much rather die'.

My mom looked at me with real admiration, got up from the sofa...

and proceeded to disconnect the TV, the Cable, the Dish, the DVD, the Computer, the Cell Phone, the Ipod, and the Xbox; and then went to the fridge and threw away all my beer!!

...I ALMOST DIED!!!"

P.S - This didn't happen with me; though i empathize with the narrator. I got this as a FWD from a Friend.

Atom... An engineering marvel

2008-08-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what's the difference between an engineering Marvel & a technology masterpiece.

In my opinion, every technology marvel has to be a engineering marvel. A technology masterpiece is something which makes use of the cutting edge technology, the latest equipment & the best of the workmanship. Of course, it will be costly. An engineering marvel, doesn't necessarily means the same. What it means is the best use of the available equipment & resources, the very best of the designs & pushing the limits of engineering laws to its extreme.

A macbook, if you see is a good example of Engineering marvel. It doesn't have the extreme technology available in the market, but it is so focussed on its purpose & so tightly knit that everything falls into place. The price is due to the brand name, of course.

Let me push the analogy a step further.

A Ferrari Enzo is an apt example of Technological masterpiece. It is so bent on achieving its goal, that everything else takes a back seat, even though it hasn't got any. It might be impractical , but still it is a technology masterpiece. No wonder it costs more than 500,000 Pounds.

An Atom on the other hand is a phenomenal example of engineering marvel. This is a benchmark in the engineering standards. Made by a company named Ariel, consisting only of 7 employees, this car creates a niche for itself.

Specs:-

Body weight 500 Kgs

Chasis Bronze welded ERW/CDS steel tube

Engine 2.0 Honda 4 Cylinder i-VTec

Displacement 2000 cc

Power 245 Bhp/300 Bhp Supercharged

Weight/Power 600 Bhp per tonne

0-60 2.9 S

Top Speed More than 120 mph

Price 29,000 Pounds

"I have never ever driven anything, that accelerates so fast"

- Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear

Don't believe me, see this... Atom featured in BBC

Incredible, isn't it? As I said, an engineering marvel.

Want to buy one, visit the official Ariel website.

And remember, next time somebody tells you "Costliest is the best", be sure to tell them about Atom.

Happy Friendship's Day

2008-08-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

All those lucky bastards who had the good luck to have been tagged with my friendship, I wish you guys a Happy Friendship's Day.

Of course, this is just an excuse!

I bought a Manfrotto couple of days back. I didn't get much chance to use it till now. But today shaking away my laziness, I ventured into the streets at 10 O'Clock in the night to get some pictures. They are not especially good, because I am still learning.

I am facing 2 problems here. The white balance is not correct. I can manage that. The highlights are all washed out in the sky. But worst is people don't seem to drive in Edinburgh after 9. I don't get enough vehicle trail lights. Come on guys, move out of your home, go out!

These shots are taken from a bridge 5 minutes away from my place. Since I was already late, I couldn't compose. Also the limited view from the over-bridge makes the choices limited. All the 3 pictures are cropped.

The thing which troubles me most is I am not able to guess the correct exposure for these shots. I guess, I do need more practice & loads of it too!

Anyway Guys, I hope you do have a lovely day ahead.

The Home Run...

2008-07-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

I started walking fast on the beaten roads. I was approaching the outskirts of the town. It was almost time & I was already running late than usual. I was picking fast on my pace when I heard it. The soft tune of "Because you loved me" strummed on a guitar. The girl was doing a good job. It bought the memories back.

"Hurry up, The tube will be here any minute." She said smiling, knowing that I was sulking.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked.

"For the reason that you will sulk." She teased me.

"I am sulking now!"

"I know & you also know how much I hate it."

We were walking down the undergrounds of London. The man was standing in a corner, strumming a soft tune on his guitar.

She got her wallet from her handbag & emptied all the change in the upturned hat. She carried a lot of change.

The guy gave her a big smile "Have a nice day Ma'am" he said.

"You too" she smiled back.

"That was the first time I have ever seen you giving alms. I am amused." I said.

"He wasn't begging. We should appreciate it.He is making the world a better place by his music." She replied.

"By playing that lousy tune?"

"That lousy tune is "Because you loved me" which incidentally happens to be one of my Fav songs" She scoffed back.

"That was my revenge. We are even now." I teased her

"You can congratulate me now." She smiled.

"Congratulate for what? You leaving me alone for the next three years! Any person who knows me even a little bit, would guess that I am in a sea of sorrow here."

"No; for getting an admission in Stanford. You know everyone doesn't gets an admission there. You must be proud of me" She said grinning.

"And I am!" I hugged her. She just smiled.

I took out my wallet & poured all the change in the bowl. There wasn't much. I dropped a fiver as well.

The girl smiled at me "Have a nice evening, Sir"

"And you too young lady." I said as I hurried on the way ahead.

I finally reached there & it was about time too. I took off my thread bare jacket & hung it one of the branches. I folded my knees & sat down. I was there alone; my back against the tree, shielding myself from the sun with what little shade the acacia provided. The birds had started flying home. It was time. I was waiting for it to happen. This was the only time of the day which I looked forward to every morning.

The harsh rays from the sun were softening already. The sun went down slowly assuring everybody not to worry; that it will be back tomorrow. Its hot rays flaming the clouds; producing a dry & scattered, but beautiful rainbow of colors. When the sun burned out the already exhausted clouds over the dry lands, the colors would behold the sight of any man. There was something magical about the sunset in Africa. It was like a miracle, & no matter how many times I watched it, I always was just awe stuck by its beauty.

The psychologists always say that a person who loves sunset more than the sunrise is depressed & paranoid. May be they are correct, But the truth is I don’t feel more lively ever than when I am watching the burning clouds of sunset. I don’t know when I fell in love with sunsets.

I heard a foot step behind me. I knew who it was. He had been my right arm, my employee, my student & the only audience I had in the last 3 years. He was the only person who knew I would be here at this time.

“I don’t like to be disturbed at this time Rick & you know it.” I said without lifting my gaze from the horizon.

“Come join me anyway” I invited him.

“Try to keep quiet till it goes down. I know, its tough for you to keep your blabbering mouth shut, but do try it for the sake of your own hide”

He sat silently besides me. I waited for another 5 minutes.

“That’s unusual.” I said.

“What is?”

“Your not talking. And as if that wasn’t enough your keeping silent even when I have specifically told you not to talk. Is something bothering you, Rick?”

“Hmm… You could say so…” He said.

Strangely enough he was staring at the burning clouds when he said that.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? Pity it lasts only 10 minutes. I guess we can postpone your problem for another 5 minutes & enjoy it.”

He stayed silent. I preferred not to break his chain of thoughts & tried to enjoy the scene. It was difficult.

The girl playing by the road side had done her job well. All I could think of ,was her.

“Lets listen to your problem now Rick, Shall we?” I said, getting up dusting up my tethered jeans.

“You are assuming that I want to tell you about it. Isn’t that being pompous?” He growled.

“Well Rick, either you are insulting my intelligence, or you want me to revise my opinion about yours. You have known for the last 2 & half years that I always came here to see the sun set; even on days when I know with certainty that the clouds wouldn’t flame up. And in those 2 & half years, I have never seen you here. You don’t have the patience to sit idle, Rick. And here you are today, quiet for last 3 minutes." I gave him a moment to absorb my reasoning.

"Come on Rick, if you don’t want to talk about it, we may as well get going. I still have some scotch left & I can spare you some portion from my delicious chicken.”

I started on the beaten way, trying to make up my way in dark. I still didn’t feel the need of a flashlight. Rick picked on my steps, but stayed silent for the whole half an hour walk. I knew something was disturbing him, but I wanted him to tell me. I had left the habit of asking people what’s bothering them somewhere in the past. I remembered the days when I would ask people if they needed help. That trait in me died when I left the only person for whom I had picked up the habit. I tried to close down my mind to the nostalgic thoughts.

“So what will it be today Rick. The heavenly 18 year old scotch, which I know is smuggled in these regions of Africa & which costs me almost the entire fortune I earn in a month or would you prefer the luxury of warm Heineken.”

“I will go for Heineken; you don’t want to share the scotch anyway.” He replied

“See, I wasn’t wrong about your intelligence Rick. The time for revising my opinions is still not ripe.” I tossed him a can of beer.

"She is leaving tomorrow." He somehow blurted it out.

I knew the toughest moment was gone. I wanted to stop him & ask "Who is she?"

But I let him carry on.

"She is leaving for Paris tomorrow evening. She wants to pursue her Masters in Arts."

"Hmm..." I prompted him to continue.

"And I still am not able to figure out what I feel for her. Half of me is screaming for her to stay, but the rest of me wants her to be Happy. I am confused. I feel guilty for being so selfish. I don't know what to do."

I knew that was all what he will say.

"Have you told her, Rick?"

"Told her what? You want me to tell her that I am in love with her. That I want her to forget her dreams & remain here with me. That I will always keep her happy. Have you gone Crazy?"

"Rick, if only you would have noticed; you would have realized that you answered the question yourself. The point here is not whether she will stay with you. The point here is that she should know how you feel about her. Give her a chance to decide what's best for her."

"If I had known that you will give me this kind of dumb advice, I would have never come to you."

"I knew that was coming. Let me tell you something. There was this girl, & I swear by all that I have ever considered holy, she is the best thing that happened in my life. I loved her more than anything in the world. She was the apex of my life, everything rotated around her. Nothing ever happened in my life of which she wasn't a part of directly or indirectly.

Unlike you, I told her how much I loved her. I never cared whether she understood or not. I even thought of asking a couple of times whether I made any sense. She loved listening me talk, & I would give away fortunes to hear her. Neither of us used to talk much. Not that words were any important. I used to tell her that she could tell me what she is thinking, & that there was no need to tell me how she was feeling. I boasted that I knew her heart better than mine.

Oh, But I think I am drifting from what I wanted to tell you.

You see Rick, in the last 3 years, I never had a visitor. I never had anybody to talk to, except for you, & I think you highly appreciate the volumes I talk in. In these last 3 years, gazing at the sunset has not only been my fav past time, it has also been the moment of self realization for me. It has helped me realize that the Grandeur of an African summer sunset can be matched by only few things in this world. It has made me realize that I don't miss anything, when I gaze at those vibrant colors in the sky. Except for her. She is the only person who I think could make those moments more enjoyable for me. There is so much I want to tell her & so much more I want to hear from her. She is the only person whom I think of when I sit there alone, every evening waiting for the sun to take refuge in the darkness.

Lately it has dawned on me that the one of the best decisions in my life has been that I told her how much I love her. I just repent that I didn't tell her enough.

What I want to say Rick is that if the thought of not telling enough number of times, kills me daily, just think what will happen when you will grow to the age of gazing at sunsets?

That’s all I want to say Rick. Would you care for another Beer?"

"I think I can manage another" He said.

I tossed him another can.

Rick didn’t show up at work in the morning.

I knew why. He came to the garage in the evening.

“Fine employee you are! Leaving all the dirty work for your boss.” I said wiping off my grease smeared hands on a rag.

“I am sorry” that was all he said.

“It’s Ok. There wasn’t much work today anyway. I was just closing off.”

“Do you want a beer?” I asked him.

“I thought it was time for you to go & watch your precious sunset.” He asked.

“I can manage without it for one day.” I smiled back at him.

“I would rather watch the sunset with you than having the beer.” He replied

“Fine with me, As long as you don’t make it a habit. You are not of the age Rick.” I taunted him.

So there we were; sitting below the thorny acacia gazing at the dying light.

I stole a glance towards Rick. His face looked calm & peaceful. I knew then that he had told her.

I sat there all by myself in the small pub (if you can call it a pub, for it only had 4 chairs & a small bar) watching outside the window.

"David, it’s so sweating hot here." A woman complained to her husband.

I cursed her for breaking the chains of my thoughts & souring up my last sunset in Africa.

Somebody pulled a chair besides me & ordered a Heineken. I didn't had to look up to see who he was, for there were only 2 people in the whole area who ordered Heineken.

"Well Rick, my time in SA is over. I am going back tomorrow."

"I hope you have a nice time, seeing the world ahead. So where to... Australia or Europe?"

"You are wrong on both accounts Rick. I have already seen Australia; frankly speaking there wasn't much except for the Kangaroos & the Kiwis. And Europe makes me nostalgic."

"So where now?"

"I am back to my own place. The only place which can match the grands of Africa is India. The burning sunset of Africa, can only be challenged by the serene calm of the Himalayas. The wild game in Africa is so majestic that no other country can match it, except for the Indian subcontinent. The wrath of the seasons are same both here in Africa & in India. The tribes & the culture here, however will loose to the culture in India. No Rick, The only place to see after Africa is India. I definitely want to see India now."

"Hmm..." He sipped his cold beer.

"You can always visit Rick."

"Yes I know...." He pulled something out of his pocket. It was gift wrapped.

"This is for you." He pushed it towards me & took another plug on his beer.

This was the greatest display of emotions I had ever seen from Rick.

"Thanks Rick, I appreciate it."

"You should see it before you say Thanks, You may not like the idea."

I tore the cover open.

It was beautiful. Chestnut color leather bound volume. I turned it to see the title. There was none. I opened it to the first page.

'Collected Stories - For the only person who thought I told great stories'

I didn't say anything.

"Where & when did you get this? I had stopped writing this about 6 months ago." I asked him.

"It was when you fell down the gorge, tearing half of your arm & shoulder. I had to strap you to a stretcher & get you carried back home. That was the only time when you haven't made it back on your feet from the trips in the last 3 years. Do you remember?"

"And when I asked you for the scotch in the night, you came by this in my things, Isn't it Rick? It's good for you that I am leaving tomorrow. I feel like tearing you from limb to limb." I tried to control my anger.

"I know. I know.... If it’s any consolation for you, I haven't read it, except for the title. Neither did the publisher & there is only this single copy. I couldn't think of anything else to give you for all what you have done for me in the last 3 years."

I was still angry, but nodded to accept his apologies.

"Do you mind my asking whom did you write it for? You have been writing it for last 3 years, & you never tried to get it published."

“Not exactly a question which will help you increase your limited stock of knowledge, is it?” I smiled at him.

“Ok. I have another one for you as well. Do you remember I came to you that day asking for advice? I have never seen you so emotional.”

“You know me quite a lot Rick.”

“That is not the point. My question was who were you talking about that Day?”

“I will prefer to answer your first question. I wrote it up for my daughter; she must be your age now. How old are you? No, I guess, a little younger than you." I smiled & the memories over shadowed me.

"I am home Honey."

"Coming Dad" shouted my 20 year old daughter.

"So how's my sweetheart today? Going by the twinkle in your eye, I guess you spent lot of your Dad's hard earned money on useless shopping" I teased her.

"It's ok Dad, you don't use it anyway. Nobody uses..."

"Money in South africa" I completed the sentence for her, & smiled.

"How was your day Dad?

"Kind of ok Sweetu, but you know I am kind of getting bored now here. I just want to break off the ties & run free. I guess its high time now. You are old enough to take care of yourself & I don't think I have anything else to worry about." I replied

"So all set for next week! Checked everything?" I changed the topic.

"Yups" she nodded. "You get fresh, I will fix the dinner for you in the meanwhile."

"I can't believe you have grown up so fast. It feels like yesterday only when I used to roam around, with you grabbing my finger."

"I know Dad, I know. Better hurry up."

I loosened my collar, & splashed cold water on my face. I looked into the mirror; my eyes were looking back at me, while my face was still looking towards the basin. It was time for me to admit that I was getting old.

It was time for me to pursue my last dream.

I towelled my face "Sweetu, what do you really think of the plan?"

"Which Plan, your going to Africa?"

"Yes" I flung the towel on the nearest sofa.

"Hmm... I think you should go for it." She picked up the towel & whisked it somewhere out of sight.

"Sorry, I was thinking of something else." I said, knowing how much she hated, my habit of spreading things around.

"It's just that I don't know how will I do without you?"

"Dad, both of us know that is not what is bothering you. The thing that is bothering you is How will I manage without you? Relax, Pops, I will do fine. You don't have to worry about me." she read my thoughts.

"Yes, I know... still" I left the sentence in mid air.

"Dad, I will be leaving for Stanton, next week. And I am really going to be very busy for the next 3 years. Why don't you chase up your obsession for Africa in the mean time?" She asked me.

"Are you serious?"

She said nothing, just passed a smile. It answered everything.

"She got that from her mother" I said to myself. "Let me think it over." I answered her.

I saw her to the flight next week.

"Now all smiles, not a single tear Sweetu." I told her

"Does the same apply to you?" She asked me

I gave her a smile & she wiped off the tear grazing my cheek.

“Last call for the flight leaving for….”

“I have to go now Dad. Take care of yourself.” She turned to leave.

"Remember what I said about Africa, Dad" she shouted over her shoulder.

"So Rick, that’s how I came to Africa." I shook myself from the past & returned to the pub.

“How about the second question?” he again asked.

“Haven’t I already told you enough for a day?” I evaded again.

“Come on man. You are leaving tomorrow. I don’t know if I will ever see you again! I just want to know who is she?”

“Rick you know what? The only thing I really like about you is, you are dumb enough not to know when to give up.” I smiled at him. “I answered both of your questions.”

“She must be pretty lucky to have a father like you.” He smiled.

“Thanks Rick. I hope she shares your opinion about me.”

I picked up the book & started for the door.

Be More...

2008-07-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

I saw this cool Titan Ad in one of my friends blog...

No doubt that the ad is cool. It also inspires you in a certain way. However that is not what came to my mind when I saw this ad.

This ad actually reminds me of 'Pullu Bhai'. 'Pullu Bhai' was my first technical lead when I joined my company. For the people who haven't been in touch with me for a long time, I am another brick in the wall of technical India. We have a joke of the house which states us 3 (The third one being Tobin) as army commandos. Pullu is Col, Tobin is Major & I am their Boss Brig. All 3 of us are on a top secret mission to capture the most wanted terrorists; the terrorists being the hot babes of my organisation.

You might be thinking what's so special about Pullu Bhai. Well, the line said by Amir

"And never resemble your passport photo for more than 3 months. Har subah shock your reflection"

suits Pullu Bhai aptly.

Here is what I mean:-

Pullu - Metric Fail

Pullu - Auto Driver

Pullu - The traveller

Pullu - The Cosmopolitan

Pullu - The Cool Guy

Pullu - Don ka Chota Bhai

Pullu - The Don himself

Pullu - The leader

P.S - None of the Pictures hosted here were shot by me. I have taken the liberty to copy them from Pullu's Orkut Profile. The real name is Vinod Pulukkool

P.P.S - 'Pullu Bhai' has been one of the most technically sound guy I have ever worked with. He is also one of the coolest chap I have come across in my professional career & among the very few friends I have from my work place. He recently left the technical clan, betrayed us & joined the gang of bloody exploiters (that's what I call the managers in my company)

My Bucket List Part I

2008-07-27T13:06:00.003-07:00

Ok, for the advantage of all the fools who are movie buffs & haven't seen the movie "Bucket List" & all the intelligent people who don't see movies, let me explain the term first. A "Bucket List" is the list things you would rather complete before hitting the bucket. Putting it more poetically, committing those sins for which you wouldn't mind rotting in hell for eternity. Got the picture? Of course, You bet... I am a poetic person.

There are days when I wake up crazy. I am all materialistic, selfish, greedy scum. And on those days, the only thing that hovers my mind besides 'Drew Barrymore' is this:-

I shot these pictures at Heathrow Airport yesterday, where it was on display. I didn't take out the complete picture, because it looks so boring, It had a tag 'Please do not touch' & most importantly because of the stage lights.

Perhaps the most famous fans of Ferrari are Jeremy Clarkson & Michael Schumacher. Well personally, I consider Jeremy Clarkson as a fool who has got lot of charisma. He is stupid, extremely biased, pre-notioned, repetitive & doesn't know half of the times, what he is talking about (e.g - The episode where he sees light to a Porsche 911, He says that the Porsche emits 300 Carbon dioxides! What the hell, is 300 CO2?). Of course he is a good orator, and knows how to drive. But that is not what I like about him. What I like about him is

"I consider Ferrari as the scale down model of God."

- Jeremy Clarkson, Top Gear

I know there are lot of other things on my Bucket list, which I would give more priority to. But all of them are things I want to do, things which will satisfy my inner self, things which incline more towards satisfying my soul rather than my greed, & I would give my life away for any of them gladly. But if there is one materialistic thing which I would give my legs for, is this noise making, environment polluting, fuel guzzling monster. Of course, I would have to go for a flappy gear pedal version then, I gave my legs away... remember.

For those perky, finicky, detail interested bastards, I would now specify which model would I really like. The ones who are not interested in specs can of course skip. Well, the model again varies on the days & the mood I wake up in. The days when I still have fragments of my nice content personality left, I would rather choose a Ferrari F430. It's a beautiful machine & I really hope to own it some day if possible( I know its really hard, but I still would like to give it a try). The looks... Well you can see the above pictures. Of course you can watch more pictures here to satisfy your gluttonous greed - Ferrari.

But on days when I wake up a true monster, when I don't have any humane emotions left in me, when I am the every greedy, unsatisfied satan himself, I do prefer to own the F60. Of course, for this to happen, would take another miracle. But then again one of my Fav sayings is

"Miracles do happen, You just have to work harder for them to happen."

I really forgot who said that, will google for it once I have some spare time.

Anyway coming back to the point, The F60 is the most unpractical car you can ever own. Its a fuel guzzling pump, you can not sell it once you have chosen to buy it (Did I tell you that YOU have to be chosen to buy it.) Its practical perspective is certainly not worth the money (the base car costs 1 million). It certainly is not a street car, for you can't see who is coming behind you till he hits you in the back, & then of course you would die of a heart attack. It was designed by a bunch of crazy physics interested engineers, who had never driven on a road.

It is not the fastest car in production, not to say it is neither the most powerful. It can be overrun both by the 18 year older McLaren F1 & the relatively newer Bugatti Veyron.

What it is, is the ultimate extravagant use of technology. It is the new chapter in future of cars, & a new benchmark for the engineering perfection. It was never designed to be practical. And I love it for its very impractical nature. Because even though highly impractical it is, It does it perfectly with a panache which no other car today can match. I can go on writing & you will still not get a idea of what I am talking about if you haven't seen it. If you have seen it, You probably know that no matter how hard I try, I would never come close to explaining the beauty of this wonderful machine. That's why I would rather let you see yourself. Here you go & enjoy...

I know most of you might be thinking that the top 2 of my Fav cars are Ferrari. And I must be a Ferrari chauvinist. Well, I can't give you 10 different defenses against this, I could provide you with 5, if i really tried. However, I know that they wouldn't be perfectly true. I know cars more beautiful, more powerful, more performance oriented than these 2 Ferraris. However the truth is Ferrari is my secret 'Achilles Heel'. In fact, I have suggested a couple of times, that they should ban other car manufacturers from using the Red hot Paint. For, its meant to be only a Ferrari, which carries that away with a grace & style.

So that is my dark side....

(or should it be Red side?)

Instrumentals & Jazz

2008-07-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of Instrumentals. They just fascinate me.

In my opinion Instrumentals are the purest form of music. You can listen to them both consciously or subconsciously according to your mood. They make a great choice for concentrating, since you dont have to bother about the lyrics. I first started listening to instrumentals on some of the audio cassettes of J.S Bach, bought by my uncle.

Instrumentals have that strange power of soothing your nerves which songs can never achieve. I do like my pieces more by what soothes my nerves, rather than anything else. Only if it qualifies for this, do i try to understand it subtleties.

One of my Fav genres in Instrumentals is Jazz. I always thought that the most meledious instrument is a violin, till I heard a saxophone. For serious Jazz lovers, this might be too simple. I would recommend "John Coltrane", "Miles Davis", "Louis Armstrong" & Roy Eldrige". I can write pages & pages on Jazz, & it still wouldn't be enough.

“The chief trouble with jazz is that there is not enough of it; some of it we have to listen to twice”

-Don Herald (US cartoonist & Humorist)

For the lesser of us mortals like me, there is always Kenny G. Lets say, he was the one who got me addicted to saxophone. I do hope you enjoy this piece by him. Its called Havana & is a great example of what is popularly known as "Smooth Jazz". If you do listen it carefully, you will be able to notice that the piece starts with only saxophone & a piano. As the song progresses, the tempo increases & so do the accompanying instruments. I would say its Heaven but that might be an injustice to God.

Coming Back To Life

2008-07-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

One of Fav songs, not only because of its Lyrics, but also because of its slow but crystal clear music.

The song is originally from the album "The Divisional Bell" 1994. The song is solely credited to David Gilmour, who wrote it for his wife Polly.

"Where were you when I was burned and broken,

While the days slipped by from my window watching.

Where were you when I was hurt and I was helpless,

Because the things you say and the things you do surround me.

While you were hanging yourself on someone elses words,

Dying to believe in what you heard,

I was staring straight into the shining sun.

Lost in thought and lost in time,

While the seeds of live and the seeds of change were planted,

Outside the rain fell dark and slow;

While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime,

I took a heavenly ride through one silence,

I knew the moment had arrived,

For killing the past and coming back to life.

I took a heavenly ride through our silence,

I knew the waiting had begin,

And I headed straight... into the shining sun."

I hope you enjoyed listening to it, as much as I do. Want to read more about them, Visit here Pink Floyd

P.S - Don't stare into the sun directly!

Silverknowes

2008-07-13T03:01:00.000-07:00

I am still learning how to play with sunlight & considering that I am a slow learner, don't get to shoot often, the results don't turn up what I expected them to be.

Following are some of the pictures which I shot at the local beach shore, one evening.

I walk alone

The joy of youth

The wisdom of foresight

In all the above pictures I was trying to shoot the patterns on sand. I wasn't successful, partly because of the harsh light of the sun(which insisted on giving burnt out & washed up colors) & partly because of my inexperience.

The Steel Colosium

The Colors of Spring

I liked the last 2 pictures because of their warm tones, which I was finally able to capture.

Shows, how much I still have to learn. The most important thing I learnt that day was one doesn't needs great locations to shoot good pictures. Its all in how you shoot them, not the equipment & not the locations.

Happy snapping!

Father

2008-07-12T10:29:00.001-07:00

I was a bit irritated since I woke up, I don't know why.

I looked into the mirror, straightening my tie. Combed my fingers through my messy, still wet hair, trying to chalk out all the details of office today. I had this strange feeling, that I am missing something. I took my Jacket, dabbed on the after-shave on my cheeks generously. That always helps me calm down. Straightened my tie again & took a deep breath. Waiting for my nerves to soothe down!

Didn’t Happen. Damn it!

I took my keys, cell phone from the chest & shouted “Kitty, Hurry up, you will be late for school.”

Kitty is my 12 years old daughter.

She came down running.

“I am surprised Kitty, you are ready on time.”

“It’s Papa’s B’Day Daddy. I don’t want to be the reason for you being late today” she beamed at me.

“See, I made you this card”

‘My Papa is the Best’ written in her tiny scrawling hand-writing all decorated in Green & Red.

She remembers my B’Day. I was amused.

“Do you like it?”

“But of course, I do. I never knew my Sweetu could make such beautiful cards.”

“I ruined one of your pens, while making this, though” she said a little ashamed.

“Hmm. We can’t have that now, can we? I think you are late for school.”

“Why Dad? I think we can still make it on time.”

“You see Kitty, I don’t feel like going to office. I feel like taking a day off, spending it with you. Give you piggy-back rides. Walking the parkways with you. May be watch a movie in the evening. You know what, we can even go & have a ice cream.”

“Can we really do that Papa?” she said all excited.

“Why not? That is of course, if you are not interested in going to school more” I teased her.

“No Papa, lets do it. But isn’t it like you are bunking office?”

“Hmmm… Point! But I think we can relax the rule for your Poor Dad once in a while. What say?”

“Will you relax the rule for me once in a while when I grow up older Pops” She chirped…

I took her by hand, & started towards the door “Come on, We better hurry up, you have a tiring day full of fun ahead”.

So we did all the things.

I took her to an adventure Park, where she took me on terrible rides. She was trembling with excitement & I was being nervous. Finally, after a long long time, she got tired & I gave a sigh of relief. We strolled down the parkways gulping ice lollies in the evening. And I took her to a movie. She asked me end less questions after the movie.

“Why did the hero had to die? He was a good guy, Dad?”

“It happens sometimes Sweetheart. Life is not always fair, you know.”

“Well that’s wrong Dad. God should be seeing that it doesn’t happen. I bet he is not good as my Dad. Why isn’t the God as good as you Papa?”

“Would you like him to exchange places with me Kitty?”

“No Papa, I think I like you better.” She said with a thoughtful expression.

“So what should we do for Dinner?”

“Cheese Pizza Papa…. Please” she gave me her all time angel smile.

“Sure, why Not Sweetheart”

“I hope the day was good for you.”

“It was, Papa. It was one of the best. Why can’t we have Papa’s Day daily?”

“Hmm… If we have that, then I will have to do this daily. Consequently, you will miss your school. Now we cant have you growing into an illiterate girl, Can we?”

“Why cant we? Why do I need to study? You will always be there to look after me. Won’t you Dad?” she beamed.

“Of course, I would. Now give Papa a hug & say good night.”

“Good Night Papa. I love you”

“I love you too sweetheart.” I tucked her into bed & kissed her.

This was my 35^th B’Day. I felt young.

“Sweetu, you will be late. Hurry up.” I said, relaxing the wrinkles on my crushed shirt, & combing my fingers through my grey hair at the same time.

She came down 20 minutes later still talking on phone.

I held the door open for her, waiting her to hang up.

“Dad, why are you dressed so casually today. Where is your tie?”

“Hmm… I felt like skipping the office today. So may be when you are done at College, I can pick you up & we can go for a ride, shopping, a movie & dinner.”

“No Dad, not today. I already have plans for today. Me & friends are going for bowling today.”

“How about in the evening then Sweetu?”

“Sorry Dad, I think I will be late.”

I unintentionally crushed the movie tickets in my pocket.

“And Dad please stop calling me Sweetu. It sounds odd now, you know.”

“Yes, of course Kitty.”

“Better grab your Jacket & your tie, Dad” She said while walking out.

I dropped her to college & came back. I had already taken a day off, but I thought of going to work anyway.

The day just went through, uneventful. I returned home at the usual time.

I pressed the answering machine.

"No messages" It beeped.

"Who am I kidding?"

"She is just a kid, she might have forgotten it."

I tried to stop my mind fighting with itself. I opened the fridge & opened a can of Beer.

I relaxed on the couch, took a sip of beer & dozed off to sleep. I woke up sometime later. I again took a sip of beer. It had turned warm.

My eyes glanced through the black dial of the wrist-watch & I realized that it was already 8. I went to the kitchen, & started preparing the dinner. I finally finished in an hour. I was about to open another can of beer, when I saw the first one lying on the table, warm & almost untouched. I left the second one alone.

I switched on the TV & flipped through the channels, waiting for Kitty to come Home. The evening was getting late & me anxious. The father in me took over at 10:30 & I called up on her cell phone. She didn’t pick up. I couldn’t think of anything to do, except waiting.

She came back finally at 11.

“So how was your day Sw…. “ I paused, remembering what she had said in the morning ”Kitty.”

“Was Ok Dad, The movie was pretty boring though.”

“Oh Ok." I thought of the movie tickets which I had crushed in the morning.

Anyway, change quickly & come for dinner. I have made your fav. Boneless chicken.”

“But I already had my dinner Dad, I thought I told you I would be eating out today. I wonder why didn’t you get married after Mom left.”

“Good Night, Dad.” she said climbing up the stairs.

I didn’t feel like answering. I couldn’t think of anything to answer.

I ate alone. Things have certainly changed in the last 7 years, I realized.

This was my 42^nd B’Day. I felt old, much older than my age.

I looked in the mirror. My grey hair was not messy today. It looked neat. I looked like an ideal Father. I straightened my tie. My nerves were jittery, but I was happy. Today was the biggest day in my life.

Kitty was getting married today. The last 8 years had rather flown quickly. I tried to remember the last 25 years, when the only apex of my life had been my daughter, & failed. I doubted I had been a good father. I stepped into the hall & got surrounded by the guests immediately.

There she is, I thought, beautiful as her mother & sweet as an angel. She looked happy. I put a smile on my face & stepped towards her. She saw me, smiled & started to say something.

“I know Kitty. You don’t have to say it. I hope you are Happy. I will always love you. Things will never change between us. This is just a new chapter in your life.”

She smiled & a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Our lives Papa, our lives” she sobbed.

“Life will never be same without you, I can not imagine myself without you Dad.”

“I am sorry for all the hard times I gave you. I hope you forgive me, Dad”

“Shhh… Kitty, Smile. Lots of people clicking pictures, We don’t want you to be snapped teary faced with red nose, Do we?” I kissed her.

She beamed a smile & I turned back to look after other things.

“Dad…”

“Yes Kitty”

“I know why you never married after Mom left.

And Dad I think I prefer Sweetu.”

I smiled.

I was 2 days short of turning fifty. I could feel my life turning around, turning around in a complete circle, to me.

I felt young.

P.S - I wrote this for the only child who thinks I write & tell wonderful stories.

Kabuliwallah & Memories

2008-07-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

This is a story which most of you would have read in your 6-7 Standard text books.
I read it again today, after a long time, & it bought back a wave of nostalgia. Its an amazing story, which floods you with emotions & memories from childhood. I still remember how much excited I used to be on getting promoted to the next standard, because that meant I would get to read new stories from my Hindi & english text books.

This story was written by Rabindranath Tagore.
I hope you do enjoy reading it, as much as I did.

My five years' old daughter Mini cannot live without chattering. I really believe that in all her life she has not wasted a minute in silence. Her mother is often vexed at this, and would stop her prattle, but I would not. To see Mini quiet is unnatural, and I cannot bear it long. And so my own talk with her is always lively.

One morning, for instance, when I was in the midst of the seventeenth chapter of my new novel, my little Mini stole into the room, and putting her hand into mine, said: "Father! Ramdayal the doorkeeper calls a crow a krow! He doesn't know anything, does he?"

Before I could explain to her the differences of language in this world, she was embarked on the full tide of another subject. "What do you think, Father? Bhola says there is an elephant in the clouds, blowing water out of his trunk, and that is why it rains!"

And then, darting off anew, while I sat still making ready some reply to this last saying, "Father! what relation is Mother to you?"

"My dear little sister in the law!" I murmured involuntarily to myself, but with a grave face contrived to answer: "Go and play with Bhola, Mini! I am busy!"

The window of my room overlooks the road. The child had seated herself at my feet near my table, and was playing softly, drumming on her knees. I was hard at work on my seventeenth chapter, where Protrap Singh, the hero, had just caught Kanchanlata, the heroine, in his arms, and was about to escape with her by the third story window of the castle, when all of a sudden Mini left her play, and ran to the window, crying, "A Kabuliwallah! a Kabuliwallah!" Sure enough in the street below was a Kabuliwallah, passing slowly along. He wore the loose soiled clothing of his people, with a tall turban; there was a bag on his back, and he carried boxes of grapes in his hand.

I cannot tell what were my daughter's feelings at the sight of this man, but she began to call him loudly. "Ah!" I thought, "he will come in, and my seventeenth chapter will never be finished!" At which exact moment the Kabuliwallah turned, and looked up at the child. When she saw this, overcome by terror, she fled to her mother's protection, and disappeared. She had a blind belief that inside the bag, which the big man carried, there were perhaps two or three other children like herself. The pedlar meanwhile entered my doorway, and greeted me with a smiling face.

So precarious was the position of my hero and my heroine, that my first impulse was to stop and buy something, since the man had been called. I made some small purchases, and a conversation began about Abdurrahman, the Russians, the English, and the Frontier Policy.

As he was about to leave, he asked: "And where is the little girl, sir?"

And I, thinking that Mini must get rid of her false fear, had her brought out.

She stood by my chair, and looked at the Kabuliwallah and his bag. He offered her nuts and raisins, but she would not be tempted, and only clung the closer to me, with all her doubts increased.

This was their first meeting.

One morning, however, not many days later, as I was leaving the house, I was startled to find Mini, seated on a bench near the door, laughing and talking, with the great Kabuliwallah at her feet. In all her life, it appeared; my small daughter had never found so patient a listener, save her father. And already the corner of her little sari was stuffed with almonds and raisins, the gift of her visitor, "Why did you give her those?" I said, and taking out an eight-anna bit, I handed it to him. The man accepted the money without demur, and slipped it into his pocket.

Alas, on my return an hour later, I found the unfortunate coin had made twice its own worth of trouble! For the Kabuliwallah had given it to Mini, and her mother catching sight of the bright round object, had pounced on the child with: "Where did you get that eight-anna bit? "

"The Kabuliwallah gave it me," said Mini cheerfully.

"The Kabuliwallah gave it you!" cried her mother much shocked. "Oh, Mini! how could you take it from him?"

I, entering at the moment, saved her from impending disaster, and proceeded to make my own inquiries.

It was not the first or second time, I found, that the two had met. The Kabuliwallah had overcome the child's first terror by a judicious bribery of nuts and almonds, and the two were now great friends.

They had many quaint jokes, which afforded them much amusement. Seated in front of him, looking down on his gigantic frame in all her tiny dignity, Mini would ripple her face with laughter, and begin: "O Kabuliwallah, Kabuliwallah, what have you got in your bag?"

And he would reply, in the nasal accents of the mountaineer: "An elephant!" Not much cause for merriment, perhaps; but how they both enjoyed the witticism! And for me, this child's talk with a grown-up man had always in it something strangely fascinating.

Then the Kabuliwallah, not to be behindhand, would take his turn: "Well, little one, and when are you going to the father-in-law's house?"

Now most small Bengali maidens have heard long ago about the father-in-law's house; but we, being a little new-fangled, had kept these things from our child, and Mini at this question must have been a trifle bewildered. But she would not show it, and with ready tact replied: "Are you going there?"

Amongst men of the Kabuliwallah's class, however, it is well known that the words father-in-law's house have a double meaning. It is a euphemism for jail, the place where we are well cared for, at no expense to ourselves. In this sense would the sturdy pedlar take my daughter's question. "Ah," he would say, shaking his fist at an invisible policeman, "I will thrash my father-in-law!" Hearing this, and picturing the poor discomfited relative, Mini would go off into peals of laughter, in which her formidable friend would join.

These were autumn mornings, the very time of year when kings of old went forth to conquest; and I, never stirring from my little corner in Calcutta, would let my mind wander over the whole world. At the very name of another country, my heart would go out to it, and at the sight of a foreigner in the streets, I would fall to weaving a network of dreams, --the mountains, the glens, and the forests of his distant home, with his cottage in its setting, and the free and independent life of far-away wilds.

Perhaps the scenes of travel conjure themselves up before me, and pass and repass in my imagination all the more vividly, because I lead such a vegetable existence, that a call to travel would fall upon me like a thunderbolt.

In the presence of this Kabuliwallah, I was immediately transported to the foot of arid mountain peaks, with narrow little defiles twisting in and out amongst their towering heights. I could see the string of camels bearing the merchandise, and the company of turbaned merchants, carrying some of their queer old firearms, and some of their spears, journeying downward towards the plains. I could see--but at some such point Mini's mother would intervene, imploring me to "beware of that man."

Mini's mother is unfortunately a very timid lady. Whenever she hears a noise in the street, or sees people coming towards the house, she always jumps to the conclusion that they are either thieves, or drunkards, or snakes, or tigers, or malaria or cockroaches, or caterpillars, or an English sailor. Even after all these years of experience, she is not able to overcome her terror. So she was full of doubts about the Kabuliwallah, and used to beg me to keep a watchful eye on him.

I tried to laugh her fear gently away, but then she would turn round on me seriously, and ask me solemn questions.

Were children never kidnapped?

Was it, then, not true that there was slavery in Kabul?

Was it so very absurd that this big man should be able to carry off a tiny child?

I urged that, though not impossible, it was highly improbable. But this was not enough, and her dread persisted. As it was indefinite, however, it did not seem right to forbid the man the house, and the intimacy went on unchecked.

Once a year in the middle of January Rahmun, the Kabuliwallah, was in the habit of returning to his country, and as the time approached he would be very busy, going from house to house collecting his debts. This year, however, he could always find time to come and see Mini. It would have seemed to an outsider that there was some conspiracy between the two, for when he could not come in the morning, he would appear in the evening.

Even to me it was a little startling now and then, in the corner of a dark room, suddenly to surprise this tall, loose-garmented, much bebagged man; but when Mini would run in smiling, with her, "O! Kabuliwallah! Kabuliwallah!" and the two friends, so far apart in age, would subside into their old laughter and their old jokes, I felt reassured.

One morning, a few days before he had made up his mind to go, I was correcting my proof sheets in my study. It was chilly weather. Through the window the rays of the sun touched my feet, and the slight warmth was very welcome. It was almost eight o'clock, and the early pedestrians were returning home, with their heads covered. All at once, I heard an uproar in the street, and, looking out, saw Rahmun being led away bound between two policemen, and behind them a crowd of curious boys. There were blood-stains on the clothes of the Kabuliwallah, and one of the policemen carried a knife.

Hurrying out, I stopped them, and enquired what it all meant. Partly from one, partly from another, I gathered that a certain neighbour had owed the pedlar something for a Rampuri shawl, but had falsely denied having bought it, and that in the course of the quarrel, Rahmun had struck him. Now in the heat of his excitement, the prisoner began calling his enemy all sorts of names, when suddenly in a verandah of my house appeared my little Mini, with her usual exclamation: "O Kabuliwallah! Kabuliwallah!" Rahmun's face lighted up as he turned to her. He had no bag under his arm today, so she could not discuss the elephant with him. She at once therefore proceeded to the next question: "Are you going to the father-in-law's house?" Rahmun laughed and said: "Just where I am going, little one!" Then seeing that the reply did not amuse the child, he held up his fettered hands. " Ali," he said, " I would have thrashed that old father-in-law, but my hands are bound!"

On a charge of murderous assault, Rahmun was sentenced to some years' imprisonment.

Time passed away, and he was not remembered. The accustomed work in the accustomed place was ours, and the thought of the once-free mountaineer spending his years in prison seldom or never occurred to us. Even my light-hearted Mini, I am ashamed to say, forgot her old friend. New companions filled her life. As she grew older, she spent more of her time with girls. So much time indeed did she spend with them that she came no more, as she used to do, to her father's room. I was scarcely on speaking terms with her.

Years had passed away. It was once more autumn and we had made arrangements for our Mini's marriage. It was to take place during the Puja Holidays. With Durga returning to Kailas, the light of our home also was to depart to her husband's house, and leave her father's in the shadow.

The morning was bright. After the rains, there was a sense of ablution in the air, and the sun-rays looked like pure gold. So bright were they that they gave a beautiful radiance even to the sordid brick walls of our Calcutta lanes. Since early dawn to-day the wedding-pipes had been sounding, and at each beat my own heart throbbed. The wail of the tune, Bhairavi, seemed to intensify my pain at the approaching separation. My Mini was to be married to-night.

From early morning noise and bustle had pervaded the house. In the courtyard the canopy had to be slung on its bamboo poles; the chandeliers with their tinkling sound must be hung in each room and verandah. There was no end of hurry and excitement. I was sitting in my study, looking through the accounts, when some one entered, saluting respectfully, and stood before me. It was Rahmun the Kabuliwallah. At first I did not recognise him. He had no bag, nor the long hair, nor the same vigour that he used to have. But he smiled, and I knew him again.

"When did you come, Rahmun?" I asked him.

"Last evening," he said, "I was released from jail."

The words struck harsh upon my ears. I had never before talked with one who had wounded his fellow, and my heart shrank within itself, when I realised this, for I felt that the day would have been better-omened had he not turned up.

"There are ceremonies going on," I said, "and I am busy. Could you perhaps come another day?"

At once he turned to go; but as he reached the door he hesitated, and said: "May I not see the little one, sir, for a moment?" It was his belief that Mini was still the same. He had pictured her running to him as she used, calling "O Kabuliwallah! Kabuliwallah!" He had imagined too that they would laugh and talk together, just as of old. In fact, in memory of former days he had brought, carefully wrapped up in paper, a few almonds and raisins and grapes, obtained somehow from a countryman, for his own little fund was dispersed.

I said again: "There is a ceremony in the house, and you will not be able to see any one to-day."

The man's face fell. He looked wistfully at me for a moment, said "Good morning," and went out. I felt a little sorry, and would have called him back, but I found he was returning of his own accord. He came close up to me holding out his offerings and said: "I brought these few things, sir, for the little one. Will you give them to her?"

I took them and was going to pay him, but he caught my hand and said: "You are very kind, sir! Keep me in your recollection. Do not offer me money!--You have a little girl, I too have one like her in my own home. I think of her, and bring fruits to your child, not to make a profit for myself."

Saying this, he put his hand inside his big loose robe, and brought out a small and dirty piece of paper. With great care he unfolded this, and smoothed it out with both hands on my table. It bore the impression of a little band. Not a photograph. Not a drawing. The impression of an ink-smeared hand laid flat on the paper. This touch of his own little daughter had been always on his heart, as he had come year after year to Calcutta, to sell his wares in the streets.

Tears came to my eyes. I forgot that he was a poor Kabuli fruit-seller, while I was--but no, what was I more than he? He also was a father. That impression of the hand of his little Parbati in her distant mountain home reminded me of my own little Mini.

I sent for Mini immediately from the inner apartment. Many difficulties were raised, but I would not listen. Clad in the red silk of her wedding-day, with the sandal paste on her forehead, and adorned as a young bride, Mini came, and stood bashfully before me.

The Kabuliwallah looked a little staggered at the apparition. He could not revive their old friendship. At last he smiled and said: "Little one, are you going to your father-in-law's house?"

But Mini now understood the meaning of the word "father-in-law," and she could not reply to him as of old. She flushed up at the question, and stood before him with her bride-like face turned down.

I remembered the day when the Kabuliwallah and my Mini had first met, and I felt sad. When she had gone, Rahmun heaved a deep sigh, and sat down on the floor. The idea had suddenly come to him that his daughter too must have grown in this long time, and that he would have to make friends with her anew. Assuredly he would not find her, as he used to know her. And besides, what might not have happened to her in these eight years?

The marriage-pipes sounded, and the mild autumn sun streamed round us. But Rahmun sat in the little Calcutta lane, and saw before him the barren mountains of Afghanistan.

I took out a bank-note, and gave it to him, saying: "Go back to your own daughter, Rahmun, in your own country, and may the happiness of your meeting bring good fortune to my child!"

Having made this present, I had to curtail some of the festivities. I could not have the electric lights I had intended, nor the military band, and the ladies of the house were despondent at it. But to me the wedding feast was all the brighter for the thought that in a distant land a long-lost father met again with his only child.

Movies that turn you inside out... Part I

2008-06-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, Warnings before hand.

This is going to be a long series. So readers who hate long pieces, scattered across the whole blog on a span of long time(months, or perhaps years), please keep away.

This is my list of fav movies. But its not just that. It's more than that.

This is a list of those of my fav movies, which give you inspiration, help you have get a reality check. Some of these, grovel your face against the cold brutal truth so hard, that you can taste the salt in your tears & the bitterness in your upcoming puke at the same time.

At the top of this list is my personal Fav "Remember the Titans". I can bet that this movie will be in the top 10 list of any serious Movie fan. & the same goes for any football freak.

This movie is a classic & Fav to me in more than one sense.

"Remember The Titans" was produced under the banner of Walt Disney & it was so well received by the public that the genre of Sport Movies" started flourishing.

Featuring Denzel Washington as coach Herman Boone, Will Patton as Bill Yoast, the story centers on the football team of 'TC Williams' high school in Virginia, Alexendria. 'The Titans' as the team is called is the only team in the state which has both black & white Players. The Coach's job is difficult not because he has to teach the players how to play football & make them better players; But because he has to teach them lessons in unity, team spirit, faith courage & brotherhood. The conflict of ideas & racial discrimination is portrayed by the continuous clashes between Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) and Julius Campbell (Wood Harris), two players of equally outstanding athletic ability, but different ethnic backgrounds. When these 2 champions start treating each other with respect, love & brotherhood, Boone's ideas & faith turns from his most cherished dreams into reality.

A poster of "Remember The Titans"

The movie is not only about racism, or football.

No Sir, its not that. Of course, it touches those subjects too, but the movie is more about a man who has faith in his dreams. Herman Boone, in the entire movie, not even a single time thinks that his dream is unachievable; and that is the only reason why he gets successful.

So why is the movie named "Remember The Titans"? I was as puzzled as you till I heard this dialogue from Herman Boone in the Movie (This is just before a Game):-

"Tonight, we got Hayfiield. Like all the other schools in this conference they're all white. They don't have to worry about race.

We do.

But we're better for it, men. Let me tell you something. You don't let anything.. nothin'...come between us. Nothin' tears us apart.

Greek mythology, the titans were greater even than the gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power.

Well, that football field out there tonight, that's our universe. Let's rule it like titans."

My fav Dialogue in the movie is again by Boone & again to the Titans, during a Practice season:-

"Anybody know what this place is?

This is Gettysburg.

This is where they fought the Battle of Gettysburg. Men died right here on this field, fightin' the same fight that we're still fightin' amongst ourselves today.

This green field right here was painted red. Bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men. "I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family."

You listen...and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together right now,on this hallowed ground...then we, too, will be destroyed. Just like they were.

I don't care if you like each other or not, but you will respect each other, and maybe... I don't know, maybe we'll learn to play this game like men."

My fav scene from the movie is the scene in which The Titans do their new Warm up for the first time. Here is one of the videos in You tube.

221-B Baker Street...Crime?

2008-06-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

I have been a die hard fan of Holmes stories, since I was a kid, both as a reader who reads only for the plot of the story & as a scholar who wants to learn how to write better. One of the biggest reasons for the success of Holmes stories, besides the impressive writing style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was the attention to the details he paid when writing.

"221b Baker Street. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and his colleague John H. Watson, M.D., spent many years at this address in London, England, under the rent of Mrs. Hudson. Characters of every type have frequented the rooms of this place, calling on Mr. Holmes for help and assistance on mysteries only the finest criminal detective could unravel."
- 221 Baker Street Museum

Well, as luck would have it, I was in London last week. And by the virtue of careful, thoughtful & meticulous planning of my friend, I was able to fulfill my dream of visiting one of the most famous addresses of the world - "221b Baker Street"

These are some of the pictures I took at 212-B Baker Street in London:-

The famous address "221B Baker Street", named as Sherlock Holmes Museum.

I swear to God, that I didn't posed like this willingly. Pooh & Harsh made me do it. Being the Simple & shy soul I am, it was too embarrassing, But then at the end I did enjoy it.

"The new Holmes" with Dr Watson.

Apparently, The new Holmes was also the manager for my entire London Trip, and I can say without any hesitation, that the trip wouldn't have been the same without her.

Some Nincompoop's have no respect for art & literature.

Harsh, bullying the bust of Sherlock Holmes. He was the stand-up comedian & non-stop chatterbox of the trip.

A letter from Holmes to Dr. Watson

"While there really is a Baker Street, there was no 221 Baker Street during the years of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Baker Street was very short, less than a mile long. The street ran north to south with numbered addresses ranging from 1 to 85.

In 1930 some of the surrounding streets were renamed, buildings were renumbered and Baker Street became much longer. At that point 221 Baker Street was a real address. Soon after this the building at 221 Baker Street was demolished. A new structure, Abbey House, took its place. Abbey House served as the head office for the Abbey Road Building Society from 1932 until 2002. Today the building is still one of the London offices of Abbey.

Because of the unique relationship between the company and Sherlock Holmes, Abbey commissioned a statue of Holmes. That statue now stands at the entrance of the Baker Street Tube Station. Abbey also has a person who deals with the cards and letters, as many as 30 a month, that come addressed to Sherlock Holmes."

- Chronicles of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I did get a chance to see the mentioned statue of Sherlock Holmes near the entrance of Baker Street Tube Station & I must say it is lovely. It is pretty well maintained, too. Well, much as I would have liked it, I could not get a picture of the statue, because of those shouting football hooligans!

This is an example of the kind of letters which the museum gets.

I chose this one, since it shows the light side of childhood, depicts the enthusiasm & the willingness to chase a dream. There were many more, some of them pretty serious, scholarly & even weird, but this one was among the best.

Overall, it was a nice experience.
The whole Museum has got a artistic feel. Artifacts like Holmes's Pipe, his violin, Dr. Watson's Pocket watch, the famous Poker bent by Dr. Grimesby Roylott, are all around. There are even some dummies depicting the original illustrations from the stories.

Besides, the museum, the central London based on either side of Thames is beautiful. I shot a couple of pictures over there too. I especially loved the Thames walk. It is very well managed, and is extremely beautiful. The Captain of the Ferry told me that Thames is the cleanest river in the whole Europe & no garbage is dumped in the river.

The Famous Big Ben!

Popularly known as "The Big Ben", most people don't know that "Big Ben" is actually not the name of the tower or the clock. The Tower is called "St. Stephan's Tower", and the clock is "Parliament clock". The name Big Ben is for the 13.8 ton bell which tongs hourly. There is a lantern at the top of the tower, known as "Aryton Light", named after Thomas Aryton.

A street sign near the Thames Walk.

You can, see the Street signs for Westminster Abbey, Embankment, White Hall, London Aquarium, Imperial War Museum & Thames Walk.

London Eye, also known as Millennium Wheel, is tallest (443 ft) Ferris wheel in Europe.

Richard Rogers said “ The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, which is to give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That's the beauty of it: it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of London."

The Captain of my ferry told me that "The giant wheel" rotates throughout the year, except on Christmas eve & on maintenance days. He even joked, that considering the profits earned, British Airways was thinking of closing its air line business and planning to open more of "The eyes" throughout the world. In 2006, Tussauds Group bought out the other two joint owners, British Airways and the Marks Barfield family (the lead architects) & now owns the 100 % of the wheel.

The downside of London is that its very huge, too crowded, & everything is in rush. It's a nice place to see & visit, but not a very soothing place to live.

I am...

2008-05-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

This has been my intro on Orkut for some 18 months & I was going to change it, but couldn't bear the thought of just deleting it. So i thought of putting it on my blog for the benefit of the lesser of the mortals!!!!

"I'm....
the heat in Fire,
the music of Lyre,
the words on Bible’s first Page,
the wisdom of the wisest Sage,
the shine on Saber’s Edge,
the crudeness in Barbarian’s sledge,
the idea behind the Inventor’s Wheel,
the enthusiasm behind the Discoverer’s Zeal,
the art in the aesthete’s eyes,
the limit of the Skies,
the speed of the rocket,
the screw holding the Socket,
the idea behind the nukes and the Bomb,
the rhythm in the best of the Song."

Pink shades

2008-03-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Its a fast world today. Some go to the extent of calling it mean and ugly. That's an exaggeration. However, I don't deny that the world today is fast.

To survive here, you have to be competitive, determined, dedicated & strong. And some where, running on the track, we do forget the real joy. Strong becomes hard & determined becomes mean. If this goes on for a long time, there is a huge chance that the real person dies.

Some people help you find the goals, some others help you with determination. Some of us make this world an easier place to live & some make it more beautiful. There are people who show you how to live the life king size & still others will show you the pleasures of aestheticism.

However, it does happen only once in a while that you meet a person who makes you see the pink shades. They help you realize that strong doesn't have to be hard & determination doesn't stand for meanness. They come, life becomes enjoyable & fun. They tell you that no matter what happens, there are & will always be people who will care for you.

Just hug these people once. The memories of these moments will be sufficient for the coming lives.

P.S - My friend loves Pink :))

Netherlands, Germany & Belgium Trip...

2008-03-25T10:22:00.001-07:00

These are some of the snaps which I took on this 4 day trip. Couldn't do much because it was too cold, I was too lazy and i had to look after a small kid :))

This small Car was amazing.... The contrast is heightened by Poonam's Pink jacket!!! On the other side of the car is Sowmya. Port of Dover, France.

Alexendria park in Tulip Gardens, Netherlands.

I just hate flowers.... However I just couldn't resist this color combination. Shot at 18 mm wide...See the wide frame near the orange tulips & the tele effect near the pink ones..

I have never seen KFC with its full name board before.... Arey Poonam aur Harsh ko bahana chahiye bus photo kichwaane ka. City Council road, Amsterdam.

"Taklia" Group in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Outside the Cathedral in Klone, Germany. This cathedral is the greatest Gothic cathedral in Germany & is a famous landmark. It is known for the runes of the Maagi. Harsh ka idea tha tapre ka paas photo kichwaae ka.

Kaun kehta hai ki Desh badalne se admi ki phitrat badal jati hai.... Bhikaari bhikaari hi rehte hain har jagah..... Arey mughe nahi baju wale ko dekho yaar!!! Outside the Cathedral, Klone Germany.

This is one of Fav snaps in the whole trip. I know the exposure is not correct, but the composition was too good.

Like Papa, Like Daughter.... Both stupid :)) Aboard Asbach Cruise, Rhyne river, Germany.

Ji-Illelahi ki Sena..... Barf se jhoojti hui... On the way to Brussels!!!

Which of the 2 donkeys looks more intelligent? The statue is of Don Quixote BTW. Brussels, Belgium.

A street band in Brussels Grand Place Square. The guy with the Saxophone was amazingly good.

See the snow flakes, and the Bunny face. Grand place, Brussels, Belgium.

3 eggs & 7 minutes

2008-03-14T15:19:00.001-07:00

Do you know what you have in 3 eggs & 7 minutes?
Well, if you haven't figured it out, let me tell you. You can make a mini atom bomb out of these two. Don't even think of trying to sell this idea, because this has already been patented by me under Patent no. 3egg7min.

Ok, whatever I am going to tell now, don't attempt it at home, but at your own risk.
Put 3 eggs in a porcelain bowl. Fill the bowl half with water. Put this in a micro wave & set the timer for 7 minutes. Go & brush your teeth now. After 5 minutes, you are going to hear a loud bang in kitchen. Give some time to let the fumes clear out. Now enter the kitchen. You will see a aura of destruction everywhere. Eggs plastered on walls & ceiling. Sulphuric aroma all over the kitchen.

I just wonder why India is putting so much amount of money in nuclear bomb research when you have this idea. Believe me the scenario is more horrible than the aftermath of an atom bomb explosion.

On a more serious note, This happened today morning, when I was getting ready for office. The eggs were for breakfast & had come from "Scottish eggs". The micro wave was a Panasonic NN-5051B 800W home appliance. The UK Panasonic website is total crap. They ask you to locate the service center by Postcode, but they haven't made the Postcode field editable. Don't believe me.... Have a look at it here Panasonic Support

Wales & Manchester

2008-02-23T07:40:00.000-08:00

It was Ganesh Sir's 29th B'Day on 16th Feb.
I don't know the particular significance of 29th B'Day but we (Me & Harsh) just went ahead & planned for the trip. Of Course I was getting an additional opportunity to Kick Ganesh, & IMHO only fools miss golden opportunities like these.

So me & Harsh booked a Mercedes (Yeah, a Mercedes) & were looking ahead for the weekend. Unfortunately Harsh wasn't 30 & the Mercedes could be rented only to a driver above 30. Seriously Harsh is of no use.... What's the use of being 27 when you cant get a Mercedes?

Anyway we got a Passat. The care was huge, very comfortable & even had a Sports mode. So we 2 took off for a 300 mile journey.

These are some of the pictures I shot on this 3 day trip.

Me, Ganesh, Harsh & Kodappa went to Wales on the First Day.

Seriously trying to look Cool. The idea is of Vivek Kodappa.
This was the first service station we stopped at for a break.

Tall, Taller Tallest. Wales, after driving some 150 miles from Manchester.

Vivek wanted to take this photo as solo. Haha haha.... I just ruined his idea. :))

Everybody wanted his single picture, Finally Ganesh Sir offered to take mine. :))

This picture is shot from a the back seat of moving car, with the VR on.
I agree that the light is a little low, but the focus in the picture is amazing. Those white lumps in the background are sheep actually!!!

I shot this picture while coming back from North Wales.
This I guess is one of my most beautiful shots till date. The lightning is pretty good, though the focus a little blur. The picture is shot from the roof top of the car. The Shot is a little blurred because of the shake while releasing the shutter button. Only if I had arrived here a couple of minutes before & had a Tripod, this would have been a perfect shot.

That's Me and Ganesh in Manchester United Club store.
You can see the slanted floor cutting across the picture. It has got nothing to do with the shot, The Picture is like that only, hence the Players on the left don't have their full legs visible.

Harsh (The Driver Sahab), Ganesh(The B'Day Boy) & me in front of Manachester buisness school.

I shot this one just for the sake of fun. Taken through the wind shield while coming back from Manchester. Nothing Great, But somehow I like it.

This was my last shot in this trip. Me & Harsh had stopped at a service station. I saw the sun going down & thought it would look good. I shot this one & decided that a shot after 10 minutes would look better. So me & Harsh went inside the cafe for a cup of coffee. Unfortunately Harsh took so much time in selecting the coffee, that the sun was completely down by the time we came out. No wonder, I call him useless :))

First or Twentyth

2008-02-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was in 2nd standard at that time & my brother had just UKG.

Since it's my brother's story I will try to tell it from his point of view. Well he had just joined UKG & he was learning counting. My brother, Sunny as I call him used to love numbers more than the alphabets. Of course his Fav. subject was drawing, which he took pretty seriously. I was a pretty good sketcher in my school days. Sunny always used to say that he wanted to learn how to sketch like me & if possible better. I left sketching & drawing after school, So his wish never actually came true. Its a different matter altogether that I never told him, that he was always better than me & even today I wouldn't confess the same in front of him. My shield is my alibi, that since I don't sketch anymore. But the truth is I am no where on his plane, let alone be a match for him.

I think I am diverting from the subject. Well as I told you, Sunny used to love numbers. And he used to take school seriously in those days. Well, mid-terms came & went. My family constitutes scholars, more than anything else. And hence every kid in my family is expected to be "First" in his class.

Well, I came back from school early that day after getting my report card. I was First in my class & was expecting something as a prize from my Dad. Half an hour later my younger brother comes running, shouting that he got the best marks in his class. He was very happy &
directly went to hug my Mom. He was a Mama's boy in those days. My Mom was very happy & flipped through his report card.

She asked Sunny to sit, and asked him what rank had he got. My brother excitedly told her "Twenty". Incidentally there were 20 students in his class. When my Mom told him that he was the last student in his class, My brother was puzzled. But he said nothing to Mom, and promised her that he would be First in his class next time.

Next morning when my Mom woke up my Sunny and was trying to get him ready for school, he said his teacher is bad & she doesn't know anything.

"Well isn't 20 greater than 1? If it is then haven't I got the greatest numbers? So shouldn't I be getting the Prize. And if Twenty is not greater than 1, then why does she teach 1,2,3,4....20."

My Mom tried to think of something, but was tongue tied.

I still remember this incident, because it gives me the insight of the logical approach of a fresh mind towards a problem.

Aveimore Skiing

2008-02-03T10:37:00.000-08:00

Need a little help....

2008-01-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

A beautiful plant. A real apple of the eye. Then comes the winter, & gone are all the violets. Slowly the green leaves start falling. The plant fights against the cold with all its might but the falling of leaves doesn't stop. The world thinks it's normal.

There it hangs now, the last one of the green ones. The plant is still struggling against the winter when suddenly it gets the attention of the young boy. The young boy assures the sapling, not to worry, that everything will be all right, that winter will be over soon. The plant gets new hope in the words of his new friend. The next day, it snows. The last leaf also falls.

But the young shoot has taken the boys words to his heart & it knows that there is somebody who cares about him. The will to live again, the will to fight, the will to excel is strong now.

Ever wondered why Kids are called young? Because they are still uncorrupted from the ways of the world, because the hunger to learn new things is still alive in them. But all the more because they can see the world as it is; with all its beauty, with all the bright colors & interpret it in their own way. All these bright youngsters are ready to take risks, to chase their dreams out to reality, all they need is a little support. A reassuring hug, a pat on the back & a truthful "I understand" can do wonders in this scenario. It firms the Kid's belief that somebody does care for him, that he is not alone, that there is somebody who understands him, and above all that he is not alone.

We as parents (or Teachers or Mentors) sometimes do forget that our duty is not limited to encourage our children & raise them to good human beings. Our duty is also to understand them, & the way they look the world at. A good parent is not one who teaches his children to take the right decision, but the one, who is there when they are depressed by the burden of a wrong decision.

A young child is like a lump of clay. With proper attention, care & motivation, you can mold this lump into anything what you want. Most of us do not achieve what we could easily have, because we did not get that motivation, inspiration or encouragement. It is not only the case of Dyslexia. Every child has his own problems & his own boundaries, in the same way as he has his own set of interests & talents.

Oh I forgot this was supposed to be a movie review for "Taare zameen par" !!!
One word... awesome. The movie boasts of a sound track truthful to its theme. My personal fav is "Tughko sab pata hai, hai na Ma". For a debut director Aamir has surpassed most of the benchmarks in the industry. Darsheel Safary as Ishaan Awasthi is simply marvellous. He makes you believe that his world is more beautiful than ours. I do envy him during some parts of the movie.

If you haven't seen it, do see it. And if it makes you feel any better, I do recommend it :D

The last word. Even when nothing works out, don't give up on your child. Just check out the confident strokes of brush, the colors that are indisputably bright, and the thoughts that are out of the world. If there is inspiration; the world is always in need of another Albert or Thomas, Leonardo or may be Pablo.

P.S - We are what we are today because of our Ram Nikumbh(s). Mine was my uncle Narendra, I hope you had yours.

P.P.S - I am still single, Unmarried, and do not have any children; neither do i have any degree in Kids science.

A study of the Thirds...

2007-12-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

These are some of the pictures from our visit to Dunbar. Dunbar is in the outskirts of Edinburgh. It is famous for its "National Airplane Museum" which houses one of the two remaining Concords in the world the other being displayed at Heathrow airport. Unfortunately, we could not visit the museum.

Lot of pictures were taken, In fact out of the 7 people in our group, 4 people had digital cameras. Me, Nishta and Chilam were not carrying any. I took some odd shots from Abhi's & Srini's cameras. However none of the 2 I used were Nikons, with which I am really comfortable. So I never bothered about the results much. However some of the odd pictures were pretty good. I will load them some time.

The following pictures, were shot from Srini's camera. All of them (except for the first one) are good example for 'Rule of thirds'. I had to crop most of the pictures to look like this, but I loved the results.

                                             Watch out, there's a thief about

I love this picture for no other reason other than its simple composition. I know there are lots of things wrong with this picture, but I still love the composition. In case you still haven't noticed there is a car(red & blue) on either side of the board in the background.

                                                              All alone

I love this picture for its dull back-ground element but colorful contrast. The yellow surfboard catches the eye in the picture. Also see, that most of the body of the surfer is not visible, this also helps the surfboard to retain the attention of the viewer.

                                                           Back to the shore

This picture again has striking contrast. The colorful surfboards again catch the eye. Also notice the way the two subjects are placed in the picture, both of them occupying points of intersection in the thirds layout.

                                   All the King's men and all the King's horses

This picture though not exactly correct as per the 'Thirds rule' ,follows it to quite an extent. The sharp focus on the horse and the rider makes the picture stand out. The receding wave in front of the horse makes this picture a Fav of mine.

                                                Standing on the edge

I like this picture only for one thing, for its effect. The picture gives a sense of height and hollowness. Even though, it looks like I am standing on the edge of some cliff, I am not. This picture is just near the rocky shore, and just below my feet small waves are keeping the rocks wet.

                                              Blending in the background

In this picture, I am siting on the edge of a 200 feet drop. However the elements of the picture have blended in so well together that it seems that I am sitting on flat ground. Again, including only the backside of the subject in the picture helps in reducing the depth of field.

                                                            The elements

I like this picture because it shows all the elements in one frame. The rocks, the green moss and grass, the clear sea and the endless horizion compliment each other.

                                                   The ancient mariner

This photograph is special because it follows the rule of thirds perfectly. The only flaw with this picture is the small island is visible partially in the picture, otherwise I find it absolutely perfect in every sense. The boat attracts the viewers eye without any fail.