Blogging Ibex

Awkward Silences

2012-02-08T11:41:00.000+05:30

There are different types of them..yes,different types of awkward silences :

1)Lift Kara De Silence :You are going up or down inside an elevator and all you can do to deal with the silence between you and fellow passenger is to look at your or his/her shoes or the LED displaying the number of the floor or stare into the opaque door in front of you.You can also clear your throat,fake a cough,check the time on your cell phone for want of any other thing to do.
If there's a mirror,you would do your best to not look into it since that would give your fellow passenger an impression that you are vain.

2)Aaja Meri Gadi Mein Baith Ja Silence :This is even more awkward since its a protracted silence.You get into your office cab that is there to drop you and your fellow passengers home.First 5-7 minutes,the awkward moments linger in the air.Nobody speaks and all of you stare outside the window.After 10 minutes,conscious of at least one of the passengers will start picking at him/her and he/she will take the initiative of trying to make small talk.After all,3 civilized people,working in a consultancy where one's communication skills are such a prized asset,should not lead the 20 minutes drive to home in complete silence.

The easiest way to take the conversation ahead after the initial exchange of first names is to ask what project the other person is working on.Then,if you are an old timer in the office,you can leverage that position to make intelligent remarks about the project and the work that person does.You can crib about the heavy work load and make witty sarcastic comments about the company.If,like me,you are a newbie,busy trying to learn the new trade,you can say,"I see,,,,Okay,Nice!...right,right....so where do you sit?Oh,4th floor?That's where I sit too..don't see you at the table tennis game these days,busy with work it seems...yes I am on so-n-so project..yeah so you know so-n-so,right.I work with them..blah blah" .If your fellow passenger turns out a newbie like you or a little more approachable person ,you can start a conversation about what a shitty place Gurgaon is(Don't do this with old timers..they would be able to make out the fact that you are new in the town)..then slowly,you can broach the subject of house hunts and house rents..then hearing their responses,you can either feel smug about having to pay lesser rent or feel depressed about having to splurge so much.
At the end of it,it will be time to alight.

Note:Funnily enough,boys seem to be more at ease while making conversations possible.The need to kill the silence is not felt so much when all the passengers are of the female gender as its just mutually understood that mostly, none of us would take that initiative.A couple of times when I did it,I regretted that due to the kind of curt replies I got.The other couple of times I did it,I became very good friends with those girls and found a maid for my house.

3)Ho Shuru Ho Ja Har Pal Silence : So you are feeling sleepy under the burden of work and feel like going for a cup of coffee.You enter the coffee machine room and suddenly realise that you have just interrupted the conversation between the two people who were already there.It is generally the case that either they had been bitching about someone in the office or they are a couple who had been exchanging playful,naughty words between them when you encroached on their privacy.Then follows an awkward silence in which it seems like the machine is taking forever to fill your cup.Even the plastic of the biscuit packet seems to make a lot of noise when you try to take out a couple of good-days from them.

Every day of my life,I dread these awkward silences.I think about them every now and then, trying to find my way around them.

Jobs That Pay Our Rents

2012-01-25T12:13:00.002+05:30

This is a line from a book titled 'Single In the City'.I happened to scan one of the racks in a book shop in the mall and my gaze fell on this book.Noting the stylish graphics on the cover page,decent price and the discount offered it,I grabbed it and finished it in two nights.It is a good,lighthearted collection of anecdotes penned down by a female author Sushmita Bose who shifted from Calcutta to Delhi for her job and enjoyed living single in this city.

I found so many connects to this book that I considered emailing her about the same but later dismissed the idea thinking that many others would already have done so.What's the point in communicating when chances of reply are dim?

Anyway,the last chapter is about the jobs that pay our rents.That's so true.Most people I know who work in private companies in Delhi,Mumbai or Bangalore dole out almost one third or slightly less of their salaries on the house rents every month!That's a huge amount and it especially feels like an agony when you see your colleagues and friends saving that sum because they have their families and homes in the same city as the workplace!

By now I have accepted the huge expenditures without which living comfortably and having fun in Delhi/Gurgaon seems impossible.

There's rent+groceries+cleaning maid+occasional eat outs+ autorickshaw+ metro+ shopping+ travelling+mobile phone bill+Internet.

Savings? I might as well forget all about them.
*Sigh*

Gurgaon Diaries-Month 4

2012-01-23T14:26:00.001+05:30

Its not yet the end of the month.But only a leisure trip to a Himalayan hill town remains till the 29th of this month and details about that will most likely appear on my other blog.So here we go.

First of all,I have recorded lesser expenses for January,than for the previous 3 months,says the excel sheet that I keep for tracking my spending.So please come and congratulate me.

I finally mustered the effort to find the directions to Indian Mountaineering Foundation(IMF) and get my ass over there.Once there,i regretted the fact that I hadn't done that earlier.The artificial walls at IMF are in very good condition.More importantly,they are in regular use by climbers from Delhi.The instructors are good,equipment available and a bunch of very good climbers can be found on weekends.(I can only go there on weekends).They all seemed a very friendly lot.

I had long been planning to meet up with 2-3 climber/trekker friends and IMF wall proved to be an excellent place to catch up with them!Two days of practice on the bouldering wall and on the top rope and my hands were all pumped up when i woke up on Monday.Just the feeling I like to have in my body at the start of any week!
Whoever had told me that my climbing would stop once I shifted to Delhi need not have worried so much.After spending some time at the wall,I came to know that the climbers at IMF keep going to Dhauj,a place 40km from Gurgaon, for natural climbing as well!

There are some really nice boulders at Mehrauli,which is in Southern part of Delhi,just 30 minutes by metro from my house in Gurgaon.I know people who have climbed there quite a lot.I want to go there sometime in Feb.

Winter has upped its ante since the last week.Suddenly,there's this cold wave which is making for really cold days and nights.The day I went to IMF was so chilly & windy that i cursed the cold during my auto rickshaw ride.
Funnily enough,I have resumed running when the winter seems to be at its peak.Partly because I got frustrated of having to think about the calorie and fat content of the food before devouring it and partly because I have been able to come home before 8pm due to less workload for the last 8 days or so.
I also discovered that the nights feel much warmer after that dose of running in the evening.

No clicking happened this month;although I went around a couple more places that I had had bookmarked.
Its really nice sometimes ,to not have to lug the bulky camera around.

I splurged again on books I could not resist myself from buying,thanks to the 10% discount offer that was on in the shop.Delhi is in the middle of the year end(?) sales.Everywhere,signboards and plaques try to lure you into the shops with discounts going up to 50% flat.

All in all,highlights of this month have been the cold and the number of possibilities and plans I am looking at at the moment.It is really really exciting!

3 days of work and I will be off with my parents to Kasauli.
Lets catch up again folks,next month!

On Freedom and Spying

2012-01-18T12:22:00.000+05:30

This might be my simplistic thinking at work again but I came across an article protesting against
the spying many governments seem to be undertaking through electronic surveillance of their citizens' cyberspace.
More and more people are becoming aware of such Big Brotherly activities nowadays and words against such policing are doing the rounds.

I don't know why so many of us are so concerned about these privacy protection issues.
I would like to believe that privacy violation could be a trouble for some industries or companies or institutions but I am talking about citizens who engage in nothing more than writing personal emails,google searches and social networking and still seem to be enraged that their activities are monitored and stored by someone.

I remember seeing an interview of Sergey Brin,one of the Google founders,on TV a couple of years back.
The interviewer was talking about how Google stores the digital footprints of any person who has ever used the google engine.Sergey argued that if one is apprehensive that others can find out what one has been up to on the Net,then chances are one should not have done those activities in the first place.
Although I don't agree with that concept 100%,what he said was essentially correct.

We are hedonistic when it comes to our freedom.We want everything that's out there.We want to look into other people's lives,what they do on a daily basis,we want to shout out to the world what's happening and what's not in our own world,we want to be connected to everyone all the time,we want to read about every possible subject that's been written on ,we want to download pirated ,free stuff,we want to make profit by buying stuff at lower costs;basically we don't want to remain behind in reaping all the benefits that we can from the usage of the Net;BUT,we mind being monitored.

We want to do something that we are afraid of doing publicly;yet,it bothers us that somebody we don't know and most probably will never get back to us knows what we have been thinking and planning about.

What the government does for exercising control and what we do in protesting against it;both are so typical of two aspects of human nature:
1)We don't like to be in anybody else's control.Privacy is something very dear to us and we will do our best to preserve it. and YET,

2)We like to to break that privacy barrier between us and the person next to us at the every possible opportunity.When in a position of power,we like to exert control on others' lives,we like to explain our oppressive actions by justifying them as something we do for the larger good.

How does it matter if what I like to do,what i like to read ,write,buy is known to somebody?We are being monitored anyway;we don't seem to mind the advertisements bombarding at us when we open our gmail pages,we don't mind going in for the purchase offers our favourite e-commerce sites keep throwing at us;don't we know that they are able to do this only after building up our digital profiles?Why then the big fuss when it comes to governments monitoring us?

I am not saying that spying is not wrong or that I have no problem about somebody keeping a tab on what I am doing.I will subscribe myself to a situation where the laws related to legal & justified spying and privacy violation will be followed with surgical precision and hence,a balance will be attained.But when people get into these debates and discussions about "getting monitored";i wonder how many of them actually know where all this spying is going to trouble them and how many just babble about on the basis of some superficial ethical sentiment getting hurt.

Me,as of now,I don't care who is looking at me right now.10 years down the line,If I have my own business that might get into trouble due to poor privacy protection,i might just join in those activist protesters.

But till then,I'll either do whatever i want to,without caring who knows about it or if the fact that somebody can know about it is going to bother me,then i might as well restrain myself from doing it.
Thanks,Sergey Brin,for that wise line you said on the TV.

We can just play smart and mature,as far as using the Internet for simpler purposes is concerned,don't you think?

Vision

2012-01-11T23:02:00.000+05:30

I just want to not forget the fact that,ultimately,i want to climb K2.
The job,the studies,the traveling,the clicking,the editing,the reading ,the writing,the philosophy,the fun,the treks,the bikes-They are just like steps on the ladder or may be something to give me good company while i edge centimeter by centimeter towards my dream mountain.

Also,I think I should start looking for a non Indian boy to marry since I ,as an Indian,won't be allowed by Pakistan to step into K2 territory. :| :P

What a tragedy.

Gurgaon Diaries-Month 3

2011-12-28T16:09:00.000+05:30

As I had mentioned,December started off with many expectations.Barring one big disappointment in which my parents had to cancel their visit to me ,this month has been really wonderful.

First,the cold started showing up.I was well off with just one light jacket but soon the mercury started dipping down to less than 5 degrees Celsius.Its end of the month and i find myself wrapped in multiple layers at night.I am unable to shake off the warmth of the quilt and blankets and go for running in the morning,as had been my plan.But I am so enjoying this everyday ritual of planning to get up early and then just lying down on the cozy bed till its almost the time to go to office.Need to change this though :|

From the labyrinthine lanes of Chandni Chowk to 12th century structures in an Archaeological Park beside Qutub Minar,I wandered around Delhi some more this month.That also included a cycle ride in Delhi University campus one foggy evening.There are so many little puppies i see on roads.I don't know how they will survive the biting cold of the night.And I am talking nothing about the humans living on the roads.

My new house is almost set now.After 4 years of hostel life,having a functional TV in the house feels like a luxury.I like my music and discovery channel.I also generally try to catch the Tom & Jerry show at 8.30 p.m. every night after coming back from office.There's a nostalgia to watching that cartoon.Brings back my school days to me.

The best part of this month is having finally found a fixed routine to life.I had been longing to end the haphazardness of my lifestyle and having office to occupy most of my day,there's little room during weekdays to do anything else but read books,watch TV and edit the pictures I have clicked on previous weekends.Its also a nice feeling to be able to think more clearly than before.Even the words come to me quickly nowadays.

Christmas happened 2 days ago.Did I tell you how wonderful it was!
I decided to go to Nainital and climb some rocks with friends who are based there.It was nice to be allowed to travel all alone.The journey to and from Nainital was smooth.Smoother still was the way my 2 days were spent there.I did loads of climbing and caught a very very beautiful sunset in the cliffs.I have fallen in love with this hilltown.Its so far the prettiest of all I have seen till now.It has that old British charm to it that i find very attractive.The dried up poplar trees lining the paths,the bright orangish-yellows of maple,boats and yachts sailing up the lake at the center of the town,all add up to its European feel.Unlike Gurgaon(and may be unlike Europe),the weather was bright and sunny there and i felt warmer than i have in Gurgaon.I returned home with a perfectly sore body and a lot many bruises on hands.It was beautiful!

Its the last week of year 2011.I am busy making new year plans with friends.Though i avoid typical,crowded tourist places when i travel,I somehow want to spend the new year's eve with friends,among people.

Here's a cheery toast to a really good year.I look forward with even more hopes and aspirations,to the upcoming one.

Gurgaon Diaries-Month 2

2011-12-09T15:46:00.001+05:30

This is going to be more of a Delhi diary as I seem to hate Gurgaon and don't spend my time there more than I have to.

Last month has been great for me.So much happened.Good and Bad both.
Learned some street sense.Got cheated,learned to work my way up through the crap.
In the end,good things have prevailed.So much peace of mind gone,but all of it has come back too!

It will sound a bit boring if i start the list of things i have done over the last month.But mostly,I spent my weekends in Delhi ,visited some usual but beautiful architectures,changed metros,hopped from autorickshaw to cyclerickshaw,ran Delhi Half Marathon and gave my best timing ever.It was fun to pass India gate 4 times in 7 days while on running practice.I also devoured a lot of tasty food-from mutton kakori to chocolate thick shakes,from cheesecakes to momos,from puranpoli to bengali kosha,from kebabs to freshly brewed beer,I have been treating my taste buds.I kept clicking with my tele lens in between.Delhi winter has started and witnessing so much fog in the city is a new phenomenon to me.

I tried to shop but it was not a very successful attempt.Either I did not like anything or everything was too expensive or of too cheap quality.Planned shopping never works out for me anyway.

December,month 3 in Gurgaon has begun and I find myself overwhelmed.By just how much there is to do and see(in Delhi).Strangely,I have been experiencing a photographer's block.When I click,I am unable to think of new angles,new compositions.I am getting bogged down by the amount of gear I have to carry to click good photographs.This did not use to be the case before.May be its the availability of so much raw material and the need to think and make decisions that's creating the block.Its similar to our inability to shop or choose when there are too many options available to us.I need to get out of this phase.i need to chalk out and implement.
There's a lot going through my mind all the time and that's the reason my posts here have been kinda regular.

Mostly,I have realized that,thanks to Internet,its possible to find people and company in any major city of India.I already am part of a backpackers' club and have climbed,worked out and roamed around more frequently in the last month than I did even in Pune.Its all about finding the right people.

Though I admit,there's something detached about everything you do as a working or a grown up responsible person.When i meet new people here,i already know that everyone has his/her own work and personal life and what they do with you on weekends would probably not create as much of a bond as it used to do in school and college.Everything is very casual and very friendly;but detached too.I hate this grown up thing.I want to go back to studies.Sometime,when i can figure out what to study.

December has started with a lot of expectations.Lets talk about it,after a while.
:)

N

Sadness

2011-12-05T17:17:00.001+05:30

This keeps happening to me.I wish it'd stop.

1)My flat mate and I give 3000 Rs extra to the propertydealer(broker) fully knowing that he is exploiting us, but we give in having no option if wewant to have a nice flat on rent.

Few days later,I turn away an old lady who is begging for5 Rs while I eat my sandwich at a roadside food stall.

A friend and I are sorting out our common expenses.She owes me 10 Rs,which I let go of because I feel it would be kindauncool to ask for such a small amount.

And now,I feel guilty.

2)I spend a sunny afternoon in an expensive Europeanstyle cafe in a posh locality of Delhi,talking about upcoming trips and trekswith some like minded well to do people in the town.I give away 500rs easilyon a sandwich and an iced tea that I don't not even like so much.I discuss how I have been into the mountains,done some high altitude treks,loved sleeping underthe stars in the biting cold.

Its late evening and I am returning home in anauto rickshaw.Its around 9 p.m. and Delhi by now,has become quite cold.I am feeling the cold wind through the shawldraped around me when I spot a family living in the open on the footpath.Fatherand son are inflating balloons for thenext day's meals.Mother and the daughter are wrapped in a couple of layers ofclothing which obviously are very insufficient for Delhi’s weather.And thisis just the beginning of the winter.

Guilt comes around again.

The next day,some body's gmail status message says:

i\hbar\frac{\partial}{\partial t}\left|\Psi(t)\right>=H\left|\Psi(t)\right>

I google the latex code up.It turns out to be the code to display Schrodinger equation.

I start reading up on it.Suddenly,life seems so nice,so serene.

Sometimes,I just feel like going back to schooldays when my head would have no other ideas about life but the school text books,story books and games.

Alas.We grow up.

Being Crazy

2011-11-24T12:51:00.001+05:30

Crazy is an ambiguous term.It is spoken of in a good as well as a bad context.Without exception,being crazy is always deemed synonymous to being different or unusual.

But is it not normal to be crazy?
I think it is.What i think is not normal is not being crazy.Crazy at least in one or two aspects in one's life.How else can one live?There are always tragedies happening around,problems keep peeping up through every hole available to them.How can one go through the life's grind and still call it beautiful without being crazy?

Being crazy about something or someone is like an initiative,a motivation that keeps one on,keeps one smiling through one's lows.How one handles the craze or goes about it or even displays it decides if that craziness will do one good or bad.But i think its quite alright to be crazy with respect to some of the things in one's life.

I am surrounded by crazy people.Some are crazy about mountains,some about bikes,some about computer architectures,some about sleeping,some about watching movies,some about gaming,some about traveling,some about meeting new people,some about clicking,some about making movies!Some are crazy about their boyfriends or girlfriends.Some are crazy in their drinking,smoking or driving habits.Some are so crazy about their love interests that the idea of not having them leads them into depression.Some are crazy enough about their hobbies that they have let go of their careers.Some dress up crazily while some make crazy marriage choices.All parents are crazy about their children.

What I mean to say is that craziness is a normal phenomenon.Everyone is crazy about something or the other.
On the other hand,I have not seen people who are 'Normal' in everything they do.They could be 'Normal' about most things but there's always one thing or the other where their craziness comes out.While there are some whose one craze is such that it changes everything in their lives.

I propose a change in the terminology.Lets make Normal the new Crazy.

Stuff You Can't Live Without

2011-11-08T16:45:00.000+05:30

Its been a month since I moved into a tiny house on rent in Gurgaon.After leaving my hometown in 2007,i spent 4 years in girls' hostels.Over the last one month,I have come to appreciate the ease and comfort which a hostel allowed me to have while living my daily life.If you are moving into a new house on your own(meaning that you are going to have to take care of everything alone-from cooking to cleaning to washing of clothes to general housekeeping chores ),there are some small small things without which a nice and comfortable life would not be possible.Not that one does not need them in a hostel but this is the first time I am having to manage the house alone(my flatmate is NEVER home for some reason) and its a real irritation to not have these things around when you need them.Somehow,during my hostel years,I was always surrounded by friends and availibility(or the lack of it)of these objects,which could be taken care of using roommates' help, used to seem like a petty issue.Not the case anymore :-( .

Those important things are as follows:
1)A cooking stove & gas cylinder or a kettle or a induction cooker to do the most basic of cooking-like Maggi,bread toast,tea,coffee,etc
2)A nylon rope to hang the washed clothes for drying.
3)Washing powder or a detergents as well as toilet bowl cleaners like Harpic.
4)A broom and a dustpan plus a toilet brush.
5)A Pochha(in the Indian context..and i don't know the English term for the same)
6)A hand wash
7)Mirrors-At least on medium sized and one full length.
8)Biscuits,Maggi,bread,butter.
9)Basic cutlery like plate,bowl,spoon,coffee mug,knife,a couple of big containers,tiffin box.
10)A lot many plastic bags .
11)Two sets of bedsheets and at least one good pillow(with a clean pillow cover).
12)Footwear to use at home.
13)A Bucket and a mug in the bathroom.
14)A rack -to keep the stuff that you need frequently and at a handy distance.

EOP(End of Post)

Gurgaon Diaries:Month 1

2011-10-25T12:11:00.000+05:30

This is my 4th week in Gurgaon.True to its reputation,this place is difficult to live in comfortably.Its super costly.I had to rack my brains for a week to finally come to the conclusion that i will have to do some compromise or the other in order to land a reasonable deal while looking for a rented house/flat(parameters being:size of the house,locality,connectivity,rent,furnishing,flatmates,number of people sharing the house etc).The brokers and owners will never be very straight forward in the dealings.You have to speak up and ASK for things to get them.If you forget to ask,you are a fool and its your problem and your loss.May be its the same with brokers and real estate dealings elsewhere too.But nobody in my current office circle who has been house hunting recently or has found a house has got the deal without hassles.There's always been some problem or the other.Its been such a headache!

There are no more than two or thee areas in Gurgaon that are well connected by auto rickshaws,cycle rickshaws and Metro.Autos do not charge anything less than 50 bucks for even the smallest distance.So i end up taking up the cycle rickshaw rides much more often.The first time,i did not bargain as I was already feeling guilty that some other human being is sweating out the ride while I sit pensively,looking at and feeling the great roads of Gurgaon as I go along.The next time ,i bargained just a little bit.Then the rides became so frequent and necessary that I let go of the guilt and now i routinely bargain with the cycle rickshawwallah too.I don't know if thats okay or not.Its what I usually do.Trying to have a conscience but only as and when possible.Besides,theres this other theory I keep hearing that you have to keep a business transaction,a business transaction.

By now,i am settled in my small house.I am not happy with a lot many things but then I think,given the circumstances,this is the best that i could have got.Till now,the only person who has been really straight forward and transparent in her dealings with me has been my cleaning maid.But she speaks in Bangla-Hindi and most of the times,i dont understand what she is trying to say.So she has to repeat it once again.
I still don't trust her though.Hell,I don't trust anybody here-the owner,the brokers,the drivers,the rickshawwallahs,people on streets,except my new office friends.I guess these are the kind of people you wouldn't trust in any part of the country but the fact that I am in Gurgaon raises my apprehensions.

Now if this felt to you like Gurgaon bashing,it was not my intention.Its true that this place sucks.But then,that's no news.Its a known fact.(I hear the night life here is quite fun but I haven't got to that yet.Also,owning a car solves many of the problems here.But then again,I have not come to that yet).What i am really liking about my stay here is the proximity to Delhi/New Delhi.I have already spent two very nice weekends in the capital.I am in love with the Metro,Its the cheapest and the best!Delhi feels so big and spacious.The girls are always so decked up and smartly dressed!May be all of this is no big deal for people who have been born and brought up here.But for me,this is definitely a new experience.I am full of plans to go and check out the differnt structures here-from old mughal monuments to british styled government buldings,from the commonwealth games stadium to the F1 venue.(malls i think i am already done with!they are mostly boring.)The gardens,the pubs.The area where I hear you get books at very cheap rates.The posh South delhi and the drab old Delhi.I want to see all of it.I also want to read all that William Dalrymple writes.

Let November start and I will be out with my camera and the new tele lens.I already have an array of photo shoot ideas in mind.Just waiting for the right time to get out of the house and go trigger happy!

To tell you the truth,another reason i still don't feel like hating the fact that i came here by choice is that its a nice feeling to be able to survive in an otherwise difficult place.Add to that an amazingly friendly and casual office environment where you actually have a good time!(Did i mention just how much i love playing table tennis games in the office recreation room!).I guess,if I can find more people I can live with and roam around with,trek with and have fun with,life here would be nothing less than awesome!Let see what the coming months bring in for me!

With those thoughts,i take your leave.
A very Bright & Happy Diwali to everyone!

-N

Updates

2011-10-01T23:03:00.007+05:30

Feels like a really long time since the last time i got some time to just sit by myself,listen to my favourite music ,think,muse and feel sentimental,relaxed,happy,nostalgic and such other things all at the same time.I am currently listening to the piano version of Boulevard of Broken Dreams and the smooth silent music does that to me.

Since some time, I have realized that i just love the piano.The notes it gives away are so soothing!For the last 4 years,i have switched my loyalties between "wanna learn to play a guitar" and "wanna learn to beat the drums".But now i definitely know that if ever i can find the time to do it,I am gonna learn to play the piano.It just clicked me the way a guitar and drums never did.

I was roaming into the mountains for a month in July-August and till date its been my biggest adventure.I cant stop thinking and talking about it.Thanks to that one month,I feel I now have a much better idea of what to do if I want do bigger things in the mountains.I was with some awesome people during this period and i clicked away to my heart's content.

I joined work at the beginning of September and spent another awesome month under some rigorous training for work and roaming in and around Pune with the office group.4 years in pune and i still hadn't visited Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani.This month filled up that hole.I also hung out at some of the cool places in Pune and partied & danced away to my heart's content.

Then came the moment of parting with Pune.Staying bye to some friends and to Kothrud and to college was really painful.

I landed in Gurgaon yesterday night.I have flown many times but this was my first ever flight at night.Delhi looked like an unending fire from above.Felt creepy and isolated on the highway while going toward the hotel i was to be put up in.

Today was my day 1 in Gurgaon.Got some feel of the place by checking out different sectors here for house-hunting.The good areas are really good and the not so good areas are not to be lived in.The roads here really do start getting lonely at 7 pm!!!I had known about this.Now I am experiencing it.It's really a WTF fact about this place

I felt unsafe walking alone at 7.30.During the day,my cab driver had uttered an obscene word when some pedestrian did not move away from the car.In the evening,the fruit-seller aggressively snatched the fruits away from my friend's hands because he got angry that she bargained with him so much.Well,welcome to Gurgaon.

That's all for now, folks.I have moved into a new place far away from home.Despite all the bad things that I have come to hear and know about it,I am looking forward to staying here.Keep checking for more posts on this and the photography blog.

N

Another Indian Express Article I Liked

2011-08-19T09:13:00.005+05:30

I have finally begun to understand why its not wise to make any opinionated statements on social networks like Facebook.At the end of the day,all you get is a string of comments:most of them as heated as the status update you made in the first place.Some of them do make sense and help you understand things in a new light.But mostly,such status updates amount to biased fights to defend the earlier made comments.

From hereon,i am going "to try" to express such opinions only on this platform.

As you must have predicted by now,i want to say something too,about the ongoing Anna Hazare movement.I have been against it from the beginning.Below is a small article that very nicely puts forward the arguments supporting the criticism of Hazare's movement.There have been many editorials like this one before also;but what i like in particular about this article is its usage of simple bare facts and numbers(unlike the heavy words used by other intellectuals) to reveal the faults in the movement's ideology.And this post comes at a time when,influenced by the momentum(josh would be a more correct word) generated at Delhi,for a moment,i too felt like joining in the movement,just to be part of something that is seeking to fight the evils in our government.I am glad it didn't take long before i was de-influenced.

here it goes:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-more-with-us-or-against-us-anna/834020/1

Happy Holidays!

2011-06-07T11:33:00.014+05:30

Holidays.Oh yeah,so many of them!!
So what am I up to these days?
Well,mostly drifting into my daydreams.

And apart from that,

Happiness Between Beginning and End.

2011-05-04T10:00:00.011+05:30

I am currently in the last last phase of my engineering education.6 days from now,i would be done with everything(read theory paper,viva,presentation) and life as an undergrad would be over.I thought I have to make a note of this somewhere and what other place I have got for this than this blog of mine!

How do I feel?..definitely happy,relaxed,free at last(not in terms of having time though)..excited about the future..Even though there will be many more exams to write in the coming years,I am somehow elated at the thought that the grind of engineering exams,where i mostly endured through mugging and copy paste(not blaming anyone except myself),would now be over.I am looking forward to how future unfolds and if my plans for it come to fruition.

I would not say that the last 4 years have been the only BEST years of my life.I have equally sweet and joyous memories form my school life too.But the 4 years of engineering have been made more memorable by the ups and downs experienced in this time-frame and the things they have taught me.

I have met some of the greatest friends and people in this college.With and because of them,I was able to discover many a new things,rediscover many old things and find answers to so many of my questions.

Had it not been for some of these friends,i wouldn't even be here,trying to pen down my thoughts.I wouldn't have known the joys of doing so and having the readers to follow what i write..If not for the friends,i wouldn't be clicking so much with my camera and enjoying it so immensely.It was they,who took me along those paths.

From a hatred to reluctant admiration to pure affection,i have seen my views about my college undergoing transformation every year.It had less to do with how actually the college was than with the gradual change in my state of mind,perception and attitude toward everything and I wont be wrong in suggesting that my family and the people surrounding me had a big unknowing hand in this transformation.

These 4 years have not only been about my life in an engineering college.They have also been about me staying away from home,in a definitely a bigger and better city than my hometown.
Staying away and the longing for home that it arouses might not necessarily make the picture of priority-pyramid entirely clear.But it definitely tells you who resides at the top of that pyramid.

It was in this very city,Pune,that i found people with passions similar to my own.Here,i was able to find company and guidance for my pursuits.It was here,that i finally realized at least some of the things that I'd surely like to be doing through the rest of my life.

For all these reasons and much more,these four years will always be etched in my memory.

This is not a farewell for I don't believe in one.Why bid a goodbye when you have got all the means to stay connected!True,life wouldn't be the same..but we,the people,can always be there with one another!

Therefore,This is just..a Happy Note on a Happy Ending! :)

About..visionaries in today's world

2011-02-25T22:06:00.005+05:30

So it was a regular day in office and I was busy alternating between the code compiler and my gmail chatting window(conveniently minimized on the desktop).Everyone else in that chatting window was also sitting in his/her office and probably doing the same thing as I was.

Though I was not exactly bothering my brain with the guilt of letting myself distracted from work,a line of thoughts was initiated..as to how the way we connect has changed and is changing everyday and how different it is from even just 7-8 years ago.And that indirectly led to this doubt :

Visionary is defined as someone who has a clear and well defined idea of how the future is going to turn out(in domains like technology,socio-political structure,environment,etc) and what the action plan should be for the long term.We have had visionaries from all eras.
But is it still possible to produce visionaries in a world as dynamic as ours?

Technology is changing every day,societies are rebelling at a pace faster than ever before,what was deemed impossible is proved to be otherwise in less than half a lifetime.Climate is playing havoc with its unpredictable nature.The way people communicate and gather news & knowledge is changing and world,while a smaller and more homogeneous place now, thanks to the technology induced influences,is also encouraging the individualist among us.While access to information is becoming easier and equal,the giants of governments and corporations are gaining a position from where the small lot of them can wield a great control over the world.

Is it possible to have a vision in a fickle environment like this?How do you define an action plan for a decade ahead when the world around is surely going to change in unpredictable ways?

Can you tell if the glaciers will melt ....if nuclear bombs will go off..or if the Arab countries will have a successful transition to democracy... if the terrorists will be defeated...or if USA will still retain its numero uno position.. if China,thanks to its still communist ways,will somehow fall into trouble.. if India,with its bag full of scams and politicians and bureaucrats stuck in corruptions,will always be a country with a lot of potential but will never quite truly achieve it.. if google will hold its currently (mostly)untarnished image even after it hordes millions of terabytes about people over many many years?...will texting and instant messaging be the ways people initiate their courtships.... will printed books still be read?

Of course our world is a better place for these changes.But the speed with which they now take place has increased so much that when it comes to a vision,can you still have one?

The Lovables!

2011-02-17T13:19:00.024+05:30

I have been a fan of animation movies for some time now.Just want to note one thing here.The characters I have been most fascinated by are not the protagonists of the story but the animals playing as friends or pets or sidekicks.

Its amazing to see the most human of the expressions on the faces of these characters.Their gestures,movements,body language,words characterize every tiny bit of human thought and emotional process.Lovely,they are!Here's a few of my dear ones(in no particular order) :

1)A naive but good-hearted and optimistic blue reef fish with short-term memory loss-Dory(movie:Finding Nemo)

2)The talking donkey,from Shrek series of movies.He is clingy and needy and insecure and loud and funny and wacky!His name is-Donkey

3)Kung Fu Panda's goose father ,who runs a noodle restaurant-Ping(James Hong)

4)The warthog from The Lion King who takes great offense if anyone who's not his friend calls him a pig-Pumbaa.

5)A conceited, fun-loving ring-tailed lemur from Madagascar-King Julien XIII

6) A band of penguins bent on a secret agenda of escaping the confines of the zoo and being free in Antarctica.(movie:Madagascar)

7)The frog from The Swan Princess, who is convinced that he is,in fact,a prince:Jean-Bob.

8)Wall-E's pet cockroach who is fed Kremies, a Twinkie-like confection, due to the popular misconception that they never expire-Hal

9)The iridescent creature from Up whose appearance is based on the male Himalayan monal pheasant-Kevin

10) A Night Fury dragon(the fastest of the dragons) and best friend of the Viking chief's son Hiccup-Toothless(movie:How to Train Your Dragon)

11)Rapunzel's chameleon friend -Pascal.(movie:Tangled)

12)The loyal horse who wags his tail like a puppy-Maximus(movie:Tangled)

13)Megamind's only friend,the pirhana named-Minion

14)A large,green plastic tyrannausauros rex from Toy Story,who suffers from anxiety,inferiority complex and a concern that he is not scary enough -Rex

P.S:So typical that this post comes just a day before i write my mid semester paper :P

Making Sense of the Ayodhya Verdict

2010-10-08T13:36:00.006+05:30

I have been following the Ayodhya verdict with a detached sense of interest.What I mean by following is to watch relevant news on TV, read the newspaper and talk about it to friends.Till now,all of this was just out of a sense of curiosity,a wish to get the facts right.

But if there’s one thing that has made me re-read about the issue and write about it on this blog ,then it is the lameness of the arguments floating around us,from the judges to editorials to the common man.

I appreciate the difficult situation the court had found itself in.I also am aware that given the nature of the problem and moreover,its implications,its rather in the best interests of everyone that the verdict remains hazy and a compromise is worked out.Because even if we do find hard evidence to suggest that the disputed area was indeed RamJanmabhumi or that the disputed land was not Ramjanmabhumi and that no temple was demolished for the construction of the Mosque,that would not be a solution.It would not be a solution because

1)It doesn’t matter whether or not the place is indeed the Ramjanmabhumi.

2)Given our past record,It will be hard for people of the ‘defeated’ community not to avenge the "injustice" inflicted upon them.

So for the peace and harmony among the people,its best that the hard evidence leading to a clear conclusion would never be found.

So what is it in the verdict that’s so annoying me?

I am going to quote the high court judges and a few editorials.I am not a lawyer or a historian.So I think it is fair if I form my opinion based on the information people like these and the media give and authenticate.

I find the statements below less than convincing .When I read them,I pity the condition Indians have got themselves in by attaching so much importance to a religious issue that Indian judges have to give their verdict based on these LAME propositions.

The only opposition to some of these quotes seems to be coming from the Muslim community and that’s only natural,understandable and I see nothing wrong with it.I want to know why secular non Muslims are not finding anything wrong with statements like following:

Justice D V Sharma:

Whether the disputed site is the birth place of Bhagwan Ram:

“The disputed site is the birth place of Lord Ram.Place of birth is a juristic person and is a deity.It is personified as the spirit of divine worshipped as birth place of Lord Rama as a child.Spirit of divine ever remains present everywhere at all times for anyone to invoke at any shape or form in accordance with his own aspirations and it can be shapeless and formless also.”

Inferences drawn by Justice Agarwal from the ASI report, 2003 (verbatim):

“We have already held that whatever happened was in an era when this Court and/or the codified statute or the Constitution of India was not applicable. We can only see the de facto position as has resulted after the aforesaid event but we find no authority to consider this event de jure. The de facto position is that after demolition, a building was constructed in the shape of a mosque,” he observes. “

Inferences drawn by Justice S U Khan from the ASI report, 2003:

“In case, “some temple” was demolished (as the Hindus claim) to construct a mosque, the superstructure material of the temple would not have gone under the ground. Instead, the building material would have been “re-used or removed”, he reflects. “Only in cases of severe earthquake or flood of very high magnitude, superstructure immediately goes down inside the ground, otherwise remains of a ruined building go inside the ground after centuries and not immediately after the falling down of the building,”

Justice Khan on 16^th century poet Tulsidas’s silence on existence of a temple prior to the construction of the mosque:

“If a temple standing on the premises in dispute had been demolished and a mosque had been constructed thereupon less than 50 years before Tulsidas wrote the Ramcharitmanas at Ayodhya, there was no reason for not mentioning the said fact by him in his famous book,”

Pratam Bhanu Mehta,Centre of Policy research,Delhi,on why we should not oppose the verdict:

“The third pressure is going to come from those who will find objectionable the court’s assertion that this indeed is Ram Janmabhoomi. Has the court not pronounced on a claim it has no competence to pronounce on? Again, the judgment will bear careful reading. But from the summary it appears that all the court has relied on is a proposition that is plausible: that for a long time many Hindus have regarded this as Ram’s birthplace. This proposition is all you need to say that there is legitimate dispute, and an alternative claimant to the site. Denying this proposition would not have been avoiding questions of faith and theology. It would rather have been seen as simply and wilfully overlooking a history of representations and beliefs necessary to understanding the character of the site. One can still argue that the court has come out the wrong way. But what the court has not done is validate faith in a crude sense; it seems to be saying that facts about the faith are relevant to this dispute.”

He further says,

“The acknowledgement that this site be regarded for this purpose as the birthplace of Ram is, if anything, an attempt to de-politicise religion. Our standard distinctions between faith and reason, between myth and history, do injustice to what the court had to grapple here. Whether Ram is an artefact of faith or reason, of myth or history, eternal or contingent, real or non-existent, can be debated. But the court seems to recognise that that discussion cannot simply wish away the forms of self-consciousness that have characterised Indian society. Edmund Burke once said, rightly, that religious wars can be incited by denying religion altogether. The court seems to accommodate its claims, without jeopardising the secular character of the state. This will not satisfy purists. But it is not an implausible way of strengthening secularism.”

The propositions are not outright preposterous.They are plausible.But i feel it is ridiculous that we are using a plausibility,and not facts, as clutches to come to a verdict?I can think of only one justification for doing so –To not provoke anybody,to not give anybody a reason to agitate or indulge in violence.

These are good enough reasons.

But what bugs me is this: If the evidence is so poor that we can never reach a clear conclusion,then why cant we use this opportunity for an even more constructive solution?Like declaring the place to not be used for religions worship and building a hospital or a garden at that venue?or as Meghnad Desai suggests in his piece,construct a multi faith complex at the site?

Why are we so hell bent on a verdict that we are having to support Faith arguments?Is impact of religion so unshakable that we can’t imagine stopping the use of a place for religious worship?I am not against keeping the place open to Hindu and Muslim people together,but what the verdict is doing is not declaring the place to be equally belonging to both the communities.Its saying,directly and indirectly,that the place,indeed belongs to Hindus(even though we don’t have facts, faith is sufficient to proves this..).But since ruling against the existence of the mosque will have dire consequences,lets have both the structures alive at the place.”

Is such a verdict going to bring peace in the real sense?may be it would lead to not having riots..but would it give a sense of justice to anybody??even for hindus,it wont be a justice.It would just be a win.

If justice is not being meted out,wont the verdict be used as something that demonstrates a biased judgement,made in a Hindu majority country?Is that desirable for our country?

Against this backdrop,the following article by Javed Anand seems scarily appealing.I mean,do you seriously believe that the Muslim community did not take to riots because they agreed with the verdict??Fear is an important factor in deciding actions.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gracious-settlement-is-the-need-of-the-hour/692100/

I just wish that if at all we are bent on reaching a conclusion,then let it be a honest one.That we don’t have the evidence to prove or disprove anything and as such,no party can make a claim to the site.

The verdict is being praised because it was carefully articulated and did not majorly offend any of the communities.But why are we stretching weak arguments to achieve this when the same can be achieved in other ways?these other ways will really take our country in a forward direction;because then it would be established that we are not a country which would get affected by history thats not even verifiable.

But apparently,we are yet to become that sort of a country.

End.

A few references:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-leap-and-the-faith/690939/0

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/For-Justice-Khan--Tulsidas-s-silence-speaks-volumes/693826

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/is-there-a-temple-under-the-ground-what-the-judges-had-to-say/693828/4

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/insaf-ka-mandir/691694/

Indian Express,October 1,2010 issue(cudnt find it in the online archives.)

Books

2010-10-01T09:12:00.018+05:30

I have already added my shelfari link to this blog's home page.But i want to post about a few books that i have immensely liked and which,i think,i want to recommend to whoever is interested.Even though a reader for quite a few years now,I wont put myself in the catagory of voracious readers.

Despite this fact,it pains my heart when people who think that i read a lot come to me and ask me if i have chetan bhagat's books on my shelf.I mean,I dont hate chetan bhagat's books.But i have found them neither entertaining nor enlightening.I have tried in vain searching for a reason to like his books.I dont get the fuss thats created around him and the frenzy that people get into when talking about him.I hate the fact that he is given so much importance and a lot of editorial space.and i especialy hate it when people start their English reading with "Five Point Someone" :|
He is not an enemy or a harmful person.But why so much importance??
If you feel like it,please explain this phenomenon to me,in the comments.

Now that i have used this post for venting my frustration over Chetan Bhagat(and thereby digressed from the main topic,)let me ask you to at least skim through the following books.
Some of them,i definitely found a bit biased on some accounts or not convincing enough at certain junctures.But i have liked them very much,all the same;because of the content,language,author's expertise, insights and the perspective.

The links accompanying the titles are just meant to give you some introductory idea about them.

I.Graphic Novels :

1)The Complete Perspolis by Marjane Satrapi

Read More about the Book

2)Logicomix-An Epic Search For Truth

Read More about the Book

II.Indian history and socio-economy.

1)The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen
Read More About The Book

2)India Unbound by Gurcharan Das
Read More about the Book

3)History of Early India-From the Origins to AD1300 by Romila Thapar

Read More About The Book

III.Mountaineering

1)Spies in the Himalayas-Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs
by M.S.Kohli and Kenneth Conboy

Read More About The Book

2)Fearless on Everest-The Quest For Sandy Irvine by Julie Summers
Read More About The Book

IV:Miscellaneous
1)Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Read More About The Book

2)Delhi:Adventures in a Megacity by Sam Miller

Read More About This Book

That is all for now.Hope to add few more books to the shelf by the end of this month.

Freedom..at last!

2010-09-25T13:59:00.003+05:30

Phew!
Last few months have been busy.Fun,no doubt.But its good to be done with some important things on the checklist and get back some free time.

I can relax,click some pictures(by the way,i have switched from Canon to Nikon..didn't have any aprticular loyalties..just that i got a real good deal for Nikon D300) and most importantly,trek,travel and climb.

Finally I am free as a bird.Free to read all the unread posts,free to ogle at all the pending flickr albums,free to go for the photoshoots,free to check people's updates on FB,free to watch movies,free to read books,free to keep thinking about the day's editorials,free to get the bike serviced,free to go back to the stunt rider friends,free to do some shopping,free to meet up friends,free to make the post poned phone calls,free to run,free to swim,free to go home..Free to do time pass!

Not that i regret being busy.

But Man,this is Good Stuff Happening. :)

Probably the Last of my "Simple vs Complicated" posts

2010-08-28T19:28:00.008+05:30

(Disclaimer:Following post,though impromptu,is a culmination of my thought process over a few years.I have tried to say what i want to and i have not included examples for the fear that specificity will lead to a limited view by readers.So in case you feel that i should substantiate some of my points more,please let me know though comments and i'll do so.The objective of this post,as always,is not to preach but to put forward my views and see how they tally with others' and if not,why it is so.I'd,therefore,be glad to have your comments.

If while reading the post,you get a feeling that i am talking about the same things over and over ,over the last of my blogging year,then sorry for boring you but i cant help it.Its something that doesn't leave my mind alone;so i am bound to think and write about it.I'd insist that you still read it to see if what i say has some significance.

Lastly,pardon me for not being too eloquent with my language.For all my GRE preparations,there hasn't been a significant rise in the number of words i can actually think of employing in my posts. )

BEGIN:
If you have read my older posts in detail,you'd have realized that for some time at least,I have been looking for explanations to seemingly complicated and contradictory things i see around me.I did not know it when i wrote those posts,but i believe that is what i was doing then.
I have tried to divide people and events into darker and lighter shades;if not exactly black and white.The color grey has always bothered me,despite completely coming to terms with its all pervasive existence and even understanding the justification behind it.

I have indirectly been accused of having too simplistic a world view.

I have tried to digest all this.I have tried to have a deeper or more open perspective.I have tried refraining from making judgments telling myself,"after all,the world runs in complex ways..so who am I to tag something or someone?".For a while,i even started mocking all those people whose life seemed easier because they never tried to explore why they hated something so much or loved something even more and should they be doing it.

But you know what,in spite of all of this,I still want to stick to my original,if somewhat kiddish, beliefs.
I still believe that positives will lead to positive and negatives to negative.Negatives might appear to be winning for a while,but in the end,fairness emerges out to be the winner.(yeah,nothing new about it,i know it,you know it,everyone knows about it...but thats not the point I am making..read further...)

Hell,its not even about winning.We humans live life to become happy.and world need not rather, is not complicated when it comes to looking for happiness.
Do the basic things right,and there it is,THE HAPPINESS.

Complications arise because somewhere along the way,we make mistakes in implementing our basics.Since we are humans,its perfectly alright to do so.But why make "grey" responsible for those mistakes?call it black and try to go away from it instead of sticking to grey.

I dont even understand this temptation to stick to gray.I can understand an attraction to try all things dark for the thrill of it,.So if at all you end up making your hands dirty,then call that dirtiness black(and not grey ) and then clean those hands again.

When i say dark,i want to include everything from lies to insincerity to infidelity to corruption to violence to wars and all else that makes us sad in that term.The same goes when i say white.

Grey is but a mixture of black and white ;so you might say that I am just paraphrasing the existence of grey.But I am not.I am saying that life is not a mixture of black and white.It only appears like a mixture because we dont look at things and events in an individual and objective manner.There's clear white and clear black,lying next to each other.The interconnections are so many,that they lead you to believe that you cant judge something in its individuality.But why not?

At a given instant,a certain quality or behaviour or line of action can only be one of the two- black or white,right or wrong,harmful or harmless,hurtful or soothing.So take your issues one at a time,decide if they are black or white and then take whichever direction you want to,with respect to that particular issue.

If you believe that life runs in ways we have yet to understand,then why not also believe that a right course of action at point A will trigger a chain of actions that will end up in the correct action being taken place at point Z.My belief is that we are generally not able to have the time to see an action though to its entirety.Mortal beings that we are.We keep track till ,say,point M and make the decision.But the series of events that would lead you to Z might not have reached its conclusion at M.Why don't we consider that possibility???

and that brings me back to this post,wherein i was trying to understand why popular beliefs are ultimately true,even though there's a greater tendency in today's world to rebel everything thats conventional wisdom.

All I want to say is that I believe that world,even though not simple,can't certainly be impossibly complicated.There is good and there is bad.The challenge is to know this as a fact and control your actions.Challenge is to accept that bad is always going to be there;but at the same time,not letting go of the good.What happens is not in our hands.Trying is.

That's all and that why i love this life.Infinity,uncertainty,chaos are also true concepts.But give in to them and it'd be hard to live life sanely.

I can only say that i "believe" in whatever i have said.Because,as i mentioned earlier,we are mortals.Actions we take now sometimes show their effects after we die.So if we are not to know one way or the other,then why wear grey and be glum pessimists?Its not a question of using a terminology that i find is more correct.But using the grey terminology leads to accepting a way of life where black gets accepted as something less than it actually is.

Hiatus

2010-07-19T11:26:00.004+05:30

Hi all,

I wont be writing here for a while.

Have sent an email to some of you communicating my reasons to do so.

Will it suffice to say that i want to try so many new things that i guess i'll have to let go of some old..

Not exactly what i have in mind,but more or less of the same.

Now you might think that one can manage all the things simultaneously also..but i never was the one who was good at time management.

Besides,my writing skills arent all that refined.so that makes blogging an "activity" for me.. :P

My photo albums and travelling blog will remain updated though.

and reading this post,dont desert me..i am going only to come back(oh my god..i am making all this sound like such an important affair...as if im a celebrity :P)

I'll see you all soon.Till then,ciao.

Top 9 Ways to Climb the Photography Ladder

2010-07-11T19:01:00.013+05:30

1)Have you been reading a bit too many photography tutorials lately?
2)Do you remember the page numbers of the important stuff in your camera manual ?
3)Do you carry your camera obsessively,to every single place you visit?
4)Are you always on the lookout for that perfect angle to compose your shot from?
5)Do you tilt your camera this way and that,change the picture settings from colored to monochrome,f point value from higher to lower,shutter speed from lower to higher
and while you change these settings,try yourself in 10 different positions
and places before settling for a final one(and even that does not enlist a satisfied acknowledgement from you)?

Well in that case,I admit to you,rather grudgingly, the following:

That through your persistent efforts, you have earned your right to believe those who tell you that you are now a photographer in the making.

If you have answered 3/5 of the above questions in the affirmative,then you need to listen to me carefully ;
Because you are now ready to know a few things that,even if they dont increase your photography intelligence quotient,will work wonders in catapulting you in the league of "cool and artistic" people..

Here's your sure shot way to not-so-long-lasting success in photography :

1)You should always click pictures of seemingly mundane objects and call them abstract art.If a person who is nobody is to be believed,then art without a meaning is an art in itself.Its insignificant that the audience should understand what they are looking at.

2)You should start feeling good about yourself by clicking pictures of little children from everywhere, from slums,from villages and captioning their expressions as innocence or employing such pretty words.You shouldn't hesitate to refer a thesaurus if you are stuck while adding captions to your images.

3)You should beautify poverty or disabilities by clicking pictures of the unfortunate people and posting them on the web so as to make it known to your friends and fellow photographers that you have a "realistic sensitivity" in your photography style...

4)You should Click the least number of pictures of people who actually matter to you..like your
family,friends,neighbors,colleagues,teachers..instead you should always try to click strangers on the street..It doesn't matter that you know nuances of your mother's countenance...but it matters when you interpret expressions of entirely unknown people the exact way that would suit your photo and fetch you the most number of "likes"..

5)Think twice before agreeing to photograph a friend's birthday or your friend's friend's wedding..those people wont understand that you did not click the bridegroom's uncle because you did not find him photogenic or that his complexion was messing up with the exposure setting of your camera.They will even fret that you did not capture the most exciting and funniest times because you thought that the pictures will come out shaken up and that you don't like shaken up or blurred images.These people don't understand quality..all they know is that the beautiful times they shared should be remembered someway or the other..rather lame,dont you think?

6)You should click things like wrinkles on the forehead of a bereft old man or better still,a smooching couple, your friends hidden behind a hookah haze ,an empty vodka bottle clicked in some fancy light settings or smoke from a cigarette ;because that will immediately give your photos an artistic edge.It will also show that you are a liberal thinker..that things like alcohol,smoking,PDA do not hinder your way.

7)Do not give a damn about the consequences of your clicking pictures of forbidden places or monuments.Because if you do,the "adventurer" streak in you will never be recognized by people.

8)Get the very important "I-know-what-i-am-doing" air about yourself when people start staring at you because you brought a camera to the most unlikely and most incongruous of the times or places...don't let them dampen your spirit by thinking that sometimes respecting others' sentiments and values is more important than photography.You do your work because its the only important thing in the world.

9)And finally,Dont forget to flood your facebook albums and other social networking sites so as to get oohs and aahs from your friends who do not understand photography.

So stick to what I say and have fun,my dears.
So long and thanks for all the filth.

(The author makes no claim as to whether the lines she has written are meant to give out a message.She is as susceptible to whims of self righteousness as anyone else.though this one makes no claim to righteousness either..The post should be taken as a piece of satire and nothing else.
She'd only say that she means some things and doesn't some others.
Despite this disclaimer,all sorts of comments that make sense will be welcome).

Love at First Sight.

2010-06-29T19:26:00.005+05:30

From the half opened door of the foyer,his enticing eyes looked at me.

The connection was instantaneuous.

I had not gone to lay my claim to his ownership.

I had gone,just so that I could keep looking at him to my heart's content.

How enamored was I,to see him walk his jaunty steps..I wanted to be near him..I felt like coddling him.His playful antics had amused me.

And then,with a swagger,he came up to me.May be he wanted to intimidate me.

But It was only natural that i hold him in my arms.His black eyes at the same level as mine,

his long straight nose almost touching my own ..

I realised then,that he is the one who would be the uncontested recipient of my unconditional love..and he...he,in turn reciprocated,by nibbling at my ear.

It was beautiful..It was Love at First Sight. <3

You can see his picture ,HERE.

Feminism and Men

2010-05-22T10:29:00.005+05:30

I see 3 types of men around me.

1)Men who do not hold it against women per say.But they are just convinced that women won’t be able to compete with men on an equal footing ..They are pessimistic about bringing about changes in the society for realistic reasons.. They acknowledge the fact that while women empowerment is desirable,to implement it is no piece of cake and that its not going to be a fast track process.

2)The neutral ones..they don’t care about your gender.All they want is the work to be done.They will be hard on you not because you are a woman but because they will be exactly the same way with the men working with them.

Sometimes,they will not prefer working with women because even with all the empowerment,women sometimes just cant find solution to the problems like maternity leave,not being able to work in night shifts and safety..The boss wouldn’t consider these unavoidable problems and fire the female employees because he doesn’t want his work to be hindered.

3)These also are the unbiased males..but they will do everything they can to help the female community come out of the shackles(mental or otherwise)..they will provide their assistance,guidance,skills to bring the women at par with the men.They will be considerate and give women more chances.

Personally,I like both-the 2nd and 3rd category of men.While I might agree with the reasoning of the 1st category of men,wouldn't it be better in the long run if they let go of their pessimism?

Let me try to explain what i want to state ..Say,there goes a petition to the government to open the doors of NDA(National Defence Academy) to women..or maybe to allow women entry in the combat zones .

The 1st catagory of men will keep on being cynical about something like that happening ,citing reasons like:

"its going to require a large infrastructre reconstruction, major investment ,changes in the governing policy and the mindset of people..hence,its not coming around anytime soon"..

The 2nd catagory will go with the progressive policies but will still be apprehensive about women being able to work in a perfect manner.Given a choice,they'll prefer to have a man at hand...after all,why have the extra headache of having to take care of women's safety when we have an alternative?

The 3rd catagory will welcome the changes whole heartedly,will take extra efforts to make the new policies work.They won't mind coming under fire for this.

More clear,now?

And that’s all I want to say for the moment. Just wanted to note down my observation.
Do you agree?

FAQ answered

2010-05-08T18:15:00.008+05:30

This is the (n+1)th time that a guy friend of mine asked me to suggest a birthday gift for his other gal friend..and very typically,he had messaged all his gal friends asking them their opinions on the same issue..

So this is your Pocket Note if you are a guy and looking for something to gift your 20-something female friend.The list is tailored to my likes and choices.To be fair,i did some amount of web surfing to find other women's thoughts on the topic..But i think i'll be better off sticking to my own ...and so will you!..(you certainly dont want to give out presents like "gift card to her favourite clothing store","subscription to a gym/spa","a cellphone,"coffee maker for her apartment/dorm room" and suchlike...)...

The list here is nothing out of the way..its not for those who are creative and want to go that extra mile in preparing something memorable with their own hands..Its the usual list,the one guys never seem able to remember :D

So here it goes:

1) Book(s) -Think well before choosing a genre.

2) A college bag

3) A purse - (though,i think, it'd be better suited as a gift from one female to the other..your choice..)

4) Photo collage - on a mug,t-shirt,calendar,whatever...Kodak Fotofast gives you many options...but the template of their photo calendars are really gaudy/funny/primitive/bad.

So you better prepare your collage on photoshop/any image processing software and just give it for printing...cheaper that way..and so much nicer also...

5) Tshirt with a catchy line - one suggestion on the Internet was for professional outfits..this seems to make sense since most 20 somethings will need these outfits for their presentations,meetings,seminars or events.

6) Bandana (Thanks Ameya,for the idea.) - yeah,the real cool ones (ones that you might find in the stores in Pune Camp area)..not those red-blue-white ones.....

7) Jwellery? - (I for one,dont wear any..but most girls do..so i am sure,they'd like to get the accessories like bracelet,rings,ear rings,necklace as gifts..need not be expensive..but they should look elegant or classy.. )

8) Shoes - could be of any type..sports,party wear,casual wear..i dont know why nobody thinks of them as gifts...sometimes good footwear does come at a reasonable price..

9) A fish bowl - if ur friend is inclined to be fishy :P

10) A CD -containing a mix of hard-to-get music stuff.

11) Headphones! - I am not saying Bose headphones..but i am sure there are plenty of other options...

12)Wristwatch(credits : MadB)

13)Sunglasses (credits : MadB) - Fast Track,Ray Ban,the 150 bucks glares by the roadside,take your pick

As always,i'd like you all to add to this list and appreciate whatever i have already written/show me the real light..

My doubts about Social Networking

2010-04-14T13:55:00.006+05:30

I might sound elderlysh(i made that word up) while saying the following things,but compare our lives then and now.

Back in school(say middle and high school),u didn't have a mobile phone,orkut/facebook either didn't exist or were unknown,online chatting was not in vogue(since internet connections were not so omnipresent)...

We still had loads of friends,loads of chats(real chats),we saw plenty of one another.Bdays were still remembered.New friends were still made.

Though today,may be 4-5 years after we were first introduced to the concept of social networking,we know when we are overdoing it and how to stop it.

But isnt it true that most of us(i say most..coz i hv a few friends who didnt really give a damn) have spent quite a lot of time on deciding what our projected images should look like in the virtual world? ...hasnt it happened to us some time or the other?..havent we been aware of our acute addiction to the need to communicate with the outside world?

Did you not write,erase and write back that "about me " section again n again?I did and so did loads of others.

was it really necessary?coz in the end,dont we realise that what we think we are or what we are showing to the world might not be what we really are..dont we realise tht ,unknown to us,what we write can be nothing else but glimpses of what we want to be?

and for all this time spent,do u think u have become more social than u already were?

Of course one might argue in the same way about the good old days when even telephone lines didnt exist and letters were the standard means of communication....would such people feel that the constant telephonic conversations that we have been so used to since we were kids, are quite unnecessary?

...everything is relative...next generation is not going to share my frequent doubts about need,advantages,disadvantages of social networking...the way i never shared my mother's concerns about me or my friends constantly being on the phone though my teen years...

isnt there anything absolute about life?

Intriguing questions.Should not waste one's time too much on this.But worth pondering upon once in a while me thinks :)

(P.S:I admit that I have been a voyeuristic social networker myself..but its a passe now... The only definite benefit i see in the social networking websites is the specific interest oriented communities.They are constructive in the sense that they bring strangers together and lead to a lot of information dissemination and activities.If today i want to learn new things in a particular area,if i want any help,i can make sure that happens..these communities/groups have eliminated the problem of lack of company...thats the good part..after all,technology will always run ahead..what to take out of it and what not to take,is our decision.)

Clear hai!

2010-03-20T21:16:00.005+05:30

Some of the cliche phrases i had always known but had never really understood clearly..

1)Living life in the present.

2)There is beauty in simplicity.

3)More powerful than words is silence.

4)Man is a social animal.

5)If you really want something,all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

(provided you deserve it )

Such quotes would always seem too abstract to me.

But I believe them now.Dont ask me how..its just something that passage of time,experiences,people around you make you understand.

There's a moment of enlightenment(one more cliche!) and things become transparent.

Of course,i have a theory to account for such moments of enlightenment also..but that would be matter for a future post..

Until then,adios.

Anyone for adding to the list already mentioned?

Rant-Spoilt for Choices

2010-02-17T16:30:00.004+05:30

Today's world boasts of an abundance of choices....

Sometimes,less is better.

Lesser the choices,lesser the confusion,lesser the debates/discussions,lesser the strain on the brain..

Be it career choices,choice among myriad outfits,choice of a bike,choice of college,choice of a newspaper,choice of a movie or something of the kind that has inspired this post:choice of a trekking destination.

I stay in Pune,a city privileged to be so near the Sahadri mountains..on a weekend,especially a long weekend,there are just tooo many options to choose from...be it a hike or a photography shoot or a windy bike ride..

At the moment,i am arguing with my friends and all these arguments are leading us into exploring even more new avenues....

Why am i frustrated?

well,i have my exams coming up next week and this royal abundance of choices is eating my head..

Anyway,one more of my usual rants..

Adios.

Attempts At Understanding Our Society.

2010-01-27T19:14:00.005+05:30

I recently finished reading a book about history of ancient India.I had picked up the book solely to get my chronology and dynastic information right.But as the chapters started unfolding,the author started giving glimpses of the social,economic and political evolution of our society through the ages.

It was good..in the sense that it was good to see the universality(in terms of time) of the human behavior,values,faiths and tendencies.It kind of validates your observations about the current happenings around you.

Its good to know that contradictory values have always been part of our lives.That its inevitability is justified given the tremendous diversity in our country.

What I dont understand is this:Right from the before Christ era to today's modern world,people on whom the highest degree of prestige is bestowed have not been the ones on whom the survival of the world is dependent.

When the varna system was prevalent,Brahmans occupied the highest seat in the hierarchy.They were not the ones who cultivated land..they were not the ones who created pottery and furniture..they were not the ones who could build houses..they were not the one who had the skills required for carrying out trade with civilizations alien to them..they could not clear forests..they weren't the ones to weave clothes...they were not the ones who could fight in the battlefileds...

Basically,survival of Brahmans was dependent on the remaining three varnas-Kshatriyas,Vaishyas and the (so called) shudras..vice versa was never true...

Then how on earth did they always earn the highest rank in the social structure?All they did was read,write and recite the vedic rituals...sure they held important philosophical discussions..sure,they invented zero..sure,they made some advances in astronomy..but would we have not survived if these intellectual contributions were not made at all?

How did these rituals gain so much importance that the powerful kings couldnt believe in their own ability unless and until they were validated through these ritual practices?

What has been the compelling factor though all these years that made the Indian minds believe that what these Brahmans were doing was absolutely necessary?how could the Brahmans manipulate the 4 strata of the society always?

I mean,how can this happen?I am not saying that Brahmans didnt contribute anything to our society.....But isn't ability to survive more important than the ability to undertake intellectual discourse?The curse of caste system which is the gift of the varna system so beloved to the brahmans,still doesnt stop creating divides among us..why has that not been visible??

Isnt the same phenomenon prevalent today also?What would we eat if there were no farmers..would i be able to enjoy my electronic gadgetry and discourses on the blogosphere if i didnt have people in my society who knew how to grow crops?But where do farmers stand in our economic and social hierarchy?

I know i might be looking like a person who wants all things simplified.But even after struggling to try to understand the complexities,some things remain too obvious to not have been corrected.

I am looking for replies/comments/criticism here.So please respond.

I Will be Back Soon

2010-01-15T09:28:00.003+05:30

I still am very much here and having a list of topics i'd want to write upon,stored on my cell phone.

Just waiting for some leisure time so that i can sit and articulate my thoughts.

January is turning out to be an absolute party time.

(P.S. :for those of you who can make the antarctica connection:

Coolkarnis are having a real good time on the white continent.They have made sightings of the Emperor penguins as well as the whales and are enjoying their stay on board the Prince Albert II.

I have never been so eager to meet my parents.I couldnt communicate with them for first 6 days of the trip and was really scared in my mind.Now i know how they feel when i go off into the mountains with no possibility of making a contact for some days in succession.

Its a good feeling to be able to get an email from 65degrees south. )

Notes-II

2010-01-05T09:59:00.004+05:30

I LOVE reading my favorite newspaper(which currently happens to be 'The Indian Express'..conclusion reached after a lot of experimentation) thoroughly...

I spend/waste a lot of time making sure i have not missed out on any editorial..not as any compulsion though..i just enjoy reading them..

Again,this is something that might be of no concern to you all..but its my online diary and as such,i take pleasure in listing down insignificant details of my life in it..

There's some inexplicable satisfaction in keeping a record :)

Notes-something that might not interest you at all

2010-01-04T08:37:00.003+05:30

There are some things in life which you simply cannot understand unless you experience them yourself((at least that's what me thinks)).Some of them might be :

1)happiness 2) confusions 3)thrill 4)pain 5)disappointment 6)love

7)amazement 8)guilt 9)recklessness 10)complex- both superiority & inferiority 11)hatred

I don't think i fully yet understand the last five..though amazing is an often used verb in my lingo(pronounced in that typical American accent :D),i don't remember a time when i have been truly,really amazed...

as always,when i write something that seems to be inclined towards philosophy,i feel stupid ..

I am just 20..

who knows,

just a couple of years down the line,my ideas would have changed...

I might be laughing away at my silly scribblings.

Lets see.

Just Another Post

2009-12-19T11:20:00.004+05:30

Hey all!
I have posted quite frequently in the recent past; but I have a feeling that these posts just don' t have any literary value..Not that i was ever good at writing in an engaging manner..But the last few posts are just too bland...
I want to thank all my followers for tolerating the nothing-great stuff that i write.

May be its the 'lessening' of confusions leading to lessening of frustrations which in turn leads to lessening of intensity of my thoughts...
Whatever it is,I have decided to take a break till the time there's something I feel passionate about..

Keep checking my photography blog though(www.wondersandwanders.wordpress.com) ..some interesting trips are in the pipeline..

Good sport Bad sport?

2009-12-14T09:13:00.009+05:30

(Disclaimer:Title has been inspired by(read copied from) falconer's post.)

So here's something that I feel bad about and have always failed to understand.

My phobia for all news sports and for live telecasts matches of cricket,football,tennis,basketball,etc..

I simply get bored..

Ask me to play it myself on the ground and I am all up for it.I'll go to the extent of saying that I'll always be of some use for the team be it any sport..

I just want to know why i don't enjoy watching all those games which i'd love playing myself, being played on the tv..For most of my friends,page 18(this number can vary depending on which newspaper u read) is the first page of the newspapers..I never read the sports page..I have tried reading it..i have tried sitting patiently through live cricket or tennis matches on tv..but i have never been able to remain interested...

WHY?WHY?WHY?

Why am so i weird????

Why is it the way it is even when I have ALWAYS loved playing outdoor games?

I am in 'Save The Planet' League

2009-12-09T10:17:00.008+05:30

The Copenhagen Climate Change Conference has been in the hot news for some while now.With Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's announcement to cut India's emission intensity by 20-25% by the year 2020,we are hearing a lot many dissenting views,from the opposition as well as from members of Indian negotiating team itself....

I am not qualified to have any justifiable opinion on this issue.But our environment minister's decision appeals to simple logic & reason and that's why i support it.And when i think about the dissenters,i am reminded of what i wrote in THIS post.

When i was talking of contradictions in life in the above mentioned post,i was meaning to put forward examples like this one.

I simply dont understand how nations squabble like small kids when it comes to negotiations.

While growing up,isn't the elder of the siblings told to look beyond the unfairness incurred on him/her and advised to do acts that will resolve the matter for a long term?

I am not saying India is in a position to take a saintly stand but if she(i am assuming countries are feminine) doesn't,the climate problem will never have a solution..and what use this so called 'justice' will be,when all of us will be standing on the brink of disaster?shall we have time to celebrate the triumph of our diplomats in not 'letting Indian position get compromised'?

As regards the theories that the global warming is not in fact a man made phenomenon..and that the rise in the temperatures might well be a natural trend;My views are exactly similar to THIS(an article by Thomas L. Friedman).

O.W.L.

2009-12-08T21:45:00.009+05:30

Don't I always say that you can follow a lot of bird activity right from your window?Here's a barn owl thats been visiting my hostel for some days now..first pic is from my camera and the other one from google.

As a friend of mine would like to say,

Happy Birding,

P.S.: This reminds me of Hogwarts..Hedwig,the snowy owl..I was such a fan of Harry Potter series ...and Incidentally, i finished my 'muggle- O.W.Ls' today... :D

I Have Fallen in Love.......With My Bike !

2009-11-18T23:28:00.006+05:30

Hmm....

(Its ironic that i am humming...since i so hate to hmm and get hmmed by friends while chatting online..just find it very rude...but right now,no better starting line is coming to my mind..)

So anyway,in the past 2 weeks i have wanted to write about so many things..Typically,the ideas would come to my mind on that stretch of Karve road from the flyover to Garware circle.But somehow,by the time i would come back to hostel after a long hard(?!) day,i would no more remain enthu about those ideas..

Just want to make a mention of the fact that i am finally falling in love with motorcycles.

As I have always admitted to those who think that i am a biker girl,I never really was 'crazy' about bikes and biking.. Sure,i have always liked to ride geared two-wheelers and have been riding them since i was in junior college...But it was more for the thrill that i used to derive of the fact that being a thin,5 ft 2incher(is that even a word ? :S) is no hindrance for somebody who wants to ride bikes..plus,i would be considered cool by people for being 'unconventional'..(at least many of the friends did...dunno about those who must have laughed at my initial skids and falls and blamed it on my being a girl...as if boys never fall off their bikes!) ..but it was never the case that i 'loved' bikes...

As i would have liked to point out to those will-wishers who admire my biking because they think that I am helping break the stereotypes,I have never been a feminist and as far as i can see,will never be..

There was an era when feminism was relevant but I dont think its now...at least not in the environment where i have been brought up..So it makes me sad when somebody thinks that I ride a bike because i want to prove the girls=boys theory..

If there's anyone i want to prove myself to,then its me and only me..my father was a very enthusiastic adventurer(he still is) and biker in his college days and when i asked him for a two-wheeler after my junior college days were over,he would not let me ride anything less than a motorcycle...and thats how my biking started...

It was he who insisted on me learning to ride a bike when i was in 11th..that time i rode because i wanted to prove myself that i could do it..when he asked me to ride an unicorn in the chaotic pune traffic,i first thought that it was a ridiculous idea...I mean,i now knew that i could handle bikes and therefore, saw no point in maneuvering this bulky vehicle on the narrow densely populated roads..i didn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore..But i still agreed coz i I didnt want my father to think that i am not so passionate about bikes as he is...in any case,i never had any misgivings about bikes per se...so unicorn or activa,made no real difference..

and thats how and why i have been riding my bike for the last 2 n a half years..I m very happy to admit that I simply love my bike nowadays..i love the power that its 150cc provide...I love to rev it up on highways....I love its pick up when the signal goes green..i love its sound(though most guys would crib that unicorn doesnt make any noise)...I just love my daily ride to college..its just me isolated inside my helmet and when the traffic is low,i can't resist speeding up insanely...Unicorn is a smooth ride,indeed!..the suspension is really cool...being able to overtake other bikers is fun too !!..and it makes me eligible to go for the road trips with my photography enthusiast friends...rides to pawana,panshet,nasrapur,aurangabad,talegaon have joyful memories..Hoping to do even more in the future!

Unlike before,i really feel like knowing the technical details of my bike..unlike before,i dont give my bike to 'pashankar auto' every time there's a small nut to be tightened,a valve to be checked..i now want to do it all myself....and sometimes,i do end up doing it with bits of success ! Unlike before,i find myself checking out all sorts of bikes that i come across on roads or college..i even find myself googling the bike images and reading Bike A vs Bike B reviews!

Glad to be riding a motorcycle.Thanks a Lot,Dad.and Thanks,to all the friends,who always told me that what i was doing was cool.

(Yes,i do call my father 'baba'...just that it doesnt fit in the english lingo here...and im not the one to stick to unnecessary marathism...)

I 'likes' it

2009-11-08T01:01:00.003+05:30

Had my first ever ride on a bullet..Had fun.i dont claim to be knowledgeable about bikes,so i wont wirte more.Just that i had a good time riding a bullet!

Pinky Blues

2009-10-30T08:53:00.007+05:30

Was lucky to have my camera with me to capture what you see below..

As a friend of mine would have put it,'The Most Masculine Bike in the Town-Not'..(yeah yeah,i copied your line..don't fret now..)

Brings to mind a few questions:

1)Do guys actually hate pink and hence say so?or is it the case that saying that 'Pink?seriously, ..pink?but thats so gay!' leads them to believe that they really hate pink..

2)do i like pink?

3)If i like pink,then things are simpler...But if i don't,then whats the reason?is it because my genes dictate me not to like it or is it because i think that liking pink will contradict my so called tomboyish image and hence my brain has been trained to say no to pink..

I am confused..i think i don't mind pink tees...but a pink colored handset?No...Pink colored shoes?No..

Now I also have guy-friends who carry pink without any hangups..and since life is a lot simpler for such people, the post is not for them..

4)at the other end of the spectrum,what about the guy who owns the aforementioned bullet?does he really like pink?or might it be the case that he doesnt like pink,but has still painted his bike by that color to project the so-called metro sexual image?to tell the world,'here's a guy who wants to break away from the stereotype?'..and which guy would girls rather prefer?

someone who sticks to the stereotypes because he is afraid to think unconventionally?or someone who breaks away from the traditional behaviour but turns into a hypocrite in doing so,coz deep down in his heart, he doesnt really mean what he says??

Titleless # 2

2009-10-22T02:09:00.008+05:30

( Click here to read 'Titleless #1' )

Titleless #2 :

For some time now, I have been meaning to write why i do not prefer to wear branded clothes..and how i like my Action trekking shoes better than the Reebok ones...

But a far more interesting thing happened to me recently...Though i didn't have a watch to confirm this(and my cellphone had died away due to battery discharge..and, since i am a hostelite,i do away with the wall-clocks..),i would hazard a guess of around 2 a.m. as far as the time parameter is concerned..

So at an approximate time of around 2 a.m....no wait,I am not sure if i can approximate an approximation..so at an approximate time of 2 a.m. ,i felt a throbbing sensation in the right part of my brain..right as in left-right;not wrong-right...so i felt a throbbing sensation in the right part of my brain...Thinking of it as a prelude to some upcoming dream/nightmare,i tensed with attention..or at least i thought that i tensed with attention..or was i already dreaming and the thought that i had tensed with attention was a part of that dream?

Just as I was contemplating the possibilities of thinking of a dream and of dreaming of a thought,i suddenly remembered Varad(the geek-guru) talking about infinitely recursive stacks of dreams a few days back..what was it that he had said about them?A dreamer dreaming that he is dreaming a dream in which he is dreaming the very same dream and so on till infinity...is that what he had said?Again,i wasn't sure as Varad always seems to speak a lot of incomprehensible stuff about lots of incomprehensible things..just yesterday,he was arguing about who would be the older person between a woman born in 1976and her husband born in 1978...he went on to prove that the husband was after all the older person among the two ...

So the point is,in my one-third dreamy,half-asleep,one-eighth conscious and remaining one-by-twenty- forth trying to figure out if it was dreamy,asleep,conscious or trying to figure out whatever it was trying to figure out state,i couldn't remember Varad's exact words about the infinitely recursive stacks of dreams...

At this precise moment,i felt that my mind has become disembodied..I could actually see myself from an outsiders' point of view...and i still wondered if this is for real or is it all a part of the dream or is it unreal but unrelated with the dream....

But what i remember most clearly about it all are the sinking thoughts in my muddled brain just before i finally drifted off to a sound sleep-all i was thinking of at that moment was whether this disembodiment experience would make for a nice blog post on the blogger...I am not lying..its true..

and hence all this trouble...

P.S:Now you know what sort of posts can get published if one is reading Douglas Adams for 3 days in a row,listening to Varad in the classroom and working on a power point presentation at 2.30 in the morning...

So long guys,I am off to sleep.

Rise of Low-Rise

2009-10-14T10:43:00.007+05:30

I had gone shopping with my mother yesterday..not having found the kind of trousers i had wanted,i came back home a frustrated soul..not so much for the time spent getting stuck in the traffic and then for having to walk through that absolutely chaotic crowd,but for having witnessed the paucity of stores selling my favourite mid-rise kind of jeans..

they all want to sell low-rise/low-waist jeans coz that's what the public demands..while i have nothing personal against these species of jeans,i am annoyed at the fact that stores today are reluctant to cater to the needs of people like me...

i generally look out for the kind of clothing that is good-looking as well as comfortable enough to be worn while running,bending,climbing trees,walls etc..i have tried low waists but felt irritated because they would restrict my movements...plus for reasons unknown to me,i found the idea of the thong showing up ludicrous...i look at the guys wearing baggy jeans-i see them pulling at their trousers every now and then..and i can't help thinking to myself,'look,they are so stupid..'..i don't understand the point in wearing something that makes you feel conscious all the time..

may be i didn't search hard enough...but the sight of those short zippered pair of pants was ridiculous..i mean,its so damn uncomfortable...

i don't know what i am so charged up about..we all want to look fit n sexy..i admit even i have and will compromise comfort for the sake of looks on a few occasions..
may be it was just the traffic....

A Timely Toast

2009-10-06T23:29:00.003+05:30

Today was not hectic enough to induce sleep in my eyes ..To make matters worse,i have no pending work to be completed through the night..(this doesn't indicate a lack of deadlines..it only means that either the deadlines are far away and its safe to relax for the time being or there's nothing i can do to save my ass,so i might as well choose to not think about it..)..

Have you noticed that lately,most of my posts are about my traveling experiences,photography or information gathering?..Now that i think upon it,somewhere in my mind,i am glad to see the lack of philosophies,analyses,dilemmas,emotions and such other entities in my writings(which inevitable reflect my thoughts..)

I didn't believe in the saying ,'time changes everything' till the time came when i started noticing just how much i, myself have changed in the past many years..

I want to dedicate this post to time..

For the blessed times of childhood..those years when my only cares in the world would be- how to top the class(primary and secondary school),how to make more runs in the gully cricket matches played with colonial(?!pun intended) boys and how to win the baseball & football match played every Saturday in my gymnastics class(secondary school),how not to get scolded and caught by parents for watching MTV and other non-educational channels during the study hours(higher secondary school..i.e.junior high school..)...

Junior college/high school days were heady..its the time i have mixed feelings for..its the time when the world around you forces you to make choices as to what profession it is that you want to dedicate your life to..not taking into consideration the fact,that at that point of the life,you hardly have any practical,real knowledge of any field that you might want to opt for..nor do you have any inkling of where your capabilities and likings are inclined..

umm..okay,..i haven't been precise here.. some of us do have 'some' idea as to what they are meant to do in their lives,...some of us are smart and intelligent enough to have figured it out in its entirety by the time they are 15-16..some of us are lucky as they believe that what their parents choose for them is the best choice for them....

At 16,I was too dumb,arrogant,egoistic and overconfident to fall into the above mentioned categories...

Those were the days of not knowing where your classroom lies since your college lecturers do not teach that well inside the college premises and so you end up going to college only for practicals and paying thousands of rupees to study in well furbished, A.C. rooms where those same college lecturers deliver their duly paid,neat and thoroughly prepared lectures through a microphone.. days of constant studying for weekly and monthly 'tests' because you are constantly reminded of the 'rat race' that you are going to have to face if its a medicine or engineering degree that you want..days of celebrating all friends' B'days as if that was going to be their last ever B'day...days of rigorous orkutting..days of direct and indirect romantic encounters..days of fantasies..days of dreams...days of stresses..days of lies spoken under the pretext of justifications that nobody but the self understands(not that the justifications had any basis..only at that time,they used to look perfectly plausible)...and of course,nights spent wondering whether what i was aiming at was right for me...

Then came the drop year for me..the year when i decided to change tracks...this was a year of learning,depression,love,mistakes,failure,success,doing entirely new things and well,invaluable life experiences..there's so much that happened in this year that i can't put it in limited words..

The engineering college days started 2 years ago..

I wouldn't have been the person i am today had it not been for the college that i am currently studying in..and by that,i mean to talk more about the people i met here,than the institute itself..

Life in the college and hostel taught me to be more open,tolerant,acceptable,polite,social,flexible than i have ever been..most of all,it has taught me that if we want to attain happiness and success,there's not alternative to hard work and a balanced,humble brain..When I look at my friends,colleagues and seniors ,my narcissism and arrogance are shed..Now,i can claim to know at least partially,what friendship is,what love is...its only when i left home for education,that i realised just how important my family is for me..here in college,i learnt the power of silence..

Here in college,i faced my contradictions and confusions..and also learnt that sometimes,its better to just let go..that not everything has an ultimate answer..and that over thinking can sometimes be useless and harmful...

well well...the clock says i have blabbered for a long enough time..I can now hope to be lost in a dreamless slumber..

If at all a dream comes along,I want it to be about the mountains..the only steady thing in my life..my identity,my escape,my mostly everything..

P.S.:Facts mentioned above are strictly personal.. At no point do I mean to say that they are representative of what people my age experience..

Numbers

2009-09-17T19:41:00.004+05:30

A couple of weeks back,I had been trying to measure the mileage of my now old-n-rusting-bike..why i say 'trying' is because , after each fuel refilling session,I'd reset the trip meter and go on with my activities only to find 2-3 days later that the it had been set to zero once again sometime through the previous night or may be during the college hours by those wonderfully jobless souls...

I could have done my job using the odometer also,but my brain is so lazy that it can never remember the numbers on the odometer for more than half an hour...

Anyway,the lowly figure of 40km/litre that i managed to extract after a while is not the point of this post ...a couple of days back when i was wondering why is it that i can't remember the numbers on the odometer(as if i didn't have better things to do in the middle of a mid-semester exam..),i started listing all those numbers that i deal with on an almost daily basis..and well,right now,just a few hours after a gruelling session with yet another set of numbers and equations(i had Digital Signal Processing paper today),i really don't have anything great on my mind..so i might as well pen down my list...

Here it goes:

1)Number of seconds remaining for the green of the traffic signal to get illuminated..When you are looking at those numbers on the LED countdown timer,time seems to pass a bit faster..

2)Plate number of the vehicle in front of me..(its ironic that at times,i forget the registration number of my own vehicle..such revelations occur when you are buying a parking ticket at McD and are asked your gadi ka number and you have to go back (embarrassed and all) to the place you parked your bike to check it..

3)Downloading speed of my internet connection..

4)Speed of running on the treadmill in my gym.

5)Channel numbers of WB Movies,Natgeo,discovery,Zee Studio,HBO,CNN-IBN,NDTV,MTV,Travel & Living..(now you know what i like watching on TV..)

6)Room numbers of hostel friends..considering there are 200 girls(3/room) and the fact that i consider myself a friendly person,its not a small figure..

7)The amount of free space remaining on my external hard-disc,flash drive and the space allocated to the partitions on my windows and ubuntu OS..

8)Monthly expenses(well,i don't check this figure that accurately :P)

9)Costs on the menu card in any restaurant...

10)Number of pages from the local author's book to be studied a day before the notorious 10 marks quizzes/mid-sem/end-sem..

11)Temperature and humidity on the google widget on my igoogle page..

12)Line number of the error in the compiled C code..

13)Max. load bearing capacity of the climbing equipments..

14)In the school/junior college days,there used to be these unforgettable numbers called Avogadro's number,Planck's constant,Stephen-Boltzmann constant,Bohr radius,etc..

15)Shutter speed and size of the aperture of my camera..

16)Numbers on the calendar..especially when there's a long holiday and a common off is anticipated..

17)Model number of various electronic devices(mobile handset,laptop,ipod,digital cameras by different companies)

18)Screen size of the laptop/TV-this number is tricky..i really have a hard time remembering the exact values of these numbers...i am always an inch or two off...

19)IP addresses...(especially, 10.1.101.150..port 3128...that's the IP id we all use to check our emails during lab hours :P )

Well that was my list..I might have left out some numbers...can you make any additions?

Joshi's Museum of Miniature Railways.

2009-09-06T15:08:00.010+05:30

I have been staying in the karvenagar area of Pune for an year now.And all this time, iwas entirely unaware of this particular museum that is located at a minute's distance from my place.

i paid a visit to the museum yesterday,and oh boy,what a delight it was to watch the display of an array of miniature models of railways...Not only that,i also attended a 15-mins show(pictures of which follow this piece of text),which aims at showcasing the variety of railways that operate all over the world, in different geographical regions for different purposes..The layout was an excellent example of model building..

The technical ( architecture , civil , mechanical ,electrical ,electronic ,computer ,chemical , lighting,etc) expertise was just amazing...

Mr.B.S.Joshi(Bhau Joshi),who is the originator of this idea,founded the museum in order to instill the spirit of scientific and technical tinkering among the budding engineers and the youth..it was his early interest in modeling trains that led to his mechanical expertise and enabled him to establish his own factory..This was a hobby, which demanded knowledge from all sides of science...

I opted for Marathi commentary during the show(though next time,i want to try out the English commentary..i guess the story they choose as a background must be different and setting would be European..)..The commentry runs in the form of a conversation between a Rakshas and a kid..(NO,THE SHOW IS NOT ONLY FOR CHILDREN..IT WAS AS INFORMATIVE FOR THE ADULTS AS WAS ENJOYABLE FOR THE KIDS..).The entire imaginary city is controlled by a network of 1000 wires arising from a panel..The model is beautifully made and the presence of Steam trains, Diesel engines, High speed Inter City Express, Underground train, Trolley bus, Rope Railway, Funicular Railway, Wuppertal Hanging Railway,Ghat section with reversing station for steam trains,Two lane Highway with moving cars,Fairground with a circus which has changing shows, a ferris wheel, merry-go-round, Roller coaster, a toy train and a lot of similar attractions, all with sound effects,Swimming pool with people actually swimming in it,Restaurant, which goes up and down a tower,Drive in theatre Fire engine which actually puts out a fire,ensure that nothing is left out diring the demonstration..It was a very nice show and i suggest you pay a visit,if you haven't already..

Official website of the museum:Here.

Now,the photographs..

Entrance passage to the show-hall.

The model of the imaginary city.

The circus.

The ghats

The climbers

Brighton Theatre:

the hanging railway

The night time views of the city:

She opearated the panel.

Models in the showcase.

Photshoot at NDA

2009-09-01T18:33:00.019+05:30

30th August,2009,Sunday:
Had an excellent photo shoot at NDA...I was awed and awed..
The campus,layout,buildings,atmosphere...it was all magnificent..
Located among the picturesque Sahyadri hills,it feels only apt that the huge establishment stands in the foreground to the lovely Sinhagad fort-the hunting ground of Chhatrapati Shivaji..
Green colors all around,blue-n-grey skies,multi-shaped clouds,wet black tar roads,mind blowing structures,tanks,ships and anti aircraft missiles(used in the wars) on display,panoremic views from the Khadakwasla lake..perfect setting for any photography enthusiast..As it happened,there were two photographers in our group(i.e.if you'd be so kind as to call me a photographer :D)

Thanks Monal,for showing us around so well and thanks Sumeet,for bringing us the opportunity to visit the academy and your photography tips!

..Below is the photo stream..Find complete album here.

Air Force Training Team (AFTT)

The runway:

DCC Monal,our guide:

Equitation Centre:

The ship used in the 1971 war:

The mess:

Cafe:

squan M(Mikes)-Anteroom:

Peacock bay-Khadakwasla lake:

Sinhagad Viewed from the water sports centre:

Mock ship:

Navy classrooms:

Passing out Parade(POP)ground:

Param Veer Chakra recipient Manoj Pandey Block:

Sudan Block:The building is named after the African republic which gifted a hundred thousand pounds in 1941 for the construction of a suitable war memorial, in grateful recognition and commemoration of the gallantry and sacrifices of Indian troops in the defence of Sudan in WWII.
The Sudan block is the nerve center of the NDA and houses the main administrative blocks in addition to the Departments of English, Hindi, History, Mathematics Foreign languages.

Near Sudan Block:

View From the top step of Sudan Block:

Inside Sudan Block:Sons of the NDA, the bravest of the brave, eternally sequestered within frames of gold-rimmed portraits adorn these hallowed walls;

All pictures(except this one) clicked on this camera:

City of Gates-Aurangabad

2009-08-19T09:09:00.019+05:30

My hometown-Aurangabad,named after the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb,happens to be a very historic place.The city was founded in 1610 A.D. by Malik Amber, the Prime Minister of Murtaza Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar, on the site of the village called Khirki.

It was ravaged and burnt down in 1621 by the imperial troops under Shah Jahan. Fateh Khan, son of Malik Amber changed the name of Khirki to Fatehnagar.
In 1633, when Prince Aurangzeb was appointed the Viceroy of the Deccan for the second time, he made Fatehnagar his Capital and called it Aurangabad.

It was ravaged and burnt down in 1621 by the imperial troops under Shah Jahan. Fateh Khan, son of Malik Amber changed the name of Khirki to Fatehnagar.

In 1633, when Prince Aurangzeb was appointed the Viceroy of the Deccan for the second time, he made Fatehnagar his Capital and called it Aurangabad.

Also known as the 'City of Gates',it had 52 gates not a very long time ago.These gates served as points of revenue collection while entering the town and were also used for surveillance purpose.Out of 52 ,only 19/20 survive today..a few of them in a very dilapidated condition..

In my swiney vacation,i located 19 of these gates and photographed them.The hunt for the gates did not prove as difficult as i had expected it to be..wikipedia,wikimapia and one old map preserved by my mother(she is a history buff) were all that was needed..I took my best friend-Nehali along,and together,we rode in the old part of the city and completed our task.It was fun,exploring the parts of city i have rarely had reason to go into...not that it was very eye catching or anything..but the whole experience was satisfying..Navigation using a map,standing atop the ancient darwazas et al..

I could not find out names of last 3 gates..Plus,a history proff told me that Dargah gate,unlike others, is not among the medieval gates of Aurangabad..These 2 points need to be looked after.

Won't keep you longer,here are the photographs:

1.Makai gate

2.Bhadkal Gate:This gate is the biggest gate of city. It was built by Malik Ambar. It was built in memory of victory against the Mughals in 1612. It is also known as victory gate

3.Paithan Gate:The way to Paithan goes though this gate.Hence the name.

4.Barapulla Gate:

5.Mahmood Gate:

6.Naubat Darwaza:

7.Kille ark i.e.Kaala Darwaza:

8.Rangeen Darwaza:

9.Subsidiary of Rangeen Darwaza:

10.Delhi Gate:Beyond this gate,lies the way to Delhi.

11.Roshan Gate:

12.Jaffar Gate:

13.Khaas Gate:Most dilapited among all..Didn't fancy much clicking this picture..just a minute ago,a man had relieved himself at the gate..The gate has now become a garbage dumping place.

14.Katkat Gate/Islam Darwaza:

15.Khusro Gate:

16.Dargah Gate:

17.ID?-near Baijipura

18:Id?

19:People call it Noor gate..it might be Buland gate,in fact..I am not sure.