Photography

Commonly Different

Word Cache, , , ,

Notes that i pick up on the street usually have held my attention. Here is an earlier example! And here are a few more. Some messages stun you by all the power punch that they pack ! Others leave you squirming with all what they lack !


Whether they pack or lack, it gives me a strange pleasure to look at these messages, absorb and perhaps let go of a smirk. Or laughter. In disbelief / anger / joy / muted feeling etc etc. I keep clicking pictures of them, and here are a few.

Now, these appear different to me ! The other day wife tole me, with a straight face and a serious undertone, the commonest of things appear different to you !’ I gave her a long hard gaze. And just as i was going to say something, she realised that she didn’t have to look further to understand ‘b-o-o-m-e-r-a-n-g’ !

So here are a few apparently common sights, that appear…well..er…slightly different to me. I leave it to you, the reader, to plough on. And may be chip in with what you think, i was thinking !!

Image : 1
Coin ‘problem’ !

Image 2 :
Message for the times that we live in ! Inadvertent, i presume

Clicked at Mahabaleshwar
Oct ’08

Image 3 :
Made in China extends to Thali now ! Hmm

Clicked at Mahabaleshwar
Oct ’08
Image 4 :
Ok. What say ?

Clicked at Mahabaleshwar
Oct ’08

Image 5:
Is this an ‘Upside Down View’ or
Is this what is called ‘Overview of the city?”

And if you are wondering…the picture is indeed attached correctly !

Clicked on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg, Kanjurmarg,
Today

Common ? Different ? Commonly different ? Differently common ?

What ?

My own audacity of hope !

Word Cache, , , ,
We too, in the apartment complex where we live in, lit a candle in the memory of all those who lost their lives in 26/11. Every neighbourhood worth its square feet rate has done some kind of protest. A peace march. Or some candles lit.

And a minute of silence. In our case it was two. Etc.

When the notice board bore this message, a mixed emotion prevailed in me ! Of both relief that we live in some kind of a ‘Housing Society’ and a groan that it would be the some candles being lit and chatter about the plumbing system needing overhauling.


In the mood for some action, [Concrete Action ], as against Symbolic rituals, as i have been telling friends and whoever who has cared to listen / read. i reluctantly did go. Lit a candle. Said a prayer. And clicked some snaps and here they are.

Honestly, it wasn’t all that bad.

Well, uncles and aunties chatted up. About the plumber, the electrician and the builder. About the economy, jobs and the share market. About bad gym equipment , paint schemes and the like. The children played. Ran around. And some stuck to their parents.

All this, until it was time to light the candles. That was when everybody went ultra quiet. There was some kind of an indescribable collective energy at that point.


Post the program as people were moving away, i was privy to some conversations. Just as they were happening aside, and my alert ears caught parts of them. Three are here.

A young boy asked his mom, in all his innocence and babble, ‘ will they be afraid of all of these candles and stop coming here’, well, the mother had to answer him.

And an old man walked past me, he said with a quiver in his voice, ‘we must not stop with this’. And the young man walking alongside asked, ‘So what do you think we should do?’ I couldn’t hear the answer. But i guess he had to answer him.

And there was this kid, with ‘GI Joe’ written on his T-shirt walk up to his dad, and ask, ‘can i join the Indian army’. I guess the dad had some answers to give.

So, in that silence, punctuated by children playing in a far background, it seemed to me like the thoughts were with what happened to us a week back.

In some time, people started leaving, the candles were flickering away to their ends. I lingered around , wandering about & hoping that our seeking answers and change didn’t stop with lighting a candle and saying a prayer. We need collective strong, steady, pragmatic action. Far beyond lighting a candle and saying a prayer.

And in that collective energy tonight, i think, i saw hope. That somewhere our future will be better than the flicker of the lonely candles.

‘What audacity’ you think ?!? Hmm !

So did i.

A dilettante rants

Word Cache, , ,

I sit in the balcony. Looking at the moving clouds. That’s fast becoming my hobby of sorts. Book in hand, music to suit, a breeze to buffet thought, some home made coffee and of course, the clouds up there.

The clouds take many shapes up there. Of a cauliflower. Of a bathtub. Of a layer of paddy. And as the sun sets behind, the colour adds to all the glamour. It switches from a sepia tone to a crimson red. The building that occupies the foreground stays firm. The coating seems to change though.


I sit there and watch intently. The shape of my life, my times and my future seem to be best exhibited by the clouds up there. These are some snaps from that evening. Sitting at the same spot. Aiming at the same sun. And the same clouds. With the same buildings as the foreground. Time, they say, has many hues !


PS: Special thanks to all those readers who have been urging me to start a separate photo blog. That puts a spring in my step. An amateurish dilettante like me cant ask for more ! A delight to note that people indeed want to have more from me.

Well, that was the thought that i would have liked to raise a toast to. And then, the missus popped a question. ‘Are you sure ?’ Those are tense moments. Its like asking a ransom caller, if he dialled the right number !

‘Perhaps it is just that people have had enough of your writing and out of politeness suggest that you start a photo blog..’

Her voice trails off.

This post ends right here i say !

Images from Cochin

Travel Tales, ,
When you travel for work, but get to see some sights and insights as on-the-house, you cant but thank your stars. I have been doing that for some time now, and thanking my stars as well.

Here are some pictures from Cochin. I am tempted to add, ‘On popular Demand’. But i let it be. These of course are some better pictures !

We stayed very close to water ! A curious water way, which had big ships, small boats and weeds all kissing the surface air & setting the background for cameras like mine ! To add to this, was the setting sun and morning brightness that provided the scope to play with light.

Our travel guide informs us that ‘motor boats’ are banned. And then, hastens to add, that only one type of ‘motor boat’ is allowed. That which runs on ‘an engine that does not damage’the water beings, he says.

I nod my head. He perhaps senses my thoughts. And explains a little more. The camera goes click, click. There is always an exception to the rule.

******

The Sun sets behind the coconut trees. And as he sets, and takes the light along with him, the resplendent glory of ‘what was there’ just a couple of hours before remains. So is the hope of the tomorrow where the same sun on a new day will emerge.

That is nature. And man being part of nature, cant be beyond this ! The days of the past are glorious. So are the days ahead. Possibilities abound. There is light beyond the coconut bearing trees.

*******


Its evening. We ‘business tourists’ settle down with refreshments in hands, two Kathakali artist perform. They perform a story of amorous passion and righteousness. I watch in awe, as the twitch of eyebrows, lips and elaborate movements of the hand, convey so much meaning.

Post the show, i walk upto them, and say, that it was nice and i liked it.

These are weary men, who look up, say ‘thank you’ and carry on with the packing. Unenthused. Either they didn’t care or they were used to such comments. I think its more of the former. After learning an art, you perform for the sake of an ‘illiterate’ audience, for them to ‘appreciate’ your culture, day in and day out, would you care ?

*******


As the sun was kissing its goodbyes to the water, the entire world seemed going crimson ! Perhaps because it was an intimate moment that i was capturing. Me and my delusions refuse to fizzle away.

*******


Am now back in Mumbai. Upon landing here, someone said, ‘its so hot here’. ‘Just like Cochin’.

Carelessly tossing his luggage strap across the shoulder, another replied, ‘its the same sea’ !

The same sea. Yes. But a sea of difference !

Delhi Sightings

Travel Tales, ,
Just back from a trip to Delhi. Another trip. Delhi awes me with its colour, pomp and clean air. Its one of the cleanest of Indian cities. My phone went to work as usual. Clicking the odd snap. Here are a few of them.


The taxi that we took in the morning was resplendent with colour. I kept wondering why there were pictures of the same God many times over. The Gods, they sure must be crazy !!! The Sardar drove with care. That was surprising.

The Indian Habitat Centre is a wonderful place to be in. I am told the movie Rang De Basanti was shot here. It is a good setting. I am told that the place has a lot of Government offices to it. The art galleries were impressive.

The airports seem to be as crowded as never before. With each chair and available floor space taken, passengers chose to sit on the luggage trolley ! Part of the baggage !

But hey, i am back home. And thats the nicest of feelings

Dialing Leela Palace, Bangalore ! Click !

Travel Tales, ,
Been busy. Last week, I was in a workshop. The content of the workshop per se was interesting. It offered a new possibility of working with people and increasing effectiveness. I saw far greater potential in unearthing potential in people. In the long run.


This post is however, about something else. During each break, I was busy clicking photographs of the of Leela Palace, Bangalore. From my mobile phone. ( A Sony Ericson K 750 i). It was a satisfying experience to say the least.

The Leela Palace is a majestic place to look at. And its many contours came alive on my phone. From where I stood I could see the driveway below. And car after car pulled in and pulled out, I saw one man open doors for many a car.


He would salute with all the power that his moustache gave him. It made me wonder if he did it for a living or it was his passion I hardly saw him take a breather. When he did take one, my phone..eh..camera went to work.


This door looked imposing to say the least. Having walked through them many a time, I did not see the sheer structure until this time around. I guess all it takes to see a new picture is a fresh position. So is life !


The manicured greenery was immaculate. The lawn mower was at its noiseless best and the gardner was a nobody as he went about producing his eye-pleasers. ‘Immaculate’ doesn’t come out of nowhere. Someone has to work on it. Someone.


The arranged symmetry of this place caught my fancy. I was reading about “Planned Spontaneity” earlier. Exactly the words that rung in my ear as I saw this seating arrangement.

I liked the way the phone, doubled up as a camera. I guess the eyes were at work, more than the mouth !