Rant 97: We're on Facebook!

At long last, I have taken the leap and created a facebook page for the photos that I take and love. If you're of a generous disposition (!) then please do take the time and have a look around.
I have been taking pictures as a very serious hobby and passion for the last six years and I hope to continue that for the rest of my life. I will try and post at least one photo a day (hopefully more) and I do hope everyone enjoys them as much as I have enjoyed taking them.
These photos are to view and enjoy. If they do catch your fancy beyond the usual, and you would like to purchase a high-quality version - digital or print - please do get in touch via the Facebook page, and I will be happy to oblige!

The Archaeological Park in New Delhi has some fascinating sights to behold. But for these kids, a swimming and diving session into a Mughal-era pool was all they wanted! It is true the best things in life are, quite simply, free!

Rant 90: Turn the page

I was struggling to find a way to incorporate all the stories I've had so far since I came to the UK last year in September... I suppose you will have to make do with this for now
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Rant 83: What is real beauty?

Beauty is a grey area...there is no black and white...or is there? Maybe India has a few answers to the questions of absolute beauty that my camera and I have been searching for.

Real Beauty is...

...our religious uniqueness?

...our History, as fresh as the flora that adorns it?

...the adventures of a middle-class upbringing?

...the value of simple memories?

...perhaps of a simple meal?

...our resourcefulness?

...enshrined in a fundamental right?

...the power to take a stand against injustice?

...the joys of a national passion?

...the joy of losing yourself in the moment?

...perhaps it is the realisation that the search for answers is endless?

Rant 78: The not-so-great divide

Nowhere could the phrase "Getting in touch with nature" be more literal than at Ross Island - part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and erstwhile British East India capital for this archipelago.


Clearly, man is meant to go back to his roots here...as the Britishers' presbyterian church probably found out ages ago.

Rant 76: Not quite cheating...but not quite a Picasso!

Thankfully, I've been able to hack out plenty of leaves in the last few weeks and despite the initial joy when I wake up in the morning that I don't have to go to work, it gets quite boring towards the evenings. Hence, I've been getting on my bike and just heading off to the nearby beaches. Been experimenting with some slow-shutter speeds (like 30 seconds, and it can give some lovely effects and some lovely disasters as well!!)
anyways, in keeping with the trend of doing some post-production learning as well, I picked up this cool trick that lets me convert my photos into a painting. And while I understand that this type probably has little real-world application, it can definitely come of use in graphic design and the like. Additionally, I also picked up a lovely way to ease my post-production for the future.
Basically effects like the one you can see above involve several steps, and four filters with numerous little adjustments in each. So, in order that I don't have to keep going back to my tutorial every time, Photoshop lets me "record" all the steps that I take, and the next time I want to apply that effect, I can just use a self-assigned keyboard shortcut and voila! I have auto pilot doing things for me!
Back to the pic itself, of course, it's a first time for me on this effect, but it does look fairly painting-esque don't you think?
and here's the original

Rant 74: Steeped in Sepia

Next up for a bit of Post-Production mayhem...ladies and gents, I present to you, my friend Vinod!
This picture was taken - like this one - along the return journey during a trip to Chikmagalur.
Now the editing on this one is not done with the "quick-fix" method of pre-installed Filters that Photoshop provides. Instead, I've used Adjustment Layers (Hue/Saturation and Black/White) to get absolute control over which colours I want in their original state and which I want with the Sepia touch.
Sepia for me represents a sombre mood, and I'm trying to steer clear of using action shots for this kind of editing.
And if you want to see what a difference this method can make, I give you the original photo below.

Rant 73: One day to learn life

One day...that's all it takes to make you feel like new person. One day...that's all it takes for you to get perspective on your problems and frustrations. One day...that's all it took for me to realise life ain't all that much to lose my mind over.
One day and a 256 Kms round trip...that's exactly how long it took.
My buddy Yashpal and I hacked out a trip to Sakleshpur, a place in the Western Ghats, within 10 minutes on Saturday and the very next day at 5:30am, we were ready to go! "La Poderosa" (the Mighty One!) aka my motorcycle was ready and waiting.
True to our own tardy selves, though, we were only able to reach the highway proper by 6:30. However, we were still able to catch a glorious sunrise and the buildup towards a "bright" day.
A few kms outside of Mangalore city limits, we stopped at an elevated road to catch a glimpse of the image on your right. And some distance after that, the sight was akin to what religious nuts call heaven...I mean, it gave you the feeling that whether there actually is one or not, sights like these are good enough for humans to live in hope, which I concede is not a bad thing at all.
We got ourselves some breakfast and continued.
Despite the point of this trip being not the destination but the ride itself - meaning we made several pit stops for pictures and such - I think we made pretty good time.
Soon enough, we were coming towards our first glimpse of the proper Western Ghats, and this was as daunting a sight as I've ever seen. The hill, standing tall, telling you that "boss! you humans have fucked up the planet good, but you can't fuck with my species"
Sure enough, during the initial climb we were given a damn good example of why we should know our limits when tackling the hills. No doubt left in our minds as to how we should play this. If this huge hunk of metal fell prey to the dangers of the hill curves, then our two wheeler was at even greater risk.
It was not all gloom and doom though. The ghats here are famous for small and big waterfalls which provide a helpful respite from the day's wanderings and we too stopped for a breather.
The water was brilliant, cold and refreshing to the core. We also did the usual posing for pictures, while I also tried my hand at some slow-shutter speed snapping, trying to give the stream a smooth-flow effect.
Dunno how well that worked out but there you go.
Then began the real test of our trip. The really screwed up roads of Karnataka. All you people who've ever wished to walk on the moon (not the Michael Jackson style...the one with actual rockets), look no further than the ghat roads to practice your moon buggy tricks.
There aren't any potholes here, because they're all huge enough to be upgraded to the crater category!
Anyways, Yashpal came up with the brilliant analogy of how best to deal with the frustration of riding through the fucked up roads.
"Don't get frustrated, think of this entire trip as life itself. The initial stages were good, smooth roads, cool air, nice views. There will be bad stages in the middle, potholes, craters, but if you keep the ultimate goal in mind, i.e. destination then these holes will seem minor."
I don't care a lot about the destination that we reached (except they have these things being sold at various points of the entrance), but if the point of wading through all those craters was so that we could get the chance to see this, then I am willing to take up the offer of taking a moon buggy through these ghats any day of the week.
Pics below were seen on the return journey actually but well worth stopping amid heavy traffic on a curve with a slight drizzle falling.

Thanks babe!

Rant 58: reaching for the skies

Someday we will be able to harness this power to its full extent

and...

...FLY

Rant 57: A journey of a 1000 Pillars

Moodabidri, around 35kms from Mangalore is quite renowned for this 1000 pillared Jain temple (also referred to as a Basadi).
An interesting place I say. Though I should add that I reached there in the worst possible time, NOON! It is by far the worst time to take pictures. Still hope you like them

The temple

The Pillars

Beyond the hallowed gateway lies....

this statue....

and this

Lets not forget the Elephant in the room...or is it two?

 

All hail the great Jain prophet, Sri whats-his-name!

Rant 56: The Desert Diaries P3: Taking notes

Apologies for the break in field notes updates. I was, in fact, a bit bored of giving chronological accounts of my holiday here and was taking time to observe Kuwaiti life a little more carefully. My previous three visits to this country were pretty much about the awesome food, the fast cars and the pretty women. So on this particular visit, I hope to have acquired more than details of the afore mentioned superficial aspects. Here goes. (Here are Part 1 and Part 2 of this series)

First up, since my folks are doctors and are employed by two different hospitals here, I managed to get a guided tour of one. This one is the Al Orf hospital (no it’s not Scooby Doo saying “wharf”!) where mom works. I could, of course, have also visited my dad’s employers, but that would have entailed me waking up at the unearthly hour of 6am (sigh! Holiday sleep is a bitch, what to do!). Nevertheless, I was given the full tour by mom, of what is purportedly one of the “low budget” hospitals here; low budget compared to the other hospitals I mean. Once you have a look around…

You realize, that perhaps even Apollo or Escorts will be hard-pressed to find the funds for such extravagant care. The rooms all have an ante room, complete with couches, coffee tables, LCD TVs, DVD players, you know, all the things you need when your loved one is dying from cancer. Oh and they have a bed for the patient too! Seriously though, you wouldn’t be blamed if you mistook this establishment (or any like this all over Kuwait) for a hotel instead of a hospital.

Anybody call for a Bell-Hop???

Secondly, Supermarkets. Now, I know India is developing in that area. Gone are the days when Sharma aunty’s monthly groceries were bought from either the Sunday haat or Nathu’s big store (helped by an overpowering rice+wheat smell, combined with odour from five overworked helpers). We now choose to have our already dead vegetables subjected to the autopsy of a barcode beeper (my name for it) which shoots a red laser into the critter’s ass, forcing it to reveal its price. Putting aside the fact that I adored Sunday haat sellers for being able to memorise purchase details for every single customer thronging the stall, I do believe that supermarkets here (talking about Kuwait now) are miles above our desi ones, as I believe, most “americanised” marts are. From TV sets, to washing machines, to frickin bicycles, you can pretty much buy it all! And I wanted to photograph them all. However, owing to a grumpy looking security dude standing next to the electronics section of this place, I was only able to grab snaps of two commonly placed items from this mart.

Here fishy fishy...aww poor fishy fishy!

and then there was milk....rows and rows of it!!

 Next up, the people of this fine country. Ladies first…my word! Such beauty…past compare (to quote the melodious Bianca Castafiore). I only regret that the women here choose to put on so much of make-up. I mean, it’s one thing to apply a slight blush mark, quite another to seem like you just came out of an obscure, dangerous medieval ritual where a spiked rod, full 4 inches in circumference, was poked through your cheeks, leaving you looking like Heath Ledger’s Joker after a make-over (you wanna know how I got these blushes??? …err maybe not). But all in all, yes, the women look absolutely gorgeous. I know someone at work who has completely given up on Indian women after only a year in the UK, and for once, I have to say, he may just be right. Keep up the good work ladies!!!

On the other side of the gender spectrum, the males tend to exhibit various idiosyncrasies. They all hold their mobiles in their hands as they walk, well mostly the ones with the flashy ones. I’m not going to jump to conclusions, or draw stereotypes. I’m just a spectator. Most of the dress sense here is – for want of a better word – metrosexual. No more on that. Plus, what is up with all the cheek kissing as a form of greeting. I’m going, guys get a room, seriously! A typical scene might go something like this. Five guys, each of whom manages to dress in the full rainbow colours spectrum, strutting around (mostly malls), holding PDAs in their hands (which 15 year old needs a fucking PDA I ask you???), and hair straightened. The obvious attempt is to look cool, which, in my eyes, takes a downhill direction the moment another group of guys walks up to them. And then the cheek kissing begins. Now, I’m not a homophobe or anything. But seriously, I’m ok with a guy and a girl doing that, seems polite (not to mention, two amazing arab women doing that…even more amazing!!) but this is a little too much for me. So without delving too much on that…

Of course, if you ever come across one of these,

you feel like going, GET ME OUT OF HERE! (celebrity or not mind you!!)

Enjoy the rest of the pics

The profession the country was founded upon...now a national pastime

Let’s hope this is not a national pastime as well

 

Sunset at Safat