I thought of this funny incident this morning and had a strange urge to blog it right away.
During our road trip from Mumbai to Mount Abu (about 750 kms) for 2012 New Year, we stopped at quite a few places (considering I am the only driver and my friend couldn’t resist blowing away 5 Rupees every few hours). As soon as we entered Rajasthan state border, we stopped at a typical village road side tea stop, where they had these nice setup of rope beds for travelers and truckers to take rest by stretching their legs.
My wife and my friend were inside the car and I went to the shop owner and said "Dho Chai please" (Two teas please). And the shop owner who was half-asleep (considering it was about 11pm), asked me casually "Bull?". I, for one, thought he was asking something in Hindi and being SO fluent in the language, gave a blank stare and repeated "Dho Chai please", this time a little slower.
He nodded his head and again asked "Bull?" By then, I was a little frustrated as I was expecting to order the teas quickly and run towards the rope bed since I have seen those only in movies and wanted to try it badly. I asked him "Chai nahi hai kya?" (you don’t have tea?) and he answered "hai na" (Yes, we have!). I said "Ok, then dho chai chaahiyae" (Ok then, we want two teas).
As if saying it for the first time, he then repeated "bull?" I thought "what the fuck" and looked at my sleepy head friend and my wife. Thinking I'm having some kind of small talk, they both didn’t bother. Probably they felt too cozy inside the car or probably having fun at my attempted "Hindi-conversation"!
I looked around for help and the shop owner’s son came for respite. He came and tried explaining the word "Bull" by taking a coffee cup and pointing at the brim of the cup. I had no clue of what he was trying to say.
The rope bed seemed like a distant dream. I took a deep breath and told him "hum ko dho chai chaahiyae, aur kuch nahi" (We want two teas, nothing else). Both of them asked in unison "Bull?" I totally lost it and said "Yes, bull!" out of frustration. They smiled and the shop owner started making the tea.
I couldn’t figure what exactly happened or why I spent so long trying to ask for just tea. By then, my friend got out of the car and we settled in the rope bed. And I explained the "bull" episode to my friend (who by the way speaks Hindi very well) and he said he hasn’t heard of that word either.
Shortly, the shop owner came with two cups, two saucers and a kettle. He gave us both the cups, then the saucers and made sure we held them in the proper 'cup and saucer' fashion. Then he started pouring the tea and when my cup was full, he continued pouring. I said "Yeah, this is fine". He did not listen and continued pouring. By then, the tea was overflowing onto the saucer. I raised my voice and said "yeah, I'm good I'm good Thank you". He didn’t stop until the saucer was full too and one more drop, the tea would have overflown to my pants. And then he stopped and smiled.
He then moved on to my friend and repeated the ritual. He then walked away with satisfaction. Just then, I realized by "Bull", he meant "Full". Oh Fuck! He had been saying something in English all the while. Had I known this, I would have said "Definitely No Bull ". The moment we realized this, we just couldn’t control our laughter. Trying not to offend the shop keeper, we were suppressing the laughter. When you do something like this, you only end up laughing more.
With the tea being piping hot, we knew even the slightest shake would result in our laps ending up with third degree burns, but we were laughing uncontrollably. Finally, I ended up spilling quite a lot of tea on the floor before I could stop laughing. In a way, I made sure the tea was no longer "Bull" before I took my first sip. The tea was unarguably great though.
It was quite an experience and from them on, every single tea shop we stopped, we made sure we didn’t ask for tea or coffee that was ever "Bull" in Rajasthan!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Photography blog..
After much deliberation, I have finally created a Photography blog and the address is http://arunsundarphotography.wordpress.com/
I might end up posting more often in the Photo blog (than here) from now on!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Review of OMR - and a plausible solution!
I have reviewed quite a few subjects in this blog - movies, mobile phones, restaurants, etc. Now, for a change and to vent out big time (or just for the heck of it), I would like to write a review of a famed road in Chennai called OMR, expanded as Old Mahabalipuram Road or otherwise known as IT Expressway.
To begin with, the very fact of the road being called an Expressway is such an irony. It should rather be called a Suicide-way. The road is supposedly a toll road, but shows zero signs of being so. Out of the three lanes the road is designed for, two of them are taken at most places by shops and commuters waiting at bus stops. Motorists are left with just one lane and rarely two, which they fight for with their dear lives.
Government adds oil to the fire by placing barricades every few kilometers. Barricades, in my opinion are placed on roads to control over speeding. With a few million vehicles chugging along bumper to bumper in the rush hour traffic, those freaking barricades only add to the congestion. I can't fathom how difficult is for the Government to realize this simple fact. Least they could do is to remove the damn things and create a little more room in the road.
Two-wheelers, for their part, do their best to wreak havoc in their unique 'i-will-peek-my-nose-into-any-gap-I-see' strategy. And by gap, I mean little wedges that could start from anywhere around 0.5 mm. With all the powerful bikes people could afford, the road becomes nothing short of a race track or even worse, for some more like a road-rage video game.
Most bikers fail to realize what might happen if the truck/car they tail gate so closely attempt to brake. With the kind of brakes two wheelers have and with the very fact of it being a two-wheeler, the rider stands no chance but to rear end the vehicle in front of him and fall flat on the road. Most times while I drive in this road, in addition to fighting through the traffic, I take conscious attempts to save a life or two by keeping distances from such two-wheelers.
Next big things are the buses. When the two-wheelers attempt to maneuver through a gap, the buses follow them closely to try to do the same. What idiots. With their massive size and a masculine horn, they think they rule the road. At every signal light, they diligently drift towards the left and try to get as far as possible. Imagine a 100 buses doing this all at the same time. Rest of the vehicles do nothing but to save themselves from scratching against the sides of the bus or worse, get stuck under their wheels. Makes me think if most of such bus drivers have a license to kill from hell.
In addition, there are these annoying share autos who give a damn about traffic rules, signal lights or worse, the fact that their rear wheels need more room to enter than their front wheel (just like auto-rickshaws across the city). They ship about 20 people where there would be room for only about 7. In the midst of all these, there are call taxis, cycles, pedestrians, dogs, cows, all with one sole aim – to make driving experience a nightmare in this road.
But I’m not someone who just sits and complains. I have thought of a solution that can be a cure to all these problems. One solution that can put an end to all the ordeals that drivers face. I propose there be separate lanes for buses, cars, autos/bikes. More like how the Mount Road in Chennai has service lanes, but wider than that.
But that may just not be enough to keep Chennai drivers under leash. Government should have spikes installed along the white dotted lanes, thereby enforcing people to strictly follow lanes. One should not be able to change lanes without puncturing their own tyres. That’s the only way to stop people from wavering across lanes, thereby inculcating little bit of discipline and road sense in all OMR drivers.
Till something crazy like this is implemented, I’m afraid the road will remain a death trap for years to come, if not worse!
To begin with, the very fact of the road being called an Expressway is such an irony. It should rather be called a Suicide-way. The road is supposedly a toll road, but shows zero signs of being so. Out of the three lanes the road is designed for, two of them are taken at most places by shops and commuters waiting at bus stops. Motorists are left with just one lane and rarely two, which they fight for with their dear lives.
Government adds oil to the fire by placing barricades every few kilometers. Barricades, in my opinion are placed on roads to control over speeding. With a few million vehicles chugging along bumper to bumper in the rush hour traffic, those freaking barricades only add to the congestion. I can't fathom how difficult is for the Government to realize this simple fact. Least they could do is to remove the damn things and create a little more room in the road.
Two-wheelers, for their part, do their best to wreak havoc in their unique 'i-will-peek-my-nose-into-any-gap-I-see' strategy. And by gap, I mean little wedges that could start from anywhere around 0.5 mm. With all the powerful bikes people could afford, the road becomes nothing short of a race track or even worse, for some more like a road-rage video game.
Most bikers fail to realize what might happen if the truck/car they tail gate so closely attempt to brake. With the kind of brakes two wheelers have and with the very fact of it being a two-wheeler, the rider stands no chance but to rear end the vehicle in front of him and fall flat on the road. Most times while I drive in this road, in addition to fighting through the traffic, I take conscious attempts to save a life or two by keeping distances from such two-wheelers.
Next big things are the buses. When the two-wheelers attempt to maneuver through a gap, the buses follow them closely to try to do the same. What idiots. With their massive size and a masculine horn, they think they rule the road. At every signal light, they diligently drift towards the left and try to get as far as possible. Imagine a 100 buses doing this all at the same time. Rest of the vehicles do nothing but to save themselves from scratching against the sides of the bus or worse, get stuck under their wheels. Makes me think if most of such bus drivers have a license to kill from hell.
In addition, there are these annoying share autos who give a damn about traffic rules, signal lights or worse, the fact that their rear wheels need more room to enter than their front wheel (just like auto-rickshaws across the city). They ship about 20 people where there would be room for only about 7. In the midst of all these, there are call taxis, cycles, pedestrians, dogs, cows, all with one sole aim – to make driving experience a nightmare in this road.
But I’m not someone who just sits and complains. I have thought of a solution that can be a cure to all these problems. One solution that can put an end to all the ordeals that drivers face. I propose there be separate lanes for buses, cars, autos/bikes. More like how the Mount Road in Chennai has service lanes, but wider than that.
But that may just not be enough to keep Chennai drivers under leash. Government should have spikes installed along the white dotted lanes, thereby enforcing people to strictly follow lanes. One should not be able to change lanes without puncturing their own tyres. That’s the only way to stop people from wavering across lanes, thereby inculcating little bit of discipline and road sense in all OMR drivers.
Till something crazy like this is implemented, I’m afraid the road will remain a death trap for years to come, if not worse!
Monday, April 11, 2011
City of Mumbai – my first impressions!
After having lived for exactly a week in Mumbai, one lets go of the inertia to write the blogpost about one’s first experiences of the city. Though I got a mix of clearly stated warnings from a few people and exaggerated hype from the others before I moved in, I feel the city has a good combination of both!
My first impression on the city is how the rich and poor co-exist so beautifully. If I consider other cities, Chennai for example, you’ll never see a hut right next to a bungalow with a Volkswagen Passat. But in Mumbai, you see exactly that, over and over again. There could be a 25 storeybuilding with a few BMWs and Mercs parked inside, but they have to pass through the slum to get in to the building. Most high rise buildings have grand views of impoverished slums.
And it seems like a common situation to not have parking space in the building one resides in. I see Honda Accords and Toyota Corollas parked anadhaya on the roads in the night. Once again, this is something that startles a resident of Chennai, where even a Maruti 800 is ducked inside the compound wall through a gate meant for two-wheelers!
As the fiancé nicely puts it, the co-existence of rich and poor in the city gives the rich a humble approach to life and the poor a growing aspiration. Maybe she is right!
Next thing I observed is the traffic pattern. I hear Mumbai built over 50 flyovers in just 2 years early last decade. Talking about bridges/flyovers, there is one toll booth to get on the Vashi bridge that I take daily. Though the toll operation is completely manual, it is faster than even fully automated EZ Passes in the US. Cars here hardly stop at this toll, they just slow down and in one split second, the exchange of the money for the toll receipt happens and the cars speed away. I have tried both - giving the exact money or expecting change. It just works perfectly.
All one has to do is to stick one’s hands out to display the cash he is to pay while entering the toll. Rest is taken care of by the robotic arms of the toll booth guy (and the helper who stands outside, almost on the road). The transaction is complete before you know it! I just think it’s fantastic and silently wish tolls in OMR Chennai are at least half as fast!
And the traffic regulations implemented in the city are just awesome. Especially I love rules such as Auto-rickshaws not being allowed to certain parts of the city and two-wheelers not being allowed on certain freeways/flyovers. I think it greatly helps to organize the flow of traffic.
Maybe I drive against the traffic since we reside in South Bombay and I drive towards Navi Mumbai. But I think the traffic flow is slightly better than other cities in India. Also, I see far less two-wheelers in the city than other cities. I am still to find the probable reason for this.
Another thing I found very fascinating is the night life in the city. On weekdays, the city goes to sleep only after midnight and during weekendsI suspect the city never sleeps. Most high end restaurants are open till 1 or 2am and even malls are open till midnight. There was bumper to bumper traffic at 2am when we came home after a late night dinner at Colaba last Saturday. It only reminds me of life in NYC!
With the business centric minds of Mumbaiites, they go to a good extent to create value for customers in every single business avenue they venture into. Most shops deliver pretty much everything from breakfast dosas to vegetables to batteries to milk. People in general are very nice – be it while giving directions or while assisting in parking a car in the apartment. They are so nice that even terrible Hindi does not deter themfrom helping (yours truly’s first-hand experience!)
Just like every city, Mumbai might have its darker side and I’m probably not exposed to it yet. I truly wish impressions remain the same. And though it’s very early, except for some initial blues, I’m slowly starting to like the city. But will I ever get comfortable here to call this placeHome, only time will tell.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Romance with the lens
I was probably 4 or 5 years old when I held my first camera in hand. My dad being a professional photographer, there was absolutely no lack of access to the camera. And absolutely no dearth for our photographs at home too. I have wondered many a time if he practiced on my sister and I more than brides or models!
There would be a million of those photographs where my sister and I would have followed dad’s request and posed with our hands on the hips and smile on the lips! I wouldn’t be surprised if one was bewildered at the sheer number of similar photographs all with the same pose, just with the background/clothes changing! I have never understood how no one in the household ever got tired of that pose!
I hazily remember my first experience with the camera. We were at a park in Ooty and my dad was trying to photograph us in our famed pose. Legend says that I asked my dad if I can photograph and he said NO and as expected, that did not result in a very happy me. I walked away from the scene and I vaguely remember the drama that followed. Mom, dad and sister all had to run, chase me down and bring me back. The end result was I was given the camera to photograph.
I don't remember if I took a nice shot then (or even if I took a shot), but I can safely assume there sparked some sort of a passionate photographer in me. Or it clearly displayed the behavior of an annoying kid. I would like to safely assume the former.
For the next 20 years, the photographer in me would happily hibernate except for occasional moments of volunteering to photograph friends on a trip or people during occasions. Later, circa 2006, the photography desire arose and I bought myself my first Digital SLR camera. Just like most amateur photographers, I got myself an entry level Canon SLR with a kit lens (18-55mm). I was very happy and still remember the solo photo-walk I did around the block near my apartment and awed at the photographs myself. I was one happy camper then.
In a few years, thanks to this incident, I had to buy a new camera. And in the following year, thanks to my job and my spending abilities, I upgraded my camera yet again. I now have a Canon 7D which I think is probably the best money spent so far. And I have a series of 4 lenses, which I'm in the verge of converting to 5.
When I keep updating my equipment, my dad still has the same camera he used during our childhood (Yashica Electro 35). When I saw it during my last visit home, the camera brought back a sense of nostalgia like nothing ever has done before. Our household has a collection of at least 50 photo albums, most of them photographed through our childhood and almost every single photograph shot by my dad. There is even a picture of me running away in Ooty, as my sister was seen obediently posing.
Though I don’t have such a collection, thanks to my ever increasing interest for photography and travel, I have a decent repository of photographs in Flickr. When I sold my first photograph a few months ago, the feeling was unexpectedly rewarding. From that point, I have sold quite a few photographs. And thanks to my good friends, I recently sold a bunch of desk calendars too.
Though my photography has not matured to eke a comfortable living out of it, it makes me happier than anything else. Every time I go out in sub zero temperature or stand out in 30 mph wind or wait in one place for 3 hours just to get a neat picture of a lighthouse or a bridge or a waterfall – I realize I do it all for sheer pleasure of capturing the beauty of the moment.
One day I might go out and do something full time in photography. Till then, my camera would just be my good travel companion like it has been so far and an object of jealousy for my fiancé!
There would be a million of those photographs where my sister and I would have followed dad’s request and posed with our hands on the hips and smile on the lips! I wouldn’t be surprised if one was bewildered at the sheer number of similar photographs all with the same pose, just with the background/clothes changing! I have never understood how no one in the household ever got tired of that pose!
I hazily remember my first experience with the camera. We were at a park in Ooty and my dad was trying to photograph us in our famed pose. Legend says that I asked my dad if I can photograph and he said NO and as expected, that did not result in a very happy me. I walked away from the scene and I vaguely remember the drama that followed. Mom, dad and sister all had to run, chase me down and bring me back. The end result was I was given the camera to photograph.
I don't remember if I took a nice shot then (or even if I took a shot), but I can safely assume there sparked some sort of a passionate photographer in me. Or it clearly displayed the behavior of an annoying kid. I would like to safely assume the former.
For the next 20 years, the photographer in me would happily hibernate except for occasional moments of volunteering to photograph friends on a trip or people during occasions. Later, circa 2006, the photography desire arose and I bought myself my first Digital SLR camera. Just like most amateur photographers, I got myself an entry level Canon SLR with a kit lens (18-55mm). I was very happy and still remember the solo photo-walk I did around the block near my apartment and awed at the photographs myself. I was one happy camper then.
In a few years, thanks to this incident, I had to buy a new camera. And in the following year, thanks to my job and my spending abilities, I upgraded my camera yet again. I now have a Canon 7D which I think is probably the best money spent so far. And I have a series of 4 lenses, which I'm in the verge of converting to 5.
When I keep updating my equipment, my dad still has the same camera he used during our childhood (Yashica Electro 35). When I saw it during my last visit home, the camera brought back a sense of nostalgia like nothing ever has done before. Our household has a collection of at least 50 photo albums, most of them photographed through our childhood and almost every single photograph shot by my dad. There is even a picture of me running away in Ooty, as my sister was seen obediently posing.
Though I don’t have such a collection, thanks to my ever increasing interest for photography and travel, I have a decent repository of photographs in Flickr. When I sold my first photograph a few months ago, the feeling was unexpectedly rewarding. From that point, I have sold quite a few photographs. And thanks to my good friends, I recently sold a bunch of desk calendars too.
Though my photography has not matured to eke a comfortable living out of it, it makes me happier than anything else. Every time I go out in sub zero temperature or stand out in 30 mph wind or wait in one place for 3 hours just to get a neat picture of a lighthouse or a bridge or a waterfall – I realize I do it all for sheer pleasure of capturing the beauty of the moment.
One day I might go out and do something full time in photography. Till then, my camera would just be my good travel companion like it has been so far and an object of jealousy for my fiancé!
Monday, February 14, 2011
My tryst with the photographer!
I recently got engaged to the most beautiful girl in the world (yeah yeah, hate the game, not the player!). I had a very good time as part of the engagement function. Though I was a little speculative about this whole Hindu Engagement ceremony, I actually sort of enjoyed all the attention I got.
After the priest declared us engaged, with the kind of attention we were receiving, I wondered if we just achieved something that human kind has never achieved before. I was able to witness our guests becoming happier than us. The way we were wished by people, for a second, made me wonder if we got married already. The photographer was having a tough time trying to frame us all with at least one person not showing their back to the camera. The videographer laid two chairs and three stools, one on top of the other and balanced on one foot, just to get a glimpse of what the hell was going on.
Talking about photography, I know it’s all done for the remembrance sake. But should the groom definitely be smiling with his tooth shown always? During the initial photo shoot, after the first two pictures (where I thought I smiled my best smile by the way), the photographer gently asked me if I can smile a little more. I tried, this time, seeming like a guy who is happy that he is finally getting engaged. Photographer wasn't satisfied. He said ‘innum konjam saar’ ('little more sir'). I slightly got impatient and thinking of being a wise-guy, I mockingly showed my teeth and smiled. He said ‘avlo dhaan saar, hero maadhiri irukkeenga!’ ('thats it sir, you like a hero now!’). I had a brief Vivek’s "this piece?????!" moment and the photographer kept taking a few thousand shots. I wasn't sure if my attempted joke became one on myself or if I truly looked like my photographer's hero. When I came back to senses after being temporarily blinded from the zillion watts flash, I asked him to show me the photographs, which were not too bad after all.
Realizing I had to maintain the smile for the entire evening, (not that I had a choice, as the photographer was very conscious of how my smile varied with time - he must have had a mental graph with smile on Y-axis and time on X-axis!), I continued to do so effortlessly. After a few photographs, I slowly felt a pain in my jaws and realized it was not all that easy to fake a smile. To add to the complexity, my facial components are wired in such a way that if I maintain a fake smile for prolonged time, my eyes tend to close automatically. Awesome. Now the photographer got something else to point to. He said 'saar, kanna moodaatheenga saar' (‘sir, please don’t close your eyes, sir’). I nodded, made sure my eyes are wide open and continued the shoot. In a few seconds, my smile faded away. He stopped and pointed that my smile is missing. I realized, got back my signature smile and he fired a few shots, then requested to me not to close my eyes. My face did not seem to get the hang of the process.
Like a scientist, he suddenly exclaimed 'saar, neenga nallaa sirichaa unga kannu moodikkuthu saar! (‘If you smile hard, your eyes close automatically sir’). As a resort, I explained and later pleaded to the photographer about the "smile-eye" coordination problem I'm blessed with. He innovatively thought of a '1-2-3-ready' technique to make sure my eyes are open and the smile is retained at least for that one split second when the camera shutter opens.
That sort of helped, but not for long. The problem grew further when the bride joined. She knew what kind of a monkey face I can become while facing the camera (compare to behind being one). My open-smile-closed-eye-closed-smile-open-eye syndrome continued for a little while and the pressure was building, as the girl was quite comfortable smiling away to glory. The photographer can't help but compare me to her. He politely said 'avangala paarunga saar, andha maadhiri siringa saar' (‘ook at her sir, try to smile like her sir’). I looked at her. I know she has a Colgate smile and I would look like a happy buffalo if I tried that. I laughed aloud, almost uncontrollably. Looking at all the drama, she joined too. Photographer took that as a good opportunity and fired a few shots. He was either satisfied by then or I got better with time or he felt I was totally hopeless; he never complained about my smile that evening!
But I am definitely looking forward to working with him during my wedding, even if he is not.
After the priest declared us engaged, with the kind of attention we were receiving, I wondered if we just achieved something that human kind has never achieved before. I was able to witness our guests becoming happier than us. The way we were wished by people, for a second, made me wonder if we got married already. The photographer was having a tough time trying to frame us all with at least one person not showing their back to the camera. The videographer laid two chairs and three stools, one on top of the other and balanced on one foot, just to get a glimpse of what the hell was going on.
Talking about photography, I know it’s all done for the remembrance sake. But should the groom definitely be smiling with his tooth shown always? During the initial photo shoot, after the first two pictures (where I thought I smiled my best smile by the way), the photographer gently asked me if I can smile a little more. I tried, this time, seeming like a guy who is happy that he is finally getting engaged. Photographer wasn't satisfied. He said ‘innum konjam saar’ ('little more sir'). I slightly got impatient and thinking of being a wise-guy, I mockingly showed my teeth and smiled. He said ‘avlo dhaan saar, hero maadhiri irukkeenga!’ ('thats it sir, you like a hero now!’). I had a brief Vivek’s "this piece?????!" moment and the photographer kept taking a few thousand shots. I wasn't sure if my attempted joke became one on myself or if I truly looked like my photographer's hero. When I came back to senses after being temporarily blinded from the zillion watts flash, I asked him to show me the photographs, which were not too bad after all.
Realizing I had to maintain the smile for the entire evening, (not that I had a choice, as the photographer was very conscious of how my smile varied with time - he must have had a mental graph with smile on Y-axis and time on X-axis!), I continued to do so effortlessly. After a few photographs, I slowly felt a pain in my jaws and realized it was not all that easy to fake a smile. To add to the complexity, my facial components are wired in such a way that if I maintain a fake smile for prolonged time, my eyes tend to close automatically. Awesome. Now the photographer got something else to point to. He said 'saar, kanna moodaatheenga saar' (‘sir, please don’t close your eyes, sir’). I nodded, made sure my eyes are wide open and continued the shoot. In a few seconds, my smile faded away. He stopped and pointed that my smile is missing. I realized, got back my signature smile and he fired a few shots, then requested to me not to close my eyes. My face did not seem to get the hang of the process.
Like a scientist, he suddenly exclaimed 'saar, neenga nallaa sirichaa unga kannu moodikkuthu saar! (‘If you smile hard, your eyes close automatically sir’). As a resort, I explained and later pleaded to the photographer about the "smile-eye" coordination problem I'm blessed with. He innovatively thought of a '1-2-3-ready' technique to make sure my eyes are open and the smile is retained at least for that one split second when the camera shutter opens.
That sort of helped, but not for long. The problem grew further when the bride joined. She knew what kind of a monkey face I can become while facing the camera (compare to behind being one). My open-smile-closed-eye-closed-smile-open-eye syndrome continued for a little while and the pressure was building, as the girl was quite comfortable smiling away to glory. The photographer can't help but compare me to her. He politely said 'avangala paarunga saar, andha maadhiri siringa saar' (‘ook at her sir, try to smile like her sir’). I looked at her. I know she has a Colgate smile and I would look like a happy buffalo if I tried that. I laughed aloud, almost uncontrollably. Looking at all the drama, she joined too. Photographer took that as a good opportunity and fired a few shots. He was either satisfied by then or I got better with time or he felt I was totally hopeless; he never complained about my smile that evening!
But I am definitely looking forward to working with him during my wedding, even if he is not.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Rhetoric!
Though one tries hard not be rhetoric, the compulsion to write the initial thoughts on ever-changing Indian cities seems customary.
The puzzling look of a stranger on a sudden smile is priceless. So is the swerving auto-rickshaw that constantly plays ghost in my left rear view mirror. In a short moment, it gets replaced by a rider with a helmet. Before one could realize, he disappears too. He then appears right in front of my bumper, only to slow down, forcing me to apply my brakes. Chennai roads and the ditches!
I stop at a red light ahead of me. I look around to realize I was the only one to stop. Later, one more good samaritan stops. I was not sure if he stopped by his own will or as all Indians do, he likes to follow what others do. Eventually, all vehicles stop and in about 30 seconds, all I could see around me were a few million cars, billions of two-wheelers, trillions of auto-rickshaws and one bicycle (who by the way was happily balancing by placing his left hand on my rear window).
The countdown of the red light reaches 10 seconds and I hear the blaring horns already. I wonder if every single one of them were driving an ambulance in their past lives. An old guy in his TVS 50 tries so hard to honk at a car in front of him. I couldn’t help but wonder if he had a 1000CC engine and if he would reach 100kmph under 5 seconds. Only if the car in front of him had let him go. By the time I came back to reality, vehicles are inches apart, every one of them moving with a cohesive objective – to get past the signal light before it turns red again or maybe to catch the space shuttle that was leaving in 5 minutes beyond the signal light. Either way, the make sure they get the heck out of the traffic light.
As I shift gears and take off, rest of the vehicles fade in my rear view mirror and in one split second, I realize how much I belong here!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Nexus S - Review
There have not been many times I have woken up early in the morning to go to an electronic store, first thing in the morning. I did once in 2009 when I got my iPhone 3GS. Last year, I went to the Apple store at 5.30 in the morning and waited in the line for a full 4 hours before I held the then coveted device in my hands. I had good fun for more than a year now with the 3GS and almost 3 years with iOS. I figured it's time to move on and I could not have a found a better phone than Nexus S to do it. This time though, I waited for 5 minutes in the line at Best Buy to get my Nexus S.
The best feature of the phone (that blows one away on the first look) is the display. It has the Samsung's proprietary Super AMOLED display and to say it's freaking awesome would be an understatement. With the animated wallpapers and vibrant colors on the screen, any app or any browser you open stands out like you have never seen on a mobile device before. I would probably say one should buy this phone just for the display.
Secondly, the phone is really fast. It sports a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor and the phone responds like a charm to every single touch. Whether it is the camera or the maps or the email, nothing ever takes more than a second or two to show up on the screen. The menus are nicely organized (not too different from the previous android versions though).
The response to the onscreen keyboard is instantaneous too. Talking of the keyboard, I initially felt the keys are slightly smaller than the iPhone keyboard, but the more I use it, with the word suggestions and the spell checks, it definitely has become more of a 'friendly' keyboard to me now. There is absolutely no regret about the keyboard and having a Shift key on a touchscreen keyboard is a great plus too!
Next thing that was totally new to me is the Android OS itself (Android 2.3 or Gingerbread in this instance). Be informed that I'm coming from the family of iOS users and everything in the UI of Nexus S is so new and refreshing. Even something as simple as notifications is so simple and fun. Best feature of the OS is the Google maps with navigation (which is one of the main reasons I bought this phone, as I can use this in India too!). The 3D maps is so futuristic and with street view and latitude added, the whole maps experience is completely transformed.
The other part of the phone I really like is the form factor. Though the contour display and the curved back is stylish, the phone is light as a feather. When I first took the phone out of the box, I wondered if Samsung missed a component in the phone!
However, it's hard to miss a few things that were better in iPhone. The visual voicemail was one thing that I got so used to that I feel I miss in Nexus S (there may be apps in the android market but I haven't explored yet). But voicemail is not frequently used in India, so I guess I'll be alright. Second thing I miss is the app store. I feel Android store has still areas to grow.
Summary : Nexus S is definitely a great Android phone or probably the best there is, as of today. If you are contemplating whether to buy the phone, go for it. You won't regret the decision!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Series called Life - Second episode
You may want to read the first episode here.
Now that proposal is done, serious steps are being taken back home. Astrologers are being consulted, dates are being decided, hall is being finalized, friends and relatives are being told of the happening. Everything seems to happen at full speed. Too fast to fathom. It is one of those slow motion moments where one's life slows down to a near pause and things around continue to circle at full speed. While at the pause, he tries to write a blogpost.
She recently moved back to India and settled down in a job she likes. And she says it would be at least 2 years before she could think of a move elsewhere. That means only one thing: he needs to pack his bags and move back home. He does not beleive in separated life after wedding.That means change. One big happy change.
He is excited and apprehensive, both at the same time. Excitement kicks in for the known reason. But he could not fathom the apprehension. Is it the logistics to be taken care of during the move? or is it the new city he will be moving to? or is it the new job culture? Or is it missing Uncle Sam? Or is it the wedlock and the associated cold feet? He is not sure.
He tries to meticulously plan the move. He even has offers from his boss and colleagues for his car and furniture. After 6 long years, moving back seems like a big decision. As he thinks deeper, he realized there is nothing left for him in this country. He has travelled to about 40 states in this country and has tried everything from hiking to kayaking to rafting to sky-diving to para-sailing. He has done pretty much everything he felt he may not get another chance to do in his life.
At work, there were days where he has idled away doing nothing like a lazy bum. There were days where he has worked for 15 hours straight with hardly any breaks. There were days where he has felt like a rock star. There were days where he has wondered if he is even a right fit in this place. The brunt of responsibility, the feeling of a leader, the ponderings of a loser - he has had it all.
All said and done, he can't believe what started a 6 week travel has transformed into a 6 year stay in this country. And after this long, it is always hard for one to say good bye to a place that has (almost) been home! With a hard feeling of thanking this country which has seen him grow from a boy to a man, he looks forward to the touch down of the flight at Anna International airport in the next couple of months!
Now that proposal is done, serious steps are being taken back home. Astrologers are being consulted, dates are being decided, hall is being finalized, friends and relatives are being told of the happening. Everything seems to happen at full speed. Too fast to fathom. It is one of those slow motion moments where one's life slows down to a near pause and things around continue to circle at full speed. While at the pause, he tries to write a blogpost.
She recently moved back to India and settled down in a job she likes. And she says it would be at least 2 years before she could think of a move elsewhere. That means only one thing: he needs to pack his bags and move back home. He does not beleive in separated life after wedding.That means change. One big happy change.
He is excited and apprehensive, both at the same time. Excitement kicks in for the known reason. But he could not fathom the apprehension. Is it the logistics to be taken care of during the move? or is it the new city he will be moving to? or is it the new job culture? Or is it missing Uncle Sam? Or is it the wedlock and the associated cold feet? He is not sure.
He tries to meticulously plan the move. He even has offers from his boss and colleagues for his car and furniture. After 6 long years, moving back seems like a big decision. As he thinks deeper, he realized there is nothing left for him in this country. He has travelled to about 40 states in this country and has tried everything from hiking to kayaking to rafting to sky-diving to para-sailing. He has done pretty much everything he felt he may not get another chance to do in his life.
At work, there were days where he has idled away doing nothing like a lazy bum. There were days where he has worked for 15 hours straight with hardly any breaks. There were days where he has felt like a rock star. There were days where he has wondered if he is even a right fit in this place. The brunt of responsibility, the feeling of a leader, the ponderings of a loser - he has had it all.
He wonders if he'll miss certain a few things in this country. Such as his Accord and the play of Suprabatham during the morning commute to work, his infrequent visits to Patel brothers, just to get namkeens and murukkus. He might miss the freeways, service exits, rest areas and the EZPass. He might miss Dunkin donuts, iHop and Starbucks. He might miss smiling and wishing unknown people. He might miss getting everything from movie ticket to flight tickets at kiosks. He might miss explaining good stuff about India to firang clients/colleagues. He might miss Falafel and Chipotle. He might miss the snow and the shoveling of snow in winter. He might miss being pulled over by the cops.
But he feels good about the move with a lot more good things to look forward to.
All said and done, he can't believe what started a 6 week travel has transformed into a 6 year stay in this country. And after this long, it is always hard for one to say good bye to a place that has (almost) been home! With a hard feeling of thanking this country which has seen him grow from a boy to a man, he looks forward to the touch down of the flight at Anna International airport in the next couple of months!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Endhiran...
...one half of the movie is very good. The other half is as bad! Trimming about 20 mins would have made this a great tamil movie!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Deer and the midnight drama!
On Friday evening I was browsing through Star trail pictures online and got all enthusiastic about it. So, I tried setting up my tripod and camera in my balcony and took a few test pictures (each exposed for about 10 minutes), even liked one of the pictures and uploaded in Flickr. But I was not hugely satisfied due to inherent light pollution in my area (due to shops and commercial establishments). I wanted to go a remote place that’s fairly dark. So, I went to Valley forge national park (though the website said they'll close at dark, I took my chances).
Once I reached there, I expected at least one cop car, but I saw none. So, I entered the park and as I drove very slowly through the park, I saw about 10 to 15 deer every few yards. It was slightly weird as I have never seen so many deer at one place. Most of them were asleep on the roads and got up to move on after staring at my headlights for a moment or two. There is this strange behavior in deer, they stare at you for a few seconds before they make up their mind. The problem is during those few seconds, you can’t say what they are thinking!
I reached the spot where the star trails photograph will be better (or at least so I thought to myself!). That particular spot had completely open skies and a soldier's hut in the foreground (which is important from a reference point perspective in star trails photography). I stopped the car, but was very reluctant to get off the car as there were deer everywhere. I contemplated for a while and then said to myself 'what the heck?! These are deer after all! It’s not like they will attack me!'. Still to be on the safer side, I left my headlights on and took my camera equipment and started walking towards the deer.
In about 5 seconds, my headlights went off (damn those auto off feature!) and I froze right there. Earlier when I mentioned that deer stare at you for a few seconds before they make up their mind, change it to minutes. I stood there and waited for the deer to move out of my way. So did the deer. I wouldn’t say it was pitch dark, but I could not see much except for hazy things (which I assumed were deer!). After a few minutes, I lost my patience and slowly started walking towards them. As I was walking, it dawned on me that deer can see very clearly in the dark. Yet those shitty creatures were staring at me without making any move. As I walked closer, I saw them getting up and slowly moving away from me. Good for me, I setup the tripod and spent the next one hour trying to take photos from different angles, lighting (or the lack of it), etc., It was quite silent and an eerie experience.
As I was taking pictures, I kept all my senses on high-alert observing any slightest movements in the bushes or any noise around. Though the deer pack never came back, it was quite a humbling experience.
A few lessons I learnt from this short adventure of mine:
1. Never try star trail pictures on the day next to a full moon day.
2. Start a little early rather than at midnight. I think around 10pm might be the right time.
3. Select a place which has zero light pollution.
4. If you can, try and stay away from the sleeping deer.
Anyways, this is the picture that turned out:
I most likely will try this again some time!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Excitement!
After a long time Kabali did not feel a thing when he shelled out a little more than 1500 bucks on an electronic item. He has always observed a behavior in himself that most people might consider a little strange: Whenever he spends more than a few hours browsing about a product online, it only means one thing: he will be ordering it very shortly. However, for this one, he took more than a few days to take a decision. Maybe he is growing up. Maybe he is becoming more responsible in life.
But the bottom line is he is pretty excited right now. After much of mental deliberations, he got himself a Canon 7D Digital SLR. Having been an ardent fan and an avid user of Canon cameras, he feels the need to upgrade, as his current camera is, well, not so current. Now that Canon 7D has arrived, nothing seems more important to him - not his Macbook, not his Wii, only his camera, not even TV.
He is all the more excited as he is leaving on a week's trip to Germany and Amsterdam where he thinks he can smoke weed all day and take as many pictures as he likes. He is not sure about one thing though, as to which will get him higher, the weed or his new camera. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
For a serious aspirer in him, one has to give some time and see if he becomes a professional in getting 'high'.
But the bottom line is he is pretty excited right now. After much of mental deliberations, he got himself a Canon 7D Digital SLR. Having been an ardent fan and an avid user of Canon cameras, he feels the need to upgrade, as his current camera is, well, not so current. Now that Canon 7D has arrived, nothing seems more important to him - not his Macbook, not his Wii, only his camera, not even TV.
He is all the more excited as he is leaving on a week's trip to Germany and Amsterdam where he thinks he can smoke weed all day and take as many pictures as he likes. He is not sure about one thing though, as to which will get him higher, the weed or his new camera. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
For a serious aspirer in him, one has to give some time and see if he becomes a professional in getting 'high'.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Raavanan
This review is in reference to Raavanan and not Ravan.
I liked the second half much much better than the first half. All references to Ramayana (either direct or indirect) make one realize only Maniratnam can pull such things off with his well thought out story line. I loved the way how the story showcases the incidents from Ramayana such as Surpanaga (Ravana's sister and as to how the whole story erupts from her incident), Vibheeshana being a slightly good/smarter guy in an otherwise 'Arakkar' clan, the 'hide and kill' Vaali episode (though indirect), most of the actions of Hanuman and of course the 'lie detector' usage against Sita.
Some of these references while being direct, some of the others were dragged into the story, but never did I think it did not make sense at any point. Though the story itself is a major success for the movie, the best part according to me is the location and the camera work. The amount of diligent thought and hard work that has gone into researching the location for every single scene becomes evident as one watches the movie.
The 'bridge' fight towards the end of the movie was breathtaking. I couldn't say if any technical assistance/graphics went into the contribution of the fight sequence here, but my eyes could detect none. I would rate that as one of the best fighting sequences made in any tamil movie (though not long enough!). Music by thala A R Rahman was pretty decent (I refer to BGM and not songs here).
Climax is a very important part of any movie as it creates the final impression with which the viewer walks out of the movie hall and just as in every one of his movies, Mani has created a climax that can't be more fitting than this. Though I could think of 3 to 4 different ways this movie could have ended, Mani definitely steered the movie to the best climax one could think of! I liked this movie more because of the climax than all the other aspects put together.
Through out the movie, there are multiple times when you think Prithviraj as the hero and Vikram as the villain and that sort of keeps alternating. The whole flow of emotions in the viewer's mind is well perceived by Mani. The topic of who ends up as the hero/villain is indeed debatable and as I walked out the theatre, I felt neither of them can be called as the hero nor the villain. I felt the characters had their own reasoning.
I give pretty much all the credit to Mani, but to be fair, Vikram, Prithviraj and Aiswarya have all done their role very well. Prabhu, Karthik and Priyamani were so-so (not that they had a strong role anyways!)
This movie simplistically explains how an epic can be delineated in today's world, that too in a different style. Overall, this movie is a definite watch once at least, if not more than once!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Karate kid...
The movie starts like the tamil movie Anjali, moves on slowly like Kung Fu panda and then creates a style of its own leaving the viewers excited most of the time. The movie has quite a lot of humorous moments (having Jackie Chan in the movie and well thought out scenes). Jackie chan has played a different role, commendably well done. It gave me a feeling as if he was looking to perform such a role for a long time now. Will Smith's son, I'm sure has a great acting career ahead of him. Just like in Pursuit of Happiness, he has the charm of fitting to any role he plays.
The movie showcases a lot of chinese culture and a lot of kung fu (both of which I attribute to the Jackie Chan effect). Like many sports movies, this one ends with a nicely sequenced Kung Fu tournament where our hero wins closely.
It is certainly one of the awesomest and 'feel good' movies I have seen in the recent times!
P.S: And if you see a black kid doing some kung fu moves on the streets, he probably watched this movie very recently!
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