If You Are Afraid of Heights...

I picked a book, saw the cover and hoped that I would get something special to read. After having read this haunting novel, 'If You Are Afraid of Heights', I feel that this is a book that defies categorization. It expresses tales that are neither too concrete to be real, nor too fanciful to be surreal. The plots float somewhere between fantasy and reality.

Sounds a bit confusing, but that's the hallmark of Raj Kamal Jha, a Mechanical engineer from IIT Kharagpur, who didn’t dabble with the complex equations of thermodynamics and theory of machines after his graduation. Instead he applied for a program in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of Southern California where he received his M.A. in 1990. Since then his literary journey has crossed many stations.

'If You Are Afraid of Heights' is a book of layered visual panoramas, non-geometric as it builds up, threaded using simple language. There are three different tales which are cemented using recurrent images of doll(s), red dress, a white and blue umbrella, Park Street, man with a crow, Paradise Park, trams, show windows, a crying child at night, overflowing canal, unexpected rain, and so on.

The novel starts on an assuring note, the promise of a flight of fantasy riding a crow and the story of a couple introduced to one another through an unexpected tram accident. This is the incomplete story of Rima and Amir. Amir is a middle-class letter writer, and a part-time teacher who lives in a tiny dilapidated house with few amenities. Rima is the only occupant of a mysterious limitless apartment block in Paradise Park that seems to have suddenly come up in the open ground. It is to this place that she brings Amir after the accident and offers all the facilities including free medication, for him to recoup. After Amir fully recovers, Rima comes to live with Amir and be a part of his life and his lifestyle. Life goes on and one dark night, Rima suddenly abandons, Amir's world because she is unable to cope with the painful cries of an unseen child.

The crying child is constant variable to all three narratives.

The second part centers around a reporter, Mala who travels to a small town to investigate the gruesome rape and murder of an eleven-twelve-year-old girl. The flow of the plot is at its best in this segment, and paints the colors of reportage in desi-land, unlike reporting from NYSE sitting in chic offices. The portrayal of a reporter meandering through mud in knee-deep rain-watered streets, talking to an old man who performed the postmortem of the girl, collecting whatever facts that were possible is nifty. Flawless imagery. The end goal is to crack the mystery behind the death of the girl. Whodunit. In this segment again, the motifs, and the crying sounds of the child recur and these disturb Mala during her overnight trip on a rainy day. In a subtle way, Mala's somewhat troubled childhood starts to replay. I think, in the garb of the story of the abuse of a child, the author is trying to explore the other kinds of violence.

"It is very easy to tackle physical violence — the bruises are visible, the laws are in place, the next door neighbors can hear. What is more fascinating to me is the violence you can get away with — psychological violence. No court will convict someone who says 'there are no bruises, but he made me feel as if I was broken into a thousand pieces'."

The final section returns to the city where a particular neighborhood that has witnessed a series of unconnected suicides by men, women, boys, girls, old, and young. Lugubriousness is in the air. A young schoolgirl, who lives in the same colony, is worried that her parents might soon kill themselves. She discloses about all her fears and dark apprehensions to a friend, who promises to follow her father and mother to make sure that they are safe. This part of the narration touches one aspect in detail that I liked, apart from the plot progression. And you guessed it right, if that was photography.

Each of the three segments has its own prologue which reads like film scripts. The writing is so raw and fascinating that with minimal effort the author creates the backdrop for his plot. The atmosphere is one of those in which every desi can smell the day-to-day life, of crowds, of traffic, of kids playing cricket in the streets, of power failures, of plush high-rise apartments, of gutters and canals overflowing in rainy season, etc. All these and many more minute details of settings and surroundings eclipse the theme. The verbal visuality is magical.

The book ends with the following lines, "Look at the picture on the cover, there’s a child, a girl in red dress; there's a bird, a crow in a blue white sky. And then there are a few things you cannot see.". This is exactly what the cover page of the book shows.

But did you check that, see carefully before you dive reading it.

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Engineer 2008, to enquire, create and innovate...

Formerly known as KREC Surathkal, and now with the new name National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (NITK), this institute is one of the best places in India to spend the college days. Apart from being a top-notch engineering institute in India and ranked as one of the best schools in this nation for engineering talent, this college is a fun place to be in.

Situated in a secluded place, far away from the Mangalore city, this small hamlet of Surathkal has a picturesque beach which is just stone's throw distance from the college campus. The salt laden winds, the smell of fish on the highways near the campus, living on a shoe string budget, the road side tea stall @ Krishna, the clean surroundings of red bench on the beach and the lighthouse, all these make the life at this place for a period of four years, a never to forget experience in the lives of those who graduate from this esteemed institute.

NITK hosts, an annual technical fest, 'Engineer' each year and over the years it has grown not only in volumes but also has been a platform for some interesting discussion to celebrate the spirit of engineering. It also highlights, the impact the engineers can make to the society. Engineer 2007 was a well organized event, which brought together students from more than 120 colleges from within India and abroad. The symposium attracted the talent across India and also a gamut of sponsors with prize money worth Rs. 9 lakh.

The highlights of Engineer 2007 were video conferences with world-renowned scientists, including Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++ and Prof. John C Mather, a Nobel laureate in Physics. The Last Word, a debate about Government Expenditure on Higher Education, saw many eminent personalities discussing and debating on very important topics and the how the engineering fraternity should take more responsible steps. Prof. Deepak Phatak, Subrao Nilekani Chair in KReSIT, IIT Bombay and Dr. Anil K Gupta, Executive Vice Chairperson, National Innovation Foundation were some of the chief speakers at this event.



A workshop on building underwater robots by IURS (the Indian Underwater Robotics Society), a hardware workshop by Ashish Derhgawen, a young IT student from New Delhi was one of the most featured workshops. There were many such events and open house discussions. Events like these opens up new avenues for discussion and research and adds new dimension in the thought process of graduates. I personally feel that an event of such proportion has many benefits: helps students to plan and organize as the entire show is managed by a students committee, it helps to meet students from varied backgrounds and share ideas, and also makes students realize that there is a big world to explore outside, rather than settling for a career in the regular IT and services industry that paints a rosy picture in the pre-placement talks.

I also feel that this is most apt time for the students to explore as there are ample opportunities on the fray, the market is healthy and needs young blood doused with energy, innovation, entrepreneurship and ideas. To support my point, at the previous year's competition, few of the featured contests, were Mushaca, where participants were invited to create original software applications that could benefit from the use of a three-degrees-of-freedom mouse (pioneered by Dr. Tim Poston and Srikanth MB, IISc Bangalore) and Mock Stock, an online stock exchange simulation.

I feel that this year’s fest, Engineer 2008 will be even better, bigger and loftier., and all those who can make there, just rush to Surathkal, to Think, Create and Engineer. More details here..

Keep reading and remain connected.

(If you watched the video clipping, there was one line that I liked the most: 'The qualification if you wish to be innovative is not that you become front benchers but become back benchers'.)

My Blog Award and bloglife...

There was an email with a request that was pending for long. Ram, an engineer from IIT Kharagpur who runs a blog so-did–i had conferred me with 'Awesome Guy Blogger' under the Creative Blog category. I am thrilled and excited to learn that people follow my posts and I would make extra effort to improve my style of blogging and presenting my views in the most coherent way. Thanks Ram and sorry for the delay in posting.

Now these blogging awards are not like the red-carpet ostentatious Oscar awards but these are modest affirmations that there are people who connect to your blogs and enjoy reading the posts. As simple as that. These blogging awards are mirthful ways to recognize your fellow bloggers to show them how much one appreciates what they express in their posts. These awards in my view makes one connect to others, whose thought process frequency matches your's and you always feel at home on their blogs.

So as per Article 15 of Indian Constitution, which discourages any form of discrimination against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. I am not categorizing any guy or gal bloggers.

I really appreciate the concept of blogging and this medium has introduced me to some smart, wonderful, affectionate and fantastic characters, who have offered me a plethora of learnings. I love the passion that drives these people who express their views on their blogs and connect to the outside world. Few of them and many have blogs I consider to be out of this world. They are on my blogsite's blog roll list but to name a few.

There is this lady Amrita Rajan, a roving writer based in NY whose ingenuity, verbal skill, and selection of topics has the power to evoke laughter, to add humor to a dry and dull day, to prick and challenge your mind with many questions and so on. Perfect mix of desi and non-desi themes.

Rashmi Bansal, a grad from IIMA needs no introduction in Indian blogosphere. I feel after Kiruba, one of the most popular bloggers in India, this editor of JAM magazine fits in the list. I need not say more, let Youth Curry and her thoroughly analysed and poked into posts in various Indian magazines speak for the rest.

Then there is this gentleman, Aaman whom I know for 2.5 years now. With a mission to facilitate dialogue and communication, in the real and virtual worlds with no boundaries, this technology industry consultant started an e-zine Desicritics, with his guiding spirit, Deepti.

Hey, how can I forget my friend GVK, a retired Times of India correspondent and who in his career has served in some of the leading publishing houses in India. This man may be old in age, [that's just a number, ditch that man] but very young in heart and oozes lots of energy and ideas. In short, my association with him can be equated to an old house, in a desolate land full of wide-ranging collection of books, with each book having something special to say.

Many of us would have come across this phrase, 'Walk The Talk'. Even there is an interview-based programme 'Walk the Talk' on NDTV’s 24x7 by Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. This illustrious lady by the name Anou, may not have appeared in one of those shows but frankly speaking I feel she deserves a slot there. Anou runs a simple project named pWhy (i.e Project Why) with her endeavors and efforts centered around bringing, simple smile in the faces of the under privileged individuals of the society and to empower the female clan from the lower starta of the society. Why does she do this ? My answer would be because she has a passion to bring about change and she does it and has been doing this for 7 years now. On the contrary we have paper tigers like SRK, Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek B and lot others on the Lead India show who wish to bring about change in this nation just by appearing on AD campaigns.

Also don't miss, Anita's blog, a die-hard shutterbug and wanderlust. Also I enjoy reading Sujatha's assortment of posts covering lots of book reviews, travel tips, deep dives into desi-life and much more.

This is just a short list, there are many other bloggers whose posts I follow regularly, just that there names are not here. I have all their names in my fingertips and would blog on them soon.

Fine, all these but how can I forget Mayank, who recently created ripples in Indian Blogosphere. He is a thoda haat ke chap and lives on books, runs 4 blogs on the web and does photography of aam junta capturing moments that we normally miss. And and and uses the Delhi Blue line buses for his commute. His latest claim to fame is that Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali plans to make a film based on one of his pieces in Pakistan Paindabad.

So all in all, I equate my blog life to my normal life in which one gets to rub shoulders with a wide range of people. Offers lots to learn, unlearn, share, discuss, debate and argue, of course with reason. Also I am happy that, there are at least five people whom I provoked and aroused their curiosity to have their own blogs and websites. So that many treats pending...huh...

So what are you waiting for in case you don't have a blog site of your own. Start one so that I am invited for another treat.

Keep reading and remain connected.

Filmcamp in Bangalore on 6th and 7th Oct'07....

Oyee, this weekend don't rush to PVR, Inox, or plant your ass on the cozy sofa or beanbag and watch movies on the idiot box. Instead, join and be a part of the much-awaited FilmCamp, which is happening right in the city of Bangalore on the 6th and 7th Oct'07 at JGI-CMS. Details to reach the place can be found here.

Now what is this Filmcamp?

FilmCamp is a platform to encourage and promote independent filmmakers. It’s a forum, a meeting place for people from different walks of filmmaking coming together to share and discover the fine fixingses in the treasury stock, i.e. in art of film-making. This event is the first of its kind and is happening at the PG Department of Communication, SBMJC Center for Management Studies, Bangalore. A place where independent Indie film makers get to showcase their works to a wider audience which includes film-makers, professionals and critics from the film industry. The best part would be to discuss, the +ves, the –ves, the lessons learnt, the encyclopedisms, the critical reviews, the point blank views, etc.


A peek into the film entries, here.

Few people on panel are Sanjay Jha, Anand Krishnamurthy, Vasanth, etc. Sanjay Jha debuted on the Bollywood screen with 'Praan Jaye Par Shaan Na Jaye' and was the Assistant Director in 'Mission Kashmir' at Vinod Chopra Films Pvt. Ltd. Anand Krishnamurthy is a Senior Lecturer, Direction and Sound at LV Prasad Film & TV Academy, Prasad Studios.

All the credit to conceptualize this idea and bring it to action goes to Thejesh GN, Hrish and their team members from BRTFF (Bangalore Roof Top Film Festival). Miles to go and the journey has just started. Have fun....

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Fireflies Festival of Music

I had a good time last weekend and actually, it wasn't just a good time, it was a super-duper time, a sheer joy, lots of simple expressions on show, etc, etc. And the best part was that, this whirl of joy started at 6:00 PM on 14th April and concluded the following day at 6:00 AM, a full night of events being staged under a banyan tree. How often do we see such a festival like Fireflies Festival of Music, an exciting mix of the traditional and the modern that touches the innermost strains of simplicity, which somehow gets diluted in the humdrum of our routined life.

Fireflies Festival of Music was conducted at Inter-cultural Centre, off Kanakapura road in Bangalore on 14th April in association with the Alliance Francaise. This fest is modeled after the World Sacred Music Festival, held annually at the mystical city of Fes, in Morocco. The most interesting facet of this event is that artists from round the globe perform under a large Banyan Tree, with its roots providing the natural background screen. The open-air amphitheatre amidst a splendid variety of lush native trees, was the sitting arena for a thousand odd nocturnal music aficionados. There was an eye-opening cross section of Bangalore society, starting from Indians to French to Greek to Serbian all sitting in the dark together and watching a story unfold with pace, energy, clarity and playfulness.


Since I was late and reached there by 8PM, I had missed two performances and the Tremolos (A three member band accompanied by a guitarist) were on stage then. Accordion, was their paint brush and they were mesmerizing the crowd with numbers like tango, polka dance, their fingers jogging effortlessly over the keys. The musical instrument Accordion and Raj Kapoor are intricately linked, with the song, 'Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan' from 'Mera Naam Joker' defining this confluence. As a tribute to Raj Kapoor, the Tremolos played this much to the delight of the crowd.

Bernard Wacheux, a French Violinist and professor at the Conservatory of Lille had flown from Paris to perform exclusively at this fest. Dressed in a T-shirt and beige color pant, he looked like any other man, till the time the bow touched the magical cord and produced some soaring melodies. Since European classical music, with its 700 years of history and inconceivable technical and emotional range was almost well outside the scope of the audience, Bernard offered some information before each of his performance. The best from his quiver was the 'Swan' song, a cringingly sub-grim melodrama of love.


A group of percussionists from the Karnataka School of Percussion, intoxicated the crowd with their reverberations from the Mridangam, Kanjeera, Ghatam, Morsing, Rhythm drums, Dhol and Tabla. The team of seven, each playing one instrument each, even sang for a while mixing their vocal voices with jugalbandi beats from the instruments. The hallmark of this presentation being flawless synchronization and the crowd asked for more, even after its last performance on stage. Their execution was a world of colors, of sounds, of images, of sublime, crazy or inspired artistic creations, where ethnic and modern electronics, and young and old age blended effortlessly.


The night was getting dark and few people were feeling sleepy, only to return back to their senses, once the 'Dollu Kunita' folk artists took stage. This unique folk art form from the Malnad region is generally performed during jatras, social occasions but these days it is regular event in cultural festivals to preserve this dying art. The trademarks of this dance form are tremendous physical stamina, rustic acrobatic movements and concentration by artistes. The artistes were dressed in faux animal skin costume with elaborate plumage, their foreheads smeared with colored chalk powder. My simple word, 'you-need-to-be-there' to experience what I am telling here.

Hardly, before the energetic sound from the "Dollu" (drums) had subsided, preparations were going on stage for the next performance, which was by Clio Karabelia. Clio is a harpist, singer, from France, of Greek origin and is trained in western and Indian classical music, Greek and French songs. She has made India, her home for now because of the appealing driving power of Indian classical music. Clio is a lecturer of French language in the Univ of Dharwad and shuttles her free time between Indian classical music, which she is learning under the guidance of Ustad Hamid Khan and her first love, the harp. The Ustad’s sitar and Clio’s pedal harp, created some magical fusion music, slow in pace, seductive in taste. When the piece began, the interweaving of the instruments and the chordal assonance slowly unfolded and enveloped the musical lines of each one of us.


Jazz Revival, a team of eight senior musicians from Bangalore led by Dr.Thomas Chandy of HOSMAT performed some Latin jazz and blues to create the party mode, making the audience feel dressed in gypsy skirts and spaghetti strapped tops. A feeling of dreaminess stole over the evening when the band played numbers like the Canadian song, 'Moon Dance', 'Georgia on my mind' and 'Since I met you baby'. Colonel Tom John on the piano was the most energetic and his childlike care freeness was something to watch out for. Uncle Dom, the eldest member in the band would be 75+ but he was at ease with his Tenor Sax with Chandy on the vocals. There were other members in the team, whose names I am not aware of but they for sure entertained others with their sheer passion for music.

Next on stage was a band, named 'Oikyotaan' [Oikyo meaning "harmony" in Bengali and taan meaning "one universal melody" in Sanskrit.]that played Baul music fusion, which was a potpourri of Bengali folk, Sufi, Baul and traditional Rajasthani music. Bonnie, the founder of the band initially spoke about the philosophy of their songs, which celebrates the joy of love, true devotion, freedom from the bondages, etc. When his explanation about their songs drew obscure connections to human body, which they consider no more than a pile of bones and flesh, the crowd was lost in this high-funda description and wanted music instead of all this gyan. Bonnie hemmed some peppy numbers in Bengali like 'Goriya Aaabaiyeere','Kaulankini Radha' but the center of attraction was Kartick Das Baul [in the pic] who lended his rustic and tremulous voice to some percussion compositions with the ektaara, mridangam and electric guitar. Kartick was dressed in colorful gypsy-like costume, and is a traditional Baul singer from Santhiniketan. His latest road to fame is his songs sung for Mira Nair’s movie 'Namesake'.

The excitement in the air reached its crescendo, when Shafiq Pervez and group from Nagpur next set the mehfil for 'Qawali' performance. Opening its Pandora box with a series of 'sheeirs' which were received with motley of 'waah-waahs', the artists slowly entered into the deep waters of 'Qawali'. One after the other they played all popular numbers requested by the crowd like 'Dhamadam Mastkalandar', 'Pardah hai Pardah', 'Chadta Suraj', etc. Following the guidelines of 'Qawali', any line or musical mode that touched the audience was repeated with renewed fervor to induce trance. Few in the crowd were so hypnotized that they expressed their appreciation by offering money when the performers were in full swing.

When Nemanja Rebic from Serbia took stage he first spoke a lot about India, its rich culture and tradition and what drove him to learn Carnatic classical vocal and also Mridangam in Bangalore. Rebic who is trained in Jazz guitar and classical guitar since he was 12, displayed his prowess during the jugalbandi session. This easy going and charming chap showered kisses to the crowd and was always smiling, while playing some numbers from Serbia and Balkan lands. His last number was a love song from Serbia and he said he played it because 'love is so simple and easy and so it was easy playing it too'. His music was brilliant but his beatific smile added that extra something.

Covered in shawls, with a full moon sky and fireflies dancing in the dim electric bulb light, young and old people sat on the low stone steps, on rocks swinging to the music, as the various bands/groups sang of live, love, nature, devotion and personal relationships. By this the time the sojourn had lasted for ten hours and it was early morning. The next two performances were from a team of Caribbean drummers and a morning Alap on Sitar by Hindol Deb.

It was early morning, 6 AM then. I was present there physically, but had gone weary after spending a full night, without missing a single event and my shutter was also active all the while. Su, Ni and few others from my engineering school who had joined for this show, were awake the full night and it was fun reliving the good old college days.


The thousand odd audience who spent Rs.200 for each ticket, and did a night out for music, to me proved that though tinsel music, has its advocates, serious music, even if all is not comprehensible, will also fill the seats, if it fulfils at least the needs of the ear and the mind. All that matters is the ripeness - where the music, musician and listener cohere in self-forgetful joy.

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Interface Space

You probably spend long hours a day staring at the computer/laptop screen — working, blogging, chatting, talking to friends, e-shopping, e-banking, blah blah blah....... With so many creative people spending so much time on their computers it is no surprise that the computer interface itself has become source material for ideas. It’s the sheet that one uses to make the optimal use of the "left side" and the "right side" of the brain. Daily immersion in a two-dimensional space has raised an intriguing question that many people can’t resist: what is the physicality of the creativity and how do I add a third-dimension to it? This concept I feel is applicable in all spheres of life, be it at home, in the classroom, at work place or for-that-matter anywhere. Just that the tint, shade or tone of the third-dimension takes a new perspective, like it varies from what it means to an engineer, to a writer, to a doctor, or an artist, etc.

The ubiquitous interface experience has created a symbiosis between the metaphorical space of technology, ideas and the physical world.

I got an email from one of my friends, Mo who is pursuing her MBA in the US and she sent me this interesting pic. This is a magnificent piece of smart ADs involving the combination of real people and intelligently placed photos to attract immediate attention.

There's a lot of ways to promote a magazine. Some strikingly unconventional than others. With the tagline "Let us keep on dreaming of a better world," which, funnily sounds like some old hippy song. The pictorial graphics portrays a woman as is visualized inside the fantasy-laden mind of a man. This is a promotion for Belgian magazine,Che.

I think it is fun if viewed without the lenses of one's politically correct glasses and the person who created this definitely has lots of humor and uses his/her grey cells for some of the most original creative expressions and witticism.

I also read an interesting post, while searching for an online bookstore on the Internet and learnt a new form of art. Have you ever wondered that you can create a photo-mosaic of a lot many things of your interest using book-covers using a simple step-by-step process? Check more here.

Did you like it or you didn’t, adding a third dimension to the two dimensional life?

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