Summer is on...

sitting with my knees close to my chest,
with a different silence,
my lungs and my nose inhale the dry morning air,
there is a sudden change around.
winter is all gone,
leaves crackling in front of my door step.



roosting like an eagle at my place,
i see the streets which appear hebetudinous.
kids hurrying to school,
running over a bed of jacaranda.
withered grass meets drooped leaves,
they say summer is on.



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Some random moods...

R for Relax:



S for Silence:



T for Twosome:



Mood when took these pictures, dullish, gloomy. The cloudy weather and unadulterated early morning did the rest. Don't know if my fingers orchestrated over the shutter buttons as I wanted. That part you decide?

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A quiet annotation...

The wind was there but as meek as a mouse, while I sat there. It blew mildly past the enclosed wagon, as I sat with my head snoozed against the glass window of the Metro train. The weather was cold and dry and around me were people of all colors, as the train advanced towards Versailles, a small place on the outskirts of Paris. My legs were aching, the muscles were numb with exertion, but there was something in the air that meliorated the mood.

The sun was terpsichoring between the clouds, the faint morning rays kissing my body intermittently. After a short travel, on reaching my destination, as I came out, the dryness outside received me. I looked up at the sun which by then had risen by a couple of degrees. Feeling lazy, I lifted my arms up, palms open and facing the sky to the east, was just looking around.

My dry fingers clicked a snap of the cold dry surroundings. With the freshness in the air, my temper sparked like the damp firewood. Inside my mind, a quiet annotation got registered, 'let's check later if at all the dryness was perfectly snapped'.


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A Simple Click...

Sometimes living in a city is like operating a machine, that's become comfortable, functional and yet a little cynical at times. And in the midst of this routine life, all of us come across some moments that are a little less meaningful and a little more expensive every year. I sternly believe that the finer points of life comes to us when we are least expecting them.

A couple of days back, a couple of my friends rushed to a restaurant for an unplanned late dinner. We were sitting in the open around ten at night, as the eating place lime-washed to a lambent white and planted firmly on a cover of neatly manicured grass was packed with guests. The moon dangled in the night sky, tossing among the silent clouds. The mild cold wind whistled and it felt vaporific to sit there with hot soups in front of us. Add to this was a wide assortment of desi and western cuisine.

As we were having food and chattering among ourselves, my deemag ka LCD suddenly exposed a hole in my vision. The cushy music in the background and the chillness of the night totted to the appeals of the senses, something called imagery. I found a threesome in a nearby camp in reverie over a glass of wine and lost in a deep discussion. The click of my shutter apparently caught on to it, or maybe the wind carried that to me.


Finer points, as I say again comes when meaningless appearances and disappearances tickle us when we least expect them...Baas aapna camera ready rakho and abide by temporal's words of wisdom on wineism.

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(This pic was taken in a restaurant when I was experimenting with my friend's camera.)

Cheeni Kum Yah Jyada....

For all those who didn't get the Hindi title, its Less Sugar or More.

This movie was shot at kitchen, script was by a cook, who left the lid of the jar open, there was not much to do with lighting as natural light was sufficient. You know this is a low budget slow movie, tried to advert my script with some prominent directors but no luck. The actors were chosen on the fly with some rigorous audition near the racks of the kitchen shelf. Cinematography was by RC :). Also there is no music as this is silent movie, no budget to go for the dhoom dhadaka philum music.

So enjoy it.














Anybody ready to buy the copy rights and the release expenditure of my movie ? Anyways next time something coming rattlingly special, ekdaam jhakaas.

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(Note: That's what happens to someone who is a night owl)

Timecheck...

Raise your wrist to check the time, you're in the middle of an important assignment, and you find that the damn timepiece has stopped operating. No clues because a while back, it was perfectly fine. But then, it doesn't matter much, just check your mobile handset and you know the time.

Also, this is something common. This scenario gets a bit hotchpotch if one is traveling across geographies, you move from say X, in a particular time-zone to Y in another time-zone. When touring to a new land, the first thing, I feel one needs to do before boarding out of the flight is set your watches, as the stewardess announces 'We are about to land, please be seated and fasten your seat belts'.

Why am I taking all this here? Because, don't you feel that, if you had a watch like the one in the pics below, you don’t have to bother about all these trivial yet significant things. :)

Also it's a co-incidence that yesterday, late evening I had to rush to a watch repair shop, as two of my watches were not functioning properly. The watch repairer, would fix my watches soon, till then let me enjoy my 'butterfly watch'.





Just a small info, if any of you is interested to check out a myriad of butterflies, there is Bannerghatta Butterfly Park in Bangalore. Though I have never been there, will try it soon.

Now, a small quote to terpsichore with the pics.


Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.— Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804 - 1864)

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[Pics taken on a small butterfly, thanks to the small solitaire for its patience]

A small orifice.........(candle light)




The room was dark
Candlelight gleaming in my room.
It's effulgence drapes my face,
Asking me about my perfections,
my imperfections..





C'mon share with me
Your glorious hopes
and aspirations,
Your discordant views
and states of reverie.
The rays are mellifluous
and forgiving.




It hovers over the waves of passion,
even though the caboodle of wax
has subsumed grief of every form.

Still it reveals in its entombment,
The sparkle of renewed innocence.

Also, today while reading the newspaper, I just flipped across the news, that it was Princess Diana's, 10th death anniversary. There were familiar scenes clusters of wilting flowers propped against the fence, memorable poems, the sniffles, yet another replaying of Elton John's reworked 'Candle in the Wind' in the honour of one of the most charismatic and enigmatic ladies of our times. But in the end, UK still fractured by 10 years of grief and accusations over a dead princess showed signs of moving on.

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[All the pics taken in darkess, when there was power failure a couple of days back.]

Onam Wishes to All...

Today is Onam, the biggest festival in the coastal state of Kerala. Onam Festival marks the homecoming of legendary King Mahabali. Onam is essentially a harvest festival among Keralites, although this festival has its origin in Hindu mythology, people of all class and creed celebrate it. The secular character of Onam is peculiar and a striking feature and this has always coexisted during festivals, when people come together to celebrate life's unlimited joys: feasting, boat races, song, dance and merriment.



That's the true spirit of this fest but crass commercialization has vulgarized Kerala's once-egalitarian and pure festival. A master piece here by fellow Desicritic'ian, Rajen Nair and in this piece he draws vignettes from his childhood memory mines.

The celebrations commence within a fortnight of the Malayalee New Year and this fervidness lasts for ten days. The last day called the Thiruvonam is the most important. Onam also means new clothes for the whole family, men dressed in spotless white mundu (cloth wrapped around the waist and it falls till the feet) and jubba on top (neck less shirt). The women are dressed up in butter-colored saris with golden border and that looks neat and fresh. Their hair is decked with jasmine flowers, and this perfect frosting is like the hallmark signature an author scribbles on his/her just completed book. Also dollops of sumptuous home-cooked delicacies served on plantain leaf and the lingering aroma of the sweet Payasam arouse all the gastronomical senses.

Wish you all a Happy Onam.

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(Note: Both the pics have been taken from internet, but I added my bit of give it the bucolic look and the curls that you see along the edges.)

The pen > all e’s and i’s....
('e' as in electronic and 'i' as in internet)

Today, morning when I checked my mail box, which was again by chance, I found a post-card.

Yes, a post-card and that's why I was all the more excited as it was after a long long time that I saw one of those vintage cards with the stamp. Though I find lot of journals, application forms, magazines, bill payments mails stacked in my mail box but this one was one of a surprise. This post-card had traveled all the way from Mauritius, if someone says there is heaven on Earth, this is one such place. This person lives in the world of 'e' and 'i' , makes a living out of it, infact handling multiple responsible roles in one of the biggest firms in this world.

I happen to know this person, for long and it's the simplicity of this person that’s enchanting. Being on a vacation and not in touch for a while, this person sends a message from the island of Mauritius. The bold and clear handwriting sent a simple message, but for me those were tangible reminders of respect and appreciation that this person deserves.

'S' could have dropped me an email, but Nah goes all the way to drop this card because I know for few people letters allow chance to impart a sense of whimsy. The varied fonts and backgrounds that pep up the e-mails, can't take the place of hand written words even if these are something of an anachronism.

I would treasure this for long. Le respect et l'honneur, apprenant tombe en place.

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Try this...

Yesterday, late night I was going through my daily feed of blogs and online news. I chanced across a site and found some interesting facets to explore. Since I am two-timing between 'India After Gandhi' and 'Maximum City', two books which are purely desi-centric covering history, geography, society, politics and lots more to mollify the info glutton and to enlighten the sapidity of reading. I got few questions dot on target, definitely two questions that I cracked was because of my recent reads.

When I clicked the 'Check Score' button and kept my fingers crossed to know the score, it was Ok. I got an 8/12.

Check the trivia here and it’s interesting. Try for sure.


The source for this pic is KarmaDude.

Now my bit of trivia: Every one knows that Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth but this peak is not called Mount Everest as such in Tibet because the name is a British neology derived from the name of George Everest, the British Surveyor-General of India then. Rather it is widely known as Sagarmatha (Forehead of the Sky) by the Nepalese and Chomolangma or Qomolangma (Mother of the Universe) by the Tibetans.

In the year 1999, Guinness Book of Records awarded a Japanese-owned hotel the highest placed [as in terms of altitude] hotel in the world, Which is this one and where is it located ?

Anyone interested to join to kickstart pure desi-centric trivia posts, something like a set of 5 questions each week. Unquestionably, there are two benefits to this as I can see, but am sure there would be many more. One of them is one get's to learn new topics and subjects and the second is this info may serve as the fodder for an interesting post.

Anyone listening and wants to jump in?

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That Light and Me...



People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross


Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. - Norman B. Rice

I had scribbled on a post sometime back.


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Quote of the Day...

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."
- Peter Drucker

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To Err Is Human...


To Err is Human...But we need to take this obiter dictum with a pinch of salt. Now if Sanju Baba goes ahead and files a petition with the Supreme Court that it was an error on his part, and he never had any ill or minatory intentions. His possession of AK-56 rifle, a pistol and other ammunitions was accidental, or that he had been tricked, foxed or flim-flammed. Then its an eye wash. He was quite mature and was well off an age in 1993, in his mid 30's. Yes, Sanju Baba 'To Err is Human' but then its more human to accept a mistake blatantly.

"Sir, I made a mistake 14 years ago. Please give me some time to surrender," a visibly shocked Dutt pleaded in court with folded hands after his hopes of being set free under the Probation of Offenders Act were dashed.

But what has this innocuous child done. To this chap, 'To Err is Human', his first accident...but his last shoulder ride. Only if daddy or papa doesn't mind next time.

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Pics : Sanju Baba's pic is from Rediff, the the chap's pic was a forward from a friend in an email.

Don't you think so...

Infinite space and time has been offered to the media and there are lots of discussion and debate going on about India surging as an economic powerhouse. I am sure each one of us whether in India or abroad would have read or heard about India’s economy which grew by 9.1% in the January-March 2007 quarter compared to the same period the previous year.

This growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to the push the full-fiscal year growth to its strongest pace in about two decades, reports Reuters.

The data that we have today puts the growth for the fiscal year ending March 2007 at 9.4%, which is higher than what the Government had estimated at around 9.2%. It was even touted as the strongest fiscal year growth since 1988-89, when India’s economy grew by 10.5%.

But there is another India, too? Don’t you think so.

I had to cross a small river to reach this place.
These two kids were playing near the kiln.This is a self-sustaining village and see how the entire family survives here. The working place, the living space and the recreation arena for the small kids are all in one place.I know the man, who after a cherished career took this initiative of bringing goodwill and smiles in the lives of these people. I respect this man a lot and someday will tell you the entire story of his journey in life. How he wants the simple common man to use the basics of science and use it the most efficient way, with whatever is available at hand. The kiln is designed the most scientific way and he told me that in a span of 6 months, the rate at which the bricks are produced at the kiln has increased by 35% with the same effort as was used before. Just a nugget of information, this man close to thirty years back was given the 'Best Technical Design' award by the Govt of India for designing the shop floor for a steel behemoth.

And fortunately, this man calls me daily to discuss things and what little I can do in his initiative, any ideas I have in mind and likewise... And I call this man my father, my dad.

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Moments from Bar Camp Bangalore 4 (BCB4)...

I missed Day 1 of the BarCamp Bangalore 4 (BCB4) for some reasons those were beyond my control but then was there for the entire Day 2 events. BCB4, which was held in the sylvan atmosphere of IIM Bangalore, did live up to the ethos of the unconference meet. This was not a large corporate conference where discussions are held in an organized manner inside rooms but everything footraces on an informal interactive note.

The camp offered something or the other for all the participants: tech geeks, social entrepreneurs, journalists, photographers, bloggers, startup champions, bicycle riders, etc and the events were conducted in classrooms, lawns, corridors and even a discussion over a cup of coffee. BarCamp's framework is to allow people to share and learn in an open environment.

The event commenced with a short briefing on the day’s schedule and this event was held at the main Auditorium.

The special feature of this BarCamp was the formation of collectives to cater to the varied interests and tastes of the participants.

There were sessions on tools used for pod casting, tricks and techniques to protect one’s photographs on one's blogs. These topics had run-of-the-mill material and so were the presentations.

(Swaminathan’s talk on tools used for pod casting.)
The discussion was turning too monotonous and to give the crowd a gingery thrill, there was an informative session on Mobile Blogging by Arun, who works for Satyam Computers. He is one of the organizers of the BCB4.

(Arun with his talk on mobile blogging and inputs for Corporate Blogging)
This was followed by a session on Corporate Blogging and the way this medium is catching up in India by our very own Desicritics editor, Kishore. Perceptions winged from how marketers are looking at blogs as a mighty social media to how corporate blogging activity takes diverse tones: internal (where they are used as a sharing tool among) and external (as a medium to interact with customers and indirectly help in business).

I stepped out to see a team of people seated under the shade of a tree and their discussions centered around outsourcing in India, e-governance, the benign and the blunder side of globalization on the common man, etc.

By this time, the buzz of excitement shifted to the corridor where sessions for the startup enthusiasts were organized. There was a talk on a health care product, the startup team had come all the way from Chennai to deliver the talk. I was looking for some big bang stream of ideas but there was again the regular gyan delivered though garnished to cover areas of customer centricity, company profiling, people and cash flow.

The next talk was by Hari, an aspiring social entrepreneur who shared his idea of a Web NGO. Though his words did vocalize a great idea, of beading society, entrepreneurship and technology to deliver the basic health care facilities to those in the bottom of the pyramid but somehow it lacked the airwave of conviction.

(Hari delivering his talk.)
It was time for lunch by now and food was pretty good, simple desi food. All the participants relished the hot pooris, gobi manchurian, mixed veg curry, fried rice, normal rice, sambar, papad, salad, gulab jamoon and lots more. It was fun to see few participants from abroad interacting actively with the team members of a collective that delivered lots of sessions on food and eateries in Bangalore.

Then there was a session by a techie who works for a software firm in Bangalore, which I attended when it was half way through. I jumped into this presentation, as the topic was debatable: 'Why is my next start-up not going to be in India?'. The topic was made catchy to stimulate the crowd to come out with their point-blank opinions. The crowd consisting of some eminent persons from academia, few students from IITs and other top engineering schools, and rest others bombarded the presenter with a quiver of questions. The techie had regular answers such as 'How many Ph.d's does India produce in a year ?', the deficiency of attitude and curiosity for research and development in spines of Indian universities, etc. The focal points supporting his premise of not investing in a startup in India are lack of research and development and formation of a competent team. I agree to a fair extent that these problems do exist but in spite of that in the last three or four years there has been surge in the domain of industry related research and development, typically among graduates from the top engineering schools in India. Also, I strongly believe that if a product company visits any of the top engineering schools in India in the first five days of the placement season, there is definitely no dearth of talent. This topic was really an interesting one but because of stringent time schedule, this discussion continued outside the room, in the lawns leaving the stage for Britta.

(The techie in action, sorry I forgot his name.)
Britta, a technical research scholar from Germany, presently in Bangalore gave an interesting talk on a decentralized search engine, Faroo, that implements web search based on Peer-to-Peer technology.

(Thats Britta with her talk on Faroo.)
The next talk by Sean Blagsvedt of creating a jobsite, Babalife for those who cannot read and write English hailing from the lower strata of the society was chic smart. It combines a blog and photo/video sharing and uses it as a social networking to provide employment to driver, cook or a housemaid. Sean is from Oakland but has made Bangalore his home and works with Microsoft Research India team, creating interesting solutions in the mobile space, especially those related to emerging markets. Any blind guess why Sean named his site as Babalife with a lot of emphasis on the word 'Baba' ?

(Sean with his energetic rapid fire presentation.)
There were some shutterbug addicts in the camp and some great moments were captured through the lens. I captured some of the fine moments and Lavanya, a friend of mine gave me company in clicking a few of these.

(Lavanya in per pose as a photographer.)
There were lots of discussions going around in the corridors and live blogging with loads of exuberance. Few even spoke passionately about second life, virtual dates, etc.

Evening had already set in and one could hear the birds’ tweedling in the pristine lawns and amidst the greenery surrounding IIMB campus. My eyeballs were rolling and suddenly it rested on these three creative thinkers reminding me of my college days.

It was time to wind off but as everyone knows Bangalore and music is synonymous, so there was a medley of music and technology. Jayanth made a live demo of how to run a virtual band, and displayed the gathering, his wizardry with the octave notes on his guitar strings.

(Thats Jayanth on guitar.)
The Wi-Fi in the campus had some problems on Day 1 but by Day 2 everything was sorted out and there were lots of people busy with their laptops. The space arrangement and management, furniture, desi lunch, electricity, and other paraphernalias for the unconference were all well arranged. Inspite of limited funding, the arrangements for water, some snacks, BarCamp t-shirts were fair to middling.

There were lot many participants from foreign lands and from India, BarCamp fanciers came from Chennai, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Durgapur, etc. As the curtains were put down, it was declared that Bar Camp Bangalore 4 (BCB4) has been the best and the biggest ever Bar Camp in India so far. So till we all meet again at the next event, its Vous Revoir.


Cross posted at Desicritics.

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