ALL YOU TOUCH AND ALL YOU SEE...IS ALL YOUR LIFE WILL EVER BE...

"Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky"

2005-03-06T21:14:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location : Lalbagh, Bangalore
Time: Around 6.00 PM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 50
Zoom: No
Tripod: No
Comments: None

CD mania!

2005-03-06T10:16:00.000+05:30

I got into this sudden shopping spree a few days ago. Went down to Brigade road one evening to shop for a little brown note book (where I jot down thoughts that I can't publish on the web), and realized that it has been a while since I have bought any new music. Honestly, I'd say that MP3s have no charm. I am so sick of collecting music on MP3. I HAD to buy a CD.

So I go down to Planet M first hoping to buy Nadaka's 'Colours of Music'. I have this album on tape and I have to say that it's absolutely beautiful . Planet M, lost in all it's misplaced priorities didn't have this CD. So I decide to walk down to Music World. Now this store has been my favourite, although it's somewhat a less celebrated place for music lovers. But these guys know their business and don't get lost in all the hype. Ok, so at Music World I notice that Prem Joshua has released a new album called 'Yatri'. My affair with Prem Joshua's music goes back to my college days when we guys used to sit indoors at Kemmanu, listening to 'Banyan Tales' and watch the rain fall down for weeks together. Monsoon in South Karnataka is a force to reckon with :) I decide to pick up 'Yatri' , and go to the cash counter to pay. I ask the lady if there are any offers and she tells me that Music Today (the record company) is having a 'pick-3-pay-for-2' offer. Yay! I rush back to pick up two more CDs but am disappointed that they have just 1 of the other 2 Prem Joshua albums that I've been dying to own. I walk up to other counters and contemplate on picking up a U Shrinivas or Pt ShivKumar Sharma (all these artists are released on Music Today). I am not happy for some reason and I go back to the 'New Age' section to look for more Prem Joshua. And guess what! I find 'Sky Kisses Earth' - a masterpiece of an album! So armed with Mudra & Sky Kisses Earth I walk back to the cash counter (where my 'Yatri' is ready to be billed) and leave the store a happy man :)

Now all happy tales have a sad note. I was listening to Sky Kisses Earth last night and realized that the recording is a little screwed on that CD. I don't think it's a problem with the compact disk itself. Seems to be a problem with the way the music was recorded onto the disk. Gotta return it now. Not hoping to find another copy of the same album coz this was the last one they had :(

[Listening to: Don't Hate Me - Porcupine Tree ]

2005-02-28T05:45:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location :Ramana Maharshi Park, Bangalore
Time: Around 6.30 PM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 50
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Yes
Comments: Bangalore has some nice old buildings here and there. And when these structures are found in any of the numerous parks, they make nice subjects for night photography. I am very pleased with my camera's performance in low light. And of course, my tripod is great!

A monkey on the crossroads...

2005-02-25T09:34:00.000+05:30

Every one of us would have at some point of time stood at cross-roads and wondered which direction to take. It could have so happened that some past traveller, in their moment of confusion, interchanged the signboards or mislead you. And hence, it could be possible that you took the wrong road. And probably that's why you are here, reading this now.

Ok, that was a stupid joke. But the fact that the cross-roads is here and now isn't. We have, over the years, tried to build a life where everything is measurable, predictable and within the pages of some big encyclopedia. And since when I can remember, I have refused to believe what I've been told. I have always lived a life of validation. I have treated the cross-roads of my life as the answer to the many questions I've always had. And guess what - the monkey liked it!

Now you must be wondering which monkey I am talking about. Well, in one of my previous posts I linked to a page which had a funny story by a good friend. He talks about the un-evolved monkey in all our heads, fighting, jumping about and generally creating nuisance. And look around. What he says pretty much true!

Although I agree with him about the monkey in me, I don't think that the monkey has stopped evolving. If there is any thing that saddens me more, it is the fact that we are living in times in which shallow relationships, stupid dogmas, unethical practices, lustful pastimes and the rest have created a situation where evolution is the last thing on anyone's mind. Evolution? Hello? I'm too busy doing what they told me to do. I'll earn my two letter degree and find a good job and whatddya know - I'll marry by age 25 and breed more mon...err..kids! I've got it all figured!

Unfortunately, it seldoms happens like that. Unfortunately, it's never possible to escape arriving at a cross-road. And years of devolution have made the sign boards untrustworthy. You were probably all monkey and not man. But it is possible that you arrived at some fork and never realised that it's time to make the monkey wiser. It's possible that you gave in to all what they said and tried to live happily ever after. You probably had other monkeys to take care of, and couldn't chose higher ground.

I arrived at a mental cross-road today. I had to make the monkey listen to the man in me. But it wasn't easy. The man feels small. This world looks like one big zoo to him. Full of overgrown monkeys. He feels trapped in a cage meant for monkeys. But I know I am standing at the cross-roads, waiting for a little sign, a little something to show me the way to farther shores. I am watching the monkey and the man. I am watching the road. I am also watching her.....

[Listening to: Catapult - R.E.M. ]

2005-02-21T19:43:00.000+05:30

Where I live...

Photography is fun!

2005-02-16T13:58:00.000+05:30

I am not even 3 months into my digital photography trip, and I'm already yearning for an SLR. The learning curve with my first Digicam was pretty high in the beginning, but now it's more fun than "duh, what button do i press?" :)

Actually, good old film sometimes takes the fun out of learning photography. For one, developing all those rolls involves spending money. And the waiting time is too long for someone as restless as me. Digital obviously eliminates these two shortcomings of film. Three cheers for Digital!

I wouldn't have come this far without the help of some of the very informative & friendly forums. I visit DPreview (the Canon forum especially) almost religiously, and JJMehta's forum also finds my presence ocassionaly. Incidently, I got my tripod from JJMehta.

While I am at it, I thought I should also thank good friend Khan for introducing me to my two new girlfriends - Shutter Speed and Aperture Priority. Yeah dude, I am learning how to strike a balance between the two :)

It has been great going so far. My little Canon A95 is tops, and I hope to someday own a better camera. Something along the lines of a Canon EOS. My only crib about the A95 is lack of RAW support. For the uninformed, RAW is Digital photography's equivalent of film. The camera stores the image's unprocessed information in RAW, and hence is a preferred format (over JPEG). The Canon G6 has RAW available, but is twice the cost of the A95 :(

Will hopefully put up a short photography guide sometime. Maybe on my website, when I update it next?

Meanwhile, check this out.

All you touch and all you see...

2005-02-13T09:32:00.000+05:30

When I chose this title for my blog, I never imagined this day to come. This day when the words of the song 'Breathe' by Pink Floyd, from where the title of my blog was chosen, would be so apt for a certain someone, a friend, who is the newest visitor to my blog.

Welcome friend. Read these words. They were written for you :)

"Breathe" (Waters, Gilmour, Wright)

Breathe, breathe in the air.
Don't be afraid to care.
Leave but don't leave me.
Look around and choose your own ground.

Long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all you touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be.

Run, rabbit run.
Dig that hole, forget the sun,
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down it's time to dig another one.

For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave.

[Listening to: Us and Them - Pink Floyd ]

Old memories...

2005-02-13T08:26:00.000+05:30

There was a family get together last night. One of my cousin is getting married today, so yesterday was the 'day-before-the-wedding' getting together of the bride's and groom's families. As expected, a lot of my relatives where present at the function - people whom I really don't interact with, but smile anyway because it is basic courtesy.

I was standing next to my mom, just about ready to leave {after a sumptuous meal ;)} when a lady, probably as old as my mother, came up and began speaking to us. My mom looked at her and introduced me, and this lady's eyes sparkled as she told me with a huge smile "I have seen you once, when you were a three month old baby. We had come to your place in Madras, and you were sleeping blissfully then." I was dumbfounded!! What a memory!! The way she spoke made it look like she had seen me just yesterday, thumb sucking, cradle and all!! Boy!!

[Listening to: Deliverence - Opeth ]

Hey old fruit, how are ya!

2005-02-11T13:42:00.000+05:30

I met an old friend online yesterday. It's funny, coz when I say old, I mean two things: One, we go back many years. It was a chance meeting at a bookstore that got us talking and he shared a rather similar taste in music. Well, the similar taste was only to an extent; while I was all Gn'R, he was all Metallica.

The other reason why I saw old, is because I have always felt that he was too old for his age. He was an old soul trapped in a young body. This also caused us to discuss stuff beyond our age. Boy, we did have a lot of mind-expanding conversations, eh? :)

Anyways, he is now in Germany, supposedly studying, but nevertheless getting drunk most of the time. It's now an old joke between us that he may not live to see many dawns...well...not because he's gonna pass out regularly...but because he may never wake up one day. His dad died of alcoholism (much before I knew him) and they say it runs in the family. Do I feel sad? Strangely no...

Yea, so I met him online after a really long time. I haven't seen or heard much from him for two years, so it was a pleasant surprise. Refreshing, I should say, considering that I don't have too many such conversations these days. It was a good feeling of connecting over some nostalgic frequency, talking about music and mental degenaration (his, not mine). And of course the drinking..

2005-02-07T21:53:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location: Lalbagh, Bangalore
Time: Around 6.00 PM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 50
Zoom: Max
Tripod: No
Comments: A very funny scene..and i was like "damn, wish i had more zoom" :)

Round and around....

2005-02-07T15:07:00.000+05:30

IMG_0529_small
Originally uploaded by nidrajiva.

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location: Sankey Tank, Bangalore
Time: Around 7.00 PM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 50
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Yeah, yeah!
Comments: A lampost...and insects insanely flocking around it...What do you see in this?..

Why can't everyone just get along?

2005-02-07T11:15:00.000+05:30

No, we can't. It is totally irrational to expect everyone to get along. If there is any mistake we are commiting, it is raising our expectations to a level where we believe that everyone can just be friends.

And the other extreme is when we expect everyone to understand why we don't get along. When we try hard to ascertain the fact that we are different. Some people go to great lengths to prove 'This is how I am'.

It is not to say that I havent foolishly believed that everyone can get along. Or have not tried to prove my uniqueness. At times I have, rather naively, seen this world through rose coloured glasses. But i have fallen, picked myself up, and learnt my lessons. Sometimes, only to repeat the same mistake again.

But beyond the basic truth that we are all quibbling meat-things living in a world that believes that 'no man is an island', is a certain mental landscape that is way beyond, above and far from the uncertainities of human irrationalities. This mental homstead is a beatiful place where everyone needn't get along. It is more of a state of conciousness, than a place with a zipcode. But to live in that almost dream-like state of mind one needs to be able to get over a few basic tendendencies.

The first tendency, which is human and hence not uncommon, is dependency. I believe that we should all be raised to be independent souls. We can then perform much better in our lives. But as I already mentioned, 'no man is an island' or, 'Lays - You can't eat just one' is what we have been brought up to believe. And I have taught myself to believe otherwise.

But unfortunately, it isn't very simple to start believing new things. For ages we have built cliche after cliche to make sure that we are tied-up and tied-down in layers and layers of complicated made-up relationships. Like marriage. And everything is such a viscious cycle there after.

So to start with, we need to break free...

My new three legged friend

2005-02-06T06:15:00.000+05:30

I bought myself this yesterday. Yippee!! Now I can get more out of my camera.

PS: Damage to pocket = :)

2005-02-03T23:28:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location: Bangalore
Time: Around 5.00 PM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 50 (?)
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Nope
Comments: I feel cruel taking away the color! But B&W has it's own charm...

UPDATE:

Different variations of the same photo can be found here, here and here.

All hail Photoshop!

Wired 13.02: Revenge of the Right Brain

2005-02-02T10:56:00.000+05:30

Interesting stuff!

Wired 13.02: Revenge of the Right Brain: "Revenge of the Right Brain "

Guns N' Roses: The Perils of Rock 'n' Roll Decadence

2005-01-26T07:14:00.000+05:30

Rock ‘n’ roll has never been short of stories of bands making it big based on pure talent. Every now and then, from the ashes of scores of studio-manufactured-manager-marketed sham bands rises a phenomenon such as Guns N’ Roses. And like all rock ‘n’ roll success stories, GN’R was formed under circumstances so ordinary, that young boys and girls still try and recreate such situations in the hopes of making it big.

What has set this band apart from former overlords such as Led Zeppelin or latter drug-infested, teen messiahs such as Kurt Cobain, is the fact that front man Axl Rose always wrote songs that were realistic, direct, pointed and honest. || Go here to read the rest ...

[Listening to: A Perfect Circle - Sleeping Beauty]

2005-01-21T19:48:00.000+05:30

Can you stich
Insides that are torn?
Can I watch you strip
These clothes that don't make me a man?
We'll celebrate then.
Under the rain, hold my hand,
I don't want this scene to fade.
I want happiness in this life,
That they said I've made.
I want you, like you want me to.

In my many moods I've watched you grow.
Watched colours change beneath my hide,
Seen them change from dark to mellow.
Makes my heart explode with delight,
These desires of many years,
The lust of many silent moons.
Don't limit this to what you understand between your ears,
In our beasts there is love, there is rune.
Don't you want happiness in this life?
Don't you want me to see the poetry in your eye?

Sometimes it is so hard to control,
Sometimes I don't want to let go.
But without abandon, what will you know,
What will I hold on to, when I am no longer 24?
But yes, I do want to forget,
That you are here to stich,
Insides that are torn.
In a celebration I wish to lay you down,
Please the gods, drink of secret wisdom & let rain wash us clean,
I want you, like you want me to.

[Listening to: Opeth - The Leper Affinity]

What's in store for you?

2005-01-20T08:38:00.000+05:30

Jessica Adams | horoscopes, astrology and psychic prediction

2005-01-18T06:35:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location: Lalbagh, Bangalore
Time: Around 7.00 AM
Settings: Program Mode, ISO 400(duh!)
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Nope
Comments: How could I not click a sunrise, when the sunset at Lalbagh had come out so beautifully? If not for the ISO 400, I think this shot would have looked better. I had lent my camera to a pro photographer the previous day, and he changed the settings. I forgot to change them again!

Update:
Looks like Bloggerbot screwed up my snap. Here is a link to the same snap on Flickr.

Where has this blogger been?

2005-01-17T13:21:00.000+05:30

He has been around. He is in fact, in chennai now. Blogging frm a cybercafe. He thinks these computers at the cyber cafes will give him RSI in just one day. Grrr....

Jokes apart, I have been busy. My cousin sis, a close one, entered wedlock on Friday. It was a happy occassion, although a quiet one (compared to usual Indian weddings) and I am really glad for her. My new brother-in-law is a cool dude and it's great to have him in the family. The reason I am making a special mention of all this is because the wedding was agreed for (frm my sis's side) on not-so-happy terms. I am on vacation now, so I am stopping with this :)

Anyways, I have a few more pictures to put up. I also have to update my site. And check out when BSNL is going to give me the broadband connection...so much to do...time out!

Dataone

2005-01-09T03:58:00.000+05:30

BSNL has finally announced their 'Dataone' plans. Dataone is broadband service from India's largest telecom operator. Thanks Madman for posting a copy of the plans. I think I can now once again bring broadband home. Yay!!??

PS: If you live in one of those 'developed nations', you may find 256 Kbps a little too slow to be called broadband. But such speeds really make us happy here :)

[Listening to: Opeth - To Bid You Farewell]

I could stare at this forever!

2005-01-09T03:24:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Location: Lalbagh, Bangalore
Time: Around 6.00 PM
Settings: Av Priority, F/5, ISO 50
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Yes...but not so effectively used
Comments: There was a soft hazy mist, something usual in Bangalore, when I shot this. Tweaked the image a bit in Photoshop (Image>Adjustment>Levels).

I was in a rather awkward positiion (thank's to my 'mini' tripod and where I was seated), so couldn't really compose the shot. This also resulted in a little blur...I'll forgive myself for it.. but the colors...I could really really stare at this forever!

2005-01-07T20:26:00.000+05:30

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Time: Around 8.00 AM
Settings: Auto
Zoom: A little
Tripod: Nope
Comments: Although I take this road to work everyday, it's only lately that I have been noticing this scene...Presenting...The Garden City in it's morning glory!

Ordinary Sunset

2005-01-04T07:31:00.000+05:30

An ordinary sunset on an ordinary day...

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Time: Around 6.00 PM
Settings: Auto
Zoom: Yes, max
Tripod: Uh-ho...don't remember
Comments: This snap was taken from the terrace, at a friend's place. We actually didn't expect to see a sunset, but anyways, now I am glad we did :)

Brigade Road

2005-01-02T22:01:00.000+05:30

"Brigade Road".... a little later in the evening...

Shot using: Canon Powershot A95
Time: Around 7.00 PM
Settings: Shutter Priority, 2.5 seconds
Zoom: No
Tripod: Of course!
Comments: Taken while experimenting with different shutter speeds. I forgot to increase the ISO. This one was taken at ISO50. Not bad eh!