All your desires, wants, wishes, all transformed by the thirst of power. Your life will never be the same. Don’t do it.

Beautiful women, fast cars, fancy gadgets, all will falter with the ambition of power. You will sell your soul for it, your friendships, everything you’ve owned, everyone you’ve loved. Don’t do it.

But in the end, I love it all. All the controversy, all the stupidity, all the lies, all the sleepless nights, all the unnecessary shouting, all the endless stress. All for those few seconds of fame.

The challenge of obtaining the unobtainable excites beyond anything else. The thrill of raising your arms and hearing a thousand people chanting your name is beyond what words can describe.

But is it worth it?

Power. Don’t do it.

A camera that completely changed the digital SLR game.

When I first wrote about it around a year and half ago, I would’ve given up everything I owned for it. Today, I would still do the same. However, Canon decided that they would lend me the camera without me having to give up my possessions.

After my Round Table Meeting with Canon in December, I was lent the Canon 5D Mark II for 3 whole weeks, most of which would be spent at home in India. I got the camera literally 12 hours before my plane left and the moment I held it in my hands, I fell in love with it.

Every photograph looked stunning, every video looked brilliant, I could sing praises about it for hours at end. One thing is for certain, this is not going to be a technical review of the camera. If you want a technical review, head over to DPReview’s 40 page review. This is going to be a summary of a personal experience with the camera, a brief narrative of what I loved about the camera, what I didnt like and how it fit into my life.

The camera didnt handle particularly different from my 40D except for the fact that it was considerably heavier. The button layout felt very similar as did the menu. The viewfinder was absolutely fantastic, the joy of full frame is really something else. The high-res screen was a much needed upgrade and was gorgeous to look at, although it was a battery drainer. The High ISO capability was outstanding, and being able to take photos lit with nothing but a LED from a crappy phone and make it look like strobes was definitely fun. We shot plenty of videos at dusk, making full use of the sensor and the bokeh with a 50mm f/1.8.

One of my minor complaints with the camera was the autofocusing which didnt seem to have much improvement over my 40D. It proved quite annoying when trying to autofocus in the dark since ultimately it wasnt the ISO that prevented me from taking a photo but rather the focusing. Hopefully Canon are working to sort this out soon, and I’ve heard the 7D has a better autofocus system.

It wasnt only I who fell in love with the camera, it was pretty much everyone who laid their eyes on it. A couple of my friends in India were considering not letting me leave for England so that we wouldn’t have to return the camera. We made the most of it in the 3 weeks I had it and secretly hoped that Canon would let me keep it forever.

During my last day with the camera, I made a small project titled ‘A Day in my Life’ wherein I took photos of my daily activities right from the time I woke up till I went to bed over the course of 16 hours. It was great fun, especially while trying to find an artistic angle for things that would normally be deemed as boring and then attempting to use the tripod and setting the camera to the perfect position. You can see all the 30 photos here.

I got quite attached to the camera and was gutted when I had to return it. I’m back to my loyal 40D now but n eedless to say, the Canon 5D Mark II will definitely be my next investment.

Update – Canon Camera Buzz has been kind of enough to link to my project, check out their post here!

The Summit was fantastic, dont get me wrong, we had a whole range of high profile speakers from Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer a.k.a Finance Minister to Kevin Kallaugher, known as KAL, the resident cartoonist of The Economist. I did miss around half of the talks but the time I spent sitting in the bar pondering nothing was well worth it. The Dinner and Dance on the final night lived up to my expectations. Even though I had pledged not to talk to anyone unless they spoke to me first, I managed to meet a lot of people on that night and we even came 3rd in the Quiz! The final day had a short video where they went to several prominent Economists around the country and asked them ‘What is Economics to you?’. The video gave me a fresh insight into why I had chosen to study Economics in the first place, why it was a subject that I truly enjoyed studying, and why I felt it would help me in my life’s goals.

From a more philosophical perspective, the weekend was enjoyable because I took a completely opposite approach to attitude when compared to the past two weeks. I didn’t care what they thought of me, I didn’t have to talk to everyone I met, I didn’t have to be the centre of attention, I didn’t have to be a massive politician. I could be myself, a lone little Indian boy without anyone caring what I did, without anyone noticing who I was, and without a responsibility in this world.

I loved it so much. Too much maybe. But I did miss my University, that sense of power when I walk into the bar, that feeling when all eyes hover upon me, that moment when I could go upto anyone in the bar and they would know that I was their President-elect.

2 weeks of campaigning.

3 days of voting.

2593 voters.

One Landslide Victory.

All those endless meetings, sleepless nights, meagre meals, and pure passion paid off on Friday night when I was elected as the President of the Students Union with a record breaking 1276 votes. And to add to the joy, the entire of my team ‘Mission Essex’ were voted in as well to lead the Students Union in 2010/11.

I am truly thrilled that we managed to save our Students Union from the crazy leftists and the incapable populists. However, the fact that I just got elected President is yet to kick in. So yes, I’ve been elected President, great, well done. What next? Whats the next challenge? Where do I channel my energy?

Nevertheless, I can give you my word that I, along with my team, will do all I can to take our Students Union to the next level, and strive to make it a leader around the country.

MISSION ESSEX ACCOMPLISHED!

Some would say 3 weeks is plenty of time to explore a city as vast as Hyderabad. I’d say even 3 years is too short. Even though I’ve spent most of my life in this glorious city, I keep discovering new things to keep me amused every now and then. The past 20 days at home have been a well deserved break from the mad pace of life at University and a time to reminisce with friends. Few things I’ve rediscovered include -

- Ramser Cafe
One kirrack place it is. Sipping chai for hours at end while discussing everything from where to get the best Biryani to how we are going to spend our first million. Then munching on delicious & unhygienic Chinese Bandi food, the place provides for a blissful experience. It was here that I realized that you dont choose your favourite hangout spot, it chooses you.

- Jaablessness (Joblessness)
Life doesnt get any better than sitting in Paradise with old friends talking about school days and eating Biryani for 3 hours, laughing out loud like madmen while everyone around stares at us reprehensibly. (Paradise can be replaced by Nanking, Minerva or any other economical restaurant depending on prevailing culinary preferences.)
And when run out of money to eat more food, sitting around with friends, lazing in the sun, reading novels, and going on random long drives are fantastic substitutes.

- No worries about the rest of the world
India’s bothered box is India. 1 billion people is enough to worry about. While this may sound a harsh initially, it is hard enough to survive in this sea of people, let alone be concerned about people you’ve never met. This system seems to work, and keeps everyone cracking of with their lives.

- Great Weather. Eternally
The English are known for their constant qualms about the weather. If only they came to India, they would run out of complaints. While England is facing its worst winter in 30 years with temperatures touching -15C, the situation in Hyderabad is completely under control with the lowest temperature being around 15C and a pleasant 25C during noon.

- The cheap alcohol
The clubbing scene in India can be likened to a teenage kid going through an identity crisis. Since good manners does not automatically come when you get lots of cash, you end up seeing some crazy stuff at some of the poshest nightclubs in town. But this makes things convenient for us. We can do stupid stuff and get away with it too! And put that together with the fact you can get alcohol at the store for about 10% the price you would pay for it in England, you’ve the opportunity for a great night out!

- The hot girls
Okay, I was lying with this one. But not completely! While I can testify to the fact that there is a much higher percentage of good looking girls in England, the situation is different in India. Due to my Indian origin, I seem to possess this natural attraction towards Indian girls which makes home the best place to be for me.

- It’s home.
Regardless of all the madness that goes around and all the unncessary swearing that comes with it, it is a place I call home. Its a place that has sheltered me & my family for more than a decade. It has made me who I am. Its home.

And thus began our tirade into 2010, a fresh decade promising new opportunities to explore, new lessons to learn, new girls to befriend and old friends to reminisce with.

Our plans for New Year’s Eve were uncertain until a few hours before the start of the night. Having managed to get our hands on passes for Taj Krishna, a classy 5* hotel in the city, the night began with our sober and impatient selves waiting in line for entry into the nightclub. After what seemed like eternity, we were inside. And with wristbands for unlimited drinks, it was the beginning of a night whose madness knew no bounds.

We finished the first few drinks rather quickly in our eagerness to start partying and as the alcohol kicked in, everyone’s face was plastered with broad grins. Time flew, drinks flowed, glasses became empty and soon the countdown to 2010 began. As the clock struck 12, a roar could be heard from the dance floor as the DJ wished everyone a happy new year.

The situation in our group was a bit different to the crowd. Kalyan was laughing uncontrollably. Naveen was hugging a random white man and refused to let go of him. Upendra was doing his traditional dance and smiling away to glory. Vivek was the happiest man around since it was his birthday as well. Ranjith was ordering more drinks. Nakul was in the bathroom. Tharun was nowhere to be seen. Rama was cursing the world and her ancestors loudly. But this was only the beginning.

It didnt take long for us to get bored of Ahala (the first nightclub) so we moved to the adjacent nightclub (Emerald Room) which was bigger but also very crowded. We came across some “interesting sights” as we walked around the place and bumped into a lot of known faces, all of whom we hugged and wished happy new year.

By around 2:30AM, a select group of us were still ready to party more but a few others of our group had passed out completely. So after much deliberation, the decision was made to drive them to our friend’s house which was base camp for the night. Unfortunately, his house was on the 4th floor and the building didnt have a lift, which meant we had to lift three drunken bodies up 4 flights of stairs. Fun times.

And then came the hunger. The crazy yearning for food. So six of got into 2 cars and drove to Y2K, the only restaurant which would be open at 3 in the morning and got ourselves some Biryani, the staple food of Hyderabadis. And now that the hunger was satisfied, the thirst for thrill was next. One of our designated driver’s was convieniently sleepy, I took up the challenge of driving one car. And we were off to Novotel which was on the other end of the city, and we didnt we even know why we were going there. We sat by the pool at Novotel for 15 minutes before getting bored and back to base camp it was. It was nearly 6 in the morning and as much as we wanted to stay awake for the breakfast in Taj Krishna at 7, our bodies got the better of us and we fell asleep in the cars itself. Another glorious night of the most random things had come to an end.

The trip back home had no lack of exciting events, with me picking up a Canon 5D Mk II on loan from Canon for 3 weeks literally a few hours before I got my plane back. After handling the glorious device that it is, my first plane journey was an hour late, with the plane being de-iced as I sat inside and watched the process from my window. At this point, I was quite confident that I would miss my connecting flight to Hyderabad from Frankfurt but by some random grace of god, I managed to catch the plane in the nick of time and was the last passenger to board the plane.

This plane journey was quite nice, and possibly one of the most pleasant ones I’ve had in a while, with no crying babies, good food, and plenty of sleep. Infact, it almost seemed too good to be true and I was proven right when my checked-in luggage didnt turn up. I spent a couple of hours at the airport, filling out forms and doing other necessary beaurcratic procedures before finally getting back home at 4 in the morning instead of 1, as I had originally planned.

To add to the woes, there has been a ‘bandh‘ (citywide strike) for a couple of days and this has resulted in me not being able to have my traditional Paradise Biryani meal with Fatik. While this caused me immense frustration with the local politics, it has also provided me with a lot of entertainment, watching local MLAs getting beaten up by students and the likes and a direct insight to the politics at the world’s largest democracy.

But all that bad news aside, they’ve found my bag and its being flown to India as I type this and should hopefully be with me tomorrow evening! I’ve also enjoyed using the 5D Mk II a lot, and it is truly a revolutionary camera. I havent got much planned for the next couple of weeks which is fantastic since I can continue to get 14 hours of sleep everyday…

The Line Up

My relationship with Canon can be likened to that of a lion and his cubs. Hatred one moment and pure love the next second.

Some may recall few of my earlier posts directed at Canon, asking them to get their game into order and appreciating their efforts. If you havent guessed already, this one falls into the latter category.

Earlier this month, I received an email from 1000Heads, a company who I’ve worked with before on BBC Blast, asking me if I’d like to attend a round table discussion with Canon. Being the massive Canon fanboy that I am, it would taken a pack of hunting wolves to make me say no. After confirming my attendance, I got more details about the event and it was finally D-Day yesterday.

After getting to the 1000Heads office in London, I was introduced to the other photographers who had been invited to this session and the Canon Rep, Mark Burnhill. There were 7 photographers in all and as I’ve got used to now, I was the youngest one there. We kicked off on time with the Canon Rep explaining why we were here and we’re going to do during the next couple of hours.

After some brief ‘rambling’ about Canon, he started off by introducing the Canon dSLR line up from the beginner 1000D, working his way up to the flagship 1Ds Mk-III. He had a few lines to say about each camera and patiently answered all of our questions. I’ll mention some of the highlights below.

The Canon 1000D was designed as a beginner/starter camera for students who cannot afford a fully fledged dSLR but would still a reasonable number of features. It does the job perfectly, and is very compact and even used by some professionals as a casual backup camera.

The Canon 450D was initially planned to be phased out with the introduction of the Canon 500D but due to high demand and popularity, they decided to keep it in their line up. It is still very popular and considered as a benchmark camera for the low end of dSLRs.

The Canon 500D received a bit of negative feedback on launch due to its high price but it has gained some support with its high-res screen and video mode.

The Canon 50D is supposed to have much better weather resistance than originally advertised due to different standards of weather testing between Japan and Europe. In my hand, it felt very similar to my own 40D, albeit with a better screen.

The Canon 7D is an absolute beaut of a camera to use. Mark told us that it was one of the few Canon dSLRs to be redesigned from ground up with constant feedback throughout the design process. As the slogan says ‘Designed by you, made by Canon’, and after having used it, I must say it is very true. The handling is very different from the 50D and it fits my hand perfectly. Button placement is great, the screen is gorgeous, the viewfinder is much bigger, full weather sealing and the autofocus system has been completely reworked much to my pleasure. I can sing praises about the 7D all day long but we have to move along. (PS – Christmas present for me, anyone?)

The Canon 5D Mk II, much to noone’s surprise is a magnificent gadget. I think I still like the 7D more than it simply due to the fact that it fits better into my hands but the 5D Mk II does win when compared technically with its full frame sensor vs. the 7D’s 1.6x crop sensor. Every shot I took with the 5D Mk II looked perfect straight out of camera, without any post processing. We were also informed that a new firmware would be out soon to enable 24/25 & 30fps recording at 1080p & a few other surprises. However, 720p would still be missing.

The next camera was the pièce de résistance, the Canon 1D Mk IV. Built like a tank, it weighed like one as well and was a beast to use. The 102,400 ISO is ridiculously high and I cant say it has great quality but it definitely makes 6400 ISO virtually noiseless. Probably a bit too big for my hands, it was still a splendid camera to try out and the shutter click was very satisfying. We were told that sales would start this weekend.

The Canon 1Ds Mk III had quite possibly the most spectacular viewfinder I have ever used. Full frame was really something else and it also weighed a ton! The screen seemed relatively bland after having used all the other high-res screens but I suppose it still does its job. Mark remained tight lipped about its successor but I think we can expect one for mid next year.

Other information we discussed included the famed “Eye Control Focus” which was ditched after using it in very few cameras, and not because of the technology but rather because it violated some patents in America. I thought that was a shame because I really do like that feature in my EOS 5 and would have loved to see it move on dSLRs and be perfected. We talked in detail about the reason for pricing difference in the US and UK/Europe which we were told was due to translation costs for manuals and EU licensing and certification but I still doubt they make the same profit in both markets.

Mark briefly talked about how full frame edge-to-edge autofocusing is something that would a significant leap in innovation simply due to the technological constraints of today. He also mentioned that due to cultural differences between Japan and Europe, it takes a lot of time and effort to convey the requirements of the European customer to them. About new lenses, he said that there were plans to rehaul the full range of lenses over the course of the next few years since a majority of current line up was never designed to work with resolutions beyond 21Megapixels. However, due to technical limitations, they can only redesign a maximum of 8 lenses a year, given that no new lenses were being made.

He said that Canon had no immediate plans to venture into the Medium Format industry and would continue to innovate and excel in dSLRs.

The 2 hours had flown by faster than we thought and it was soon time to wrap up. We were taken to dinner afterwards to a fancy French restaurant, Chez Gerard where we got to know each other better. The food was delicious (I had the Salmon) but the portions were a bit small for my liking. Nevertheless, it was nice to meet other similar minded people, and we exchanged contact details before we departed at around 11pm after a great evening.

My sincere thanks to Nicola & Aaron at 1000Heads for organizing the evening, Mark Burnhill for personally interacting with his customers, Canon for being the best camera manufacturers in my books, and everyone who came along and made the evening pleasant and eventful!

See the full set of photos from the evening over here!

My pleasures in life have decreased to eating good food, playing multiplayer Mario on Wii, spending time in the darkroom, talking to my family and counting the days to getting back home. Not comprehensive, not elaborate, just simple and straightforward.

The other day I sat pondering as to what actually ‘hard work’ means. Its something that I’ve heard all my life and something I know that leads to success if used correctly. Can my activities be termed as ‘hard work’? Or is it something that truly requires everything a man has to offer? This question will probably taunt me till the end of time.

People often tell me ‘Kishor, you do too much.’ to which I usually cheekily reply ‘You have to keep running, you can never stop. They’ll catch you if you stop.’

In some ways, it is true. You have to keep innovating forever if you want to stay on top of the others.  In other ways, its only half the truth. Success  has its price. Time, effort, friendships, and your soul. You have that one goal in mind and channel your life towards it. The rest of life becomes a blur.

I have discovered that my best friend in life is myself. Someone who is there for me, understands me, supports me, and takes care of me. Talking to myself on long walks is my new pastime, and even though it is sometimes viewed as a sign of madness by the public, it is a refreshing experience and helps me gain a better insight into myself.

Music is a solace, as is spending hours setting up an elaborate photo shoot for that one perfect shot. Women, funnily enough, only help to alleviate the grief of the moment by being themselves.

I have also learnt a valuable lesson from my housemates. That life is lived the best when you’re on the edge, the thrill from not knowing what will happen next is really something else. And being highly organized essentially gets rid of the high of venturing into the unknown. Life is sometimes too short, an opportunity once gone is lost forever.  As was once said in the movie Braveheart, “Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it.”

In more joyous news, I am eagerly looking forward to the Xmas Beer Festival on Saturday, it has take a decent bit of organization and logistics on my part and I do hope that it will turn out to be a grand success.

To end on a positive note, as the great U2 once sang, ‘Some days are better than others‘.

Currently listening to – Bilqis by Rabbi Shergill

Directed by Society, this feature film stars newcomer Kishor Krishnamoorthi in the lead role portraying a 1000 different people. Several of the personalities come together during different times in the 876,000 hour film and even though the  lead actor tries his best to do a good job interweaving between them but there are many points when there are just too many characters at mingling at once and it would confuse any first time watcher.

It is still a great watch, maybe a tad bit too long but the level of detail is insane. Background score is perfectly timed in nearly all situations and fits in well with the plethora of plots. The story is clearly quite complex but it can definitely pulled off flawlessly with more effort by the director, Society.

Some of the roles are outlined below -

The Student
One of the central characters in the movie is a student who doesnt like to be free. Doing more things than the average office goer, the student keeps himself well busy and occupied while also managing to excel academically. Juggling the academic and extra curricular lives like a tight rope walker, the student lives life on the edge and never stops.

The Photographer
The role of the Photographer is an interesting one. Torn between film and digital, work and pleasure, commercial and art, the role does much to show the world that it is not easy to be a good photographer. Money is scarce, clients are demanding and economic conditions are bad, leaving the photographer hardly any time to indulge in the expressive medium of film photography which he loves.

The Mentor
Learned and smart, the mentor is one that many people look up to and come to for valuable advise and input. While the mentor definitely enjoys improving everyone’s lives and never hesitates to help, it has taken a toll on his personal life, making him a public man with little time to spend with family.

The Politician
He quotes Lord Chesterfield “Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them.” The politician is seen by everyone as a pleasant character. While this works well for his public image, he has a confession to make. Its a hard job being a politician, it slowly kills your emotions inside. It changes your perception of life. And the common man will never understand that you need to be bad to be good. As much as he loves the fame and name, he sometimes sits and wonders to himself, is it worth it all?

The Food lover
He would give up a meeting with Bill Gates for lobster. The food lover is a person everyone can associate themselves with. Fitness can go through the window and food gets first priority in life. He lives to eat and travels around the world in search of delicacies to tickle his taste buds. A well known good critique among international hospitality services, his word is enough to make or break a restaurant.

The Family Guy
Nothing would make his day more than seeing his kids smile. The family guy would give everything up just to keep his family happy. Dedicated and loving, the family guy is a hard working man and expects the same from others. He has immense respect for his parents and deeply loves his wife and children.

This is only a small preview of the plenty of the different characters in the movie. It is filled with a ton of different emotions, making you laugh crazily, cry, moan, get depressed and laugh again.

The movie does not have a lead female actress but there are a few that appear now and then but none occupy a significant position. There are a small group of friends which have a prominent role in the movie appearing with all the different characters of the lead actor.

Overall, the movie gets a 8/10.