Picturejockey

Getting hotter and hotter

2009-11-11T11:45:00+05:30

The theme I have decided for the Picturejockey calendar this year is environment. This picture may end up in that calendar. While reading to get some better understanding of the environmental issues, I read quite a few things like the changes we have at 10,000 years, the 100,000-year problem which state all sort of things that causes extinction of various species. While the modern way of life is damaging our planet, sometimes I feel an extinction of human race would be inevitable by other means if not manmade.

Red Canvas

2009-11-10T15:45:00+05:30

When you like something, but it. I went to Reebok showroom and saw red canvas shoes. I had to buy running shoes and I had already bought two more pair of shoes in the recent past so I decided to not buy those. Some time ago I felt it would be nice to have these shoes and I started looking and looking in all Reebok and Adidas showrooms without finding these. Some told me these were out of stock and some told me these have been doscontinued. When I almost gave up, I saw these in one showroom. The only pair in the shop.

The great Indian queue trick

2009-11-04T15:45:00+05:30

A queue in India is no one is willing to stand it. In Bombay you will see people queuing up for buses, at ticket counters and some unlikely places like ATM machines. They will stand in a queue but will look for a reason to jump the queue. Then you have people not in the queue but just hanging there that causes even more confusion and creating more split ends, just like you have in hair which makes people argue over which is the original queue.

One place people never queue up is to board a train. There is mayhem when a train arrives. To get a seat you have to do something called "udi maar ke chadna" which means jumping in the train before it comes to a halt and yes, if you are wondering, you can do that in Bombay because the doors of our trains are always open.

One place where people queue up unnecessarily is the airport. People queue up at the airport gates even before it is open and after landing they start queuing up at doors of the plane even before the plane comes to a halt.

All ready for the next flight...or may be not

2009-11-03T16:56:00+05:30

Starting last week, the Mumbai airport will be closed for 6 hours each Tuesday because of repairs, and it is not for a week or two, this will continue till April next year. I felt that the work on roads is the only cause of inconvenience but now I have realised that the work on the runway is even bigger cause of inconvenience. Like a good Mumbaikar you are supposed to take it in your stride. "Gairsoi Babat Dilagir Aahot". Being a Dilliwala, I find it impossible to ignore such things and I feel it is the failure on the part of everyone involved, right from the Airport Authority to the state government. I mean I am the person who has taken a day off an about half a dozen occasions because I couldn't find a rickshaw to take me to the railway station.

Sun and shade

2009-11-02T02:20:00+05:30

Soft lights are good. I feel harsh lights can be even better as in this shot. I like this shot because of the afternoon sun above Manu's head.

The posts are a little random and the descriptions are also short because at work there is a very big project that needs to be done by the end of this week. I find it amazing how often me and my team is chasing insane deadlines. There are late nights and high stress levels but what makes the problem worse is an unhappy client and bosses. But I guess that can't be changed, you all must have heard the story of the dog who gets beaten up by the owner for forgetting his keys.

Diwali Image Gallery now online

2009-11-01T02:20:00+05:30

If something gets done on time, it gets done, otherwise it goes on the pending list forever. The image gallery of Diwali is uploaded. Have a look.

Diwali | Lantern | Light

Keeping a Hawkeye on Indian Cattle

2009-10-29T02:20:00+05:30

"So what do you keep an eye on anyway", I asked.
"It can be anything, we get our assignments", was the reply
"So what is your current assignment?"
"We are observing the habits of India cattle; there have been dramatic changes lately."
"Really! Like what?"
"The cows are increasingly getting health conscious; they are very particular about their figures."
"Get out of here!"
"It's the truth. I have seen groups of cows and buffaloes in Aarey colony exercising like there is no tommorow."
"You are bullshitting me."
"You really think so, then how do you explain the shortage of ghee and butter?"
"What do you mean?"
"Is there a shortage of milk?"
"No"
"So how can there be a shortage of ghee and butter if there is no shortage of milk. Apart from exercise, the cows have also cut down on their calorie intake; this is why they have been producing fat free milk, causing the shortage of butter and ghee."

Kite | Hawk

Thirsty?

2009-10-28T21:10:00+05:30

Unusual cropping for a shot on Picturejockey but this is the composition that suited this shot. Thinking about it, the previous shot I posted with similar cropping was also a shot to beer.

Beer | Bubbles

After a drive around the equator

2009-10-27T22:20:00+05:30

Even if it had gone for a trip around the equator, it would have been in a better shape. The reason behind the condition of this car is neglect. While visiting the office of British Airways, I was told by an engineer that if an airline decides to not use a plane for a very long time, it is flown to Mojave Desert and is stored there. Mojave Desert is among those places in the world that have the most suitable weather for storing such things for a long time. Chances are if you fuel up a plane stored there for years, it will fly. Bombay is just the opposite of Mojave. You can leave a brand new car here for a couple of years and it will deteriorate beyond recognition.

Ambassador | Amby | Car

One sip

2009-10-26T10:38:00+05:30

One of the challenge we will be facing in the coming years will be providing clean drinking water to all people on this planet. I am sure someone must have already tried it but it is not popular to clean the sea water for drinking purposes. The majority of earth is oceans and that volume of water is going to only increase when poles and all the glaciers melt. We need to seriously consider this option.

Light and Shade

2009-10-25T22:54:00+05:30

This is from a tree on Marin Drive. I don't know the name, but there are quite a few of these over there. I took pictures of these during my last visit as well but then they didn't have these antennas coming out of them like this.

Maharashtra Shasan

2009-10-24T12:48:00+05:30

Bal Thackeray has been betrayed by Marathi Manoos and he has no faith left in anyone including the Marathi manoos and the god. He feels betrayed and is blaming the party for the worst ever performance in elections. Who is responsible for this? He himself is. Raj Thackeray was supposed to be the second in command and then he suddenly decided to give the control of party to his son Uddhav instead of Raj. If he had done the right thing, Raj and his MNS would still be a part of Shiv Sena and the result of the elections could have been very different.

Lantern in wind

2009-10-20T10:38:00+05:30

The media reported Chinese army invading Arunchal Pradesh and Leh. There has been speculations of more serious confrontations between the two countries and the Hindi-Chini bhai bhai era is definitely behind us. I would like to disagree. Chinese have made very serious attempts to imbibe our culture to bond with us. How else can you explain everything for Diwali made in China including the lanterns, the lights and even the idols.

Red

2009-10-19T13:38:00+05:30

The wall is almost white and the light is red but in this shot it looks the opposite. Seeing is believing?

Light Globe

2009-10-18T13:02:00+05:30

Wishing you a Happy Diwali

2009-10-17T14:22:00+05:30

A genuine smile

2009-10-13T23:02:00+05:30

The younger of the two monks was quite happy at being photographed and thay joy can be seen on his face.

Buddhist Monks

Do they remind of you Tom Hanks?

2009-10-12T14:28:00+05:30

If not, they should because they share the same fate as Tom Hank's character in the movie "The Terminal" He was stuck at New York airport when his country suddenly ceased to exist. Their country-Tibet has ceased to exist, at least for these people because of Chinese invasion. These two guys are from Coorg, a place in Karnataka. I hear there is a monastry where they have managed to preserve their way of living to a large extent. It is like a mini Tibet, like the McLeod Ganj in Himanchal Pradesh.

Buddhist Monks

Moth

2009-10-11T23:28:00+05:30

Once again the same thing, too many images, too little time. What I like to do is shortlist images from a particular shoot and post them for the next few days and currently I am not able to do that so I am posting one of images klike this image of a moth. I hope I will get some time on Tuesday to sort images.

My knowledge of insects is pathetic, for a very long time a both was also a buttefly for me. Now a moth is a moth is a moth. If you have some more info about this moth, do let me know.

At Aksa beach #2

2009-10-08T14:38:00+05:30

Another shot of my brother taken a few seconds after the one I posted yesterday.

Aksa Beach

At Aksa beach

2009-10-07T16:48:00+05:30

I have this thing about silhouettes and I can't stop myself from shooting against the sun, especially at a beach. You have seen a picture of Manu and my brother taken at Aksa beach and here is another silhouette of my brother. I usually post images with minimum of editing, this one I spent some time in adding a little colour. Let me know what you think.

Aksa Beach

Poot ke paaon paalne mein...

2009-10-06T19:27:00+05:30

There is a saying in Hindi "Poot ke paon paalne mein hi nazar aa jaate hain" Which means you can figure out how your kid is going to turn up right when he is only an infant. This picture leaves little doubt about what Manu will do when he grows up.

Earlier I used to wait for him to take his afternoon nap before I start my photo shoots on the weekend. Now he is right there with me taking pictures using my phone.

Kingfisher Ultra | Beer | Kid | Child | Young Photographer

Move aside King, the "Emperor" is here

2009-10-05T12:07:00+05:30

The King is already yours and you want to upstage him. What do you do? You do what Dr. Mallya did. You introduce an Emperor. Kingfisher beer is already the "king of good times" so they crowned the new beer-Ultra as the "Emperor of good time". So what will they call the next variant they introduce to the market? "The Monarch of good times?"

On second though, why is there an obsession with monarchs in the largest democracy? Why can't we have "Prime Minister of Good Times" or "President of good times"? Thinking about it, what would be the ultimate name "Madam Ji of good times?"

Kingfisher Ultra | Beer | King of good times | Emperor of good times |

The monsoon is over. Really?

2009-10-04T12:16:00+05:30

The met department has declared that the Mumbai monsoon is over and listening to them, I posted an image of the supposedly last rain a few days ago. They claimed the rains are over apart from a some light showers that we can expect during the evenings. It has rained quite a bit after that. It rained on Friday and it is raining non stop since last evening, some 15 hours of continous rains. This much of rain we didn't experience when the monsoon was not supposed to be over.

A dog's day at beach

2009-10-02T22:28:00+05:30

There was a dead eel at the beach and this dog wanted it but waited patiently for me to take picture of the eel before he came for it. I guess he doesn't like seafood a lot because he sniffed it and then left. I don't know why but I quite like this shot.

Are we worse than even a dog?

2009-10-03T14:58:00+05:30

As I am taking pictures of this dog, these guys seems to be asking this question.

Net

2009-10-01T12:52:00+05:30

I have a lot of picture to post but I don't have enough time currently so I am posting one I processed earlier.

A dip at Aksa beach

2009-09-29T13:36:00+05:30

Manu loves water so we took him to Aksa beach on Sunday. Aksa beach is supposed to be dangerous and we were discussing the same thing among ourselves and later with a life guard and I guess Manu sort of figured it out so he was not very keen in playing in water the way he usually does. Initially he kept walking with us, exploring the beach for shells and other things but by the end of it, he couldn't stop himself. I guess the other kids playing there gave him the confidence he needed to go for a splash. Here my brother is giving him a spin.

Aksa Beach | Water | Sunset | Kids | Manu

Happy Dashera / Vijay Dashmi

2009-09-28T16:41:00+05:30

We plant barley on the first navratri and on Dushera. Ten bundles of them are used during the puja on the morning of Dushera. On top of barley is sweet curd rice prasad.

Dashera | Vijay Dashmi | Barley

Best wishes for Durga Puja / Durgotsab / Maayer Pujo

2009-09-27T16:41:00+05:30

Habits are formed by doing something repeatedly. We have been going to Durga Puja every year and it has become a sort of a routine so now we have to do it. This year though we went to Powai as well as the Puja closer to our home. In Powai they made a temple for the idols and I have never seen something quite like it before. An image of the temple will follow during the week.

Durga Puja | Pujo | Durgotsab | Maayer Pujo

Manu and Shyla

2009-09-23T16:41:00+05:30

We have been to Kanheri Caves three times and all three times we have been able to spend about an hour there and see the same few caves. The kids don't find such places interesting and they were both eager to go back to the national park and go for the animal safari and for a ride in the toy train. If I get an opportunity, I would like to go there alone or with people interested in exploring the caves further and spend more time there.

Kanheri Caves | Kids | Manu

I'll distract them, you get the cameras

2009-09-22T13:10:00+05:30

Imagine driving around a national park and stopping to take some pictures of a group of monkeys. A normal thing to do, not hard to imagine, right? Now imagine the monkey sitting on a tree, with a DSLR in his hand and taking pictures of you. This is what I felt this group of monkeys had in their mind.

We stopped so Manu and Shyla could see the monkeys and Berry and I got out of the car to take some pictures when this monkey came an sat on the tree next to our car as if he was posing for us. I wondered if they had made a plan that this monkey will distract us and the other will come and run away with our cameras. The next car to have reached there would have been in for a big surprise with monkeys taking their pictures.

This title reminds me of a Gary Larson cartoon of two Grizzly bear standing outside an empty igloo and a man running in the background and one of them was saying to the other "I lift, you grab. Was this concept so difficult to understand".

Monkey | Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Saara sheher mujhe LOIN ke naam se jaanta hai

2009-09-21T15:54:00+05:30

When Ajit said "Saara sheher mujhe LOIN ke naam se jaanta hai" (The whole town knows me by the name of LOIN) what was the reason behind it? Did Ajit really used to pronounce Lion as Loin? Did he do this on purpose to add some character to his role or was it some sort of a private joke among the crew shooting the movie? And was Shatrughan Sinha ever tempted to make a wise crack at it like "Aur saara shehar mujhe GROIN ke naam se jaanta hai."

A toothless smile

2009-09-18T16:10:00+05:30

If a statue is to be installed in Bombay, it will be either a statue of Shivaji or Dr. Ambedkar. If a statue is to be installed in Uttar Pradesh, it will be Mayawati. If a place is to be named in Delhi, it will be Rajiv Gandhi/ Indira Gandhi/ Jawarlal Nehru. If a note is to be printed, it will have the picture of Mahatma Gandhi.

It is how it was in the 70s that if yuou need a singer it will be Kishore Kumar or Mohd. Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosle. Now you have countless singers. In future can we hope to have more personalities who will inspire the names of places and find their faces on the Indian currency?

The last rain

2009-09-17T16:55:00+05:30

It is said that when there is a rain accompanied by thunder, it is the last rain of the monsoon in Bombay. Last weekend we had rains with some very loud thunderstorm, it rained again on Monday a little and has not rained since. I thought it was only appropriate if I capture the last rain of the season, I guess a little faster shutter speed would have been better. For those who don't know, this is an almond tree in front of my house.

Please, do walk on the grass

2009-09-15T13:48:00+05:30

Walking on the grass and not having someone shout "Hey! get of the grass" is a luxury in cities like Bombay. As a child we were unaware of the concept of "keep off the grass". There is a ground and grass grows on it, if you keep off it, were the hell will you walk. Now we are mostly walking on concrete, tarmac or paver stones and staying off the grass has become sort of second nature and we feel guilty of walking on grass even if it is not prohibited.

I would have loved to raise my son where he could walk on the grass like I did, where going out meant visiting a park, a museum and not a mall.

Grass

Manuraj or Manu Raj

2009-09-14T14:15:00+05:30

Manu has learned writing his name but he writes it with a space between Manu and Raj. It is quite amusing watching him write his name especially on a crowded paper. Sequence is not very important for him so the name may not appear from left to right, he will start with an M and then the rest of the letters will follow where ever he finds space to write them.

This reminds me of a thought I always had. For us time is linear imagine for someone from another place it is not linear and it is like a sinusoidal wave. Their time will overlap with ours only at certain intervals and it they see that in a sequence, they would see a lot of us disappearing from one place and materializing in another place. Imagine what they would be thinking about our driving.

Manu | Child | Kid | Boy | Portrait

I am superstitious

2009-09-11T14:12:00+05:30

I bought a Samsung phone in November 2007 which didn't last for an year. I bought a new phone in December last year to replace it. As can be expected I posted some images of the Samsung on my site and I took some pictures of my new phone HTC-3400i as well. I bought a phone at around the same time for two years and I was about to post pictures of two phone at the same time for two years. Would it mean the new phone will have the same fate and will die on me at the same time? Probably not, but I just didn't want to do it.

Now the phone is going to be an year old soon, I guess it is safe to post its pictures. Here is the first one.

While posting this, I couldn't help notice a similarity with this shot. Can you spot what it is?

Phone | Cellular | HTC | HTC 3400

Squeezing out every bit of life

2009-09-09T14:26:00+05:30

I guess I am over denial and have accepted the fact that I am no longer a Delhite but a Mumbaikar. I realised while writing the description of this image as the fly on the door my parent's house. Till now I used to say my house

This is either a house fly that has died after being squeezed between the door and the door frame and turned green or some other insect that was green to begin with. I have no idea, do you?

Fly | Insect | Green

Clothing on monthly installments

2009-09-08T12:21:00+05:30

Yesterday the market crossed 16000 which should be a sign that the economic slump is on its way out. This morning I met my neighbor who works for a bank and he mentioned "The market is showing no signs of improvement" Unless you are personally affected by it one way or the other, you don't really know what to believe. What do you think about the economic condition of the country?

Coins | Paisa

Leaning tower of Paisa

2009-09-07T13:51:00+05:30

A few things Manu likes a lot are scissors which he uses to cut papers, especially tags of clothing. The other thing is the tape. If he gets his hands on any tape, you an be assured, it will be finished by the end of day. He got his hands on two way tape and he used that tape coins to make this "spring". When I saw it, I noticed he has doubled the tape in some places. I told him this is a two way tape and he doesn't have to do it. "I did it to make a better spring", he told me and it did work. When I tried to squeeze it, the double layers of tape did give it a better cushion.

Coins | Paisa

Finally compensated

2009-09-03T12:14:00+05:30

A while ago I wrote how not to run a promotional campaign. TATA-AIG Insurance sent me a wrist watch, a belt and a purse-all three of very bad quality, something I would never use. Currently Timex is offering a discount of 25% if you give your old watch. I picked up this watch last Saturday and gave that old watch in its place. So the watch I found so disgusting when I got it, saved my Rs.1250 which I guess is more than value of the entire pack including the purse and he belt.

Timex | Watch

There is space for one more

2009-09-01T15:14:00+05:30

Komal di Gaddi is really old, smokes like a chimney and pollutes the air more than an average vehicle. At the same time it is transporting so many people who in turn are not driving their own cars so the per capita pollution is still less.

Rickshaw

Manu

2009-08-31T15:14:00+05:30

He used to stand on pillows se he taller than the bed head and is able to see outside and preferred sitting in my or Mira's lap so he can have a better view. Time has changed, now he is almost five years old and no longer needs anything to be able to see outside, sadly the view outside the window has gone to ever since we have moved to our current house. When I took this photo, he was sitting on a chair that he had put on the bed. He was using the bead head as a table to colour his drawings.

I was hoping to post more pictures of Ganpati but I have run out of them. I thought I'd be able to take some shots on Thursday at the immersion site but sadly we won't have a half day off so can't do that either.

Manu | Child

Lonely Ganpati

2009-08-27T15:14:00+05:30

Here is the Ganpati of our building. For the past few months there has been a political tussle going on in our housing complex which has resulted in dissolving of the resident welfare association. The elections for the same have not happened and there is no one responsible for anything in the building except for a government appointed person who comes in for free food. The result of that was seen during the Ganpati festival as well when no one of the people who like to jump on the stage turned up. It was more like a formality than an actual celebration.

I got a mail explaining the Swine Flu in Pune is nothing more than a hoax created by Pharma companies. I am not sure how true it is but some facts do make you think about it. Do remember to read it.

Ganpati

Ganpati going to his mommy

2009-08-26T16:37:00+05:30

Explaining the concept of immersing a god to a three and a half year old child is not easy so last year Mira told him that we are sending Ganesha to his mommy. This year too we gave him the same story. "Ganesh is going to his mama papa". This year Manu was actually able to stand at the edge of the pond and see the guys dipping our idol in the water. "Where are Ganesha's mama papa" he asked me. "They are not here but the way to his home is through water, I will show you a picture of his parents when we get home" Back home he again wanted to see who are Ganesha's parents and when Mira pointed out Shiva in the picture, Manu asked "OK, the one with a snake around his neck."

Manu | Child | Kid | Ganpati

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi

2009-08-24T13:33:00+05:30

I have a story to tell about about Ganpati and Manu but not the time to tell it today so stay tuned for it tommorow.

Ganesha cures

2009-08-25T15:58:00+05:30

Manu likes to be an active participant in the puja for Ganpati. He put the garland around Ganpati's neck, put a tika on his forehead, made him offerings and also lighted the incense sticks. Unfortunately while he was doing that, the lit end of the incense stick broke and fell on the ground and rolled below his leg. He shouted, I initially thought it was just ash but still ran and got some water to apply there. My brother in the mean time noticed a hole in his shorts and applied some toothpaste on the burn (it is very effective in soothing a burn). I was afraid that Manu might suddenly lose his interest but nothing like that happened.

The next morning while we sat down for the aarti again, he said "If someone gets hurt or burnt during the puja, Ganpati come in the night to cure him."

Ganesha | Ganpati

Manu and Nayan

2009-08-21T17:25:00+05:30

I wrote about how most kids want to be a pilot, an astronaut, a doctor but no one ever says that he wants to be a graphic designer, an accountant when he grows up. Today I want to share my disappointment about how the government agencies in the Hollywood movies never pick up people like me for a critical mission involving national security. I was watching the movie "The Core" in which they picked a professor from a college, then you have Tom Hanks being picked up in DaVinci code. I also fantasize about sitting in my office and two men in black suits and glasses walk in and ask me to accompany them.

"You are taking the 4.00pm flight for Delhi"
"But how am I going to reach the airport in time for the flight. It is already 2.30"
"We have a helicopter waiting for us."

I won't want to be in a high pressure scenario of a world or country saving mission, something little less adventurous like developing an online solution for them would be fine with me. Way can't this happen? Why do the movie people always pick a hacker if they need a person with the knowledge of computers like Neo in Matrix or the nerd in the movie I was last night.

If I ever end up making a movie...

We are young and free

2009-08-20T14:47:00+05:30

Thanks to the panic created by the TV around Swine Flu, the Independence Day became Independence Week for kids. It being on Saturday, Manu won't have got a day off on Independence Day but he got the whole week off as all the schools were closed due to Swine Flu scare.

Doing their best

2009-08-17T15:43:00+05:30

A government should be smarter and powerful enough to do something if it is required, not just a half assed effort to make it look they are doing something.

Are you a blogaholic?

2009-08-14T12:39:00+05:30

I am not sure if this term exists but if we can have workaholics, we can have blogaholics as well. I was reading an interview of some rich and famous guy who mentioned quitting golf because he felt it was becoming an obsession. While Golf is good as a hobby, it can be dangerous as a distraction so he decided to stop playing golf. I was thinking about blogging in a similar way. While I love taking pictures and surf the net, I was getting the feeling that maybe it is becoming an obsession and I also can do well without such a distraction in my life and this is the reason I have not been blogging for a while.

I have decided to stop blogging temporarily, at least till the time I have taken care of some other responsibilities so expect a silence here. There will be occasional posts that you can track through the RSS feed. I will let you know once I am back full time.

Blogaholic | Blender's Pride | Bottle | Booze

Two much...

2009-07-22T12:08:00+05:30

Last picture in the series of Tuborg beer bottles. I will take a break from beer bottles and will post one or more shot at a later date. I have got shots of other bottles as well like Fuel Vodka, Smirnoff and San Miguel that I want to post but since this is picturejockey and not boozejockey, I will wait for a while before I do that.

Tuborg | Beer | Bottle | Booze

Losing the fizz

2009-07-21T17:05:00+05:30

The title is not about beer but about anarticle on the blog of Eric Karjaluoto. It is a good one and I recommend you go and read it. It talks about the typical cycle of a new job that is started with enthusiasm which gradually wears out due to various reasons. So far I didn't have to worry about the team I have been working with. However, my current job is different and I am worried about my team losing interest. This can happen due to a number of reasons, some I am aware of, others I am not.

One of the reason I feel people may get bored is underemployment - a situation where you get a person working on something that doesn't requires his or her skills and can be done by anyone with less experience/education/skills/knowledge. For the issues I am facing, it is very important to have a right mix of people in the team so most of the people are working on something appropriate to their skill levels most of the time but this is easier said than done, especially in a smaller team.

Tuborg | Beer | Bottle | Booze

Togetherness

2009-07-20T11:58:00+05:30

This week again I am going to post some shots of Tuborg beer.

Tuborg | Beer | Bottle | Booze

Buddham Saranam Gachami

2009-07-17T13:26:00+05:30

Ahimsa paramo dharma is the most important teaching of Budhism. During our visit to Dharamsala in Himanchal Pradesh 7 years ago, we had the good fortune of meeting a minister in the Tibet's government in exile. My brother asked him if it was really appropriate for Buddhists to eat meat considering "Ahimsa paramo dharma". He admitted he himself has thought of it but doesn't know why meat is a part of their daily food.

Ahimsa paramo dharma | Buddham Saranam Gachami | Dharamsala | Himanchal Pradesh

Buddha on a keyring

2009-07-16T15:18:00+05:30

I am reminded of a poem on Gautam Buddha by Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan discussing how all the learnings of Buddha has been ignored. He felt beauty was not important so he shaved his head, to make him beautiful, his followers gave him curly hair in his pictures and statues. He was against worshipping idols and the world made him an idol. "You've gat it all wrong" is what Buddha must be feeling. It is like opening a valuable package and throwing away what was in it and preserving the wrapper.

Bark of almond tree

2009-07-16T14:18:00+05:30

This is the almond tree in front of my home. Apart from the gulmohur, crows sit on top of this tree as well during the rains. There are parrots as well on this tree which mostly are very hard to spot since they blend in with the leaves so well, so unless you have seen it flying into this tree and have kept a track of its movement, you can't find it. This shot was taken while waiting for Manu's school bus on one of those rare occasions when I was home and Manu had gone to school.

Blue beads

2009-07-13T13:09:00+05:30

To increase your market share, concentrate on points that will help you sell more, no matter how irrelevant. Ignore things that have no or little impact on sales, no matter how important they might be.

Horlicks supposedly spends millions in research to find out how to make kids "taller stronger and sharper". Are they spending any money to make horlicks easier to dissolve in Milk? The regular one still is better; it is a nightmare to mix Mother's Horlicks with milk even with a blender.

A month's supply of beer

2009-07-10T13:09:00+05:30

Banging your head against it is not the answer but imagine you have found a month's supply of beer but have no way of opening it. What will you do different than this guy is doing? It's the same situation when someone said "Water, water all around but not a drop to drink."

I have to thank Manu for this shot. When I am taking pictures at home, he keeps coming with various things "Papa, take a picture of this." He gave me this Ben 10 toy when I was taking pictures of the San Miguel bottle and I thought of this composition.

Beer | San Miguel | Ben 10

Pomegranate

2009-07-08T16:42:00+05:30

You know fruit grow on a tree, but still you are more used to seeing them in the aisles of the supermarket, on the hand cart of fruit vendors, not really on tree so the sight of fruit on a tree is something novel. So when you are traveling to a place where you see fruit on trees what do you do? Mira makes sure that she shows it to Manu. This reminds me of a client of ours who was amazed to see a cow on a street. He admitted that he has seen cows before only in pieces.

Pomegranate | Fruit | Tree

Thoughtful

2009-07-07T13:14:00+05:30

A few days ago I posted a image of Tuborg beer that has an unusual size, today again I am posting an image with an unusual aspect ratio. This is Manu looking through the window of our living room. He used to spend a lot of his time at the window but that has reduced to almost negligible now because the view from our window is not as good as it was i our old house and he has grown up too and there are other activities taking up his time.

Manu | Boy | Kid | Child

The wise one

2009-07-06T13:11:00+05:30

While the crow has been sitting on the tree getting soaked in the rain, this pigeon is a smarter. He is sitting in the duct of our building, away from the rain. He is the lucky one. There are other pigeons who have been chased away from dry places by the pigeons that were there before them. They are very possessive in that sense, definitely not the kind who believe in sharing.

Pigeon | Eye

Soaking in the rain

2009-07-03T12:47:00+05:30

I have never been able to figure out the reason behind this but I have seen crows sitting at the highest possible place on a tree when it pours. They are not very keen on getting wet as can be seen by the body language of this crow but still instead of finding shade, they find the highest branch of a tree or the roof top of buildings. Is this some sort of a dare?

This is it - RIP Michael Jackson

2009-07-02T15:16:00+05:30

On 26th June, I don't know why I mentioned the name of Michael Jackson and my colleague told me very casually that he has died. I had to ask him to repeat it to understand we were both talking about the same person and then I did a search on Google before I finally accepted that Michael Jackson has died.

There are news about him in the papers till today but I guess this shouldn't surprise anyone, we never let such celebrities to stay out of news for long. Even now there are a lot of people who think Elvis is alive or he was abducted by aliens; a few days ago I read the news about a book on Jimi Hendrix that claimed he was killed by his manager. I waited till today to post this to ensure that he is really dead and all of this is not a publicity gimmick.

A lot has been written about him since his death so I don't want to write anything more. He is dead but like most celebrities he is more alive today than he ever was.

Strange coincidence

When I read the news of Michael Jackson's death in the paper, what struck me is the fact that he shares his birthday with my childhood friend Nitesh and he died on my birthday last month.

This is a sketch of Michael Jackson I made way back in 1988.

Michael Jackson

So far...so close

2009-06-30T17:42:00+05:30

Most of the pictures I post on this blog are 4X3 unless it is a panoramic shot. When I have taken a lot of images of something, I work with the process of elimination, First I select the best from the similar looking images, then I start selecting the best looking among them and start posting them on Picturejockey and when I feel I have posted enough here, I post the rest on Flickr. So while I was optimising the short listed images, I saw this one and this was about to go in the rejects list till I decided to crops it like this. What is your take on this irregular size?

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

Tuborg Green

2009-06-29T12:14:00+05:30

The bottle is green, the reflection is also green and the beer is called green. I am wondering if the colour of the beer can also be made green and I am sure it can be. When the colour of a cola can be made different without changing the taste, beer shouldn't be any different. I am wondering about the acceptability of the same. Will you drink beer that is green?

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

Older. Hopefully wiser too

2009-06-26T15:16:00+05:30

Yesterday I finished yet another year of my life. I choose to stay at home. It sounds a little childish to take a leave on your birthday but I was not in a mood to go through the sub-human routine of train and rickshaw. Manu, on the other hand, went to school. I felt it was unfair to send him school on his and mine birthday while I myself stay at home so I have decided that if the conditions remain the same next year too, I will go to office and to avoid the free full body massaged in the train, I will travel in a cab.

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

Tuborg beer

2009-06-24T13:57:00+05:30

Here is another shot of Tuborg Beer. A little conventional shot as far as I am concerned but still good enough. There are some other shots too that you will see in the coming days.

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

To open a beer bottle

2009-06-23T16:53:00+05:30

Yesterday some of you wondered what a bottle of beer was doing with a write up on reservation in schools. In the past I have written about things that are not related to the image but this time you have noticed it because the text and the image were so different.

Coming back to the bottle of Tuborg that you are likely to see for the rest of the week, let me tell you about one area where India made no progress till 2009. For years beer in other countries is available with twist-to-open caps. In India we have bottle caps that require a bottle opener. You don't want to know your parents that you are drinking beer and the pubs and bars are usually beyond reach so as a part of growing up in India, you are drinking beer while you usually don't have access to a bottle opener. As a result we have invented all sorts of bottle openers that range from your teeth to your "kada" to the lock of your car door.

Tuborg is the first beer bottle in India that can be opened without any opener; just pull the tab and its open. It is too late for me, I guess teenagers of today will be thankful for it...or maybe, at that age, the experience of drinking beer is not complete without using your teeth to open a bottle.

Check back tommorow for another shot of the bottle.

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

Reservation for SSC kids

2009-06-22T11:43:00+05:30

The government has announced a 90% reservation in Junior College (class 10) for SSC students. This means getting admission for kids from ICES, CBSE and other boards has become very difficult. Manu's school is affiliated to ICSE board so 11 years down the line, life is going to get tough for us. I hope I will not be in Bombay after 11 years but my hopes and wishes mean nothing. If they did, I would be out of here a very long time ago.

Till this morning I disliked people like Raj and Bal Thackeray. After reading this news, I feel it won't be inappropriate if I vote for them in the coming elections. The Congress government has taken this step keeping in mind the elections. Both Raj Thackeray and Congress are oppressing one part of the community at least Raj is not trying to disguise his dislike by trying to dress his actions as public benefit like Congress is.

Just like most kids study with the objective of passing an exam and not really to gain knowledge, the political parties make policies with the objective of winning elections and not for the good of people. Earlier it was all hidden but now it is in open. It is appalling that we don't find this mentality appalling.

Tuborg | Beer | Alcohol | Bottle | Green

The slowest in the Group

2009-06-19T16:25:00+05:30

If you walk in a group, you can walk only as fast as the slowest member in that group. This may be great if you happen to be the slowest one but frustrating if you are among the faster ones. This system ensures that the entire group is penalized for the mistakes of a few.

Can you recall the last time you were dragged down because of the slow walkers?

Buffalo

Bees on sunflower

2009-06-18T13:55:00+05:30

I saw a lot of sunflowers on my way to Chandigarh from Nangal and at one place we decided to stop to take some pictures. While taking the pictures I realised there were bees there as well. I wanted to stop for longer but was scared of the bees. A few days before this I had seen a program on National Geographic about bees. Someone had introduced African bees in North America and while the native bees would chase you for a 100m if they feel threatened, the African bees were a lot more aggressive and would chase you for more than a kilometer.

Sunflower | Bees

India out of T20 World Cup and Dhoni Captain uncool

2009-06-16T15:36:00+05:30

Over the past few days, whenever I watched news, I felt I am listening to Manu and his friends. The voices were of mature men but the words were of kids only. Manu gets into this bragging session with his friends some time "My dad can finish the glass of milk in one sip" and things like this. While talking about the "Team India" the news anchors were also in the same "mine is bigger than yours" pissing contest. It was sickening to hear them go on and on and on like that about the "dhurandars" in Indian team. The Indian team is out of the World Cup and what can you expect from the TV anchors with the mentality of the little kids. The exit from the world cap has been a tragedy they can't seem to overcome. Dhoni is suddenly the villain who must be thrown out suddenly the anchors will realise that he is spending way too much time in ads and other activities. Suddenly they will feel the success has not gone down well with him. Suddenly they are feeling that he has been very careless and maybe doesn't have the desire to win anymore.

Being upset with him is one thing but giving him advise in another. Even people who can't tell their crack from a deep gully are talking about how he should have arranged the field, how he should have changed the batting order and which bowler he should have selected for which over. I also get a lot of advice from people who have no understanding of what I am doing. It is often frustrating but I can find consolation in the fact that those may be the end users of the solutions we create so maybe they have a valid point. In case of Dhoni, it must be real hard.

Manu's daddy is strongest but even he is lot more understanding when his Daddy lets him down.

Dhoni | T20 world cup | India | Team India | Cricket

For we are young and free

2009-06-15T11:46:00+05:30

I have fond memories if my 3 year stay in Melbourne and even today I often ask myself how my life would have been if I had stayed back.

Back then there was Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party that wanted to drive out the Asians but almost everybody thought she was an idiot and she never gained the popularity in active politics she wanted. Now things are different. There have been so many attacks on Indian students that it defies the very foundation of a country like Australia. In my three years stay there I met people who when asked where you from would give an answer like "Scotland", "Lebanon", Greece" or Croatia or some other country. I never came across anyone who couldn't recall if he/she himself or their parents or grandparents have come from some other part of the world. In three years I met only one person who was actually a native Australian, more commonly known as Aboriginal.

How can anyone stake claim to a country in an environment like this is beyond my understanding. Don't forget that John Batman - the founder of Melbourne also arrived there is a boat

Maybe the people who attacked the Indian students need to come to Mumbai and learn a thing or two about peaceful coexistence from Raj Thackeray

In bloom

2009-06-12T01:51:00+05:30

This is probably one on my quickest post means. By quickest I mean soonest after midnight. It is about 90 minutes past midnight and I am posting this picture. WTF am I doing up so late? Good Question.

This flower was at the garden at Nanaksar Gurudwara, the same place where I took this sunset shot. Garden reminds me of what happened in either Delhi or Punjab. Manu's definition of garden is the 10ftX12ft play area in our building. Mira took him to a sprawling park and after a while he asked "Mom, where is the garden?"

Chrysanthemum | Flower | Macro

That's me

2009-06-11T12:25:00+05:30

Today is going to be a very long day. Our agency is making a pitch. The work on it will go on till late night, then as a "show of interactive capabilities" we will be called to contribute to that pitch and we will work till 3 am. I will take a cab to reach home to a disappointed son who will not be talking to me in the morning. The rest of my team will stay overnight at the guest house or the office and will leave for home when the local trains start running again early tomorrow morning.

Self portrait | Photographer | Mirror

Sunset at Nanaksar Gurudwara, Nangal, Punjab

2009-06-10T13:06:00+05:30

Nangal is a town in Punjab famous for its Bhakra Dam. Apart from that dam, that place has religious importance too for Sikhs and it has quite a few Gurudwaras. This picture was taken at Nanaksar Gurudwara. It is a small gurudwara in very peaceful surrounding. Apart from this there is another gurudwara there called Babhor Sahib which is famous as a spot of meditation for Guru Gobind Singh. Not too far away from Nangal is Anandpur Sahib which is the place where Sikhism was founded and that also has a lot of gurudwaras with relevance to Sikh history.

Gurudwara | Sunset | Christmas Tree | Sikhism

Chubby Cheeks

2009-06-09T16:16:00+05:30

What do you know about being helpless, about being free and yet not free enough? If I ask Mira this question the answer would be Purvi. She is my brother-in-law's daughter and the first time Mira saw her was when she was about 7 months old. I'd call myself free if I am able to share the joy and sorrow of people close to me now, not 6 months later.

Hi! I'm back

2009-06-08T14:34:00+05:30

I have been absent for about a month now, not only from this blog but from internet altogether. I visited Delhi and Punjab in the second half of last month and have been quite busy ever since I have come back to focus on anything but work. To add to that, Picturejockey was attacked by a virus. I had to remove the online content and upload the clean offline content once again. I have not managed to upload everything but am in the process of doing so.

This image was taken on board Shatabdi Express from Chandigarh to Delhi. He has been asking for a camera and after we came back to Delhi, I gave him my old Nikon 4100. Now he wants a Nikon D-90.

If you are using Firefox browser. You may still see a warining about this site being unsafe. This site is clean now and you can click the "ignore warning" button at the bottom right.

Dadasaheb Phalke Awards

2009-06-01T16:15:00+05:30

There is some virus on Picturejockey that was adding some scripts to the HTML files and the best way to get rid of the problem was to delete the entire online content. The site will be uploaded again once I ensure that the virus has been removed.

Till the time the site is back online, please enjoy the new image gallery of Dadasaheb Phalke Awards.