LENSATIONAL

Walk that talk - Half mast.

2010-01-05T15:55:00.004+05:30

Single handed efforts with no particular direction – that should be a fairly accurate description of the past few months of my life. There is not one feat that I am particularly proud of, but these months have given me pictures that will stay in my memory for a lot many years to come- in full color.
Rural and interior Karnataka, Andhra, Pondicherry, Chennai, and the length and breadth of Kerala. I haven’t kept a journal, but I have a hard-disk full of images.
My bottom’s sore from the two weeks and a couple of thousand miles solo on the motorcycle. So now, I am going to sit down and show you some pictures.

Some things never change. The 'mundu' for one. Even the most 'progressive' malayali wears one, and many a time, half mast.
This is a scene from Kuttanad in central Kerala - a land of lush green paddy fields, water bodies and genuine country life.

2009-07-22T14:13:00.002+05:30

That roadside camel, I rode. But the thing about roadside camels is, If the camel goes brrrrllrr, all the goo's going to go straight on your head.
pichhkyaaw! :D

Outside the house..

2009-07-16T12:03:00.001+05:30

....is the ocean. And a beach that the tourism department hasn't seen yet. (Thank God for small mercies!)
On the rocks sat a fisherman and his daughter. Fisherman on his day off, but still fishing anyway. The little girl looked on, baiting his line from time to time. A couple of boys sat hurling little stones into the sea , sometimes also helping unhook a catch when the man drew his line.
Some Sundays don't change that very much with time and it is a pleasure just to be in one of those.

Vaat it is!

2009-07-11T23:41:00.004+05:30

I had just finished a long and fulfilling lunch with the parents.
Saw the squirrel go up a mango tree in the backyard, - discretely as is customary of him.
Then there was a sound -: a squirrel-like sound i think, so nothing unusual there. I could see the little fellow perched on that puny branch on the top, and so I was convinced it wasn't the squirrel, although the sound sounded so very much like him. Then I saw wings flap. On another branch.
My father thinks this is some kind of owl. I think it isn't.
Anyway, he's a nube in the backyard, so all of us want to know.
Anyone knows?

THOSE THAT HAVEN'T VOTED YET, LINK IS RIGHT THERE. TO YOUR RIGHT!!
SEE IT? VOTING CLOSES ON 17th!!
(The link on top is the facebook page, and the one below it is the campaign.)
Thanks!!

Bring on the BLING!

2009-06-15T12:26:00.009+05:30

An international beauty that has stood the test of time - The Fiat 1100 D, locally called the Premier Padmini was a workhorse of three decades for the closed-doors India.
A car that used to be just as popular as disco dancing and driven by beautiful women and race enthusiasts alike, the Padmini was everywhere - just like golden tightpants, afro hairstyle, and large buckled belts.
What a shame then that our idea of fashion has come to white muslin and button-fly jeans. What a shame that there is no color anymore.
At least I have a car to match my taste of music. I have red seats and a dynamo.
Disco dance, ladies?

A life in retrospect.

2009-05-10T13:38:00.001+05:30

What must it be like to be alone, helpless? To have a world-view that is a reflection of hazy, perhaps glamorous pictures of years far back in time that somehow seem more real than "real" time itself..What must it be like for her to outlive her whole family?
What must it be like, for the old?

A quiet evening. That was.

2009-04-22T10:37:00.001+05:30

People listen to me – because I’m a smart ass.
Dogs listen to me too.
And like people, they say “Yeah, whatever” in dogspeak.

I haven’t died, peoples! :D

If this is not Terrorism, What is?

2009-02-11T11:52:00.010+05:30

Ok, this picture is a repeat, but that is because the picture isn’t important.
I am worried – about vote bank politics threatening to divide youth, threatening to confuse, and corrupt thinking of this country’s tomorrow.

It isn’t about the misplaced morals of the Sri Ram Sene or any other bunch of goons for that matter – it never was. I am concerned about how time and again, we allow the innocent to be murdered for some random ambitious criminal to win elections – only that more recently, it has been possibly more than that. Genocide of generations, murder of the future: Radicalism, extremism, moral policing, Hindutva, Indian Culture, they said?

We are a democracy that has allowed the Babri Masjid to happen, we have allowed Kargil to happen, we have allowed a Godhra to happen, we have allowed a Sikh massacre to happen. The results have always been the same : Elections won.

I am apolitical. I despise the ruling government’s incompetence in protecting human life, and their very shallow fiscal policies. But right now, nothing disturbs me more than the knowledge that Pramod Muthalik is going to win the next election, and possibly even become a minister. Because that was what this was all about, all along, wan’t it? Not pubs, morals, noodle straps or Valentines day.

I am concerned about the larger implications of the venom these people are spewing : The rural-urban, good old have/have-not divide: Distinguished vote banks that can be easily manipulated; Distinguished vote banks that could easily have been this country’s only lasting hope.

We can do little things – like tell them they cannot deter the young spirit, like sending this guy some love (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=74543975648: If you know me in person, you can buy your card and give it to me, else there are instructions on the facebook event). The good thing about little things is that little things sometimes lead up to larger things – like perhaps a social movement to get the judiciary to tame the government, or spending a little time, a little money, and a lot of good will to adopt a rural child’s education: Things that are much simpler done than talked about, Things that will change tomorrow.
I am buying the first Valentine's day card of my life today, and I am awful proud of it.

Peace, and Love – Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody!

The man in a womans' house.

2009-02-08T21:56:00.004+05:30

A couple of months ago, I was touring rural North Karnataka on an assignment shoot.
The assignment pictures were very bad, at least the ones that the company decided to pick were nothing less than horrible, but i was able to get a handful that I liked - Ones that remind me of the stories - with these people in them.
For the lack of fresh material you folks will have to see pictures from December, this post and that is my plan for the next few as well.
Ha! *smug*

Riders on the (silk)worm**

2008-12-30T12:07:00.009+05:30

Worlds apart: One world ends at an airport, and another begins not too far away.
The road to Bangalore International airport is wide, well lit, and fast. Well if you are going to the airport, that is.
Because soon after, the lights go out, the ride gets bumpy and the road narrows like a funnel.

Devanahalli village could be far removed from India's "technology capital" and life would not have been any different.
Almost everyone here is a silk farmer, and suddenly the birds that the silkworms attract have become a threat to the airplanes.
The villagers are being served notices to make arrangements for alternate sources of income.
Of course, the land prices have gone up, so they will not farm. They will sell.
And then what?

** Light post processing on the picture

The Old Man Of Kinnigoli

2008-12-19T12:10:00.002+05:30

So.
I have been busy, and now I am busy on a holiday.
It has been long - I‘ve got stories to tell, people I’ve met and pictures to share.
And I am sorry about being a bad boy – not replying to comments and such.
Promise to be better now. I’m hoping for the new year to be a lot better than the one gone by – the perpetual optimist that I am.

Kinnigoli was not a planned stop. Because Kinnigoli was not on the road to Kundapur. It was hard work – It looked as if the bus driver wasn’t particularly concerned about the people on the seat at the rear end, and when we finally got out, the sun seemed to be awfully pissed off at something. I just wasn’t getting it right, and the shoot stretched on until sometime after dark.

And that is how we decided to spend the night at Roger’s farm. After such grueling labor, we certainly deserved to have some fun!
And fun it was – I dont know why, somehow beer always is. And then there was toddy for breakfast, feeding the dogs and the sheep after, the chicken, and then beer again.

We were at breakfast at this village eatery when I spotted this man. Alone for his tea and mid-morning snack, possibly a routine for the whole of his long life. I say this because I am a village boy – usually in our villages, everything is routine.
I love this life!

El Paradiso

2008-08-17T14:20:00.005+05:30

I am not sure if it was the exhaustion of the ten kilometer hike in the rain-shadowed wilderness of Chinnar, or the love for the rainforests that made us take off that night on a drive a few hundred kilometers long into The Periyar tiger reserve.

The guard at the check-post was a burly middle aged man, who wouldn’t let us in. It took us three hours and nearly one hundred phone calls to get him to open the park gates for us.

(Tourist information: Kerala Forest Development Corporation charges Eight hundred rupees per person for entry into the jungle, which is allowed only in their all terrain vehicles. It is OK to not love nature, but at the minimum what you can be is respectful of life out there.
The chances of spotting a tiger here as a tourist is next to non-existent, so please don’t go in on a casual Safari - It is not worth the money that you pay, and the jungle will not like you. And for goodness’s sake, please don’t smoke!)

The mist was a both a surprise and a disappointment. We had a few hours of light still remaining in the day, and the musky odor of elephants hung in the air, only that the visibility was reduced to a few feet.
Not too far from a tribal settlement, a man herding his cattle back home took us deeper into the jungle where he said there would be elephants.
A few meters into the slush, my shoes were wet and swarming with leeches. The socks were soaked in blood, and rest of the walk had to be done barefoot. All through out the trail, there were fresh hoof-prints in the sludge - even an occasional pug mark or two, just no animal in sight. And so when we turned off the slushy grass on to a little patch of rocky land, the beauty that struck me was just too sudden to be let in.
What lay ahead, was a little piece of tropical paradise. We were suddenly left standing on a rock-face engulfed by green overhangs on three sides, and the deepest of jungles on the other. The valley below was at least a kilometer deep, and there were springs gushing out of cracks in the rocks. We were standing above the clouds, where even the wind did not stir. If the place were any more beautiful, it would have been a sin.

Do not go by the picture, I just couldn’t do any justice to the scene.

Re-wind. Play.

2008-07-20T20:13:00.001+05:30

The little bully, the physicist and the big always-happy-guy.
None reminds me of me.
But I recognize all of their faces, even the shy little one.
It was as though I had found an old journal, cleaning up the room - its paper crisp and yellow: A little crisp-er than meant to be, and writing a little grey-er than it once used to be.
Some memories have names, and some do not, but they are all hazy, warm, and dirty from a day of play.

I miss school.

The morning after craziness

2008-06-30T08:05:00.005+05:30

Once in a while I recommend that everyone should get really drunk, only to remember why it was such a bad idea.
The lime and water didn't seem to have done too much good to the system, for it was the throbbing in my head that woke me up - or was it Don? I can't really remember.
Walking out through the back door into the yard barefoot, the cold came first, and then the dampness. There were no more fiery ambers in the firepit, and the empty beer cans were all over the dewy grass.
I have a day of packing ahead of me, and as for Don, it is sure going to be a work-in-the-yard Sunday.

Self-portraiture

2008-06-23T09:44:00.003+05:30

Anonymity is for celebrities, and not drunken bartenders.
Been trying my own concoctions, and I am zonked out, and I am dehydrated, and I cannot sleep!
Sorry, I had to document myself in this state, and when I am drunk I start looking good to myself. What to do, I say! :)

Oh yes, I missed ya'all.
And yes, i am back.
But no - India : Not yet, but soon - VERY soon! :)

Chillin' on a summer-like sunday

2008-05-12T09:04:00.004+05:30

In the summertime when the weather is high
You can stretch right up and touch the sky
When the weather's fine
You got women, you got women on your mind.

Have a drink, have a drive
Go out and see what you can find!

Remember the song? It is not summer yet, but the weather is sure high..
If there is such a thing as a perfect Sunday, it would be something like today.
I’m lovin' it! :)

Lucie the pussy cat

2008-04-29T05:56:00.003+05:30

I spent the weekend with a friend and his lovely wife at their house in a little Massachusetts town. The sun was at it’s best for most part of the day, and it was only the sea breeze reminding us it was not summer – not just yet.
Lucie, my model of the week is Don’s cat. Not too easy to befriend, but she definitely is not camera shy.

Terminal illness

2008-04-21T09:01:00.005+05:30

"There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror." ~Orson Welles
And I am sure I'm familiar with at least one of those. :)
My clock is still garbled, but I like the weather.

Lovely Rosa

2008-04-15T10:56:00.004+05:30

Rosa is beautiful. Rosa likes to lick the underside of shoes (Tasty they are, but I dont know why mommy makes a fuss!) and Rosa likes it when daddy tosses her up like that.

This week has been crazy so far, and it is just about to get crazier. I'm having to travel half way around the world, among other things.
I should be getting back to work, dont you think? :)

Do not ask stupid questions, I say!

2008-03-30T17:45:00.003+05:30

I like to drive on long winding roads: and long winding roads sometimes lead you to lands where logic seems wound a little too tight to comprehend.
Like this weekend when we drove to this place really far away: On our way back, we stopped at the easiest place in the world to catch fish. It was a creek underneath a little bridge on a little country road. Not too far from the road, the stream turned, and the water slid off the rounded edge of a rock into a deeper area. And there, there were these fish which would leap out of the water against the current, trying to reach back to that place over the rock. Not one fish: a very many of them. A blind man could easily knock one over to the side, make a fire and poach it right there.
Yet no one did, or so it seemed to be.
So we stopped an old man on the road and asked him why.
"Because there is someone watching, and you'll get smacked on the head if you do" came the reply.
The land downstream belonged to this Zamindar and he had exclusive fishing rights on this stream. The stream does not belong to anybody, but the fish is the Zamindar's. Funny!

When Spark met Singam

2008-03-25T22:23:00.004+05:30

I brought home this bony sorry figure of a puppy last weekend, and I had to drive more than 300 kilometers to Rajapalayam in Tamil Nadu and back to get him.
Spark is shaken, and makes a sad face, but I’m sure he’ll get over it. Two’s company, after all.

Singam is a Chipiparai hound, an original Indian breed. He’ll grow up to be a great runner-hunter, I am told. His daddy looked like a larger version of a greyhound, and was quite a looker.

Does anyone know how I can get Spark to be nice to Singam? He now walks away when he sees the pup. And I'm worried he's stressed.

Gettin' Jiggy wid it

2008-03-16T23:07:00.001+05:30

This has been a crazy weekend: I’ve been party hopping like mad (Guess whose birthday it was ;) ) and I’m too tired to think of anything creative to post. I don’t know if it is lack of ideas or the excess of sprits in my blood , I decided on trying my hands at some post-processing . So I dug up some stuff from a while ago, and tried making it look like 80s style album cover art. (what a pity that the good ol’ cassettes are not around anymore.)
Contrary to what I thought, I actually loved doing this.
Tell me what you think!

I am feminist

2008-03-12T14:53:00.005+05:30

Woman is a stockpile of emotion – of love, of jealousy and imagination.
She can lead you to love, and she will definitely play with your mind: Not that I understand all that very well - they are all so intertwined! !
Ok, I am bad at this, and if you did not realize that already, this is a womens day post that has come a little too late.
Women are weird – but it is them who make this weird world go round, i guess. :)
I mean really, look what a mother could do to this boy who wouldn’t smile for a joke I told him in six different languages!

P.S (added afterI got home): I can this with more clarity now but I will not delete this.
Just a long day - a very BAD day.
Ok I'm going nuts here. I should stop.
All ladies - thank you, and I love you all! :)

Hoo's tales :)

2008-03-02T12:00:00.003+05:30

Clowns, story tellers, puppeteers, mimes and a whole lot of happy kids:
That was Hoo’s tales in Cubbon park this Saturday.
In the age of Chinese toys and Playstations a story telling fair may look a little out of place, but the children definitely seemed to be enjoying every bit of it.
To tell you a secret, I did too. :0)

Mehndi!

2008-02-24T23:29:00.001+05:30

What do you do when you’ve had too much action last weekend? You rest yourself.
But he bad thing about resting is that you get bored sometimes.. and worse still, you run out of fresh pictures.
This shoot came as a surprise – of the good kind, though.
A friend had once mentioned that one of her friends would like to have me shooting her at her mehndi, but like everything else, I had forgotten this as well.
So this evening (after being reminded and surprised the previous day), I quietly slip out of work for a rendezvous with the bride for some green room action.
Considering that I had no strobes, softboxes or diffusers, and was shooting out of the equipment in my office backpack, I am pretty happy with the way the pictures turned out.

A Gentle giant, and the 100th post

2008-02-19T15:18:00.004+05:30

In the moist evergreen forests of Kerala, it is an overwhelming feeling just to be – you do not necessarily have to see it all to believe it : the fact is that you couldn’t, even if you wanted to.
The air is always heavy with the sounds and smells of what is on the other side – of a tree trunk or the thick undergrowth - of creatures watching your every move.
There is a rhythm ( I’d even go as far as calling it silence) to the noises of the jungle; for when there is a crackle of branches and a rustle of leaves, you will turn and look, and you will probably spot this colorful bundle of fur on a leap that is nothing less than unbelievable.

The giant Malabar squirrel is quite huge as the name suggests. What is unlike how the name sounds though, is that he is a particularly cute fellow.
It builds nests on intricately branched heights of trees, and hardly ever comes down : a reason why the creature cannot be spotted very easily.
The natural predators of this threatened species are leopards and large birds, but the real threat is from the two-legged cousins that live on the other side of the tree line.

Lady without a name

2008-02-12T20:23:00.000+05:30

That is my brand new niece.
She is a few months old, and she still does not have a name.

Don't expect a loner to behave.

2008-02-06T14:37:00.000+05:30

At first light, we still had a few minute’s drive ahead of us before we reached the first check-post into the jungles. Force of habit is an incredible thing to be working against - the otherwise interesting discussions on quantum physics and philosophy do not really work while your body keeps repeating just one word : “Sleep”.

And then our senses were yanked wake by a sight least expected. We were taking a turn when we saw a young bull elephant around the corner – a shy loner with piercing eyes.

The place was an isolated patch of wilderness – not inhabited, but with a lot of human activity along the road. There was no food in sight, and this was no known migration route. The herd was nowhere to be seen: this guy was danger.

The engine was turned off, and for a longer-than-usual minute, we waited as he surveyed the scene, and then slowly crossed the road to disappear into the bush alongside.

The opportunity was too good to be let to pass – a few cameras exited the car, and the men behind them inched forward slow as snails, trying not to infuriate the tusker. The car’s engine went on, ready for action if the need arose.

Amidst the clickety-clack of shutters the elephant turned around, and that is when I noticed the smudged swelling on the side of his head – This was a loner in musth.

Musth (or, alternately spelled, must) is a periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized by a thick, tar-like secretion called temporin from the temporal ducts and, far more notably, by highly aggressive behaviour. …

…scientific investigation of musth is greatly hindered by the fact that, once under the influence of musth, even the most otherwise placid of elephants may actively try to kill any and all humans.

The bird-man by the road

2008-01-28T18:00:00.000+05:30

The man is a bird. But the bird man cannot fly. He does not chirp or sing.
His parakeet (with clipped wings) can pick my fortune out from a stack of cards.
The bird man tells me I will have three children, and that I will marry a dangerous woman : dangerous in a nice kind of way (he winks as he tells me that).

Ah, I can hardly wait!! ;))

The Old Tomato Woman

2008-01-20T23:11:00.000+05:30

Well, I took a sabbatical.
Life was coming too fast, and me - I needed my break.
Honestly, I am busier than the average man of my age. I realized that squeezing time out to post pictures was not working for me anymore. So I stopped.

But with that, I also realized that i had slowed down on my pictures, and that I also stopped reading what some very nice people wrote.
So I am back - With the old tomato woman.

Lots of love..

2008-01-02T14:19:00.000+05:30

May all things beautiful be with you this new year - and a jumbo-sized helping of love.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone. Stay happy!

Oh, what a movie!

2007-12-23T12:49:00.000+05:30

How can this movie not be loved!
When you work with dedication, a story that wouldn’t fill half a page turns into a brilliantly scripted, shot and presented masterpiece . Tare zameen par is - without doubt - the best movie this year.

I had a lump in my throat the entire time I was in the movie hall, and I am sure so would anyone who used to be allergic to books, to homework, and the system.
The trauma of the kid (at least to me) is of being judged by the world’s standards - Of slaughtered confidence, of being told he wasn’t good enough – And that is the beauty of the movie, if you ask me. It lets you think without making you look at your watch - The pace was a breeze and there is plenty of room to contemplate. The music isn’t redundant, is well timed, and actually good.

There is so much attention to detail - the titles just blew me away.
I walked in on someone else’s ticket (thank you Maneesha), and I was charmed from the first second on.

Oh what a movie!

2007-12-16T05:32:00.001+05:30

Back to show-and-tell ;)

2007-12-09T23:33:00.000+05:30

When the excitement of anxiety is spent, and there is no new game to learn,
light seems to shine from the corners, and you look on from your favorite window.

- Ammooma, Kerala.

Blogger cannot be found

2007-12-03T19:15:00.000+05:30

alternate image here

The blogger you are looking for may have been removed, had his name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

He left a picture, though. ;)

Little princess likes to pose

2007-11-26T05:37:00.000+05:30

(If you cant see that picture, an alternate image is available here)

What you see here is one of the most difficult models I've ever had - Yet another one from the family day last weekend.
Lesson learnt: Child portraits are no child’s play – I could hold her attention no longer than a few seconds, and just when I decide to release the shutter, she would turn to answer some imaginary voice.
But I think the picture was worth the effort.

The wide eyed girl

2007-11-18T00:58:00.001+05:30

The wide eyed girl, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than people in my pictures.

I may wander, but I always have to come back to them. :)

The bullet and the rosary

2007-11-11T23:22:00.001+05:30

The bullet and the rosary, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

The bullet and the rosary – would that not make a good name for a book?
(Apparently Google doesn’t think anyone has written that book yet. Maybe I should.)
The Royal Enfield bullet has been a motorbike of every young Indian man’s dreams – me included. The chrome, the thump, and the no-nonsense build. As a kid, I used to be so in awe of the loud machines that rode past my house. Now in a city that is louder, the glint of steel, and the steady deep noise of an approaching bullet still makes me turn. And watch.
I’m buying one. That’s on top of my to-do list right now.

Boys and girls, Let it roll!

2007-11-07T18:46:00.001+05:30

let it roll, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Diwali is here. And here’s my own hand crafted card and message to all you good folks.

Cheers to everyone!

[I made that card at a 15 min make-a-card competition at work. :) The card was later presented to my all-boys lunch group. By the way, that won the second place. ]

PS: For the less informed, Wiki sez: "..The festival marks the victory of good over evil, and uplifting of spiritual darkness. Symbolically it marks the homecoming of goodwill and faith after an absence.."

The Sunset beach

2007-11-05T14:33:00.001+05:30

splash!, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

..And when it is time to die, I will die in style.

From burning orange to an eerie purple all the way till darkness starts creeping in from the corners - I cant think of a death as grand as the death of the day.

Ripples on the pond

2007-10-30T15:06:00.001+05:30

ripples on the pond, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Good times are back - And I'm having a lazy week away from work, doing what I love doing : watching it rain.
It is November (well, almost) and it is pouring as if it were June.
With the moss on the walls, and the color of the grass, it even feels like June - and I am loving it.

If I get one clear day though, I'm heading out to the jungle.

Playing with the sea

2007-10-21T12:30:00.001+05:30

cme n get me, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

I’ve had more than enough,
Too much.
Stop playing with me,
Come and get me!

Hot-dog does the dive.

2007-10-14T12:51:00.001+05:30

Free style, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Contravening instincts bred into him by millions of years of evolution, you see Spark doing another one of his water catching performances here. (And you, like an idiot thought all dogs run away from water.)
And he goes: “Yo, check it out, Gs, Damn. I be attendin' to bidness 24/7, and I almost forgot about evolushan! “

Spark says he’s working on his other ‘bad habits’ like sniffing feces on the sidewalk, licking his own groin, and wolfing down his food.

When he has all the hot-dog ingredients, it should be ok for him to take a few exceptions, don’t you think? (“Unless you wants every hole in yo' body stapled shut, y'all best not make no wisecracks.”)
Spark is a good dog.

:)

[he was a few days old here. ]

Earth, water and light

2007-10-08T09:46:00.001+05:30

, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

There is something exquisitely romantic about love by the sea-side, something far more poetic than by the park bench – especially so on this day when rain clouds covered the sky, and sunshine, trickling through the clouds painted a picture of gold.

Wider.

2007-09-30T23:57:00.001+05:30

wider, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

I have been obsessed with tight frames for a while now.
This time I wanted to shake off the fixation, and try and experiment at a wider angle - and get a little more of the world in perspective.

The sun shining through these clouds (these were the same clouds that would in a couple of hours go on to ruin the India-Australia match that was happening just a few blocks away) lit the scene just right, and gave the sky that great blue hue – I could finally shoot at ISO 100.

The kings, and good times too!

2007-09-23T10:36:00.001+05:30

The kings, and good times too!, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

“As for clothes, the newer the better; as for friends, the older the better.”
Oh, really? I thought that was only wine, said the wise man.
Wise enough, wise man?

And so we drank beer through the happy hours,
and the boys rode motorbikes after many years.

[Now these two old friends from college decided to visit me over the weekend. This is the first picture here that is not my work, but the mood is such, I cant really post anything else. ]

In one particularly wet corner of a blogger's block

2007-09-17T12:35:00.001+05:30

In one particularly wet corner of a blogger's block, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

It had been raining for the most part of the week, and I was meeting these couple of blogger friends from the other side of the city on Saturday.
Off –season sun is a good thing, and when daddy’s not watching, what is a better place to be with friends than a puddle in the park!

No break fast, two movies (not counting the DVDs), a lot of getting wet, a lot of riding around, a lot of friends, a minor accident involving a swollen upper arm, and a knee that hurts, a new pair of shoes, dinner, coffee, and a lot of catching up.

It has been a busy weekend. :)

The thinker

2007-09-07T08:54:00.001+05:30

thinker, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

And the thinker just sat there in the comforting warmth of a clear day.. refreshed by the winds from the sea, by the breeze which might have risen in a valley of snow.
The sky, the beach, and the river that met the ocean fashioned beauty beyond compare – solemn, and deeply colored.
What is a better place to think than by a sea without limit – which was as blue as its sky?
For that was all he ever did – Think. Except on those particularly rough days when the sea was black, he would offer to take the helm.
But today was not one of those days.
He watched the last group of ducks paddle their way home to the village by the sea. It would be another hour before sun set, and it wasn’t going to rain.

I'm off on yet another weekend trip - and this time to a friend's wedding in Trivandrum.

A chikunguniyad onam

2007-09-02T21:48:00.001+05:30

onam, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

It's a festival that has everything to do with the spirit, they say.
Perhaps that's why a couple of celebrated citizens attained nirvana this time around too - from excessive drinking.
Anyway, this time I had a camera slung around my neck while I was stirring the payasam, and the kids were making their pookkalams

I'm back, and now I'll need some sleep.
Onam was good. :)

Missing person notice

2007-08-25T22:34:00.001+05:30

soakin it up, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

The wind is whistling in my ear, and playing with my hair.
And I'm soakin it all up at the beach.

I'm on a week-long vacation. :)

A curious case of reversed polarities

2007-08-22T17:56:00.001+05:30

A curious case of reversed polarities, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

It looks the flu’s got me.
And I’ve had too much cough syrup and I feel funny.
Do you think that is why this picture looks funny to me?

[In the picture: Mannequins bare it all at the Levi’s store warehouse]

One way, and we mean it!

2007-08-15T00:42:00.001+05:30

One way, and we mean it!, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

We are a land of contradictions, of contrast, and changing hues – a land that has come a long way in it’s newest rebirth, and yet in so many ways not moved an inch from where it started.

A people’s nation – the people being its biggest liability, and its greatest strength as well.
And it’s greatest weakness? A defiant people. We work around rules, and we push our way through.

Doesn’t independence from an external force mean dependence on oneself? Doesn’t it mean accountability?
It’s time we made that choice:
The choice that you make to sit on a reclining chair 30 years from now, and tell your grand-child about that zero that India gave the world centuries ago - Or to tell him about what YOU gave India, what you gave the world.

It is fairly simple – you only have to be good in what you do. And make the rather tough choice in doing what you love to do. We are a country with immense potential. Even if we were only mediocre intellectually (which I don’t believe is the case) , we balance it in numbers.

The need of the hour, if you ask me are:

1. A strong police force – Perhaps not in numbers, but definitely in values – better equipped, and better paid. Let us face it – we are used to being an unruly lot. We could use some discipline. If what it takes are tickets, so be it.
2. A responsible electorate that realizes the gravity of the power of vote.
3. A merit oriented structure in the bureaucratic system – right from the base.
4. Planned growth – even if it means slowing down.
5. taxation at the source is not the best policy any more. Instead, tax the sales, and cash in on the volumes. We have the numbers – we could bring down prices without compromising quality – it’s a small world out there and India could make a global shopping hub
6. Gather public good-will to make sense with Kashmir – to take bold decisions. We have shed too much blood in vain.
7. Far sighted infrastructure projects to the North-East.
8. Most of all, the nation to realize the need to look ahead, as opposed to looking behind, as we are given to do, as we have been taught to do - Look ahead, and teach our children to look ahead.

We have made mistakes, we have innovated, we have excelled, we have fought, we have got back together – time and again. We will continue to make mistakes, and we will continue to learn, and I will continue to be proud - and watch this country with respect, and affection.
Happy Independence day, folks!

Well ShahRukh, You have my thumbs-up now!

2007-08-12T09:39:00.001+05:30

thumbs-up, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

I just got out of watching Chak de India, and I liked it. Brilliantly shot, brilliantly edited, and the songs have purpose.
I liked it because:
1. It did not look like Ta-ra-rum-pum. This one is a REAL sports movie.
2. I love cricket-bashers.
3. Less glamour, more substance – and the girls looked like they played hockey for real.
4. No cheesy romance, or diversions from the central plot.
5. It made gully hockey look cool. (I’ve never seen street hockey for real so far)
6. I watched it on the first day, and it wasn’t a waste of money.

My rating: You go watch it too.

Give him a white elephant or two.

2007-08-05T23:22:00.001+05:30

Give him a white elephant or two., originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Now let me tell you a little secret of mine: I love elephants.
It is possible that this has a lot to do with me being Malayalee, because back home, an elephant is not just some big animal, it is a way of life.
The Anakkaran (elephant handler) was someone every kid looked up to in awe and admiration. And I’ve grown up with that reverence.
A mahout sleeping underneath a huge elephant to me is a relationship rooted in trust. I’ve heard of mahouts being killed in fits of fury by the elephant, but a sleeping mahout being stamped on, I have never.

Every time I have touched the coarse hairy trunk of the huge animal - awful, powerful, monstrous, dreadful, mighty, and intelligent - I have known what the great Alexander could have been up against at a dramatic battle, with as inconceivable an end.

It is a first time for me every time.

I have wondered more than once, how then was it that the phrase “White elephant” came into being. An albino (hence white) elephant is supposed to be in most of south east Asia, sacred, and a sign of prosperity. For the same reason, there were laws protecting them from labor. So if you received a gift of a white elephant from a King, it would be a blessing and a curse - A valuable possession whose upkeep exceeded it’s usefulness. The buses of the state owned KSRTC in God’s own country are locally called elephants. No prizes then for guessing the color.

Sleep on it!

2007-07-29T11:19:00.001+05:30

Sleep on it!, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Children playing, brown women laughing and water gushing down the rocks.
The world moved on as he inhaled the thin spray of water during his mid-noon siesta.

He liked to sleep, you could tell. He liked to sleep, and he was wrathful at men, and their world.

He was free – unlike them - to do as he liked.

Sunday ballyhoo 2

2007-07-23T09:40:00.000+05:30

Here’s another couple of pictures from last Sunday, which seemingly has got me a mile long queue of pretty ladies waiting for their pictures to be clicked.

This shoot was fun, we had quite an audience gathered behind me watching the show, and some even asked me what magazine I was shooting for . [I wanted to tell her it was called “Little hotties”, but I bit my tongue, and told her the truth. ].

The folks at the coffee shop though wouldn’t ask questions, and treated us like VIPs. Nice. :)
I think I should be doing this more often!

TP shaves her head, and ace photographer goes all Clicky, Clicky.

2007-07-17T09:29:00.000+05:30

BENGALURU, IN – T Pem, suddenly n the news for her shaven head and colorful bandanas was spotted being shot on Sunday by an unidentified photographer in various basements of Bangalore buildings.

Reeling from countless pictures and making weird faces, TP received help on the sets in the form of tart-tounged but greatly perceptive friend RS.

Though neither has openly acknowledged it, TP and RS are widely believed to be secretly considering each other as a side kick. "Me and RS, we're like Wonder woman and wonder girl" said said TP, but later admitted that she just made up the wonder girl part. “It’s so unfair that I cant think of any woman superhero with a sidekick!”

Though people generally enjoy having a sidekick, both of them acknowledged that it has it’s own down sides too."TP's a great girl and all, but sometimes it's tough to make my moves when she's always hanging on my sleeve," RS said. "Like, last weekend, we were at this party, and I was trying to chat up this cute guy who looked kinda stoned, and she wouldn't leave my side for a second."

TP and RS concede that the affection is mutual, though not equal.

The 8 tag, finally!

2007-07-14T23:02:00.001+05:30

S R I R A M, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

Arrears are fun things.. Like the Saturday laundry..

Ok, maybe they’re not, but you don’t really have a choice with either of them
A long time ago, Prickster had tagged me to write eight random things about myself. And not so long ago, flyaway mind also tagged me to write eight weird things about myself. Being the lazy bum that I am, I never even wrote one.
The weight of having failed such true blogger friends has been making me lose a lot of sleep, appetite, and not to mention a lot of Reynolds pens from the office stationary shop.

So here goes eight random weird things about myself:

1. You see a weirdo guy wearing an oversized helmet riding a motorbike and doing a dance somewhere on airport road, roll down your window, and say hi.. It’ll probably be me. Very often I get into these mood swings of the happy kind, and then I break into a dance. Yes, I sometimes sing too..

2. I am extremely accident prone. In my toddler years, I am told I used to walk on my toes (much like Fred Flintstone, who I discovered quite late in my childhood) and trip and fall, and get up, only to trip again, and fall again. I used to be called unniyappam (which is a malayalee snack – something like a muffin, only harder, sweeter, and rounder.) for the way my head would be swollen from all the falls every evening. The legacy continues even today.. I’ve locked myself out of the car in an ice storm just outside my house, wearing only a tiny pair of shorts; tore my pants doing some tango at an office party, and I spill hot coffee on myself quite regularly.

3. I’ve never been hopelessly in love, nor tearlessly in pain. I am devoid of extreme emotion. Till date, I’ve not had a fight with anyone that has lasted more than a day, and there is no person that I hate. I’ve never been in love either.

4. I adore snakes, and know more than quite a bit about them. As a matter of fact, I think they’re the most graceful creatures on the planet.

5. I go to boring office meetings just for the pizza. The funny thing is – I don’t particularly like pizza, and I am quite a busy person, but however hard I try, I somehow cannot let the Pizza meeting go by.

6. People tell me I’m a good cook, and that I make the best Sambar in New Hampshire, But here’s my little secret: With the exception of the Sambar, I’ve never been able to cook the same dish twice, and there has never been a cookbook which has worked for me.

7. I love everything about the rain. The sound, the smell, the color and the water. I don’t like the feel of wet cloth though, and so it becomes a major mental conflict every time it starts raining.

8. I am very lazy. Why’s that weird, you might ask.

But figure this: I’ve slept numerous exams off, and to carry my marks cards from college, you’ll probably need a truck, cause there is virtually one for each subject. I’m so used to taking the exams the next time. But I’ve had quite a good career.

Weird!

The photo: This is my first real attempt at doing child portraits, and i'm pretty happy about this one here. Sriram is a friends' kid, and proved to be a great model.

On the podcast: Guess what I found today - AVIAL!

Also, this is the beta version of my new podcasting stream. I'm looking for you guys to test that one, and tell me if it works. I've phased out Odeo for now. [For those of you who do not know, it's on the side bar. you just have to click the play button - after finding it, that is. :) ]

Tired and happy

2007-07-08T10:27:00.001+05:30

“Then there fell a rain of fire, and all that existed burned..”

2007-07-07T20:11:00.001+05:30

rain of fire, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

It has been a hectic week, and a very fast-paced one. One place to the other, and one thing led to another.
This was shot from over a flyover, and what you see is the passing traffic, and the street lights below.
My muse seems to have totally given up on me, or maybe I’m not trying.
So I’m posting a double entry this week.

Featured photo

2007-07-07T20:05:00.001+05:30

featured photo, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

This was the featured photo of the day for 4th of July on webshots.
http://travel.webshots.com
:)

The turbulance under

2007-07-01T12:06:00.001+05:30

the boat-starter, originally uploaded by toothlesswonder.

It was yet another day at work, and he liked to work alone. Below him, the sea was calm, with only a ripple over it’s surface.
The calm intimidated him - It always had something to say.
When he was younger, the sea used to turn funny colors and sober down and then there would be days of plenty.
But now it seemed as if ocean had way too many stories to tell. The last time it was still like this, in minutes monster waves came out of nowhere and took homes and lives and children. And then it was quiet once again – as if nothing had happened.
“What have they done to the world..” He shrugged, and started his tiny boat - It was time to go home.

The street seller

2007-06-23T23:45:00.001+05:30

I'm the street seller.

I live on the road, and the road is my home.
How sad it is to live, How sad it is to dream...

But that was a long time ago. Bangalore’s streets have turned out to be a huge marketplace with virtually no overheads.
A majority of the population here is a floating lot, and a prosperous floating lot at that.
If I had the money to spare, I’d definitely invest it here on the streets.

Update: Check out my radio station on the side bar. (I'm the RJ there *wink wink*)

Blur intended

2007-06-17T23:55:00.001+05:30

A self portrait with half a mind to show it will look something like that.
I’m too busy to write anything, and the picture that I see is as hazy as the one I’m in.

Half of you already know me anyway, so to hell with anonymity.

Have a great week ahead guys.
Party on. Ding dong. :)

Infinity - Of time, and faith.

2007-06-11T12:41:00.000+05:30

Reason and faith do not go together.
Just look at the sunset at the end of the road to infinity -
I could spend my life chasing the real, and call life unreal and temporary. And that is what most religions ask me to presume true.

There is the eternal lamp that lights the higher path, they say - walk the path, do not look to your sides, indulgence is a carnal sin.

The sun among the evening clouds at the end of the road is real; But so is the road, and so is infinity.
I seek gratification, and I like to look around - I believe in the drive more than the destination.

I believe in now.
Believer? Atheist?
How about indifferent?

The river between

2007-06-04T11:06:00.000+05:30

The river had been flowing undecided for a few months now. The sun was exceptionally hard this year, and the stray patches of land in it’s center this time were larger and more in number than in the past so many years.
The kid liked the river in the boat. He had once seen a boat with so much water in it that it became only an outline on the river’s surface.
But there were his friends on the other side, walking up the path that followed the river’s turns to the next village.
It was summer, there was no school, and he wished the boat would go faster.

Running the wrong way

2007-05-28T10:02:00.000+05:30

Now, getting back to where we left off:
It was Seven in the morning, but it was long since the day started in the forest. By the reason of its quietness, the walk seemed longer than it naturally should have. And perhaps adding to it was the disappointment from the lack of any real sightings in the morning.
We had woken before first light, and even as we walked through the slush of the previous night’s rains, the pale light was only setting in, giving the dry river bed a shade of solemn grey.
We had hoped to walk into the elephant herd – which we had a chance encounter with, in the dark of the past night, and I was ready – unlike then - with the right lenses, the camera on, and ready to go.
It was dismal crusade – even the persistent elephant scent this morning was a lot lighter, compared to the sharp musky odor that hung heavy in the air the previous night.
The leeches were feasting on my leg, and many were trying to suck the juice out of my shoes as well. There we were – at the riverbed - risking snake bite and impending rain.

The walk would have been a disappointment, had we not spotted this guy high up in the foliage.

[In the pic: A Malabar Grey Hornbill]

Some damp melodrama

2007-05-21T11:58:00.001+05:30

In the evening, it began to rain.

From the other side of the window came the sound of drops on dry stubble, and muted light of a melancholy blue. The noise elaborated silence, as I watched a stray drop roll down the glass.

It was the kind of rain that would have been as good to go out to, as it would have been to come in from.
Yet I chose to stay thus in my lone rocking chair, with the cup of tea still steaming.
It was getting dark.

[That was the mood of the picture, but it is doctored – Clicked on a hot summer afternoon for a friend who needed it. It took me a mirror, a mug of water, some house plants, and a toothbrush.]

Hop. Skip. Jump and SPLASH!

2007-05-09T11:04:00.000+05:30

There’s absolutely nothing that can beat a bath in a river on a hot and humid summer day.
Run , tear your cloths off, woooooosh and SPLASH!
Whatta whatta fun! :)

These kids were spotted at the river, and this one appeared to be demonstrating his bowling skills as the other two watch closely.

The fiery colors of passion, and attraction to beautiful women

2007-05-02T18:29:00.000+05:30

Beauty is magnetic - and that is the way the universe was designed.
The fiery colors of a flower, the fulgent plumes on a bird and to a man what might seem to be the most physical of attractions - attraction to beautiful women.
Magnetic, and momentary, and functionally so.

[You've got to see the picture at a larger size to really know what i'm talking about. :) ]

Lone clansman pissed.

2007-04-27T10:33:00.000+05:30

Agola 27th April:

The abominable clansman Rednow Sselhtoot expressed his annoyance in having been compelled to give in to the tribe’s ways against his own personal conviction.
“I eat, dog fart. I meet girl, dog fart. I do anything, dog fart.” According to Rednow, his dog was capable of performing the feat so effortlessly, and to perfection, ahead of even his wife. What concerns him, however is that he has a ban from the tribe on letting his dog perform in front of an audience.
Rednow had attempted the act once at a friend’s wedding, and was (mercilessly) beaten up and thrown out. The exhaust gases at the dance had made the dancers desert the venue, and village council had imposed an indefinite ban on bringing his dog to a public function. “He big brain. He see he learn” The tribesman is now facing a risk of being evicted from his own house, and the wife is said to have been seen with ex-boyfriend Guimba very often in the recent past. Guimba is believed to have the best bone knife in the tribe.
“Who say no teach old dog new trick? Who say?” A visibly agitated Rednow was heard saying.

[I'm dead the day Spark gets internet-enabled. :) ]

A complex world out there.

2007-04-27T10:31:00.000+05:30

The loud silence of disorder

2007-04-19T13:00:00.000+05:30

It is funny to think how dramatically the intensity of conceptions can change when one starts noticing contrast. The jungle was perhaps as loud as the cobbled streets of Bangalore, but the noises were strangely silent.
Perhaps it is the collective rage of unspoken disapproval that hangs eternally over the crowded streets of the city, or perhaps it is the hushed personal malice. I can’t say which, but it makes me want to run away.
Because the unsaid is often louder than what’s said.

Picture: Smiles for sale - Street children on M.G. Road

The UFO's a Dragon!

2007-04-16T16:48:00.000+05:30

For two weeks he enjoyed the U.F.O status.

But now I know - he's spread his wings, he's resting, and he's a Dragon!

Here's how:

"Dragonflies, the jeweled helicopters of the insect world, are generally stronger and more robust than damselflies. They are also fast and agile fliers. While at rest their wings are held away from their bodies.

Comparitively damselflies have slender bodies and a weak, fluttery, hovering flight. At rest their wings are held close to the body. Also their eyes are well separated unlike dragonflies. "

[Source: www.nerdybirders.com/html/dragonflies/dragonflies.html ]

This was when we were investigating some movement in the bushes down the stream, and then decided the bushes were too thick, and the investigation could prove to be a very risky one.

So clicked him instead.

Think: Can you chew what you're about to bite?

2007-04-12T16:18:00.000+05:30

Distance seems to lose meaning in these villages by the forest and the world truly shrinks. On being asked where we could find some breakfast, The old man at the DISCO tea shop and salon pointed to the east and told us that Eappan's store in the next village should be open by the time we reach there.
What was not said, however was that there was a dense jungle between this village and the next, and that the road to there was almost non-existent.
We were asked to write a letter to the range officer at the check post seeking permission to pass, and the air was heavy with the sounds of the jungle ahead.

As the gate went up to let us through, we knew we were being watched.

[In the pic: Lion tailed macaque. More on his kind in the posts to come]

To look, to see, and to know the difference.

2007-04-09T16:42:00.000+05:30

I’m back from two consuming days in the jungle. If there is an ultimate getaway, it is this – because out there, you are all by yourself. No phone, no gun and no light – the color of the forest night is pitch black, and the silence of the noises overwhelming. The blindness being one-sided leaves you exposed, and the crackle of a leaf makes you sweat. In its depths where the smallest patch of exposed skin would be swarming with leeches in no time, and your every move is watched by dozens of invisible eyes, your survival depends on how much you listen, and how much you can smell. Here I start a photo blog. (for a while)

Note: The pictures are best viewed at a larger size.

Angamuzhi is the first check post to the jungle while approaching it from west. It is a small town, and the local amenities include a tea shop (with one wooden bench) and a salon.

Finding Lost Time (Part 2)

2007-03-18T21:17:00.001+05:30

“Eda kochaney, one coconut falls on your head, and they wont have to look for coconuts for the chammandi anymore.” Vivekanandan seemed to be amused by the idea of Boshi’s brain chutney being served with dosa. After conducting countless tests of accidentally dropping the massive green, brown and sometimes orange fruits on people’s heads, Vivekanandan’s theory of brain chammandi still remained unproven by and large. He considered himself to be in an elevated social being. For a land that was flat, Vivekanandan really was at it’s summit – on top of the coconut palm. When he was not climbing trees, he was high on Mathai’s patta. Either way, he was way higher than the rest of the village.

What brought Boshimon to the first level of consiousness, however was Kuriakose's generous helping of dog saliva on his face. And as had become customary in the past week, he shouted some class-one obscenities at the dog and started his day thus. Now a dog on the run can't complain about bad language. Although born to a nameless mongrel mother, Kuriakose had inherited most of his features from his father - Dingan, the German Shepherd. It had taken his nameless mother a whole month and a half to seduce Dingan, and when Dingan fell for her ways, it was the talk of the town. The litter had three other puppies, but they were such sorry things, that when the legendary Balakrishna Kurup saw them by the road, they didnt get petted or picked, and hence they didnt get names.

That is how the smaller than usual but German Shepherd like pup went home with Valya Kurup to his new home. He remained there in peaceful co-existance with its other inhabitants, until one day the grandmother of the house suddenly stopped running her race, and the whole household got busy with the obsequeis . Kuriakose was forgotten, and he remained hungry, and tied to the little washing stone in the backyard.

Little Velayudhan was as naughty then as he is now (his ways have changed since). Kuriakose wasn’t quite enjoying the boy’s exotic dance – especially not when he was hungry – and so in a moment of weakness he bit the boy on his little fountain - Hard enough to scare the effluents out of the boy, but not hard enough to do any real damage to his boy-hood. Kuriakose fled, as fast as his four legs (German Shepherd like, but shorter) could carry him, with his tail (unusually bent for a German Shepherd) tucked safely between his hind legs.

(to be continued..)

It's my Budday!

2007-03-15T14:26:00.000+05:30

Go, go, go, go, go, goGo, shortyIt's your birthday

We gon' party like it's your birthday

We gon' sip Bacardi like it's your birthday

And you know we don't give a bleep

cause it's not your birthday!

But it eees my budday!

It eees my 13 n a halfth budday.

YAY!

Finding lost time (Part 1)

2007-03-09T16:44:00.000+05:30

It was a March very much like this one. The sun was beginning to rise (with a little trouble) over the big thatched roof of the toddy shop. A little further from where he lay, the growing light revealed the bottom of a coconut tree, and the sleeping Kuriakose. The dog did not seem to care about day or night. He liked to sleep. And Kuriakose looked happy.
No matter how hard Boshimon tried, he couldn’t recollect the last few hours of the previous night. He was drunk. Magnificently drunk. More drunk – drunker than he had ever been before.

Boshimon was born black and it wasn’t his fault. He was on paper, the first day of his life on this world. His mother was sixty three, and grandmother of four. The world was amused. They laughed, and didn’t bother to turn the other way when they did. They laughed on his face – wet laughs – the ones that spray spittle from corners of paan stained crimson mouths. Boshimon, would wipe blobs of frothy liquid from his face and smile back. He had to live.
His grown-up siblings visited him once on the day he was born – or so he was told – with their children and all. He doesn’t remember seeing them, and he hoped they would come when the mother died. They did not.

He was twenty seven, and yet yesterday qualified as the first of his adult life, the first day when he could call the said life his own – when he could look the village in the face, without fear of them calling him his name. He had walked the fields and the well-trodden paths at a steady gait, greeting the old and the un-known. There was not a great deal he could think of to wish for. In the night, on his way out of the toddy shop, he would have danced down the deserted path if it was not for the fear of falling on his face. And yet he fell.

His blood had always attracted the fattest mosquitoes from far out in the kayal, and he had spent the night chasing them away until the breeze put him to sleep again. He was fanning himself frantically when he saw the big face above his own. “They bite like rabid dogs. So, you had the moolavetti, ey?” Sabu was squatting by his side, and had a toothbrush stuck into a corner of his mouth. The effects elicited by the two packs of illicit liquor were spewn all around him, but his otherwise strong sense of smell didn’t seem to take note.

Sabu too hated his father for his name. The girls in the fifth standard classroom had laughed when he had to introduce himself. And the rest of his academic life, everyone called him by his full name of Shehanshah Shahjahan. Why couldn’t they call him Sabu like everyone in the village? Sabu aimed, and spat in a projectile. The toothpaste foam splattered off the coconut tree base, scaring the chicken into another futile attempt at flight.

(to be continued..)

A reason to say I love you.

2007-02-11T17:34:00.001+05:30

Just a little while longer, my love.., originally uploaded by toothleswonder.

A year ago, he would have looked at her with so much passion that she blushed.

He would have said things that made her believe - without as much as a trace of a question - that no one had, and would ever have as much reason to love her as he has.
A year ago, the fact that both of them moved in entirely separate circles, with neither having too much of an interest in the other was okay. (It would have been too boring to be in love with a man who did the same thing as you for a living.)

A year ago, she wouldn’t have heard him tap his feet impatiently while he waited for her to finish ranting out about the tough day at work.It may have been because he was more discreet then, or perhaps it was just that she felt too distrait in his presence - Because a year ago, every time he kissed her, it was as though it was the last time he could.
Now not too much was spoken. They were so used to understanding each other without talking that they habitually believed their looks more than their words. That was the natural thing.

The picture is from a Nescafe coffee bar in the city.
Valentines day, I have always believed is one for he chocolate companies and card makers - too clichéd for my taste. But maybe there is another bearing. Many - like them - may be looking for a reason to say "I love you" again.
Happy Valentines day, everyone!

[The text does not describe the illustration or the people in it. Should the people in the picture consider any of this matter inappropriate, please just let me know, and I will be more than happy to remove it immediately.]

White (after) Christmas

2006-12-31T02:00:00.001+05:30

(Click for whole photostream)
Originally uploaded by toothleswonder.

Woof!
Woof woof woof!
:))

Bachelor Boy - Part 1

2006-12-29T01:30:00.000+05:30

“When I was young my father said
Son I have something to say
And what he told me Ill never forget
Until my dyin day.
He said son you are a bachelor boy
And thats the way to stay.
Son, you be a bachelor boy until your dyin day”
(Now playing-->)

Presenting to you - The Bachelor boys’ guide to staying that way!
Brother, why would you choose not to be a bachelor any more? Okay, wrong choice of words – what would break you and push you over that cliff – into the point of no return?
If you answer the way I used to, well, all I say is no sweat! It’s not that bad after all. It’s like the do it yourself kit. Get your hot meal done day after day, everyday. Without the shopping and wailing and the jewellery and all that jazz!
And like all superheroes, all you need is a good side-kick, or better still, a bunch of them bananas!

Banana#1: Dal
Now this one here is super hero in the making. Dont be surprised if one day put this one puts all the women folk out of business. What amazes me is this guy’s capability to adapt and the ability to metamorphose into a new look and feel (are we forgeting something .. yeah taste!) practically everyday!
Monday he is dal nospecialname – goes well with rice, and some spicey chutney
Tuesday he’s dal pepperonit – you microwave it with extra fresh ground pepper – great with some boiled vegetables (broiled with chillie flakes cheese and ketchup, ofcource)
Wednesday and Thursday he’s sambar and then Thursday thru Saturday he’s rasam!
Magical cannot but be an understatement! If there’s a promised savior gentlemen, it is dal – your sidekick no.1!

Tips: Fry gently before you pressure cook (translated: yellow, orange – acceptable. Black – game over, try again!)
Pop those seeds – I don’t know what they’re called – The little ones that pop when you put them in oil – they make a lot of difference!

Banana#2: Brocolli, cabbage/any leaf.
This one is a beau monde star – for your lunch pack to office. Can be terribly decieving, and may trick the women into believing youre a healthy eater! And trust me, they don’t taste as bad as we were led to believing they do. And the best part is you don’t have to cook them. A dash of olive oil and a piece of lime can work wonders with this.
For the filling you can use mashed potatoes and chicken/egg/some spicey (dry) vegetable dish left over from the previous night (potato is another wonder vegetable – but more about that later) – the mashing can be done on a weekend and stowed away in the fridge.
With this you can grin back at the pot-bellied manager of yours the next time he opens his box at lunchtime, and does the smell-sigh routine.
Boys, do NOT give in to temptation!

Tip: Get those long breads – not the kind of stuff burgers are made of – more like an oval than a circle. Cut them with a knife (steal that from a restaurant *wink*– you don’t have to buy a cutlery set for that. ) along the length – something like 85% of the total depth. Wrap the filling inside the leaf, keep it inside and you're ready to go!

Accessories required to get started:
A fridge ( considering that all these things will only take up one third of the space, and that you’ll have the rest of it dedicated to beer, and that you’ll always have ice at your disposal, so you can actually buy that decanter set ( Imagine a home bar – it’s heaven!) , it is an investment worth every paisa – you’ll have to buy it either way should you decide to get married. )

A trash can and the bags: With the trash bags , you’ll need to empty them only twice in a week. No stinking kitchen anymore!

(And everything else – the stove and some cookware and all that.)

Emergency readiness:
Like the boss says, it always pays to be proactive than reactive.
So I bought myself more beer! For one, you can invite the guys over and drink to the disaster, but for cooking diasters, beer can be our own neighborhood superhero!
I had realized that I didn’t have enough cooking brain cells in my head, but necessity is the mother of evolution, so exigency made them suddenly appear. But the rest of the brain is still in good shape, so I was watching this game on TV while I was making some chicken.
And the suckers had to score right when I was putting the chilly powder in.
And cela va sans dire, what was intended to be chicken noname instantly evolved into chicken inferno!
But where there is a beer, there is always a way. I broke an egg into the curry, and a pint of Heineken and let it boil, and there it was – not so bad as it was before.

Epilogue: Some one reported having heard screams from the bathroom of apartment 9 the next morning..
Well, what can I say - It could have been worse! :)

Thus spake Santa

2006-12-24T02:43:00.000+05:30

Aha! A rainy Christmas and a plethora of silly mistakes.
Some dork locked himself out of the car on a freezing night, right outside his apartment. Oh well, it would not have been such a mistake after all, if he hadn’t left the apartment keys in the same bunch as the car keys, and he hadn’t left his coat inside the car. And you know how these apartments in the US are. You need a key even to get to the stairs. Sigh!
[Ok. It was me. SO? ]

But wait a minute. This is the U.S of A. you always have 911!

911 emergency.. What’s your emergency?
Well.. err.. I kinda locked myself out of the car.
Are there any kids in the car?
No.
I’ll have to put you on hold for a minute, Sir.
[Did I hear “pay back time!!”? man not every guy in India works in a call center. Hellooo??]
Okay, we regret that we cannot be of too much help at this time. However, you may break the window.
Oh. I MAY break the window of MY car? Thanks!
Any time, Sir. Merry Christmas!

But well, that is beside the point.
There is no snow for Christmas!

Ho ho ho Santa old fella,
Go get yourself an umbrella!
*boink*

Merry Christmas, folks!

I cracked the hard nut, and I still feel like a man.

2006-12-07T08:05:00.000+05:30

Not that nut, dirty minds – that was an idiom. Idiots!
I cracked a big business problem at the office today.
No make that two -
I also figured out that The Old man of the Mountain was the name of a meeting room. (Now why did no one tell me that before!! )
**Flashback**
Meeting invite :
[Avaya continued discussion at old man of the mountain 2pm]
2.15 :I am still hanging around outside my boss D’s office, waiting for the guys to turn up. (Old man? Of the mountain?? Oh come on, guys!)
**Flashback ends**

On a different note, I also found out that the spread eagle is a thing only for the eagles to try.
I got inspired by the spread eagle picture everywhere, and tried the move, and my pants tore right across the centre. *Trrrrrrrrrk*
Now that doesn't paint a prety picture at a party - Especially, when you’re wearing bright red underwear.

I also realized – after spending numerous ours on research on it- how the phrase piss off came into existence.

This is how:
Snow on your car’s windshield - now trust me on this – is the mother of all piss offs, especially when you’re running late to that breakfast meeting.
You have two ways of getting around this problem:
a. Turn on the heater, wait for the snow to melt off – which may take you all winter
OR
b. Go to Walgreens, and buy a snow shovel – Ok now we’re talking crap. I’m a converting desi – which means it is always 1$=48 rupees. No way!

Or wait a minute – there’s an easier way !
You can piss on it. And like magic – it goes away! Damn right – Piss the friggin snow off!

Have a good one guys.. I'm going to sleep!

:)

Some joy ride!

2006-11-24T09:19:00.000+05:30

some joy ride!, originally uploaded by toothleswonder.

In a most shocking discovery earlier this morning, I realized I dont have an EZ pass installed on my car. And all this while i've been storming through the EZ pass lane!

At least a 20 toll gate violations - 20 tickets!

Joy ride? You bet it is!

Right here - Right NOW!

2006-10-23T02:35:00.000+05:30

last try, originally uploaded by toothleswonder.

Peace - with salt to taste.

The hitchhiker's guide to Nagarhole

2006-10-03T14:22:00.000+05:30

I’m back. And I’m tired and sleepy.
Although I could not convert many shots, the trip was a major learning experience in terms of knowing my own camera, and how to get the shots right while in the jungle.
Now it’s a very tough game, there.
The play of light and dark, and the way the animal would move suddenly from a lit up bit to a very dark patch of shade makes it almost impossible to get a good shot. That coupled with the rain clouds hanging menacingly overhead, and moving about, changing the light and leaving us completely uncertain about how much time we had at hand, it was a total mess.

Now why is the post named the way it is?
Well, this was the first time I was going to Nagarhole, and I was clueless. I was hoping I could find some good info on Google, but I could not find anything worth a mention.
This I hope, will be of use to those planning a weekend trip to Nagarhole from Bangalore.

So, where’s this place?
Nagarhole jungles are on the Western Ghats, On the Kerala-Karnataka border. (Mysore/Coorg districts on the right, and Wayanad (Kerala) on the left).
When traveling from Bangalore, one would have to take the Bangalore-Mysore road, and take a right from Srirangapatna (some 18 Km before Mysore) to Hunsur (To locate the turn, it would be advisable to ask for the road leading to Ranganthittu bird sanctuary, because the advice that people give you may be pretty misleading, and cost you a few tens of extra kilometers, as we found out in the onward journey). If you reset your trip meter when you leave Bangalore, it should read about 190 kms when you reach Hunsur.
The first checkpost that lets you into the sanctuary is 19 Kms from Hunsur. (the forest office is yet another 40 kms from here)
Apart from a few bad stretches here and there, the roads are okay till this point.

What can I find there?
Well, you’ll find a jungle there. (duh!)

And in the jungle, you’ll get to spot a lot of deer (like this one in the picture), and foxes, some jungle foul, macaques, gaur (bisons) , and elephants. Anything else you see is a bonus.

Can I ride up to this place?

Yes, you can, but they won’t let you go on the bike beyond this point.

And to hire a jeep, you’d have to go back 20 kilometers to Hunsur.
O yeah, we did that. :) ( The boys had come on bikes, plus it'd be better for the car not to drive on that road)

Where do I stay in Nagarhole?

Well, a good place would be on a tree top, but it would not be advisable, as you may end up getting eaten by some hungry animal (the most popular monkey trick is to push people off trees!).
Well, if you feel rich, you may choose between two resorts close to the jungle that charge you like crazy, or pull some strings, and get the only forest IB, but the latter would be very very tough.

So you have two options to choose from:

a. Halt at Hunsur, where you can find cheap accommodation, and then drive up early in the morning.
b. Drive through the park, get on the other side (that should be some 55-60 Kms from Hunsur) , and get to Kutta. There are many estates that entertain guests at their estate houses for nominal charges.

The stretch through the jungle will look something like this. (This road, however stays closed from 6pm to 6 am.)

Ok, what next?

The forest department arranges regular safaris from 6am to 8 am and then from 3pm to 5 pm. These are supposed to be good. They charge Rs.75 per head.
You could alternatively opt to drive the safari by yourself. This is rather costly, because you still pay Rs.75 per head, plus you pay rs.300 for the car, plus 150 for the guide (The gun and the guide are standard accessories)

If you missed the morning safari/ finished it early, it would still be a good idea to drive through to Kutta, and trek up hill at the Irpu falls.

What do I wear?

They don’t mandate a dress code, but camouflage clothing would be great idea, if you’re looking for great shots. You stay still, and animals ignore you. If you’re planning to trek, wear shorts, that way you’ll at least get o see the leeches that are feasting on you. .

Note: One of our guys got a leech in his posterior, and didnt even know. by the time we were back at the hotel, the leech had turned into jelly - and it looked like he'd shat blood.
(I know that was gross :p)

The drive through the jungle is very dusty, so I would suggest that you carry a wet towel – Too much dust on the face and nose can be quite irritating.
A cigarette lighter would also come in handy on a hike.

Any more tips?

Carry cash. There is only one ATM in Hunsur, but not many people know what that is. The chances are that the person may not even give a damn about you when he's busy giving his bulocks a bath.

It's at the State bank of Mysore. Don’t bother asking people – they won’t know.
Carry a change of clothes, a towel, and carry your camera.

And Yeah – Don’t act stupid. You needn’t get all excited and scream every time you see something. Don’t try to feed an elephant calf, don’t throw stones, if possible, try talking your girlfriend from getting out of the car, and don’t think it’ll be a good idea to stop for a while, and fry an egg.

PS: Nagarhole is also called Rajiv Gandhi National park.

To Go(a), or not to go?

2006-09-25T17:43:00.000+05:30

I'm just so confused.. Should I, or should I not?
Those lenses i ordered are going to come any day this week, and i dont want to feel sorry later about not going in the weekend.

Goa, anybody???

Have you lost your minds, my people?

2006-09-02T16:11:00.000+05:30

Why would you go? Why would you go to a place torn by civil war, where everyone’s fighting someone else’s battle?
Religion?
Hey can anyone tell me what religion God belongs to?
YOU STUPID IDIOTS!!!!

The Blue Mountains

2006-08-14T15:39:00.000+05:30

An exhilarating drive uphill on a beautifully laid out picturesque route, and at the end of it, a place high up on the hills where it rains eight months in a year, and white water rushes out of every orifice in the skyward rocks. But it wasn’t the scenes that surprised me. It was the mutiny of smells - Of eucalyptus, of tea, of cloves and cardamom. Eucalyptus – not eucalyptus oil, and spices not dried and packed in plastic bags (which have to be kept out of children’s reach as there is a choking hazard); but fresh, and green and yellow. (I had come to believe that fresh air had gone extinct.) Tea - not the kind that you brew at home, not of the dried and rolled black leaves. This is a fuller aroma. Of green leaves being washed / ground / sorted (I don’t really know what they do in a tea factory) on the other side of a moss-covered wall.
And it keeps coming at you almost at every turn you take; and turns are plenty in this part of the world, and so are moss covered walls of tea factories.
It is a world painted in shades of green and brown - Green of tea, green of the grass, green of the moss on the walls, green of the rock ferns; and shades of brown – brown of the soil, brown of the flaking eucalyptus crust, brown of the Tamil tea-pickers.. And the greens and the browns had a blue tint.
The rain would flush these colors down the car’s misty window, as if colors from a painting, and when the rain cleared, the clouds would cast shadows on the blue mountains, and before you know it, the same clouds would pour down on you.
The rain ruined my plans for a debut wild life shoot, but the trip was quite an experience.

Check out the drive to munnar collection here

Aw crap! not another screwed up ending!

2006-08-04T13:37:00.000+05:30

This is a sequel to my previous post.
Somebody told me at the restaurant the other day that the guy who was found dead in the gutter was hit by an early morning train, contrary to many popular stories that have been in circulation.
And the train being an inanimate, that this qualifies more as an accident, than a murder.
Apparently, the departed was waiting for the first light of a fresh Sunday morning which did not come on time. He had caught forty winks (sitting on the rails) when -surprise, surprise!- the Salem mail came on time and the poor fellow didn’t even know what hit him. (The man was deaf as a post, I am told).

Moral of the story: You thought the railway line is a good place to take a crap when no one’s watching? You have good reason to think twice – the Engine driver isn’t watching either.. ;)

Just the usual.. They found a body..

2006-08-01T12:08:00.000+05:30

On a Sunday morning there was a dead man by the rails.
A rickshaw driver saw two black feet protruding out of the gutter and the gate keeper found him whole..
Where the slime had to be, there was a pool of now-dried purple blood.
So, he must have dived head-first into his own warm blood? Maybe it was too cold out in the night?

And the cop pulled him by them two feet that the rickshaw driver saw protruding out of the gutter. He was laid out (respectfully) between the steel rails (with his trousers down to his knees - That was how he was found) for the deceased to be identified.
On the road by the railway track, people gathered in a dynamic crowd.
They would come, look, stay, cover their mouths, and leave to make room for a new passerby to see - A perfectly disciplined lot.

Bangalore's safe!

[I had started with my tax tirade, but I found this dead man after my Sunday morning breakfast.. Does anyone know where I could get myself a gun?]

TURN-ON

2006-07-11T23:01:00.000+05:30

Turn-on

2006-07-11T02:59:00.000+05:30

Remember that movie i was working on?
Now you can now watch the trailer here..

THe budding film maker that i am would really appreciate a few comments.. :)

Incomprehensible

2006-07-05T11:30:00.000+05:30

8 am on a chilly winter morning.. A full house (well, almost) in the class..
A board with a pile of mathematical formulae stacked neatly to fit into three columns separated by two vertical streaks chalked on the green board. As the last column filled, the first was promptly and very neatly dusted off, to be filled the next minute.

The professor was solving a problem. He was so used to solving problems.
In a clean, methodical way - that was the way problems were to be solved - in a clean methodical way, fitting the lines into three columns on a green board on the wall, so the boys could take it down, and file their notes.

I did not understand. I did not understand why engineering should teach one NOT to think.
He scribbled 'a's and 'b's and 'x's and 'y's and integrated them and derived them. He solved problems about how to eliminate noise in a good design. Good God, what is the context? Where is the noise coming from? why? What are the possibilities?
Is just no one here bothered about the context?

"You're going to hell."
"Why?"
"Because all that you do is wrong."
"By whose standards?"
"By God's standards."
"Did God tell you what his standards are?"
"The book says so!"

If there is something in the world that can make me blow my fuse, it would be just that - one's conscious refusal to think.
NO book - just no book tells me what to do. They can suggest a new line of thought, they can widen the dimensions of existing ones, but not arrive at conclusions for me. That, I will do. My rights and wrongs are mine, and mine alone. My guilt, my sins, and my good will use that as
the yardstick. Because I refuse NOT to think.
Because if there is a God that created good and bad, He has created something bigger, and more Powerful - discretion.
So my friend, you'd better think twice before you tell me "Because the book says so." - I may punch you in the face.

A different ball game..

2006-06-21T15:07:00.000+05:30

Ttictocktiktocktic..
The wooden cuckoo came out, yawned, went back in and shut the door.It has been like that for quite some time now.. She just yawns.. Soundlessly.
In the green screen of the TV, the Swedes and English are fighting it out in what seems to be a good match to watch.Owen's twisted his ankle.
England still looks the better side..
Isaksson was stunned when Joe Cole chested that ball and sent it right up the goal from a good 25 meters off. What a goal it was! They may not have won over the Swedes in 38 years, but I’m somehow sure they'll be the winning side this time.

Yawns, are warnings in a very curious sort of way. You bore me, is what they say.. Even the cuckoo in the clock.. I’m depressed!
"You've been a livewire. We're going to miss you.." Not too soon, though..
"You know what the best reward for good work can be?? Do you?" He was red in the face. Was it anger, was it anguish, I will never know. “More responsibility!"...and more, and more, and even more.. Until you choke and die..
The scores are leveled now. England has struck one, and the Swedes too. But something seems to have gone amiss on the English side. And the Swedes have been pounding their penalty box every one and a half minutes.Rooney’s very unhappy that he has been substituted. and he shows it.

The day following my resignation, they took me off my team, and put me on a testing support assignment. The one month notice was going to be a tough one.I didn’t like the move one bit, and I let it show.
Bad move. Very bad move.
I am stressed.. I want to leave.
I hate my job!
And I hated the rest of the game as well. England disappointed. The Swedes should have won. The better side had to win.
A draw.. I hate draws! And I was happy I didn’t do anything foolish like trusting my instincts on a bet.
They’ve been failing me for sometime anyway.

Next slide please.. click

2006-06-10T14:08:00.000+05:30

As a friend discovered today, I have proved with my resignation that a techie can be retained for more than a year (no matter how much you bullshit him). And so when I am relieved on 5th of July 2006, I would have completed one year, and one day in this company.
And I am content with the fact that at least I could prove one point in my miserable life!

(Did I hear a YAY! somewhere? – must be from within..)
Sorry for the time away, guys. I’m going to be RIGHT back.. v

Highway *

2006-03-20T21:13:00.000+05:30

We were supposed to leave Bangalore Saturday afternoon, but the way things turned out to be by the evening of Friday, the whole plan had to be stripped down and worked up once again from scratch.
I suppose that is what happens when you try to force things against the ways of nature. Me planning a trip 10 days in advance would not be a minor deviation from my nature, it would be an absolute crime against it!!
Needless to say, the bubble popped at the last minute.

And that is how I ended up riding a bike on a deserted highway in the middle of the night, headed west, towards the Ghats.
A ride out of the city, a ride back in time(though not too far), and a ride into another generation (truly, a different generation!) - That was what it was, and I must say I quite enjoyed it. Even the interviews!

All set(i've never seen the fuel guage that full.. quite a memorable occation indeed!!) by toothless_wonder

The kid gang by toothless_wonder

The host n hostess :) by toothless_wonder

Muthappa's enfield of '69. Well, it rode like a bullet indeed! by toothless_wonder

All smiles!! by toothless_wonder

Country roads.... Taking me home! by toothless_wonder

Click for entire album

it\'s my yappy budday!

2006-03-15T18:39:00.000+05:30

1=1 (HR arithmetic)

2006-03-11T18:41:00.000+05:30

I ask for resources - and that's what i get!

The good news is that I finished the relase somehow..
I'm gonna have a weekend! Phew!