Ripples on the pond

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

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.

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

, 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.

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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.

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!

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

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.

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!

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

powered by ODEO

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

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.