In memory of those died an year ago

An year ago, the terrorists attacked Mumbai and killed countless innocent people. The media has exploited the event to boost its TRP and to increase the sales, the wannabe celebrities have used it in an attempt to boost their careers by joining peace marches, the politicians have used it to criticize others, the cynics have used it to show how bad our security arrangements are and how nothing ever changes.

This event has been turned into a whore everyone has raped. In all this, let's not forget the people who have died, either as victims or as brave soldiers and cops who died to save others. Those are the people who really matter.

24th November 2009

Two doctors in the making

Why is it that the images with the best expressions never have a perfect exposure? I would have loved if this image was better focused.

23rd November 2009

Sone ke sikke

These are the new coins issued by the reserve bank of India for 5 rupees and 10 rupees...or is it Governent of India that issued them. Actually it is a bit confusing because I remember while all other notes Reserve Bank of India, the One rupee note had Government of India.

I am not sure if you have noticed, I have made some small changes to the site. Instead of using a JavaScript for image rollovers, I have changed them to CSS based lists. Since there was a rollover already there, I have added small animations that you can check by rolling over the next back, RSS and share buttons and also on the top navigation.

22nd November 2009

Like an empty bottle

Almost two weeks without a post. Earlier I used to feel very restless when there was a gap this long between the posts. This time around, I am a little numb. There has been so much happening at work that I am getting very little time to think. In most other places this is usually the quieter time of the year with most of the client going on holiday. In our case, this seems like just the opposite. The year end, it seems, is going to be quite hectic. If I could make a Christmas wish in advance, I wish to do meaningful and great work during the holiday season, not something senseless.

11th November 2009

Getting hotter and hotter

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

10th November 2009

Red Canvas

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

4th November 2009

The great Indian queue trick

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

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

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

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

3rd November 2009

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

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

2nd November 2009

Sun and shade

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

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

1st November 2009

Diwali Image Gallery now online

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