Shot on the run

The fish tank, but no fishes!!!

Yet the classy kettles though kept outside gave a deceiving look as if placed inside the tank.

Shot on the run in a tea leaves shop at Colombo Airport transit terminal.

Thanks to the sales rep for being co-operative.

(35mm SLR, 28 – 80 mm lens, F8, 30 Sec, hand bag and a stool used instead of tripod)



Colours of south India!!!

The decorations on the wooden chariot at Sri Dharbarenyeswara swamy temple.

Shot on the run at Thirunallar, India.

(35mm SLR, 70 – 300 mm lens, F11, 125 Sec, hand held)

No light but lovely!!!

A fancy art work in a common light bulb hung.

Shot on the run in a ladies fancy shop at Cairo.

Thanks to the ladies of my friend’s families who decided to enter the shop while we were strolling on the road after dinner.

(35mm SLR, 28 – 80 mm lens, F6, 60 Sec, hand held)

The quick plan

Starting Oct 11, 2007 the middle east was closed for a week on account of Eid Holidays.

The thought of "What to do for a whole week off?" triggered a travel quest in my mind (at the nick of time).

Just a week to go and i have to choose the right destination.

After an all night search on the net I did spot the land of Pyramids and Sphinx.

Yes, having only 5 working days left jumped into action for budgeting the trip, travel approval from the company, obtainng VISA from Egypt emabassy, obtaining a exit and re-entry VISA from Yemen embassy, fligh tickets, deciding on thecompanions and on Oct 10, 2007 at 10:00 PM started the journey towards Sana'a Airport.

Arriving shortly the shots of EGYPT!!!

Quirkiness tag

I have been tagged by Pooh to write about my quirkiness.

Here are the weird n eccentric things in me,

• Guess what alarm tone this snooze n sleep typical is having on his mobile to bang on his head and make him jump out of the bed, there it goes “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams (Ooooo isn’t that gentle wake up alarm?).
• Off late sleeping with the Online FM Radio (Suryan FM or AaaHaa FM) on till early morning, hearing the good numbers with a half sleeping brain in the middle of the night!!!
  
• Cooking “Simply South” specials for get together dinners and living with veg salad and corn flakes with pomegranate for regular lonely dinners.

More weird and strange stuff to list out from day to day life, but for sure some other time .

Here is pass the tag to Rajan, Naren, Shobana, Prakash, AKV and Lotliker!

Encoei!!!

"Lord of the Rings" Stamps

Yes, I am the owner of 2 complete presentation stamp packs of the "Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers" including the below miniature sheets,

Éowyn, the White Lady of Rohan, on the steps of Meduseld in Edoras watching as her people march to their mountain redoubt at Helm’s Deep.

Rebirth of Grandalf the white

A formation of Haradrim soldiers who march under the banner of a black serpent.

I'm missing the pleasure of re-arranging my entire collection.

With only the Indian stamp issues adding up in my collection, when am i going to start the hunt again???

Malaga by night

View of a shopping mall at Malaga by night

Lotus

It's no Vaastu, shot from the bowl of a flower vendor outside Marudamalai Temple.

Dawn at Torremolinos

September 28, 2006, a clear morning Andulisian dawn, i just dropped out of the hotel restaurant at 07:45 AM to wait for my colleagues. Cool Mediterranean breeze and the boat sailing across in the dawn. The blue sky above the yellowish dawn darkening towards the sea, the shadow image of the boat creating a contrast image across the sea and the shadow images of the beach umbrellas!!! How can I resist my feeling of capturing the feeling I had?

Matri Mandir - Auroville

Matrimandir, the very centre of Auroville at Pondicherry. The Matrimandir emerges as a large golden sphere which seems to be rising out of the earth. The name 'Matrimandir' means literally 'Temple of the Mother'. The spacious Inner Chamber in the upper hemisphere of the structure is completely white and in the centre a pure crystal-glass globe suffuses a ray of guided sunlight which falls on it through an opening of the sphere.

Earth Day - Concerns of an Indian

Dear Reader,

This message from me contains the anxiety and intolerance inside me.

The below message written straight from the heart, feeling the pain of the sins we have done in the past and continue it till date for passing it to the future.

I’m writing this in a belief that this mail might bring in a small change in minds of people thereby creating awareness on environmental cleanliness and reducing pollution.

First I wish to put forward a few questions

1.We blame the industries and fuels for polluting the environment, is it only the industries and fuels those contribute to environmental pollution? Don’t we do that from our own homes?

2. What do we do practically other than sharing ideas and making lectures?

3. Can environmental pollution be stopped by an individual or do we need to build a team that forms an endless chain?

Secondly I place in front of you the painful things (brutal murders of environmental cleanliness I can say) that I experienced (most of my experiences and suggestions will be based on the Indian sub continent, a small contribution to my mother nation).

1. Recently when I travelled from Tindivanam to Chennai by road I was taken to utter shock by what I witnessed on my journey. The road dividers and road sides which I noticed years ago a child was filled with green shrubs but now the scene in front of my eyes created horror in me. The dividers and the road sides were filled with tonnes and tonnes of plastic bags disposed by road travellers.

2. Consider the case of one of the largest railway networks in the world, the Indian Railways. An awesome network that connects a country with diversified culture and various landscapes making mass transportation of people and goods a more people friendly network. We Indians should proudly salute the Indian Railways for such a dedicated service. But while looking into the fact on the other end the Indian Railway serves as tool for causing environmental pollution. Despite of laws even today we can witness Railway vendors selling food and beverages in plastic containers. More over every train compartment do not have a proper waste bin. I seriously doubt that there is a proper waste disposal system in Indian railways. As an end result a common Indian passenger is bound to throw a plastic container out of the train compartment window. Imagine the number of travellers per day in Indian railways and the tonnes of Garbage littered!

3. How many of us carry shopping bags? It has become so convenient so that even if we go with bare hands we can carry our purchase (anything from garments groceries and vegetables) in a more convenient plastic bag provided by the shop keeper. Assume the case of a common Indian citizen in town who buys vegetables, he or she for sure will carry 3 to 5 (or even more) plastic bags every time. Sum up the tentative plastic bags consumed and littered in a day all over the nation!

4. In his or her life time an Indian citizen or say an Indian family will invest in the following, a dining table, a cot, wooden chairs or stools and may be racks for kitchen as well as other purposes. All made out from a trees death! What has the person who invested on dead wood contributed to the natural oxygen Generator other than reducing the oxygen Generation by destroying a tree or even more?

As you are aware the we can have endless above such cases, but what is the solution to this? What can we do to reduce these brutal murders?

After years of serious thought over the above I’m sharing the practically possible solutions below,

1. The Abdul Kalam way – Inspire young minds. During our holidays we plan for great trips, why not spend one day in a school volunteering to educate the kids to reduce littering and plant more trees by means of a small workshop? In this no doubt that case every seed we sow will become a beautiful Garden in many young minds. Targeting those schools where there is less awareness will be more fruitful.

2. The basics we can do. We can start carrying our own re-usable bag from home for purchases to avoid use / littering of more plastic bags.

3. Send a request to Indian Railways for working out a workable garbage disposal system and a workable anti-litter awareness campaign. I here by request ‘V’ to draft a letter so that it can be passed on to a considerable friends circle for acknowledgement and later pass it on to the Indian railway minister with a copy to the President of India. Even feasible solutions for suggesting in the letter are most welcome (V & R – your opinions please).

4. The Good old Fashion. Why not to carry a bag from home for shopping like the good old days? Each one of us can contribute by not accumulating disposable plastic bags.

5. Take a step ahead. Going on a picnic or on a travel. Take initiative, request your picnic team or your co-travellers not to litter collect the waste in a single bundle and dispose them safely. Why to feel bad or shy off for protecting our mother earth? Remember you might inspire at least one person by doing so and this awareness might become contagious too!

Kindly let us join hands and try to imply any of the above possible ways, more practical suggestions are also welcome.

I wish to give this a good start (let me not call this as an conclusion) by the inspiring words that we have heared many times before,

“Awake, Arise, Stop not till the goal is achieved”.

The Camel rider

Pleasent surprises for a photgrapher do come in a un-expected way during a travel.
The above photo is one such for me. I was stunned to see this kid riding a camel that he tames. On the way from Ibb to Dhamar, spotting him we backed up our car few yards behing and got off the road to take this. Still i missed the next shot when he got off the camel in a fraction of a second.

Bragadeeshwara Temple, Ganagai Konda Cholapuram

Gangaikondacholapuram, now in the Udaiyarpalayam taluk of Tiruchi district, in Tamilnadu, was erected as the capital of the Cholas by Rajendra I, the son and successor of Rajaraja I, the great Chola who conquered a large area in South India at the beginning of the 11th century A.D. It occupies an important place in the history of India. As the capital of the Cholas from about 1025 A.D. for about 250 years, the city controlled the affairs of entire south India, from the Tungabhadra in the north to Ceylon in the south. The great temple of Siva at this place is next only to the great temple of Tanjore in its monumental nature and surpasses it in sculptural quality.