An Unforgettable Short Journey

6 weeks, for me, is a short time to get acquainted  with someone to actually miss the fun after I leave them. You guys were so awesome, each of you in your own individual way, that you took place in my Blog's Wall of Fame ;). Being in a non-vibrant, activity-less, selfish community for the past 3.5 years, I was very much in need of a positive environment and I could find that solace in you guys. All my initial apprehensions of being in a corporate world and that too among desis was shrugged off when we stared hanging out together.

I wouldn't have asked for better set of people! In you, I found a person who talks just like my brother, a person who looks, talks and dances just like my dad, a person who always reminds me of my girl friend, a "Man of Substance", a loudspeaker who is the heart of the gang, a person who can be as cool as a moose, a person who masters the art of living and the first of my friend's babies that I took in my arms.

If the front row had awesome listeners, the 2nd row had amazing note-takers and the 3rd row had non-stop munchers. Inspite of  a few setbacks, all of us were so tight that none of the 5 new people stood a chance to join us, despite Karen's multiple efforts :D. If someone had to master the art of collaboration during exams or plan events in a short time with the least resources, then they have to learn from us. It was my pleasure to have known each one of you and I'm glad that I've met you guys at a much needed point in my life. Thanks for making this period so memorable.

As the wise always quote, All Good things come to an end and so did ours! Here's to the awesome 6 weeks well spent and all the good times we had together.

Cheers!

--
Choteshwar ;)

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With the Photographer

I don't know how many of you have heard of the short story "With the Photographer" by Stephen Leacock but I just stumbled upon the title while I have been sitting duck through the fritter of photographers floating around on the internet. One should understand the distinctive line between Photographer and lens-bearer. Just carrying a DSLR around doesn't make anyone an ace craftsman, I say that because I've been there and done that.

Thanks to the affordable prices of DSLRs, half of my friends on Facebook own them. Everyone of them has a showcase and samples would be added every now and then until you acknowledge their creativity. Even then, after you carefully choose one photo that really caught your eye and appreciate them for it; it only gets worse. They feel much proclaimed and start clicking everything that they see. In those artistic escapades to explore their creative side, they spook, alarm, rag and leave you with no choice but to watch these common ones:


Yes its me! The most common photograph that I come across. How natural is it for everyone to feel that they are the first ones to explore this angle of their creative side. I'd rather give my camera to someone else and get a good portrait of myself rather than hiding behind the lens.

If you wanted to show just the camera, why do you to bother to take your car out? Don't you have a bigger mirror in your bathroom?


Oh! Those beautiful flowers. Agreed, they are beautiful. There are atleast 3 trees in every street so I wouldn't care even if those beautiful flowers on those gorgeous trees have a  pleasant sky in the background.If you really like the world to look that beautiful, how about planting a tree?

There is a similar creed that exists that live on Macro photography. I know it takes a lot of patience and pain to get those but I really don't care because I can see it with my naked eye. I appreciate their effort but could anyone please acknowledge my artistically challenged brain?


Riser and Setter. I know Sunrise and Sunset are beautiful and I like them too but I feel they can be much appreciated when you see them naked, I meant with naked eyes? Probably, this is the most common photograph that everyone captures. Behind the trees, Amidst the clouds, Over the waters, Inside the valleys being the various 'jhalaks'.


The Hallow. Are you kidding me? A floor lamp, Lamp Post, Street light? Is that all theycan think of? Just like Dal Tadka, they add a Black & White or Sepia effect to it to make it look special but it is still the same lame lamp.

 If this picture resembles someone's mood, they should probably talk to someone to get over it; uploading pics like these would depress others including them.

Fall is here! This phenomenon is more prevalent among the ones living in the US as this is the first time they notice leaves off trees. I don't know what particularly irks their interest but they seem to be fascinated about this aspect.

 The depth, focus and other terms that they quote might sound amazing and wonderful but they should realize that I can find thousands of such images on Google.



Colorful India! Suddenly people find India and its streets very colorful. Never did they turn their heads to peep towards the slums or laborers. These people are busy earning their living and the lens-men are busy capturing their lives, that too in a colorful tone.

With the many photo editing softwares, they can now colorize an old man with his sutta or a rag picker busy with his activities. What is so fascinating about a stray dog or a parked bicycle at the doorstep for that matter? Sometimes they make me feel that I cannot appreciate anything.

The Weapon! Finally, they introduce all of us to the tool which they have been using to drive us crazy all these times. When I look at it, I wonder how beautiful life could have been if they didn't invent Digital cameras in the first place or if the DSLRs costed a fortune.

The craziness doesn't stop with photographs, does it? They have emerged into the era of short-film making now and I don't want to get started on how well they suck at that.

I've used DSLR for a little bit and realized that there are people who could do a much better job than me and some of them were my friends. But the rest of them, like me, still try to force creativity out of themselves even though it doesn't exist in them. People, Live and Let live!

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Why are we Cynophobics?

FYI, Cynophobia refers to being afraid of dogs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynophobia)

When I say "We", I'm not generalizing all the Indians; so do not pounce on me. It struck that I should blog about this when I saw a colleague of mine talking about her beloved dog when she was asked to give a 5-minute random presentation on something. She started her presentation with the statement "How many of you are Dog owners and the presenter herself was the only person to raise the hand, as most of the audience were Desis. Everytime I walk with a group of desis on the streets, we pass by a dog and the next thing I see is people changing their walking pattern and they tend to move away from the dog. Devilishly, I muse those moments and laugh it off sometimes recalling how heroically they have been walking before that encounter :). While some of them are not dog-lovers, most of them are intimidated when a dog walks towards them.

While I'm not a dog lover either, I'm particularly not a dog hater too; not that I don't like pets but I like them more in other's houses. When I tell my white colleagues / friends that I have never had a pet before in my life, they give me an amazed look. Is it that bad not having a pet? They ask me, not even a dog? The next question on  my mind, "Not even a Dog? Do you expect me to tame a Polar Bear?" I end up saying that more than 60% of the Indian households do not have a pet only to see them even more jolted. The basic thought behind their daze is "How can a person not have a pet?". Well, you would not ask that question if you grow up in a neighborhood where most of the stray dogs are feral and that we don't have Dog-bite laws.

A childhood friend of mine once said "I'm not fretful of the dog, but the 14 injections that I need to take around my belly button." In the back of my mind, I always wondered why are we so Cynophobic? Why do we see a "Beware of Dog" board outside the houses which have dogs as pets, and most of the times all they have is a Pamoranian. Why does every parent scold their their child when they bring in a pup from the roadside? Why does our instinct asks us to walk away from a pet, bet it a cat / dog / bird when it walks towards us? Why do we have instructions about remedies for Dog bites on the back of every text book? (People who have studied State Syllabus in A.P would understand that)

When I question myself, I feel that we are afraid of the fact that most of the stray dogs are feral or semi feral which is likely why we are afraid of dogs. And seeing enough of them chasing you while you are driving, you don't feel like raising one in your home. The well known fact that most of the dogs are not vaccinated doesn't help either. And the icing on the cake would be the stories from people who were bit by one of them and when they show the scar on their body because of that. Irrespective of all these, I never had a pet at home because I never wanted Dogs hair on my bed, couch, floor and elsewhere. I come across people who try to educate me on why a pet is important in life, but I always felt that it is an added responsibility to support another life and I'm not ready for it.

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Mera no. aa gaya

It is time for Lawrence to lose its biggest hater. If you don't know the news yet,  I'm moving out of Lawrence on October 2nd, seeking a better job in Pleasanton, CA. I'll be in Boston for 5-6 weeks and will be heading to CA after that. Yes, that means I'll be living with Madhuri. Infact, we are working for the same company now :). Thats a two way treat for me. I get to live with Madhuri and I finally get to escape from Lawrence. This might sound rude, but I'm happy that I'm moving out.

Be it for the geographic location or the type of people that dwell in this place, I was never able to associate myself with this town. That makes it easy for me, not to miss something gravely after I leave this place. Moving in from the East Coast with a vibrant Desi community to Mid West was a major compromise and I felt bad everytime I had to drive 8 hours to visit some place other than Clinton Lake and everytime I had to find sensible people to live / hangout with.

I finally realized that the town is uniquely archetypal and I'm a misfit here. I was just pondering over my 3+ yrs of stay in Lawrence and the things I'd miss the most would be Student Rec Center, Zen Zero, Volleyball, Dandiya and a few sane minions that I wouldn't name.  That makes me feel sad, for the social person like me, I never acquainted with anyone so much that I'd actually call them every week and talk hours together as I do with my college / Grad School friends. Maybe it is good because I got to spend time with Madhuri and know her even better!

Ok, I can keep raving for rest of the day but I wouldn't. On a positive note, I thank 2010 and '11 KUCIC teams for having me over and here's me cheering you guys for all the work you have done / did. Everyone can comment and critique from the sidelines but no one really knows what it takes to organize events for a community where majority of its population is passive. Thanks to CREW Network and KU for offering me a job when I needed it the most, even though I got paid in peanuts.

To every person I met in Lawrence, you have helped me prosper by not being anything like me and the people I found solace in, thanks for being in Lawrence atleast for that short period of time. To all the Graduate and Undergraduate "Jayhawks", good luck with your stay here and fare well with the likes of your friends and do better than your seniors. If you need me anytime, you know where to find me (Gmail, Phone, Facebook etc.,) and I'm ready to help as always.

With Cameraman Murali,  Blogger Vishnu, Lawrence, KS ;)

Adieu! 

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8 years and who am I

A post totally about the College Blues.

It was around this date, 8 years ago, that I entered the gates of an amazing institution; amazing for not its structure or infrastructure but for the people it gave me. Transferring from a relatively new college to this better established institution was an easy decision to make but was not sure if it was the right one. But, the memories that live within me make me feel that my decision could never be any better. These blues are random and frequent but have been re-visiting me lately. I know I already posted my ramblings about this before in Moments of my Life, but it keeps getting back to me everytime I see my friends getting together or visiting the college campus.

I still remember my apprehensive first day at BVRIT. Following an hour long rocking journey in the hogtied bus, I entered the dry yet beautiful campus. If the set of classmates I always hung out with was of one kind, the set of people I traveled with was an amazing group altogether. I remember all the days when the walk from the classroom to the buses was horrifying, avoiding eye contact with the Seniors so that I don't get ragged. Nor did I ever forget the numerous assignments I wrote, not mine but the seniors'. I sometimes wonder, had I put in a little thought behind what I was writing, I'd have scored a few extra marks in my 2nd year ;).

When I roll the reel backwards and see how I have transformed over these 8 years with some introspection involved, I see:

- I don't skip my last two hours of classes for football anymore.
- I don't have any friends around me who are up for random things at random times
- Nobody stops in front of my house late in the night and honks me to step out
- I'm more materialistic now
- People don't join me for a movie or an outing on weekends anymore instead they ask me not to disturb them on weekends
- My 'girl' friends don't call me in the middle of night to rant off their petty issues
- I don't get to go on those long drives with my buddies anymore
- I don't wait for the week to begin anymore, instead I wait for it to end.
- I don't have to tiptoe to get out during the nights so that my parents don't wake up
- I don't have to use the excuse of Combined Studies to watch EPL
- I do attend some of those Fresher's parties but nothing like the ones we had in Pubs
- My humor is not as witty as before because now, I have a girl friend :P
- My laid back levels have dropped or should I say "I'm mature!"
- I don't need to worry whats in my Senior's pocket anymore :)
- I don't have friends who circulate the porn CDs anymore, I just find it by myself on the internet :P

And a few things that still didn't change are:

- I still have friends who work on MY homeworks
- I still play some sport everyday
- I still have the extra vigor for anything fun
- I still dance like Nobody's watching
- I still sit in the last two rows in a classroom / auditorium
- I still live off the food in restaurants and other joints
- I still don't booze or smoke
- I still earn my Pocket money :D

If I ever get a chance to relive my life, I'd rewind it back to my Engineering days because that is when I started to live my life. All the amazing people in my life were found at this place. If I learnt living life from my friends, acquaintances turned into friends because of the seniors who ragged the balls out of us. If it were not for them, I would have definitely missed the mystic pieces of my life. But as Robert Frost summarized life into 3 golden words, I absolutely relate my life to thee and find solace in them.

Cheers to ya'll and Fare well. :)

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