Thursday, August 19, 2010

The potential Block-BLASTER"

Introduction

Photographer A is buying vegetables. Person A appears on the scene. Person B is selling vegetables. Person C is trying to remember what his wife wanted him to buy. All of them look busy.

Scene 1

(Person A approaches Photographer A)

Person A : Good morning !

Photographer A: Very good morning. Do I know you ?

Person A: No.

Photographer A: Do I owe you money ?

Person A: No.

Photographer A: Do you owe me money ?

Person A: No.

Photographer A: That's very good news then. See you later. (prepares to walk away)

Person A: Wait, I have something to say.

(Photographer A stops and looks at him)

Person A: I think I have it in me to make it big. Need your help.

Photographer A: Aah.. you need help with your Bubble Gum then ?

Person A: Nooooooo. I want to be a Photographer !

Photographer A: Me too. 

Person A: I think I know a lot of things already, but I don't know where to start. Can we talk over a few cups of tea ?

Photographer A: Sure, why not.


Scene 2

 Next morning. Photographer A logs into his Trashbook account and gets an "Add as Friend" request from Photographer B. Photographer A adds Photographer B as a friend.

Scene 3

Two weeks later, Photographer A receives an invitation from Photographer B to his solo exhibition, proudly sponsored by a group called "Straight but also Gay photography".

Scene 4

The exhibition has entered its 4th day, and the response has been awe-inspiring. Photographer A arrives to take a look. He is introduced to Photographer B, who has now been endowed with more sponsorships, and has promised to drink only "NerdCafe", in the morning "Awkward's Choice" in the evening and "Kinky" bottled water whenever he meets the media.

Photographer B comes smiling and shakes hands with Photographer A.

Photographer B: I'm really honored by your presence at my exhibition.

Photographer A tries to smile, and then faints. Luckily Photographer B has "Clueless Hospitals" as the exclusive Healthcare Partner for the exhibition. Hence Photographer A is whisked away in an ambulance in no time. After the ambulance has left, Photographer B settles down over a cup of "Nerdcafe" and smiles -

Photographer B: Told you, I have it in me to make it big.

*******************************************************

Best wishes on World Photography Day  

Friday, July 16, 2010

Excess Baggage

Graphs scared the s*** out of me when I had a look at them for the first time in my life. But that didn't last, thanks to a senior who made things easier over a few hundred cups of tea, spanning a meagre 2 short years.

Many years later, I realize how correct he was. I don't know where he is, but I know for sure that wherever he is, he's doing good, real good. He understood something which I'm understanding only now. 
He showed me a graph and told me that Life is not about going up and/or down. Life is about moving on. So, whether you're going up or going down is not the big picture. What matters is whether you're drawing the graph or not, that is, whether you're moving on or not. Ups and downs will come and go, you just got to move on.

I'm not trying to inspire you or anything similar. I've got a hell lot to do. Go figure it out yourself. I'm trying to tell you that moving on is important. But, to move on, you've got to travel light. So, get rid of that excess baggage. That can be anything - emotions, friends, used contraceptives...... your call, entirely. Get going, while I go get some sleep. When I wake up, I don't want to see you, because ideally, you should be moving on. Get a life !

Monday, June 28, 2010

City Touring for Dummies !

Surprisingly, Kuala Lumpur is a city with very few things to see ! Its a nice city, clean in most parts. Its not as packed as Bangkok. Interestingly, one of my friends had pointed out that the city has got a "Park Street" feel to it. Very true, except the fact that Park Street doesn't have a colorful Monorail and so many skyscrapers, and Kuala Lumpur doesn't have the Gutkha stains and the "Brigade Chalo" posters !

A 3 hour long city tour can pretty much test your patience. In our case it definitely did. Your tour itinerary says "visit to a chocolate factory", you are excited and you have your camera ready, only to be guided into a big shop selling chocolates ! If that's a chocolate factory then Pakistan is surely the world's greatest democracy !
The penultimate stop on the tour was the National Memorial. This was one place which really made the day. It covers a huge area and the place is dedicated to the heroes who fought for the country and its independence. Here are a few photos from that place. Really worth spending an hour or so.



By the time the tour ended at Merdeka Square, half the group had left for the Shopping Malls. We played the good tourists, and decided to hang on till the end. Before returning to the hotel, we decided to check a couple of the famous Malls. That's another story. Very boring, and very taxing ! I'll tell you about our next stop tomorrow. Good night !

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Good (early) morning KL


Waking up in a new city, and finding nothing worth doing is a weird scenario. This I realized on my very first morning in Malaysia. I don't know whether my body clock turned the other way, or whatever, but I woke up before the city did, and felt stupid. There was hardly any indications of the sun coming out in the next one hour. My daughter and wife were asleep. I only had my music player and large window at my disposal. And then I remembered, I have a camera too.

I was too tired to look out of the window the previous night... had crashed in. So I thought this might be a good time to see whatever the window had to offer.
Unfortunately, not much at that moment. So I went back to my music player. Another couple of hours before my room was alive and kicking again. A quick breakfast followed, and as I worked on the sausages, I could see that the car had arrived, for a "city tour". Vroooooooooom.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Truly Asian Saga, Part 1 : Welcome to Budget Flying !

I'm still on Vacation as I start writing my tour chronicle. 24 hours of Internet, bought at $5 looks like bargain, so let me use it to the fullest. I'm not posting any photographs yet. Wait till I come back and get all the photos organized and processed.

Its tough to decide where exactly I should start from. The packing ? The drive to the airport ? Nah... all of that is very common place. Okay, I decide to start with the check in at the Terminal.
This is not the first time I'm flying on a cheap ticket. Have done it a few times on the domestic sector. But this was my first "Budget" international flight. To be honest, on the domestic sector, there's not much of a difference when you're flying one of these flights. Yes, you need to pay for the food, but at least you can choose how bad your food is going to be !

Welcome to Air Asia, here the word "Budget" is truly justified ! You're not the only one saving money, mind you. The airline is saving much more ! The check-in was a pain, not due to the airline, but due to a group of travelers, who had decided to check in with 6 different tickets, 12 passports, some 30 odd kgs. of excess baggage, and 4 trolleys full of "Cabin Baggage" of all shapes and sizes ! And they still claimed that they were traveling together, and hence deserve to check in together !

The Boarding Passes give you the first taste of "budget flying". Forget the Glossy, colorful pieces that people usually put in their shirt pockets and look absent-minded. These here were a tad bigger than Credit Card receipts ! The same thermal prints that you can fold and your daughter can hide them in her palms !

There was a minor delay, only 30 minutes. You shouldn't complain because you're told that this particular aircraft flew to Dubai in the morning, then to Doha, and then emptied its passengers in Delhi. before flying a few more to Kuala Lumpur, and then flew people to Singapore before arriving in Kolkata to pick you up ! Stop complaining, you're on a budget..remember ? That's exactly the reason why you are made to "walk" up to your aircraft while boarding !
The flight was very noisy, not the aircraft. I'm not sure how many passengers an Airbus A320 can fly, but I think I heard some 70 odd crying babies !

Once you reach KL, don't wait for a bus to take you to the terminal, there ain't any, and stop expecting a huge terminal to greet you ! Air Asia docks in LCCT (Low-cost Carrier Terminal), which is a part of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, but housed in a different building, which is clean, but very basic. Worse, you need to walk close to a mile from the aircraft to reach the building. With a 3 year old daughter, that's not much fun I'm afraid !

As I smoked outside the terminal building, the driver went to get the car. Ah, did I mention that it was well past midnight ? You can still get some stuff to grub. The McDonalds is big but hugely overpriced. There are a few other joints too. You need to be quick and your cab needs to be late in showing up. Worked exactly in our case. 

The drive to the city was surprisingly long. Over an hour. But it was smooth, silent and the AC worked just fine. Reached our Hotel, and the lady at the desk was pretty swift in checking us in. A room on the 25th floor, and finally, we were "not" on a budget !

Good night !

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Wanderlust...

Ah, what would I do without you ! You pile up work on my desk, you drain out my "already brooding" bank account, you make me admire the travel agent's plastic smile, you make me Google, you make me buy shoes when I shouldn't, and you make me carry some 10 odd kilograms of gear across borders.

But you've always been there, even when I looked out of my window and watched my neighbor leave for the airport. You were there when my little shoes made me run to the airport's viewer's gallery, to catch a glimpse of an aircraft for the first time in my life. And you were there when I was trying to smell the mountains through the car's window, on my way to Darjeeling.
Oh Wanderlust.... what would I do without you ?

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

30 years of PacMan !

Ah, I remember PacMan, those ball-munching beings which came at a premium.... a one rupee coin to be precise ! Don't be amazed, this was some good 20 odd years back. There was a magical, dark and noisy joint on Park Street called "Wonderland".. pretty much the biggest video game arcade in town in those times. This was the pre-console era mind you, and pretty much pre-PC too.

Any venture to that area of the town for Lunch or Dinner by the seniors used to mean a big deal to us, the kids. 5 one rupee coins would be the norm, but 10 would be a real bonus. While my parents ordered food, I would rush to my kingdom of 15 minutes. Oh I miss PacMan ! Now, I can download it anytime, and play as many times as I want, and that too without paying a penny, but I doubt whether it will give me the same amount of pleasure, and butterflies in my tummy, just like those old days.

But why am I suddenly talking about PacMan ? A-ha, there's a reason. Those who take pictures and those who take those pictures seriously would surely agree. 

Tell me, what can a photographer (amateur - serious amateur - pro) do if he is given a camera, and 30 minutes to make sense out of it. Guess.... keep guessing.... because you're never going to get it right.

Well, if would have asked me that question 1 year back, I would have told you that the photographer would spend 15 minutes to capture a few frames, 5 minutes to sit down and choose the 95% of those that he would willingly throw away, and 10 minutes to do some post-processing before he would call those "photographs". 

And I would be so wrong ! I know the answer now. This is what he would actually do.

He would whisk away the camera, probably dumping it at one of the service centres. He would log in to a photography forum or community, choose a soft target, gather some like-minded people, and post some very "generous" comments. In most cases, he would hardly spend 2 seconds to look at the photograph that he and his friends would be talking about. And, the best part is - all of these can be done within 30 minutes. 

If you can do so much in 30 minutes, why would you get your a** baked in the sun and click the shutter ? Come on, God gave you Adrenaline, so use it !

But still the question... why PacMan ?

Because PacMan, if born in 2010, would be the world's greatest photographer, munching photographs of others and possibilities of their own at the speed of light ! So symbolic ! So go photographer... gulp them down before they can even look through their viewfinders ! 

Disclaimer : The above text is completely fictional, and any similarities may please be treated as co-incidental !

Sunday, May 16, 2010

19 Days

Scribbling after 19 short days. Ah, now before you think I've been doing nothing with the camera all this while, you'll be mistaken, like all those photoshop users who think that the "Saturation" slider stops at 100%. It doesn't. It goes that extra mile if you're too talented for comfort. But why should I bother ? I should be "amused"..... Anyway, coming back to these 19 days, I've done a lot, like-

I stood in the falling rain :




I whisked my tripod through a security check to capture this :



















back in my "studio" I captured this too :




























Enough drum-beating. Let me finish on a lighter note, eh ?


Tuesday, April 27, 2010

1993



Ah, 1993, I was 21 then (not that I mind being 37 now !). I suddenly remembered this Video and was lucky enough to find it on YouTube. Thank god, there's life beyond Indian Idol then ! 

This video is special to me, because it reminds me of a time when we had only 5 (yes, 5) satellite channels, all from the Star TV stable. One of the precious five was our very own MTV, or was it ? 'cause MTV was a different breed altogether, as compared to the one we have now, which specializes in "item numbers" from bollywood. MTV back then was real fun. US Top 20, European Top 20, Asian Top 20, VJ Nonny, VJ Danny McGill, and a lot more. No game shows, no reality nonsense, just pure unadulterated music, 24/7.

Oh, I'm deviating it seems. Errr..sorry. Coming to this video, this was an award-winning number by Indus Creed, who started their journey as Rock Machine, led by Uday Benegal. This video, actually inspired me to take up photography as a hobby, which I finally did some 15 years later

To be honest, this is just an average video, and I've seen many great ones in all these years. But this video has some frames, with which I can still associate my photographs, past present and future. It seems as if all the photographs that I'm yet to take, lie hidden in this video. 

A man of richer words could have explained better. Let me get back to the Shutter !

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Interpretations


Contrary to popular belief, I usually do not try and construct a story for my still life images. I choose to leave it to the viewers (if any) to do all the hard work, while I sit and play FarmVille ! However, on this particular instance, a friend of mine wanted to know about my thought process while clicking this picture. Much like my school days, I was left without an answer. But, in order to do some kind of justice to my friend's queries, I am trying to lay down a few probable interpretations. Very much an after-thought though....

  1. I had 5 books. I sold 4 to buy an Apple.
  2. I had 5 apples. I sold 4 to buy a Book.
  3. The Apple is Red. The Book is White. Hence the Apple is more important.
  4. The Apple is on top of the book. Hence Food is more important than Knowledge.
  5. I wanted to eat an Apple while reading a Book. The Book was boring, hence I quit.
  6. Eve ate an Apple, while Adam read a Book (where did we come from then ?)
  7. An Apple can be a good bookmark.
  8. If you drop an Apple and a Book from the tower of Pisa, the Book would land first.
  9. United we stand (the Apple), Divided we get laid (the Book).
  10. This photograph is open to more Interpretations.

Saturday, April 17, 2010


Right folks, this is not about the Hunk getting down from his bike and telling you that "Thinking is such a waste of time" (some commercial). We all knew that already. That's exactly why we allowed Tusshar Kapoor to act, Romesh Pawar to field and Himmesh Reshamiya to sing....didn't we ?

The recent past has been kind enough to provide me with some free time to think, but I'll come to that later. When I was a young boy, many many moons ago, I used to think a lot. The inevitable happened. Once I tore a few pages off my Maths book, because I couldn't think enough to find a few answers. On another occasion, my swimming coach picked me up and threw me into the pool, because I was thinking for 20 minutes whether to get into the pool or not. As you can see, I've always been an avid thinker, if not a great one.

But now, I think I'm gradually reaching a stage where I feel my thoughts are going to make me famous, and hence - hated ! I'll explain why. Pardon me for always talking about photography, but if you're reading this, you may already know that I don't do much else (except those few ungodly hours at my office).

So, what did the last few days have in store for me, considering the fact that I managed to think a lot ? 

Well, for starters, I've now realized that over-hyped mediocrity (I'm being generous here !) is very much the order of the day.

Secondly, people who hated me already have some serious competition now. They were a half-baked lot anyway, and now to make things better, they are joined by the half-cooked. I am loving it !

Thirdly, I suddenly see some good pictures being taken. Are you kidding me ? Weren't you told that I am supposed to play the Numero Uno here ? How dare you ! Stop taking pictures, and start behaving like "photographers". I can even get you the Photographer's jackets at a bargain. Interested ?

Well, such "wonderful" realizations do come at a price, and that can be anything, overpriced coffee, underexposed portraits, just anything as long as its you who's paying :)...And I'm still loving it !

Monday, April 12, 2010

.....In Love, War and (inside) Monuments


The penultimate day of my trip to Delhi was my day of freedom, heat and photographs. I had a whole car (yes, the boot and the engine included) at my disposal, and even 50 packs of Gutkha...and a person to chew it all. Oh, he also drove the car I was riding in !

I started early. Well, 11 am is early enough if you wake up at 10.15 ! I told the man behind the wheels, henceforth to be referred to as "G" (for Gutkha) that I wanted to cover these places before sundown - Tughlaqabad, Humayun's Tomb, the Red Fort and Jantar Mantar. I left it to G to figure out the sequence.
First came Tughlaqabad. Oh, before that G needed to call 10 people to find out where it was. Only the last one knew, and so we arrived. Its not too often that you find a 4 lane road ploughing through a Fort, bisecting it perfectly. That makes the place interesting though, 'cause when you get down from the car and you're standing amongst honking vehicles, you see remains (ruins) of an ancient fort on both sides. I picked the one on the left to start with. I managed to buy the ticket only after I managed to find the guy who was supposed to sell it to me. The best part is that one ticket gets you an entry to both the sides., and the ticket costs 10 bucks only. No wonder the Ruins continue to be ruined. So, I started with the left.

 A long pathway led me to a flight of very steep stairs. I entered the Fort, and beyond the gate there was a striking sense of emptiness....

I treaded along, braving the beating sun. But after a while my backpack seemed too heavy. Its then that I decided to find a  place in the shade and I wanted a smoke badly. As I put my backpack down, and sat on a rock, I heard voices ! While I am certainly not the bravest man on earth, it was way too bright and sunny for ghosts, I was sure. So I looked around, and voila ! There they were..... Love Birds (in human form), inseparable, happily chatting away to glory. There were momentary pauses too, but let me not get into the details here ! I walked away from them, but here's a picture to show their location. They were somewhere here :


I had to walk "around" them, and cost me 15 more minutes to cover the area. This part was the bigger one, and it was like history crumbling right in front of your eyes, and it hurt. Yes, one cannot expect the entire Fort to stay the way it was built, after passing through time, but there can surely be better ways of seeing the area than walking through bushes, and loose rocks, at the risk of twisting your ankles. Over and above, carrying a big enough camera and a backpack can be quite cumbersome.

I continued, without really caring about the directions. After all, the place is nothing but a huge mess, and its upto you to chose your favourite part, and start clicking. Some samples :




After another 30 minutes in the intolerable sun, I realized that I have had enough of this part. Drained and exhausted, I traced my steps back to the entrance. I had the other half to cover, but I desperately needed more water. As I reached the entrance, I looked back. I thought of that brave couple who were already there before I arrived, and would probably be still there when I'm long gone. After all, everything's possible in Love, War and..... god knows what !

To be continued.............

Friday, April 9, 2010

Why I don't photograph people anymore

The Camera is a strange thing. Somehow, you tend to grow old twice as fast when you're behind it, as compared to when you're in front, or away from it altogether.

When I started taking photography seriously, I would go out on the streets and, like so many others, would try and capture people's faces, and expressions. But after a while, I discovered that I don't enjoy doing that. It's completely personal guys, I have nothing against taking pictures of people in distress. But I have a small question. Why is it that people start their photographic adventures with photographing people on the streets ? And why is it that they always choose people in distress as their subjects ? Just because they are too poor to object ?
Well, I may end up losing a few friends by writing what I'm writing, but the fact remains. Somebody please go and photograph a man who is stuck behind the wheels in traffic, or a college student who is waiting at the bus stop. Better still, tell me the story behind each and every portrait you click. Portraits of poor people I mean, because that's all you can manage. 

Do not expect me to comment on such "Portraits", duly termed "Life" or "Struggle" or "Good Morning" or whatever. You people are taking the easy way out. I also made this mistake when I started. If people are so fond of Street Portraits, I would love to see a series from someone about one such person, and an hour or a couple of hours in his/her life, or a day if you can manage. I would be eagerly waiting, you photographers !

Monday, April 5, 2010

Scribbled on a cold silent night - 27.3.2010


Had to beat the sun ! Barely made it, and we drove out of delhi in no time. On the way, the sun lazed out of the slumber. Crossed Ghaziabad, and on to Meerut. An interesting mix of Bullock carts, good looking girls riding Scooty’s, grumpy uncles driving to office, and others crossing the road at leisure. If you haven’t hit a couple of them, you’ve been slow ! Meerut left behind, and past Bijnor. The road got strikingly beautiful here. Smooth as silk and dry leaves scattered all over. Beautiful sight indeed. We arrived in Kotdwar, and finally we got to see the mountains in the horizon.

From Kotdwar, its an upward climb. The usual mountain roads. The Garhwal Himalayas look dry and dusty at this time of the year. An hour and a half later we were in Lansdowne (spelt “Lensdowne” on several of the boards on the way).

















We had booked cottages in some “Jungle Resort”, which apparently none of the locals knew about ! We spent another 30 mins trying to find the way to the hotel. We asked 4 locals, and were sent packing in different directions. Finally, my phone managed to grab some odd network from somewhere, and I could call the “Resort” and get the directions.

Not a bad place at all. Quiet, serene, and not crowded. But to reach this place, you will need to drive through the most terrifying terrain ! A narrow winding path, dusty and very scary, and stretches 3 kms ! Finally, when you get to see the Entrance to this place, you’re a very happy man !

Rice, Dal and Kadhai Paneer for lunch, and we were off scouting the nearby area for some photo opportunities. We finally located a “sunset point”. This place is on the edge of a cliff. A nice place where you have a place to sit, and look around. Tall Pine trees all around, and its as peaceful as heaven. Not a sound to be heard, except the wind hurling through the Pine trees. Close your eyes, and you could imagine yourself sitting on a beach and hearing the waves break, forever. I sat there, alone for a while. It felt strange, and I missed my daughter, wanted her to be in my arms, and let the breeze gently brush her cheeks.


Got some interesting shots as I made my way down the slope to another vantage point, some 10 feet below. Interesting patterns, and silhouettes. The sun began to set and some more shots were taken.



KKR vs Kinds XI Punjab in the evening (IPL somehow manages to show up on all my posts). As I am writing this, KKR is playing some good test match cricket ! A nice dinner on the cards, have ordered Kadhai Chicken, Dal and Rice…Hmmmmm ! Will be starting for delhi tomorrow post lunch. A nice break on the whole. But I’m missing a lot of things here, and that includes the mobile phone network, and the Internet (seriously kidding !).

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Its Tomorrow already :)

I have no idea, what I am doing this late, sitting up on my cosy bed for the night, waiting to smoke one last time before I crash. I would be leaving for the mountains tomorrow, early in the morning. My bags are already packed. Camera, Lenses, Clothes and my cigarettes, they're all there. Dinner was majestic. An open-air eatery and the best Kebabs that you can find in Delhi.

The Green dot on my GTalk has turned Orange some time back, and most people in the GMT +5.30 region are doing justice to their tired nerves. The next two days are going to be solitary, time for a lot of introspection. Time to fill up the memory cards, and empty my memories.

Good night world. I'll see you next when mortal passions have lost their fizz, and I'm all set for a little less oxygen, and a lot more solitude. 

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Throne !

Question :

Which is the best place to learn Photography ?

Answer :

The Loo !


A couple of days back, a friend of mine wanted to know which Photography Magazine is the best. He gave me two options. Unfortunately I was in a hurry and could not conclude the conversation. I now take this opportunity to conclude (again, because this is my Blog :P).

If you think my answer above is ridiculous, do so at your own peril. Take my word, the Loo is the best place to learn photography. I'll tell you how.
When the month begins, I grab the latest issues of all the photography magazines that I can get hold of. Its usually limited to 3, sometimes 4 different magazines. I stack them up in the Loo. I read them whenever I am there :P. Trust me, its the best place to read those mags. Nobody in the world can see you (they better not !). You have all the time to go through each and every line, every photograph, every letter, and even every advertisement. When you finally come out, you're not just a relieved man, you're a better-informed one too !

Every magazine will tell you at least one thing that you didn't know before. Trust me when I say this. So the next time you're visiting any of the photography forums and you find a post which says "Where can I learn Photography ?", you know what the answer should be ! Scroll up, if you're still not sure :)


P.S. :- This post is NOT sponsored by any of the following publications : Worse Photography, Micronesian Photography, Unsmart Photography, Unpopular Photography etc.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Manic Monday - snapshot

The financial year is drawing to a close, and all my deeds and misdeeds need to be covered up asap ! My bank, my tax consultant, and all other partners in crime are busy designing glossy covers for the yearbook. The Laptop just got busier : Folders being archived / renamed / deleted, and much more.

 Its a weird feeling when you open facebook in the morning and it advises you to suggest a Profile picture for a friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Of course facebook wouldn't know that, but it really gives you a bitter taste in your mouth. One thing leads to another, and I ended up visiting his profile on Orkut. There he was, with all his profile information, likes & dislikes, photos and scraps.

I simply can't resist talking about KKR (:P). Last time KKR played, I was at Fame, watching the misery unfold on the big screen. Worse, I tagged a friend along. Two fools make a better picture than just one, I guess. Still, highly recommended for the visuals and audio quality. Just don't bother about KKR, that's all. However, I wonder who planned the home-bred cheer-leading. Utterly disgusting and unnecessary. Also, keeping in line with the home team's performance, there were a couple of enthusiasts with a microphone each, and a dearth of ideas on how to use it. Sometimes they would shout "Korbo Lorbo.....blah blah blah" (already termed as the joke of the century), and once they played the theme song on their mobile phones and held the microphone close to it so that others could listen in................ and Die. The moment of glory arrived when they started showing a replay of one of the dismissals that happened an hour back, and the cheerleaders raced to the Dais to celebrate, and someone had to jump in and stop the circus !

KKR would be playing tonight. I have no money left to waste. Alas ! 

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Santa in Summer ?




Global Warming has finally taken it's toll, it seems !... Santa has been forced to come down for a quick shower. He was somewhere around when I took my wife shopping. Apparently, my prayers (when Santa failed to show up some 30 years ago) have finally worked. I got this wonderful watch as a gift from Wifey dear !


Well, being the jerk that I am, all I could think of while choosing the watch was - which one would be the nicest to photograph ?... This one finally made it !

Saturday, March 20, 2010

KKR wins IPL 3 !


And 5 minutes later, I woke up.

I know this piece of text might annoy quite a few. But I still feel the need to point a finger at certain things (and its my Blog anyway :P), which I'm sure will haunt all you KKR fans by the time IPL 3 ends.

I was born and brought up in Kolkata, and I have lived here all my life. Hence, it is quite obvious that being a cricket lover, and a keen follower of the game, I would support KKR, and I have been doing so, ever since the team was formally announced.

We bengali's are an emotional bunch, myself included. We have seldom fought gruelling battles, but we love to listen to stories of gallant warriors, great victories and triumph of good over evil. It is due to this reason that we simply hate to lose, without even bothering to look back and find out why we lost. Failures, they say, are the pillars of success. But every time we fail, we just destroy the Pillars and move on.

I have no idea what SRK has done to the team after last year's debacle. If kicking the coach out and changing the captain is all that has been done, I'm afraid we're in for another bumpy ride this year. 

I watched KKR's last match against the Chennai Super Kings. I would ask a simple question to all you Dada-fans out there. Did your Dada (and mine), for even a second, look like he belonged to the 22 yards out there ? I'll tell you, he didn't. Now, before you pull out your "Long Live Dada" banners and clear your throats for the war-cry, stop and think. It's your team god damn it ! We need 11 good cricketers out there, who could win us matches, and Dada didn't look like he's going to win the match for us. But I'm not saying that KKR should get rid of him. Instead, why not use his years of experience, and help him find some good talent for the team ? Why not use him as a Batting Coach ? As a Mentor

I recently watched an ad on TV, wherein the Knight Riders are being coached by a boy who delivers newspapers, and apparently has a better throwing arm than the cricketers themselves. Nothing wrong with the ad, they just tried to make it funny, that's all. But what I don't like is SRK chilling out on a chair while the cricketers sweat it out. What kind of a message does that convey ? Come on, he's just an owner, the real job is done by the cricketers. The ad would give you a feeling of watching a Feudal Lord putting his feet up in the sun while his slaves do all that is needed. 

And, nobody says a word ! Nobody would, till one fine morning your dear SRK washes his hands off, and walks away, and all you are left with is a bunch of confused cricketers, a stadium where the lights blink like those in a disco, and snatched packs of smokes being sold by the police themselves.

This morning’s newspaper carried a photograph of the kids, holding posters which say “Gayle amaader bachao” (Gayle please save us). This is pretty much what KKR is all about. All emotions and zero common sense.

 P.S. :- I am going to spend my hard-earned money to watch KKR's match at Fame. I Love You K-K-K-K-K-K-KKR !