As the day ends, another year will become history, like it happens every year. 2004 was a good year for me, and I thank everyone who made it so. And while I move on, I go with no resolutions or ambitions for the year to come but to find lots of happiness within me and everywhere else.
Along with the new found interest in black and white photography, another thing that came along is people and portraits. B & W, I have discovered, is an apt media to depict people and life. Here is one of my first attempts. As I was watching a bunch of kids out on a picnic, some of them moved away from the rest into a small open area and started playing. Luckily they did not notice some one with a fancy instrument pointed at them. A big challenge with shooting people is that once they see someone pointing a camera at them, they tend to get concious and withdraw.
Isn't it an irony that - in life we don't much value those people who value us a lot, and the people whom we value a lot don't much value us?
Sometimes I get a rush of such lines in my head and I feel an urge to post them here. May be I should start another blog to post them, as I would rather not have too many of them on this blog.
A typical evening in MG Road, all lighted up, rush of vehicles, people walking past - some in a hurry, some who have all the time in the world, people waiting for rick, people alighting a rick, movies, shops, food, drink, locals, visitors, beggars and more. The one place in Bangalore that symbolizes what Bangalore is and what Bangalore aspires to be.
Picture taken around 8pm during the days of Bangalore Habba, standing in front of artists' walkway.
A few trivial things in a span of 5-6 hours, on a normal day, that I found interesting:
* We were crossing the road at a ped xing. It was almost midnight - a time when the road users tend to be at their worst. This guy on the car approaches and we wait for him to move on. He stops the car and lets us go.
* A kid selling roses in MG Road. It was probably a little late for her and she had to sell the last 2 in her hand. She keeps troubling me to buy, quoting Rs. 5 a rose. She would not let us go and tagged us for really long distance. Finally my friend asks how much and the kid says Rs.10 a rose! And the two roses were bought at that price. I watch silently and tell my friend - it was only 5 a rose. We just smile and continue, feeling good.
* I forget my jacket in a Barista around 8pm. I remembered about it around 10pm when it was getting cold. Ignored it simply coz I did not want to break from whatever I was upto then. It was around midnight when we were to head home and it was colder. So we go back for a check at Barista. Luckily some staff were still there, and they had kept my jacket. Return to some warmth.
* Earlier in the evening, we go from shop to shop hunting for some audiocassettes and vcds. We did not find anything we wanted in the first shop. In the second one, here goes my conversation:
Me: Hi, do you have Shawshank redemption?
There are two sales persons listening to me.
The lady at the shop: Sorry, can you please tell me again..
I knew people don’t usually hear it properly the first time. So I say that slowly and clearly. Still there is no light on their face. They look at each other's face. After a brief silence the other guy asks -
"which language is that?!!"
Me(slightly perturbed by the most unexpected question): umm... well.. It’s English!
They are more confused now. Another round of brief silence.
She: What is that actually? It’s a cassette or something?
By this time I knew the conversation is useless, but I answered anyway.
Me: Its a movie - I am looking for vcd
She: No sir! We don’t have anything like that!!
I came back to my friend and burst out laughing. It was hard not to laugh in front of them.
It has been a long standing promise to some of my friends that I would upload some pictures from the photogrpahy exhibition. Here is one. This was taken somewhere near Gangtok, Sikkim in October 2002.
A PARTING NOTE It was one fateful morning a few days ago when she decided to leave me. It was sudden. I did not see it coming. I did not anticipate it.
She was important to me. She was with me in my moments of happiness and sadness. She stood by me in testing times and in the moments of glory. She would see to it that I was never alone, left out or sad. She would do everything for me in her limits - sometimes right from waking me up, to help me organize myself, to help me reach my friends. She would entertain me when I was bored. I would feel connected when she is with me. I know she wasn’t everything for me but still she meant a lot in my life. She decided to come into my life more than a year ago - very abruptly one day. And she left abruptly too. At least I knew her coming when she came but her going was something I was not ready for; not prepared for.
Yes, I lost my cell phone! That meant to me - no calls, no radio on the move, no alarm clock, no organizer, no chess games when I am bored and no sms to kill time. The worst part - I lost my contacts - something I always feared and was always paranoid about.
But luckily I could take it without any anxiety or tension. I think I have this gift - to keep my cool and work things out easily in situations of real trouble. And that’s a little strange because many times I fail to tackle very ordinary situations and screw things up.
This happened last week when I was out of town to visit my folks. And when I was there, I realized there was no phone in the pocket. Fine, I told myself, there it goes. Next natural step was to call my number and hope it was picked up by a Good Samaritan. It rang and no one picked up. Next time I rang up again, it said 'out of reach', and it was obvious that the sim card is removed and someone else is having a good time with my phone. Well, that was it, I will have to forget about it. And then I announce to my dad - 'looks like I lost my phone'
Dad: Oh! No!! Now what?!!
By this time, I was now completely aware of the 'now what' part. I was already working out on strategy for rebuilding the contact list, budgeting for a new phone etc etc, and had calculated that out of 100 odd names in my contacts, I can re-acquire most, if not all of them. I was least worried about the hand set per se.
Me: Ummm… well, now what? I guess I lost my phone. And that’s about it.
Dad: But, what do we do now? What are you going to do? About your contacts and info you would have in the phone? What about tha handset....(many more questions).
He was obviously upset. Soon came my mom who added a little more to it.
Me: I guess I will try to trace back all the places where I have been to. If I don’t find it, looks like I will have to get a new phone and keep moving. That’s about it. I think now that it has happened, we should not worry too much about it(very philosophical huh? ;) ).
They were obviously not very happy or convinced about my logic(who would be?) but at least seemed to realize that there is no point getting upset too much. So things ended there.
I am still working on the 'replacement' for ‘her’.
I started this weblog on the 6th of December 2001. It has seen 3 years now. And the 3 years have seen heights of enthusiasm, lack of interest, flurry of activity, complete silence, an attempt to convert to photoblog, attempt to get back to writing, attempt to make it a travel log and many more things. And this blog is now entering its fourth year with a future as open and uncertain as its past.
Do join me in wishing a good future for my baby :)
