I Give You A Glimpse Of My Claustrophobic Second heaven

I click....

A little background..... chronological order...

P.S.G. College of Arts & Science, some month, 2007
Photography Class
Professor - Mr. Bojan

Bojan sir - "Monday is the last date for submission of your photography record for my rating. One whole year of breaking my head with you guys, and now the time has come! Let me see what you all have learnt. Except for an occasional (pleasing-for-the-eye types) student showing me an image he had shot, I haven't see any, ANY of you holding a camera. (not even helping a photographer friend who is loaded with a lot other stuff in his hand). This is the final warning. I want all your records on Monday. Is that clear?"

04BVC (My Class) - "Yeeeeeeeeessssss Sir!"

A dumber, fatter, sadder me got the shock of my life. I could write down to you on a paper what a camera looks like, how an aperture works, how quick or slow the shutter speed can get, what kind of shot you will get in what light, which film, how much light it will absorb, SLR, TLR and what not. Before you think what a genius I am, let me tell you.. Its very important to 'read between my lines'!

I could write it all. But to apply it practically.. hmmm nvm... ! I was a kickass student, but when it came to actually clicking a picture, I was the kind any photographer (even an amateur) would be tempted to kick on the ass at. So it was kind of natural for me to decide to stay away from a camera. I did. For a long time.

Oh! Bojan sir's record -- Lets not even get there. Fine... I ll just paraphrase and let you assume the rest of it. Friday night -- Orkut, friend's profile, Oh! that's a lovely picture of you neice.. can I borrow it? (Check) -- Saturday, Senior's record -- Wow! That's a killer pic, can I....? (check 2) -- Sunday, Some old family photographs -- I dint have to ask for permissions (check 3). Monday (the day!) -- At the printer's -- got the photo's printed -- Oh that's a classic glue, can I borrow it? (yes, I was THAT shameless!) -- Monday evening, Record submitted (PHEW!) Yeah... ok.. KILL ME!! :(

But, the biggest irony in my life came when I became a Photo Editor. Let me tell you people, good visual sense has nothing to do with you being a photographer. All it requires is a good sense of what looks nice and what doesnt, what is ordinary and what is extraordinary. Through experience, I am learning to make the difference.

Since a few weeks, I have been curious to test my photography skills. I clicked a few images two weeks ago. And I loved them. I thought it was good for a start. But, I had to convince myself that there is something wrong between me and photography (something like a miscommunication between two humans) The camera I used, got some weird virus and so... I lost all the images on the memory card. Yes! That hurt me.. Badly...!

But again.. I decided to unjinx the jinx and clicked a few shots last weekend. Average work. But, I will keep shooting and someday I might just click something worth looking at!

Here I start....

Kruti's flat... Beautiful Place... Simple, big enough, mostly white.
Time of the Day - Around 1 o clock in the night (wait... in the morning!)
Light - A zero watts bulb.
Prop - The basket kruti had very thoughtfully put up as a lamp shade. (in this case... a bulb shade)
Model - Shwet :) (ofcourse in her night clothes)
Photographer - ME! (Yes.. the super jinxed me)

Click 1: The picture on my Blog Header

Click 2:



Click 3:
Cheesy... But... hmmm...



Click 4:



Click 5:
Yeah that's me.... I think its called Self Portrait



PJs apart.... I am really serious about trying my hand at photography. For some weird reason, I get the feeling that once I get the basics right, I might just be a good photographer. (Maybe am being too ambitious!)

That's all for now. More of my trials (and errors) to follow! :)

I remember it all....

Sometimes, a small word or a tiny sentence, said by anybody or a nobody, tends to get recorded verbatim on my brain (or maybe heart!). At appropriate situations, the same words give me a strange deja-vu feeling. Its like how a tsunami, something you have no friendship with, no knowledge about, no conflict with, completely changes your world. In this context, changes the way you think. So in this post, I am going to pen down a few such notable quotes, which sometimes changed my world and most of the times, changed the way I thought. Here you go....

"You are some (Stupid) Alice in Wonderland". - Him
He meant it as an insult, but I loved the compliment.
To him - Wonderland is a beautiful place u know. In our case, it took me a lot of unconditional love (for you) to get there. And that's a place you just cant get to!

You were not physically here, she was! - Him
I dont remember anything else that hurt me as much as this did. And the worst part, he meant it! Irrevocable damage happened somewhere deep within me.
To him again - Tangibility is for things, like the shoes on your foot. For human beings, its emotionality. And, the difference between the two is what YOU have NO clue of.

"If you are in misery, find! a! solution!" - Monika Nikore
This was during some issue we had at work. But, it keeps coming to my mind everytime I am upset and I end up finding some form of a solution. Thanks, Monika! :)

Since i am not your everything, how about I ll be your nothing? (Beyonce - Irreplaceable)
L-O-V-E it!

You come across as a guinea pig. - Sony (During one drunken session)
I was shocked to hear this. But later on, for reasons he has no clue of, I realized that this statement could be true. I am working towards changing this!

At 31, you ll be a star (HAHA!) - My almanac reader
I think about this statement everytime I feel useless. And trust me, true or not, it makes me feel great!

Sometimes you havent even started speaking and I am already at the end of what you are saying - Khalil Gibran
Lived 2 valuable years of my life this way. Now I understand, what he started was not what he ended with and I had already reached a different conclusion. :P

This, too, shall, pass - Rachel :)
Helped me move on in life... I think..

Dont get married. You ll come running back home in two days. - Ishu (My sis)
I think so too....

You are lucky... For me - My Mom
I really wish I am Amma!

Alcohol.. hmmm.. taste it if u really want to. But, one piece of advice, its a kind of nasha.. a kind which will either take you to your grave or the kind which you will take along with you, to your grave! - Dad
I wont take anything to my grave :) Love my personal space.

"I don't want to get married to that guy. He's from FLORIDA!!!...", Kiran Castelino
"Why? What's with Florida that you dont like?", Laura Castelino
"Its too o o far... from M.G. Road", Kiran

Hahaha... Loved tat statement!!
Sometimes the best of temptations are somehow not good enough to take us away from those little places we are so o used to... I think its true with people too :)

PS- This is more like an evergreen topic. So, I ll keep updating it as and when some quote hits my head :)

Ranjith: (chat lines)
me: only if there s some branded shit on you... n a visibly there-not-there types boobs exposure... oh-u-are-so-intelligent look on ur face.... thy ll listen to any shit crap u ve to say
5:22 PM Ranjith: :)
Are you relatively free now?
me: kind of..
5:24 PM Ranjith: a boss wanted to give a promotion . he had three women as contenders. He decided to do a test . he slipped in 3 500 rupee note in each ones desk. the first one spent it all. the second on saved half and spent half. the third one saved all of it.
who got the promotion??
me: the first one?
Ranjith: nope
5:25 PM me: second one is it
no idea da
Ranjith: hmmm the answr is - THE ONE WITH THE MOST EXPOSED BOOBS.
;)
---------
haha... Love you Ranju! :))

I go pubbing...

Before I let you visualize my day and experience, I d like you to know of the three theories I derived that night.

Theory 1:
For some people, dance comes naturally (natural dancers)and for others naturally dance comes!(people who dance based on the nature of their surroundings)
Either ways, dancing is natural!
Theory 2:
Darkness tempts.
It lets one do anything that one was afraid or shy of doing when the lights were on. You can let your thoughts wander, I meant EVERYTHING!
Theory 3:
Its vital to be important even if you are a nobody.
Traffic police is a nobody, but he is important
That was a lame example. Lemme try something better.. hmmm... hmmm...
Your stakeholder at workplace is a nobody. But, he is important.

Fine.. whatever... chuck it!

The Trio:
It was the night out for three substantially different women, KK, SN and SS (me). Three different worlds, three different views and three different walks of life.
As the night grew, a thought hit me. The three of us, although different, portray three different stages and styles of womanhood!

KK - like the sand. Easy to grab a fistful but the tighter your hold gets, the more you lose out on her!
SN - Like the wind compressed in an air tight container. Once the lid opens, no handcuffs can hold onto her!
SS - will add later!

The night:
Spacious surroundings, lit strategically (so that people can loosen themselves and not be exposed :) - Theory 2), Loud music and lots of people.
The amount of drinking and smoking around me was inversely proportional to the clothes of the women there. It was a combination of opposites.
(abundant x scarce)
Music changes... Tempo rises...

I want to fly so high.. over the rainbow ...
(CH) So o o High!

KK is a natural dancer. SS belongs to the second category. I try out my salsa basics (that's all about the dancing I know of). SN loved to just sit and watch the show.

Then here comes a dude, who later got introduced as BI. He had company, CI & SD (that's all I remember of)
Oh! not to forget an annoying baldi. We danced!

BI.. hmmm... for salsa music, salsa! hip hop, hip hop! Jive, jive! scottish bla bla bla, scottish bla bla bla!

"Are you a trained dancer" I ask.
"No, just happened to learn. From childhood I ve been dancing", BI (LIAR!!!)

So yeah... BI led us with a few steps, we followed! The night went on till 12 AM.

The dinner offer:

BI shocked us. KK looked at me, I looked at her, then both of us looked at him.
So we go for dinner. Good company, nice talk, good food, went on till 2.

BI - The more you know, the more you dislike.
CI - Good. But you don't want to know.
SD - Hmmm... the more you think of, the more you like. :) He was unanimously verdict ed 'good' by the trio! way to go dude!

Uff... that was a long night.

Synopsis:
A good dancing session, interesting strangers, never before daring experience. Peace....