::33percent::

Now we have 33%. That literally means, any state assembly or central parliament will have considerable representation of women. The possibilities are multifaceted. For any action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction.

Leaving all the good possibilities to your imagination, lemme take you through 8 funny ill-effects of this 33%.
1. More number of women body guards will be appointed, so they will bounce the women members, when they fight in the assembly. And instead of mikes, we will get to see all household utensils flying towards the speakers.
2. We will have more news of women MLAs being abused in the assembly.
3. We will get to hear some intelligent talks by the men members, so they can win the hearts of women there.
4. Parliament house / Assemblies will be ordered to have day care centers and play school in the same campus.
5. More Agatha Sangma’s will grow across states, and everyone will try to beat agatha’s record of being the youngest minister in the parliament / state.
6. Retail stores like Reliance Fresh, More, Food world and all will fight for little space near assembly and offer some assembly delivery(no more home deliveries) of vegetables, fruits etc. Also, we will have mobile stores selling jewels and make up items in the vicinity.
7. Huge special parking lots will be built for these women, so they can park their cars properly without hitting other cars.
8. Speakers will introduce a new law, which will expel members from the meetings, if they get to see couples sitting and chatting under the trees in the assembly campus.

If you think you can add more… leave them as comments. :). Lets HAVE FUN.

::9thMarch2010::

9th March 2010 is a historic day for the women of India (at least papers claim so) with the 33% bill passed in the Rajya Sabha, at Delhi. In fact, its was a memorable(? or forgettable) day for me too for multiple reasons.
4. The women’s bill as the last reason. Thats gonna give some opportunity for the women of our country to try and explore options to be on top.
3. 4 of my friends celebrated their birthday, from various part of the world. Wished Premanand by a call and Senthilkumar by a mail, my friends for 14 yrs now. Prem was happy, that i wished him atleast this time, as i forgot last year. Senthil was doubly happy, as it was his wedding anniversary too. He mailed from Texas, appreciating me for remembering his wedding and bday. Jagadish, my college super junior, a good friend too, thanked me “THANKS ANNA” and Nandakumar, my ex-colleague appreciating for wishing. Many Many Happy Returns Guys. Hope you 4 had loads of FUN.
2. Had multiple crash calls/meetings, all ended up in Vain, got screwed the whole day on a video project. But finally, after a face to face at 4.00pm, i was kinda relaxed.
1. I was singing (rather humming) one song from yesterday afternoon till i crash in the bed this morning at 1.30am… “Yaeen Idhayam Udaithaai Norungavey… En Maru Idhayam Tharuvaen Nee Norukkavey”. In fact i continued humming even after i got up this morning (have to double check with friends, whether i was humming rather, blabbering while sleeping?). I was on my blacky, humming the same song just an hour back, crossing Ejipura juntion and took a left turn to see a cab, almost hit me. I realised my mistake, only when he shouted at me saying “Manealli helbittu bandhiyaa?”. I tamil we say “Vootla Sollittu Vandhuttiya?”, literally means “Did you tell at home that you are gonna die today?” Anyways, its part of life and I had fun writing this here.

::OneWordAnswers::

Thought of trying myself, as seen it at Panache’s Blog

Your Cell Phone? BlackBerry
Your Hair? Black.
Your Mother? Everything.
Your Father? Inspiration.
Your Favorite Food? Curdrice.
Your Dream Last Night? none.
Your Favorite Drink? Buttermilk.
Your Dream/Goal? Travel.
What Room Are You In? Living.
Your Hobby? Click.
Your Fear? None.
Where Do You See Yourself In Six Years? Somewhere.
Where Were You Last Night? Home.
Something That You Aren’t? Boring.
Muffins? Great.
Wish List Item? Srilanka.
Where Did You Grow Up? Village.
Last Thing You Did? Breakfast.
What Are You Wearing? Shirt.
Your TV? Off.
Your Pets? None.
Friends? Lot.
Your Life? Awesome.
Your Mood? Smile.
Missing Someone? No.
Vehicle? Bullet.
Something You Aren’t Wearing? Chain.
Your Favorite Store? Scullers.
Your Favorite Color? Black.
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Now.
Last Time You Cried? Forgot.
Your Best Friend? Myself.
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? Native.
Facebook? Network.
Favorite Place To Eat? Home.

One word answer to all these questions 🙂 It was fun. Try it yourself.

::SaveOurTigers::

When i was in Kabini last weekend, there are teams working on the Census of Tigers in the Nilgiri Biosphere. The jungles of Nagarhole, is supposed to have one of the thick presence of Tigers in South India, as said by the naturist at the park.

Here is the final count from the whole of India.
1411.

What a small number? I’m sure Niranj, a fellow photographer friend, Bangalore, can give so many reasons for the less number of tigers, apart from poaching(dude u listening?).

Anyways, lemme do my bit.
You do can make a difference. Speak out. Share. Blog.

Listen to our heroes as well.


You also have Dhoni and Baichung Roaring. Check them at www.saveourtigers.com.

Lets hope for the best. Tigers are a part of our ecosystem. We need them. Lets Save them, at any cost.

::WellWishers::

When i came to Bangalore in 2005, i know only 5 names in Bangalore to speak to (guess i tell this everybody), but, now, I’m happy that i have a lot of friends to speak to, roam around, to put forth my views (good or bad), share sadness and happiness.

18th January 2010 was a great day for me. Here is the list of friends wished me for my Bday, apart from brands like Airtel, Titan, Scullers, ICICI, Geojit, Intel and Big Bazaar. These friends are my assets and I love them all.

Aarthy Rajah, Abilasha R, Adarsh Bungley, Akash B, Alok, Anand Mulky, Anand Sharma, Anand Siva, Ananthi R, Anent Prakash, Anita Bora, Ankit Pal, Anuradha E, Aravind Bateja, Aravind Chelliah, Archana Srinivas, Arindam Thokder, Arpana basapa, Arul Jegadish, Arun Bhat, Arun jay, Ashish Bharadwaj, Ashish Solanki, Ashok Mela, Ashok Saravanan, Ashutosh, Asif, Badekila Pradeep, Benjamin, Bhagyaraj, Bharani, Bhaskar HS, Bibhushan J, Caroline, Chaitanya Reddy, Charukesi Ramadorai, Chitra Aiyer, Deeepak M, Deepak Majipatil, Deepthi Prasanna, Deepthi Renati, Devkishor, Dhanalakshmi P, Dinesh Kumar, Divya Vinil, Eram Atiq, Ganesh Gajavadanam, Gautham, Gayathri Vaidhya, Gomathi Raman, Harsha Bharathwaj, Hema Narayanan, Indirani, Jahnavi Pai, Jeganathan Arumugham, Joydeep, Jyothi V, Kamakshi S, Karthik Hariharan, Kasthuri J, Kay Dee, Krithika R, Kshitz Anand, Lakshmi R, Lakshmi Sharath, Lava Murthy, Lavannya Goradia, Lavanya Vishwanath, Lawrence Samuelraj, Mahendra Rao, Mahendraraj D, Malathi, Malvika Jain, Manas Saran, Manjula Sridhar, Mayur Channagare, Megha Bhaskar, Meghna Sejpal, Menaga P, Mercy P, Mitesh Shah, Mouli P, Nandakumar, Nandhitha, Narayanan R, Navin Mathew, Niranj, Nischal Pai, Nishant Nagesh, Paddy Arvind, Paroma Roy, Pavan Bhat, Pavithra Chandresekaran, Perumal NG, Photoyogi Praveen, Poonam Parihar, Pradeep Sanyal, Pragathi Surana, Pragyan Paramita, Prashnath Vasan, Prasoon Rana, Prathap Sounder, Praveen, Prem Muthu, Radha Alexander, Raghuram Ashok, Rajeev Poduval, Rajesh Nair, Rakesh Shah, Ramanan, Ramesh Palani, Rammorrison, Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Reena Chengappa, Romel Dutta, Sairam R, Sandeep, Sandeep Reddy, Sandip Debnath, Sangeeta D, Santosh Kulkarni, Sarah M, Saravanan D, Sathish Krish, Shalini Singh, Shanmugapriya Venkat, Shilpa Natarajan, Shobana Shankar, Shweta Wadhwa, Shwetha Som, Siddhartha Narayanan, Siva, Sneha Jeyatheertha, Sneha Prasad, Sowmya L, Sowmya Latha, Sridhar Pabisetty, Steve Evans, Subashree S, Sukruthaswamy, Sunaina N, Surendar B, Suresh Gounder, Suresh MG, Sushmitha, Suvajit Sengupta, Suvasanamayee, Suyog Gaidhani, Swasthika Bungley, Swathi Sucharita, Tamilselvi,
Thammiah, Ujrebail Venkat R, Ullas Holla, Umamaheshwari, Umashankar, Vaidehi I, Vandana, Vasugi, Vinoo Krishnan and Yogesh Thoppe. Thanks a TON Guys. You MADE MY DAY.

This doesn’t mean I HATE friends who forgot or could not find time to wish me. To quote a few friends who missed to wish me are Deepika Nagabhushan (Bangalorean, may be busy with her new work and wife life), Elenchezian Natarajan (Jatti Dosth, i say, who is in Switzerland, may be still busy with his migration to Mahindra Satyam) and Premanand Kalivarathan (a friend for 15 yrs now, may be busy taking care of his new assignments in the supply chain management industry in Chennai). GUYS, I missed you all. Hope you guys are doing fine with work and life.

I’m sure to have all my friends forever. Lets Keep in TOUCH.

::As(s)AnArtist::

In the era of 3 Idiots and Chetan Bhagat’s, peevee is too small a subject. In my honest opinion, for any artist, small or big, the major happiness lies in looking at his or her work being used, accomplished, commented, criticized but with a name tag, a simple copyright. Being in the advertising industry, i know the value of a copyright and a copyright violation.

Coming to the point, i always had a policy of sharing my images with any publication or media for FREE, only if they request me and if they can give me due credit. There are many instances, where i had bad time, when media prints images from my flickr account without my knowledge. In such situations, some friends figure out that its my image and keep a copy for me. The media which used my images without my permission, in the past includes Bangalore Mirror, Times of India and various other kannada papers and magazines.

But, I’m in a different situation since December 2009. I was chosen as the official photographer of TFN 2009 (Tour of Nilgiris 2009) through a contest. The traveler and photographer in me said quick yes for everything, including shoots planned pre-tour and post-tour. It was a great experience and an opportunity to be with so many big names in Bangalore for 8 days. Happiness is not the word. But, after day 1, when my pictures started are being published in papers without my name or a copyright, i was kinda pissed off and said what the hell. Day 2 is even bad, when DNA (one of the sponsors of TFN 09) wrote one of my images as file photo. I told myself that media works like that and will work like that forever. Then in media like Bangalore Mirror, Thejas and MyBangalore.com, my images were published without Photographers credit.

The latest addition to the list is a full page coverage on TFN 2009 in Ahmedabad Mirror, which published not 1 but 10 images without any photo credit. In my heart I felt happy that some of my images are on print, but, my head says, how will someone know that’s mine.

I had never sent any legal notice in the past, when someone used my images without permission, and will never send one. It’s a part of the game. All these wont stop me from shooting or uploading or sharing images.

Hoping for the best, As(S) an Artist.

::MyImagesInCalendar2010::

Adding to the Calendar for SICHREM, i have contributed few more images for Calendar 2010 for CITIZEN MATTERS. Citizen Matters in association with PRINTO brings out a MADE TO ORDER CALENDAR, which you can pick from any of the Printo Stores across Bangalore, at a price. The monies will be donated to an NGO called KILIKILI, which helps in creating public play space for children of Bangalore. I felt this is a small contribution from my end and I’m sure you guys may like to check these Calendar’s when you visit Printo next time. LETS CONTRIBUTE. 🙂

Read MORE

::Changes2009::

As many said, 2009 is the year of Change. US got 2 Major Changes, one being OBAMA coming to power, the other one is OBAMA, winning NOBEL PEACE PRIZE.

Turning to me, I got three major things.
1. Birth of infinityF and the Secrets of Photography in October.
2. Moved out of my first job after 54 months in November.
3. Nothing is a Bike, if its not BULLET. :). Changed my Bike to a Bullet Electra in December.

I’m damn happy with all these three changes and looking for more changes in 2010. In fact, lot of changes happened in my perspectives, thinking and aspirations. Hoping for a great 2010 and make my House a Home soon.

::Travel2009::

Travel and photography always go hand in hand, at least for me. I always have this doubt, whether “I travel, so I photograph” or “I photograph, so I travel”. Anyways, 2009 was really big year for me, as i did 3 major travel expeditions.

1. KALINGA:
Visited the Kalinga for the first time, covering close to 500Kms. Orrisa (a guide said at Puri, as the cultural hub of India) is an interesting state to visit and explore, as you have extreme options, the beaches, backwaters, temples, buddhist monasteries and tribal villages. Though my trip was a short one, i enjoyed exploring the options at Bhubaneshwar, Puri, Konark and the Chilka Lake. Dated June 2009.

2. RANCHI:
Two underdeveloped states of the North, Bihar and Jharkhand are the ones, which i would like to visit again in the future, as they were not properly documented. 2009 gave me a mini opportunity to visit Jharkhand and visited Kolkata, as a bumper. Dated November 2009.

3. TOUR OF NILGIRIS:
8 days. 800kms. 8 towns. 3 states. 70 riders. 25 support members. You know, what i mean. Its a prestigious opportunity for me to be the official photographer of #TFN09. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole of TFN 09. Dated December 2009.

Wishing for a Great and Grand 2010.

::Photography2009::

Yet another great year just passing in the next 4 days, to be precise. Year 2009 to me is a great year of Change. So many interesting things happened this year, lot of travel, hell a lot of photo shoots, new friends, new places and so very new things added in life. As always, lemme update my travel and shoot schedules of 2009 first and add on with other changes as separate posts.

January 2009.
4: A Mini model shoot with Kris, at the Brigade Road, Bangalore.
10: On a Hoysala Trail. Visited moonlit Shettihalli Rosary Church as well.
22: A Mini profile shoot for Country head of TrendMicro, at hotel Oberoi, Bangalore.

February 2009
8: Off to Tirupati for Krishnan-Sowmya wedding
12: Attakkalari Dance Festival at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore.
16: Launch of Bengaluru Mandis book by BPC, at Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore.
27: Wedding photography for Raghuram ashok and Priya Jayaram.
28: Heritage walk with Bangalore City Project team at Malleshwaram.

March 2009:
1: Shot images for Spice Jet – Random images on Bengaluru.
21: BWS shoot at City Market.
28: Off to Hyderabad on a personal visit.

April 2009:
9: Karaga festival at Dharmaraja Swamy Temple, Pete Area, Bangalore.
18: World Heritage Day Celebrations at Bangalore Fort. This is an important day, as i was on the dias, releasing the “Potraits of Bangalore” postcards with Mr.Murthy of Select Book Stores.
23: Bangalore on Vote, Lok Sabha Elections + Visit to Tippu Summer Palace.
30: Aanu’s BDay celebs at a CCD on the outer ring road.

May 2009:
3: A brief visit to Srirangapatna, with Rammorrison and Godzilla.
10: Trek up to Skandagiri on a full moon night.
22: A bharathanatyam event at Kannada Bhavana.
23: Birthday Celebrations of BWS at the Band Stand, Cubbon Park.

June 2009:
7: Protest against govts of India and SriLanka for the Tamil Eelam cause, Bangalore.
7: Bharathanatyam Arangetram by Divya V, my colleagues daughter at Chowdiah, Bangalore.
14: First Ever Duathlon at Inventory Academy, Sarjapur Road.
16: Dance Jugalbandhi (Kuchipudi and Yakshagana) at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram.
16: Music Festival at Alliance de Francaise, Bangalore.
27: Bhubaneshwar Pride March.
27/28: Pragyan – Prasanto Wedding at Bhubaneshwar
29/30: Mini visits to Puri, Konark and Chilka Lake.

July 2009:
5: BWS shoot at Bellandur lake, the dirtiest and chemical polluted late in the city.
5: Visited Arushi, Greeshma’s kid at her home.
8: Nrithya Chilume at Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram, Bangalore.
11/12: Mahabalipuram, Pichavaram, Gangaikondacholapuram, Tanjavur, Karaikudi and Madurai. Shoot for Tamilnadu Tourism. A prestigious project for me.
19: Model shoot workshop by Prem Muthu at Hebbal lake.
21: A brief visit to Madurai, on work.
22: Solar Eclipse. Flop show at Lalbagh.
24/25/26: Bangalore Fashion Week at Hotel Oterra, Electronic City. 3 days of Fun.
26: Freedom Park visit with Sukru.

August 2009:
1: Documented Metro Changes in Indira Nagar, Bangalore.
2: Photo Chase 2009, a pilot for Bengaluru Infinite 2010.
9: Inauguration of Thiruvalluvar Statue, at Ulsoor.
15: Friend Deepika and Sudhir Arni, got engaged. I’m one of the few invited for the event.
16: Profile shoot for Eram at Lal Bagh, Bangalore.
19: World Photography Day. A mini shoot for DNA at the Church Street and Cubbon Park.
21: Profile shoot for Eram at BEML Railway Track, Bangalore.
22: Exhibition of images at Photography Society of Madras, Chennai.
29: Frames of Mind at the CKP and BWS shoot in the Majestic Area.

September 2009:
13: Secrets of Photography, a photography workshop organised by infinityF in association with Better Photography at Bangalore, as a part of 8 city workshops.
14: Robert Bosch gave away few Art Grants at Jaaga, an Urban Space initiative, Bangalore.
16: Jessie Paul launched her book “No Money Marketing” at Crossword, Residency Road.
20: Heritage Walk with Meera and Team at Devanahalli Fort. Arul and I cycled to the Fort.
27/28: Durga Puja celebrations at RBANMS grounds.

October 2009:
3: Picnic to Shivanasamudram.
9: Shoot for Intel at IIITB, Electronic City.
23: Shoot for Intel in 2 hospitals of Hassan District.
25: Runner Girls India, on an amazing trail, Sarjapur Road. 70+ participated.
26: 5 Black days at my home. Goof up by Electricity Board, Karnataka.
30: Shoot for Intel at MS Ramiah Institute. Bangalore.

November 2009:
1: Sunday Market on a Kannada Rajyotsava Day.
2: BWS Shoot at the Avenue Road, Bangalore.
15: Revisited Avenue Road, Bangalore.
17: Deepika-Sudhir Wedding, Bangalore.
18: Sangeeta-Rajeev Wedding at Ranchi.
20: Photoshoot in Kolkata, including mini shoots at Victoria Memorial/Sonaghachi.
24/25: Shoot at Anglo-Arabic School, Delhi and visit to Gurgaon.
26: Shoot for Yahoo, Bangalore.
28: PRE-TFN: Shoot with TFN riders enroute Kolar.

December 2009:
4: Anita-Sandeep Wedding at the Tamarind Tree, JP Nagar, Bangalore.
5: PRE-TFN: Nandi Hills with TFN Riders.
6: Nandi Hills with Sukru on a misty morning.
11: PRE-TFN: Bamboo Bicycle Shoot with designer Vijay Sharma.
11: Sneha-Gautham Wedding at Basaveshwara Nagar, Bangalore.
12: PRE-TFN: Bike Clinic shoot at T&T, Koramangala, Bangalore.
12: Trekmaniax Dinner Meet. With a coffee trip to BIAL.
15: Pre-TFN: Briefing at the Kyra Theatre, Indira Nagar, Bangalore.
16-23: TFN: Amazing Tour of Nilgiris, covering 800 kms, reaching out to 8 cities with 70 riders.
27: BWS shoot at Cubbon Park. Mostly a chit-chat and breakfast session.

Here are Three of my Favorite images from Year 2009.
Charminar at Hyderabad.

Bangalore Fashion Week.

Tour of Nilgiris.

Read my Last Year