Whiskey Glass

This one was captured on my Cannon with an 18-55 lense. A random photograph of what looked like Whiskey Glasses while sitting at this joint called Galloping Gooseberries in Chennai.

Details:
F-stop : f/5.6
Shutter: 1/6
ISO: 100
FL: 55mm
Flash: No
Dimensions: 3561 x 2592

Good ol times

This is the era of the www, cell phones, emails, social networking, media, and so on, we forget our past. There was a time when we could do pretty much everything we do now, without all this technology backing us. I still remember the days when we managed to meet a friend at the movies, or for a wedding, or arrange a birthday party without emails and cell phones.

This was a time in my life, not too long ago during our college days, when even owning a cell phone was a luxury. Sometime around this is when I first met scatterbrain, and we didn’t have the proper means to stay in touch. We couldn’t afford cell phones, but yet managed to live to tell the tale of a long distance relationship, while I was living in Chennai and she was studying in Hyderabad which is almost 800kms or 500 miles away. We used to speak to each other using the landline. I was fortunate enough that my father had the landline with an STD facility. Scatterbrain on the other hand was living in the college women’s hostel that had only one pay phone that was used by probably 50 or 60 other women staying there. We used to have these whispering conversations over the phone in a way that people in the other room wouldn’t know that I was on the phone. The fans and lights were switched off, and only then we could clearly hear each other clearly. Trust me sitting in a closed room devoid of a fan in Chennai is not a very pleasing experience. We used to speak for about 3 to 4 hours every night. Those were some of the moments I treasure till date.

The flip side to this story was when the phone bill came at the end of the month. I still remember my father opening that fatal envelope, and to his shock the bill was around Rs.15000/- Believe me when I say this. 15k for a phone bill during 2003 was not a joke. I still remember my father had this angry expression with some tears in his eyes when he saw the bill. :) His expression was priceless. Well of course as soon as that expression was over he looked at me and my brother to find the culprit. Obviously we didn’t know what a phone looked like ;)

No sooner than later my father had subscribed to this thing called itemized billing, where the bill shows the details of the numbers dialed and the time the call was made. By now I know that my grave was being prepared for me. My father notices that a lot of calls have been made to one particular number every night for about 3 to 4 hours, so he decided to call the number and realizes that it’s a girl’s number as soon as scatterbrain responds to the call. So by now my father has confirmed that the delinquents’ were either me or my brother. This is when I was determined to own up and confront him before he brings the lamb to the slaughter.

To my surprise both my parents were happy to know about my relationship with scatterbrain and were eager to meet her and take things forward. The rest is history. Thinking about this incident reminds me of the fun times we’ve had in the past, even without technology.

In the present day, I think the cell phone, email, the internet and all that is has to offer is a basic necessity and it would be really hard to survive without it. As the saying goes - Technology does not drive change, it enables it.

Green

This one was captured on my Cannon with an 18-55 lense. A random photograph of leaves from a branch outside a friends house.


Details:
F-stop : f/10, Shutter: 1/100, ISO: 400, FL: 55mm, Flash: No.

My new hobby

As far as I can remember, I’ve always loved taking photographs. The most I love, is taking pictures of people and objects. Regrettably I never had the money to buy myself a high-quality camera. During my school and college days, this thing called “digital camera” was unheard off. I really wish I had one of those during my early days. There has been so many good memories of long-ago, which I managed to capture only in my head, optimistically for long.

Last year when scatterbrain and I found out that we were expectant, I made one significant decision. Well apart from “I’m going to be a good dad” & “I’m going to be a good husband”, and etc, etc… I was determined that I will buy myself a reasonably good camera and capture everything I possibly can, and before I knew it, we were already saving money to buy it. More or less a year later, we managed to buy ourselves a really cool SLR camera. I can’t remember the amount of intense analysis up and reading up I did to comprehend how to operate it. Finally after lots of suggestions and opinions and advices from friends and playing around with the cam, I think I’ve got the hang of it. This is one of the pictures that was taken on my SLR. She’s my little angel. Her name is Nanma and I call her “NJ” short for Nanma Jacob. Click the Photograph for a better view.


Most of the photography blogs I’ve seen, have a mentioned the details of the photograph like f/stop, metering, aperture settings date, time, location and such like. Quite frankly don’t remember the camera settings for this snap, but hopefully I will do my best to give you those details for the next few snaps that’s going to be uploaded in my next post. God knows when that will be bearing in mind the frequency of my posts :)

Those who read this, please give me some suggestions and tips that I could use for my new found hobby.

How sweet to hold a new born baby

It feels like it was just yesterday, but it’s been 6 years since we, Scatterbrain and I were college sweethearts and madly attracted to each other, spending hours in the coffee shop sipping on one cup of coffee, just to keep the table occupied and gazing into each others eyes, dreaming about getting married and about our unborn children. And now we finally have our little angel to call our own. Now it’s just us and our little family. It’s the only thing that matters to me the most.

Scatterbrain is “The Worlds Most Amazing Person”. I was in tears while I watched her in pain in the labor room. All I could do is hold her hand, kiss her on the cheeks and pray that the pain would go away. That one hour of watching her hurting in agonizing pain was the most painful experience I probably would ever go through. In the end the result was amazing. The pain and the agony, it all went away in a blink.

It almost felt like all my troubles and worries had been wiped clean from my memory. It was like time stood still. The feeling was indescribable. I sure most people feel the same way when they hold their newborn in their arms. I have only heard what it feels like, but only now I know. She is the most beautiful creation I have ever seen. With those sparkling eyes and dainty fingers and toes so delicate she feels like a drop of heaven in my arms. All I could do is look at her and not notice the time going by. All that seems to me as a passing dream, since I got only 2 days to spend with my baby and now I’m back to work :(

Nanma Anna Jacob. That’s what we’ve named her. Nanma – means “Goodness” in Malayalam.

It’s been a long day, and you’re tired of play,

Your little eyes look sleepy, go to sleep little one,

And smile as you dream on, cause you are loved.

As you sleep tonight, dream of things that you love,

Tomorrow is a new day full of promise for you,

So smile as you dream on, cause you are loved.

You are our greatest miracle, God’s “Goodness” taken form,

Each day as you grow older our love only grows stronger,

You bring such joy, such love, such happiness.

Only God could love you more than us.

The world outside is scary, so much you don’t know,

And though life isn’t easy trust god he’s always there,

So smile as you dream on, cause you are loved.

– Scatterbrain & Paunch.

I’m back!!!

For those of you who wanted to conduct a funereal ceremony for my blog - I’m back!!! At least for now I am. I apologize for the vanishing act. This blog stuff works entirely on my mood. I’m not much of a writer, so blogging doesn’t come to me as you would imagine.

A lot has happened since my last post. The wife has returned and we’re leading a pleasant and happy life. The big news - “Were Expecting”, yup that’s right. The Paunch is going to be a father. Our baby’s ETA – April 1^st `2009. If my child decides to be born on April 1^st, it’s going to be hard for me to convince my buddies about the news. My wife and I are totally thrilled about the whole thing. We’ve been monitoring the baby’s development on a regular basis & I have lost count of the number of times I’ve viewed the video of the ultrasound scan to see him or her moving inside. It’s just breathtaking to see and know that there’s this new life form inside her, growing in size everyday.

Fatherhood is one thing that I dread. I am hideously bad with kids. Its not that I don’t like them, it’s just that it’s to some extent hard to communicate with them. By the way I am speaking for myself. I’m sure nearly everyone who is reading this might not be of the same opinion, but this is what I feel. My wife Scatterbrain calls me a “Baby Magnet”, I sometimes agree with her in a way since I have noticed many kids are mesmerized to see me, or at least they keep staring at me like I’m from some other planet.

I’ve been reading-up about fatherhood and here are some useful links for all aspiring fathers to go through (Good Parenting, Dad Café, and Great Dad). Its useful information, but I guess the best way to bring up your child is doing it your way. Like my good friend Mac says – “When you notice that your child is starting to hate you, you know your doing something right”.

Scatterbrain, I love you:

“The light of my Life” (Scatterbrain) has gone to spend some time with her folks for a week, and I’m left all alone at home. The house feels so bare. Even the TV and couch misses her being there. I guess this time; her going away has been quite hurting, even though it is only for a week and I know that she’s mine and mine alone eternally. It has been only 2 days since she left and I already feel like a baby weeping out to her to come back. They say big men are the most emotional – maybe that’s why I feel this way. :(

Ever since I met her 5 years back, my life has been a rollercoaster ride, and I’ve loved every single moment spent with her. We got married on a beautiful date (07/07/07) and it is going to be one year since. I was always terrified of getting married, but since day one, its have been extremely exciting and have no regrets. We do have our highs and lows from time to time, but the best part of the fight is when we make-up for it.

Being married to Scatterbrain is like living life in the movie “The Sound of Music”. There’s so much laughter, singing, dancing, and so much fun. She even manages to cheer me up almost every evening when I come back home from a hard days work. All my worries and tensions fade away when I’m with her. She is what every husband could ever ask for. And I feel on top of the world to be married to her. Everyday is a brand new day. The whole of last year feels like a dream to me, it feels like it all happened just yesterday.

Scatterbrain you are the best and my heart beats like Shivamani on the drums when you’re around me...:)

A Remarkable tuk –tuk man

The rising fuel prices have been eating into most of our daily expenses, and I wonder where this is all going. The salary remains the same but the cost of living goes up. Here are some cartoons I received in a fwd mail.



Have you even sat in an auto rickshaw and wondered if the driver was a genuine guy, and that he was demanding a fair price for your destination? Most of us have a pre-conceived notion that auto drivers are always trying to take advantage of people, by taking them for a ride. It is true but not all of them. They normally do that because they think you are an “Out of Towner” and could take advantage of the situation. I’m sure most of us are in some way egocentric when it comes to our own benefits.

Yesterday I had a chance to travel in an auto to work and as usual I raised my hand to the next auto in sight. This guy was really nice. He was kind and he had that sense of dependability and made sure he was respectful and requested for a fair price from my home to office. I normally have to brawl and argue with these guys, and end up paying almost Rs.70 for about 5 km distance. A fair fee would be between Rs.50 to Rs.60. This guy asked me, how much I would normally pay for this distance, and me trying to be all straightforward, told him in a very cheeky tone that I pay only Rs.50 and nothing more than that. To my surprise he offered to use his meter for the journey. Normally auto drivers never offer to use their meters since the prices were too low for them to break even. In my mind I was wondering if his meter was rigged. Anyway I took my chances and sat in the auto. When I reached office and looked at the meter and the amount was Rs.40, and the auto driver also told me that I need not pay Rs.50 as agreed before, but to pay only Rs.40 as per the meter reading. I felt a little guilty for all that went through my mind during my ride to office, and so I insisted and paid him Rs.60 and told him “I wished all auto drivers in Chennai were like you.” I would consider this as one of my best moments in an auto. It is very extraordinary to come across people like him.

We Treat God Heals

CFH (Christian Fellowship Hospital) Oddanchatram, is a hospital catering to the people who live in around the poverty stricken villages of Oddanchatram. Oddanchatram is a little town located in the district of Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India.

The story of CFH is that of a few people venturing into a very backward area as a three-man team including a doctor - living in mud wall huts and starting in a one-room dispensary. "The Christian Fellowship Hospital, founded in 1955 by Dr. A.K. Tharien. It is a 289-bed, multi-specialty, secondary level care hospital catering to the poor in and around Oddanchatram. It has primary care centers in the surrounding villages and hills like Pachalur. Every day, Christian Fellowship Hospital receives an average of 1,500-1,700 outpatients. The Hospital Staff are a living example for Christ and simple in their lives". - from the CFH Website.

As the story goes back in time, when Dr. A.K Tharien (My Grandfather in law) had a vision to serve the poor with medical help without any foreign aid. He identified Oddanchatram (ODC) since this town had minimal resources available. (now it is a flourishing business town) They lacked proper electricity and food supply. The villagers were not aware of such a thing as medicine. The Dr, took a small haunted house on rent since it was not occupied by anyone and started a small clinic. His first patient was a pregnant lady who came with complications. The only thing that could save her life was a cesarean operation. She was about to be disowned by her family who could not take her to the nearest hospital (30 kms away) and left to die. The Dr and his team of 3 staff decided to do the best they could . They sterilized their equipment, including kitchen knives and bed sheets conducted the operation on the kitchen table and helped deliver the child. Both mother and child were safe. This was the biggest miracle seen by the people of the villages near by. The hospital’s growth began there and it continues.....

Days of Glory:

I was looking for some inspiration to write about, the one thing that crossed my mind was my days in college. I am really proud to have been a student from MCC (Madras Christian College). Those days of my life were like a three year holiday!!! It is not because I didn’t attend classes, it is just that all the other activities got us so involved that we didn’t even realize that each year was coming to an end. And before we knew it we were thrown out in the real world.

The first year started with the Principal’s speech and a campus walk escorted by our seniors, who were just waiting to pounce on us. The 1st year students had many names those days (Pissakaattan, Kaattan, piece of S@#T, fresh meat, etc...), and the “hall boys” (resident students) were made to wear full-sleeved formal shirts with unbuttoned sleeves and rubber bathroom slippers. Their hair had to be cut short and faces, clean shaven. This was the dress code if you were a member of the hall. The day-scholars had a different treatment; they were ragged & humiliated on the train journey for about 45 minutes from Tambaram all the way up to Egmore. This sounds very traumatic but quite honestly, I enjoyed it!!! I can remember the times when I have been so broke; even to buy my self a ticket worth 5 bucks to get back home. Being broke was normality back in the days. There was a time when my buddies and I were so hungry we went to this shady joint near the railway station to grab a bite of whatever we could get with the pieces of change we had in our pockets. Halfway through the meal we found a well cooked spider in the food, but considering the hunger we continued to eat.

Times have changed now, and college going kids have a completely different lifestyle. I’m sure they also have their share of fun. The 2nd and 3rd year of my graduation was not as thrilling as the 1st year. That’s cause I was busy clearing all my arrears, and slowly getting ready to face the world and dreaming about a great career :)

I’m quite happy about the way things are today, I would have never imagined being where I am today four years ago. Sometimes I wish I had worked harder in my studies during my school and college days :(

Here are lyrics to a song that my buddies and I wrote, while we were lazing around at the café with a cup of kaapi and dhum!!! This song became famous after our acoustic band's first performance at the IIT college fest. The Band was called “The Lumbadi Lungies and the Chorous Mangalams”

We don’t smoke marijuana in MCC,
We don’t take our trips on LSD,
We don’t spike our hair like them pansies
I’m Proud to be a hippie from MCC.

I’m Proud to be a hippie from MCC.
The girls are not really pretty cant you see,
They always love to wear our lungies,
But there still cooler, than the Stella Kutties.

I’m Proud to be a hippie from MCC.
The guys are simply Kaattans cant you see,
But their still cooler than the Loyola sissies
Guess who loves them ? WCC

Comments are welcome...