Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
A Squirrel's Search for Food: A Pictorial Story
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| An Indian palm squirrel was in search of food. It was tiring. Finally when it climbed to the top of a tree, something caught its eyes. It was ivy gourd. The squirrel descended fast towards the food. |
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It didn't shout in happiness, "Hip.. Hip..Hooray". Because by nature these squirrels are protective of their food sources and do not tend to share it with other squirrels or lose it to birds. It started eating hurriedly to satisfy its hunger. Then the squirrel stopped eating. Did it hear something? Alert!
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| (Clockwise above image two snaps) Need to check..so it turned right...clear...started chewing, (anticlockwise same image below two snaps) Turned left...clear..took a bite. |
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| If you observe the above snap, the squirrel initially dropped some food near its feet. But later the squirrel picked it up and consumed. No food wastage, good. |
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| In the above snap, I guess the squirrel forgot to offer its usual prayer before this particular meal, and remembered it later. Just kidding :-) |
Yummy Food! The squirrel ran along happily. The next food search continues... :-)
(Photography and story: Manikanda Prabhu)
Friday, October 24, 2014
Cloud 9 :-)
These clouds were photographed at approximately 9.8 Km from sea level. So, Cloud 9.
By the way, cloud nine means extreme happiness. Be happy :-)
Note: 9.8 Km=Approximately 32,000 feet
Thursday, September 25, 2014
It Gave Me the Chills !!!
In August, I had to travel from Chennai to Pune. An official trip. I didn't get a direct flight and had to take a long route: Chennai-Bengaluru-Pune.
The onward journey landed me at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. Immediately I proceeded towards the transit gate. After completing the check-in formalities, I was at the departure area waiting for my connecting flight to Pune.
I forgot to carry a book to read without which it was proving tough for me to while-away time. I had four hours. This time frame did not provide me enough window to visit my friends in the city.
I was left with very few options: read the free newspapers available within the terminal, sit idle or blink at people passing by. I could not purchase a book because I decided not do so until unless I finish reading my pending four books back at my Chennai residence. Finally I decided to take a walk and ponder over my to-do list items, which I often do.
I was feeling hungry so I increased my pace towards a food-stall in-sight. I ordered an add-hot-water-veg-cup-noodles and a veg-burger. I found a vacant corner seat in one of the many unmovable seats in an array, and sat down to eat my lunch peacefully. Instant noodles needed three minutes to get into the mood, so I unwrapped the veg-burger and had my first bite. Just then I noticed that there was a kid, may be of kinder garden age, very eagerly looking at me.
I have been through these situations many a times. So I carefully avoided my eye-contact with the kid and was busy stuffing the food in my mouth. I slowly side-glanced. The kid had glued his focus on me and was moving closer to a lady, I guess she was his mother, who was seated in very a close proximity of her kid. The mother-kid duo were located in an array of unmovable seats which was exactly in front of me. Before both decide to glare at me, I executed my Code Red-Alert - I finished gulping my veg burger and took my noodles-cup and rushed away from the target location.
Many would have experienced similar situation at some or the other point of time. I believe by now many would have guessed the conversation between the mother-kid duo. For others, here is an intro.
If I would have not executed Code-Red Alert and remained seated there eating my stuff. The kid after nearing his mother would have gently prodded her in order to attract attention, pointing his right hand's index finger at me(the target). Instead of two, now there would have been four eyes piercing in my direction. The conversation would have taken place more or less in this fashion.
Mother - My jujube...my jilebee... What is it my darling?
Kid - Mamma...(still pointing his right hand's index finger at me) I want that...
Mother understanding the gravity of the situation brings down the kid's hand and says - Cheee..chee.its bad stuff..
K - Then why is that uncle still gulping it
M whispers - Bad uncle, he does not know what is good and bad. You are good kid,right.
K proudly takes the compliment. Double emphasizing me as BAD.
Now all of a sudden, a new entry, the F, I mean the kid's father would come in to the scene. Having brought a free newspaper and intending to give it a read possibly would have settled down beside his wife. The kid would now approach and poke/tap gently his father's right knee. The father pulling back his head out the news paper sees that his kid is waiting as though to share a very-important-news. The father character will lean forward and lend his ears to his son. The kid secretly whispers into his father's ear, "that uncle is bad, he is eating bad stuff", unconsciously again pointing his right hand's index finger at me. The father figure now turning his head towards me slowly leans back to his comfortable seating posture and will come to the same conclusion. Now looking at his son, noddingly whispers, "yes...you are right... a very bad uncle". Really. Come on. As though it is a court-room scene and the kid's father is a judge announcing the verdict, "You are found guilty of gluttony". I don't want all this crap.
Believe me, all this will happen in a span of a quick-two minutes. Why anyone would want to be looked down as BAD by an entire family.
So I found another seat far away from the judging and law-practicing-family and completed my lunch. Intending to quench my thirst I was slowly approaching a drinking water station in the same floor of the airport.
All of sudden, half-a-dozen of sparrows flying to and fro in the waiting area caught my attention. One of the sparrow was jumping hither and thither on the drinking water station. May be it has come to quench its thirst. Slowly I pulled out my phone and took a snap which I have provided below.
I stood there silently watching the bird and its beauty until it flew away. I drank some water from the water station and was returning back to the departure waiting area.
The bird flew away but it revived my childhood memories. Now I sat blissfully recollecting my thoughts. It took me back to my grandmother's home in Krishnarayapuram, a small and pleasant village in Karur district, Tamilnadu.
Ka.kaa..kaaa...I remembered My grandmother's vocal chords rhythmically echoing and calling for birds. Inviting them to come and enjoy the first serving of food prepared at home. Every day after cooking breakfast or lunch my grandmother used to take a little quantity of food in a banana leaf and place it in the open verandah in the backyard of the house.
This first serving of food for birds by the household women is still practiced as a ritual in many of our Indian villages. I, myself have seen many women placing the first serving of food at a routine-spot (roof terrace or compound wall), after which they quickly move away from the food, giving enough space for the birds to eat the food peacefully.
Only after witnessing the scene of birds having consumed the food, the household women would go inside into their homes and begin to serve food for their family members. The belief behind this ritual is that our ancestors come in the form of these birds and accept our food. Its a kind of blessing in disguise.
Even today my mother has this habit of placing a little quantity of food on our compound wall at our Trichy's residence. Similarly my brother follows the ritual of placing a little quantity of food on the balcony wall at our Kotturpuram rented-residence.
They also place enough water in a cup for the birds to drink. Though I never heard neither my mom nor my brother echoing Ka.kaa..kaaa... as my grandmother used to. But I see birds coming onto our balcony wall to have the first serving of breakfast or lunch prepared at home. I firmly believe that the love and concern behind both the vocal and the silent echoes will always remain pure and universal.
The culture of feeding birds and animals should continue for indefinite generations to come. We should cultivate this ritual in us and our dear ones of considering birds and animals as living beings that are to be taken care of.
I have seen several birds, such as crows, sparrows,swallows fly to our balcony wall and eat food prepared by my mother or my brother. Sometimes squirrels may surprise our guest list. A pleasant surprise. Always.
There are lot of articles which are still being circulated among our email boxes and social networking sites, asking us, especially in summers, to place water pots for birds on roof top terraces or compound walls.
In Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince", a little swallow on the request of the Prince (a statue)plucks precious stones from the statue and gives it to the needy and poor. In the end of this beautiful story of helping the needy, the death of the little swallow breaks the heart of the Prince. Both die. I believe we all have the similar caring hearts. So Princes and Princesses of this earth let us all unite in taking care of these little friends. Its our turn and this time the needy are our sweet little birds. Let us not be a statue.
On the lighter note: Despite good food, its hard for caged birds to be healthy until unless they practice yoga and recite Aaaauuuummmm twenty times in their enclosures. Where as birds with liberty and sky-permit license with our good food and caring will be healthy for sure, singing our good deeds forever.
One friday evening my mom and brother went to our hometown, Tiruchirappalli. I was staying alone at the Kotturpuram residence. Reading a book I fell asleep. That night I slept on the floor facing the door of the balcony, which was left open. The next day morning, I think it was around 6am, I slowly opened my eyes. What I saw startled me. A crow was standing on the balcony wall and was silently observing me. It gave me the chills.I would have screamed, thank God I didn't otherwise I would have scared the poor crow.(Readers who have watched Omen movie series would understand my chills). Recovering from my fear, I slowly got up, went into the kitchen, found couple of chappathis and returned back.
The crow moved back and forth when I placed the food near it on the balcony wall. When I stepped back, it echoed kraw.kraw..kraw... I came to my senses at the Benguluru airport. A little later I heard an announcement asking people to board the flight to Pune. Pack up. :-)
The onward journey landed me at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. Immediately I proceeded towards the transit gate. After completing the check-in formalities, I was at the departure area waiting for my connecting flight to Pune.
I forgot to carry a book to read without which it was proving tough for me to while-away time. I had four hours. This time frame did not provide me enough window to visit my friends in the city.
I was left with very few options: read the free newspapers available within the terminal, sit idle or blink at people passing by. I could not purchase a book because I decided not do so until unless I finish reading my pending four books back at my Chennai residence. Finally I decided to take a walk and ponder over my to-do list items, which I often do.
I was feeling hungry so I increased my pace towards a food-stall in-sight. I ordered an add-hot-water-veg-cup-noodles and a veg-burger. I found a vacant corner seat in one of the many unmovable seats in an array, and sat down to eat my lunch peacefully. Instant noodles needed three minutes to get into the mood, so I unwrapped the veg-burger and had my first bite. Just then I noticed that there was a kid, may be of kinder garden age, very eagerly looking at me.
I have been through these situations many a times. So I carefully avoided my eye-contact with the kid and was busy stuffing the food in my mouth. I slowly side-glanced. The kid had glued his focus on me and was moving closer to a lady, I guess she was his mother, who was seated in very a close proximity of her kid. The mother-kid duo were located in an array of unmovable seats which was exactly in front of me. Before both decide to glare at me, I executed my Code Red-Alert - I finished gulping my veg burger and took my noodles-cup and rushed away from the target location.
Many would have experienced similar situation at some or the other point of time. I believe by now many would have guessed the conversation between the mother-kid duo. For others, here is an intro.
If I would have not executed Code-Red Alert and remained seated there eating my stuff. The kid after nearing his mother would have gently prodded her in order to attract attention, pointing his right hand's index finger at me(the target). Instead of two, now there would have been four eyes piercing in my direction. The conversation would have taken place more or less in this fashion.
Mother - My jujube...my jilebee... What is it my darling?
Kid - Mamma...(still pointing his right hand's index finger at me) I want that...
Mother understanding the gravity of the situation brings down the kid's hand and says - Cheee..chee.its bad stuff..
K - Then why is that uncle still gulping it
M whispers - Bad uncle, he does not know what is good and bad. You are good kid,right.
K proudly takes the compliment. Double emphasizing me as BAD.
Now all of a sudden, a new entry, the F, I mean the kid's father would come in to the scene. Having brought a free newspaper and intending to give it a read possibly would have settled down beside his wife. The kid would now approach and poke/tap gently his father's right knee. The father pulling back his head out the news paper sees that his kid is waiting as though to share a very-important-news. The father character will lean forward and lend his ears to his son. The kid secretly whispers into his father's ear, "that uncle is bad, he is eating bad stuff", unconsciously again pointing his right hand's index finger at me. The father figure now turning his head towards me slowly leans back to his comfortable seating posture and will come to the same conclusion. Now looking at his son, noddingly whispers, "yes...you are right... a very bad uncle". Really. Come on. As though it is a court-room scene and the kid's father is a judge announcing the verdict, "You are found guilty of gluttony". I don't want all this crap.
Believe me, all this will happen in a span of a quick-two minutes. Why anyone would want to be looked down as BAD by an entire family.
So I found another seat far away from the judging and law-practicing-family and completed my lunch. Intending to quench my thirst I was slowly approaching a drinking water station in the same floor of the airport.
All of sudden, half-a-dozen of sparrows flying to and fro in the waiting area caught my attention. One of the sparrow was jumping hither and thither on the drinking water station. May be it has come to quench its thirst. Slowly I pulled out my phone and took a snap which I have provided below.
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| Bengaluru Airport, August 23, 2014, 13:03. |
The bird flew away but it revived my childhood memories. Now I sat blissfully recollecting my thoughts. It took me back to my grandmother's home in Krishnarayapuram, a small and pleasant village in Karur district, Tamilnadu.
Ka.kaa..kaaa...I remembered My grandmother's vocal chords rhythmically echoing and calling for birds. Inviting them to come and enjoy the first serving of food prepared at home. Every day after cooking breakfast or lunch my grandmother used to take a little quantity of food in a banana leaf and place it in the open verandah in the backyard of the house.
This first serving of food for birds by the household women is still practiced as a ritual in many of our Indian villages. I, myself have seen many women placing the first serving of food at a routine-spot (roof terrace or compound wall), after which they quickly move away from the food, giving enough space for the birds to eat the food peacefully.
Only after witnessing the scene of birds having consumed the food, the household women would go inside into their homes and begin to serve food for their family members. The belief behind this ritual is that our ancestors come in the form of these birds and accept our food. Its a kind of blessing in disguise.
Even today my mother has this habit of placing a little quantity of food on our compound wall at our Trichy's residence. Similarly my brother follows the ritual of placing a little quantity of food on the balcony wall at our Kotturpuram rented-residence.
They also place enough water in a cup for the birds to drink. Though I never heard neither my mom nor my brother echoing Ka.kaa..kaaa... as my grandmother used to. But I see birds coming onto our balcony wall to have the first serving of breakfast or lunch prepared at home. I firmly believe that the love and concern behind both the vocal and the silent echoes will always remain pure and universal.
The culture of feeding birds and animals should continue for indefinite generations to come. We should cultivate this ritual in us and our dear ones of considering birds and animals as living beings that are to be taken care of.
I have seen several birds, such as crows, sparrows,swallows fly to our balcony wall and eat food prepared by my mother or my brother. Sometimes squirrels may surprise our guest list. A pleasant surprise. Always.
There are lot of articles which are still being circulated among our email boxes and social networking sites, asking us, especially in summers, to place water pots for birds on roof top terraces or compound walls.
In Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince", a little swallow on the request of the Prince (a statue)plucks precious stones from the statue and gives it to the needy and poor. In the end of this beautiful story of helping the needy, the death of the little swallow breaks the heart of the Prince. Both die. I believe we all have the similar caring hearts. So Princes and Princesses of this earth let us all unite in taking care of these little friends. Its our turn and this time the needy are our sweet little birds. Let us not be a statue.
On the lighter note: Despite good food, its hard for caged birds to be healthy until unless they practice yoga and recite Aaaauuuummmm twenty times in their enclosures. Where as birds with liberty and sky-permit license with our good food and caring will be healthy for sure, singing our good deeds forever.
One friday evening my mom and brother went to our hometown, Tiruchirappalli. I was staying alone at the Kotturpuram residence. Reading a book I fell asleep. That night I slept on the floor facing the door of the balcony, which was left open. The next day morning, I think it was around 6am, I slowly opened my eyes. What I saw startled me. A crow was standing on the balcony wall and was silently observing me. It gave me the chills.I would have screamed, thank God I didn't otherwise I would have scared the poor crow.(Readers who have watched Omen movie series would understand my chills). Recovering from my fear, I slowly got up, went into the kitchen, found couple of chappathis and returned back.
The crow moved back and forth when I placed the food near it on the balcony wall. When I stepped back, it echoed kraw.kraw..kraw... I came to my senses at the Benguluru airport. A little later I heard an announcement asking people to board the flight to Pune. Pack up. :-)
Friday, August 1, 2014
Quack.Quack..Quack...Paddling in a Row
I am trying to remember my first encounter with ducks. Hmmm....was it at my village in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu or at Indira Park, Hyderabad? Hard to recollect, but I guess for many of us either it was at a Zoo or a recreational park. Talking of ducks its hard to ignore the talking ducks......I mean the famous fictional characters of Walt Disney, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge quacking and speaking in regional languages on television.
Recently when I visited Hyderabad, I happened to click these white Pekin Ducks paddling in a row.
History hints that we have domesticated ducks as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years. The ability to duck (dive) into the water to catch their food differentiates these aquatic species from Swans and Geese.
Among the 40+ breeds of ducks existing in the world (except Antarctica), the white Pekin duck, in the above photograph, is the most common variety raised for eggs and meat. Quack...Quack :-)
Date - June 14, 2014
Place - Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Flowers make us think little and feel more
Religion opens all its doors for you to decorate the almighty,
Love, tender or mature, seeks your presence for its proposal,
Art learnt its first colour lessons from your vibrant petals,
You the flowers make us think little and feel more.
You the flowers make us think little and feel more.
Its our ignorance to adore you in a vase or grow you in a mud pot.
But still you bloom blissfully as though deeply rooted in earth's beautiful garden.
You the flowers make us think little and feel more.
You may giggle at our selfishness for preserving -
your gracious posture in portraits and in artificial flowers,
your mesmerizing fragrance in perfumes and medicines.
But we always invite you,
to grace all our occasions,
from celebrating the union of hearts,
to mourning the departure of soul from its physical form.
You the flowers make us think little and feel more.
(Photography: Manikanda Prabhu)
Sunday, June 1, 2014
My Story of Still - Flight - Click
Place: Khammam, Andhra Pradesh
Date: May 10, 2014
Bird watching requires a lot of patience but when it comes to photography, we'd require more of it to click the right moment. In addition to hard work, luck may also play an important role. For this particular 'bird-photography' I was standing still (actually a balancing act) on a stool for 15 minutes with the camera's viewfinder glued to my eyes in the early hours, around 6 am. My 'standing-still- posture' holding the camera close to my face; focusing in upward direction, that too on a stool close to the tree on the backyard of the house, probably would have scared my friend Ravindhar's family members. But I am sure, the initial stance of shock would have later transformed into a giggle, or even they would have waved it off as a comic-joke.
All of this happened when we friends Ravindhar, Ramesh and myself were put-up for the night at the former's beautiful home at Khammam. The plan for the next day was to start early (intended to escape the scorching heat) and reach Sankar Nayak Thanda, Mahabubabad district. We guys were to attend our best buddy Praveen's sister marriage.
On the day of this yet-to-begin journey, after a good night's sleep I woke up at 5:30 am, slowly opened the door and walked up to the backyard to enjoy the fresh air. All of a sudden I caught a glimpse of this bird flying to-and-fro busily building its nest on the branches of the tree in the back yard. Whenever the bird flew to get some nesting materials, I instantly acted and used these time-gaps effectively to: get my camera-freeze- find a stool-freeze-stand on it-freeze-adjust the lenses-freeze-trial few shots-freeze-experiment aperture and zoom settings-freeze. FREEZE means - in the presence of the bird, I was absolutely still. The bird would have overlooked me as a stupid-statue erected close to the tree and its nest. Thank God, the bird did not think of landing on my head to pluck couple of hair for its nest (the statue would have yelled-out with pain) and while leaving as an adieu hit my scalp hard with its beak.
Without disturbing the bird, I clicked few snaps. I am providing here the best two Clicks for your viewing pleasure.
One when the bird was STILL and the other when the bird winged for a FLIGHT. That's my story of Still-Flight-Click. :-)
Date: May 10, 2014
Bird watching requires a lot of patience but when it comes to photography, we'd require more of it to click the right moment. In addition to hard work, luck may also play an important role. For this particular 'bird-photography' I was standing still (actually a balancing act) on a stool for 15 minutes with the camera's viewfinder glued to my eyes in the early hours, around 6 am. My 'standing-still- posture' holding the camera close to my face; focusing in upward direction, that too on a stool close to the tree on the backyard of the house, probably would have scared my friend Ravindhar's family members. But I am sure, the initial stance of shock would have later transformed into a giggle, or even they would have waved it off as a comic-joke.
All of this happened when we friends Ravindhar, Ramesh and myself were put-up for the night at the former's beautiful home at Khammam. The plan for the next day was to start early (intended to escape the scorching heat) and reach Sankar Nayak Thanda, Mahabubabad district. We guys were to attend our best buddy Praveen's sister marriage.
On the day of this yet-to-begin journey, after a good night's sleep I woke up at 5:30 am, slowly opened the door and walked up to the backyard to enjoy the fresh air. All of a sudden I caught a glimpse of this bird flying to-and-fro busily building its nest on the branches of the tree in the back yard. Whenever the bird flew to get some nesting materials, I instantly acted and used these time-gaps effectively to: get my camera-freeze- find a stool-freeze-stand on it-freeze-adjust the lenses-freeze-trial few shots-freeze-experiment aperture and zoom settings-freeze. FREEZE means - in the presence of the bird, I was absolutely still. The bird would have overlooked me as a stupid-statue erected close to the tree and its nest. Thank God, the bird did not think of landing on my head to pluck couple of hair for its nest (the statue would have yelled-out with pain) and while leaving as an adieu hit my scalp hard with its beak.
Without disturbing the bird, I clicked few snaps. I am providing here the best two Clicks for your viewing pleasure.
One when the bird was STILL and the other when the bird winged for a FLIGHT. That's my story of Still-Flight-Click. :-)
Friday, May 23, 2014
Delightfully Charming Flowers
"Do not linger to gather flowers to keep them, but walk on,
flowers will keep themselves blooming all your way"
- Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds (1916)
Place: Bryant Park, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
Date: April 20, 2014
- Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds (1916)
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Place: Bryant Park, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
Date: April 20, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
How Birds Cope with Cold?
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Chimney to the Rescue :-)
Place:Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu
Date: April 19, 2014
It was around 5:45am in Kodaikanal (hill station) and it was super cold. I came to the terrace of the lodge I was staying in, and happened to see this scene. These small birds were keeping themselves warm with the help of hot smoke ventilating from the Chimney.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
My First Video Assignment - A News Bulletin
During my MBA education at Dhruva College of Management, we, students were encouraged by our wonderful teachers to indulge in extracurricular activities. It includes forming clubs spanning from book enthusiasts, publishing a college newsletter, to presenting latest business happenings to our classmates and seniors. My class 2006-08 batch was called as Frontiers. We like-minded friends got together and decided to start a newsletter, Beacon - The Light. I strongly believe these group activities make learning more interesting.
We worked hard to get the first blueprint approved by our faculties. We worked very hard and Beacon -The Light first monthly newsletter got electronically published and few hard copies was circulated among students and professors. During the process, my newsletter team members thought of presenting the important stories of the newsletter (with additions) to our classmates. Kind of knowledge sharing exercise. So we planned once-a-weekly (Wednesday afternoons), a Power Point presentation, with news, and any special topic by our classmates will be presented to interested audience. We decided to call the club as Business This Week (BTW).
As a part of launching this BTW news presentation on Wednesdays, we wanted to come up with an impressive first presentation. I had an idea and discussed it with my friends. After getting an go-ahead nod from them, we put our plan in front of our professors. The idea was to shoot a news bulletin and present it to the class. After little persuasion, we were asked to try it out by our faculties.
I tried taking couple of video clips with help of my Sony Handy Cam (cassette tape version) at home and converted it into a soft copy using my HP laptop. I got familiarised with the technical aspects and was ready for the shooting. For the record, at this point, I did not have a clue about digital SLR cameras.
Seminar hall was allocated to us. In the mean time, BTW club members decided to work on researching news and compiled a final draft to be read in the news bulletin video. With very close friends and members of BTW, we shot the news bulletin.
The next day, we showed it to our professors. They really liked it and then the news bulletin video was shown to a class (with projector and nice white screen) with decent number of students.
I enjoyed working on this assignment with my BTW team. Here I am presenting the (i) 5 minute news bulletin and (ii) the Making video. Watch them and let me know your thoughts.
I would like to conclude this write-up with the names of my Beacon -The Light and BTW team: Ratnakar, Rajeshwar Rao, Santosh Arramalla, Sanjay Jha, Arafath, Anusha, Roohi Naaz and Naresh. The news bulletin is presented by Roohi Naaz and Naresh. Faculties who were our backbone in these assignments: Prof. Lokanandha Reddy Irala, Prof. Venugopal, Prof. Sharath Bhusan and our Chairman Dr. Pratap Reddy.
The BTW News -
We worked hard to get the first blueprint approved by our faculties. We worked very hard and Beacon -The Light first monthly newsletter got electronically published and few hard copies was circulated among students and professors. During the process, my newsletter team members thought of presenting the important stories of the newsletter (with additions) to our classmates. Kind of knowledge sharing exercise. So we planned once-a-weekly (Wednesday afternoons), a Power Point presentation, with news, and any special topic by our classmates will be presented to interested audience. We decided to call the club as Business This Week (BTW).
As a part of launching this BTW news presentation on Wednesdays, we wanted to come up with an impressive first presentation. I had an idea and discussed it with my friends. After getting an go-ahead nod from them, we put our plan in front of our professors. The idea was to shoot a news bulletin and present it to the class. After little persuasion, we were asked to try it out by our faculties.
I tried taking couple of video clips with help of my Sony Handy Cam (cassette tape version) at home and converted it into a soft copy using my HP laptop. I got familiarised with the technical aspects and was ready for the shooting. For the record, at this point, I did not have a clue about digital SLR cameras.
Seminar hall was allocated to us. In the mean time, BTW club members decided to work on researching news and compiled a final draft to be read in the news bulletin video. With very close friends and members of BTW, we shot the news bulletin.
The next day, we showed it to our professors. They really liked it and then the news bulletin video was shown to a class (with projector and nice white screen) with decent number of students.
I enjoyed working on this assignment with my BTW team. Here I am presenting the (i) 5 minute news bulletin and (ii) the Making video. Watch them and let me know your thoughts.
I would like to conclude this write-up with the names of my Beacon -The Light and BTW team: Ratnakar, Rajeshwar Rao, Santosh Arramalla, Sanjay Jha, Arafath, Anusha, Roohi Naaz and Naresh. The news bulletin is presented by Roohi Naaz and Naresh. Faculties who were our backbone in these assignments: Prof. Lokanandha Reddy Irala, Prof. Venugopal, Prof. Sharath Bhusan and our Chairman Dr. Pratap Reddy.
The BTW News -
The Making -
Saturday, March 1, 2014
My Photography: Birds learn from the sky
Finally, were set free!
Sun Bath :-)
The Rock Dove - Known for its homing ability
Saturday, February 1, 2014
LIKEs - A Short Story
It was a cloudy Saturday afternoon.In the balcony were seated Gautam and Sharath. Both have known each other since sixth grade. Their friendship grew, stumbled and by the time both finished schooling, it has attained the "best buddies" status.
Both are in college, studying third year commerce. They had couple of classes on Saturday morning and after that they reach Sharath's home. Sharath's parents were busy at work, so both the lads had the third floor second portion home to themselves. Now coming to the discussion which they were having on the balcony.
Gautam seemed troubled, finally sitting straight speaks out his mind, "Why anyone's face on FaceBook always as to be handsome or charming. I hardly remember seeing a pic that is ugly or someone in it crying. Until unless it is some kind of charity or fund raising stuff."
Sharath interrupting Gautam, "Macha, are you against FB?"
Gautam blinking as though searching for words regains the conversation, "My concern is not that, but the situation it has lead me into."
Sharath scratching his head with his finger, "I don't understand you dude."
Gautam resumes, "Is posting some body's birthday photo on FB a crime?"
Sharath nodding his head little bit as though he observed an important clue, continues,"I am not sure, where you are trying to lead this discussion. But, I am guessing it has something to do with Gomathi and her birthday."
Gautam giving Sharath a serious look: "Grrr...What you want me to do, give you an award or call you the Mentalist for guessing it right?"
Sharath composedly replies, "Calm down Gautam. Tell me exactly what has happened between you and Gomathi?"
Gautam responds, "Remember last week, on her invite we went to her home for the birthday celebrations?"
Sharath pauses with " I do.", then instantly pointing his index finger towards Gautam,"Did you do anything stupid there?"
Gautam face turns red and speaks in a loud tone, "Why on earth, friends instead of supporting their buddies, always go and vouch for the opposition?"
Sharath remarks, "Don't beat around the bush, just say what happened?"
Gautam continues, " I took few snaps on that day with my Black Berry phone and posted it on FB."
Sharath asserts, " I saw those pics. I even remember giving couple of LIKEs to them."
Gautam protests, " You did?"
" Of course, I did." Sharath replies, "Especially the one where her face was covered with cakes' icing. Hilarious"
"Coming to that. You know what, that is THE SNAP which is bothering me now."
Sharath inquires, "What's the problem with that, when I first saw it, I had a good laugh.".
To that Gautam babbles, "You know what? She is not angry with her friends for rubbing the cake's icing on her face. But the guy, who took efforts to click and post the snaps of her birthday on FB, is the person who is under attack now. Since then she is very angry at me and behaving in a weird manner."
Sharath chuckles and replies,"Now, I understand your situation."
Gautam complains, "She is not happy for getting 84 LIKEs for her current profile photo, in which she is like an princess in her ball gown dress, photo courtesy: ME, I took the snap, instead of appreciating me for the gorgeous profile pic, she is yelling at me for THE SNAP with the cake on her face. Although, I don't understand one thing."
"What is that?", Sharath inquires.
Gautam mumbles, "That particular snap with the cake on her face has got precisely 123 LIKEs"
Sharath bursts out with laughter.
"Really?", Gautam protests.
Sharath controlling his laughter questions, "What you are going to do?"
Gautam sighs," I don't know, she has asked me to meet her tomorrow at City Center, Subway"
Sharath cheerfully replies, " Good luck bro"
*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*
The next day, Gautam and Gomathi meet at City Center, Subway. They ordered one mini Sub Veg Delite and Chicken roasted salad. Both are comfortably seated on thick heavy iron chairs facing each other with food on the table in between them. This entire meeting is taking place on the terrace with a roof top, and cool breeze from the close by Marina beach is made the atmosphere more appealing.
The conversation, by the time both had the last gulp, gradually ended up in a heated argument.
All of a sudden, there was this silence.
Gautam started pondering and said to himself, "It was my mistake, I shouldn't have tried to tally the 84 LIKEs for her profile photo and 123 LIKEs for the snap with cake on her face. Now I have messed up."
Her eyes now avoided Gautam and shifted its focus. (Gautam was wondering whether she has already initiated the process of seeing someone else, before he could ponder further on this possibility, tears have already started rolling in Gomathi's eyes.) Then Gautam realizes that if further delayed it would lead to a cold war, emphasizing the state of "being hurt".
Gautam said to himself, "this cannot and should not continue..."
Finally, he gets the courage to break the silence, "Gomathi, I don't want to reason, who's mistake it was and how it started. It took a while to understand each other and know each other's comfort zones. Day in, day out, we would like to see each other. Today, I had realized that I have crossed the lines and have taken things for granted. Why don't you forgive me. I had decades of friendship in mind and you are trying to diminish the very thought of it."
Now for the first time, (post war), Gautam gets an eye-contact. It said to him, of course her eyes, cut the blah-blah, what is your point?.(For those of whom doubting, Can eyes talk? Yes, they can!)
Even though Gautam thought he was not totally responsible for the fight, he decides and says, "Forgive me."
Again a moment of silence.
Gautam understood now that without the sorry word, things will not have an impact. So he continues, "Gomathi, I am very Sor.."
She interrupts Gautam, "Don't, thats alright Gautam. When I saw the number of LIKEs the snap with 'cake on my face' was getting, it irritated me a lot. Its just that, I am little sensitive to these things. Anyway, let us not talk about it any further."
They chit-chat for some time and then call it a day.
Gautam walks to the Light House railway station. While waiting for the train, he becomes conscious of the fact that social networking sites have become a part-and-parcel of our life.
More importantly, he realizes that there is such a thing called as "Digital Reputation". May be, Gomathi was hinting at it ignorantly. The headlight of Chennai-Beach train interrupts Gautam's train of thoughts.
Gautam boards the local train and secures a seat near the window. The fast moving people nor the city's landscape outside the window catches his attention, because his mind is now occupied with Gomathi. The very thought of her instills a smile on his face. He pulls out his Black Berry phone, after a little bit of scrolling, he types. It is a post on his FB wall, which reads: "Its always complex to reason and explain. But, don't you worry, in true friendship and love, the balance is always restored."
Gautam gets 123+ LIKEs (actually 156! and still counting) on his FB page, for the above post. :-)
Image source:
http://hello-son.blogspot.in/2010/11/call-64-birthday-message.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chennai_City_Centre.jpg;
http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/chennai,station/Timeline
Friday, January 17, 2014
Worthy Attempts - A Short Film
The short film provided was a wonderful opportunity for me to work with my brother, Karthikeyan. I appreciate the efforts of "Worthy Attempts" crew for their support and interest. Pre-production work including storyboard and planning was a nice learning experience. Post production work such as editing and music composition really amazed me. (Note: Though it was made in 2012, the very thought of its making brings me joy. Hope the new viewers like it.)
Vasanth - Hey Mani, how did you write the screenplay for the short film. It is very complexly written...I am very impressed. U conveyed that it is really worth trying to help people. Help may be small or big..but it is always worthy...very nice team work. Expecting more. Good work from your team :)
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