You might have seen the picture whoami where Jackie chan tries desperately to remember who he is. If they made a movie on me today (and someday they will), they could name it whereami.
Last week began in Mumbai, Mid week in Bangalore, Weekend in Kolkata, then a 1 day visit to Delhi. Most mornings I get up and try hard to remember where am I. I know that there are a zillion people who travel way more than me and across time zones. But for me this traveling can be painful enough.
I am a terrible traveler. For one, I hardly know how much luggage to carry and I am always freaked out that I'll miss my flight. Most early morning flights have me awake for most part of the night, afraid that my alarm won't ring. I know that most hotels I stay have alarm services but I have had some bad experiences with wake - up calls.
My traveling mornings start with waking up much earlier than necessary. Having a bath. I'm ultra hygienic and have to have a bath even if it's 4 AM. Then hopping into a vehicle and getting myself tele-checked. I generally have my breakfast at the airline lounges, unless my tummy isn't feeling too good and then I sleep my way through the flight. My moments through most major airports is almost mechanical and of course work is work.
I've probably met most of my close friends in India, I've seen most cities, maybe not had the time to sight - see. But all in all I'm having fyn except for the few mornings I wake up and ask myself 'Where Am I?'
- Pranay
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Where am I?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Shimla at Night
One of the best pictures I've taken. It's been taken in pitch dark with a high exposure time. The absence of a tripod caused the slight blur. The lit up line on the right side of the picture are multiple vehicles moving. The high exposure causes the line effect.
High exposure is always a good idea for still night pictures however doing the same in the day could affect ur camera's sensor. The camera I've used is a simple point and shoot Sony DSC - W5 camera. The beauty of the W5 series was the manual aperture and exposure settings which provide amazing pictures.
Luv,
P.R.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Religion and I
As kids we never realized we were different. Part of this credit goes to living in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai. My group of friends belonged to every religion and language you can imagine. In fact I never even knew what caste was till I had to fill a scholarship exam form in the 4th Std.
My parents were most broad minded in allowing us to choose whichever religion we wanted to choose. Which also for many years served as an excuse to not visit either a temple/church. Being a son of god-fearing (in fact god - loving) parents meant that we prayed each night. Being the younger one I must say it was my sister who inspired me to pray each night. There were also the good parts of getting sweets for Diwali and a Christmas cake along with gifts from Santa Claus.
Mom and Dad had this amazing belief in the Wednesday Novena at the Mahim church. Dad comes from this very secular Hindu family. My grandfather (Father's father) was extremely religious with a zillion photographs of Gods and Godesses across India. As a kid I loved watching all those photos. My grandfather Appa (as we called him) would bring us Prasad from the local temple and even very enthusiastically wish my mother on every Christian holiday. I still remember Appa wishing Mummy Happy Good Friday to which maa used to politely smile and nod her head.
It was in my first year of Diploma that my gravitation towards the christian church became stronger. I caught this strange little tummy bug which could not be diagnosed. At that point I was all of 67 Kgs and quite skinny. The tummy bug caused spasms which were quite painful and were a pain considering the work load we had.
It was one day when the pain was unbearable that I suddenly decided to go to church. It was a monday morning and the local church (Our Lady of Remedy, Poinsar) was closed but the caretaker showed me the small little chapel. I went to the Chapel, knelt down and prayed. The next morning my doctor suddenly called up and said that some culture test had thrown up some strange virus. It took 14 injections of a very painful antibiotic which finally cured me but at the back of my mind I knew that it was God. I went to church for a few days more and then conveniently stopped going.
I probably would have continued in my ways if not for a freak cricketing accident which caused me blackouts in my right eye. It was a very long and painful investigation which revealed that I had a retinal detachement in my right eye, had lost part of my vision and had glaucoma to boot. The treatment was simple. A surgery called sceralal buckling which like the doctor said had a 50% chance to succeed.
This was the second time that I turned to god. I did not get the surgery done and quite miraculously most of my vision has returned. I still remember when after 3 years I went to the doctor who was quite amazed. My retina is still detached, I occasionally get Glaucoma attacks but my vision has improved and all without surgery.
And today as I was sitting in church, I suddenly realized how much god meant to me. Over the years, I have quite a few times stopped going to church for days on end (I still pray at night). But each time I am in doubt, despair or have some difficult decision to make I turn to god and each time he has helped me.
Over the past few months I have been trying to make my visits to church more frequent. It's been quite a few sundays that I have been religiously attending mass. Not so much for the service but for the few minutes after that when I kneel down and thank god for everything that he has done for me. The happiness, the joys, the support and the love. Thank you god for everything. Please make me worthy of all that you have given me.
Amen.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
My nephew's first blog :D
- Ansh Upppor
- This was the result of him banging on my keyboard. He simply luvs that. Must say he makes more sense than me :)
Last trip back from K
Just received a mail from the alumni committee regarding an alumni meet at K which I won't be going to, frankly because I have met whoever I want to meet thanks to all my traveling around.
And then suddenly my facebook FlickR application suddenly throws up this picture which was taken during my last trip back from K. The last trip was with my parents and not the usual gang of Mayank, Manish, Muffu, Sundesh and Raul. But still the fun and sheer beauty of the journey from Kozhikode to Mumbai passing through what must be the most scenic route in the world made me long for the trip. The journey from Kerala to Mumbai included the greenery of Kerala, the beaches of Goa, the mango trees of the Konkan and of course the wada - pav of Chiplun.
Maybe someday the gang could get together for one more trip which could begin (or end) in the most beautiful campus of India
-Pranay
boating in the New year
Got this nice little picture from my camera phone on the first day of 2008. I had taken some other pictures using my Sony DSC w5 in the December of 2006. This one though came out much better. This is one of the most beautiful sights of Kolkata with the Victoria memorial definitely being another.
The funny thing is that this place is hardly 10 minutes from my office and yet I haven't managed to visit it for 7 months. It was Sandy finally coming to Kolkata that had me finally coming to Babu Ghat to watch one of nature's more beautiful sights.
- Pranay
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year
What the heart wants to say?
The warmth that touches your soul,
At the beginning of a brand new day.
One that promises success and happiness,
As life shifts into the next gear.
2007, you were a grand old lady,
But it's time to usher in an even better new year.
Wishing you and your family a very happy 2008.
- Pranay
