This is the pic of the famous Golden Temple ..... Damn the rain you will notice a slight blur the in the middle left corner. 

This is just a test blog. I was trying to see how Picasa`s "BLOG This" option fares...........seems pretty cool!!! 

Night Shots

Infite is the universe and if you ask what is there in that vast space...............all i can say for sure is DARKNESS.
I love darkness for it gives me a space..........light exposes everything, darkness gives me security..............light wakes up everyone and generates chaos, night gives me a serene calmness. In the morning, light engulfs everything, in the night, light can only cast shadows........ I like shadows for it gives me a sense of presence in this vast world of anonymosity. I like shadows coz unlike light it does not discriminate with you on the basis of colour...........it does not give you any false impression........no matter the light the shadows cast is always dark. It does not leave your side. And when the only ray of light also disappears you are engulfed by the whole space of darkness which is nothing but the shadow of the whole universe. You become one with the whole eternity.
I love the night time.

Dont worry..........have not become a sadist or anything alike........just felt like saying something and it just flew:D.
Well the crux is that I lately have been doing some night photography..........this time have divided my collection into some four parts. The first is my attempt to capture the beauty of the night sky, esp the moon. Rightly I have called it ECLIPSED.


The second part i have not been able to post because the pics are available in another Laptop, will do it soon. The theme for the second part is SHADOWS and one of my favorites.
The third are some two spooky scenes i was trying to capture in the night.........could not find many places and have not been able to travel lately too. The pics in this section are all taken in Chandigargh[;)]. Well bbut the place is a real beauty, wish i had some more time there. Will try to capture some more next time.
The last one is my attempt at Candles........and thanks to Anand for being such a patient recipient. I could not find a better name than radiance for this section.


ECLIPSED



Free is the moon and it shall walk the whole sky for it has been entrusted the task to light the dark. Many clouds shall pass but it shall radiate and fill the hearts with hope and clear many minds of fears.





Are the leaves trying to capture the moon or is the moon trying to fall in the arms of the nature. It does not matter to me coz whichever way you look at it, they both lose beauty without each other. A perfect example of symbiosis i would say.


For the moon is going into the clouds or emerging out of it is only a matter of judgement and state of mind:)



SPOOKY







Well to start of this was a wonderful theme water fountain ..... well no comments on this, just found it pleasing:)















This was a complete series of trees like this, no leaves and very hard trunk and a complete plaster like appearance on the top.......couldnt make a head or tail of it.........and ofcourse it was looking damn scary in the night, esp at 3am
















This was an abondoned car lying in some corner at some place.........really found it scary



















Well no big deal about this pic you would say............well yes, except for the lightning streak you would notice towards the top in the sky. :), well the time was 3am and it was raining heavily..........this pic was taken by keeping shutter open for 8 seconds. Night or day ...... you decide

This pic was taken by my new dear roomie Anand Prakash, well it seems the photography bug has bitten him too:)







This pic needs no comments .......... impeccable.
The calmness is what stirs me ......... This was my first attempt with candles and it turned out pretty ok.










Can be worked out as some NGO`s emblem..........protector of the light










Thanks again to anand for helping me out.........would not have been possible without him




The ripples in the flame and the radiance being reflected in the face. Some mystical/evil aura surronds the whole space




Disillusioned..........not liking the light at all........why has this radiance been enforced upon me. Let me hide in the darkness for the light from a mere flame is no answer to my errands



And here look at the contrast from the other pic........i simply love the difference. Notice the change of the whole ambience.

Introspective glance...........mind on the verge of a breakthrough. Eyes glancing at the flame and having a hint of enlightenment and hands trying to protect the flame which again is very sharp.


Well the difference of effects was achieved by increasing the exposure settings in the first pic a bit and changing the flim properties to tungsten film. Also the focus in the socond pic is on the flame of teh candle while it was the face in the first pic:)

And for all of you interested ppl (esp girls:P) the face in the picture is of Anand Prakash (and believe me he looks more spooky and drunk than he appears in the pic:D)

Life at the Crossroads

Just to set the context for this blog. I along with three of my friends Saurabh, Pulkit and Anand have decided to ditch our jobs and start an institute to train students for engineering and medical entrance examinations. This was last week of December and since then phewwwww its been a rollercoaster ride.

Initially I wanted to blog bout our intentions and reasons as to why we choose to do so, coz that was invariably what everyone was inquisitive about and quite naturally too. But if we just leave aside the reasons and ponder on the experiences we had during the last few weeks, well that would make for a better and more interesting blog.

Times sure are changing!!!

They say home is the best support ……………………… well, that is also the first foundation which wobbles when you produce some kind of Earth shattering news. It was an earthquake alright when I informed my parents about my latest intended Adventure. Needless to say they got an attack of fits when they heard that I was going to Patiala and start this. First, I am their only son (and lemme tell you the amount of pampering I get: I still don’t know how to press my clothes, and till 10th class I din knew how to tie my laces; those are just two facts) and secondly, them being native south Indians; if these points are not enuff, what got them even more jitters was that I was going to Punjab which my dad still refers to as Afghanistan( I mean Pakistan was also fine, but Afghanistan!!!), nyways this was what happened............frequency of phone calls increased 10 fold (which in normal times was also above the otherwise 'normal':D) and every time they used to come with innovative arguments to convince me that going to (Afghanistan!!) was not the best option. The best one was from my dad who said "Son u r young, if u quit job then u r left income less......do one thing, stick with the job, then do an MBA, which will help u get an even better job and then marry.........and then u`ll have 2 earning members in ur family, and then u can leave ur job". phewwwww

Well I would confess the most problematic part is that my dad is a CA and he has this tendency to analyze and quantify each and every thing............we engineers talk and think in logical terms............these people understand only numbers............if u can not quantify even a bit, u wont make any sense to them, u r dead.

Well as a reaction my frequency of b`lore trips to my home also increased...........well in my 6 months stay I din make so many trips to b`lore as I had made in three weeks.

Somehow I managed to convince them with a bit of Logical/quantifiable arguments added by a tinge of senti and philosophical bullshit. Well in the end u know that I`m their only son :D......u get the picture, right:)

With my parents done (well not exactly but to a manageable limit).........next came my (their) inner circle of relatives..............well I dont care a damn about them so din even bother to inform or convince them..........really don’t care. It’s me and my mom & dad, thts all I care............something which I’m criticized a lot about, but hey thts how I’m brought up, independent.

Now came my inner circle of friends..............and well they are gems..........I knew they would understand and they did.............suggested a bit, gave me pros and cons, helped me a bit in more introspection and ofcouse assured me that they r there. I would not be able to do nything without u guys, although i`m not very expressive in such matters but u mean a lot to me. Luv u ppl(everyone knows who they r to me, I need not mention ny name here)

Life at the crossroads is wht I have chosen as the title.

Coz I feel I was in at the crossroads...........there were many roads that lay in front of me and I knew just some things as facts. Till now I was traveling on a big highway and if I continue to follow that I knew where i`ll be going, what my errands would be, my future would be. Others were little obscure............some dark and as robert frost would have said, "the grass on them wanted a wear".
And that intrigued and titillated me............I love uncertainty, for it allows you to mould/remold ur self.

And well, I chose the one with the lesser claim.............may be if things may not work, I`ll return to some other highway at the other crossroad, but that was an argument to pacify my brain which was pinning me with all the pros and cons, positives and negatives.........and with each negative my body secreting more panic enzymes.

Coz in my heart I knew, tht I shall never return to the highway, because I`ll make a highway of that narrow lane, for others to follow; thts my endeavor.

Strange it seems for the human kind............but everyone has an ego, everyone wants to prove one right and in the process can go to any lengths.........Just to prove wht one did was right pushes u tht extra mile and makes possible a sometime seemingly impossible task.

I know that many people believe otherwise...........the same group who counsels you to do this and that and are the first ones to criticize when u fail.

Yes I want to prove them wrong...........yes I have things to prove to the world and set some examples.

Well, things seem funny when u r thru the process. I for one am still in the process.......I do not know if the road will lead onto ways........or just fade away into solitude & darkness. But what I know for sure if I lay here following the same path, I`ll regret all my life; whatIF I had taken the other road at the crossroads?

The experience so far has been pure fun.

Never knew if it was so much fun working for oneself. You are the master of ur destiny, of ur time, of ur fun. Having fun while doing it all..............infact learnt the meaning to the phrase" Work should be fun".

Yes I have embarked on my journey..............I’m loving it. Spirits are high, hopes higher and dreams soaring.

I previously worked in an office with a huge campus. Mine now is a 1600 SqFT floor. I used to have a free coffee dispenser by my side............here I have none. There was a receptionist and many security guards who opened doors for me and who smiled when I came in. Here I smile at the open empty room when I get in..............I smile at the prospect tht this room will one day have all those facilities and even more and a receptionist will be there and greeting me and whts more. She will be my employee............I will own all of them. I miss those huge lawns and buildings and flowers at my corporate office...........but I dream of creating a better thing for myself.

:) hhmmm

Following the highway as my dad says would have surely given me a life of certainty and that is exactly wht I resented.
I hate constancy........

I understand small things and many people have this notion that i`m too logical. But to tell the truth most of the BIG decisions come from my heart. I get influenced by small things which appeals to my heart.........and one of those is if u imagine urself 10 years from now and u look back and try to remember moments in your life, there should be things worth remembering. Crazy things perhaps, but there should be some!! C`mn man!!! wht will u tell ur grand children about.............

I don’t know where this will lead me; success or failure, but really who cares. For me this journey itself exemplifies success. For it pacifies my heart and one should always follow his heart.

Mind gives all the arguments, it takes into account all the factors, fears, social expectations, peer pressures etc. Heart understands small things, it just knows you and actually knows what YOU want to become.

Just follow your heart, do HELL with the world. And then, well as the Nike commercial says "Just Do It"

Well, :), hmm

Times sure are changing..........and I am loving every bit of it:)

My Valentines day Gift !!!

Boy what a Valentine this one was. For the first time I had an inkling of the possible feelings a lover gets titillated with when he/she decides to propose or give his valentine a gift.

The eternal feeling that this “is the most essential thing” and The whole purpose of your life lies in accomplishing this one task and that you don’t care if the whole world ends after that.

The bouts of fear with each passing or nearing hour ... u feel like u have spend 1 hr but find your minute hand deflected by 5 degrees ... the constant repetitions in your mind about what to say for the 1000th time or is it 10,000th? ... walking to and fro, practicing those lines and composing those utterly chaotic thoughts... drinking at least 5 liters of water and having gone to the loo 3-4 times in the span of 2 hrs..........deriving inspirations from different analogies of your brain ............... then encouraging oneself thinking what worse could possibly happen!!! And then sweating the very next second, thinking over the prospects of the worst eventuality.

=)), lemme tell you it was pure unadulterated adrenalin gushing fun!!!

Well the context my dear blog readers was not that I was going to propose some damsel (well I think it would have been lot simpler). I had actually planned to give my resignation letter to my boss :) and was having all sought of apprehensions and remorse feelings about this.

Well how did it end?

I went in, started telling what I had practiced, which was in no proximity to what I had actually thought upon. Nyways he had a blank expression and then started enquiring about my plans and then to my surprise started giving suggestions as to how you can improve it, told about some overseas opportunities in the same sector. BOY!!!

The best part was what he told towards the end. He said, "I would normally have counseled someone if he was not happy with the job or leaving because of internal issues, but you are young and are actually going to start something which u have thought upon since a long time and are passionate about. Counseling is required for those who I feel are confused but you are actually going towards what you really wish to do, you are going towards light, so I feel no need to give any arguments. I wish you all the very best and success"

One of the most enlightening feedback/argument we have come across. Kyon saurabh/pulkit/anand ??

Village trip ...

Me along with 3 friends of mine, Abhinav, Vasavi and Vivek, went on a village trip. The weather was perfect for the trip. HAd loads of fun with a slight drizzle throughout our outing. Pluged out dsugarcane and eat it (well atleast tried eating it). Believe me its tought to slice of the outer surface. There was also a river near the village where we went. All in all it was a nice memorable trip.





















Fields with different shades of green. Never thought you could see so many shades of green at one place.

A nice village Cow!!!





























The river ...









Some more pics I took while on the way ...