15 March 2009

Gulaal

To my friends who invited me to play holi at their apartment. Thank you.. Documented on April 11, 2009. Holi. Gaurav - face covered in gulaal (From left) Sowmya, Mangy, Ankit, Gaurav, Prk, Payal and Manoj Mangled expression by Mangy ;) Yellow neck - Ankit Prk striking a pose for me! M for Manoj. Say hello to Mr. Birdie The Konkana Sen in real life - Sowmya Payal - the life of the party

07 March 2009

Notes to Myself - Part I

Let me give you a brief on how this post came about. A few days back, i found a facebook app in my inbox which demanded that I state 25 facts about myself to be posted on FB. The reason simply being that the sender(in this case, a friend) would like to know more fun stuff about me. I had decided that i will post it after i get the requests from a few more friends. Well, the requests never came. But it caught my attention nonetheless. I realised that i did have to think hard to come up with 25 notes about me. So here goes, some notes to myself.... 1. My mother tells me that i pee-d gracefully on my uncle's dinner table on the eve of his wedding with about hundred guests laughing gleefully at me. The video tape from that night is the earliest video record of my existence on this earth. Age 3. 2. The black fat teacher with the wooden scale gave me nightmares. I hated school. Age 7. 3. I was a thin, dark, sickly child. I used to pray to god to turn me into a dove (the kind i used to feed at the temple). Age 9. 4. I grew up reading Charles Dickens and Enid Blyton. I was one of the founding members of a (secret) 'Famous Five Fan Club'. I was scared of ghosts. Age 10. 5. I was excited about joining the boarding school. I thought, all schools would be like the 'Malory Towers' or 'St. Clares' i used to read about. Age 12. 6. I was part of the school band, youth festivals, singing, dancing and drama. I told my parents i wanted to quit taking singing and dancing lessons. Age 13. 7. I surprised everybody with my 10th grade results (including myself). I ranked third in the school's toppers list. Age 14 8. After two years of hard work, and a conscious decision to choose an unconventional subject for graduate studies, i sat in a class full of older students (with much lower grades) wondering why i had to work this hard if these folks could pay their way into college. Age 17. 9. Three years of short films, photography, journalism, internships and a few disappointments later, i struggled through a prestigious School of Photography to become a documentary photographer with no money nor bank balance, save a huge debt in my kitty. Age 21. 10. It took a lot of courage to write this down. It is hard to admit to the world, what you hate to admit to yourself. Age 21 - Age 23 (present) . To be continued.... To read Part II, Click here .

28 February 2009

Missing

People come, people go. Does it matter they were really dead or simply gone?

27 February 2009

Elgin Talkies

********For those who didnt know what/where Elgin Talkies is; I did this story for you. What/Where : Elgin Talkies. The oldest cinema theatre nestled in a busy street in Shivaji Nagar, Bangalore. I had first read about this theatre one lazy afternoon in a local magazine, and i instantly knew what my next story was going to be. A few days later, i found myself listening to the story of how a drama stage established in 1896 by Veerabadra Mudaliar survived the years to become the Eligin Talkies of today. "In 1915, we used to play silent movies. And then, in 1932, we showed the first Indian talking-movie, Alam Ara. Elgin Theatre became Elgin Talkies" said Mr. A. S. Krishnamoorthy, the current propreitor of the theatre and a descendant of Veerabadra Mudaliar. A. S Krishnamoorthy showing me some relics from the past (at his office). "When i took over the business in the 1980s, i upgraded the chairs to cushion chairs. One day i saw someone with a bag made out of the rexin material i had used for the cushions in the theatre. Quite predictably, the cushions were all torn in a months time." - A.S. Krishnamoorthy Narayana at his daily morning chores. He has been working at the talkies as a young boy. Bheja fry available here! 'New Star' Beef hotel opposite the talkies. Munna (operator) - Started working at Elgin Talkies as a 12yr old boy. Ramakrishna (operator) - Had been working at the talkies for 25 yrs. Rafeeq (helper) making little green pea packets for the snack shop. Meet Mr. Khan - The Manager