In Through The Out Door

Back Here Again!

2011-01-05T17:33:00.003+05:30

Its Quit Smoking Time again, so its blog time again!! Last smoke was on 30th Dec 2010; at about 3.40.

Things have changed quite a bit since ive come here last eh! No one seems to talk about blogs anymore, there is something going around called Facebook these days - the guy just sold off a bit to Goldman Sachs for about USD 500m, and they are valueing FB at $50B... by the way, my company Paras got sold off to..for $750m to Reckitt too!

Gonna be back tomorrow again, to write about my nicotine pangs...

To Dhaka!

2009-02-10T21:48:00.001+05:30

Thanks to my new job… started waking up in strange new places again! And this time I woke up at the Lake Shore Hotel in the Ghulshan area , Dhaka, East Bengal or today’s Bangladesh! It was serious work this time, so dint take my camera – so no early morning strolls, and no pictures folks!
Contrary to an average person’s perception of Bangladesh – a poor, dirty, generally flood hit, densely populated Islamic state… Dhaka seemed pretty much like Calcutta to me! Ya..all you got to do is may be add a couple of million people, import about 8 million Cycle Rickshaws, put grills to the driver side on the Auto Rickshaws and paint them green (dint figure this out…is this to protect the Auto driver or to keep him from getting out?)…horribly beat up Maruti 800s and call that a taxi, take out all the Indica’s, Hondas Marutis, etc and convert them to a used Toyota Corrolla ( every car in Dhaka has to be a Corolla), get people to drive up and down the roads and build a few more traffic jams and that’s it Calcutta could become a Dhaka! Yes, the Buses, Roads, and everything else can stay!
But seriously, I came back thinking Dhaka is a lovely place ( as lovely as any other Indian City) , and Bangladeshis are a lovely people ( much more lovely than any other Indian City).
Yes, of course, the country has serious problems – the economy is all about its farmers (who keep getting screwed as the countries over 50 rivers bloats up), or the Emigrant laborer or the Garment Factory worker. Therefore the protectionist government policies of licensing, high duties, etc (eg: Bollywood movies are banned on theatre screens to help the local film industry!). And this obviously means a heavily corrupted ( morning’s paper said that something like 65% of the government advertising budgets were spent on newspapers than merely existed on Paper- name only!), aid driven economy ( I think I saw more UN Type people going around in Dhaka than Sudan!) .
Yep, that’s evolution…and Bangladesh would evolve. One well travelled and well meaning Professor I met at the University of Dhaka said… “the world is no more about segregation..its about aggregation…look at the EU”. Maybe closer ties with India could really help the average Bangladeshi much more to start with!

Moved house! Again!

2009-01-25T10:09:00.003+05:30

Folks,
Last week we moved home again, possibly the 4th time in the last four years! Its been a week now in Ahmedabad! It sort of feels like the bright omens that lead the way in the Alchmesit...cause it was right here in Ahmedabad where it all started! My first brand, my first sense of accomplishment in working life! Attending JC meets at Shahi Palace hotel right opposite Vastrapur Lake, trying to convince the team that my new launched brand, despite all its screwed up product problems, et all, can sell! And over the months, and tons of work, got on to rock the brand till it hit 14% market share! And here i was right next door to Shahi Palace at the new job's guesthouse!

And Ahmedabad seems quite a fine place! My first impressions - Great food, Autos return change to the rupee!, it has all the malls that you want to walk about (but hell, they run Slumdog Crorepati instead of Millionaire though!), nice 1800 sqft apartments at 15k, ISO certified Pan Stalls (beat that?), no place is more than 5 min away, though people have all moved up from scooters to Cars, they dont seem to remember - cause they drive cars like a damn scooter, really good schools, great milk ( Amul here is a world apart from the Aavin that iam used to in chennai!).

Chennai Sangamam

2009-01-12T23:28:00.010+05:30

Great Idea, this Chennai Sangamam. As someone who'd lived in the chennai all along, never really had a chance to see the traditional / ancient folk art forms like therukoothu first hand. And here i was, at the Anna Nagar Tower Park venue - right in front, positioned beside the speaker ( to get front row shots) of the artists. The crowds were amazing..could have been atleast 5000 or more people. A great feeling of togetherness and celebration! Thanks Kanimozhi for the fun! Iam sure this will keep these dying arts going a long way.

And here are a few snaps from there....God..how i wish i had a faster lens and dint have to shoot at ISo 1400 - hate the grain.

Yama - The God of Death ; Chandraguptan his book keeper, right next.

Yama having a word with Shakuntaladevi (??)

Love the look from this part of the crowd!

Kapaleeswarar Temple

2009-01-10T23:05:00.012+05:30

Was at the the Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai, Tamil Nadu this evening, 7 month old S's first visit to the temple.

Based on the references in the hymns of the Nayanmars, this temple is to be a 8th century temple built by the Nayanmars. But the architechture of the current temple is not more than 300 or more years. The general view is that the original temple was built on the shore at the location of the current Santhome Church but was destroyed by the Portuguese, and the current temple (which is 1-1.5 km from the shore) was built more recently.

While there, couldnt wait to go and shoot some quick pics. The Gopuram (Tower, in Tamil) is such a riot of colours and details, a real pleasure to look through a 300mm glass. Here are some of the quick pics i shot this evening, ...but minus the Colour!

Save the Rajapalayam

2009-01-08T12:49:00.002+05:30

If you are Tamil, and a dog lover and you are 30 something or more, then you’d know the Rajapalayam is more than a sleepy town in Tamil Nadu. An Indian Sighthound, with a pristine white coat, pink nose, broad chest and narrow waist, this dog has been the associated with the Telugu migrant aristrocracy ( the Rajus) who had settled in Rajapalayam centuries ago.

Dog lovers flaunt their 4 legged friends and would obviously mostly try and get themselves the big breeds. In my days, it had to be the German Shepard, but I had friends who vowed never to have anything else than a Rajapalayam.

With rising apartments and Hucth/Vodafone dog advertsing, it seems to be the days of the Pug. So forget the Rajapalayam, even Dashunds and German Sheppard’s are not able to make it. Clearly they are getting extinct. KCI has started a “Save the Rajapalayam” project. Indian Post has even launched a stamp.

If you can keep a dog, do give the Rajapalayam a chance. I would. George Fernandes gave two – he’s taken two Rajapalayams to his Delhi house.

JalliKattu - Ban or Run

2009-01-08T11:50:00.007+05:30

Caught an article in the papers today – some obnoxious activists want to ban the Jallikattu tradition in Tamil Nadu. The Times of India has even put up a microsite http://www.jallikatu.com/ that has a debate going on – Ban or Run Fair.

To the un-initiated, its all about cruelty to animals, unnecessary loss of human life, wasted heroism, – “stop these mad caps running after these poor animals”. Fair. A huge animal lover myself, might normally say the same thing. But, there are some things that transcend such modern concepts such as “PETA” and that is History, Tradition, Culture, Myths, Legends, Generations, Pride, Belonging, etc. That’s the magic and irony of being human.

Tamils are a very ancient people – far more ancient that you might ever realize – remember it’s the oldest “surviving” language in the world. And this ancient sport of Jallikatu goes way back, before many parts of the world figured out how to say hi to one another, way before the Spaniards or the French or the South Americans started their famous bull killings that keeps playing on sophisticated channels like Discovery and Travel & Living, that many people travel half way around the world to see.

Rock paintings in Karikkiyur (40 km from Kotagiri, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, discovered in 2004) has several rock paintings, more than 3,500 years old, showing men chasing bulls. Jalli kattu or Manju Virattu (chasing the bull) gained popularity during the Sangam period (300 BCE to 300 CE), the game was also used to help choose husbands. Successful “matadors” were choosing as grooms – an idea that’s reflected even today in “rustic” tamil movies. The ancient Tamil tradition was “manju virattu” (chasing bulls) or “eruthu kattuthal” (lassoing bulls) and it was never “jallikattu,” that is baiting a bull or controlling it as the custom obtained today. In ancient Tamil country, during the harvest festival, decorated bulls would be let loose on the “peru vazhi” (highway) and the village youth would take pride in chasing them and outrunning them.

It was about 500 years ago, after the advent of the Nayak rule in Tamil that this harmless bull-chasing sport metamorphosed into “jallikattu of today. It exists till today, happening during the harvest festival Pongal. Wealthy villagers raise the “kangeyam bull” specially for this day’s event, transforming it into a village’s version of “Gallery Sport”.

So as long as the world is insane enough to still hold boxing matches in the Olympic Games, or continues to hold animals captive in incompatible habitats in Zoos, there is no reason why the poor Madurai villager alone needs to be told to go fuck themselves. So you crazy activist faggots go spend the energy on something more productive and leave the Tamils be. Instead, ask the Tamil Nadu (Tourism) government to own it, institutionalize it, in way that it becomes more sophisticated, more organized and with a frame work of rules and generally a little more acceptable to these pseudo meat eating animal lovers!

Digital Music and The Death of the Big Band

2009-01-06T11:04:00.000+05:30

The way we listen to music has dramatically changed.

Imagine, a Guns N Roses album being released a decade back. First sign you get of it is from a rolling stone magazine that you browse for free in some fancy book shop. The first moment of truth arrives when you get to see that huge fancy produced video on MTV! You long and ache until finally you get to see the CD or cassette sleeve in your neighborhood music store. You pay up, you read up everything the sleeve has to say and you listen to the damn thing a million times over. Even if you don’t like it, you still listen to it a million times over, ‘cause (a) you’ve paid for it and (b) you don’t have any thing else new to listen to! And eventually, you get to like it! And congrats, you are now a further entrenched fan, ready to pay for the next album!

As you will see, the way the commercials were different. The money made was from record you just bought. Rat eating and guitar breaking contests at gigs, merchandise, pretending drunk at award shows, music videos, radio airplay, interviews, hair spray photo shoots, etc were merely the promotion mix, to help to get the buy.

It’s a changed world today. You read of a new album in some website as you check your mail. In the evening, you download the album from a file sharing site, listen to it on your ipod as you go to work or play – giving the band exactly 1 minute on each song before you hit the forward! The band better make a quick impression, cause – there are few dozen more albums you’ve downloaded last night to fit your 80GB iPod.

Now, how does the commercial work today? Obviously not on record sales! What used to be merely the promotion mix, ie, Gigs and Merchandise, is today possibly the only source of revenue for the band! And this, iam sure, might soon evolve in a million ways. Just like how, we don’t pay to watch a TV program, music could even go that way. What prevents a Nike to pay and sponsor a new album from The Killers, in return for subtle advertising messaging in the music and or use of the music in their ads??

All this throws up a zillion new possibilities, opportunities and threats for musicians, depending on how you see it. For one, if you’ve got a good band going that plays great music, you don’t need for wait for that dream record deal anymore….simply reach out to fans at a lightning pace of 1mbps! Build a base, and play live gigs to make the money. (Listen up – Junkyard Groove!) But, on the other side, in today’s digital deluge, stickiness to music is hard to get, money is going to be harder to make – and never as big as it used to be! And if money is never too big, there will never be enough show biz and if there is not enough show biz, there will never big bands like big bands used to be!

Photos that changed the World/Saigon Execution by Eddie Adams

2009-01-05T15:23:00.005+05:30

This is the picture of police chief General Nguyen Loan executing a Vietcong prisoner on a Saigon street on Feb1st 1968. Some say this photograph ended the war! It immediately became the icon of the war's savagery and made the official pulling the trigger the icon villian.

Shot by American photgrapher Eddie Adams (won fame and a Pulitzer prize for this), he had served in the US Marine corps as a Combat Photographer before. The photo would haunt the General Loan, for the rest of his life ( apparantly, to Americans, the real villian should actually be the Vietcong who got shot - he had killed americans...yeah its ok to kill as long as its good for America) and Eddie Adams went on to apologise to Loan later. In his words "The general killed the Vietcong; I killed the general with my camera." Check his other work at http://eddieadamsphotography.com/

Photographs that changed the world/The burial of a unknown child by Raghu Rai

2009-01-05T14:03:00.005+05:30

The Bhopal disaster has no parallel in the history of mankind. It all began on the night of December 2/3, 1984, when 40 tons of lethal gases leaked from Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. People just did not know what had hit them. Many fell dead as they ran. Others succumbed at the hospitals where doctors were overwhelmed by the numbers and lacked information on the nature of the poisoning. By the third day of the disaster, an estimated 8,000 people had died from direct exposure to the gases and another 500,000 were injured. Today, the number of deaths stands at 20,000. Years after the event, Bhopal remains the worst industrial disaster in human history.

Despite the fact that there was a high possibility of chemical contamination, there were many reporters at Bhopal, Raghu Rai being one. In 2002, he returned to Bhopal to capture the continuing effects of a tragedy that occurred almost twenty years ago, thereby creating greater awareness about it.
Raghu Rai, awarded India's highest civilian award in 1971, is possibly India's biggest photographer. Raghu Rai for most, was with the Press having worked with the Stateman, the Sunday and the India Today untill 1991. Now, a Magnum photographer, his photos now appear in leading magazines across the world Time, Life, GEO, The New York Times, Sunday Times, Newsweek, Vogue, GQ, D Magazine, Marie Claire, The Independent and The New Yorker. Check his Magnum photos page
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R13L4PM&nm=Raghu%20Rai

Photos that changed the world/Bliss by Charles O'Rear

2009-01-05T13:42:00.004+05:30

Well, this photo dint really changed the world...but was pretty much the first view of the world for millions of people across. The default wallpaper for windows, this photo called "Bliss", this is a landscape in Sonoma County, California.

Taken by Charles O'Rear, photographer with National Geographic for 25 years, and now spends his time photographicing wine making across the world. Take a look at his pics at http://www.wineviews.com/portfolio/bio/index.html

Photos that changed the World / Mahatma Gandhi by Margaret Brouke White

2009-01-05T11:49:00.006+05:30

Mahatma Gandhi - to indians Bapu, the father of the Nation, the man of the Century, and the face on what really matters today - money!.
After returning to India from South Africa, he gave up wearing west styled clothing and started wearing Khadi. He and his followers also started advocating the use of homespun clothing. It was Gandhi's view that if Indians made their own clothes, it would be an economic blow to the British establishment in India. Consequently, the spinning wheel was later incorporated into the flag of the Indian National Congress

Picture shot by a New Jersey based photograper, Margaret Brouke White in 1946 while she was doing a story on India. She was also Life magazine's first woman photographer. Gandhi refused to be photographed untill she herself learnt how to use the spinning wheel! Which she eventually did. View some of her work at http://www.gallerym.com/artist.cfm?ID=17
Not to forget are her stunning images of the Partition of India. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/south_asia_india0s_partition/html/3.stm

Photos that Changed the World / Che by Alberto Korda

2009-01-05T10:49:00.008+05:30

The the iconic image of Che Guevara was created in March 5, 1960 at a memorial service for victims of the La Coubre explosion. Today a worldwide symbol of revolution and rebellion seen in T-shirts, Smirnoff Vodka ads, record sleeves and so on. Why, even in Chennai, South India ( far away from the Cuban revolution!) , in a local election propoganda ( with a local politician dressed in army fatigues including the star / cap!!).

Taken by Alberto Korda, a cuban photographer using a Leica M2 with a 90 mm lens, loaded with Kodak film. Check his other works at http://www.blythe.org/korda/.

Crying!

2009-01-04T10:08:00.002+05:30

It does look very heavy and powerful eh?? But, hey, my girl was just having her bath!

Trip to the Tiruvalleeswarar Temple

2009-01-03T20:06:00.006+05:30

Was at the Sivan Temple (Tiruvalleswarar ) near Padi, Chennai.
Amazing to see such ancient history right around our homes! This temple is said to be the 21st Thevara Koil in Thondai Naadu. Thevaram refers to the collection of Devotional Tamil poetry dated to the 7th and 9th Century. And, Thondai Nadu refers to north eastern part of Tamil Nadu, the home country of the Pallava Dynasty that ruled between the 4th and the 9th Centuries. Any which way you look at it, this is nothing less than a 1000 years old!

A 3 Tier Gopuram leads you into a courtyard that houses the temple. Unique is the semi-circular shaped Gopuram in the inside. This type of architecture is supposedly called Thoonganai Maadam in Tamil; meaning resembling the back of a sleeping elephant.

Not the greatest of Pictures ive got here...will try again!

JPG Mag is Dead! ITTOD is getting back to life

2009-01-03T20:01:00.002+05:30

Had never been regular to my space here for a while simply because of JPG Mag. It was a cute little photosharing site where i used to upload my pics and share comments. Well, starting the new year, they are officially winding up business...the economy has taken its toll, they say.

This means, In Through the Out Door is sort of gonna be getting back to life!

Using Flash in Photos!

2008-12-23T14:39:00.004+05:30

Its that simple!!!

Bird in the sky

2008-12-14T20:15:00.002+05:30

While toying around with my camera in our terrace this evening!

Chinese Democracy

2008-12-09T11:20:00.004+05:30

The view from my hotel room while at Shangai.... the city was filled with such sky rises...just that hardly any people to live in them! Not usual for a Chinese city you would imagine.... but the word has it Shangai is the 'showcase' city to the world and the'd rather keep it clean than busy! So, if you are the egalatarian china man...i hear you might need a permit to get in! That's Chinese Democracy!

(PS: Heard the new GNR album by the same name - guess the wager Dr. Pepper took on giving every american a free drink if GNR did launch the album in 2008 - maybe a better deal might have been - dare you to listen to Chinese Democracy - and id give a drink free!).

Not to forget, if you do go to Shangai looking for the romantic china you knew from the Hong Kong Kungfu movies - youre gonna be dissapointed - ofcourse, except for a ancient park in the middle of the city - the irony in this picture was amusing to me.

Mahabalipuram

2008-12-08T23:50:00.007+05:30

Set against the background of unfathomable sky and the boundless sea, standing as it is on the coast for a thousand five hundred years is Mahabalipuram (near Chennai, Southern India). Would have been there a zillion times before, right from the kindergarden to "beat it" singing (yep, MJ's!) school excursions and then to ''motorcyle diaries'' wannabe days from college! But, never felt like i did this time when i was there this time - early in the morning at the shore temple...the eerie quiet, cyclone skies, - truly humbling. Must tell you, the place looked so different from what i remembered - meaning it was so well maintained...guess the Unesco Heritage listing did help! Anyways, poor light, cloudy skies... dint really get that sun rise by the shore temple that i wanted to shoot....but then, these pictures dont look too bad at all!!

Greek Gods and India's Holy

2008-11-13T14:17:00.002+05:30

With a 4 year old around at home – we end up having a large “animation” tv diet at home. One such is a program called Greeka Kadhaigal (..Stories) on the Tamil kids channel – Chutti TV.

Every time and wife and I would sit down to watch it there was always a huge sense of déjà vu…God damn…doesn’t this sound like our own stories? In one episode there was this man with an elephant’s head ( psst…does this sound our own top of the pops Ganesha?). And the other day, there was this episode where there is a an argument a few gods were having about which is bigger – money, bravery or knowledge ( guys…if you’re Tamil, you will realize that there is this block buster mythological movie called Thiruvilayadal ( Games of Lord Shiva’s) you’d see exactly the same thing!) That’s when I got goolging around a bit and here was another potential Da Vince Code for the Hindus! Here’s some of that dope….
You’d of course know that Greeks ( Hellenism) and Indian ( Hinduism) had some of the richest mythologies. Both these groups existed around the same time, give or take a 1000 years….and there was a travel and interaction between the people – indo greek coins and architecture is for all to see . So, the point I am heading to is this – Did we get our religion from the Greeks? Ok all right…I hear the guys going wild –..did the Greeks get their mythology from us? (sounds better?) . Here are some thought starters :

Zeus & Indra : In Hindu mythology Kashyapa fathered the Devas (Gods). No…it does not include the triumvirate Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who are considered superior to the Devas. And the ruler of the Devas was Indra. In Greek mythology the Gods were fathered by Cronus. Zeus is the ruler of Gods just as Indra is his counterpart in Hindu Mythology. Indra and the other gods reside atop Mount Kailash while Zeus and the other Greek Gods reside on top of Mount Olympus. Indra represents Thursday in the days of the week. So does Zeus. Zeus is the God of thunder and lightning. So is Indra.

Good & Evil : Kashyap gave birth to both the Devas and the bad guys Asuras. Cronus gave birth to both Gods and the bad guys Titans. The struggle between the Good and bad is the central theme in both mythologies.

Bad Daddies & the Hero Son : Cronus becomes aware of a prophecy that he will be overthrown by one of his children. So, Cronus begins to swallow each one of his children as soon as they are born. When the sixth child Zeus is born, Rhea (Cronus’ wife) devises a plan to save the kid with the help of Cronus’ mother Gaia. Rhea secretly gives birth to Zeus and arranges for him to be brought up in exile. Later a grown up Zeus comes back to free his siblings and kicks ass. Now, Indian Mythology, King Kansa is foretold that the eight son of his sister Devaki would kill him. To avert this, Kansa imprisons both Devaki and her husband Vasudeva and allows them to live on the condition that they hand over all their newborns to him. Devaki’s eighth son was Krishna (a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu) and as Kansa had killed all their previous children, they arranged for the child to be brought up in exile and presented another newborn to Kansa in his place. A grown up Krishna later returned to avenge the death of his brothers and killed Kansa.

The Sickle & Parashuram : Perseus cut off the head of an evil woman called Medusa with a sickle. In Indian legend Parashurama cut off his mother’s head )because she had behaved improperly; and the weapon was called a "parshu" which means either an ax or a sickle.

The Vulnerable Hero : Achilles was the seventh son of Peleus and Thetis or Thea. Thetis had made the first six unnamed sons immortal by burning away the mortal parts in fire and then sent each one in turn to join the gods in Olympus. But Pelus interrupted her when all of Achilles was made immortal except the ankle bone. Peleus snatched the body from the fire and gave Achilles an ankle bone taken from a giant, but, since this came from a mortal, Achilles was vulnerable there. Another version of the story simply says that the six elder brothers died in the fire and that his mother made Achilles immortal by dipping him in the river Styx, but, since she held him by the heel, this was vulnerable and the cause of his death.
The Indian myth comes in two parts.
In the first the god Krishna was given a "boon" by Shiva who told him that he would be invulnerable if he covered himself with "frumenty", a kind of gruel. But Krishna omitted to cover his foot and eventually died when a hunter struck him there with an arrow. In passing we may note that no Indian "boons" (usually given by Brahma) allowed immortality, and that Krishna had elected to die and permitted the hunter to wound him in his foot.
The second story concerns the goddess Ganga who lived in heaven but came to earth to wed King Shantanu – who was Shiva – but on condition thathe never criticized her. And, before going to earth, eight gods known as "Vasus" who had been condemned to live on earth begged her to let them be born as her children; Ganga agreed to this and also undertook to then return them to heaven afterwards. Consequently, after each child was born, it was cast in to the river, died, and returned to heaven. But Shantanu came upon Ganga with the eighth child and prevented his death and return to heaven. This broke his agreement with Ganga and she left with the child who was named Bhishma and became a mighty warrior. Many years later Shantanu met Bhishma and granted him the boon of invulnerability so that he would not die except when he chose to do so.

Gayathri and Gaia : Tthe beautiful second wife of Brahma was called Gayatri; and of the other names of Brahma was "Varuna". The similarity between Varuna and Uranus is close….so is Gaia, Uranus’s wife to Gayathri.

Well, iam no expert in either of these mythologies...for one...dont remember any more of the Ramayan or the Mahabarath than that i read in the Amar Chitra Katha comics....but these snippets from the Web do make you think eh?

Create Buzz..but dont let the bee get away!!

2008-11-13T09:10:00.002+05:30

Been around in consumer products marketing business, working for varied kind of brands, management teams and brand collegues of all shapes and sizes. Some times, some places, ive seen Zillions of hours and energy spent on crafting strategy, choosing the segment so carefully, scores of Need scope style research projects ( guys...has some ever got a sane idea of what's happening around after theve been through a NEEDSCOPE (TM) study???) segmentation, umpteen brainstorming sessions on getting the big idea, all that fancy jazz! Yes, its all frightfully interesting and sort of feels good to do, but i think sometimes they forget why they are doing all that for - making money! Making money - in the sense - get your consumer to buy your brand - and get him to use it regularly. Doing all that you do...can you get the man on the street to shell out that 20 bucks for you? Have you put in enough money into the thing that youre peddling to make sure that the guy comes back to buy it another time for another 20 bucks? So... focus on the bee guys...buzz is merely a means!

The Angels

2008-09-21T19:32:00.004+05:30

Two girls who can really drive me crazy! You can see it in their eyes!

The Chinese Stopover

2008-09-21T19:15:00.004+05:30

Its been atleast a couple of months since i was at the chinese city of Shangai! Simply put it was another Dubai, sans the traffic!! Everything done upto HyperScales every where! Hardly had time to see around the city...but here's a couple of pics of some people in an ancient Park (i guess this is the only place in Shangai that looked "chinese" to me)

Junkyard Groove

2008-09-21T18:57:00.005+05:30

The first time i saw these guys was at the Desert Rock Festival 2007 in Dubai - opening up for Iron Maiden. They sounded good allright and had the crowds quite excited!! Surprise surprise to hear that they were from good ol Chennai! Heard them out from "almost on stage" at the YMCA grounds a couple of months back, a CanStop ( smoking) campaign show. Some pics from there. Would go and see them again~!

Good Marketing Practices - Back of Pack Instructions

2008-07-03T16:53:00.007+05:30

Good marketeers will always that the consumer is adequately informed on how he/she can enjoy using the product. They will always 1) Inform how to use 2) 2) Inform how not to use 3) Inform how else to use, if any.
Here's examples of Good marketeers

Untouched!

2008-07-02T14:10:00.005+05:30

A few from the Rani Shoot dates - never got to work on them....but i like them as they are....

4 KM in 27.45 minutes

2008-06-20T08:44:00.002+05:30

Its been a week into my third attempt to quit...so far very good again! My pockets are lighter, saved atleast Rs. 320, can smell my hair well enough to say that i need to shampoo today (!) and most of all, i feel much calmer and dont have that crazy knocking feeling ( it used to be around most of my day - anxiousness) in my head anymore.

Clocked 4 KM in 27.45 minutes (meaning an average running speed of 8.7 KM per Hr). Would want to start clocking 5 KM in 30 min by next week (would require avg running speed of 10kmph!) The world record by the way is a few seconds less that 13 Minutes...meaning an average running speed of 23.1 kmph !

Nicotine Junkies - Just one day at a Time

2008-06-16T16:56:00.006+05:30

Smokers didn't suck tissue destroying tar composed of over 4,000 chemicals including ammonia, formaldehyde, arsenic, butane, hydrogen cyanide, lead, mercury, vinyl chloride, methane or vast quantities of carbon monoxide into our body because they wanted to watch each puff destroy a bit more of their capacity to receive and circulate life-giving oxygen.
They did so to get to the nicotine.

Nicotine is a colorless, odorless, organic-based alkaloid in the same family as cocaine, morphine.
It is a super toxin and a natural insecticide that was sold in the U.S. as Black Leaf 40.
The lethal dose needed to kill a 160 pound human is 2-3 drops or about 60mg.
Drop for drop it is more deadly than strychnine (75mg), diamond back rattlesnake venom (100mg), arsenic (200mg) or cyanide (500mg).
Imagine 1mg of nicotine, the average amount delivered into the bloodstream by smoking just one cigarette, being sufficient to kill the largest rat you have ever seen (1-2 lbs.).
Is it any wonder that a recent study suggests that nicotine gradually destroys brain gray matter?

Except for the fact that , the type of high experienced and the fact that nicotine is legal, smokers are truly drug addicts, just as much as the addicts that fill jails and prisons across the world.

To break free from smoking, you don’t need mountains of will power. It takes following only simple rule - JUST ONE DAY AT A TIME , no nicotine in any form, Never Take another Puff, Dip, or Chew or patch of anything that’s got NICOTINE!

Thats what iam doing now - one day at a time, once again - recording my 3rd attempt to quit - Day 4 - Last Smoke on 12th June, 2008 at 8 PM.

Whats with the Oil Prices

2008-06-11T16:29:00.000+05:30

Someone said...finally beer is cheaper than petrol..so Drink! Dont Drive!
Here is my piece on what's driving these prices. The perspective of this "paper" is to give you a general, global macro idea, with one or two interesting pieces of data - good enough to make you sound intelligent while having conversations with the Office's Corner Room people . So here goes!
Oil Prices
Mid 80’s it was $25 per barrel; in 2005 it was $40 and then $50. briefly exceed $75 in the middle of 2006; per barrel maximum of $138.83 was reached on June 6, 2008. Sustained prices at these levels could mean recession similar to that in the early 80’s. Whats driving these prices?
1) Demand
a) World population is growing faster than oil production- by 2030, its expected to be double that of 1980.
b) Growing demand from establishing countries like China and India. Eg: China has seen oil consumption grow by 8% yearly since 2002, doubling from 1996-2006 (doubling rate of less than 10 years)

2) Supply
a) Limited amount of fossil fuel and remaining accessabile supply is consumed more rapidly every year. Remaining reserves become more technically difficult to extract and therefore more expensive
b) Political turbulence – problems in the middle east, Venezuela and west Africa (Nigeria)

3) Financial Speculation (This is the big one!)
Current world consumption of oil at 87 million bpd is far exceeded by the "paper market" for oil, which equals about 1.36 billion bpd, or more than 15 times the actual market demand. So you can imagine.

4) Effect of US Dollar on Oil
The price of oil is closely tied to the value of the US dollar because oil is traded in dollars. This has led to concern among some economists that the principal earned from the sale of oil may lose value in the long run if the US dollar loses real value.

Sounds so "economiksy".... and it looks good on my blog! i love it.

Joel & His Magic Box - Making Product Window's work

2008-05-21T13:33:00.001+05:30

You've seen advertising films - and youve seen nice depictions of the product and the lovely ingredients that go into making it.... and the beautiful ways in which the product works.
Well, reality might not really be so flattering. But thanks to a few guys...who do make it look good.
Here's a guy who specialises in just that! Called Joel...but film directors call him the Contraptionist (!) and he is most likely to be on most ad film sets in mumbai!
He walks in Shorts (always!) and tight polo that outlines his a little not so "fit" waistline , and a couple of flunkies and a large box full of magic tricks. Wanna make juice ooze out a lemon, or get 1/4th moisturising cream to form a cute soap or make tri coloured toothpaste come out of a tube in style or just have water come out of a shower in a nice timely and organised manner....he can make it all work!
Here is Joel and his team working on a Single Neem leaf look good on screen. Next time you see another boring ad with another boring product window - you know a few guys make a living out of it.

Rani Mukerji!

2008-04-14T17:06:00.000+05:30

Been a while since i wrote in....been quite a few whirlwind days though.... back in good old chennai from Dubai to start with.

Got to work with a big time celeb on a TV campaign - first time! We got a great film and ofcourse shooting with bollywood photographer Daboo Ratnani was fun! More about the film, and "making" pics later....but there a brand new campaign coming up...and here's a preview!

Global Village - 2

2008-01-24T13:31:00.000+05:30

Here are some more pics from the Global Village Jaunt!

fireworks at global Village

2008-01-22T14:35:00.000+05:30

Stopped over at the village fair (dubai calls its fair the Global Village, a conglomeration of exhibits from across the world) and shot a few pics.

Here is my first attempt at mergin two of them - a nice moon and a pic of the carnival.

Messiah of Peace, Mr. Bush & Our Business Review

2008-01-16T16:18:00.000+05:30

Mr. Bush was out in Dubai as part of his middle tour - central theme being - "now lets go screw Iran + hey, my god damn Fuel bills are climbing". Ok, thats him doing his every job and earning payday - so iam easy. UAE on the eve of the visit, annouced that wed rather not have Bush busted out here and therefore we are going to close down all major roads, so you people stay home, enjoy a holiday. Take a look at Sheik Zayed Road - all clear!!!!

For poor me, we had our big review meeting scheduled that couldnt be cancelled and had to spend most of my day waiting at the venue for the rest of the team to arrive - they never did (these guys drove up and down town for a three hours trying to find an exit from bur dubai with no luck! even tried the abra!). So we had to scrap it and reschudule to the evening when the roads had opened up again!!!

The Failed Light Chase

2008-01-15T11:23:00.001+05:30

Was out again early in the morning to the Dry Docks to catch some morning light again. But, nothing worth writing home about.

Here was a couple of them from there.....

Portraits on the Run!

2008-01-05T12:00:00.000+05:30

A really spontaneous picture - thought it looked quite nice?

One for the Record

2008-01-03T10:02:00.000+05:30

My last quit smoking attempt failed miserably after about 10 days. Biggest learning - never take that "one cigarette". This is to just record my 2nd attempt at quitting - my last cigarette so far has been on 30th Dec 2007.

Dubai Dry Docks - Reprise

2007-12-08T12:03:00.000+05:30

The left overs from the Friday Dubai Dry Docks date....

Dubai Dry Docks

2007-12-08T09:39:00.001+05:30

This is a quiet corner that you could almost miss - its right beside (below really) the Business Bay Crossing. Took me ten minutes to get there on Friday Morning. I really like some of these pics ...think i am getting a little better.

Dawn slipped in

2007-12-04T16:27:00.000+05:30

One more from the UAE National Day Photo date! Dint mean to shoot this - was a random test shot to assess light - but with a bit of touch up, this missed "dawn" looks pretty cool.

The Dubai Labourer

2007-12-03T15:54:00.000+05:30

There is enough written dope about how the labourer sweats it out in inhumane conditions to make a meagre $250 a month in Dubai and how they have not been given their due in this success story. Check out the newyork times story on this....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/world/middleeast/06dubai.html?_r=1&ex=1187409600&en=a450487ba58cf8f5&ei=5070&oref=slogin

Well, the other day i was asked to speak to a few guys from near Thanjavur in TN - possible unskilled labour recruits for our factory ( was the only guy in office to speak tamil - so i was doing the "tele-interviews"!) but damn - here were 6 or 7 guys who were living with their 4 or 5 member family at about 1500 bucks a month!! Damn "inhumane conditions" - if these guys got here in Dubai - here will be another 4 or 5 families who might live a decent life and have a reasonable future.

Here is a picture of one such labourer starting his day - near my home. One of them treated with some SFX!

The Burj

2007-12-03T15:34:00.001+05:30

What's a wanna be photographer living in Dubai without his own pics of the Burj al Arab!!! Well, here are mine taken on the dawn of the 36th UAE National Day. Kept rushing myself with the thought that the early morning light would go away ...dint think i did justice.

Dubai Metro Project

2007-11-25T11:32:00.000+05:30

Now thing that many living in Dubai are looking forward to is the Dubai Metro - seems to be coming along pretty well.

One of the officials had quoted "its going to be luxurious by Dubai Standards" - i can get the picture!!! Its to be the largest driverless automatic system in the world...

Some pics from the wip - but one big question thats on everyone's mind - whats gonna take us from home to the station and back?? ( Some one was talking about a Dubai Version of our good old Auto rickshaw!!)

Sipping Tea

2007-11-19T10:16:00.000+05:30

Drugs, Sex and Rock and Roll!!! You know the picture- the bad boys rocking?

Well, this man likes to drink Tea during his concerts!!!! Here's Mark Knopfler and his guitarist Richard Bent (? i think) in the middle of a concert!

Shop Windows at Dubai Festival City

2007-11-11T18:15:00.001+05:30

Been a while since ive been shooting!!! Here are a few that were done (not so painstakingly, nevertheless quite fine) while on a shopping trip to the Festival City, Dubai

Aging Rockers and some cool new music!

2007-11-05T16:03:00.000+05:30

Its been a while since i bought any new music.... i was either rebuying or (downloading!!) albums that i had worn off listening to or they were just convenient compilations of stuff that i like. Dint quite like some of the new bands and the bands i liked just dint seem to have it these days.

But, some refreshingly nice new music in the scene now......

1) Mark Knopfler : Kill to get crimson - Knopfler was God to me until i got so damn bored with his mournful style in all his solo work. But, this 2007 release is a real gem! A complete experience with characters, places, moods, emotions. Top of my charts!!

2) Bruce Springsteen : Magic - The last i heard Springsteen was when i had bought Ghost of Tom Jods. You know, rockers age and they try and make their music mellow and more "musical" and stuff and bore the shit out of you? Well, Magic is exactly not that - right out of his 80s superdom days! Really really cool album .

3) Robert Plant and Alison Krauss : Raising Sand - Well, this album is exactly what i normally dont want my favorite rockers to do - going mellow and doing pseudo "musical" stuff! But this
so Not "whole lotta love" Robert Plant's collaboration with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss is really nice. I just love the cover photograph...serene, calm, minimalistic, beautiful . A picture thats so apt for the music inside.

4) Eagles : Long Road out of Eden : We needed to wait since 1979 for this album eh?!! Ok, but its a studio album from Eagles at the end of it. There are parts where they sound like it was right out of the "hotel california" days but its mostly mellowed down. Worth it i guess.

5) Bon Jovi : Lost Highway : Hey remember when Bon Jovi used to matter? Me Neither!! But, you know, i think i just keep buying this ( i bought this one; no download!) for old times sake. Not worth it.

5) Megadeth : United Abominations : Dave Mustain likes his rock hard and fast. And i like it that way too!! No changing these guys - worth it if you are a Megadeth freak. And i like the name of the song "Amerikasthan"!

Photography is hard work indeed!!!!

2007-10-27T12:35:00.001+05:30

Some really cute pics of people taking pics!!!

Brylcreem - Get the Looks!!

2007-10-27T11:55:00.000+05:30

Bryl-creem, a little dab'll do ya, Use more, only if you dare, But watch out, The gals will all pursue ya,-- They'll love to put their fingers thru your hair. ... The classic Bryl jingle from yesteryears.

Brialliantine and Cream and therefore Brylcreem was a brand was created by Chemico works in England in 1928. ( Chemico works used to make kitchen cleaners, the last i heard of Chemico Works was a few weeks back - the Chemico brand was owned by a third generation indian in South Africa!) It was particularly popular with Royal Air Force pilots who became known as the Brylcreem Boys.

The brand itself had been through numerous hands including Smithkline Beecham, finally landing up with Sara Lee. ( i had managed the brand for a couple of years!!!)

Big names have been featured in Bryl's advertising. Sara Lee had signed with David Beckham for some really grand bucks and before full lenght advertising was to go on air, David went and shaved off his hair!!!

Much before Dhoni went to feature on Bryl ads in India - it used to be ...guess who...Kishore Kumar!!!

Growing up years brands!! Vintage Indian Advertising

2007-10-27T11:41:00.000+05:30

Its been a while since ive written in! Here is a post that one more reason for this blog to stay alive.... a collection of brands from the yore...things that id grown up on.

Niel Pert, Rush and the Buddha

2007-09-25T09:36:00.001+05:30

Niel Pert of Rush had picked up Harish Johari's painting 'Leela, The Game of Self Knowledge' as cover art for their new album Snakes and Arrows.

Leela (Hindi for 'the game') was at least 2,000 years old, and had been created by Buddhist saints and sages as a game of karma-like many games, a metaphor for life...The Leela player rolls a single die, said to be affected by his or her karma, and moves around the board. Each square on the grid represents a stage of consciousness or existence, and the player is raised to higher levels by arrows, and brought low by snakes.

The children's game 'Snakes and Ladders' (sometimes called 'Chutes and Ladders') was adapted from Leela by the British during the 19th century Colonial period. After that, the original game almost disappeared-apparently only two gameboards existed in India when scholar Harish Johari revived the game and brought it to America in the 1970s.

Talking about the album itself "this disc is really an instruction manual for how one conducts themselves with grace and hope through unendurable pain and the vagaries of life". Well, ive had two to three listens so far....seeming to quite like it.

GMR Sucks!!

2007-09-24T12:37:00.000+05:30

Iam a hard core patriot! Not exaggerating, but one of the reasons i took up this Dubai job was because i thought here was an Indian company in foreign soil doing business - much like how a Brit might have felt working for East India Company! So, this note is more a " feel bad" thing.

Now to the point - was in Delhi recently on a business visit. Ya, things are getting better and there is a emerging Indian, middle class is growing, shopping malls everywhere and all that! But god damn it - i was still taking a damn Cycle Rickshaw to travel from my Guest House to the Office everyday for the 4 days i stayed there - off delhi in Ghaziabad.

Now to the real point!! That's the state of our infrastucture and particularly the Indra Gandhi International airport, Delhi. It sucks big time! Was early to the flight ( 5 hours instead of the regular 3 before the flight; my eagerness to get home i guess). Dint find a place to sit at the lobby - no chairs - dint bother me - so drew a luggage trolly and sat on it in a corner - next to a garbage can - we are like this only. (PS: The garbage can was because that was the only calm clearing around, in case you were wondering "weirdo"!) Was reading a book when this guy come near close and plonks a sandwhich into the bin and says it loud "shit - its fucking terrible" - a whiteman - obviously not liking the Coffee Day sandwich.

Looking around then did i realise what the airport was- a museum of 1970's collection plastic tables and televisions, a shop selling coffee , a medical shop that will not have benedryl, a kashmiri handicrafts store that also carries about 12 second hand books ( thats your book shop by the way), a few other completely useless things like a Yo China food place that just serves just pepsi, and loud boarding announcements for entertaintment, maybe a few roaches to kill if the boarding annoucements bored you. Truthfully, post immigration, maybe its a little betterm but then what with the immigration ques, youre not going to get there untill half hour before youre flight.

And what got me was the lousy advertsing/banners ( id kill that agency that did it) of GMR that said cute things like "better lighting coming up"; "bigger smiles coming up". I had looked up Wiki and this is what they had to say " Delhi Airport has been going through major upgrades since Fraport, Airport Authority of India, Eraman Malaysia, and GMR Infra. have been granted the contract to manage and build the airport over a 35 year time". 35 years pal; hear that "35 years" - i guess GMR is on schedule!!

Cows in the Middle East

2007-09-15T13:04:00.000+05:30

Would not do this but this is a gem ...its a lift from http://xnegvx.wordpress.com/tag/dubai/ !

The cow system in Middle East

DUBAI SYSTEM:
You have two cows. You create a website for them and advertise them in all magazines. You create a Cow City or Milk Town for them. You sell off their milk before the cows have even been milked to both legitimate and shady investors who hope to sell the non-existent milk for a 100% profit in two years time. You bring Tiger Woods to milk the cows first to attract attention.

QATAR SYSTEM:
You have two cows. They’ve been sitting there for decades and no one realizes that cows can produce milk. You see what Dubai is doing; you go crazy and start milking the heck out of the cows in the shortest time possible. Then you realize no one wanted the milk in the first place.

BAHRAIN SYSTEM :
You have two cows. Some high government official steals one, milks it, sells the milk and pockets the profit. The government tells you there is just one cow and not enough milk for the people. The people riot and scream death to the government and carry Iranian flags. The Parliament, after thinking for 11 months, decides to employ ten Bahrainis to milk the cow at the same time to cut back on unemployment.

KUWAIT SYSTEM:They do not have cows. Milk is imported since no locals can or would milk a cow.

SAUDI SYSTEM:
Since milking the cow involves nipples the government decides to ban all cows in public. The only method to milk a cow is to have a cow on one side of the curtain and the guy milking the cow on the other.

OMAN SYSTEM:
You have two cows. After a huge public speech in which you declare cow milking as a landmark initiative and appointing a new government body in charge of cow milking. You first spend a year doing nothing, then you spend 1 year on planning to milk them properly and safely, another one year to get the proper ministry approvals to milk them. By the time you actually get around to milking the cows, the cows are dead.

LAMBORGHINI MURCIÉLAGO

2007-09-15T12:39:00.000+05:30

This is what the Lambo MURCIÉLAGO looks like! What with its Carbon Fibre and Steel body, 12 Cylinder, 6 litre, 420 bhp, 330 kmph top speed - it will put you back by at least $350,000!

And, if you happen to be driving it in Dubai, this is what it can look like!!!

experiments in film

2007-09-09T11:21:00.000+05:30

A collection of my pictures of people - called Portraits. Put them together with Window movie maker and added Right here right now by Van Halen (though would have liked something more poignant) - results quite pleasing for a first timer!

Accra Action!

2007-08-27T16:21:00.000+05:30

Shot a lot of pics as promised! But all of them were on just on the shoot location, so i really couldnt get much of the city except the flag right outside the hotel. Really dint go out at all!!

The director of photographer at the shoot was Bob J. An ex london cop ( he used to film crime locations!) had gotten back to his home town accra and started working in films. Really swell guy - got a smile exactly like Eddie Murphy. Of all the things that we spoke about i loved the bit of history he gave me about OSIBISA! Remember them ? The axeman was from Ghana.

My favourites from what i shot... i think the small boy, Nigel, is adorable.

In Accra, Ghana

2007-08-17T23:56:00.000+05:30

In Africa again! This time in the West of Africa - Ghana. It used to be a hub of the Slave Trade, a country which was once lead by Nkrumah.

My first impressions - a nice african country - people are friendly, the place looks clean, nice english style houses and seems hell of a lot patriotic....the Ghana Green, Yellow and Black flag colours everywhere. Hooked up at a place called Alisa Hotels for $125 a night - steep by Indian standards for similar kinda hotels, but not a bad place.

Making a film here for new soap that ive been working on for Africa. This , if my memory serves me right, is my 12th Film! But this one's is all so different. To start with there is no Advertising Agency. Ramesh( a third generation Indian in Ghana), the Producer and I jammed up and got the script and everything to dowith the film. No pre production meetings with everyone on the brand, no production schedule breakups and all that jazz. Hope this funny experiment of mine works!

Iam carrying my Camera this time; hope to catch some pictures.

Starting up on life

2007-07-15T18:33:00.000+05:30

Today was Eesh's first day at school. Anxious and cranky, i had lost sleep at 4 AM thinking about this. Finally, my wife and i took her to this preschool, got the registration and stuff done, and left her to play for about half hour. I saw her do two rounds of "Ring around the rosie" with the kids around. Felt all goey a bit and now, i cant but think of this Bob Dylan song - could have been written by me for Eesh if i was a poet!

This is to Eesh :

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young.

The flight

2007-07-12T10:09:00.000+05:30

Been a while since i touched my camera! Thought id give it a small break..... will be back.

Meanwhile, a few pics that i took on a flight i forgot to upload.

7 Days and Done with it!

2007-07-07T09:42:00.000+05:30

7 Days gone and i think im done with smoking for good.

No, it was not about will power or dependence on nicotine or anything like that. It was merely a decision to quit. For most smokers, there is really no good reason to decide to quit. To a smoker, the threat of cancer, etc is really not there - "its a chance that it might happen, and when youre smoking, the chance is just higher. Also, the chance of you dying is anyway much higher when you are driven back home from work, so do you stop driving?" So, there is really no compulsive reason and therefore, though the smoker gives up for a little while, he really sees no point in continuing - vague long term benefits as against a very pleasurable experience here and now. Thats why quitting attempts fail.

So, you think about why you should quit. Mine was rock solid - i dint want to create that "chance" that i might die - cause my wife and kid really needed me.

Day 4 and very stressful

2007-07-04T15:33:00.000+05:30

Its been four days.. and possibily the first time iam feeling a bit of an urge. But fighting it. Guess more than the smoke, it the idea of getting a break from the routine that kills. But a few minutes of killing time is for sure not worth the payoffs!! check the pic.

63 hours and feeling great!

2007-07-03T11:14:00.000+05:30

Been hanging in there really strong. And feel great about it....ive had none of the smoking pangs so far. Apparantly, my nerve endings will start regrowing now and my ability to smell and taste improves.

39 Hours and Going Strong!

2007-07-02T09:32:00.000+05:30

Been a while since i dropped in here. In fact i had so much to write about Sudan as well, but did nothing of it.

And yes, its been 39 hours since ive had a cigarette! And this time, its going to be quits for good. Iam using a bit of help from Novaratis - their 2 mg nicotine chewing gums. When the desire really bites in, the gum really helps.

1) They says that by now my heart rate and blood pressure levels drop and the carbon monoxide levels in my body gets back to normal. Good! Looking forward.
2) Yesterday i did 4 km on in 29 minutes on the tread. I guess in a week, i should be able to make 5 km in that time!
3) My lips and skin feel softer.
4) I feel much calmer and less stressed that normal, low anxiety and am able to focus better.
5) Thought i got a little constipated. Dont know if its because of the kinda food ive been eating or my quitting.
6) And my wife is going to love me for this!

My folks are coming back after a 40 day vacation in Chennai.... am i excited!

Travel to Sudan

2007-06-14T17:52:00.001+05:30

Beer

2007-06-02T14:56:00.000+05:30

This looks quite cool eh?

Drive down to the desert

2007-06-02T13:52:00.000+05:30

Have been trying to put together a series of pics for my "Visions of Dubai" project. Drove down the Dubai Oman Highway... 40km into the drive and here's what i got. Some of the pictures seem quite nice. You guys think im getting any better?

Walk after dinner

2007-06-02T13:13:00.000+05:30

Had dinner at HSBC ( Hotel Saravana Bhavan Corporation! for those non chennaites) and decided to walk down to shoot and practice a bit.

The mosque just a few blocks away from home at Gusais looked nice and scenic and the road calm and quiet- perfect! So went and set up the shot - tripod and all that jazz! Two minutes into this, the prayer call went off and in just about a few seconds i was completely surrounded by landcruisers with men in kandooras giving me cold stares. I decided to sit by untill prayer was over. It dint take long.

When it was more or less quite again, this man (pictured right on the top) came up to me.

Man : For whom are you shooting pictures? (Rude)

Me : For myself, its a hobby. And the mosque was beautiful.....

Man : Are you a muslim? ( Even Ruder)

Me : (Shittin and hoping this guy was not going to grab my gear) No. Iam a hindu.

Man : Do you know about Islam? (Rudest)

Me : Not much, but you know ive read a bit here and there and all that stuff!!!

And then he went on to give me a ten minute lecture about Islam and its true meaning and that its not about terrorism and stuff. And then gave me his business card.. "feel free to call me for anything.." Sweet. He is Manager Billing Services at Dubai electricity /water by the way.

Anyways, the pics of the evening.

Havent you done kids yet?

2007-05-28T17:30:00.000+05:30

Extend lifecyle blah blah...latent need....Different segments.blah blah...leverage existing equity...create buzz blah blah...innovate... do Kids Version!

Havent you done that for your brand yet?

Is this called Wild Driving?

2007-05-28T17:18:00.000+05:30

This must be cliched to guys living in Dubai but this is my all time favorite photograph.

This was featured in Gulf News - a finnish lady back in dubai on vacation had taken this picture - car driving on Sheik Zayed Road ( possibly the busiest 6 lane roads in the world!), near the Mall of Emirates ( you can see that in the background).

And yes, the cute guy peeping out is indeed a TIGER! So much for protecting the endangered species.

The Grey Nissan Maxima S Touring and the Emirates Road

2007-05-26T17:24:00.000+05:30

I drive the Nissan Maxima. Made in 2004, it has a 3 ltr engine, is grey in colour, with a nice sounding model name 'S Touring'.

Not a exceptional looking car, I bought it without any research, from a Used Car Dealer(!), no service history, it had already done 90K on the odo, and the insurance guys definately did not like it! And worse, a couple of days back, when i had popped in to the company service station for a service, they checked the chassis number in the data base and went " you have a really bad car! (no, he never inspected the car) This car was owned by Budget Car Rental Company and they have serviced it just once so far!

Not that iam unhappy with it - i think the Maxima is really great. But, why did i do what i did - bought myself a Maxima in a hurry?

Well, in the first month in Dubai, i had rented a car to travel from my home in Gusais to work in Jebel Ali. A 56 km stretch through the legendary Emirates Road, i had chosen the fine Toyota Corolla to do it. Things were pleasant, except that the moment i decide to try the fast lane (the middle lane was awfully slow and would take you 30minutes more to get home), there was this huge car 2 cms behind, flashing lights like lightning suggesting i give way. I would have loved to, but the poor Corolla could never ever understand my hurry.

At that time, i thought it was an unwritten rule that the fast lane was meant for real cars (the Landcruiser ruled!) and word got around to me that the Maxima commanded a lot of respect, especially with the tailgating fraternity.

Today, driving down the Emirates road with my grey Maxima S Touring, i still get the same flashes the moment i get on to the fast lane. But, then my maxima knows to get out of the way like hell!!!

Jammin at Festival City

2007-05-24T21:45:00.000+05:30

With Suji and Eesha back in Madras on vacation, here was lonely me walking around this new mall - Dubai Festival City.

A really lovely place this - The water from the creek has been roped into the corner of the mall ( called the canal walk), with nice restaurants and walk ways . They even have a abra doing small rounds for you.

Yesterday there were these couple of guys ( all part of the show there to rope in crowds; not many have bitten so far) playing guitar. Patrick ( i think...) doing lots of Dylan, Mr. Johny Cash, the Doors and Bob Marley as well. That was one real nice and quite evening. Some pictures of the musician. I really love this, except wish there was less noise in the pictures. Guess i need to figure out how to work better with the large 70-300 mm lens.

A boat (abra) ride by the Dubai Creek

2007-05-20T11:50:00.000+05:30

An active transportation sytem, what with speed limit signs, et all, exists to help people cross between burdubai and diera in dubai. Crossing the creek costs Dhs. 1 (Rs. 12) per passenger. Some pics i shot while on a boat ride!

The Eye of the Beholder

2007-05-20T10:10:00.001+05:30

A mask that was lying at home. Eesha and i were toying around in our studio ( our bathroom). Lighting used - candles. I thought this looked good!.

Innocence

2007-05-13T10:31:00.000+05:30

I dont even know if i got the spelling of innocence right....but then we all were just that at some time in our life. Thats eesha by the way!

Three Generations

2007-05-06T10:35:00.000+05:30

Three generations of knowing each other...

Here is Eesha and Niveda (Eesha is my daughter, the smaller kid. Niveda is Gautham's).

Gautham's and my folks went out last night and the kids went and bought themselves a brown coloured Salwar ( the same design) ..both looked so cute and similar...almost like sisters...it struck me...three generations have come into being!

Gautham's father ( Chandrasekaran) and mine (Veluswamy) were were collegues at Reserve Bank of India, Chennai, we guys classmates at BIM! And now, our kids meet!

Travel to Sana'a, Yemen

2007-04-22T10:07:00.000+05:30

Had been to Sana'a Yemen on work for about three days. Some really striking things about Yemen....

1)Chewing Khat : Its a shrub whose leaves, when you chew them, can induce mild euphoria, excitement, hallucinations and even constipation. It is indeed bizzare to find every one, i mean it when i say everyone, on the streets going about the routine with their cheeks like this kid on the picture. A sitting can cost upto $20 dollars and its not uncommon to find people earning 15000 yemeni rials spending 12000 on eating Khat. Its indeed becoming a national issue - what with 40% of the country's scare water goes into irrigating Khat crops.

2) Pre Oil Arabia : If you want to see what Arabia would have looked like before they struck oil, then you should visit Yemen. The traditional charm is amazing. People still wear their traditional clothes and daggers, there are no flashy concrete and glass structures, women wear abayas, Indians are respected, people beg on the streets, middle class men drive bikes ( though they are banned in parts of Sana'a) and there are no russian street walkers.

3) Highest penetrated consumer durable is possibly the Kalashnikov. No, its not about war or violence on the streets...its just hip to have a gun. The russian made kalashnikovs sell at about $300 while you also have the cheaper chinese versions from $70 onwards. Its not uncommon to find a bunch of friends sitting around , with guns on their shoulders watching the cars go by. In fact, on the high street where the Bank of Yemen and other banks have their offices, youd even find a innocous looking sign ( the no parking variety) which says no Guns - with a pic of a kalashnikov!

4) Greatest Hospitality youd ever see in this part of the world: Ive never felt so welcome in any other place. Walk through the old streets of Sana'a with a camera and youd have every other person to ask you where you are from and he would say " Welcome to yemen".

5) Amazing food : Iam not a foodie and i definately dont have a fancy for Arabic food. But eating out in Yemen is a completely different experience. To start with, its no holds barred easy style of eating. Everyone on the table shares and eats from the same plates. The large yemeni bread in kept lying on the table - no plate / basket. And the portions are god damn large. Dont miss the Banana dipped in honey in Shahabani restaurant.

Sana'a, is atleast 2500 years old and is people claim it to be one of the oldest surviving cities. Some pictures that i took of the old city while i was there.....

Love & Hate

2007-04-14T10:09:00.000+05:30

Some pictures form the Dubai Zoo i had shot with my brand new Nikon D40.... The iguana and the doves....really loved the contrast.

The Evil That Men Do

2007-04-10T18:17:00.000+05:30

Iyyanar, standing tall, to guard the town against all evil. This idol will always mark the entry/exit of any village /small town in Tamilnadu, India.

Striking, immense and overpowering. Never fails to instill in me a strong reminder of my small town dravidian origins.

Wish i had done justice to the picture!

The Art of Building Great Brands

2007-04-09T14:58:00.000+05:30

Chapter 1 : The Size / Health Matrix

This is the first part of a series that I have resolved to write - insights into the art and science of building brands, drawn deep from over a decade of managing to be in business.

Every time you take up a new brand assignment, like i often do, the chances are that the assignment will typically fit into the Brand / Doing matrix. (New Product Developments have not been considered in this white paper; they are as good as playing Russian roulette or making a film work in box office).

It is indeed key for you to spend time in identifying where your present situation fits. Once you are able to appreciate this conceptual framework, you will realize that choices in brand management indeed fairly simple.

The Twisted World - Buying Petrol in Nigeria

2007-03-31T10:43:00.000+05:30

And if youre wondering why there are so many Nigerian Princes around asking you to etransfer $50 to help him fight a legal battle to get back his riches ( which he will share with you of course!!), then here some cues.

Nigeria is the 6th Largest exporter of Crude Oil in the world, exporting 2.3 Million Barrels per day ( Kuwait exports 2.2 Million!!) The US remains the single largest customer accounting for 40% of the exports and Nigeria is US 5th largest source of Crude!

But for the average Nigerian man who drives that beat up old imported 1982 Toyota, filling up the fuel tank is as good as fighting the damn iraq war!

Its not unusual for you to hear about queues at Lagos Petrol stations that last a few hours, taxi drivers waiting the whole day without work to fill a litre of petrol or the family man who cant afford to pay the black market rates spending the whole night in his car at the petrol station. (Find a picture of a que in lagos). Search the net to hear more of these horror stories.

And to think that the President of that country, Mr. Obasanjo, has already run 3 Terms in the country and he cant run the 4th time because the constitution does not allow it - a fabulous electoral process iam sure!

My Top 10 Most Desirable things to do / own

2007-03-26T17:02:00.000+05:30

- Les Paul Gibson Guitar, preferably signed by Slash
- A fibre glass Kayak and a place to go paddle.
- A through bred German Sheppard
- I Phone
- Jaguar XJ, 4.8 Ltr V8
- A concert in Maddison Square featuring any of these bands - Red Hot Chilli Peppers, AC DC, Deep Purple, Mettalica, Dire Straits, U2 or all of them.
- A 7 Day Road Trip into the Masai Mara, Kenya with Suji. (No Eesha, My Daughter here)
- A Disney Land Trip with Suji and Eesha
- Another Catamaran Fishing trip into the ocean off the Bay of Bengal, this time with my new Nikon D40 DSLR.

Top Rock Albums of All time

2007-03-26T16:30:00.000+05:30

Here is my personal listing of the greatest music written ! Thats might be a bit overdone, at least, my most heard.

Top 25 Albums of All Time
1) Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction
2) Eagles - Hotel California
3) Deep Purple - Machine Head
4) Dire Straits- Brothers in Arms
5) Lynard Skynard - Lynard Skynard
6) AC DC - Back in Black
7) Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
8) Def Leppard - Hysteria
10)Pearl Jam - Ten
11)Led Zeppelin - 4
12)Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
13)Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of A Seventh Son
14)Rainbow - Rising
15)Dio - Holy Diver
16)U2 - Josua Tree
17)Guns N Roses - Use Ur Illusion
18)Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication
19)Mettalica - And Justice for All
10)Jethro Tull - Aqualung
21)Van Halen - Van Halen
21)Niel Young - Harvest
22)Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime
23)Faith No More - Angel Dust
24)Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
25)Bad Company - Bad Company

Princess Hotel

2007-03-18T10:01:00.000+05:30

the qusais neighbourhood, dubai ..right below the place we live.

Lunch at the Mushrif Park

2007-03-15T12:04:00.000+05:30

Tony's and my folks went out to barbeque at Mushriff park in Dubai last friday afternoon. Here's a pic of the park's terrain. I have ofcourse treated it a bit.

A house in Goa

2007-03-14T17:57:00.000+05:30

Goa is that really beautiful place in India, by the sea, with a lot of good food, wine et al.

We were shooting for an Ad film in Goa at this house that was over 400 years old. Built over 5000 square feet, its sole occupant - a 68 year old woman!! Some parts of the house were untouched for the last 150 years.

And yes, the house was fully loaded - in house ball room, in house chappel and a in house cemetery with chairs built around - to enjoy morning coffee with long lost loved ones!!!

Queer!

Travel to Africa

2007-03-14T17:36:00.000+05:30

Professionally, ive been in brand management for the last 10 years, all of them with consumer product companies...you know soaps, toothpaste and stuff. My work takes me around a bit and then there was my first visit to Africa - Nigeria and Kenya.

The stark differences in society there astonished me. Ya...iam from India and i know what poverty and underdeveloped means! But at one end you see newspaper advertising for Mercedes Limos ( you dont see that even in Fancy Dubai) and at the other end the common man struggling to keep alive( this picture shot near our nigeria office - its a brown freight container- its a family's home...the inhabitant enjoying his morning by the window ! At least he's go a rock solid home. )

Obviously crime rates are no surprise. And how! Take a look at this picture of a signpost in Kenya to know what im talking about.

Somebody get those politicians outa there!

Iron Maiden Live!

2007-03-14T10:09:00.000+05:30

I had bought the Powerslave in 1989 - a cheap 45cent pirated version. I would have heard the rhyme of the ancient mariner a million times since then. Back in those days, id have given my right arm to watch Iron Maiden do the Trooper, you know Bruce with his leg on the feedback speaker and Steve Harris playing back the lyrics and bobbing his head and bass at the corner, and eddie eddie trooping around the stage!

And i finally got to see IronMaiden in March 2007, in Dubai when they headlined Desert Rock Festival. Personally, the show was no great deal - ya- the guys played well and i saw bruce dickinson with his leg on the feedback speaker!! But then i dint get half the kicks that i got when i had watched David Pascal, Timothy and Gang ( a bunch of ex college kids , mostly from MCC who had a band called Moksha) back in Chennai do a cover of the Trooper way back in 1995 at IIT OAT!!

But then there was this strange good feeling that i had at the end of the show. A sense of "been there, done that" a kinda feeling a happily dying man who had seen it all might have!!

Here's are some pics from the show of the band at Dubai Rock Festival - borrowed it off the net.

Apple of My Eye

2007-03-14T09:59:00.000+05:30

Life has changed for Suji and Me ever since we had Eesha in our lives. She's now 2 years - suji likes to call that terrible two!

Here she is in that chinese thingy suji picked up at Global Village.

Snapshots of Life

2007-03-13T17:55:00.000+05:30

Rock bands dint seem to sound as well as they did a few years back. So i needed something else to do....started playing around with shooting pictures. Some of them turned out to my satisfaction!