Diwali 2, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

Here’s wishing you all a Very Happy Diwali. May there be light. But kindly try to keep down the noise and the smoke.

The shine in the eyes, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

I find kids hard to photograph as they rarely stay still.The task is made tougher when the light is low.

This little fellow walked into Deli9 in the afternoon today and I found it rather difficult not to click him. He was with his dad and it looked like he was expecting something that he was not quite getting. He kept looking expectantly at his dad. His face reflected the state of his mind. Innocence was personified.

RIP, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

Though there is not much I liked about his policies and governance, I think his death is very untimely. At a time when the country itself is struggling to find headstrong leaders, his loss means a lot to the state. I hope sanity prevails.

So me and my cousin got discussing about the next year’s IPL. It kicks-off in Hdyerabad(!). We eventually got talking about the new venues. One is Vizag. Which is the other? Ahemdabad? Not sure. I expressed surprise that there is no team from Gujarat playing in the IPL.  Whcih in turn led to the question of the day: If there was to be one, what would it be called?

Ideas flowed

Dhokla eleven
Thepla eleven
Undhiyo eleven
The Eleven Dandiyas

We stopped there and finished the dinner. But the thought intrigued me, so I added the following to the list:

Kem chho? eleven
Khakra eleven
Ambabad Senwiches
The Surat farsaan walas

I guess I’ll stop at that, lest all the Gujjus arnd me start chasing me around with steeks and rotten dhoklas.

B&W Dog, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

Why are there countries?

Why do people grow?

What is religion?

Why do people die?

Why should I study?

What the heck is the deal with money?

Who are terrorists?

Why does Kekda Kapur do what she does?

Is she a terrorist too?

Why do you have hair on your hands and legs but not on your scalp?

One of the worst things about being a grown up is that you cannot walk up to your elders and ask rediculously simple questions that leave them speechless.

I know the question on your mind right now is how is all this related to the picture of a dog. Well, just like that. You’ll understand when you grow up.

Veiled, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

This was taken as a part of the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2009. Folks from HPC and a whole lot of new people joined to walk from State Library to the Chowmohalla Palace on Sunday, July 18.

I am not sure what to title the picture. One of my friends suggested Veiled and that seemed to make sense since the guy seems to be veiled by the jewellery. He was not too pleased about being clicked. He asked me take the photo and get going; that’s what I did. The fact that he looked at the camera when I took this gave it all the impact, IMO.

However, I feel it can have better name than that. Any suggestions welcome.

Make a story, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

can you?

The guy was actually dozing away to glory at the Taramati Baradari. Behind him this lady was trying to manage three kids, one of them an infant. Unfortunately, the guy looks dead and the lady looks like she is left with a family to take care of.

Funny how an angle can create a story when u least expect it.

My idea of taking a photograph, long before I took up photography, was that of rotating a lens to focus on a subject and then pressing the shutter. Aperture, ISO, shutter speed etc. were unknown entities. But by the time I took up photography, we had already moved in to the digital age. Advent of the digital camera brought auto focus to all and sundry and I was not an exception. More so, since the first camera I used was a Lumix DMC TZ1 that offered no manual focus option.

To the average user, focussing has been made so easy that seeing a little green box on screen when the shutter is half-pressed is taken for granted. With SLRs though, the story is different. When I got the Lumix DMC G1, I was aware that it had a manual focus option. But life had been made so easy by the auto focus feature, that even trying the manual option was a little scary, if not cumbersome. And, to be frank, the first time I tried it, I did not know what the hell was going on. Subjects seemed to be perpetually blurred. I kept rotating the focus ring to no avail.

Now, unlike other DSLRs, the Lumix G1 allows you to drag a small yellow box to any part of the screen and fix the focus. This option exists for both auto and manual focus. In my quest to learn about how to use the feature for auto focus, I found out what I was doing wrong when using the manual focus option. I also realised how embarrasing it can be when you can’t figure out the easiest things.

The thing that delights me about MF is that it allows you to get closer to the subject, as compared to AF. And then there is the bokeh! The kind of blurring of background I managed to get with MF, I never could dream of.

Here are a few of the pics I uploaded on flickr. Suffice it to say, I am in love with it.

First rains 2009, originally uploaded by Lazybug.

And what a shower it was! Totally rocked the city folks. I along with a colleague waited under the flyover at Tank Bund for a while, that’s when I pulled out the cam, quickly took a few pics and put it back in. So, this is the first official picture of the rains this year.

Moment of the tournament…

happened during the DC v Mumbai game when field reporter LSRK was asked how it ‘down there’. He replied “The atmosphere here is very exciting and everybody is excited” and so on. Camera panned on to his face and in the background the seats were all but empty. What exactly made LSRK all ‘excited’ is anyone’s guess.

Q. What’s worse than listening to bad commentators?
A. Bad commentators rooting mercilessly for their favourite teams. In today’s match between DC and KXIP this arduous task was taken over by the one and only Ranjit Fernando. What a pain in the brain.

Lalit Modi = Himass

Yes. This is completely true. The other day I was lucky enough to catch afew glimpses of Aap Ka Suar…err Suroor and the first thing to note was the way in which Himass was portrayed in the movie as the ideal Indian uber-male. Everybody in the film only sings praises for him. Switch to any IPL game and mentally replace HR with LM. The guy gives away money to schools in South Africa, is being credited with reviving the South African economy and has the 20/20 magazine cover calling him the new czar of cricket. What else would one want from life?

Request to DC
Please understand that the problem with your team is the bowling. Find a decent international level fast bowler to avoid embarrassment against silly pinch hitters. One suggestion would be Chaminda Vaas. His experience in swinging conditions could be useful. As a plus, like my friend almostinfamous said to me in a chat, this would also confuse Ranjit Fernando as to whom to root for resulting in slightly lesser pain in the brain for us.

A thought on the ZooZoo ads
Sure they are funny and all. I am starting to notice the grotesque side of the ads I mean, showing heads getting cracked, suicides, hungry crocs gobbling up subjects does not look funny after a while. Am I the only one here?

So much for now. Enjaai the weekend!