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I was always interested in Photography, but I made little effort to learn it. Just like many others I thought it was about buying a DSLR camera and a good lens for taking great photographs. Which I did few years back when I was visiting Tokyo, I went to Yodobashi Camera store in Akihabara (this is 8 floors of camera paradise) and bought the latest at that time Nikon D80 with a 18-55MM lens. I learnt few tips from asking my friends and reading some articles in magazines that said for a good photograph you need to frame the subject correctly and lighting has to be correct. As you would have noticed seeing photos in this blog that my skills in this area are limited. I bought some books on Digital Photography and a training DVD on how to use Nikon D80 – both are lying unopened in my bookshelf for last 24 months. On top of this the menus in the camera were daunting even for a Software Engineer like me, the minute I came across Shutter Speed or Aperture in the manual I got dizzy, so I put the camera always in Auto and kept complaining why my camera produces lousy pictures and wondered whether I need to buy a TelePhoto lens and so on…
Last week I came across this one-day workshop at Konica Labs in Sterling Road conducted by famous photograph Mr.K.Dhamodharan, who has been a part of the photography industry since 1985. In 2006 Mr. Dhamodharan went for a 9100km, 21 day photography expedition from Chennai – Kashmir – Kanyakumari – Chennai- an expedition that covered the length of the Indian subcontinent. Sounded interesting, so I registered by paying Rs.4000 (plus taxes) online and attended the workshop today.
I was not sure how the program will be, will it be too dry and over my head, who will be the fellow students. But Dhamu (as he is called) put the diverse crowd (which included two retirees, one homeopathy doctor, one animation designer, one Software Tester) at ease. Most of the sample photos he showed were from his own collection. The photos were accompanied by lively commentary of the people in them, their background & a bit of gossip. This made the mostly theory sessions fun and enjoyable, without this I would have gone to sleep. Dhamu covered the basic concepts of camera – Shutter speed, Aperture, ISO in brief, to the extend needed to appreciate them. He went on to cover in detail with lots of examples on framing, lighting, selecting background & foregrounds. Lighting can change the mood and bring in a different emotion to the same subject.
Dhamu stressed the importance of cultivating a third eye to visualize and to learn from disassembling professional photographs we see in magazines & Internet. A photo should always kindle some emotions on the viewer. Then it was about how to take Portraits, Couple and so on in brief. He also covered (surprise, surprise) on how to pose for photographs – the trick is to have a full mouth smile almost showing your teeth. Dhamu kept saying that Photography is one hobby that improves your self confidence a lot, you can also enjoy the attention and the privileges that it brings with it from people around you.
Though it was advertised as a workshop, the practical was limited to the last hour of the program, which is understandable in a 1 day schedule. Overall, if you can afford to spend Rs.4000 and have interest on photography I will recommend this program.
Now that I understand the basics, I have started shooting lots of photos and I think I need to buy a new camera with a Telephoto lens :- )
Below are first photographs I took during the practise session, yes it needs lot of improvement!
I am born and brought up in Chennai but I have rarely had a need to go beyond Flower Bazaar in North Madras. Today accompanied by my Yoga Master I went to Sowcarpet for some Rajasthani Thali (Meals), Window shopping in Mint Street and Dry fruits shopping. You can enter into Sowcarpet area at Mint street from Chennai (Central) or through N.S.C. Bose Road near Flower Bazaar (பூக்கடை).
Almost all buildings here are narrow (in width) but go deeper in length. You can see that clearly in this one that was demolished for a new one. After an hour so roaming in Mint Street we were hungry and found a banner advertising for a traditional Rajasthani Bojanalaya in one of the small streets off Mint Street (near Chinnakadai Amman Koil) ‘Hunumantha Rayan Koil Street’, we had lunch there. Don’t be deceived by the small entrance, the restaurant can have 16 seats and served hot Rajasthani meal – not classy, not hygienic enough but manageable.
Our next stop was Chinnakadai Sri Mariamman or Renuka Parameswari Temple which is claimed to be more than 200 years old. It is in Mint Street (Sowcarpet) & N.S.C. Bose Road junction, the time we went it was closed so we saw it from outside and then moved on to Kakada Ramprasad.
Kakada Ramprasad in Mint Street is a famous sweet and snack shop in the area. We had a heavenly Badam Drink loaded with nuts, saffron and thick milk.
Then we went to Strotten Muthiah Mudali Street which is lined with shops selling all varieties of fresh Dry Fruits (Badam, Pista, Cashewnuts, Dry Dates, Figs, Charoli), Rajasthani Pickles, Papads and all other tasty items.
Reference: I found this nice blog post listing all popular temples in Chennai.
With my office (Vishwak Solutions) being in Habibullah Road (T.Nagar) I was noticing a new restaurant that got opened few months back called “One MB”. Initially I didn’t the get the name at all, from a car the fonts were illegible and I thought it is some Tamilish name. Today in the evening I had a craving for a good snack and visited this place – One MB, a North Indian Chat restaurant. It is near Tirumalai Pillai Road/Habibullah Road Junction Opposite McRenett bakery. The place had a street/dhabha like appearance on the inside and was quite neat and in bright colours. I tried a Chinese Bhel and a Bhujia Sandwich both were nicely prepared, tasty and priced affordable. If you are in this side of the city, you can give it a try.
Doing a search I came to know the restaurant is owned by Tamil film actor Jeeva, best of luck to him & his team for the success of this restaurant.
The other day my mother showed me this article in 20.11.2011 issue of Kalki Tamil Magazine. The article talked about a former software engineer Mr.Venkatesan starting a business to sell Vegetables & Fruits through Web & Telephone ordering. His wife Mrs.Nirmala had given this idea for him when he was wondering what to do after he had a salary cut in his job at HP . Now the company they started Veggi Bazaar is doing several hundred transactions a day and they even deliver to employees working at large firms in their office lobby itself.
After reading about this, I ordered some vegetables (both cut and uncut) and some fruits yesterday through the web, the price seemed reasonable. They got delivered today in neatly packaged, sealed boxes for cut vegetables/fruits and they collected cash on delivery. The items were fresh and tasty, certified so by my mother herself!
My best wishes for great success for this entrepreneur couple.
During my school days in 1970s & 80s my family was living in Ranganathan Street in Chennai, you may be surprised to know that those days there were still some residences there. LIFCO, our publishing firm started by my grandfather in 1929 was having its shop in the Ground Floor and our house was in the first floor for many years. So I grew up in that street, getting to know many of shop keepers, the hawkers in the road & the problems of the street. Even then with all the problems the street had a charm and life unlike any other in Chennai.
I would go into known toy shops there, get in credit what I wanted and come home, only to get reprimanded by my mother and have it returned in next hour. Unable to have a residence in that busy commercial area, in early 1990s we sold and moved out of the street and my visits there have been rarer and rarer. Even though I grew up there, becoming an expert in navigating through that stream of people, over the years I avoid going there due to lack of parking & ever increasing crowd.
Today being a Sunday I decided to go there following the recent closure of about one-third of the shops there due to CMDA building construction guidelines violation. Though the violations have been there for ages, action has now been initiated thanks to public activist like “Traffic” Mr.Ramaswamy and a vigilant Madras High Court. In the past the shop keepers have bought time and escaped action all along by getting special ordinance/laws passed for their convenience and assisted by an indifferent Government machinery. It is hoped this time it will be different. I am not sure, but I hope something is done to ensure public safety and convenience considering this area is visited by thousands of people every day.
What was more appalling was the condition of the area especially on a rainy day like in this week. Seen from Mambalam Railway station stairs (see the picture below) you can get an idea on the poor sanitary conditions in the area, I pity the hawkers who have to earn their living in these conditions. About two decades Chennai Corporation changed the Bitumen surface of the roads in Ranganathan Street area to Concrete, that did help but change will not come unless the city-dwellers are educated on civic sense and realize the common goodness of keeping the surroundings clean.
If there is an award for preserving historic business practices and customer service methods I will recommend Indian Railways without hesitation.
Today I went to Egmore Railway station to send off my mother. There were multiple entry points to platform, but the platform ticket counter was in the farthest place from Parking. After reaching the counter there was a long queue and it took me over 10 minutes to buy a Rs.3 Platform ticket that will give me rights to enter the station. As usual Indian Railways had just one counter for so many customers, no vending machines (I read in news they piloted a vending machine program and even a vending machine program Mobile SMS but withdrew them soon). The person in the counter followed what I suspect to be a British leftover way of issuing the tickets. He collected money (and gave change as needed), then picked up each ticket from storage one by one, affixed a rubber stamp to mark “MS” (indicating Egmore station), then another rubber stamp to mark today’s date and time on the back and then checked all of it before handing it over. He repeated this process over and over again for hundreds and hundreds each day. No change in the process for last 100 years old. I am sure no other business process in the world has been so untouched by Technology
I was left furious on the inefficiency of this process & the enormous waste on people’s time, but then I was reminded this is Indian Railways – the preserver of History and British legacy. Probably this is how they ensure their political correctness by ensuring employment for everyone they have in their rolls.
Today I went with my family to have Darshan at the famous Thiruneermalai temple. The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and is one of the 108 Vaishnava DivyaDesam. To reach the temple is easy, it is just about 5-6KMs from Pallavaram (few more KMs from Chennai Airport). If you are coming from Chennai Airport towards Tambaram in GST road, just after the right to Pallavaram, you take the next right (below the new flyover) to Thiruneermalai Road. There are two temples there, one is on a small hill top (Reclining Posture – Lord Ranganatha) and the other on the base of the hill (Standing Posture – Lord Rama). Compared to Sholingur and other hill temples climbing up this small hill is easy, just about 200-250 steps and took less than 10 minutes to climb up. The hill top is shown in many Tamil films. Since it was working day and morning hours, there were hardly few other devotees, so we had a peaceful darshan.
The temple seems to have been renovated recently, steps were well done, paint fresh on the Gopurams. Fine job by the HRE Board of Govt. of Tamil Nadu and local municipality. As a common theme in many tourist places in Tamil Nadu (and across India) there were the locked Bathrooms. The local municipality has build on great cost a water tank & few Toilets in the foothill (near car parking) for public convenience but they were all locked, you need approach the temple staff for the key (who surprisingly obliged on our request).
Reference: Detailed information can be found in this fine blog post.
With the arrival of a new Government, Tamil Nadu got its new IT Secretary – it was Dr.Santosh Babu, IAS. Fortunately continuity was maintained as Dr.Santosh was earlier Managing Director of ELCOT and worked in the same department under previous IT Secretary Mr.P.W.C.Davidar. Dr.Santosh is a fine gentleman and one who is passionate about technology and its impact on E-Governance and Citizen Services, he has many pioneering E-Governance projects in the country to his credit. I had the privilege of working with Dr.Santosh Babu, Mr.P.W.C.Davidar and his whole team during the Tamil Internet Conference last year in Coimbatore which ran inside the Chemmozhi conference. Today few of us from local IT community went and congratulated Dr.Santosh Babu on his new assignment. All the best to him and his department.
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(Seen Above – Dr.Santosh Babu, Mr.Anto Peter, Mr.Anandan, Dr.Arul Natarajan, T.N.C.Venkata Rangan, Mr.Paul, Mr.Benny)
Wanting to have a different evening snack I went to “The Soup and Salad Cafe” at T.T.K.Salai, Chennai. Ordered myself a El Bandido Veg soup (Mexican spicy) & The Kaamatein High salad (Rajma, Corn, Channa, Peanuts & Potato Chips). The Soup was quite good and the salad was very nice (the potato chips added a nice bit of crispiness).
You may ask why am I taking about a restaurant under a title of “How is Wisdom different from knowledge?”. It is because of this nice caption that I saw on the restaurant wall (photo below) which goes like “Knowledge is knowing that a Tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad”.
Over the millennia many scholars have preached the importance of Wisdom over Knowledge. The one I can recall immediately is the well known talk by Shri C.Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) who was Post independence India’s Governor-General. In the talk (Audio, Full Text) which was an introduction to the devotional hymns of Bhaja Govindam audio recording by Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi, Shri Rajaji says “When intelligence (knowledge) matures and lodges securely in the mind it becomes wisdom” . But I think the above Tomato is a fruit explanation is the simplest and the direct that I have heard/read.
Yesterday I got tickets by chance to see the first cricket match of IPL 2011 season in the stadium. The match was between CSK (my home team) and KKR team. I had taken my son for the first IPL season but then he was not old enough to understood much and so didn’t enjoy. Now he is 7 Years old, plays Cricket in the street and so was super excited to be there in the Chepauk Stadium. For me it meant being away from the comfort of home – AC, TV & Snacks. Anyways, the atmosphere was electrifying in the stadium and I was so happy that CSK won the match.
You can watch the highlights of the match from the official YouTube Channel here. 1st Innings of this match here, 2nd Innings of this match here.
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