Rocks and Reflections !



Stay with me
Stand by me..
Comfort me..
smother me..
Be my support..
Be my rock..

criticize me ..
correct me..
show me to me
Reflect me.. mirror me
Be my Reflection..

Chakrapani

We..,Mere Spectators..



Things across India are not at all like that in Slumdog.., We are prosperous ..Yet not everyone here is a millionaire.. So is the case in the rest of the world !
And a rupee makes a difference to this lady .

Question ... should one give alms at the traffic signal and encourage it ?
Encourage the organized market of begging business which never comes to the fore.These beggars are never begging for themselves. There is a syndicate of kingpins and rich thugs who ferry around and deploy beggars at designated traffic points and temples ,collecting days earnings the beggars get a commission/food in return.

Fact .... NGO's and social reconstruction communities try in vain to protect the young kids who get sucked into this maelstrom of organized begging. If some people do wish to mend their life, they face the wrath of such kingpins who function under the aegis of powerful politicos.

Question... So what do we do ? How does one show direction to the little kids begging at street corners ?

Question ...How do we teach them vocational trade and craft ? Help them become self reliant and self employed so that they could earn money , to sustain themselves. How do we stop the nurturing of potential criminals and their petty thievery .

Question ... How does one fight such an organized enterprise protected by the selfish ?
Fact... Like everyone, I have questions and no answers.I am an average individual.Maybe I have a little enterprise , some ideas, yet I have no energy left with me in these times of economic duress(Sic !).

Fact ..I am in the end , a mere pathetic excuse of a spectator !

BAILOUT

He's down in a ditch
the mind's in a mindless slump..
his creations running high..
Give him a muse..
so slay the lethargical dump..
for he lies.. staring at the sky
waiting for a bailout to walk by .

..chakrapani

CHALK POWDER AND CHORUS !

A year ago, I had asked myself I had torn an A4 size full scape paper and opened a pen to start jotting all the stuff that held me back.What was it that was stopping me.What were the obstacles that i had to overcome.Two hours went by and not as much as a word on the sheet, I cursed myself . Not because the ball point pen nib had gone dry, but because I had no idea what had stopped me from doing this thing all these years.This thing ,that I now realize gives me such joy that knows no comparison.Sitting on a wooden bench in the headmaster's room, there I was... retrospecting.
An hour later , the bell rang and I got up, picked up two full length chalk pieces and on the way to my class broke them into one inch lengths. Some kids saw me walking up the stairs and scurried into the class shouting "Arey ! Spoken English .. spoken English class.. saar vostunnaru (Hey dudes !Spoken English Sir is coming !) ". Couple of kids approached me saluting "Good morning Saar !" (Yes ! an actual Salute !) and ran into the class. Stepping in I was greeted with a loud and boisterous greeting as 45 girls and boys stood up smiling and beaming.Most of them stretching and some almost falling onto the floor because of cramps from sitting on the floor for hours together.I gave a huge smile ,greeted them back and mumbled to myself, "Time to get my hands dirty ".
An hour later I walked out . My hands dry felt dry and rough smeared with chalk powder.I reach into my pockets for the hand kerchief .I find no use for my hanky as all the chalk has already decorated my black jeans.I don't mind. I'm happy.I wish to clap my hands to dust off whatever calcium that's left on my hands.My mind objects and I let it be.
The kids gather around me excited throwing questions at me about the singing/English speech competitions that I have announced for the next class.Me and other volunteers have planned on contributing cash for the gifts for the winners and the participants.The kids are no longer reluctant and scared to approach me.Yet there is still a lot to be done to make them confident in front of their classmates, forget the outside world.No decent footwear, some without any.No proper uniforms and clothes, torn books and bags,dirty and disheveled hair,yet gleaming faces and beaming smiles is all that I can remember.
We have to get the kids to get interested in education and make them confident that it will do them good.Most kids , boys especially, work part time and are the sole earners of the family.Their parents and siblings depend on them for the daily work and labor that they do,in that these boys are no longer afraid of their parents.
Some kids are good and eager . Encourage them.Some are reluctant and uninterested, What do we do about them ?.
Me and my friend drive back from the school.I have important work to be finished in the rest of the day. I cannot take a class for the other government primary school that I had been visiting. The 8th standard girls are wonderful there.They exude a lot of energy. They are more curious and quick learners than this class.They giggle, laugh , listen, write down stuff and interact more.
I am sorry I cannot visit you today.
It was 3 hours a week till some time back.And now an hour a week is just not enough !

Chakrapani

Of Moon and A Paid Holiday !

I first visited the moon in the hot summer nights of my college days. Sleeping under the open night sky seemed to be one of the most wonderful things to do.Especially if it was the full moon night. Not that I had anything else to do,least of all.. study. And with everything in the vicinity lit up in a surreal endothermic glow, a brilliant moment,yet not blinding.Let me take you there.. that surreal place, that I love to holiday at.
The last time I visited this fabulous place for a vacation, last month, I took this picture to remind me of the fondness of the joy that I had come to associate with this place. The wide craters and grey valleys stretching till the horizon.As far as the eyes could see. Ultra quick tanning under the UV laden sunlight. Long rides over the dusty moon plains and the moon dunes with the moon buggie (The four wheeled rover provided free of charge by the hotel management free of the charge.I Know !!! great ! Isn't it, Free !, I mean who does that on earth these days ). Relaxed sailing with the friends ( or your partner for that matter) in the tranquil grey black dust of the 'Sea of tranquility'. Trekking expeditions to the top of the largest craters in the district. Exhilarating stuff !.
The locals are very hospitable and cheery people.Mostly geology scientists,who have taken to hotel and tourism industry to fund their own research and experiments.Strangely, they all seem to have a back ailment . It's probably a genetic disorder which has developed and embedded itself into their chromosomes .Something to do with the fact that their ancestors always did moon-dust research on all their fours( knees and hands) .One of the best things I liked was that the locals would welcome you to join them in a game of soccer. Their soccer fields are our seven soccer fields put together. And the best part is... You never get tired. Though we had trouble with the balls( Hmmph ! Not those ones ! Ugh !). If kicked too hard the footballs would end up orbiting the moon.And the food.. Amazzing ! The desserts.. 'Ebony and ivory', chocolate crater cake.. Black forest with moon sauce.. Ah! such a great treat.
The beaches are fabulous.With the dust waves lapping at your feet. Relaxing under the scorching sun is a burning time pass. The nights are really cold. Every morning one has to get oneself defrosted !. And that is what adds to the uniqueness of the place. I mean where else do you get to see a sky full of brilliant white stars and an enormous, brilliant blue white 'earth'. Frosty and romantic !!
All said and done, This has been one of the best places I have ever visited and no doubt, is one of my favourites.
Cheers !
Chakrapani

Photographing the Moon !

You will be interested in reading this post if you are a photography enthusiast, and own a camera. Any camera for that matter, it does not have to be a high end Digital SLR camera .And what the heck is that? some of you may ask.Well, that is the type of camera which professional photographers or serious enthusiasts keep lugging around.A friend of mine happens to calls them "Space shuttle of a camera", whenever he sees one in my hand.

You can try this even with a Point-n-Shoot (regular automatic digital camera) which has a decent zoom capability (5X or more).I own a Nikon D-SLR, and I shot this picture of the moon on a full moon day with a clear sky.


The Moon !


Set the camera on Full Manual Mode . Denoted by "M" on the thumb dial. Set the following calibrations in your camera.
Aperture : F/11 (also called F-Stop)
Shutter Speed : 1/160 (One Sixtieth of a second)
ISO : 400
Zoom : MAX ( This is 11x )
White balance : AUTO

These are the settings with which I took this picture of the moon with quite an amount of detail and clarity.I finalized this setting after about 7 to 8 trial shots in different settings.


You might ask ... why am I using 1/160 th of a sec as my shutter speed.The basics say that for night photography we need to reduce the shutter speed to capture more light.So I should be reducing my shutter speed,making the shutter slower... Right ?. True !,Good job in remembering that basic fundamental (give yourself a tiny pat on your back :) ). But here, The moon is the brightest object in the night sky, and to capture the details of the terrain of the moon, the craters and the valleys , we need to cancel out the light just enough in order to capture those details.Other wise you would just end up with a picture of a bright overexposed white disc on a black background. And you do not require a tripod for this shot since your shutter speed is fast enough.

I found that the ISO at 400 increased the sensitivity of the sensor just enough to capture the details and at the same time I did not observe any noise in the photograph.And yes, I know you remember that high ISO (1600 +) results in more noise(grainy pictures) and low ISO (100/200) has absolutely no noise. :)

So good luck and try taking the pictures of the moon ,and impress people.

Cheers
Chakrapani

Dear Blog,

It has been a while since I have blogged. But that does not mean I have stopped,or I don't intend to blog anymore. Not many reasons, but the few that are there are pretty heavy reasons.

1. Work ! Different work , tough work .
Lot of new things that I came across in my work have opened my erstwhile
clouded eyes to the realities regarding certain skills that I thought I
possessed. Misconceptions galore !. Hey ! I am NOT disclosing them here.
The routine and schedule at work keeps me quite busy throughout my time
at work and even after work. Post-office .. pre-office blah blah.I am
pretty tired to put my mind to serious writing. Poetry included,and
honestly work is definitely not the kind of muse that inspires you to write
poetry or prose. My sense of humour and my attitude have
taken a beating lately.And I seriously intend to do something about it.So
lords of literature.. help me .


2.Photography.
Very exhilarating so far .I have discovered that it is really invigorating
and does great justice to my really admirable patience.(Yeah Rrright ! )
And yes, I love it. And what I really want to do is to make my photos fall
in love with my writing. Ahem, that is after my writing standards have
risen .And with photography, the more pictures I take , the more
experienced I get behind the lens , the better I get. And what do I intend
to do with my photos and write-ups ? Post them online in the form of
travelogues and photoblogs . Food for the mind. Wish me luck.

To start with . My next post will be about a couple of examples of misused English words.I hope they are an eye opener for you as well. Many a times a person finds oneself in a split second confusion about the proper usage of a particular idiom in English. Verbal mix-ups can make you look rally sloppy no matter how smart you are
dressed up to do whatever you plan to do. Be it sales presentations, corporate presentations , or friendly conversations for that matter. Verbal misuse
and bad diction( consider this post :) )can glaringly point out a person's inability to sport differences in things , inability to comprehend things in a split second and thus inability to make decisions within time.

The bottom line is that one needs to know about commonly misused words and idioms to avoid becoming a comic tragedy !

CP