Like the day we sat by the ocean
Speaking of fishes and sand and moon and the tide
Of how often the sea searches without
Only to once again find it all within.
Like the day we walked under those trees
Speaking of greenery and birds and war and peace
Of how cruel a cause can sometimes get
Of the pervert in every priest.
Like the day we sat on that mountain
Speaking of heights and depths and sunlight and rain
No, we didn't speak anything much
But Oh! we spoke so very much..
Like the day we sat in our lil ol' house
Speaking of memories and people and bygone days
No we didn't speak anything much
Yes, we spoke so very much!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Kalyan Varma's photography workshop - Of lenses and landscapes
Lalbagh has never seemed so beautiful or so complicated as it did this Sunday. "Perspective" is the word. Till today all I saw in Lalbagh was the never ending green patches of grass and some contrastingly colored beautiful flowers. See it from a "photographer with a mission" perspective and you'll marvel at how much Lalbagh has hidden in its moist grassy patches and that beautiful little hill top.
Kalyan Varma, the wildlife photographer ( and an amazing person ) conducts these regular photography workshops and I was lucky enough to be a part of this weekend's workshop. It was a basic workshop that discussed all the fundamental and extremely essential photography concepts which help make a good photograph. A two day session which armed the wannabe photographer in me with some great know-hows. Kalyan, who believes in sharing both his photos and his knowledge (which I respect to no end) gives you some of these wonderful insights about the nitty-gritty of making a photograph look the way you have always envisioned.
Our photography assignment at Lalbagh ( of course it was not a stupid theory cramming session at all ) was to capture the essence of the structure on top of the Lalbagh hill. Trust me, it certainly isn't as simple as it seems. However, I set out with great enthusiasm hoping to get some decent shots. To be honest, I was really surprised at how well some of my photos came out (though most others were as sloppy as usual). It's absolutely amazing how knowing about stuff like lenses and shutters can give an edge to what you capture! Recipe -> Know the basics, use your sense of aesthetics throw in some amazing guidance and voila!
The blurred look I have always craved for.. that striking sharpness I never got.. that particular smile, the soft look .. the seductive dewdrop - all this is now going to materialize!!
Learning the photography tricks - magical .. meeting the magician in person - an honour.
Yours "click"fully,
Gargi
Kalyan Varma, the wildlife photographer ( and an amazing person ) conducts these regular photography workshops and I was lucky enough to be a part of this weekend's workshop. It was a basic workshop that discussed all the fundamental and extremely essential photography concepts which help make a good photograph. A two day session which armed the wannabe photographer in me with some great know-hows. Kalyan, who believes in sharing both his photos and his knowledge (which I respect to no end) gives you some of these wonderful insights about the nitty-gritty of making a photograph look the way you have always envisioned.
Our photography assignment at Lalbagh ( of course it was not a stupid theory cramming session at all ) was to capture the essence of the structure on top of the Lalbagh hill. Trust me, it certainly isn't as simple as it seems. However, I set out with great enthusiasm hoping to get some decent shots. To be honest, I was really surprised at how well some of my photos came out (though most others were as sloppy as usual). It's absolutely amazing how knowing about stuff like lenses and shutters can give an edge to what you capture! Recipe -> Know the basics, use your sense of aesthetics throw in some amazing guidance and voila!
The blurred look I have always craved for.. that striking sharpness I never got.. that particular smile, the soft look .. the seductive dewdrop - all this is now going to materialize!!
Learning the photography tricks - magical .. meeting the magician in person - an honour.
Yours "click"fully,
Gargi
Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Stranger and the Baby
Darkness overcast
And Silent birds
A sleeping Baby
Amidst the woods
Comes a Stranger
Love and a smile
Lifting the Baby
Wrapping his arms
Smiles the baby
with silent delight
safe and huddled
with the stranger tight
Farewell world
I have seen enough
Take me stranger
Far enough
Away from all
To your land
Where I am yours
cuddled on the sand
I promise I'll be good
Everything understood
The Sun and the sea
The Stranger and the Baby
Best,
Gargi
And Silent birds
A sleeping Baby
Amidst the woods
Comes a Stranger
Love and a smile
Lifting the Baby
Wrapping his arms
Smiles the baby
with silent delight
safe and huddled
with the stranger tight
Farewell world
I have seen enough
Take me stranger
Far enough
Away from all
To your land
Where I am yours
cuddled on the sand
I promise I'll be good
Everything understood
The Sun and the sea
The Stranger and the Baby
Best,
Gargi
Monday, March 31, 2008
Out of the blue.
--------------------------------------
You came out of nowhere..
as sudden as a flash of lightning..
making my life a poetic paradise
which suddenly had found all its meaning..
As welcome as a ray of sunlight
in the thick of the winter storm..
you came in like the long awaited rains
for a desert thirsty since long..
No color in the rainbow
Can describe the shade of feeling
No expression ever coined
Has the power to express the longing.
One look in the evening twilight
An entire song sung with a smile
Words seemed so redundant..
Your eyes had said it all.
Best,
Gargi.
--------------------------------------
You came out of nowhere..
as sudden as a flash of lightning..
making my life a poetic paradise
which suddenly had found all its meaning..
As welcome as a ray of sunlight
in the thick of the winter storm..
you came in like the long awaited rains
for a desert thirsty since long..
No color in the rainbow
Can describe the shade of feeling
No expression ever coined
Has the power to express the longing.
One look in the evening twilight
An entire song sung with a smile
Words seemed so redundant..
Your eyes had said it all.
Best,
Gargi.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Just another random thought.
Firstly, I don't know how much sense this blog is going to make but i am gonna give it a shot anyways :)
I can trace the origin of one of my "current most haunting" thoughts to a nice lil sentence i read a few days back which goes something like this.
“Really great people make you feel that you too, can become great.”
Mr Mark Twain must have told this on one of his exceptionally intelligent days :) .
I have this really odd habit of analyzing conversations, meetings, mails, chats and the like with people long after they are done and forgotten. It gives me special pleasure in doing so because every analysis gives me a new chain of thought, something that i had totally missed when the actual interaction was happening.
I have had the pleasure of meeting some really interesting/wonderful people. Intellectuals, so called "philosophers" :), teachers, managers :P , technical people, bankers, farmers, artists, musicians, etc etc i have met them all. Though they may not have been the "really famous" ones, they have been remarkable people by themselves. Some of them have been true and honest, some kind and understanding, some proud but very capable, some proud but seriously stupid and the rest plain hypocrites.
Regardless of what profession they have been in, regardless of their origin/place/birth, there are some things that are so insultingly common in all of them/us that it makes me wonder at times about the striking simplicity that exists amidst the seemingly complex human behavior. One of them, i have made an attempt to describe in this blog. This is just a personal observation done over a period of time :).
Let us imagine a situation where we have had the chance to have a conversation/interaction with someone who is considered "good" at something. Has the conversation made you marvel at the beauty and the elegance of the job they do or has its complexity amazed you? For me, it has almost always(with a few exceptions) been the latter. I always have wondered at that point, how any mortal could do something like that within such short time and the like :). There have been exceptions where the conversation has been successful in making me understand the job/work and realize the simple but profound logic in it :).
And time and again, life has proved to me that such people who make you feel their job is the easiest on earth and u can be as good as he/she is, are the ones who really know what they are talking about :)
When i say simple, i don't mean they have done it by down playing their job or work. They have done it by stating stuff in simple, straight clear terms what the job is all about and what it takes to get there. No fancy words, no frills, nothing.
Maybe we all do it at some point.. exaggerate everything a lil more than what it actually is. Use stupid jargon and confuse others. Make it sound really nice and wonderful. The really great just don't to do it.. they don't need to. And such people will always have all my respect and admiration :). Explaining something the way it is(not the way they want it to be), so that the other person understands the elegance in it is an art.. which unfortunately most people don't want to learn. Decorating something that should not be decorated might make it look nice momentarily but in turn makes it lose its central meaning, and its beauty.
Maybe we should all contribute by example to form a space devoid of hypocrites and big and empty talkers. Rather, look towards creating an environment of honesty and truth.. Looking at things as they are and telling them as they should be.
Just adding one of my most loved sanskrit subhashita that is kind of relevant here:)
Sampoorna kumbho na karoti shabdam
ardho ghato ghoshamupaiti noonam
Vidvan kuleeno na karoti garvam
gunairviheenaaha bahu jalpayanti
Best,
Gargi.
I can trace the origin of one of my "current most haunting" thoughts to a nice lil sentence i read a few days back which goes something like this.
“Really great people make you feel that you too, can become great.”
Mr Mark Twain must have told this on one of his exceptionally intelligent days :) .
I have this really odd habit of analyzing conversations, meetings, mails, chats and the like with people long after they are done and forgotten. It gives me special pleasure in doing so because every analysis gives me a new chain of thought, something that i had totally missed when the actual interaction was happening.
I have had the pleasure of meeting some really interesting/wonderful people. Intellectuals, so called "philosophers" :), teachers, managers :P , technical people, bankers, farmers, artists, musicians, etc etc i have met them all. Though they may not have been the "really famous" ones, they have been remarkable people by themselves. Some of them have been true and honest, some kind and understanding, some proud but very capable, some proud but seriously stupid and the rest plain hypocrites.
Regardless of what profession they have been in, regardless of their origin/place/birth, there are some things that are so insultingly common in all of them/us that it makes me wonder at times about the striking simplicity that exists amidst the seemingly complex human behavior. One of them, i have made an attempt to describe in this blog. This is just a personal observation done over a period of time :).
Let us imagine a situation where we have had the chance to have a conversation/interaction with someone who is considered "good" at something. Has the conversation made you marvel at the beauty and the elegance of the job they do or has its complexity amazed you? For me, it has almost always(with a few exceptions) been the latter. I always have wondered at that point, how any mortal could do something like that within such short time and the like :). There have been exceptions where the conversation has been successful in making me understand the job/work and realize the simple but profound logic in it :).
And time and again, life has proved to me that such people who make you feel their job is the easiest on earth and u can be as good as he/she is, are the ones who really know what they are talking about :)
When i say simple, i don't mean they have done it by down playing their job or work. They have done it by stating stuff in simple, straight clear terms what the job is all about and what it takes to get there. No fancy words, no frills, nothing.
Maybe we all do it at some point.. exaggerate everything a lil more than what it actually is. Use stupid jargon and confuse others. Make it sound really nice and wonderful. The really great just don't to do it.. they don't need to. And such people will always have all my respect and admiration :). Explaining something the way it is(not the way they want it to be), so that the other person understands the elegance in it is an art.. which unfortunately most people don't want to learn. Decorating something that should not be decorated might make it look nice momentarily but in turn makes it lose its central meaning, and its beauty.
Maybe we should all contribute by example to form a space devoid of hypocrites and big and empty talkers. Rather, look towards creating an environment of honesty and truth.. Looking at things as they are and telling them as they should be.
Just adding one of my most loved sanskrit subhashita that is kind of relevant here:)
Sampoorna kumbho na karoti shabdam
ardho ghato ghoshamupaiti noonam
Vidvan kuleeno na karoti garvam
gunairviheenaaha bahu jalpayanti
Best,
Gargi.
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