Science of Swing

Here is an interesting picture detailing the swing bowling grips and their effects.

9 years!!! Wow!!!

Today it will be 9 years since the first time I left India to come to the US. Yes 9 long and eventful years. It is unbelievable how fast time flies by. Almost a decade gone by in a flash, it seems like. It seems like only a few days back that I had decided that the job which I was working in India was far too boring and that I wanted to study more and had decided to give my GRE exam. After some time it was time to say good bye to the family. There were parties being held before the departure with some enthusiastic relatives handing me flower bouquets at the party as well as the airport. I had flown just once before this and the excitement of flying was there initially. Then set in the fact that I was going to be away from the family for the very first time in 23 years and that too at such a distance that only digital communication would be the way to get in touch with them every now and then. After saying the goodbyes we went to check in fearing that the nice things that mom had prepared would be confiscated. Yes I had my future college roommate accompanying me during our Swiss Air flight. I remember meeting a sardarji sitting next to me and ranting about how he did not get a last minute flight with British Airways as they are the best in takeoff and landing. He literally gestured with his hands to show how the BA flight lands differently than all the other flights in the world. I thought that was funny at first but then it got irritating. During takeoff my roommate’s eyes were as wide as an owl staring at a flashlight.

After the long flight and some desperate measures to prevent our luggage from being stolen at Zurich airport, we landed in Atlanta and then took a flight to Kansas city. There was a person waiting for us who looked a little like Kurt Cobain. He was generous enough to drop us at our residential on-campus place. There we were pleased to see a swarm of Indian students ready to greet us. One of my very good friends now, this guy cooked for us rajma/chaval. I'll be meeting him after a few years now when he comes to visit me during the Labor Day weekend this year.

There are some of the small things you tend to remember distinctly and some not so small things you tend to forget. Some first encounters with people in your life now are strikingly eventful, some are not. So after this initial phase of trying to find an apartment we finally moved into a nice polished one and were 6 of us. The 3 years thereafter were filled with some amazing memories to cherish forever. The doctor, the pretender, the ballerina, the boxer and the baby [since he was the youngest] were some really great guys that I had roommates during this time in Kansas City. The journey so far has been interesting with some achievements turning into fulfilled dreams, some not. We'll see how it goes ;).

M.J.

Can't believe MJ's gone. I was in a flight to Atlanta when I saw it on CNN. As they were flashing this breaking news story it was one of those moments where you want to rub your eyes to see what you are seeing is really happening. As the news sunk in one starts to wonder the frailty of life. The king of pop as they call it was no more. Thriller was my first compact disc growing up and it was awesome. It was worth every rupee as CDs were expensive and tapes were the way of life then. I do not remember the number of times I tried to immitate the moon-walk without success or throw the hat in the air trying to land it on the head and forget about standing on the toes. His entry on the stage where he shoots up from below the stage was simply mindblowing. SRK tried that in DTPH but looked stupid. Even now, listening to Billy Jean at full blast gives a different kind of high. RIP MJ.

Trip to Moab

The last few weeks have been crazy. I finally see some sanity returning and now do have some time to blog, finally. I am still reeling from the hangover of our trip to Moab, in a good way though. It was an amazing trip, finally some good weather, the road trip and then the breathtaking views of the saffron colored decor at the Arches National Park and the Canyonlands. The delicate arch picture on the utah vehicle license plate does not do justice of any sort unless you take the time and hike there to visit it. Natural formations at their best. Will post some pics soon. Here is one from Dead Horse Point.

Voting with the Middle Finger!!!

Really, that’s what everyone was showing after they voted. Well they were not flipping the bird but were actually showing that they voted. The EC in India has now decided to blot the ink on the middle finger. The last time I voted and that too the one and only time it was the index finger that was marked. Guess the election commission also has some sense of humor. Newspapers next day flashed photos of celebrities proudly showing their middle finger anointed with the royal blue ink. Some of the snaps were hilarious.

Voting or the ability to vote is one of the cherished aspects of any country's constitution, or should I say any country that exercises democracy. It is a proof of support you show towards a certain commotion, candidate, political party, etc. I personally love to vote but being in the US does not allow me to do that. I feel that the EC should start some sort of web voting for NRIs or people away at the time of the general elections. I was saddened to see that overall voting in Mumbai was counted at only 47%. That means more than half of the people of the most populated city in India do not care of the results that the elections may churn out. That’s really sad.

Someone asked me was it the fear of the swine flu I mean H1N1 flu (sorry not allowed to say swine flu anymore)? Really? I don't think so. People have summoned up courage to go to crowded places when more dangerous acts have been witnessed by the city. I am not sure what it will take other than bollywood actors asking people to vote on television, for the people to actually go out and exercise their fundamental right.

P.S. Talking of the H1N1 flu, that huge 40oz bottle of GermX lying on my office desk does not look so crazy now :) does it?

The JAG Jello Shot and the Jagerbomb .

Last summer the theme of our alcoholic consumption was mango, mojito & martini. This summer its gonna be jello shots since there is plenty of room to experiment!!! And what better way to start with the hard hitting Jagermeister.

Jagermeister makes the jello shot really strong and goes well with strawberry jello. Mix the jello with 1 unit hot water, then after the jello has dissolved completely add 1/2 unit cold water and 1/2 unit Jag.

If you are a fan of the Red Bull, then try the Jagerbomb by dropping a shot of Jag in a glass of Red Bull.

Tulip Fest 2009

Recently we went to the Tulip festival at Thanksgiving gardens. We had to postpone our trip by a week as the bloomomoeter was only at 15% which means due to the recent snow the tulips were not in full bloom. When we went there a couple of days ago it really seemed like a good decision to postpone the trip. Below are few of the hundreds of shots that I was able to shoot.

The Easter Eggu Bau Hunt!!!

I dragged myself for an Easter Egg Hunt [Eggu Bau == Egg for Aarav] last Sunday, yes on a precious Sunday with Radhika and Aarav to one of our friend's backyard. Egg and Hunt somehow don't sound right to me juxtaposed. The Egg in Easter symbolizes birth or rebirth in most of the current and the past civilizations. Hence used to decorate. In the end it turned out pretty good mainly because of the awesome weather and the kids had a good time. There were some really animated sugar high toddlers running around the yard creating plenty of mess to clean up for later. Sundays do sound so precious nowadays, just feel like doing nothing, staying at home kind of a day.I don't know if its global warming or the earth just needing more precipitation, but can you believe that its still snowing heavily in April. Good for the ski resorts I guess. But not so much for us, who are waiting to burn our tires to long road trips in the summer, so much to see, so much to do, places to go, people to meet, and enjoy the summer in spite of the blistering heat... wow that had a rhyme to it. Last year the summer was a blast! 1 SUV, 2 Camping Trips, 3 Months of rollicking fun, 4 National Parks, 5 Lakes, 6 Families for the get together, simply priceless!!! Hope this summer is as good as the last if not better.

Painting with Light.

Light painting is one of the interesting subjects in photography. There is virtually no limit to what you can achieve with this technique. Remember the famous Sprint ad with people playing around in the park with lighted props? It does not consist of just illuminating your subject but goes beyond that. From just enhancing your composition to giving it a more creative look, various results can be achieved. And with the new Xsi, this was just the thing that I decided to try out.

All we need is a camera which is capable of taking shots using really long exposures, a tripod, a dark room and a flash light or a led torch. The sharper the focus of the flash light/torch, the more precise the results can be. The longer the exposure mode, the more you can get done on the shot. So here is what I did. Switched off the lights, set the exposure mode to 32, and clicked. Once the shutter is open, illuminate or paint the objects. I decided to use liquor bottles as they were a far better subject that anything opaque. The tip here is to not keep the flash light at one location for too long or the picture is burned. Hence plan ahead and keep on moving. Once the shutter closes, the shot is done and the lights can be switched on. I just had a single flash light here but if you have colored gel rings, then you can achieve a more colorful effect by changing the color of the flashlight intermittently. Below are few of the shots taken using this technique.

The Amazing Charlie Chaplin.

"I love walking in the rain because, nobody can see me crying."
- Charlie Chaplin

Such immortal words, what a fabulous artist, a great comedian who brought smiles to the faces of millions, but was sad and depressed from inside. Sometimes I wonder, are all clowns that way? Making people laugh is not easy, it requires an enormous amount of talent and spontaneity. Nowadays its all about funny dialogue delivery but this guy did not have those tools at that time. Or may be he did but he did not choose to use them; who knows. His movies were silent and his body language and expressions were all that he needed to make people laugh. I think that is a really special trait.

Did you know that there is a whole planet named after Charlie Chaplin? Such was the impact he had during the WWI and the great depression. His "The Kid" is one of my favorite movies. As a kid I used to watch almost all his shows on Doordarshan, yes as we call it DD1 or DD2. As I was going through and organizing my DVD collection I came across a movie of his, so I decided to watch if for a while and it was same as if I was watching it 20 years ago, simply timeless.