Life Passes By, Life Goes On

Life Passes By
And the leaves on trees grow dry
The ideas, they seem to have come to a stop
The words, they burnt with the paddy crop

A few good men passed by
For some of em' my heart let out a cry
I think of the trees again
And of fond memories to ease the pain

Life Goes On
And after darkness there is dawn
Time to let out a smile
And soak up some sun in style

Revive your blog they said
We promise not to leave a single post unread
I will I agreed
Just as soon as I get upto speed :)

Delhi, my heart is in an Ambulance

A pleasant, somewhat relaxed saturday morning, I was heading to work, not in a terrible rush. I boarded the bus and grabbed the last available seat, looked over my shoulder and saw an elderly gentleman, promptly stood up and offered him my seat. A couple of stops down, the bus came to a sudden halt, on a normal day I would have cursed, but since the temperatures were low, and time was aplenty, I just looked on curiously.

Sure enough, there was some VIP (Very Impudent Person) and his cavalcade of SUV's crossing, and traffic had been stopped by seven (yes I counted!) policemen. Just as I was discussing the insensitivity of the civic administration to the common man, I heard another siren wailing, I looked up again, just behind the cavalcade seperated maybe by 3-4 car lengths was an ambulance. As I stared, my unbelieving eyes saw all seven policemen let the cavalcade pass and then flag and stop the ambulance to allow the cross traffic (which had been waiting for a full 5 minutes) to cross.

I'm rewriting this, simply to make myself believe it happened, Bad enough that the policemen stopped traffic for 5  minutes to allow a VIP to pass through, but even more shameful is the fact that they did'nt have it in them to wait another 10 maybe 15 seconds to let an emergency vehicle, probably carrying a critically ill patient to get across. Nothing short of murder. I looked across at my co-passengers, most of their eyes mirrored my sentiments.

If the bus driver had stopped, I'm certain the cops would have been lynched there and then!

Wake up Delhi, there is more to life than a priority passage to some impudent arse who probably overslept. Be human.

The above is a third person account of a real life incident experienced this morning at the Sheikh Sarai BRT intersection.

Passing Life By ;)

Work was slow for a couple of months, it seems we outpaced the leasing team :) but finally the pace of life catches up 3 rollouts in 45 days - that was a week ago, Now its 3 within this year (so that gives me a leeway of 10 odd days:D). But c'mon its the festive season, I've got weddings to attend and photographs to take give me abreak. The travel plans were laid out, postponed twice - and then two rolled into one, a surprise bonus thrown in, in a bad way ;) well the trip was planned to be quick, even by my usual whirlwind standards, but some meetings are worth it :)

To make things worse, the kings last minute change of plans threw a spanner in the works, from wings to rails to the good old road :)

An evening at a beautiful lakeside property amidst a bustling upcoming market, the chance to catch a live performance given up to spend a quiet evening and catch up with long distance friendships. A quick road journey spent reminiscing :)

Meeting up with long lost relations, getting work kick started, setting things in motion, the last few days flew - and for once I think I'm passing life by...

The Armory of Creation

They say the "pen is mightier than the sword" ... and "a picture is worth a thousand words"...

So does that make a dslr the equivalent of a muti-barelled automatic sub-machine gun? Funny thoughts, but I thought I'd take a stock of my armoury of "creative" weapons ...

The Humble Red and Black Natraj Pencil

Well this would have to be the figurative equivalent of a Butter Knife :D Easy to smear things with, but liable to break its tip the moment it sees some serious action. Cheap and available almost anywhere.

The Reynolds Ballpoints

Handy and convenient fulfilling their purpose well enough but with no pretense of any finesse. Sometimes under trying conditions, one might need to poke/scratch harder than usual to get the desired results - this has to be a small pocket knife - maybe a schrade (The more versatile and slightly showy Swiss Army Knives are the equivalent of the Gel Pens which have proliferated the market lately) or something.

A Uniball (Or maybe a Parker Roller Ball etc..)

Neat work, no real mess, yet handy enough to carry around - might be a bit conspicous and likely to get noticed or flicked, but nothing that a large pocket in ones jeans can't conceal - this is approaching the pro territory - a 8" hunting blade would be the preferred equivalent.

A fountain Pen

Ok - now we enter the figurative "sword" territory - fully capable of extending uncontrolled damage - but not to be used without parental guidance and training - beware of spilt ink, cut fingers and self damage. The genres change depending on exclusivity, with the premium brands mimicking the silver plated dragon slaying swords of yore.

A rotring/staedler "Rapidograph"

An art pen, the equivalent of Zoro's sword capable of casting fine lines and putting on a display worthy of attention. All dependent on the availability of the correct media for presentation (paper or woman) of-course. Use these with care, they can be tricky beasts to handle and mastering them is an art.

My Humble Cellphone Camera (No its only 3 Megapixel - not the much talked about 8MP Iphone 4S :D)

Well its fairly handy, easily pocketable with a licence to shoot, but not always to kill - a pocket revolver at best.

Basic Point and Shoot - a canon S90

Well atleast its dedicated equipment, a fair upgrade over my phone, but its added bulk (still pocketable though) requires seperate maintenance and reloading and once taken out of the pockets can be a bit intimidating to the casula bystanders - A Smith and Wesson??

Megazoom's - Panasonic Z series

This has to be a sniper rifle - accurate, with a long telescopic view, image stabilization and the works. A bit bulky but with the ranges its capable of - does it even matter?

DSLR - Canon 550D/D90

Bazooka's? Rocket Launchers?

And the upcoming speed Demon SLT - Sony A33

An AK-47 ofcourse :D

I do have my eyes set on an EVIL (I know the terms being abandoned soon - but still) handheld grenade launcher - The Sony NEX3 or 5 - but that's saved up for a later day.