Hello Nano

In true bollywood style, but is she a hero or a villain?




From the January 2008 prototype to the big launch yesterday. The Nano story is truely 'filmy'.

At the AutoExpo 2008, she was the darling of the crowds. Later in the year she achieved even greater histrionics. With two waring political parties fighting over her. Much like an arranged marriage proposal. The great Bengal bhadralok family first accepted the match, then when evil scheming auntie made a scene, cast her aside.

Finally little Nano went on to earn a fallen hero position for her fond daddy, the company chairman, when he endorsed the villainous Gujarat chief minister.

From start, the debate has been on the environmental / urban planning /traffic safety impact. Now with her entry into the 'real world'. Where potholes will count, flyovers will challenge, the arguments will hot up, like an Indian summer, as her effect is seen on the roads.

Finally it's the aam janta, the indian public that will decide her box office fate.

Photography: at Auto Expo 2008, New Delhi

Birds birds birds

The last month was excitingly different. A group of us, all interested in photography made two trips to the Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary. With it's easy proximity to Delhi, it was much simpler getting there for a day outing than the more famous Bharatpur.

Photographying birds is tough on all counts.
1. They stay away
2. Move fast and randomly
3. Most of their activities happen at times when the light is poor


To add to this, in Sultanpur unfortunately the walkways were not well planned for photography. The birds were always between us and the sun.
My 300mm zoom was made to work hard yet most times all I got was a blur.



Photography lessons learn't: Set the shutter speed to 1/1000 sec or more. apperture closed as much as possible at that speed. Focus manually to infinity then track the birds as they move and shoot. Hopefully the large DOF will ensure the birds in focus and the high shutter speed will prevent blurring.
Problem with this was that the ISO had to be maxed up .. and that made the images grainy

Some other solution had to be found...

And the singer sang his merry song

The annual Suraj Kund Crafts Mela

Yesterday we went to the annual Suraj Kund Crafts Mela. Mum, my sister and I. We thought we were being smart bunking on a Monday afternoon. If we were, the crowds must have been phenomenal over the weekend!

When I took out my camera after a few minutes, I was deserted by my loving parent and sibling. (Photographers are not fun company. :-) ) Which left me free to crawl my way right to the front through the crowds around this merry gentleman and his pretty crazy group of performers.

The drum he used was simple. A flat wooden bowl, even cracked almost across. His fingers had these big joints, knobbled by the intensity of the force he beats the drum with.

His eyes blazed an amazing shine. Well matched to his ultra bright costume and strong rhythmic music.

Photography tip: In crowds, a shallow dof will isolate your subject and blur out distracting backgrounds.

For more about the Suraj Kund mela Read up here

Yantra Mantra: a modern experience of a medieval marvel

Invite: Yantra Mantra: Windmill Gallery
Originally uploaded by IndiPix Images / Sanjay Nanda

Yesterday I went to see an exhibition of works by Delhi photographer Sanjay Nanda. He'd been spending time exploring the medieval observatory, the Jantar Mantar, as it's more popularly known, in the heart of Delhi.

Sanjay saw it differently then most of us do. While we see the hugh strangely shaped buildings the exhibition shares Sanjay's discovery of a world of textures and colours.

The Exhibition is on till February 14th at Windmill Gallery. Windmill Gallery, Windmill Place, Ayanagar Village, New Delhi

The venue is a lovely building set in one of Delhi's many villages. Where as we chatted the neighbours geese provided an interesting soundtrack and when I strolled out to my car I saw not one but two mongoose. :-D
I wish I'd carried my camera with me!!

Jantar Mantar Observatory, New Delhi, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Originally uploaded by thepooldiariesvisuals

Jantar Mantar Observatory,
New Delhi, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, India
by Thepooldiariesvisual S on Flickr

Remembering Dirty Happy Wild

He lived on the street. Much beloved of the neighborhood.
Then he got scabies and a viral infection
The local animal shelter tried to treat him to no avail

Sheer brilliance

Straying away from my normal posts here. Sitting far away from the USA I'm pretty unaffected by the elections there. Except for the highly entertaining news stories that float over the globe

This marketing gimmick though is brilliant.
I quote from the Logobama site
"Logobama, a place for you to create your own custom Obama logo and use it wherever you want. As Obama says, “we are the change we have been waiting for.” That’s what Obama is representing... someone who wants all of us to participate in changing the world. And together, we can make this change, one logo at a time."

Will Mr Obama be a good president or not? I don't know.
That his tenure will be highly entertaining and we'll all learn a lot of marketing, branding lessons from him ... guaranteed :-)

want your own logo? Go here

Lunar musings

Now that the monsoons are over and the skies washed clean each moonrise is rather special. Specially a full moon.

This pretty pink moon was shyly tip toeing between the clouds, well aware that she was being photographed from my window :-)

And as I read up on the moon I came across an interesting site that even gave tips on how to tend to your garden based on lunar phases ....Sow when new, transplant when full.
Something to do with how sap rises and water levels

A lot of festivals in India are based on the lunar calendar. It cuts across faiths... Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh... Muslim.

I wonder what it would have been like if the earth too had many moons. Would our loyalties be divided?
This is the Hindu Moon ... follow it's path.
This is our Muslim moon... all you faithful keep track of it's phases!

....how rather sad that sounds


Photography tip: Keep the aperture wide open, then experiment with shutter speeds. Expose well below the reading your camera gives to get the details on the moon.
Do I need to say you'll need a tripod or some other support?

Intrigued by Lunar gardens? Read up here

Varanasi: a slideshow

Here's a recent slideshow of one day in Varanasi. It traces a day in the immortal city from sunrise to night fall...
Click on the photograph above to view show. It will open in new window

If you want a copy of this Photo show, leave me a line and I'll be happy to mail it to you :-)

An ageless recipe

When things are really tough.. the tough get going.
And when this young man got going he reached a busy crossroad... literally

On a traffic light on the edge of Delhi he found an opportunity to establish a business. As cars stopped for the signal, he offered the travellers some of the latest bestsellers. A varied selection of topics and tastes, attractively displayed on his outstretched arms to show each product he had on offer clearly and boldly.

Can he read what he sells? .. No. Though he does know how to keep his accounts in hindi.

And he knows businessmen lounging on the back seat of their Lexus might be interested in the John Grishim. they don't need the self-help books. Self-help books are more for the young man in a beaten up Mariti Alto or Santro.
And for the ladies in their Santros and Swifts, Sun-Signs are an eternal favourite.

He has 2 minutes to make his sale before the traffic light changes and the other side of the road is not his territory. But if you're really interested he'll race along with your car to the opposite side to complete his sale.

He earns 10-15 rupees for each book he sells and sells about 20 on a good day.

The books are cheap pirated copies, an equally non-english speaking man will supply him late in the evening. Inventory maintained is minimum. Accounts all purely memory and word of mouth.

In a world of intellectual copyright he's a criminal.
In the harsh world of 'living' .. maybe not
And his hard work in the baking sun... an ageless recipe for success

Night out in Varanasi

By the time the sun sets in Varanasi all roads lead to ghats once again.
This time it's for the most happening event in Varanasi's night life... the Ganga aarti on Dashashvamedh Ghat.



Crowds gather. A colourful, excited, eclectic mixture of locals, domestic and foreign tourists.

The steps leading to the ghat become the 'stands' while on the last step stand a row of young priests in bright yellow silk kutas. In carefully orchestrated moves they swing into the rituals of the aarti.


The Aarti is an offering of thanks to the river. The most scared according to the Hindus. The ceremony honours the 5 elements Akash (space), Vayu (air), Tej (light), Jal (water) and Prithvi (earth).


Tourism has perhaps diluted the purity of ritual and sentiment. On the other hand it's lead to greater cleanliness around the ghats and economic welbeing for the city dwellers who live off them.


The health and well being of this beautiful river is unfortunately still under grave threat.


Photography tip: Avoid using the flash to capture the true ambiance of the ceremony.

Best Buy Souvenir: Copper pots containing the holy Ganga jal, Colourful kurtas printed with traditional vedic chants, beautifully delicate Benarasi sarees

Some moments from 101 Moments