The Long and Winding Road: July 2005

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

A motley

The following is a bunch of snaps that I took over the past couple of weeks. They have been clubbed together as I guess they don't each merit an individual post.

Are you lonesome tonight?

Rather pretty looking flower this was. At first sight it seems as though some of the petals have been plucked away (maybe as part of Tang's lavish spread for Salman). But I think the space between the flower petals is intentional and symmetrical.

Apartheid no more

See...no legs!

This 'artist' was entertaining the crowd (and making a living out of it as well) by performing a variety of tricks on his simple ‘torn down to basics’ bicycle. I like the look on the face of the dog in the far right corner- it too appears to be spell bound by his antics.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 | Permalink | 4 comments

Monday, July 18, 2005

Dinner at my place - 7 pm sharp

Tangavelu the brown garden spider and Salman the black louse were the best of friends and used to be inseparable. The two knew each other since childhood days, having grown up on adjacent marigold stalks. But things were slowly changing. Nature has this wonderful phenomenon called instinct, and both Salman and Tangavelu were coming to grips with its reality.

Of late one look at Salman was enough to send Tangs scurrying into his kitchen, where he pulled out book after cookery book bequeathed to him by his late mom. Tangs salivated and drooled over the glossy pages of “Quick fix mix – gastronomy for the working spider”. He wasn’t sure if “The lousy broth” would taste better than “Crispy bug chips”. Maybe he could manage both - after all Salman was fast growing into a prime, exemplary louse, at least size wise.

Salman meanwhile was no longer drawn to the glow in Tangavelu’s shifty eyes. That radiance, which he earlier perceived as one of friendship and warmth now had a menacing, diabolical look. He did not like playing hop skip and jump with Tangs anymore. Somehow he got this strange feeling that Tangs was always on the lookout to jump on him! He shuddered as he recalled his last meeting with Tangs – a cold blistery morning a few days back, when he was sitting on the edge of a desiccated leaf, ruminating over his life, when he felt the leaf beneath him creak and move almost silently. He jumped around and saw Tangavelu, motionless and with his fangs raised in unison. Just as he was about to screech out, Tangs pulled out a worn out toothbrush, and began to scrub his fangs, humming an innocuous oldie, and trying to give an unsurprised, bored look. “Mean weather for this time of the year,” he uttered as he turned around and marched back. Salman beat a hasty retreat, having lost any interest in wanting to ponder about life any more at that moment.

A few summers pass by.

The field in which Tangs and Salman had made their home were now flush with bright flowers and young buds, all swaying in the gentle breeze, as the favourable July sunshine continued to make life a joy for all concerned. Except for Tangs that is, who over the years had developed an allergy to pollen, and was sneezing and sniffing his life away. “Damn these flowers!” he muttered. Adding to his aggravated mood were his repeated failures in making a meal out of Salman. Salman had only grown stronger and faster, and sleight was no longer Tangavelu’s best friend. He had to think of something fast if he was to turn that vista of “Crispy bug chips” into a reality.

His idea came in a fleeting moment of brilliance, something relatively uncommon in the arachnid world. He decided to call Salman over for dinner knowing quite well that Salman could not refuse an offering of fresh honeydew and tender hibiscus buds. He elaborately planned out the rest of the menu, and spent the whole of the afternoon gathering the ingredients for the feast. He sent his invitation to Salman, through Prabhakar the caterpillar, asking him to drop over for a ‘quick bite’ anytime in the evening. The hard work out of the way, he relaxed back and sat down to catch his favourite serial – “Crawl into my parlour”.

Why Salman made the stupidity of accepting the invitation is indeed hard to fathom, and so not worth dwelling into. In his final moments, as he was being drawn into a silky embrace, he saw a bright light flash before his eyes a few times. Mistaking it for a luminous blaze from the heavens, he steadied himself for his eternal journey.

Monday, July 18, 2005 | Permalink | 3 comments

Friday, July 15, 2005

Shy damsel amongst bougenvalia fronds

Took a series of snaps of this very timid and cute looking girl last weekend. She was playing all by herself with the plants and rocks in the same ground in which I had earlier taken the picture of the football playing kids. It was a bit tough to photograph her as I did not want to do it without her permission. So I asked a localite who was relaxing in the park to ask her so in Kanadda. That proved to be a blunder as he instantly became suspicious of my intent and asked what will people think if they saw me snapping. Finally after much consoling and explaining from my side, he tried to get the message across to her but she coyly slunk away. I then had to stand from quite a distance and surreptitiously shoot her. In one series of photos, I set the camera on a high burst mode and got a set of shots where she slowly looks up from behind the branch and becomes aware of the lens focussed on her.

Friday, July 15, 2005 | Permalink | 3 comments

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Spoilt for choice

A view of the juices section in my neighborhood supermarket. Would recommend a new brand called Coolers to anyone who likes jamun and panna (green mango juice). The jamun juice specially tastes just like the fruit - the same rough sensation you get on the tongue after consuming the actual fruit. After drinking it I felt as if I was transported to some exotic wild forest like location!

Sunday, July 03, 2005 | Permalink | 3 comments

Tension amidst tension

Nothing special in this photo, but I put it up because of it’s pretty catchy caption. Captures kids at a game of football in which tensions were running high, and the two high tension wire towers seem to stand as extra goalposts!

Sunday, July 03, 2005 | Permalink | Add a comment

Close encounters and Live 8

This has been a weekend of extremely close sporting contests. Was constantly switching between the ladies final at Wimbledon and the Natwest final at Lords. Could not make up my mind at which one deserved a more prolonged viewing (the live Live-8 telecast was complicating a decision even further...but thank you VH1 for not making my life so straightforward). The men's final later today might be a treat too. Can't expect much from the F1 race at Mangy Cours.

The longest ladies final in tournament history was a fitting way to end this years competition. Either one of the two could have won it finally, but the amazing fact that Venus has reached the final five times in the past six years speaks of her consistency at this venue. You could sense her sheer joy and relief at the way she kept prancing about till bed time came around.

I don't think that for a long time have I sat on the edge of my seat for a cricket match like I did for yesterday's Natwest final. The way Jones and Collingwood were consolidating their innings after England were five down for very little brings back memories of that Natwest final a couple of years back when Kaif and Yuvraj were similarly repairing the damage on road to that memorable triumph. I don't think I can even imagine the nerves that Giles must have had when he played the final ball and scampered through for a brace. Strangely there was a bit of a hush for sometime in the ground and the commentary box after the last ball suspense. I would have imagined Nasser Hussain to have leapt out of his seat and do a impromptu jig. Botham is rarely stirred enough to emit more than his customary "Well". Am sure that the Aussies felt like a pelican whose beak has been priced open, and the catch fished out. There have still that yard to go before they can achieve the domination that Armstrong or Rossi have shown in their respective sports.

Sir Bob Geldof's endeavor in trying to eradicate poverty, hunger and death is highly noble. It’s gratifying that so many top musicians have pledged their solidarity and support to this cause. I just hope that people around the globe remember the real motive behind the concerts after the sounds of the absolutely top quality music have died down. I don't think we will get to see Paul McCartney, REM, Pink Floyd, U2, Cold Play, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Robbie Williams and The Who sharing the stage any time soon again. Hyde park crowd - thank your stars! If you would like to be a part this "Long walk to Justice", you could sign up at http://www.live8live.com/list/. May peace and prosperity descend upon us all!

Sunday, July 03, 2005 | Permalink | Add a comment

Friday, July 01, 2005

Raising an empty toast

This was taken a few minutes before the crowd was let loose on the innocent biscuits!

Friday, July 01, 2005 | Permalink | 2 comments

...and along came a spider...

Snapped this beauty outside my friend’s house. Was a bit scared in taking the lens in too close...haven't yet forgotten Spielberg's Arachnophobia.