Klickd !

"It's weird that photographers spend years or even a whole lifetime, trying to capture moments that added together, don't even amount to a couple of hours."
~ James Lalropui Keivom

Photography has become a very common hobby of many now a days, including me :o). I have been more into photography these days. Especially, a Digital Camera in my hand, I keep experimenting everyday with something or the other. My colleagues and friends would be surprised if i didn't have my camera with me any day. Almost every other day i have my camera with me.

Definition of Photography : Producing pictures with camera , Using light to make pictures

I like the second one better. Light plays an important role in photography, during the time you take a picture or during the time when it is developed .

Gone are the days when you would use a analog camera, Click pictures and wait for them to get developed and only to find out that many of the photos haven't turn out so well. Digital Camera gives you the freedom to take as many pictures as you want, If you don't like a picture - just delete it, Need less light - use less flash, want to shoot a sequence of events - use the 'burst' option.

Creativity and Uniqueness are also two important things which go hand in hand with Photography. Take a normal photo with a different angle and its sure it won't go unnoticed. Appreciations are always welcomed. Any photo which is appreciated by others is like a milestone for you in the field of photography. Photos are an imprint of your memories .A look at the photo album at time brings back memories of the past, your Childhood ,School Days (Those group photos with the uniform and red ribbons) ,your Birthday snaps (you standing eagerly in front of the cake to blow the candels),your College photos ( Those unsuccessful attempts to click the photos of a smart guy /gal) :o) and many more ..

Timing is one more criteria which is in line with photography. Correct timing for clicking the shot has to be decided by the person behind the lens. A well timed capture would result in great results.

Photo editing Softwares are a common way to enhance your Digital photographs. Take a normal picture and try different effects on the photo to give it a different look .
I have recently been using Picassa. Click here to see my experiments with Picasa and other photos which i have taken . Comments and Suggestions on the photos are well appreciated .
I am just a Beginner into this world of Lights, Lens, Focus, Zoom, Pixels, Exposure, ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, White Balance, Focal Length, Noise .....

The Spirit of Christmas !

[Christmas Lightings in Singapore ,at Orchard Road]

Christmas relates to Santa Claus ,Gifts, Cakes, Christmas Trees, Lights, Bells, Snow, "Jingle Bells", Stars, Angels, Reindeers, Magic , Kids , Holidays, SALE , coming of New Year ...

Less work at office during these times as everyone is OOO (Out of Office !!!)..
Termed as Freeze Period [Maybe bcos it is very cold this time of the year:o)].There are Christmas or Year End Sales everywhere!

During School Days this was the one time i used to wait for , since there were 10 days holidays ,Time to go to Grandma's house !!!You wished you would meet a Santa Claus on the road and he would just pop up a gift in your hand .All sorts of questions we used to ask our parents "Why doesn't Santa Claus come to our house? " ,"Where is North Pole?" ,"Does Santa really live there? ,"Why don't we get gifts?" ...And the answers we used to get "If you be good then Santa will surely come!! " :o)

As years went by holidays reduced ,questions reduced but the Christmas Spirit is still the same!

Who knows Santa might read this blog !!!!!

Christmas is truely magical !!!

Five Top things to make for 'Dabba'

'Dabba' -Afternoon Lunch ,Tiffin Box ,Lunch Box whatever you want to call...

Being away from 'Sweet Home' is one great thing, and above that, cooking your own food daily without fail is one more great achievement. All the guys who are onsite would definitely agree with me, may not be true with people who are staying with their families !!!

"What to make for dabba tomorrow/today?", "Nothing is there at home to prepare, no Vegetables, no Groceries!!". Did you ever come across with this question in your mind ?

Alarm rings, you put it to snooze and Zzzzzzzz, then it rings again and again you press the snooze button and finally you get up at the third ring. Getting up early in the morning is quite a difficult task and then to cook is even more difficult unless you have some idea as what to cook !

As long as you are not too fussy about the food you eat, maybe you can a have a little peep into my list of 5 Top things for Dabba !!

1. Mosaru Anna/Curd Rice -The easiest thing to make. Take Curds, mix it a little bit of Chopped Onions and Green Chilies, add salt to taste and mix the rice. In a frying pan keep a little bit of oil, add mustard seeds and Cumin seeds, once they start to jump out, switch off the gas and add this to the curd rice, this will be a little bit of garnishing to the curd rice. You can add pomegranate seeds, dried grapes etc, etc to your taste and convenience.

2. Pulliogare/Tamarind Rice -A big Thanks to MTR without which all the Bachelors going onsite would have to go for cookery orientation class before they leave for onsite projects.
Pour a little bit of oil, drop a couple of spoons of Pulliogare Powder, fry it, add rice and Pulliogare is ready !!!
You can also customize the Pulliogare by adding Chopped Onions or some other Vegetables which you like, fry these vegetables and add it to the Pulliogare !!

3. Upamma/Kara baath /'Concrete' - I never used to like this at home, but now its okay since this is easy to make. Tip :Always Keep Frozen Vegetables Packet in your freezer.
Fry the Rava and keep it in a container for easy use. Pour a little bit of oil in the frying pan, a bit of mustard seeds, chillies, cumin seeds, chopped onions, some frozen vegetables, fry them a bit, add the Rava and then add the water. Let it boil for sometime until the water evaporates.
Tip :Keeping the hot water ready will make things easier.

4. Dosa /Thosai- Little background work is required other than that, it can be used for 2-3 days !!
Soak rice and Urad Daal (Split White Lentils) in 4:1 proportion overnight, grind it to a fine batter not too watery, leave it to ferment for 6-7 hours. And then Dosa Batter is ready. You can have lot of variations to this, you can add a little bit of Chopped Onions, Tomatoes and Coriander Leaves, once you put it on frying pan and you have utthapam. You can make Tomato chutney to go along with it !!

5. Sambar Rice -Fry a little bit of frozen vegetables in little oil, add Yesterday's left over Rasam/Daal into the Frying pan and mix rice .Saambar Rice is ready !!!
(This process is called as a 'Patch'. 'Old is gold' :)

Here are Some of the other 5 Top things for 'Dabba' from my friends

Murali's List

1. Rice sambar prepared on the previous day.
2. Tomato, onion, and rice mix - 'Tomato Baath'
3. Rice & Dal .. fried in oil - 'Fried Rice'
4. Rice & Coconut mix -'Coconut Rice'
5. Finally, Dosa & tomato chutney.

Manju's List

1. Pulliogare.
2. Chappathi.
3. Chitranna (I call it as 'Art Rice', 'Chitra' means Art).
4. Vaangibath (Lot of Brinjals/Capsicum in this).
5. Sambar Rice.
There is a 6th one in this List
6th. Avalakki (Avalakki is 'Flattened Rice')

Thanky's List

1. Chicken Curry with Rice- boil chicken and put all the masalas.
2. Fish Curry with Rice- boil fish, put chilly powder, ginger garlic paste, tomato
3. Moru Curry with Rice- curd mix with turmeric powder.....oil, onions.....
4. Salad with Rice - tomoto,onions and vinegar
5. Sambar with Rice- Ask the Servant to help making the sambar ,mix it with Rice

Its not necessary to go by the traditional way ,Cook the way you want but keep in mind 'It should be edible! ' and then give it a fancy big name like Shahi Fired Rice ,Onsite Dosa Experiment ,Vidya's Special etc ,etc!!!
There are no rules for cooking .Kitchen is like a R & D Lab (Research and Development Laboratory ) ,keep experimenting !!

Have fun in the Kitchen !!!!

I wonder...

I wonder why the person sitting in front of me is smiling!
Is he mad or is he smiling at me?
I wonder what makes him smile !
Is it my face or or my hair style ?
I wonder what is on my face which makes him smile ?
Is my face funny or did i act funny ?
As i wonder the person sitting in front of me stares at me
As our eyes meet and i start to smile
Now I wonder when i smile sitting in front of him,
Does he also think i am mad !


Anyways now i know he is not mad,He was just reading Santa Banta Jokes !!!!!
Haaaa haaaaa haaaaa !!!

Statutory Warning !

A BLOG dedicated to all the SMOKERS in my team !!!!!!

"Smoking is bad ! It's injurious to health."

Smoker : "Yeah, I know, that's why I am burning it !"

Comments : Social Work !!! or Convincing yourself that what you are doing is right!!!

"Cigarettes are costly "

Smoker :"Ya man, Very costly, that's why I sometimes borrow a cigarette or two from my friends !!" :o)

Smoker :"Don't worry. I have asked my friend to get a carton of cigarettes from India, quite cheap there. It will last for another two months da !"

Smoker :"Hey ,Cigarette company is making so much of money because of me yaar!!!"

Comments :I wish our Lungs and Hearts could speak or cry so that every time you smoked they would start crying out loudly like a small kid!!!!!

Is Tobacco industry in India booming so much ?

They should ban carrying cigarettes in the plane!!

Reasons for smoking

"Its so cold !"

"I am tensed up yaar ! "

"Its Style yaar !"

"It gives me confidence !"

Comments : Instead of Heaters ,everyone should start smoking ????

A gift for your friend when you are going back to India.

Smoker : A pack of Marlboro cigarettes !

Comments: What a friend!!! 'A friend in need is a friend in deed' !

"No Smoking Day !! " - 8th March

Smoker : "We will smoke in the night yaar !"

Smoker :"So other days are Smoking Days??"

Comments:'Where there is a will ,there is a way!" ."Where there is a Cigarette,we have to smoke!" .

In case....

http://www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/

Vote of Thanks !! - Thanks to all smokers who are reading this, because of whom I got an inspiration to write this blog !

Conference Call!

Concall....After the shift hours...

Six things most of us do during a conference call

1. Phone on mute..
   
2. Reciever between your ears and neck..
   
3. Switching the reciever from left to right and vice versa
   
4. Typing/browsing while on the Conference call
   
5. Putting the phone on speaker mode
   
6. Waiting for the Conference Call to end

Note: You can tell me if i have missed out anything !!!!!!

Balloon World ! !

Last month i saw this person in the train who was not wasting his precious time and trying out different things from Balloon ,so i thought why not i give it a try and this is what i did over the weekend with my cousin !

Its supposed to be a Poodle !!

Ceiling Light ...!

Story behind a piece of art !

Four Days after my Birthday which was quite boring !!! Had kept an alarm for 6 o'clock in my mobile .If I have to get up at 6:30 I keep an alarm for 6 o'clock ,half an hour is buffer time in which I keep 'snoozing' the alarm. Finally I got up at 6:30 ,called up my friend Manju (a wakeup call). I asked him whether he is coming for Jog, He said 'You carry on!". I said ok. Switched off the fan, switched on the light. Lied on the bed for sometime, then finally got up. Finished all the morning chores and got ready ! Took my mp3 player along since I was going alone today. Drank a glass of water before closing the main door of the house.

To leave the house I have to lock three doors, one is my room door ,the main door and the main gate. Wearing shoes is a pain. I usually tie the laces and keep it and only slide my feet into the shoes. Put on the head phones and turn on the music (Robert Miles song -One and one ....). It had rained the previous night, the roads were drenched and the grass was still wet. As I walked, I could see kids going to school holding their parents' hand, people waiting in the bus stops. Saw a pair of Singapore Airlines crew (white and blue dress ) waiting for the bus, saw a Malay lady plucking some kind of leaves on the side of the road (remembered plucking Pudina leaves/herbs back in India).

Reached Sun plaza Park. Park is quite big. Many people come to jog. Some come in groups, some in pairs, some single, some with dogs (the dogs are so tiny and look so malnutritioned, I guess the breed is like that) and some on cycle!! As I entered, I could see a lady doing some sort of slow dance or exercise. Its sort of slow karate movements. Middle of the park, there is a cemented area where a group of people do aerobics. There is circular road surrounding the cemented area where people jog or walk. I am the only one going clockwise, rest of them go anti-clockwise.

There are many faces I see regularly - an old couple walking, a fat Chinese man running who is sweating like a pig ( I don't know how many rounds he runs! ), a fat Indian man with a moustache. The MRT (Mass Rapid Transportation - the trains in Singapore are called MRT ) path crosses the park (Train track is above the ground, much like a flyover) .You can see trains passing every 5-7 minutes.I walk the first round and then Jog the second round. Walked Clockwise and then jogged anticlockwise like rest of the crowd ,as they say "Follow the crowd!". End of the jog, my heartbeat was like the train passing above my head, so fast. I take out my spectacles and sit for some time on the cement bench with green bars. Sitting on the cement bench as I see so many old people walking and jogging, really appreciate the stamina in them. There is one person who even walks backward, have heard of Morning walk, Evening walk, Brisk walk, Slow walk, I guess we can add another one 'Back walk' .Once my heartbeat had come to the normal pace, I went to the fitness area. Did some exercises and on the way to home with "Another Day in Paradise -Phil Collins" playing in my ears. It was 8 o'clock now. More number of vehicles on the road, weather was still cloudy, sun hiding somewhere in the clouds, sun rays hitting only the upper half of the buildings. Reached home, opened the first lock and then the second (main door) so that my owner doesn't get up (she works for 12 hours ). Washed my hands and legs, opened my room door lock and entered my territory.

My room scene : Two cupboards ( look very neat and beautiful from outside), One ironing board (which has become a table to keep my bag and other things like a drawing book which I bought, so that I can draw but I never removed it from the plastic cover from the day I got it from the shop), a small table (on top of which there is a Money plant in a vase, a painting book and an angel statue which I picked it up from the dust bin below my friend's block :o) ), A big study table (which is never empty, filled with all sorts of things like paper, pens, a bottle of water, clips, earrings, camera, comb, water color pencils set etc ,etc), a big (table) fan (which is not kept on the table) and then my bed (with the bed sheet folded neatly on one side, alarm clock and a (Green and Blue color ) Dolphin doll lying upside down with one eye visible:o) )..

I have named the dolphin 'Singu'

Sat for sometime with the fan on and then when my eyes searched for something to do, I looked at the painting book lying on the small table and the drawing book lying on the ironing board. It started to rain heavily outside, I was inside the house on time. Felt like finally reading the painting book, took the painting book to read and simultaneously opened the drawing book from the plastic cover. Read two pages in the book, couldn't resist opening the new water color pencil set. Opened the first page of the drawing book, took a black water color pencil and started to draw. First drew the tree trunks, Houses, Leaves (which are in red and violet color), ground and some grasses .Then took some water, dipped the brush in the water and gave a gentle touch on the drawing.

These water color pencils are really good. Although the output was not so good..Will try again and hopefully get some great painting, maybe a one to frame in my house (or to sell in an auction for a Million Dollars!!!! )

A Delicacy !

SUBWAY Sandwich has been one of my favorites outside India .

Being onsite from last 7 months i have found Subway Sandwich to be one of the Vegetarian food which is easily available almost everywhere .Its quite healthy also. You can have your own choices of Vegetables . I make sure i have all the vegetables put inside especially the Olives and Chillies stored in Vinegar ( these are the ones which add the Sour and Spicy taste to the Sandwich).
I can eat the whole of 6 inches Sandwich for a Lunch or a Dinner .If you are not too hungry you can just eat 3 inches of the Sandwich. As i am writing this blog i am already feeling hungry ! I did have a picture where i am eating a Subway Sandwich but i thought it is better not to post that picture otherwise i am sure i would have got lot of comments on that picture rather than the blog !!! Ha haa haaa !!!
Non-vegetarians have a lot of variety ,Vegetarians are limited to only one "Veggie Delite".
The Subway near my house here in Singapore has got discounts on each day for different Sandwiches. The best part being Friday is the day for "Veggie Delite" :o) .Not that i go every Friday ,but if i am somewhere near Subway on Friday then Its Subway for Dinner although one of my friend's doesn't like it ! But we (myself and my friend ) forcefully take him there !!! I am sure he is going to give me stares after reading this blog.
All said and done, If you haven't tried it yet ,do try it !!
Its definitely a Delite !!!!

A Taxi Ride in Singapore !

Boarded a Taxi in Singapore along with my Aunt and my small cousin . All of us were going to the new house ,uncle was in the old house waiting for the movers to come and move the things to the new house. Aunt and myself were talking about what things to be done in the new house .
The taxi driver struck a conversation saying "You don't seem to be local as i can understand from your accent!" .I was wondering maybe we weren't using much of 'La!' (OK La ) and stretching the words or maybe not adding the suffix "aaa" in the end,thats what he meant by accent ! Anyways ,My aunt told him that we were from India . The word 'India' seem to have triggered something in his mind! He asked "Which part of India? " .Aunt told him that we were from South India ,from Bangalore.Then the obvious question from our side was "Have you ever been to India?" .He said "Oh! Yeah Yeah .I have been to Bombay .I have been to 'Madaras',now called Chennai right" .We were quite happy to hear that. And then he told us that he is a major fan of Devanand,his idol .He even told that his brother looks quite similar to Devanand .Actually he himself looked very similar to Devanand .Then he sang some lines of songs from Devanand movies like "Khoya khoya Chand ,khula aasman".He sang quite well .After singing he asked us whether his pronunciation was correct . He mentioned how good 'GUIDE' movie was . He also told about many other movies . He spoke in Hindi also ,kept telling "Namaste" and "Shukriya" .
He told us that he loves 'Thosai' (Dosa ,known as Thosai in Singapore) .His whole family loves 'Thosai' with Radish Sambar and 'Chutney' .He told us that he sees tamil movies also.That particular day being Saturday,Tamil movie comes in one of the channels called 'Vasantham Central'. He told that he was going to see the tamil movie that after going home.
He praised Old Hindi movies.I was with full smiles and feeling so proud about being an Indian.
We reached our destination and end to a wonderful taxi ride in Singapore which reminded so much of our country and small things which we don't appreciate and are glad to take the credit when outsiders praise it .While getting down from the Taxi after giving the fare i told him "Nice talking to you" .He said "Same here".

The next day i soaked rice and daal for making "Thosai" .I guess i was really inspired by his talk !!!