the kids!

...so some 14 kids turned up this morning!! mostly from the neighbourhood itself, which was a good thing...then some of the workers' kids who spoke only telegu or kannad or hindi...so we had this crazy simultaneous multi-lingual workshop!...good fun i had...so what if i spoke only in english, the kids translated for each other. to them language was not a problem (like it was in my head). we drew, wrote stories, looked for appropriate frames, did a blind walk n took some pics with the digital cam.
suddenly, midway one kid would go, ajay i'm feeling hungry!...

workshop pics

the calm before the storm...tino surveys the "arrangments"...while i'm all wired up n hooked up!

the eve

...it's a dark cloudy n muggy night. not a leaf moves as my stomach churns as tomorrow nears. i'm trying to be cool about it...but meeting 5 of the 10-12 kids who are gonna be coming tomorrow helped...they're from the local school n seemed most excited. tino got the place cleaned up while i went to margao to make all the necessary purchases. i'll post some pics tomorrow, but for now, you'll just have to take my word ;)

tested out all the equipment i brought along n the tv here, cut up black chart paper into large rectangles, read up some more, visited photo labs n then dipped into tino's lil oval pool when it all got too much. i've decided to get to know this area/place through these kids n this workshop. their families, school, friends, interesting places...

they're gonna be teaching me konkani they said!! n show me birds, tell me names of the trees that grow here, fruit, fish...you get the drift...now, let's see what i end up doing with them!! o n i got these blank page notebooks where they'll draw, write, stick things, their photos even...friday n saturday 9am to 5pm or so...tino gently reminds me it is goa n people will come late, not at all or may come half day!!

has anyone here done stuff with kids 7-17yr olds? any vishesh tipnees? i've carried along a couple of charlie chaplins n geeta's 'printed rainbow'!! on that happy note...goodnite!!

more pics!!!

of my fav caju!...been having some real nice urraak, which is the first distillate of caju feni! light n fruity...with lime n salt n soda! faaab!

pic post!!

some wild flowers around the plot!

pic post!

anyone knows names of these?

workshop-ing

...so i leave for goa tomorrow early morning, for what should be the beginings of the resource centre for kids i've been thinking about...it is an idea i've had in my head for a while and now it is time to get my hands dirty. figured that we'd keep it low-key this time round and approach it like a trial/pilot workshop. call kids from the neighbourhood as opposed to go public with ads, leaflets and announcements. this way, i'll get a feel of the kids of kids, their backgrounds, get to know about their school n teachers, teaching aids available n being used or not, my own comfort level with them (as i've only done this with grad n post grad students), language issues (no konkani is almost non-existant!!)...

my friend tino will be doing stuff on theatre n pottery and me on the audio-visual medium. so like a creativity workshop, where your expression could be in any of these media...i'm carrying a 35mm still cam, chottu digital still cam, my mini-dv camcorder, laptop AND a telescope!!...printed out the sky map for the 26th and feel most excited...

but also so much anxiety/trepidation/nervousness...what if no one lands up!! but i've just decided to have a blast, try things i've never done before...will keep you posted!!

new!

sushma smiling for my new panasonic lx1 (it shoots in 16:9, cool no!)

checking out digital cameras at alfa (where else?!)

how to shake mtnl up

...for the last few weeks, i've been having a torrid time with my otherwise makkhan mtnl broadband connection. the adsl light just wouldn't stay steady. i'd call the helpline 1504 be on hold forever, they'd check that all is well from their side n pass the buck on to the exchange. but at the exchange, no one would pick up the phone or worse, they'd pick up, bark into it n slam it down mid-complaint. now that really gets my goat...

this went on for almost everyday for over 10days. today, i had had enough. i pulled out my camera, stuck a tape in, turned it on n walked right in into the "broadband saheb's office", but of course he's not there. got staff trying variously to explain to me where saab might have gone. naashta, chai, baahar...meanwhile, two others with the same complaint join me...

saab aa gaya, said someone..n in we trooped, my camera still rolling. sticking the lens into saab's face, i ask. "mr raghavan pls explain to me why my broadband connection is not working"..
err , have a seat...are you recording this? (sheepishly)
-yes, i'm fed up.(angrily)
but let me see what the problem is...
-your staff knows about this problem for 10days now.
o let me see. SAWANT!...inka number lena aur check karke batao (eyeing the camera)

my tirade didn't stop...iptv...privatisation..no planning...no capacity...don't...can't...i told him i wasn't going to leave till it is fixed. n sat put in his office while he tried to placate me, urging me to turn it off, offering me chai, ordering more staff on the job!...

i do turn it off eventually n then he says, pls understand i have joined here only 2 weeks ago. i am actually a refrigeration engineer, by training!!!!!!!!! pathetic... he goes on to tell me what a mess mtnl is in, no staff, not trained, how the guy before him neglected this department...after chai, i have not one, but two engineers dispatched with me home to fix the problem. haan, aur extra router bhi leyke jaanaa. why not, i muttered under my breath...it is 1.30pm now! prime lunch time!!

anyways, as it turned out there was a problem with the router... that changed..here i am!! beaming ear to ear!! but come to think about it..not very different from the mess the rest of the city is in - our roads, these malls...sighhhh

103 not out!

yaay! got to my hundred...finally!...for sometime felt like chetan chauhan on 99not out!!...cheers! and thanks for reading n writing in...

...on a quiet sunday morning...

...comes 5yr old ruhaan, home without his mother. we play for a bit and then he gets distracted by this:
"is this a girl or a boy?"
"i dunno, what do you think?"
"i think it's a girl"
"why do you think so?"
"she's wearing a skirt"
"skirt? that's a dress!"
"whatever, i think she's a girl"
"but then these days, boys also wear clothes like this"
"ya that's true"
"so then?"
"but then it'll be a new idea for me!"

sex!

...with so much being said, written n discussed about the need for sex education...i went back the one class we had while in school...7th or 6th standard we must've been in...and all i can remember is our school counsellor telling us boys not too spend too much time in the toilet n the bath - "the devil will put evil thoughts in your mind"...fat miss coral, lil did she know we were trying to figure out boobs from doobs and would get mighty turned on by 'big' miss flo's powdered cleavage n drop pencils on the floor to look up her short skirt as she walked by our bench...o what a joy!!

...of course, later came, human digest, debonair, playboy n even penthouse...and my first pondy - caligulla (or some such thing)...so much for birds n bees! ha!!

rakhi sawant on koffee!!!!!!!!

...can you imagine that??!!...watch this space for more ;)

stories!

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"...there just has to be a beginning!..the creation story...the easter story...today, after buying easter eggs n after mukul dropped me home, i suddenly felt like going for the easter vigil mass. now that wasn't the bad part...i've always loved the easter night mass...a lot more than christmas midnight mass...the lights off, the lighting of the candles...all very moody n pretty in golden...but then i remembered why i stopped going to church, to mass in the first place...it's these incorrugible priests n their unbearable sermons!...tonight's young turk sashayed betw english n hindi...thundering fist-clenched, "ye sab dan brown, cameroon uncle hai bakwaas, but jesu christ apna hai chakaas!"...yikes! i walked out, couldn't take it anymore...hope my mum don't read this...so he was talkin about about the da vinci code n how these lekkhaks, theatrewalley are all bakwaas!

...as i church-going kid, i remember trying to devise ways of throwing my voice (unnoticed)over the congregation to be picked up by the mic, to challenge the crap they seemed to be dishing out...

happy easter everybody!

heat n passion

...call it global warming or local area overheating...but it's gone so f***in hot! on my bike this afternoon to pay bills etc ...came back home soaked in sweat n eyes burning...cooled off with this huuge glass of watermelon juice...aaah!

i better go climb a glacier before they become molehills!...n imagine this - finally after so many years and countless billions of rupees, india n pak won't have to fight over siachen!...and meanwhile, what you hindoos gonna do about the big lingam meltdown at amarnath?!!...speaking of which - it is maundy thursday today...the night of the last supper when jesus washes the feet of his disciples (love one another as i have loved you)...knowing well that one among them is going to betray him. peter later, denies him thrice before the cock crows..setting the stage for the biggest drama in christianity - the passion of christ...fuel for several films n a powerful metaphor in derek jarman's garden

by tomorrow, good friday, pilate would've washed his hands off the decision to crucify jesus...an image i want to use in my film...more on that later...

everything you wanted to know about kbc

as i was saying...time n again i've been asked for tech details on kbc...here goes:
kbc moving lights:
kbc3 lighting was designed to reflect the show's new host and its increased play area, while staying true to the familiar look and feel of the original show. by bunging in a whole new set of lights we were able achieve greater creative freedom and control in terms of the varying colour palettes and light moves.

*we had 12 color kinetic LED washes in the pit which provided the right amount of colour saturation to the transparent bowl over which the game was played.
*10 robe color spot 1200's in a semi-circular ring over the audience which defined the show look with their up n down moves to the music.
*4 robe color spot 1200's on a circular metal truss just above the hot seat to heighten the drama when the stakes get higher by these very bright pools of light converging over computerji in a burn-out.
*10 robe scan 1200 xt's under the first row audience, thru the floor behind the contestants which created the best break link we've had on kbc. my fav!
*6 sgm victory 250's behind the host's entry position - a desperate attempt to "do something different" from the rotating beam of light behind ab's ass!
*160 color kinetic led batons on the pillars, floor strips and transluscent outer circle under the contestants providing us endless colour combinations.
*16 par cans in a semi-circular ring as audience back light with combinations of lee 180 dark lavendar, 079 just blue, 115 peacock blue and 021 golden amber colour gels.
2 haze machines to smoke up the place to enhance the shows trademark moving beams of light. and all this dmx-controlled by the jands vista lighting console.

conventional lights: or duffah lights ;)
*4 5k canara fresnels with lee colour correcting 202 half blue gel provided the face lights to both, host and hot seat contestant. the fill-lights softened with butter paper. the key light served as back light for the other.
*10 1k canara fresnels with lee 202 for the 10 contestants while they sat playing fastest-finger-first.
*6 2k canara multi-20's with cc blue glass filter for the audience face lights.
*6 1k canara fresnels with lee 202 and 153 pale salmon to break the evenness of the multi-20s.
*2 1k canara fresnels with lee 202 for the companion of the hot seat contestant.
all these duffahs were patched into a dmx-controllable dimmer packs so that they too could be triggered off by the lighting console.
we worked at 60footcandles for face lights all over. while the moving lights ranged between 160 to 320fc, giving us a good balance to shoot at an aperture of 2.8

cameras:
there were a total of 7 sony dxc-d35 cameras with fujinon 12x lenses, shooting at 5600K to give us an enhanced blue palette of the moving lights.
cam 1 on contestant at hot seat + contestant intros.
cam 2 on frontal host/contestant 2-shot.
cam 3 on host cu
cam 4 on contestant/host os + contestant intros.
cam 5 on companion + audience reactions
cam 6 on jimmy jib (18ft length) with 4.5 wide angle lens making the set look huger than it really is.
cam 7 on half-round trolley behind the audience.

...hmmm have i left out anything?? so there! now you know!!

april fool!

...got all excited when sush called to say that i've been featured in today's bombay times about kbc...by the time sur called i began to get suspicious! ha! had completely forgotten all about april fool's day!...spent a good part of the morning, plotting more such pranks on several more unsuspecting fools!!

but now, as i write - sri lanka is plotting west indies ka exit from the world cup n i am so sad...desperately want w indies to win. but then the lankan boys are playing their hearts out...such a trip watching them. o i am sooo glad we lost n are out of the world cup...pathetic bunch of overpaid under-performing slobs! hope some sanity is restored all over - us fans, the advertisers, the bookies, the players n the board...n hope like hell other sports get a boost as a result...but nay....

namesake

finally saw namesake tonight...at this run-down movietime in malad...a late start n incorrect projection gate got me all pissed off to start with...the film itself hardly moved, som good ol mira nair exotica, tabu looked awful, nitin sawhney wasted, some really arbit cutting n unecessary flashbacks...most disappointing. was looking foward to seeing my fav actress tabu...but she just didn't hit the right key this time. irrfan on the other hand, was brilliant. next!....