cappadociaaaaaaaaaaaah!

left me speechless!...

istanbul photo post

view from our room in istanbul: shezade jadessi

the turks largely happy to have you, very friendly, the oldies break out into raj kapoor's "dil hai hindustani". the young un's can't get enough of SRK!

o the beautiful bosphorous! running north-south marking the point asia ends n europe begins

the hagia sophia built as a church n then a mosque now with the most exquisite mix of early christian n muslim art

eat drink europe!

...so i'm off again!...this time on a travel food show across europe! what else could i have asked for ;) istanbul. cappadocia. athens, pelopenesse. salzburg. vienna. helsinki. turku. stockholm...do i see you go all green?!! heehee so am gone for about 6weeks! the show for a soon to be launched lifestyle channel here in india. dunno if i'll get a chance to update while i'm away...that would've been ideal. am armed with my digital cam n mah new nokiah n 91 which has the most mindblowing sound i've heard come out these mobile/mp3 devices AND orhan pamuk! cheers!

the blew unbrella

...now vishal bhardwaj, i'd say is among the most exciting thinking directors we got in bollywood today. my fav is maqbool no doubt, followed by makdee. it is with this v high expection i went to see "the blue umbrella" this morn...he must've known it wasn't up to his high benchmark...wondered about this delayed release, considering it was ready before omkaara. all this became clear as the film unfolded...completely lacking emotion, the story plodded on at a slow pace, punctuated with some expectedly good music tho' unnecessary song dance numbers, ruined by some inconsistent "trying-hard-to-look-good" camerawork n patchy editing. shining thru some very dark frames was pankaj kapoor...he is just fantastic...breathing n living his character (much like he wow-ed us in maqbool), getting the look perfect and the accent. and the girl! - bright eyed n cute but didn't pull on the heart-strings (like say the girl in makdee)...i'd fault the script really, not her. so net-net, all wonderful ingredients not coming together...tch tch!

happy birthday channa!

the calm before the storm ;)

oye balley balley!

chak de last night got me so excited n so happy...so what if we had to crank our necks up from our second row seats...it was just so fantastic to see hockey up there on bada pardah...the passion with the girls played, delightfully peppered local-flavour dialogues (notwithstanding some awful cliches)...a good tight script (albeit a lil predictable tho' pacy first half)...and srk! o he must've had a blast doing this film. i mean, of course there were the ickky srk moments, when his voice quivers n his hands tremble...but it worked! and how!...a full house cheering lustily to the very end, almost like lagaan! but this was hockey! and that made me all teary-eyed!... well-researched and a good bit of detailed nuances in the way the game is played. o the girls!...just fantastic, esp my fav - the impish haryanvi chautala. the tension betw the fowards so real...the locker room backstabbings...transported me right back to my inter-school matches...three cheers! and five stars!!

the worst film list!

...something new i'm on to - instead of valliantly battling bombay's insane traffic, i walk into the nearest cinema hall/multiplex n settle into a film! sucker that i am, this evening walked into the gorgeous art-deco liberty at marine lines for "bow barracks forever"...as usual, i'm anxious to get a seat plonk in the middle of the hall, the guy behind the window bellows, "arrey kahin bhi baith jao!"

all of six people in this 1000 seater!!...and i soon learnt why!...attrocious, if ever there was a film worse than this. hamming for acting, awful music, stereotypical representation, badly written dialogue repeated o so often (in case you didn't get it the first time) you want to cry, a camera so reluctant to move, a wafer thin plot...grrrr i could go on...

and captive audience that i was, stayed on till the very end!... and yes, you guessed it - nothing really happened!...

so which was your worst film?...let's compile a list!

bergman rip

..seldom do you wake up feeling orphaned...first, they took away sven dada...n now the master himself - ingmar bergman! wondered how long he might've been playing chess with death...wonder what magic the two will conjure up now when they meet up again...

"there are moving pictures with sound and light which never leave the projector of the soul but run in loops throughout life with unchanging sharpness, unchanging objective clarity. Only one's own insight inexorably and relentlessly moves inwards towards the truth", he wrote in his autobiography.

may his soul rest in peace!...well n truly!

krvia workshop pic post

krvia workshop

..."hey ajay, we want you to conduct a 4day workshop for our students...do anything you feel like or wish to explore with them". ya sure, i said without thinking too much. and then the panic!...i hadn't done anything like this before, for architecture students at that! thinkin'thinkin'thinkin'...couldn't go beyond stuff i was obsessing about while working on the edit of my dad film ...memories...photographs...spaces... the opening of wim wender's film "notebook on cities and clothes" provided a perfect start:
we live in the cities
the cities live in us
time passes
we move from one city at another
from one country to another
we change languages
we change habits
we change opinions
we change clothes
we change everything
everything changes. and fast
images above all...

i wasn't working with a hypothesis...just kept it open end-ed and exploratory. hadn't a clue what to expect but very excited n nervous. talked to them about my film about my dad n took it further from there. introductions, perceptions, self-image n fav spaces... the first day was the hardest...had to talk a lot more than i had wanted to. wasn't able to get on top of things. the room was stuffy, the students reticent, the av equipment ng. i was exhausted by the evening...but from the second morning on they were flying n by the third morning they didn't even need me!

each evening on my long rick ride back home, would think how lovely n lucky these students were to have a faculty who valued these inter-disciplinary exchanges. there was ashok sukumaran and rahul srivastav who tripped along with another bunch of students taking them to other heights of experience n experimentation...

enjoyed every bit of it n learnt so much...esp how lame i am in my idea of the sacredness of an image...learnt how much more my laptop can do! o it was such fun! showed them hiroshima, mon amour and metropolis and blue...we struggled with how this would all come together on the last day as a presentation to the rest of the college. but they did fine...as you will see in the next post!

the last sip of koffee!

untitled2

...so there's this really beautiful bright soft warm knitted sweater stuck high up on this cliff's edge...n there he is hanging on to it for dear life. it's a little frayed at the end, something he didn't notice at first... n he's clutching on to all but one thread...he pulls on it and the woolen thread just goes fraaaap un-knitting itself in circles around...the harder he pulls the more it unravels...he can't feel the softness or the warmth anymore but he's still clutching on...

i'm back (yet again!)

damn! that took a long time recovering...not much happened since...though most significantly,my editor d got into srftii for editing. most kicked that she got in. but which meant that we've taken a break from editing. all well-timed coz i got busy with the last sked of koffee.

i think i'm gonna miss shooting this show more than any other. enjoyed it immensely! everything about it - the high profile ness, the look we achieved, the easy pace of the shoot, the absolutely wonderful kjo, the most understanding producers...and some good fun guests.

then, classes began at sophia's...some not-so-happy changes there...not as bright a batch as last years. but i enjoyed my first two classes immensely...my thirteenth year there!!!... and am now to take a 4day workshop at krvi...for about 40 architecture students. most nervous since i've never done anything like this before. cannot think of anything besides what i am already obsessing about these days while working on my own film - identity, images, memories and the city.

there's more...but by n by...am sorry if i got some of you worried...better now...cheers!

write/don't write

...i've been meaning to write, but also don't want to write...scared of committing to words what i don't want to remember. want so hard to forget what happened on the night of the 26th...when past-life whizzed by in flashes...in seconds i was staring at the blackest black...either i tip over into the precipice or walk away "cleanst". the fever raged at a hundred n two...while sleep eluded me...my second half life had begun...

i did it!

yes! i finally slapped someone! walking down from the train station to home amidst bumper to bumper traffic late one evening dodging manholes n garbage n the teeming millions on the road n behind the wheel...was someone at my heels blaring the horn like it was carnaval. n fuckin loud it was...0 to 100 in 1.5 sec my blood boiled, turned around to see it was a ricksha, i just bent down n slapped him so hard! i got as much of a fright as he did as he lunged toward me...i evaded successfully n gave him a earful of expletives n curses...essentially reminding him that the road wasn't his alone...o man! that felt soooo good!...:)

(now this was over a week back! i've been laid low with a viral...just about recovering!)

printed memories

..i sit across a table with my mum's sisters as they rummage thru their past recollecting for me all thay can remember about my dad...and my mum. they pull out lil brown paper packets of lil b/w photographs of a time i never knew but cherish so much. we hold them in our hands...look at them...closely...sending them deep into a spiral of memories...they give them to me those b/w photographs...i am overwhelmed... but can't help thinking of the future...what will they the gen next hold when we sit down together so many years later?...

sixty going on sixteen!

meeka n appa celebrated their sixtieth (!!!) wedding anniversary on the 9th earlier this month. decided to suprise them last week at this big family bash n went to delhi for a day. just fantastic, it was. meeka smiling thru all her aches n pains and appa pleased as punch to see his clan gather around. lots of good food and a long singing session deep into the night marked yet another milestone in this amazing ramaseshan phyllum! felt completely over-awed...how blessed can you get?!

whyyyy??!

why is it that some tapes digitise without a chuu? why do some tapes develop drop outs n timecode breaks when they were fine until yesterday? why does my old pc with premiere not protest as much as my new souped up macbook with fcp? why is it sooo hot n muggy? why do i ask the most ridiculous questions at the most inappropriate times? why do i adjust my frame so much n check focus so often? why do i....

the sky these days...

simply breathtaking...and this ethereal golden soft glow at sundown...mucho contento!

macbook edit config, etc

...just been all over the place...with way too many distractions to sit down write...but the haze is clearing...the edit is finally on course, thanks to so many whose brains i picked! so here's my config:
13inch macbook 2.0 Ghz intel core2 duo, ram up-ed to 2gb, 667MHz bus, 60gb internal hard disk. 2 lacie external hard disks (250 n 500gb), external mouse n keyboard, fcp 5.1 (universal binary for the new intel chips). 20in lg flat tv monitor. am using my panasonic cam to grab as well as a/v router. so firewire400 from cam to lacie1, firewire800 from 1 to lacie2, firewire400 from 2 to macbook.

then, the family went on our annual picnic...this time to uttan (north of gorai) n packed ourselves in an ac qualis! good fun, hot tho' but it stormed that evening n rained n was most beautiful...


then, went on a 3day shoot to gujarat - a film on climate change. shot at these 2 villages by the sea in bharuch n valsad where the sea has encroached some 6-7kilometers in 15-20 years!! and the villagers have had to rebuild thrice everything - homes, schools, temples!...but it was hot as hell...came back burnt n sore. no pics tho!...
am still scattered even now as i write...will stop here...more soon!

bheja fried!

...been two weeks since i got back to work on my film about my dad...but structure, edit, script toh is doooor ki baat...my head's been swimming over pc vs mac, premiere vs fcp, laptop vs desktop, 250gb vs 500gb, lcd vs crt, pirated vs legal software, to log or not to log...but it is begining to settle down...after chewing lots of friends ka brains...we're going the fcp macbook route...will tell more as i progress!

in the midst of all this, one night at mukul's party, again i got smashed n left without saying bye to anyone...hopeless!!

untitled 1

I'm talking to the shadows
from 1 o'clock til 4
And lord, how slow the moments go
When all I do is pour
Black coffee
Since the blues caught my eye
I'm hanging out on Monday
My Sunday dreams to dry

sahyog photo workshop

around this time last year, an ol' college friend - neha who works with cehat had asked me to do a photo workshop with a group of teenaged girls from the jari mari area near the airport...a whole year later, it finally happened! tho' closer home...

over two half days, we looked wrote drew talked n yes, took pics...




this group of largely muslim girls were doing stuff like this for the first time...their responses to looking and being looked at...about conforming to an image of themselves...so deep seated it would take me months to draw them out...n my hindi not helping things! but hey, (again) how do you explain perpective, depth, 2D to 3D in hindi? i mean, they understood what i was talking about...but ain't there some words?
but i enjoyed myself thoroughly tho' felt annoyed with the ngo that organised this. not willing to put any thought into it, quite content ki workshop kiya bacchon ke liye holidays mein. needles to say i haven't heard from them since!

for rohan!

this morning at sppl on the fringes of civilisation somewhere in goregaon east...here to take a photography workshop for kids who've had their homes demolished around the airport at jari mari...as i huffed n puffed up-slope to this dense towering maze, i remembered rohan's post... "and as non-rectilinear shapes try unsuccessfully to distort the concrete boxes".

trikone was "the" shape of the morning...

kashmir

Oh let the sun beat down upon my face
Stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space
To be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race
This world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait
All will be revealed ...

south north

needles to say... all good things should get better. so off we went to kuntal's for pao-bhaji n beer...such a gorgeous house!

and then!...to chandu payal's to suprise payal on the eve of her birthday...fairly crossed-eyed n very red-eyed by now!!

got up! stood up!

...set out early last evening to jehangir (sana in tow) for the demo in support of chandramohan.that was after dumping almost 6hours of footage non-stop!! more about that later.

lots of people landed up...a lot more than the usual suspects! much to cheer about esp chandramohan getting bail.

but as i looked around, i kept thinking about how demonstrations have changed...hurriedly painted posters n banners are passe...digitally printed vinyl!! we've certainly come a long way ;) but the most exciting was this mini fm transmitter someone set up, so we had people holding up these lil transistors or tuning their cellphone radios to 96fm to listen to the speeches etc!!

yes, we were reminded that this is not just about chandramohan, n so we must keep the fight on...but really, i wished more people landed up, i wished it din't have to be just jehangir...wished they didn't sing "hum hongey kaamayaab" to ruin a perfectly good evening of protest.

get up, stand up

The Free Chandramohan Committee will hold a peaceful demonstration on Monday, 14 May 2007 at 6 pm near the steps of the Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai to mark the arts community's anguish at repeated violations o cultural freedoms, including the violent assault on the young Baroda artist Chandramohan and the continuing persecution of M F Husain, among other instances.
Since this gathering will be in the nature of a spontaneous demonstration, we will be gathering in groups of three or four people, and position ourselves outside the Jehangir. Please dress in black and white: a measure of symbolism may not be out of place on this occasion.

up n down

...been readying myself to re-start work on my film about my dad...the easier part was getting malay to do a premiere pro upgrade. but my desktop is hopelessly outdated! pentium3 500MHz just ain't good enough to run windows xp which will run premiere pro...
...looks like i am chicken-ing out of going in for a fully loaded mac desktop with fcp. can't seem to allow myself the extravagance for a personal non-funded film, besides there'll always be better ways to utilise that money...
...got all excited re-reading barthes 'camera lucida'..."ultimately - or at the limit- in order to see a photograph well, it is best to look away or close your eyes. "the necessary condition for an image is sight", janouch told kafka; and kafka smiled n replied: "we photograph things in order to drive the out of our minds. my stories are a way of shutting my eyes"...
...dunno how this my story will shape up. i keep postponing the confrontation. but tomorrow comes diksha, happy to help me with the edit while she waits nervously for a call from ftii. now i'll just have to work!!

6/6

no no, not my perfect vision...
just back from kerala...had gone there with mum, sis n kids for my sister's husband's mother's brother's son's wife's brother's wedding! ha! now i know!! n more!! but about that later...
...but this was some trip!...we travelled each of the 6days we were there.
day1: bombay-calicut
day2: calicut-kannur
day3: kannur-calicut (attended the wedding reception!)
day4: calicut-kochi
day5: kochi-calicut
day6: calicut-bombay
phew!...didn't know if we were going or coming!! but still, it was bliss, yes, hot n sultry like those masst mallu nymphettes...my first trip to malabar...and loving it. within a couple of hours after landing, we set out to kappad beach. 'twas in may back in 1498, that vasco-da-gama landed n the rest is all,er history!...sadly, a nondescript marker to hoot but a beeauuutiful beach... no pics this time, digitalpics i mean.
been taking black n white pics of anil m's extended family while tracing his family tree...how excited they were to make the connections for me as they delved deep into their fading memory. anil's mum was the first woman driver in kannur! n she drove around in a hindustan! she came from a revered "gurukal" household, whose forefathers were sanskrit scholars!! whoa...
and what food! aaahh!...beef fry pepper fried mussels roast chicken karimeen curry n fry putta kadala tapoica n kaccha kela bhaaji barrota appams fish n chicken biryani...o man, so delightfully sinful...ate slept travelled ate slept travelled...
o da damn phone broke it my thought processssss...

o these goenchos!

...excitedly i rode to margao to get digital prints of all they had shot the previous day n this morning only to run into the good ol goan siesta! aaargh!...1-3pm sorry no printing, our shop is open but...what if i need it urgent? 100rupees per print! whattt?? left the shop aghast...found photopaper n figured it'd be easier to print it on tino's psc.
i was tired n thought i'd show them chaplin's 'gold rush' post lunch...

the initial chaplin antics had them in splits, but midway they lost interest or got distracted by hubert's tattoo art...black n white is boring no, said one. i pulled it out n we talked about cartoons n animation n i told them that my friend geetanjali had made a short film (printed rainbow)that i wanted them to see...rapt attention!...i think she's dreaming, said one...again black n white, complained another...is she dead, asked one sadly towards the end...yaaay she's alive! o so soon it got over, can we see it again...i beamed broadly!

the second day

...the kids landed up at 8:30am itself! and brought along 2 more kids...n later another 3 naval school kids landed up...phew! how was i going to manage 18-19 kids??!! luckily, there was tino's friend - hubert who came down from pune.

he did some drawing with one group as i took the other lot with mic n headphones up to a hillside full of birds...

they were amazed how clearly the mic picked up the sounds...on our way back, we went over to some of the kids houses since they wanted to take pics of their parents or whoever was at home. sure, i said...my finger in one of their hands, my face being stuffed with ripe black sweet karvandas...we went house to house...



so thats, schubert n sybol with their older brother; ancy with her parents and nelisha, savio n myron with their granny n kid sister. such a nice way to get to know my future neighbours...ancy's dad makes the best urraak around; schubert's mum sells fruits all day from 7am n comes home only around 10pm!! nelisha was my inexhaustible translator...

meanwhile!

elections are round the corner n this ward has been reserved for women...

saturn struck!

ever since i got this telescope, i've been dying to see saturn. my first night in goa, at a friend's (mike) newly constructed house, we set it up n soaked in the glorious half moon. Mike's niece wasn't impressed n kept perstering me to find saturn once i told her that saturn is also somewhere up there. tried several times to locate but failed, gave up n went down to dinner...

...post-dinner, i decided to give it one last try n within minutes sighted this most beautiful ringed object...my heart leapt with joy as i screamed out, 'i found it'! up ran everyone - aunts, cousins, uncle...simran danced around i saw saturn i saw saturn she cell-phoned immediately her less fortunate cousins in bombay n her dad.

i stayed up n kept looking...couldn't get over the sight...i am finally seeing saturn. this pic looks close to what we saw that night. just that the rings weren't along the horizontal, but vertical! what a trip!!...o i want that camera mount so i can take pics too...soon!

read more