"Good news...."

Working in a MNC makes you come across diverse human behavior and which makes yuou both proud and guilty of your customs and traditions.

We Indians are always portrayed as quite emotional and dramatic people especially when it comes to our family and relations. And we somehow take pride in our those strong bonds. But I still somehow feel we have a lot to learn as far as events surrounding birth of child are concerned.

 

It still seem quite a taboo to share the news that you are expecting a child with your friends and others.

 

In last few months , couple of my french colleagues have become parents and I found it quite amusing, but at the same time satisfying, the way my manager over there and other colleagues were sharing the news affront in the weeklies, even before the couple have delivered. They were equally excited in the way they used to say " He is on leave and we don't know when but soon we should expect the good news". Of course they had a shyness in their voice but the excitement made you feel and sense the strong bond they all socially shared.

 

In India on the other hand its all hush hush affair till the child is born. People are not at all comfortable in involving people before hand the actual event has occurred. 

A close friend of mine is expecting and after coming to know from another common friend I congratulated him and his first reply was "Please don't share with anyone else, its quite a personal affair". I won't say I was not taken aback but somehow I could understand his reservations in making it public or letting others participate in it.

 

Me and one of my colleague wondered about this socially different behavior we encountered.

Why our elders and society teaches us to be so secretive and uncomfortable about such things? With due respect to the privacy of each individual , what could be the reason for the same ?

 

Foremost that we could think of was the fact that we are scared that something bad might happen if the news is made public. (Seems insane right ?). In India people are more jealous of others success than they are happy of their own achievements. So they feel any ill - thought may prove harmful for the baby thus its advisable to keep the thing under wraps for as long as possible. India in its earlier times had a huge number of infant deaths or miscarriages (its still not fully eradicated) and instead of accepting it wholly as a result of poor medical facilities, we get comfort in our superstitious beliefs. 

 

Second , people feel embarrassed to touch anything that is even remotely related to sex. In a country where the sole purpose of sex is still to procreate , the reverse is also true. Ask any recently married guy jokingly "When are you giving the good news ? " and don't be surprised to get the most embarrassed look that person may have ever given.

 

Ok I am not implying that we people need to be totally forthcoming about our pro creating activities with everyone , I duly respect the notion of keeping your personal life reserved but what I personally feel is that people in India should stop portraying these things as one of the most heinous crime that you may have committed and be so uncomfortable about such things with your friends and well wishers.

Phool - II

Hey Friends, I am back to posting after a fairly long gap. Well of late life had been little unsupportive and also have not been in the best of my moods so thought of not reflecting all that here.

So today in order to clear my mind , I thought of doing something that will not only keep me busy but will also make me happy. And although in recent times photography has been one thing that I really enjoyed and since I cannot  do it the whole day , I thought of doing the next best thing i.e. sharing the ones I have clicked.

So to start I will like to present the next version of my earlier post which now I have renamed as Phool (Flowers).And this time I am glad to share the names of most of them.  (Have also updated some names in the previous Phool post.)

First of all I have these large and vibrant colored Dahlias ,which I clicked way back in 2010, on my visit to Grenoble , France. Incidently these were the earliest photos that I ever took from my Digital Cam and the photos which introduced me to the world of Macro Photography. Actually it was my colleague who taught me that and I will always be indebted to him for that.

These were growing in a park in the middle of the city council area of Grenoble and the place was really well maintained and serene.

I was thinking of sharing these since sooo long and am glad that I could finally do so.

The below ones are taken in India recently and unlike the above ones these are quite small and were growing in flower pots. Although I might be wrong in identifying them but it seems to me that they too are from Dahlia family.

Next up is another common flower, which I assume grows in almost all parts of the world, is Daisy. These ones are too from my society garden and have been clicked a week back.

I really like the way some of the photos have come up.

A Bed of Daisies



A Budding Daisy



Next up are some flowers that I clicked on my trip to Bali, Indonesia last August. These were clicked while we were walking early morning to the Nusa Dua beach. And honestly it never stuck in mind that time that the area through which we passed could have been full of flora specific to that region. It simply never stuck me and I missed out on clicking many more but luckily I clicked some.

These are called Crown of Thorns or botanically named Euphorbia milii. In my previous Phool post I have already shared some of these which incidently were clicked in my society garden and I was surprised today when I finally found their names and found them to be the same ones that are growing in my society.

Incidently in the second photo you can see a bee sucking the nectar. Unfortunately I couldn't click a better picture of the bee than this one.

This yellow colored flower is called Yellow Lantana.

The next one was clicked from the garden of the hotel in which we were staying and is named Red Ginger  or botanically, Alpinia purpuratta. Not that good a picture but the only one I clicked.

I don't know whether the next picture is that of flowering shrub or vine as I am yet to get them identified but nevertheless they were quite peculiar.

Identifying these purple flower with needle like petals was really getting tough. Infact I had them wrongly identified as some other flower and luckily while searching for another flower I landed on their correct identification. These are Blue mist flower or botanically known as Conoclinium.

Now coming back to my society garden. I am sharing few more that I couldn't share last time or have clicked in the meanwhile.

These white ones are called Carissa Macrocarpa or Natal Plum.

Next is another common flower called Plumeria or commonly known as Champa.

This one I clicked few days back and was really attracted to it. I am yet to identify what flower but would definitely like to click more pictures of this. I also liked the grey background that mud has given to this photo that has helped brighten the red color more.  Now I know that this is Poppy..

Poppy

Lastly but by no means the least , is the most common flower used for religious decorations and offerings here in India. Its called Marigold and commonly known as Gendha Phool in India. I am pretty surprised that this is the only picture that I have clicked so far of this lovely flower and that too so recently . Nevertheless I feel this is one flower that I am going to click quite often.

Will come back soon with more photos....

The Day of the Jackal

I had completed the Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. Arguably the fastest I have completed any book of substantial length.

Well I won't call it a scintillating thriller although it has an intriguing webs of twists and turns that makes you continue reading.

The book is about an attempt to assassinate the President of France , General Charles De Gaulle by the OAS which is the rebellious organisation comprising of the army rebellions who felt let down by Charles De Gaulle as he relinquished the control of Algeria and gave it its independece after he became the President of France. This act was taken as an act of betrayal by some loyal France army as they have given their blood and sweat to fight in Algeria against the rebels to whom he had now given the control.

So after 6 failed attempts themselves they plan to hire a foreigner who is a professional assasin.

The reason I was disappointed with the book was  because in the starting pages itself the author reveals that the attempt was a failure (Sorry to have revealed it but I knew anyway if you plan to read it you will get to know about it very quickly).

So the reading became more of an ordeal to find out to how such a meticulously planned attempt fails.

Well hats off to the writer for the way he depicted the planning and also the way the sleuths went about to uncover the plot. The book is like a cat and mouse struggle between the assassin and police . At one point you feel, wow how brilliantly the killer has planned his particular move and at the next the police are at his tail. Then just as you feel, oh he is going to be caught, he changes his plan and again escapes.

One thing about these writers like Frederick Forsyth , John Grisham etc is that they have a vast knowledge about the topics on which they are creating the fictitious story. They are so thorough and detailed about everything that one point you forget that its fiction and you just start beliving in whatever they are saying.

Nevertheless a nice book to read ....

Next I have picked City of Djinns from one of my favorite non-fiction/travel writer William Darymple. I know I am going to love this book as not only the writer is of my liking but even the story is also about my national capital Delhi. Its a story of his first years stay in New Delhi and what all stories he found in this city full of Djinns (Magical creatures who are invisible)

Will update how it was once I am done , which I hope is real quick :)

Photography learnings

Its now almost an year since I bought myself a Digital Camera and since then I have been to a lot places.

In those visits I clicked some good ,some bad, some worst and some pictures that touched me.

I think most of us and I am very proud to say that I can generalise this without being specific to any of the genders, have a inclination towards photography. Its more like music that there comes an age in everyones life when they feel like being a photographer.

Although I always felt that phtotography is more of a Being-There-At-The-Right-Time kind of stuff but yes I do appreciate the effort that a photographer puts to capture the best shot irrespective of the quality of the equipment and situation.

So over this year I have learnt few things about photography that I want to always keep in mind.

Just jotting those points for constant reference:

• Paris or rather France was my first trip in which I carried a Digi Cam and thats where I learnt two lessons.
• First , date and time stamps on the photos completely ruin them. Being a first timer I forgot to switch it off and today I have to view my Paris trip photos with those watermarks permanently fixed.
• Its good to capture photos with someone posing in them. They make the trip more memorable. I have an habit of clicking shots of places without any person (known) posing in them, which although good but at times reduces the essence of the trip.
• Using flash stabalizes the photo especially at high ISO. May sound quite trivial, low light, use flash but at times even when the light is fine and in auto mode the flash is not needed , even then its better to manual set the flash for stable pictures.
• My trip to Agra last weekend was the first time when I clicked pictures of huge monuments. There I learned that
• Maintaining the symmetry is so important. Always try to click from the center line for the cliche shot.
• Not only the symmetry., make sure that you are holding the camera horizontal to the ground . Even a little tilt can spoil the complete picture.
• But having said that you must experiment with the angles that is not holding to the center line but try to keep correct proportions.
• Less sunshine is better for clicking monuments. Unfortunately I had to click during broad daylight. So always make sure that you visit the monuments at early morning or late afternoon time.
• Don't hesitate to experiment. More you experiment more you learn what not to do.

For sure Photography is fun and nice passion. If possible do go through the free e -guide for photography from the national geographic sites.

Madira ...

Today I added Whisky too in the list of hard drinks I have tasted. Although I had consumed one serving each of them so far but I will still count them as tasted. And all of them had been tasted in the last 3 years of my life.

May sound surprising but its true that in the first 23 years of my life I never touched a drop of liquor.

So so far I have tasted beer. Just had one sip n spitted it out. Its worst of the drinks I ever had. Then last year on my trip to France, I tasted wines. They taste ok just like medicine. I had both red n white wine and also one local wine which was 90% alcohol. Then in one of the office parties came vodka. It was fine too. And now whisky.

There wasn't anything in these drinks so far which made me have it again so still clueless why people like them so much. May be I will get to know the day I will get drunk which is one thing I want to experience some day and the way my list expanded in the last 3 years, I don't think it will be long before that happens :)

....

Was stuck in a traffic jam , although that had been the case whole this week here in Grenoble but today it was quite major with you could that for almost a stretch of around 2-3 kilometers not single vehicle was moving , so I had to walk to the office...And they say that only in India we have horrible traffic jams....Obviously people here don't change their lanes as we do in India and the jams are not that frequent as in India.