This has become her morning routine. She wakes up reluctantly, making displeased noises, when I stir in the morning. Then she lies there, snuggled in the blanket, watching me get ready (and getting great pleasure, I’m sure). Then she climbs across the dressing table and goes behind the curtain and perches there on the ledge for a while, for reasons that are totally imcomprensible to me. And she does this nearly eveyr day! She sits there for a while, like a bride awaiting her ceremony. Then, once she’s done with her stint behind the curtains, she emerges sleepily and goes back to the blanket again!

Sigh, cats. Don’t even try and understand them. Just love them and let them be :)

I collect cat quotes, so if you ever come across any, please do send them to me! Here are some of my favourites:

Cats are smarter than dogs. You can’t get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. ~ Jeff Valdez

There is something about the presence of a cat… that seems to take the bite out of being alone. ~ Louis J. Camuti

If I tried to tell you how much I love my cats, you wouldn’t believe me - unless your heart is also meow-shaped and covered in stray fur. ~ Lexie Saige

And I simply love this one (it is also true :).

Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. ~ Garrison Keillor

This story, forwarded by friend Asha, actually reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to write about too. How badly we treat the ones closest to us and the lengths we go to in front of acquaintances and strangers, in order to create a good impression.

Says Asha: “Goes with my theory that we tend to treat the worst, the people who matter the most to us. Like with our parents/families/close friends - we tend to think they will never leave us, so we subject them to our worst moods, while with our colleagues/strangers we are the sweetest people ever, full of Pleases and Thank yous and Sorrys.”

So true!

What does it take, I think, to spare a kind word or two when you talk to someone close to you? Or at least be decent and not talk down, like the other person is some lowly earth form not worthy of existing.

The reason that came to mind is the fact that I have come across this kind of behaviour and though I have stopped letting it bother me anymore, I still wonder why it has to be this way. Why can’t people be a little easy with their words? Is it necessary to grind out words and sentences as if saying it in a more pleasant manner wouldn’t get them restful sleep? Is it necessary to pass acerbic comments just because that person happens to be related to you and that for some reason gives you the authority to tread all over him/her?

I think we treat those close to us quite badly. It’s not necessary to say sweet things all the time (especially when you don’t mean them) but it costs nothing to say things in a pleasant manner.

And when I read this story, this last line really rang true: “To be honest I still find it hard to believe that the person, Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things to me on the internet, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years.”

It’s so possible I think. I see it happening around me and I’m sure you have too.

So next time, you’re tempted to lash out at your parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles etc. - do stop for a moment and take a deep breath and ask yourself if it’s really necessary. Most times, you’ll realise that it’s not.

“I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams”

This is quite amazing! Instead of sitting around and complaining, this group is going around Chennai fixing potholes.

We definitely need a few Bangaloreans to get onto this. God knows, that after the recent rains, there will be many potholes that need fixing. Interestingly, anyone can take the lead and start it off.

The Chennai I-Fix Initiative

It’s a famous place. As soon as you land there, the coracle guy informs us about it’s claim to fame - it was featured in the movie Roja.

I shall have to go back and watch Roja sometime, I make a note.

The Hogenakkal falls itself is quite spectacular, with water gushing out through several channels and falling down a height of 5-20 metres at different places. Since it’s the height of the monsoons when we visited, the river is at its fullsome best, gushing out with abandon and fervour.

Hogenakkal - The travelogue

For those of you who want to have a look at the pics on display during the exhibition, you can visit this link:

Anita’s Gallery

The prints are between 16×24 (with 2 inch borders) and 20×32 (with 3 inch border) and all framed. If you’re interested in getting one for your house, or even gifting one to a friend, please do contact me (anitabora5 at rediffmail dot com) for the details.

* You can also order them in any other size.

North East Chronicles: Located in the middle of the mighty Brahmaputra river, the journey to Majuli island is around 2 and a half hours in a noisy ferry. We visited the island on March 22 & 23, 2007 during our North East trip.

At the Nimati ferry ghat, the junction where you need to board a ferry to the island of Majuli, we were told that there would be a delay for about 2 hours. A bandh had been called the day before (which didn’t happen) but people were still under the impression it was on.

We had no option but to sit beside the river side and wait. We got quite a few curious glances from people around – I don’t think they are used to too many visitors in these parts. Someone asked us why we were going to Majuli and seemed rather surprised when we said we were there for a visit.

Majuli, is often called the largest river island in the world. However, one website clarified that it isn’t – it’s merely the largest freshwater island in South Asia.

(more…)

It was pretty hectic the last two days. People have been streaming in through the day. Lots of friends (and lots who promised didn’t turn up, but that is always expected!). Some nice surprises, people who came in through this blog and Bangalore Metblogs also.

The Slimes refused to feature us, and we didn’t get a mention even in their events listings :) We did get some coverage in the Deccan, Bangalore Mirror, The Hindu and the Express the day prior. But most of the publicity was through online forums, blogs and personal invites to friends/family. So thank god for the Internet!

I have to thank the BWS group for coming out and supporting us. They were wonderful and especially Peevee, Sreelesh, Akshath, Prasoon, Srividya and the rest of the gang – Soumya, Lavanya, greeshma, Yogesh, Danny, Kushal (I’m sure I’m missing some names but the whole gang who came!). Some of them were there not just for the exhibition but also for the talks on Sat and Sun. It really meant a lot to all of us!

Thanks a lot to Sabir, Sue, Mala, Charles and Debbie, Mahesh & Vidya, Kaushal Kharkhanis with his friends, Prashant M.

Then there was Rajesh & Preeti, Antara & Souvik, Deepa, Amogh, Pavitra, Anush, Ravi & Smitha, Shyamala and her mom, Swapna, Sajith, Tanay, MeninWeb, Oomz, Thej and his friends, Manasa, Ravi from RKblogs, Kirti and Bibi!

Thanks especially to Srilatha, Aqua, Geetha, Mekhla, my sister who all not only came to encourage us but also picked up pictures to support the cause!

We had to cancel the Sat talk as Anand Sharan was unwell, but we had an informal Q&A session, which turned out to be quite interesting. On Sunday morning (when we were wondering if anyone would turn up at that time of the day) we got a decent crowd of enthusiasts. Dr Manoj Sindagi shared some really great tips from his experience of over 10 years as a wildlife photographer. Kalyan Varma happened to be there at the opportune moment and shared some of his insights also. I think everyone gained a lot through this interaction.

Even though we weren’t expecting too much of a crowd on Sunday, there was a steady stream of people through the day, keeping us busy and on our feet. I think we managed to sell about 20% of the displays by the end of it, which was quite encouraging for us. We’re planning to put it all up online in a few days and hope to continue the sales for anyone who’s interested.

Jace, thank a lot! This is a special mention especially since you weren’t too well but still came in. I had a lot of folks saying later they fell sick over the weekend (and it’s funny how that happens :-). And a big thanks to Sathish K, the hunks Changumani and Bops, Bipin Gupta with his wife, Pushpalee and her hubby, Debanjan Dasgupta, Rashmi(two of them!) and Mrinal, Nita and Mekhla, Bijoy and his lovely wife Anitha, former Metblogger Chitra with her hubby and kids, Shezaye, Vishakha and Manjiri, Zeeshan and his charming wife Farzana. Gosh, this sounds like an Oscar speech. But I just feel that I need to say a special thank you to everyone – it was my first exhibition on this scale and I needed all the support and good wishes.

Over a month of efforts, and it was nice to see it all come to fruit. It’s been a huge learning experience too. And sometime quite frustrating too. Roadblocks, problems, things not turning out like it was supposed to (like the catering not arriving on time!)… but I think the positives overrode it all!

- The Wide Angle Album
- Inauguration photos from Shankar

Update: The Invitation

Nish, Shankar, Venky and I are having an exhibition of our works on September 7,8 and 9 at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad.

This is a personal invite to all of you in Bangalore. I do hope that you will be able to join us at some point of time during the 3 days. We would be really happy if you can make it and support our cause. Besides showcasing our work, we would also like to raise funds for our benificiary - Jagruthi - a Bangalore based voluntary organisation working with children affected with AIDs. Pixetra has also extended their support to us.

The inauguration is on Sept 7 at 5 pm at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad premises. Besides the exhibition, we also have well-known photographers Anand Sharan and Dr Manoj Sindagi who will come and interact with the audience on the Sept 8 and 9 (the times are mentioned).

This is a personal invite to all of you in Bangalore. We would love to see you there along with your friends and family!

More details are available on Wide Angle 2007.

~~~~~

Have been busy running around trying to organise a photography exhibition along with 3 friends. It’s been a while since I’ve been pursuing this hobby and I thought this is the right time to hold one.

The worst part though was losing a lot of my photo original files in a hard disk crash a month ago. It was like a physical loss and I’m trying to come to terms with it. Thankfully, a friend had some of my files as back-up and I hadn’t transferred everything to the hard disk so I was saved partly. I’ve managed to rummage through my collection and come up with a few photographs.

Anyway, the good news is that the exhibition is finally happening on the 7,8 and 9 of September here in Bangalore.

LtoR: The Four Musketeers: Venky, me, Shankar and Nish

Please, please do come! All details will be put up shortly. Meanwhile, I have to get back to some work…