Advent of Photography

From now on, there will thrive many a posts, captured through that which is worth a thousand words. Although I would go in a chronological manner, just this once, I would like to jump ahead of the story and present two very merry snaps. You could say they are the front and the back covers; but don't forget - never judge a book by its cover!


IISER Pune, 29 July 2009.
Both were taken from the backside of the college building at 8pm.
Both are 60s exposure shots, with aperture f/8.0 and ISO 400.

Juggling Notes

Juggling Notes 0:(24th July 2008)



This is a new video. Here I juggle the 3 faithful balls to continuous under-the-legs, behind-the-backs, besides showing different styles of starting the juggles. Count the different styles of juggling I show and post it as comment. The correct number-giver will be mentioned in my blog!
[I hope Juggling Notes -1 will bring something completely new and different!]

Juggling Notes 1:(10th July 2008)



Here I juggle 3 balls (one ITF ball, one Wilson ball, and one local tennis ball). I just do the simple 3-ball pattern.
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Juggling Notes 2:(10th July 2008)




I do 3 different types of juggling : one from the previous video (where I use both the hands tossing balls up); one more type where I toss the ball in the air using only one hand (right hand); and a third type where I bring up the ball from under my leg.
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Juggling Notes 3:(10th July 2008)



Now here I try some other kinds of juggling patterns. I try to bring up the ball from behind my back (I don't succeed, not until the next video :-)); then I start the juggling by tossing up two balls in the air together; besides many other things, I also try juggling two balls with one hand and then passing them on to the other hand. In between, my mum comes and breaks my concentration, twice.
I mess up a lot here, but only for want of trying new things out.
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Juggling Notes 4:(10th July 2008)



Here I just do behind-the-back ball toss-ups again and again.
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Although my T-shirt proclaims its views on legalizing a banned substance, I don't necessarily hold the same views...
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Juggling Notes 5:(21st July 2008)



I want to juggle two tennis balls and a mini-basketball. I am going to start juggling when suddenly comrade Manan Soni rings up and I have to go answer his call.
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Juggling Notes 6:(21st July 2008)



(No, I am wearing really teeny-weeny shorts, they are just not clearly visible.)
So, my mum gives me a pair of really puny shorts to wear, under a defiantly over-sized T-shirt. I pull 'em up more, because I realise that under-the-legs are going to be so much more easier. Here we go again, with two tennis balls and one mini-basketball. Near the end, I really do some fabulous random juggling; even I am not sure how I managed that.
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Juggling Notes 7:(21st July 2008)



Now I pull down my shorts, like a foot down. I still do the two-ball one-basketball juggle, and I continue to go random and all. In fact, I even try the behind-the-back this time.

I strongly recommend you all to visit this site. This is where I got the excitement, and learnt the technique of juggling.

Exercises in Poem-writing

Back in class 8th, we were given some words, using which we had to come up with a poem. The words were: frightened, unknown, fear, dear, hopeless and homeless.
Although we were supposed to do it in pairs, call it true friendship or love for writing poems, I wrote the poem on my own; just added the name of my very good friend at the end (Kush Dhebar).
Unfortunately, I didn't write up the date, so I have no idea which month I wrote the poem, or what day it was back then. But I assure you it was a very fine day that day.

THE DARK LORD

Sometimes he's mere vapour and shadow,
Adopting anyone's body.
That time he's homeless and hopeless,
So dearest amongst his other forms.
Sometimes he has a chalk-white face,
With red eyes, gleaming forever.
Sometimes he has a cadavorous body,
Red eyes and cold voice,
Only that time he has the icey touch
Of his hands, ever different from a fairy.
Powerful though he seems and is,
He failed to kill poor Harry.
Though thwarted thrice & been escaped once, does his rise not,
Ended many's dream (may his body rot)
Feared with his unforgivable curse, with which he
Can destroy an unknown fort.
His name is, though I may flinch when I say,
The Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort.

I really like the random-ness of the poem, in that there is no particular style to which I stick.
By the way, my teacher signed after reading the poem, and guess what - she has written a date! She read my poem on 4/7, which certainly stands for 4th July...when I was in class 8th, that is 2002. So I could have written the poem in the summer holidays.




Also, avid Harry Potter fans would have guessed that the fifth book in the series had not yet been published.

Mahatbala's House

Mahatbala's House

[I wrote this story when I was in class IV-A. It was 12.3.98]
(My mother's name is Suhasini, which explains why the main character has that name)

Today in evening Suhasini
and her friends went to the
park. They didn't no whats the
weather here. They see a house.
Then the rain is start heavily.
Suhasini said oh! common let's
go in the house. But the door
is lock. Some girls try to open
the door but the door is not
pulled inside.
[next page]
Then the rain is stop.
At night they were feeling
cold. They think, where is
this house's key. Suhasini
said, there is a key. All
girls said, where? Suhasini
took the key and said here is the
key.
[picture of a pair of keys, see image]
[over]



The most beautiful thing about the story is its title. It doesn't appear anywhere in the story (I really like this concept of giving a piece a title which is never mentioned in the text). I don't even remember whether I intended to end the story here or not. Besides, I am curious how I came up with the name Mahatbala...

Poems from long ago...

A poem I wrote on 22nd February, 2001 (a Thursday):

One Day at Zoo

[so I had written with a fountain pen, bearing Chelpark Royal Blue ink]



Do you know that one day
My father began to say,
"Are you ready oh my son?
We will have enough fun."
"Hurray!" I said with an obvious glee;
For that the first time he would be taking me
Out of the town, somewhere or the other;
"Mom, pack my bag," I said to my mother.
Just then my father shouted, very loud,
That condensation took place in my eyes or cloud.
"We are only going to the zoo,
Out of town? Who said to whom?"
The zoo was enough for the start.
But we went there traveling on a cart.

That day I saw there,
A funny, little, cute hare.
Tigers and lions were interesting,
A peacock looked very beautiful with her wings.
The day went by, and I saw a bear,
With an angry, frowning, frightening glare.
Just then an elephant broke the cage.
And it was the end of writing a page
Of poetry in my childhood
And I sheltered myself under a wood
And stayed there in vain,
Because of the fear of the elephan'.

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Now I wrote THIS poem on 24th February 2002, Sunday.

Now you know that one day,
My father had begun to say,
"Are you ready oh my son?
We will have enough fun."
"Hurray!" I had said with an obvious glee;
For that he would have been taking me,
Out of the town, somewhere or the other;
"Mom, pack my bag," I had said to my mother.
Just then my father had shouted, very loud,
That condensation had took place in my eyes or cloud.
"We are only going to the zoo,
Out of town? Who said to whom?"
The zoo had been enough for the start.
But we had gone there traveling on a cart.

That day I had seen there,
A funny, little, cute hare.
Tigers and lions had been interesting,
A peacock looked very beautiful with her wings.
The day went by, and I had seen a bear,
With an angry, frowning, frightening glare.
Just then an elephant had broken his cage.
And it had been the end of writing a page
Of poetry in my childhood
And I had sheltered myself under a wood,
And had stayed there in vain,
Because of the fear of the elephan'.

But I had been wrong, I now found,
Because the elephant lay dead on the ground.
One security guard was standing beside him,
He must have spent ten years in a jim.
I shouted happily, as loud as I can,
And just then came a first aid ambulance van.
But they found that the person shouting,
Was none other than the 'Poetic King'.
Yes it is my name, and it will be,
As long as I live, and then we'll see.

Left Hand, Right Hand

This is a mind-map showing all the things I do with my left hand or my right hand.
Although I can do everything listed under one hand by the other hand also; when I list some action under one hand, I mean that if I had a choice, I'd involuntarily extend the hand under which the action is listed.
[click on the image to see in full-size]

ADDITION (Aug 9, 2008) : I deal cards using my LEFT HAND.