My Quotes - II

To impress people on facebook, my egoistic writer mind has started writing some really profound quotes. I present them here in another set called 'My Quotes - II' :

• The real joy in writing comes when you read something really beautiful and you're amazed to realize that it is actually you who wrote it.
• Everyone can write, but not everyone can sit to write.
• A real photographer is the one who instead of looking through the camera makes the camera look through his eyes.
• I am shocked to realize how joyful this life can be if there are no checkpoints(read 'exams').
• Happiness is costly, but I am rich and extravagant!
• Theoretical physics is like photography ... you've to keep your eyes open to get that perfect 'click'.
• As days are passing out here, the more I am getting closer to myself. And the more I am getting closer to myself, the more I am falling in love with me.

P.S. It is quite difficult to manufacture yet another quote as a PS for a post titled 'My Quotes - II'.

8 things I love to do:

The points are in the hierarchical order:

• Writing stories(on blog) - It is my passion. I am mad about it. My mind has started searching for a climax or a twist in every simple event of my life. I am doing work and suddenly a flash of idea rings my mind. Day by day, I am getting amazed to know how this amazing thing called 'passion' works!
  
  
• Playing guitar - The mere plucking of strings with my fingers gives me inexpressible joy. I know how to play about a dozen of instruments, but not one gives me as much pleasure which guitar gives. The pain in cuts and bruised fingers gives a sense of satisfaction that's incomparable.
  
  
• Catching the moment on my cam - My eyes tries to search for the weirdest of weird things in the surroundings and my finger waiting for the moment of that perfect 'click'. I've realized that a real photographer is the one who instead of looking through the camera makes the camera look through his eyes.
  
  
• Writing with hand - I love my handwriting, I find it artistic and beautiful. No matter whatever keyboards or voice recognition softwares the mighty human brain develops, nothing can take the joy of writing with my hand.
  
  
• Cooking - I was not sure about this one a couple of weeks ago, but now suddenly this has become my newest passion. I can find cooking quite similar to learning music - you get better and better with experimenting.
  
  
• Telling stories - This one hidden talent is known to very few people around the world. I have great stock of stories - all kinds - real life stories, inspirational stuff, humorous stuffs and anecdotes of all the famous personalities fed into my mind. Just remind me whenever you get time and I'll get started. Most of these stories have entered my CPU through books like Chicken Soup and anecdotes owes its origin to the numerous biographies that my bespectacled eyes skimmed through.
  
  
• Turning the pages of a Book - The essence and importance of books can never be overshadowed from my life. The mere joy I get while turning the pages of the book propels me to the Cloud Nine. I dream of the day when the large library at my home will have one shelf for the author named 'Harsh Snehanshu'.
  
  
• Teaching - This is the job that I want to do. I want to teach. I want to teach a subject called 'life' in addition to my area. I want to be the best teacher alive out there in the world. A teacher whose mere teaching attracts students, numbering more than registered for the course.
  

P.S. As days are passing out here, the more I am getting closer to myself. And the more I am getting closer to myself, the more I am falling in love with me.

I am in love...

Alas for those who never sing,
But die with all their music in them!

I am in love, with her, yet again!

P.S. Pichak dhoom, dhoom pichak dhoom, dhoom chak chak, dhichak dhichak. Let the rhythm within you flow out!

My Quotes

My mind has setup a factory for manufacturing quotes. With each passing hour, a quote comes out of nowhere. I just want to have a track-record of my genius(yeah, don't stare!) -

Profound-type

1. Love is not measured by what you can 'give' for its sake, rather what you can 'give up' for its sake.
2. I am not mad in love but I love somebody madly.
3. If you have a dream and you have friends who value it, then you certainly are the happiest one on this planet. And I am one of those!
4. I am not one of those; I am one of 'those few'.
5. Sometimes things go in the right direction quite unexpectedly and you are amazed to realize that happiness is your destiny.
6. One is single before and even after commitment. (It is profound, if you get it!)
   

Chill-type

1. I used to be straight, but now I am a hunchback!
2. I am a 'single' child.
3. TV is my ex-girlfriend! And it is I who ditched her.
4. I am addicted to addiction.
   
5. Love is not blind, it is myopic(short-sighted).
   
6. I am a virgin, but my eyes are not!
   
7. It is very difficult to invent a new quote every single time you want!
   
8. You are my best friend, for the time being!
9. I tried to be costly but no one seemed interested; so I became cheap!
   
10. I used to be happy once, but then I gave the minors!
    
11. IIT = Institute of Insipid Tortures(to be encountered in my novel too!)
12. When your girlfriend becomes more of a girl and less of a friend, it is the time to leave her.
    
13. Love is 'friendship gone bad'. (It's plagiarized though, hope she does not read it!)
14. I used to listen to Himesh once, but now I find the noises in the toilet more dulcet.
    
15. This is what I use as my gtalk status message when I want to say DND : I have not slept for two days. Boring people, please bug me and help me sleep!

P.S. There are many more, but I leave them for my novel! Check it out there.

Graffiti

To reduce the accumulation of any more 'Kahani' in my personal blog Synergy, I have made another blog titled 'Graffiti'. The word literally means - a rude decoration inscribed on rocks or walls and can be metaphorically linked to scratches of my mind and imagination while creating stories. The stories, which are numerous to recount and are in the assembly line demanded a separate quantum number for their residence, so here it is Graffiti, ladies and their non-gentlemen:

http://anotherscratchinmymind.blogspot.com/

The way to remember is simple. When you forget the link, just start scratching your mind and another scratch in your mind will sublimate your oblivion. Good Night.

P.S. Check out the recent one in Graffiti. For the first time I wrote something meaningful.

Alive

This is an old photograph captured by me in my own garden at home, which has recently come into the limelight. It portrays the sense of romance and mischief hidden in the mini-droplets on the flower.

I titled it 'Alive' since for me being alive is experiencing the romance and the beauty of life.

P.S. Of success and ethics, I chose ethics. I don't why but that made me happy.

Just out of the blues...

As the title says, 'Just out of the blues' so is it.

Got bored of conventional photography, so tried to make some sparks out of stones. I like it and I hope you too like it.

P.S. I am purchasing a Nikon P80. Yippie.

The Break-up Prize

We had every moments spent splendidly, she had been always there with me whether it was my up or down. She was my first love and I was exceptionally fond of her, but you know, time changes everything. Our love had its own way and things started to go bad and then worse and finally to the worst. From the last few months, she had started behaving erratically. She had become numb to my emotions and she did not sound happy with me. Despite my conscious efforts to tune her attitude towards the better side, she resisted. The comfort level had been lost somewhere in the dust of time. The years of togetherness had been evil-eyed.

Tired of being sorry, my patience couldn't last for her to improve. Her behaviour was worsening regularly and at last I gave up. Annoyed, I left her last week when I found that she was irrepairable. I had not told her that I broke-up with her, since she was smart enough to understand the rift in between us. We neither hung out nor even talked to each other since I started ignoring her. She might be upset, but I don't care. She had lost her charm for all I care.

After snapping our relationship last week, I was happy, very relieved. During the last four days though, I missed the presence of that somebody in my life, I again became desperate.

I needed a girlfriend man! Someone with whom I could have more fun, someone more beautiful, sexier and with whom I could make my friends envy me. I went to many places to search for her. On my couple of visits to the best places in Delhi for finding my perfect choice, I found many sexy models. They were complete in themselves to satisfy my desires. But still I had something unknown inhibiting me from interacting with them.

Last night, I became very desperate to have that SHE in my life. I went to the other part of Delhi, which was a home to all the sexy and ravishing figures of the country. I interacted with about a dozen of super-hot models. While I was flirting with a super-slim  babe, my eyes came across Henna. If you don't believe that there exists a thing called "Love at first sight", then you are certainly wrong!

She was everything I had in my dreams. My break-up with my previous girlfriend proved to be fruitful as I found a real 'hottie'. Perfect figure, fair skin, beautiful texture and a raunchy voice. She had double the assets that my ex. She was the perfect material to make my friends jealous and even develop an inferiority complex in my ex-gf!

I asked her to accompany me, and she willingly accepted. She told that it was the first time that someone had showed so much interest in her. Being a Casa Nova, it was my forte to win hearts of ravishing beauties. I caressed her in my arms, and held her throughout I came back to my place.

In my room, I asked her to feel at ease. She was there in front of me, with a tempting charm in her body attracting me towards her. I was drawn towards her and I could not help resisting my desires. I needed her to dissolve my sorrows that had been entangled in my mind after the break-up with my first love.

I went near her and carressed her. I tickled her with my fingers and she laughed. I uncovered her body and started to touch her all around. She was sensuous, and when in my arms, I could feel that she was the one who would satisfy me to the zenith. I closed my eyes and shrugged away the rust of time from my senses. Lost in ecstasy, after a long trance of pleasure, I opened my eyes.

Standing in front of me, it was my ex-gf Eva staring at me with no emotions at all on her face. Angry, I got up with Henna still on my bed, and with coercion I locked Eva in my cupboard. She didn't even resist.

After my night stand with Henna, I took out Eva. I did not talk with her, I just let her stand in front of me. Right from the morning, Eva has been standing in front of me, withered and broken with rusted strings while my Henna, being more precious, is inside the cupboard now!

Looking at Eva, I can still feel the moments of our intimacy we had together. Amidst all these emotional turmoil, I have learnt that like grief, love also fades away with time. No-one is indispensable, new people come and make our life beautiful again. I am gonna sell Eva to someone, I just hope that she finds herself a passionate lover!

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P.S. This is the sequel to my most popular post so far "One Night Stand". Click here if you haven't read it.
P.S. Henna is something with which I can make the whole Institute jealous. It's a twelve string - double the assets, remember?
P.S. Henna is worth 8k bucks! She is broader, fairer and sexier. An electric guitar can never compete with the harmony of acoustic one.
P.S. Click here for having a glimpse of Henna.

My Experiments with Bapu

Some things in life deserve a Royale wall, and for everything else there is a Mastercard.


I was getting bored in the national holiday, so I took out my drawing book after 4 months and remembered Bapu. Hope it does find a 'Royal wall' for itself.

P.S. If not, then I have a mastercard.
P.S. Oops, I forgot to draw an aura for Bapu!
P.S. NOTE : Bapu does not wear goggles in this pic, though it seems.
P.S. Today is my friend Chayan's Birthday. His no. is 9958034757. Ask him for a treat.
P.S. "You need not be a Mahatma to follow the principles of Gandhi" - Tushar Gandhi

Taste of Triumph - 2

I had no expectations, it was totally out of sudden, amidst mixed emotions - a call made me dumbstruck. I was strolling along the Wind-tunnel of the institute when my phone rung up, I was jumping in heaven after that call. Man, I got to know that I had got the third position in the Rendezvous Abstract Photography Competition(which consists of Rs.200 cheque and a certificate to cherish). I screamed the loudest "YES!" I could on the road, almost the whole of the crowd near me was a kinda' dumbstruck. I called my Mom and she jumped on her toes, talked to my Dad and my Dad became emotional, my life could not have been better. It brings great pleasure to have a sudden surprise, without even having any expectations.

P.S. Acknowledgements : Vidhu for taking great pains for inquiring exquisite details for the event, Akshay and Aman for their words of appreciation(which really mean a lot to me even though I don't tell) and my parents for being twice more happy than I am and for believing in me twice more than I believe in myself.

P.S. I saw Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy performing at a 10 metres distance, they are so versatile man...hats off to them!!!
P.S. Don't judge my photography by seeing the photograph of my certificate, as the poor photography owes itself to my sleepy head.
P.S. I want to sleep, though it's a morning now...good night!!!

The Photographer is Back

It had been a while since I touched my camera. Yesterday, I came to know about an event of Abstract Photography to be taking place in our fest Rendezvous, so I took out my digicam from my cupboard(after 3 long months) and experimented with light and darkness. Some shades appealed to me and I thought of finding something resembling the texture of the wall. Luckily, I had drumsticks in my room, so I got an interesting outcome. It is titled "Rhythm of Light". Do comment on it - concept and innovation :

Awed to envy...

For the past 15 minutes, I was on the rickshaw, having no faint idea of the way ahead. I told the rickshaw wala, "I need to get to Daryaganj - near the mosque." The rickshaw was trotting ahead and I enjoyed the view sideways. No, there weren't any girls there, but there was a majestic monument - The Jama Masjid, with elegant red textured walls. The other side of the road had a chain of slaughterers, butchers and spice-dwellers, the smell along the road was not at all pleasing my nasal cavity. A sudden advent of some dark clouds pleased my sun-warmed body. I was quite relishing the other side of Delhi - which contained an air of Mughal era in itself. Old architecture, sufi houses and small dhabas provided a periphery to my curious vision. Small roads, too many rickshaws and 'thelas', and ultra small shops retailing paper, clothes and glasswares brought back the memories of the Arabian Nights back into my mind.

A sudden voice brought back my mind to the present moment, I had reached the mosque and rickshaw-wala was demanding his reward for dropping me to the place. I gave him his share of my wallet, and went on to inquire about the shop that made me visit such a remote area of my city. The guy told me, "Just follow these stairs, the shop is at the third floor." About a half-century of helical steps gave me a sight - An ultra-modern heaven in between these small shops. Awed, definitely, I opened my sandals and entered the place. My eyes grew bigger and bigger to its maximum radius as what I observed was a childhood dream come true. It had every thing, every possible brand right from Fender to Givson, starting from a mere 3000 bucks to as high as 94,000 bucks. I was wondering that someday I win a lottery and purchase the whole shop. Clarinet, piccolo, ukulele, cello, pedals, double bases, tenor sax to the twelve-strings., you think of any of them - it was there. You might be wondering what I am talking about? If you haven't got it till now then let me elaborate. The shop had every kind of synthesizer, even the Yamaha electronic drum-set worth Rs 1.5 lacs and ranges of violin from a simple one to the elite. (You got that, I know!) Amidst this rural outset, this monolithic shop had it all, all the musical instruments, all the brands and everything one can think of. It was a kind of musical instruments library - just no lending was possible. I tried my hands upon a V-shaped electronic guitar worth 23,000 bucks and it was a fabulous experience. After spending 2 hours in the shop, analyzing every small detail of the instruments, I finally made up my mind(and my wallet too!) to purchase something. I finally gave upon a German chromatic harmonica(popularly known as mouthorgan) worth 550 rupees and was overjoyed at its mellifluous voice.

The return journey to my hostel was a very thoughtful one, my mind still being intrigued and awed by the wonderful sight I just saw, and a part of me pushing me to acquire the whole shop someday. In the midst of happiness and temptations, the auto moved along the road transmitting me from the remote area to the ultra-modern capital of the nation. Back home, there was nothing but a smile on my face showing my happiness on a nano-scale. I placed the harmonica in my drawer and had an ecstatic siesta!

P.S. Clarinet, piccolo, ukulele, cello, pedals, double bases, tenor sax are musical instruments.
P.S. The shop's name is Bhargava's Music. It is in Daryaganj. Do pay visit to it once in your lifetime. I bet you can't resist being awed!
P.S. Yes, I know how to play harmonica, I am not prevaricating!
P.S. Did you know that harmonica is the largest selling musical instrument in the world.
P.S. An advice - consulting a dictionary-cum-thesaurus while seeing a word is much more conducive for developing a good word power than consulting only a dictionary.
P.S. Today's movie : What women want.

One Night Stand

It was 3:30 am, summer of 2006. My sleep had been lost and my heart was pounding in its full excitement. For the last 4 hours I was on my bed with her. It was like a long-cherished dream come true.

Her name was Eva, that's what I used to call her lovingly, and she was Spanish. She was my first love. I had been seeing her for the last ten months. That summer, she was very kind to me, for she agreed to unravel all her secrets to me someday. And that night, her kindness was par excellence as she dissolved all my moments of wait. I still vividly recall those moments, Eva was sitting on my lap, her very touch gave me an exotic pleasure. My fingers moved all around her neck, as rapidly as they could, trying to feel her with all my senses alive.

She was astonishingly beautiful and definitely very very sexy, but that night she was looking totally different to me, the curves of her body aroused my senses. Anyone would have lost his senses after grasping that. After hanging around with her for almost 10 long months, I finally succeeded in winning her. I could not believe that all my fantasies were being fulfilled. I used to spend countless hours with her on a daily basis to pursue her to let me someday have fun with her, but she took her time in gaining her faith on me. My perseverance at last won her and she agreed to divulge her secrets to me. With her on my congested single-bed, she made it easy for me by being very cooperative. I bolted the door from inside and shut the windows, and without any further delay I began. I did all kind of hammering and bending on her and she was still supportive. She too wanted somebody to love her with all his passions, and that day I fulfilled all her desires. Touching the curves of her body was a sensation out of this world. While fondling her, my eyes remained closed while my soul danced in the music of happiness. I sang all the romantic songs I knew just for her, while she swayed her body in the melody and accompanied me.

Our fun was short-lived(game over in just 6 hours), as at 5 ‘o clock, somebody knocked the bolted door. Terrified, with her still lying on my bed, stark naked, I dared to open the door, with my exhausted fingers, having no option for her to hide.

It was my Mom, banging me with a straight-forward question, “What the hell are you doing with your door closed?”; I tried to provide the best possible explanation to stop her at the door, but she pushed me aside and entered the room to be shocked at seeing Eva lying helpless on my single bed, and that too without anything to cover her bare body. I was caught red-handed, but still I could not hide the excitement of my first night-stand.

I blushingly exclaimed to my Mom, “Mom, I was having fun with her!”, pointing to the sexy five-feet Eva with her six-strings intact and her giraffe-like long neck slimy due to the continuous friction from my hand. She was lying naked on my bed with her cover lying on the floor. However, I could not resist to notice that she was looking sexier from distance with all her curves beautifully crafted. I was looking and longing for her when my Mom pulled my ears and said, “So it was you who was making all the noise! You didn’t care that others were sleeping?” I had no answer.

I looked at Eva, but her face faced my Mom, she kept looking at my Mom with her mouth open in a circle but alas she did not have a tongue to counter my Mom's scolding.

I just smiled back at Mom because of the eternal joy I had with my first love : my first girl-friend, when she unravelled all her secrets to me. That was the time I realized that I could play any song on her as I won a special place in her heart !

I got my first real six-strings
Got it tuned and tried all the tricks
Played it till my fingers bled
It was summer of 2006
If I got the chance
I would always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life

P.S. Dirty minds, what have you been thinking about while reading the article?
P.S. Hammering and Bending are guitar playing techniques. No need to misinterpret!
P.S. Eva is still my girlfriend, no fights and no break-ups for us : That’s what is called ETERNAL LOVE.

Rules of Composition in Photography :

With the decreasing price of digicam everyday, people nowadays are taking up photography as their passion. I hope this will be a help to the amateurs really passionate about photography.

Composition is the combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. In photography that thought is very important in taking good pictures. The following guidelines are just to be thought about though, it is not necessary to try to use them with every picture you take or there wouldn't be any creativity in your work. Once you learn these rules and strategies you will be more prepared to find great picture spots and opportunities.

The Rule of Thirds has been used for centuries and is probably the most important of all the composition techniques. The Rule of Thirds means that the frame can be divided into three horizontal sections and three vertical sections and therefore, where the horizontal and vertical lines intersect makes an ideal location for the more important parts of your picture. By locating your main subject at one of the four intersections you give the subject more emphasis than if it was right smack in the middle of the picture. This is also a good technique if you have more than one important subject, the intersections can still work even if there's a subject on more than one. The divisions can also be helpful in setting up a picture, they can for example, help you determine how much horizon you want.

Then there comes the Diagonal Lines : Using diagonal lines can be a very effective way of drawing the eye of those viewing an image into it and to the main focal point.The ‘lines’ need not be actual lines - they could be the shape of a path, a line of trees, a fence, river or any other feature in an image.
Converging lines (two or more lines coming from different parts of an image to a single point) can be all the more effective.

Simplicity is the method of keeping the information in a photograph relatively simple. If your main subject is close, then your background should be very simple to avoid distractions. You should try to keep everything not important much less interesting than what's important in the frame. Especially avoid lines or objects that lead the eye away from the subject.

Leading Lines are used to lure the eye deeper into a picture or to an important subject. Straight, curved, parallel, or diagonal lines are all good at promoting interest.

Good examples could be roads, rivers, streams, bridges, branches, or fences but there are endless things that could be used.

Geometry : Geometry is used to give a symmetry to the figure. Consider the photo of the Qutab captured by me, it has a geometry of an Isosceles triangle, which makes the Qutab look more majestic. Several paintings and ace photographs contain a sense of geometry in it.

Using Geographic Shapes in this way isn’t something that I’ve done a lot of - but it is one technique to get balance in a shot and if you’re clever, to lead the eye into it (in a similar way to the diagonal lines rule above).

Several geometrical shapes like semi-circular, oval and triangular give the shots a satisfying symmetry.

“Positioning key aspects of a landscape on points of a geometric shape help create a balanced composition.”

Rules are Made to Be Broken?

Of course while knowing the rules can be important - knowing when to use them and when to break them is a talent that great photographers generally have. Practice these techniques - but don’t get so worked up about them that they kill the creativity that you have.

Let me finish with a quote about Rules of Photography from Photographer Edward Weston to help give us a little balance on the topic:

“To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk. Such rules and laws are deduced from the accomplished fact; they are the products of reflection.”

P.S. Use a high ISO to capture objects in low light situation.
P.S. Use a high shutter speed to make the image of a moving object anti-blur.
P.S. Digital zoom is just as good as real zoom and a lot cheaper.
P.S. Post processing is for people who are too stupid to set the adjustments in their camera.
P.S. Nikon is better than Canon.
P.S. Canon is better than Nikon.
P.S. Always flatter the subject, make them feel that they are the next Brad Pitt or Jolie.
P.S. Have a nice time with your camera. Care it as if its your best friend's gf.
P.S. Stop reading all these P.S.s, go and read the article!!!

Panorama :

Among all the passions that I have, I place Photography at the top. Photography is such a hobby that continuously strives to make us aware of the present moment. I realize the difference that Photography made in my life. I have started observing everything that goes around me, it has enriched my travelling experiences, it has allowed me to live in the present moment, to see the incomparable beauty of Nature. I have become attached to all the creatures on earth and now I can feel the connectedness between them and me.

I am surprised by myself that everyday I wake up surprisingly early just to capture sunrise from my hostel's balcony. Thanks to this hobby, I have developed enormous love for our Motherland. My love for India has increased thousand-folds. India offers so much diversity in people and traditions that it stands out of the rest of the world in cultural heritage. I consider myself fortunate for being born in a country like this.

Nowadays, in weekends I consciously visit pilgrimages and natural sites for photography and am continuously being touched by people and nature's picturesque scenes.

Just take out time, just 10 minutes, from your daily routine and spend time with nature and see how refreshing it is.

Just wonder, if our world is so beautiful,
then how beautiful be the place where God resides...

I picked up

This winter vacation I picked up some new activities.
1) Photography : Thanks to my Nokia 6300, with a decent 2 mp camera, I have got some really wonderful snaps. The beauty of a photograph lies in its timing and light and shade. A colourful country like India offers wide range for photography. And Delhi, a conglomeration of different cultures offers a much richer diversity to capture. From Chandni Chowk to the Railway Station to High-tech malls to beggars in front of Akshardham, its a great place from the point of photographer. Thats not all, I thank my luck for having my hostel room's directly facing the sunrise offering beauty in bulk.
2) Travelling : Being a travel bug, having travelled almost whole of India, I am never ever satiated with travelling. This time on my trip to Ajanta and Ellora, I learnt a great thing from my Dad i.e. before going to a particular place : Be aware about its history, read magazines, articles and books about that place. This awareness enriches our travelling experience into a broader perspective. Instead of glancing or looking at things we tend to observe and relate to what we have read and this process leaves an imprint, about that place, forever in our mind.
3) Writing : Writing one's own view or experience about any particular thing makes oneself observant and self-satisfied. It allows us look into deeper vistas of our life and sometimes we also get to be awestruck to look at the hidden creativity within us.

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