kesariya balama

i've been rather obsessed with 'kesariya balama' for extended intervals. decided to hunt down different renditions of it, the last time the bug struck. here's the ones that i found (in no particular order). if you have a different version, then do share

sowmya raoh's version is a  pleasant surprise. set to contemporary beats, her voice reminds me of usha uthup in some ways. quite liked the video too (embedding is disabled, you'd have to go to the youtube page to view it). however, while the imagery follows a clear path to a climax, the song - otherwise and in this version too - doesn't quite build up to one


from some teleserial on some telechannel. ignore the video. as for the song - its the only one so far with a male and female rendition







from the movie "dor" - complete with the .. damn what are those words that im looking for.. lead, chorus, background, foreground, orchestra?.. sigh this is a bad description ... but the essence is that its a bollywood film song, so its got all the elements which would not be a part of say, a local balladeer's performance. my fondness for kesariya balama started with this one










supposedly allah jilai bai's voice (from the court of maharaja ganga singh of bikaner). elegant and rustic. some notes go a bit too high. still, very soulful











mehdi hassan's version is the longest one till now. earthy, soulful and quite soothing. the music dominates the voice in many parts though. also seems to have added stanzas not part of the original composition, but its still all good










recording of a performer in jaisalmer, i guess. am not so sure what the instrument is called.








rajnigandha shekhawat's rendering at kala ghoda arts festival in mumbai. its the closest that comes to allah jilai bai's version. i could like this one more though.








instrumental version, on what's called an 'esraj'








a flute version by rajendra teredesai. a bit too slow paced for my preference




another long version, by ustad naseer-ud-din saami

disclaimer: what i know of music is just what gets opinionated in my head. nothing more. the more enlightened ones out there - don't take offence

random test shot

was just about to delete this test shot, taken somewhere in mid september. for some reason i had an urge to post it.

i came home to this

ofcourse i wasn't mad

i'm a photographer, not a terrorist!

 from the UK based http://photographernotaterrorist.org/

I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist!
Stop and Search Bust Card
Your Rights
If you are stopped and searched under section 44 of the
Terrorism Act, you do not have to give your:
‣ Name
‣ Address
‣ Date of Birth
‣ DNA, or
‣ Reason for being there
‣ Nor do you have to explain where you are going However, if the police decide that there is reasonable suspicion to arrest you for an offence, you do have to give your name and address.
• You do not have to comply with any attempt to photograph you, although you cannot flee the scene.
• The Police cannot delete any images on your camera. They can only view them in very limited
circumstances.
• If you are driving a vehicle, when stopped you must give your name and address.
• Failure to stop or obstructing a police constable acting under section 44 is a criminal offence.
Police Powers
Under s44, a police constable in uniform is entitled to:
• Pat you down
• Detain you for the duration of the search
• Remove outer clothing
• Require you to remove any item which he reasonably believes you are wearing to conceal your identity
• Look through your pockets and anything you are carrying
• Seize any article he reasonably suspects is intended to be used in connection with terrorism.
• Search your vehicle and anyone in it.
What You Should Do
• Insist on a written record of the search
• Make sure it is legible and includes details of the officers’ shoulder number and the reason for the stop.
• Note exactly why they said you were being stopped and searched – this may be more extensive than the reference in the record slip.
• Ask to see the officers’ warrant card and note the number. (This is useful when making a complaint if they have moved stations and their shoulder number
changes)
Note
A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) may not perform a s44 search without a police officer present.
Other Laws
• It is not against the law to photograph police, vehicles or equipment, unless the images are “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.
• It is not against the law to take photographs in an area where an authority under section 44 is in place.
• Using a tripod or other equipment on a public right of way can be considered obstruction. Simply standing still on a public right of way (as to take a photo) can be deemed an obstruction in certain circumstances.
• Although it is rarely used, the Official Secrets Act prohibits photography that threatens the security of the state. This includes:
‣ Military establishments and munitions stores, aircraft and ships
‣ Civil Aviation property and naval dockyards
‣ Railways, road, waterway, power stations, waterworks and nuclear power stations that
have been defined as prohibited places by the Secretary of State.
‣ Telephone exchanges and communications centres operated by the Crown
‣ Anywhere else that is a prohibited place by order of the Secretary of State
• You can photograph private property if you are on public property or a public right of way
• Private property owners may impose restrictions on photography, this only applies to photographs taken from somewhere on their property. Restrictions may not always be obvious but will still apply. They cannot be imposed after the photography has occurred.
• Private property owners or their agents (for example security guards) may not view or delete images on your camera or demand your name and address. They may require you to leave immediately and by the most direct route without giving any reason if they choose.
• There is no right to privacy in a public place, however, there are circumstances in which a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, particularly if they are inside their own home. Childrens privacy rights are particularly protected. You therefore need to be aware that publication without consent may leave you open to legal action.
Disclaimer - While care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this guide is accurate it does not provide a comprehensive indepth discussion of the relevant law. The information it contains is of a general nature and is not intended to be legal advice. The guide is provided without warranty as to the accuracy of the information it contains. The author, publisher and distributor of this guide will not be held responsible for any loss suffered by any person that is directly or indirectly attributable to reliance on the information contained in this guide This guide was compiled by David Hoffman, Marc Vallée and Jonathan Warren with additional legal advice from Anna Mazolla at Hickman & Rose.
Photographer Not A Terrorist . org

links: travel, blog, dubai

- budget hotel brands, across europe: formule f1, etap and ibis
- seat61 - a personal website, about train travel across the world

travelling in france:
- commuting in the paris metro
- bus transport in france - they have no one central authority / website which can link together all the individual schedules and connections. this site links to the sites of the regional transport providers
-  french public / school holidays 2009/2010 - not only is the ^ a problem; but the schedules also change a lot depending on the school days. that's fine. but again, finding out which are the school holidays is not kiddo's task. found this one list on property retailing website
- france weather

and:
- print your blog into a book
- in the independent - the dark side of dubai
- carrying excess luggage in flights
- monopoly across the world's real cities (link courtesy: supriya)

what all YOU will have to do

if YOU want to.. then YOU wd have to...

change

the only constant. the reason behind survival. the mark of progressive thought. the underlying necessity to enable renewal, regeneration, readaptation, regrowth. the ability to keep one's mind open to the possibility of the unknown. to be able to deviate from the established norm. to take a risk, well knowing that it may not be worth it. that's an indication of belief in the promise of the future.

drunk phone calls are damn good fun, but only if its the appropriate person on the other line!

switzerland photos

finally got around to posting the first set switzerland pics on facebook.
ps: you've got to be on my list to be able to see them

and stumbled upon this site: http://fxcuisine.com/ - quite an interesting site about food, cooking and recipies; with some brilliant photography. watermelon curry anyone?

oh, and i was in milano yesterday
:D

photos on the way home

rain drops on the tram from escher-wyss-plats to zurich hauptbahnhhof

tried to capture moving crowds with a still background, not quite successful without a longer exposure and a tripod

the zurich hauptbahnhof (main station) platform, just after the evening rush hour

just before the 18.00 o clock inter-city train is about to depart. prices of cigarettes in switzerland are amongst the cheapest across europe

the name of the swiss railways: sbb in german, cff in french, ffs in italian

at bern station, the train continues to thun, spiez, visp and brig

in the foreground: a local s-bahn train pulling into bern station. the bls is the local train provider for the bernese oberland and valais

at bern station

inside the s51 train to bumpliz nord

all instructions are written in the three national languages: german, french and italian (the 4th national language is spoken by less than 1% of the population, and is confined to the alpine region) and the most-important of instructions are also mentioned in english

tscharnergut hostel building

the hostel building and the church bells that wake one up ever weekend morning

the pillared walkway leading to the hostel

entrance to tscharnergut



a notice in the elevator - didn't know that there was so much tension between the different linguistic groups within the country

chracterising "kunal bhatia"

saw this on lifehacker today. it graphic-ises vanity searche

the search results in my case weren't very accurate, but the graphics of the process look quite interesting 

and, on some travel site:

- Rajasthan is designed for what the Buddhists call “lust of the eyes”.
- One traveller I met blamed the “Lonely Planet effect” – thousands of visitors reading the same recommendation. “They should rename them Crowded Planet guides,” he said grumpily.

a rather long weekend with many ups and downs

"the idea of zero footprints has a mirror concept - that others' footprints don't get to me"
but every philosophy can be countered by that one some one

the gin in the gin soaked boy

im the darkness in the light
im the leftness in the right
im the rightness in the wrong
im the shortness in the long
im the goodness in the bad
im the saneness in the mad
im the sadness in the joy
im the gin in the gin-soaked boy

im the ghost in the machine
im the genius in the gene
im the beauty in the beast
im the sunset in the east
im the ruby in the dust
im the trust in the mistrust
im the trojan horse in troy
im the gin in the gin-soaked boy

im the tigers empty cage
im the mysterys final page
im the strangers lonely glance
im the heros only chance
im the undiscovered land
im the single grain of sand
im the christmas morning toy
im the gin in the gin-soaked boy

im the world youll never see
im the slave youll never free
im the truth youll never know
im the place youll never go
im the sound youll never hear
im the course youll never steer
im the will youll not destroy
im the gin in the gin-soaked boy

im the half-truth in the lie
im the why not in the why
im the last roll of the die
im the old school in the tie
im the spirit in the sky
im the catcher in the rye
im the twinkle in her eye
im the jeff goldblum in the fly

who am i?

from the 16th floor

from 1612/13 today evening. tried to combine 3 shots at different exposures in photoshop. but the final supposedly-HDR version didnt look one bit impressive. one of the feeder shots instead looked better.

the high rises in the distance are of the next 'village'. and the rollign green hills are farms. the building in the absolute foreground is one of the many high rise hostel buildings that dot this area. tscharnergut is often referred to as the ghetto of foreign students in switzerland

f22 v/s f5

l: f 22 1/3 secs
r: f 5 1/32 secs

all plan randomness:
L - opens site plan
R - something about reinforcement bars!
to draw a rectangle - ctrl B
to stretch - press Ctrl+Shift+S but to do something with the Frame Construction: Rafters, Roof Beams, Posts tool, just press S

so, you think of urself to be an amateur photographer, eh?

what has been lost since last week: drunkedness-virginity on sapna's bday, ice-virginity on maitri's bday and tripod + multiple lenses virginity in office today.

for all my passion about photography, i felt terribly embarassed when i couldn't get the slr to mount the tripod correctly! yeah, beat that! and lo behold, that one knob on the tripod whose purpose i couldn't imagine turned out to be the magic key. so it seems that the screw on which the camera gets attached is actually on a little plate, which needs to be released from the head of the tripod to screw in the camera properly. once that was set, using a tripod is such a pleasure. i want, i want.


today's gtalk status updates:
zurich - model, slr, tripod and lenses - the best afternoon in office yet!
zurich - keep distance, stay clear


l: the std 18-55 lens; r: a wide angle lens

note to self: on av mode, small aperture (20+) sets long exposure (1/3 - 5" ...) = more overall sharpness in the photo

bye bye blogger

its time to move, to wordpress.

when all but one went to school

kunal feels married. there's cooking, dishes, vacuuming, laundry, cups of tea, nostalgia, future plans and deciding what to put up on the walls; but no sex :p

on the right: "nine of us went to school, sau is home-sick"

- found in 1712

a card from upstairs

found this on our door today evening

evian les bains

a night in france

the camera shoots itself, the cameraman shoots himself

i have been having spurts of narcissism lately


:D

photo marathon - the back office kind

before i get to the many other things that crave for attention, i'm on a photo sorting marathon - 2200+ photos from yesterday. and as many more to go...
i wish my laptop battery would last beyond a few minutes; it would help pass time on way to zurich :(

a birthday in another country

on jeenal’s wish, we headed off to liechtenstein on her birthday. yes, it’s one of those tiny countries that dot europe. it took us under 3 hours to get there, and i joined the others a bit late, for the want of the book on which they put they country ka thappa. we spent the day in the capital vaduz. its main street stadtle seems to exist more for the tourists than for anything else – its choc-a-bloc with souvenir shops, cafes, sculptures, fountains, modernist buildings – each trying to look more starker than the next, fountains and a couple of museums thrown in for good measure. and to add to the charm, there is the king’s castle peeping over the entire town.

i bought a wine bottle from sargaans, which we had a lot of difficulty in opening, inspite of banging it against some steps. chilled lunch of pasta, pizza and icecream-coffee desert followed. after which we walked a bit up the hill overlooking vaduz.

sat on a bench with maitri, while listening to damien rice. then went to the church at the end of the stadtle and finally the peter kaiser plaza which is completely lined with sandstone bricks and connects the parliament buildings. one of which has a pyramid-ical and is also completely covered with the same bricks. the whole place felt very superficial. didn’t get much time to take it in, we had to catch the bus back to switzerland.

travel stories on liechtenstein:
part i and part ii

being twenty something

happy 23, jeenal!



from an old email, sent by jeenal:

Being a twenty-something…Easy or Difficult!!!
by Brenda Della Casa in Play Magazine April 2001

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn’t know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren’t exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don’t recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren’t really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at what you are studying or your job… and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn’t. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can’t meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone! but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you’re doing this because you know that you aren’t a bad person. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself… and while winning the race would be great, right now you are scared just to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

sine musica la vitta

bern university's 175 yr anniversary

in turkey

the last 24 hrs or so have been quite chaotic - the kind that gives me the last minute high. and me being me, i was packing till the very last minute (i assembled my jacket while we were driving to the airport). then came the weighing scales that would determine how much food would eventually reach switzerland. some of us had lesser luggage than permitted, others around 1.5 times of what's allowed. and of course, the weighing scales at home and the ones in the airport never match. so out came the pile that was kept right at the top for such a situation. re-checking and re-weighing followed

and we leave bangalore, after 40 days and 40 nights...

the bangalore part of the exchange program came to an end yesterday, with the jury and the exhibition. a large number of jurors - 11 to be precise, with diverse take on most issues. our jury was rather blah - none of the jurors gave us much of a crit. most of the crit time was spent on the orientation of louvres and positioning of some light shelf. the project does throw up some arguments about the nature of office spaces for multi-national corporations, but those debates were beyond the scope of the project.

to be contd, too tired now

urban forest in an sez complex

in : ch 09 :: bangalore leg :: aol office building :: intervention at the sez complex level

a conceptual sketch of our intervention at the SEZ complex level - an urban forest is grown in place of a 30metre wide concrete road. the vehicular access is moved along the edge of the complex, freeing up the central strip.

programmatic inserts include a book store, two food courts, pavillions for gathering / classes, a creche, a computer training centre, an amphitheatre apart from street furniture elements.

the unused terraces of the office buildings now get used as sports courts, terrace gardens and for generating some amount of solar energy. in the urban forest below, solar-powered charging pods are present in the parking lots - to charge the electric cars.

within the forest, the scale and nature of the plantation varies - from tall trees that provide a larger colume beneath their canopy to shorter, more stouter ones that provide more shade. a catchment tank collects the surface drainage of the forest and serves as the backdrop to the amphitheatre.

the urban forest is imagined as a space that will draw in people from the areas surrounding the SEZ complex - areas and communities that are now isolated by the parasitic-nature of development of these complexes. this also allows the employees and the residents to interact in a non-threatning / non-intimidating environment.

each of the inserts is to be designed in a sustainable manner, under the frameworks of the rosette's categories - design, economy and ecology. we have thought of the basic design principle for each of the inserts: the book store is a series of elevated, connected boxes built around the trees; the creche is partly underground with a contoured side sheletering a court for the children to wander and play in; the computer training centre is an elevated linear structure, lifted 1.5 metres above the ground level. being modular in nature, it can be extended if and when needed. the grid of the modules is also reflected in the grid of the trees planted grown around the training centre.

/first half of the sketch completed in bangalore's local buses/