Kiran Jonnalagadda’s Blog

Well, what do you know? Power failure in Bombay! I spent several minutes jabbing the lift button before realising it was dead. Mercifully only four floors. Wonder how wide an area is affected.

Perhaps a uniquely Bombay activity. Someone draws a religious figure in chalk, and people drop coins in it. Begging with art?

Entrance to Miramar beach, three kilometres south of Panjim, at the mouth of the river Mandovi. This was an accidental picture. I was trying to shoot a barge in the river, but it kept flitting between the trees, and then we were down by the parking lot with no view. I clicked anyway, got this.

Panjim’s coastline has been very nicely renovated (for IFFI 2004). The road to Miramar is considerably wider (and they didn’t cut any trees jutting out into the road; they’re still there), there’s a wide promenade running along the river, and new shapely street lamps give the whole place a Mediterranean feel. Panjim now looks utterly beautiful even in daytime, which is rare for an Indian city. If you are visiting Goa this year, you shouldn’t miss the new Panjim.

Two hours to leave for my next meeting, and still so much to do.

I setup tripod at this corner and shot close to a hundred pictures of the sunset and the surroundings, without a single satisfactory one. No clouds, no ships, just plain skies and uninterested waters.

Disappointed, I was packed up and walking away when this couple came to sit, and then I had my picture. This is a few minutes after sunset.

The community ashtray at Synapse in Goa. Real cigarette butts, this time.

My tripod fell off the luggage rack this morning and the head broke. I was planning to replace it with a ball head, but not today, and not when I’m an hour from shooting the sunset over the Zuari. I hear epoxy glue will stick metal. Anyone know? Time for a trip to the local store.

I did fear the same fate for my laptop bag (the luggage racks were shallow) and placed it under my seat, but as usual someone forgot to tighten his water bottle cap and the bag was soaking wet by morning. (Yes, my dear anonymous well wisher, I know you were hoping my laptop died. Too bad. Maybe you’ll be lucky next time.)

I’d sure like to see a conical pizza.

We had no power all of last night and this morning. The failure lasted over eighteen hours. I barely slept. The mosquito coil was ineffective at keeping them away. I had to wait till it got cold enough (around 4 AM), then shut the doors and windows so the smoke could take effect.

Not the best start to my last day in Bangalore before I hit the road again. I’m tiring of this travel.

And the weather was so utterly delightful. urmila and I spent the better part of the afternoon huddled together in the drizzle, shooting black and white film that came in a recycled cassette.

Bajaj Santro 5000 brand autorickshaw. Also via urmila.

Fine print says “Relax! Forget your duties for a while.” Can’t help but wonder if they meant this for themselves.

This is the neighbourhood I live in. The open field you see here is disputed land. Our local corporator insists he owns the area and is going to turn it into commercial space. Another rumour says this is going to become the Hulimavu Bus Depot. God save us all from the resulting chaos.

The Forest Department says this is all their land and nobody dare set foot in it. They’ve fenced it off now. This could be a park, we sorely need one around here, but they’re not letting anyone in.

And while stasis lasts, the borders have turned into a garbage dump. Since the field is at a lower level than the surrounding area, it gets flooded in the monsoon. Mosquitoes breed. Frogs perform to an all night symphony.

And we get neither park nor air-recycling trees, only a garbage dump.

Isn’t it odd that despite all the money poured into brand building, it’s considered low value unless backed up with ‘genuine’?

Microsoft’s ‘Genuine Windows XP’ ads are particularly telling: the claims are false and misleading, and hint of a desperation that says Microsoft’s advertising isn’t translating into sales.

Apparently the latest in women’s fashion. Via urmila.

Nikon D70, AF-S Nikkor 18-70 DX 1:3.5-4.5G IF ED, Colour Space Mode IIIa sRGB, Exposure Auto Program Mode. Converted to JPEG using default settings in RAW image.

Nikon F70, AF Nikkor 28-80 1:3.5-5.6D, Fuji Provia 100F, Exposure Auto Program Mode. Film expiry date February 2005, used in late March 2005, passed through airport x-ray twice, processed and scanned in April 2005.

Cricket, the subcontinent’s favourite sport. The rare outdoor game that lends itself to being played in just about any strip of ground, whether narrow lane, office corridor, traffic island at a busy intersection, or playground. There must have been at least ten teams stuffed into this ground near the GPO in Pune.

How to pass a bored day in office.
See video (81 kB) »

So these chaps have put up a tent by my house and are playing a tape advertising ayurvedic remedies for all sorts of ailments. Except, it’s in Hindi, which hardly anyone around here speaks.

This rickshaw’s meter is connected via a nine pin serial cable plug. Never thought I’d see one of those here.

These tables at Varieteas are well designed. They’re small enough to have a conversation over, and stack together gaplessly for larger groups.

Reebok for a vowel-free generation?

I had read somewhere that rows with emergency exit doors have more leg space, so when I saw an unoccupied window seat, I quickly moved in. The leg spacing was indeed generous, wide enough to use a laptop fully opened, and still having space spare. Such a relief from Air Deccan’s typically cramped seating!

The flight attendant was busy with someone in the second emergency exit row. She turned to me and said I couldn’t keep my bag on the floor—regulations prohibited luggage in emergency exit rows. Darn. But I wasn’t planning to use the laptop anyway, so no issue. I rose, remembered my camera was in it, and asked her if photography was indeed allowed in aircraft. Affirmative. But what about at the airport?

“Is this a defence airport?”
“Photography is allowed in aircraft and at all airports except defence airports.”
Umm, yeah, “Is Bombay a defence airport?”
“No.”

Oh excellent! Out came the D70.

She was talking to the person in the next row again. I looked at the door. It had instructions on how to be opened in an emergency. She turned to me, now with an embarrassed smile. “Because you are sitting in the emergency exit row, I have to instruct you on how to open the door in an emergency. Are you willing to do this?” “Yeah, sure!” “Okay, to open the door…”

Read on...

Mothers & Others? That’s like saying Bankers and Everyone Else, only, it rhymes better.

Shekhar’s GPS unit is a lot of fun. According to its average speed calculator, public transport in Bombay moves at 45 kmph, while in Bangalore it’s 18. In the background here is CRIT’s project map of the Vasai-Virar subregion in Bombay’s western suburbs.

I’m utterly shocked. They have this thing called lane discipline in Bombay. The right turn signal went green, and only the rightmost lane moved. Not a single vehicle tried to switch lanes at the last moment.

So it’s 9pm, and I’m wondering where to go tomorrow. Bombay, Goa or Bangalore? Choices:

• Visit freegeek in Bombay and collect photographic evidence of his marriage.
• Visit shekhark in Bombay and play with his eTrex Legend GPS unit.
• Visit Synapse in Goa and fix bugs in software I wrote a year and a half ago.
• Also in Goa, make a panoramic photograph of the ships around Vasco across the Zuari, as seen from Dona Paula.
• Get home to Bangalore and see a play at Ranga Shankara with urmila. Goa can wait till next weekend.

Choices, choices.