Evil Smoke

Evil Smoke
Originally uploaded by travelling writer.

Helmets can save you only from the road accidents. It can't save you from cancer. For such evils, its only your will power which can fight it out.

Some facts

• Half the male tuberculosis deaths in India are caused by smoking, and three quarters of the smokers who become ill with tuberculosis (TB) would not have done so if they had not smoked

• The current study predicted that the number of men dying from smoking-related illnesses in India could double to more than a million a year by 2025

• In India, lung cancer is fast replacing oral cancer as the most common malignancy in men. Smoking is the predominant cause of lung cancer.

• Eight percent of women in developing countries and about 15% in industrialized countries currently smoke cigarettes.

• Study Finds Children in India are Smoking More Tobacco at a Younger Age.

Say no to smoking.

Issued in public interest by Nishant Ratnakar

Do they really mean it..

The Karnataka flag is seen hoisted at the entrance of one of the popular wholesale malls of Bangalore during the recent protests over the judgement given by the Tribunal for Cauvery river water sharing issue.

This was a common site in front of big commercial complexes, supermarkets, malls,multiplexes IT and BPO company office buildings in Bangalore during the recent days.

I wonder what exactly does it signify.

1.>Does this mean that they love karnataka? If so, why don't they display the flag through out the year? And why hoist it only at the gates and entrances of the buildings, and not at a dignified flag post set up exclusively for it?

2.>Or does it mean that these big guns care for local issues and are actualy showing their support for the cause?

3.>Or does it mean that this is an act of appeasing the protestors and mobs by the upper middle class( and above) which is least bothered about the issues concerning the localities?

4.>Talking about doing it out of fear: Does it mean we the citizens of a famous cosmopolitan city are nothing but vandals and rioters who love destroying public property in the name of burning issues? And people are forced to act according to our whims and fancies to avoid facing our wrath?

Something is terribly wrong here.

Whatever the industry it maybe, but when it sets up its operations in Bangalore it must invest on two important things for its security apart from hiring security professionals. That is they have to buy the Karnataka flag and Rajkumar posters. Every time a protest breaks out in the city these are the only two things which can save a building from getting ransacked by mobs.

Note: Actually, looking at recent turn of events in the city there seems to be emerging another security device apart from these two vital symbols. It is a new poster: A poster of Saddam Hussein!

Irfan

Irfan
Originally uploaded by travelling writer.

Date: November 4th,2006.
Place:Russel Market, Bangalore

I thought child labour was banned in my country. But poverty I guess forces children to work.

Irfan, works along with his friend and another lady who runs this service of cleaning prawns for customers after they have struck a deal with one of the sellers in Russel market.

Initially, Irfan ran away when I tried to photograph him. Somebody played a joke on him be telling him that I would give his photograph to the police and that scared him. Later, he walked up to me and asked me why am I giving his pictures to the cops?Upon hearing the truth from me he realised he was a victim of a practical joke. After a hearty laugh he went back to business as usual.

Bunking college

Bunking college
Originally uploaded by travelling writer.

This was one of my published photographs in Bangalore Vijay Times. The story was on bunking classes in College.

I was already on an assignment to a popular women's college in the city when I was told to make a photograph for this feature story. I was actually there to make a photo-essay on a charity run being organised by them. Then a passing glance at a corridor and the urge in my mind to experiment and get a non-cliche image of bunking classes made me visualize this frame as I saw those legs and the college bag rested in the lap. Till that I do not know whose legs are those.

Open to critiques

Janapada Jathre 2007: A Festival of folk dance

Saturday evening and a free concert at a hillock; what a combo it was for connoisseurs of folk music and dance! This was the atmosphere I was treated to when I arrived at Lal Bagh.

This year's Janapada Jathre, the festival of folk music and dance was held at the base of the Lal Bagh rock on February 10th. The theme for this year revolved around the contribution of women to Performing folk arts. Hence this year's event was called as "Mahila Janapada Jathre" and it was no surprise that most of the participants were women.

It was delightful to see such a big turn out of city dwelling audience to a folk festival. A large number of foreign tourists too were present and were seen swaying to the sounds of this land.

The festival kicked off by a performance by artists from Coorg. They performed a dance which they traditionally do as a ritual in worshipping river Cauvery. This was followed by numerous performances ranging from Kolaata to acrobatic performances by a group of Eunuch artists from North Karnataka. The ever popular "Moodal Kunigal kere" was performed by group of school children. It was nice to see the involvement of the audience. Their constant cheering, singing in chorus, and synchronous clapping to the beats of the music gave encouragement to these artists who usually do not get this exposure.

Below are some moments from the evening which have been captured in images by me. Click on each image to view it in larger size.

A Run for a cause

A Run for a cause
Originally uploaded by travelling writer.

MCC students union members preparing posters for the charity run in aid of BOSCO mane, an NGO for kids. The run is organized by them as part of their intra college cultural fest, the Culha 2007.

Note:The photograph was shot by me for an assignment for the e-magazine Sattva.
For more on Sattva check this link, www.itihas.org.in/Sattva.html

One fine morning: Me, you and our dear old Amby

The Ambassador car, once synonymous with the word 'India' is now slowly disappearing from its landscape. It seems to be now relegated for use by the politicians. For years, I had believed that Amby, as it’s fondly called by its aficionados has disappeared from the cities and can only be found in the countryside. But, the fact is that even from the country roads they are now making way for the newer cars available in the markets today. The recent relaunch of "Amby" in its new avatar wasn't that successful in contributing to any revival of the legendary car in mainstream Indian roads.

For me, summer vacations during childhood days were spent in visiting maternal home near Pangala in Udupi district. It used to be a gathering of all the relatives with the entire house being converted into a den for 'Hide and Seek' games, the verandah being converted into a miniature cricket ground and finally countless road-trips to weddings, temples, beaches and 'Kudla' (Mangalore); all of which used to be marked by a visit to the 'Diana Hotel' in Udupi. But common in all these road trips of ours was the Amby, a perfect vehicle to stuff in large Indian families:-) . A rugged metallic body and well suited for Indian highways, Amby was and is much resistant to damages in accidents than most modern cars of the day. It was hence a natural choice for the elders when compared to Maruti 800 which was in its infancy during those days. But it only took few years for Maruti 800 to turn into an icon which represented the Indian middle class family. This era marked the decline of Amby. The throne was passed onto the new, small car with a weaker body and Amby slowly began to fade away from the Indian roads.

The moment framed in a photograph above was one of those rare sightings of Amby for me during my recent visit to our hometown. There was this one odd Amby waiting outside our home among other popular cars. The Omnis, the Altos and other creations of Maruti Udyog were lined up along with few mini buses and this solitary Amby. The vehicles were all for ferrying people to the local temple nearby for them to take part in the celebrations of the day. This event was connected to the fact that my grandfather turned a hundred years old during the year 2006. He was a founder of this temple in Katpadi and it was decided that a public event was to be held there to mark this occasion. There wasn't any centenarian in our village except for him and there wasn't another car from the classic pre-globalization era except for this Amby. And I guess it was a fitting tribute to their survival in the race against time that they undertook the journey to the temple together.

Realists may say that Amby is in the fag end of its life and will fade away soon. But who knows, they even said that video killed the radio star. But today, the radio is having its finest hour as predicted by the Late Freddie Mercury in 'Radio Ga Ga', one of the greatest hits by the rock band 'Queen'. Maybe even our dear old Amby and its cousin 'Premier Padmini' will have their renaissance someday too.