Belur & Halebidu - A photographer's delight

Some pictures of my mini vacation to Belur, Halebidu on way back after visiting Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya.

One of the many beautiful pieces of intricate architectural brilliance displayed here.

Go here if you have a day or two to spare, as the divinity of this place can be experienced by not only seeing the kind of work gone in building these timeless monuments but also understanding the historical significance. 

Books or Movies

I am watching Kite Runner while this sudden thought struck me and made me write something while i'm still thinking. I know i'll not be doing justice to any of the three activities involved, viewing the movie, thinking about the thought and writing about it. But i have decided to be unjust for the time being. (ok, i agree it was a bad one!)

Coming back to the topic.. well, again not quite. A friend suddenly pings me and asks if i could do the needful. "Do the needful" Alright you ass, remember you are onsite, hence your request is considered. 

So, thinking about great books made into movies don't always turn out to be great ones like the books. Or for the sake of refining my sentence may I say, they don't have the same emotions we go through in the book.  I remember reading the kite runner in the first week of joining my second company. I couldn't close the pdf file for once until i finished it. Of course open were all other technology documents too. Wow I gushed, 'What a story' !!!

Before the movie began, i told my friend that HBO is playing this particular movie, and he said it's not great, he'd watched it already. But I don't feel so now, when Amir Jan becomes the kite runner for Sohrab, the last scene in the movie. Friend, I somehow like it.

I wonder what all those Harry potter readers might wish to say, consider scores of them have been made into movies. Looking at it now, it's got something to do with averages. Some ordinary books make for great movies while some great ones don't. Also impacting are some parameters like who makes the movie, how s/he does, who plays in it etc.

I guess I should close this post by continuing to wonder what kind of a movie will 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts be made into.

Title-less

Every passing day brings with it absolute-nothings, or many times phenomenal-somethings. My mind tells me that the chances of ending up on either side of things depend majority of times upon luck. But for the other minority, it is the preparedness that matters. Fortune now favors not only the brave but also the prepared.

Until the time my rantings are over... So long !!!

Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

I first saw this campaign, during one of the TV commercials. Didn't pay much heed to it. Then after repeated exposure to this advertising stimulus, it permeated my attention and I began to ponder over it. It said, join the campaign, share it, blog it etc. 

I went back to a time between 2005 and 2006, when a few friends and I went on a trip to Nagarhole national park. Then due to a friend's contact, we obtained permission to stay overnight at an anti-poaching camp, of the Karnataka forest department. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've had in my life, to stay amidst wilderness with all the gusto and verve of one of Karnataka's thickest forest range. 

The next day we happened to embark on a short trek in the wild jungle, though we did not have the permission to do so. But of course, the overnight banter with the forest guards helped us overcome that, and they themselves walked with us. While we walked for the 6 to 7 kms in the forest, I vividly remember all of us craving to spot one or the other wild beasts. And a few of us also hoped, if we could get lucky to spot the big cat. All these hopes had turned our anticipation higher and drove our adrenalin to unprecedented levels making us talk amongst ourselves amidst the guards warning us against doing so. 

Then suddenly we stopped by on the track that was damped with water from a natural stream. The guard signaled to all of us to fall silent at once with his hyperbolizing actions, and then whispered pointing to the ground asking us "See that"? The look on his face was that of utmost seriousness, and we realized this time he meant business. On the ground was some sort of depressions made on the soil. 

"Pug Marks" shouted one; "Really" exclaimed another and I went busy clicking on my camera. 

"Ivaag taane hogide"(It's crossed just now) said the guard. Before my wondering became a question that could be heard, he continued "maximumu eradu mooru gante aagirbahudu" (must have been a maximum of two or three hours). And that was when we realized how much lucky we were to be travelling amidst the territory of the Tiger. The feeling is inexplicable, the thrill is unbeatable and the memory, just unforgettable!!!

How many of us have been anywhere close to spotting a tiger in its natural habitat? Purists say people spend a lifetime in looking for them. There are people and there are people. Some of them, who spend a lifetime and succeed and then some others who consider, that coming across pug-marks of a tiger in its natural habitat can be the closest they can get in their lives.

I had this amazing picture I had clicked during this trip, that of the pug-marks of a tiger. I so wanted to include it in this post of mine, but turns out I have lost the whole folder somewhere from my system. I also looked for the various DVD back-ups I had made of my data, which seems missing too. This now has left me restless to find that picture somehow and post it here. 

Thinking about it, this is a picture and I can somehow let go. But then think about the number 1411, yes that's exactly how many tigers we are left with.

Shocking to say the least!!! We can't be casual about this... can we? Not when we are answerable to our next generation.

~Sanjay

http://www.saveourtigers.com/