Melange

Photography milestones

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Archana K B / 1 Comment

Many weeks has passed since I wrote something here. I had so many things to write about, but when I started penning them down, the fear of judgement took over, and I scrapped the pages.
Another birthday had passed without much happenings, and I could have cribbed about it.
There are so many unfinished challenges which I started with high enthusiasm only to fizzle down.
I could write about the trips we made to Chikmagalur just like I wrote about Lepakshi. The architecture of Belur and Halebidu with the trek like experience at Mulayanagiri peak indeed deserves another post, which I hope to start off soon.
The writing month of November kept calling me to pick up the pen, but on some days, you just don’t feel to write.
So what do you do?
You either start writing crap or you wait for it to strike.
I waited long enough, and decided I would write now.

The urge to write this post came from the achievements which could be my milestones for this year.

Photography Exhibitions

This year, with the many goals I had in the beginning, a remarkable achievement is the progress in my photography. I still do not create masterpieces, but I am happy with my improvements.
I am able to use the manual mode, maybe at not all the times, but still under safe conditions.
I participated in many photowalks and met so many people. I realized, I am a people lover. Though I maybe making a fool of myself I came to understand that I am more true to myself, when I am surrounded with people.

One of my photos from the Ganeshas of Pottery Town had been selected for “Frames of my city” exhibition held at Thalam, Bangalore, as part of World photography day celebrations. The judge was Fawzan Hussain, a famous photojournalist from Mumbai. But unfortunately, when the exhibition was going on, I was down with fever, and other health problems. What to say on the (un)lucky stars!

And now, once again, 3 of my photos are selected for the annual photography exhibition by Focus Bangalore photography club for 2014. The exhibition, “Beyond Colors”, will be held at Venkatappa Art Gallery, Kasturba Road, Bangalore from November 28th to 2nd December 2014.

I hope luck stays with me this time, so that I can blog more about it! :).

See you soon.

books/Reviews

The Runaway Bridegroom by Sundari Venkatraman

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Archana K B / 0 Comment

Blurb – From the back cover of the book

Chanda Maheshwari’s family is shaken when her thirteen-year-old bridegroom Veerendra runs away immediately after the wedding. The eight-year-old child doesn’t even understand the impact on her life. Unable to face their neighbours and friends, the Maheshwaris move from their village to Jaipur and begin a new life in the city.

Fourteen years later, Chanda is studying in a Delhi College. She takes up a temporary job at RS Software Pvt. Ltd. and falls head-over-heels for the boss of the operation. But what about Ranveer Singh? Is he interested in her?

Ranveer’s secretary Shikha is desperate to make him fall for her. All she wants is life-long security with a rich man. But it’s nerd Abhimanyu who keeps getting in the way. Abhi is Ranveer’s second-in-command and Shikha isn’t keen on him as she’s eyeing the main chance.

When Ranveer appears to show interest in Chanda, she’s faced with a new problem. Astrologer Vidyasagar insists that she would get back with her husband Veerendra. Does anyone want to know what she wants?

Chanda feels torn between the man she has fallen for and the family values that have been instilled in her. Will she ever find happiness?Continue reading →

Personal/Thoughts

Festive view memories

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Archana K B / 0 Comment

My birthday falls in October and I have very good memories of my childhood birthdays. Mostly, the festive season falls in October, either the Navratri or the Deepavali, and there would be grand preparations at my home. This includes decorating the living room since the pooja cupboard was in the same room. There would be twisted crepe papers hanging from the curtain rods and the across the fans to the corners. There would be mango leaves attached to the rope tied up across the room for this season. The pooja stand-cum-cupboard filled with decorative lights.

The view would be beautiful and colorful.

However hard you try to replicate, the joys of childhood and celebrating the festive season at your native home, has its own warmth which definitely fades over time, and ends up as pearls of memory, cherished deeply in some corner of our heart…

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Prompt courtesy: 31 days of FMF

Thoughts

Gearing up for the last quarter

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Archana K B / 0 Comment

Three more months to go. For the year to end. I had made up several goals in the beginning of the year, but the round up will have to wait.

For now, my mind is buzzing with the variety of challenges this month. Several bloggers are gearing up for monthly challenges in October and I am so tempted.I am already doing #100happydays in instagram, which is logged using tumblr.

The #fmsphotoaday photo challenge by Fat Mum Slim seems very easy especially since its just a matter of taking a photo in any form. The prompts are very easy this time, the alphabet game. Along with it, I wonder whether to add my own twist of taking photo of either something that starts with the alphabets or something that represents pictorially the alphabets themselves. As if showing the alphabets in pictures.

That would be interesting, right? I have seen them in some of the Flickr games.

And then there is the five minute friday for 31 days continuous. Daily blogging would be over in five minutes flat. Like this. Sounds easy right?

So ready to jump?

books/Reviews

The Helpline by Uday Mane

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Archana K B / 0 Comment

The Blurb

Samir is suicidal. Rachael works for a suicide helpline. Fate connects them through a phone call. And so begins Samir’s story of love, longing, errors, regret and a girl who changed his life. As his story reaches its conclusion, Rachael will know the true reason behind his suicidal tendencies. But this suicide helpline is not any ordinary service. There is more to the mysterious and yet so convincing voice of Rachael. As this new mystery begins to unfold, Samir is going to discover three things:

What is The Helpline?
Who is Rachael?
What is Samir’s own identity?

Every year, several teenagers in India attempt suicide because of failing relationships, dwindling careers, parental pressure or the competitive world.
This story is about one such teenager, his early problems and the hurdles to cope with them.
This story is about finding hope in the struggle.
This story is about fighting for what you believe in and discovering your true identity.
This is not a story about falling in love.
This is a story of rising from a failed love story.

Meet the Author

Uday Mane was born in Pune and raised in Mumbai. He works as a marketing professional during the day and a storyteller during the night. He is an avid reader, and loves to collect classic books.

The Helpline is his debut novel that was launched in March 2014 at the hands of Padma Shri Paresh Rawal.

Stalk him @ Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

My Review:

I loved the way the love story between Riya and Samir developed, focussing on the pure love feeling, rather than the intimacy and physical attraction of teenagers as in many other novels. The build up of the refreshing love story was very casual and slow enough or rather step by step. The complexity of a disabled child with Downs Syndrome, and how positively they treat this child in between their feelings of love, and his role in keeping them together is beautifully etched. The small details described in a poetic way, be it Riya’s dreams, Samir’s hesitation, and the involvement of Nana in their lives, all added to the script and did not seem much boring. The writer has great potential, and it shows in the plot. While the character Rajesh, and his usage of swearing may put you off, his story on the harsh reality of life and his raw speech has lots of truth in it. The bonus point of the book is that you get two beautiful and memorable sweet short stories incorporated into it to show that the protagonist is a writer. I also loved the friendship between Samir and Neha. Some friendships really can pull you up from the well.

The twist regarding the helpline was unwarranted and seemed unnecessary. There were some printing mistakes like misplaced words which can irritate the grammar-oriented readers.

I do not care much about the book cover, because I normally go by the blurb rather than the cover. Here the blurb focusses more on the suicidal tendencies and the helpline, rather than the love story and other personal struggles which forms the bulk of the book, which is quite misleading. Nevertheless I am happy that I went with my instinct to have it reviewed by me.

My rating : 3/5

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Bangalore life/Personal

Microblog Mondays – 100happydays challenge

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Archana K B / 10 Comments

Yesterday, on Sunday, September 21st, I forgot to take a snapshot for the 100 happy days challenge I am doing on instagram and tumblr. Was it because I was not happy the entire day? No. It was because I forgot to think how to frame the moments and feelings which made me happy yesterday. We went together for grocery shopping, and though its a mundane task, but when carried out with family its quite enjoyable. There is a peculiar joy in getting lost among various options at the counters of big supermarkets. You can enjoy the AC, the music, the lights, the offers, the thrill of finding the least priced object One of the happy moments of the day indeed.

But since I missed posting the photo on the exact day, I technically failed at the challenge.

Nevertheless, I am going to start again, not counting the days, but counting for happy moments in the daily life. I hereby say to myself, its okay to forget taking a picture, if at all I had lived in that moment. This challenge will be helpful to me to retrospect daily for the happy moments, if not at the moment, but at the end of the day or even the next day.

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Linking into #MicroblogMondays at Stirrup Queens.