Everyday Strangers

If you are the one,

Who picks up my trash,

Who keeps watch, when I crash;

Who serves me coffee and scrambled eggs,

Who pours my whiskey and beer from the kegs; 

Then Hello...

How are you? 

If you are the one,

Who sells me flowers on the street,

Who keeps my room, tidy and neat;

Who checks my chart, when I am lying sick,

Who brings me soup to get well quick;

Then Hello...

How are you?

Every day I see you,

I don't know your name.

Every day I need you,

Or else I will go insane.

So Hello...

How are you?

If you are the one,

Who teaches my kids,

Who helps them get up when they skid;

Who push them daily, to succeed,

Who inspire them, to do good deeds;

Then, I thank you...

God Bless you.

If you are the one,

Who puts out fires;

Who serves and protects, keeping the peace and quiet;

Who stands for liberty, defending writers,

Who fights for the country, flying fighters;

Then, I thank you...

God Bless you.

Every day I meet you,

But I don't know your name.

Every day I need you,

Or else I will go insane.

So I love you...

I sure do

I love you...

I love you...

I love you...

I love you...

You don't know

But I do. (2x)

PS: If it helps, I wrote this using the rhythm from Bob Dylan's 'Things Have Changed'. I feel the music fits. #prisma #poetry #instapoem #bobdylan #instasong

பிரிஸ்மா பைத்தியம்

பிரிஸ்மா பைத்தியும் பிடிக்கவில்லை என்றாலும் பிரிஸ்மாவால் பைத்தியும் பிடித்ததுவிடும் போலிருக்கிறது. இன்னொரு புகைப்படத்தை சித்திரம் பண்ணுகிறேன் பேர்வழி என்று அதை பிரிஸ்மாவில் சித்திரவதை செய்துவிட்டு, அதை முகநூலில் ஏற்றி, தமிழில் மூணு வரி போடலாம் என்று நினைத்தேன். யோசித்து முடிப்பதற்குள் மூன்று வரி குட்டி கதை, முப்பது வரி குறுங்கதை ஆகிவிட்டது. கணினியில் தட்டுவதறக்கு நேரமாகும் காலையில் பார்த்து கொள்ளலாம் என்று விட்டுவிட்டு தூங்கி எழுந்தால், கதை மூன்று பக்கத்திற்க்கு வளர்ந்து விட்டது. எழுதிவிட்டால் விகடனுக்கு அனுப்பலாம் என்ற விவகாரமான எண்ணமேல்லாம் தோன்றுகிறது. எழுதாவிட்டால் தலை வெடித்துவிடும் போலிருக்கிறது. வளரவிட்டால் முப்பது பக்கத்துக்கு போகும் அபாயம் உள்ளது. இதில் நகைச்சுவை என்னவென்றால், கதை ஓரு மரத்தை பற்றியது. அதனால்தான் கதையும் மரம்போல் வளர்ந்து கொண்டே போகிறதோ? #prisma #தமிழ் #குட்டிக்கதை

A photo posted by MJ Lakshmi Narayanan (@mjstudi0s) on Aug 14, 2016 at 10:20am PDT

The Rest Stop

The Rest Stop ”what if we switched buses? Think about it. We can leave all this behind and start our own adventure. Won't it be exciting?? To travel without a plan, To wake up without a schedule, To meet people without an agenda? I bet it will be exciting. I really do” That was the the last time we travelled together. When we reached the town, we did not say goodbye or make plans to meet. we just went to our separate homes and lead separate lives.#short #fiction #prisma

A photo posted by MJ Lakshmi Narayanan (@mjstudi0s) on Jul 26, 2016 at 3:03pm PDT

Beyond the mountains

God has spoken
Pray do tell
I am afraid
We're all heading to Hell

What's worse?
Dying or the fear of it?
Fear of Mortality,
Keeps us alive.
Ironic, isn't it?

What's the point of living
If you don't feel alive
The powerful keeps winning
While the rest barely survive.

Some keep staring
Closely at the skies
Will He ever show up?
To explain all the Why's?

Some say He will.
Others say He won't.
Some question,
is He even real?
While others ask
is anything real?

One thing they do agree
The end is near.
Seeing all this killing spree,
They do fear.

May be He is hiding,
Afraid of the angry crowds.
Beyond the mountains,
Shrouded by crimson clouds.

Whether He is real or not,
Harmony is what we want.
Kindness is what we can offer
Love is what we can hope for.

Spread the peace
Across this sphere
Heaven or Hell,
we will make it right here.

 #prisma #poetry #poem #instapoem #musings #instamood

A photo posted by MJ Lakshmi Narayanan (@mjstudi0s) on Aug 6, 2016 at 2:09am PDT

#worldphotographyday

#worldphotographyday #instamood #vietnam #dalat

A photo posted by MJ Lakshmi Narayanan (@mjstudi0s) on Aug 18, 2016 at 9:05pm PDT

Bangalore 360° Photo Carnival - Wrap Up

So if you missed all the hoopla on the Bangalore 360° Photo Carnival, its your loss..because it was awesome.

You can watch the news report below . Yes I came on TV :) ok it was only for 4 seconds..but still come on!!

Digressing a little, the news reporter ripped of the words from our fellow shutterbug Nasreen's blog :P ..media is so shameless I tell you...but then I think they couldn't come up with anything better :D

Anywhoo...back to me me me..because its my blog.. duh..(what? only girls can duh? )

So now that I am big shot photographer (No I am not), I suddenly have this urge to talk animatedly about ISO, law of two-thirds, and why HDR is overrated...(dont worry i won't..but god forbid  it happens, just walk away and save yourself) I also thought of creating a Facebook Page (already did that mistake..so no not gonna happen).. but you can check my Flickr page though..

Finally last but not least here is the my masterpiece :P

Silent Lake

Featured in Bangalore 360 A Photo Carnival - the first of its kind organised by Photographic Society of Bangalore displaying the multi-faceted Bangalore through the various photographs shot during multiple photowalks conducted by Bangalore Photowalk. The event was open to public from 5th to 14th July 2013 at the Vismaya Art Gallery at the Rangoli Art Center, Metro Station,MG Road Boulevard, Bangalore, India ‪#‎bpw‬ ‪#‎blrphotowalk‬‪ #‎blr360‬ Event details : https://www.facebook.com/events/538199156238341/

EXIF:
Camera: Canon 550D
Lens: 18 - 55mm kit lens
Exposure: 1/1000s
F-Stop: F/8
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO-100
Post Processing: Cyanotype filter (Adobe Lightroom )

 — at Sankey Tank (ಸ್ಯಾಂಕಿ ಕೆರೆ).

Bangalore 360° - A Photo Carnival

I am on Display

He, She, It are on Display

We are on Display

They are on Display

and You are?

You are cordially invited to our Photo Carnival, the first of its kind organised by Photographic Society of Bangalore displaying the multi-faceted Bangalore through the various photographs shot during multiple photowalks conducted by Bangalore Photowalk

Please do visit the Vismaya Art Gallery at the Rangoli Art Center, Metro Station,MG Road Boulevard from July 5th to 14th. ‎#bpw ‎#blrphotowalk ‎#blr360 

Whatsapp????????

Yes!! Finally I am on Whatsapp... But I will come to that later.


So how are you?  In 2 days it will be 2 years and 2 months since my last post.

Since this is my personal blog, I am just going to give the most important highlights of what was going on in my life for the past 2 years and I must say it was pretty eventful. The below events are more or less chronological in order.

• Was working as project executive in a Design firm
• Went to Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Met Saravanan Sundaram (he was just starting up then, now he is going places, literally and figuratively)
• Smitten by Wildlife and Photography, I researched for 4 months and  spent almost all my savings and bought a Canon 550D (I call her Di). Satish was kind enough to give me his tripod, lens and filters. MJ studios now has a virtual presence. (I started using MJ studios for home movies and photo slideshows) 
• Joined Bangalore Photowalk and made some really good connections. Now the group is registered as  Photographic Society of Bangalore and it is going to be even bigger. 
• Work was getting tougher. 10 hours shifts turn to 12 hours and 14 hours. There were times when i worked for 24 hrs straight and even for 36 hours straight. But sadly that was not the hard part.
• One fine day I entered office, sat on my desk, and froze for like 10 seconds. It might have been an anxiety attack. Doc gave me Valium and I slept for 2 days. 3rd day went to office and quit. This is called burnout in HR terms.As you can imagine, this is probably the most important event in my life so far.
•  I didn't have a job, nor was I interested in attending interviews. As fate would have it, My ex-colleague was looking for someone to launch and manage his e-commerce portal. So I joined him as a working partner, launched the portal in 2 months and ran it for about 6 months. Due to lack of funding, now its dormant. I am still associated with it as a consultant. 
• Meanwhile Rajiv quit TCS, joined a US firm and came back to Bangalore. As fate would have it again, he was also into e-commerce. He was doing the same things I was doing it for my portal. After working for 6 months part time, Now I am his full time colleague :)
• Speaking of Rajiv, he recently rebooted his blog after he lost and regained his domain name :P. We have made a pact, once he blogs, he cannot blog until I post something in my blog. so if I need to post, I have to make sure he posts something on his blog. we hope this will help us to blog regularly.
•  I am in a really good place now. I work from home, sleep after lunch, get good pay and avoiding direct contact with stupids, idiots and scoundrels. I can watch movies in Imax for discounted rates in weekdays, take impulsive road trips to Ooty. Go home whenever I want. As long as I have my laptop and decent internet access, work is under my control and not dictate where I go and what i do.
• I am typing this post sitting in a remote village in Pudukottai (my native) on my Asus win8 touch ultrabook. I also have a Google Nexus 7 by Nexus and use it for movies and games. After 8 months waiting, 2 month late delivery and cancellation, i finally got fed up and went to a mobile store nearby and finally got my hands on Nokia Lumia 520 which completed my gadget family, desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone. Needless to say I am Lovin' it :)
• .... and last but not least, after facing several insults, shocks, mockeries from friends...I am now on Whatsapp. Ping me :)

TTLY

MJ

Enjoy the Ride.....

Some of my friends shared this in FB. I seriously thought it was an Ad..actually it is..but not a commercial one.

The reason why I am blogging this and not just sharing in FB is to raise some questions of a different issue..see the video first..

What is Enjoy the Ride?

Enjoy the Ride is a Road Safety Council of Western Australia initiative, brought to you by the Office of Road Safety. Our aim is to show Western Australian drivers that there is an alternative to speeding – on the road and in life. And it’s a better way

Help Japan With Hello Bar

As you may be aware by now, the great quake in Japan has shaken the entire world. 

The extent of the damages so far caused by the earthquake coupled with Tsunami have already proven this is not just another news headline which can be forgotten in a week over another case of Middle East violence. The issue is much more serious.