Meeting a Miracle Man

Of late I've been getting into discussions about recession, politics and all that's wrong with this world. In fact, looking at the news channels it seems everything is moving towards doom! Then, last Friday, I met a Miracle Man.

Faizal (fictitious name) is a good looking, well educated young man, working in a call center. About nine months ago he was hit by a speeding cab and thrown about 70-80 feet away on the road. His injuries were not just external; he went into a coma that lasted a whole 45 days. He needed a couple of rods inserted in his left leg to support badly fractured bones. He suffered partial amnesia. Bed-ridden for eight months, he developed a severe case of bedsore.

Finally, at the end of eight months of suffering, this young man walked unsupported into the hospital one day for a checkup, and his doctor couldn't believe it. It was a miracle that this man is almost normal - when doctors had feared the worst for him. While he was in coma, the doctors couldn't say when he would come back, and didn't know whether the damage to his brain would let him lead a normal life (he could have been paralysed or blind or anything like that). And here he was, sitting in the same bus as me heading to Bangalore, and telling some of us his story.


I'm sure we've all heard such stories of miracle come-backs from some tragic accident or medical condition (I'm a huge fan of "Its not about the bike" by Lance Armstrong). But very few of us actually meet someone who's gone through such a time. Meeting this man made me realise (once again?) how lame and petty it is to talk about things that have gone bad in politics, economics, sports, at work or at home. Its good to be ambitious and want the best for oneself, but then how often do we take a moment to tell ourselves that we have a great life?

As I write this I'm telling myself I won't watch news channels for any more bad news, and before I go to bed every night I'll remind myself that I have an AWESOME life. :)

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My Photography Wishlist

Photography is a very expensive hobby for people like me on a tight budget (and in a country where stuff is up to two times as expensive as US).

Here's the list of top 3 items I'd like to have:

Gorillapod SLR Zoom - The light and cool mini-tripod that fits a lot of surfaces (and pockets too!)



Nikkor 50 mm AF f1.8D lens - The simplest, fastest, sharpest lens from Nikon with awesome bokeh!



Circular polarizer - For that zing in landscape shots, particularly skies and foliage. Check out this awesome photograph I came across when searching for "circular polarizer" in Flickr.



None of these three items are very expensive (combined $200-$220 at Amazon). And yes, posting these within a month of my upcoming birthday is just a coincidence ;)

P.S. The photographs are from Flickr searches. Also, this post is my first using the Flock browser (it has inbuilt blog, media bar and web clipboard features).

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Matheran: nature-lovers' delight

OK, first things first, this is about a weekend trip I did long long ago (September 2006). I guess I have some time to kill today so I'll blog about that trip. My close friend Anirudh was about to head to Australia to work, and so we decided the two of us should meet up once before he left. Since he was in Jaipur and I was in Hyderabad, I thought I'll pick something in the middle, and Matheran (none of us had heard about it then) happened.

A view of the hills - photograph (most probably) by Anirudh

Matheran is a popular tourist resort not too far from Mumbai. The most attractive part is that it is a "pedestrian hill station", which means except emergency vehicles, no vehicles are allowed there. So both of us reached Mumbai from our respective cities, got together and started towards Matheran.

Dew drops - photographed by me using Anirudh's awesome telephoto lens (don't remember which, I don't know much about Canon gear)

If you have visited some of the popular places in Western Ghats you would know how beautiful they look post monsoons. It was the same for Matheran. Anirudh and I both love to walk a lot, so we walked a lot. A lot. No horses or rickshaws for us, we just walked. (The hundred year old chuk-chuk train ride the ideal way to reach the top, but it doesn't run during monsoons so we walked).

We sat on one side of the hill and saw the sun set behind clouds and then into the Arabian sea visible far far away. Again photograph most likely by Anirudh (I kept borrowing his camera because it was a digital SLR with an awesome telephoto lens :) hence the scope for confusion).

Good thing we got to spend Friday there, because on Saturday and Sunday there's a mad rush. There are human beings everywhere, and the charm of being secluded in beautiful hills without being overrun by tourists is lost completely.

Cute native girl

Why the blog more than two years later? Well it was triggered by the sight of some permanent red stains of that soil on my jeans :) . If you go to Matheran your shoes and jeans/trousers will get permanent red coloration from the soil there. So be prepared. What else to be prepared for? Monkeys. I got to witness a brave primate trying to get away with Anirudh's precious bag (with the camera and lens) while Anirudh held on to the other end! Eventually a foreigner (I think she was a doctor) scared the monkey away with her cane. It was hilarious and scary at the same time. I mean, if the monkey had gotten away with the bag, it would have been really tragic.

Red soil, bags and a photographer inches away from the edge.

To conclude, Matheran is highly recommended for people who like to call themselves "nature lovers". As I mentioned before, go for weekdays rather than weekend. And carry a stick for scaring monkeys if you can :) .

P.S. I think I've not used so many smileys in a blog before!

The Biggest Move in my life (so far)

I've decided to quit a very "nice" job in order to pursue start-up ambitions. Also, I'm relocating from Hyderabad to my hometown, Ghaziabad (near Delhi).

The intended audience of this post includes me (or myself? my English bad!) in a few months' time - when I won't get an sms every last working day of the month telling me my salary has been deposited in my account. It is one thing to think "this is not easy" and another thing to actually live it "not easy".

I know I'm in the former state right now, but this is not an overnight decision. This "move" was waiting to happen all these months. The apparent "suddenness" is the result of giving people the impression that I'm happy in the current state. I am not unhappy with my job, I just believe that this is how jobs are, and switching jobs will change little.

What happens next? In the worst case two years from now I'll be working the same way as I'm working now. I won't be "unemployable". I won't starve. I might go broke, but that's not so bad if I don't have loans to pay and no family to feed.

I'm an optimist - so I should also tell myself the best and average case. Best case, I have my 35th birthday on board my own yacht, Pink Floyd playing in the background, champagne flowing everywhere (and all that jazz) :) . Average case, I go through a rough couple of years, then watch things get better, earn reasonably well, and most of all, have a lot of fun in the entire journey being my own boss (I've always hated having a boss).

Its a brave move (so my friends tell me). But its the right time to be brave. With age energy level goes down while responsibility level goes up. If I take the same decision 6 months or a year from now, I will have lost that time to nothing great - just routine job with little or no growth (its a bad economy after all).

As I re-read this draft I realise its a partial answer to "why I made this move". Of course my relatives will probably think I got laid off! If any of you have similar ambitions you should take the plunge. Or you can wait to see how I end up before deciding. Either way, have an interesting year. Over and out.

Enter 2009

I have a terrible record of fulfilling new year resolutions, so this time I'm going to use technology to see if it helps. The resolutions will be here and I'll keep updating the list whenever any "target" appears to be "achieved".

So here's the list (in no particular order):

• Start a company (and make it successful!)
• Improve guitar skills - be able to play Hotel California and Free bird solo
• Eat healthy and work-out regularly
• Write a book
• Hold a photography exhibition
• Travel frequently (plenty of places remain to be seen!)
• Reduce carbon footprint (save energy)
• Stop wasting time on the net!

Quite ambitious, but as a write this I'm in a highly motivated state, and I'll use this post to remind me of my highly motivated self when things are looking bad.

A happy 2009 to everyone!