Think before buying a DSLR!

Recently one of my friend asked my opinion on buying a DSLR and like many others, he looked confused. Some 7 years back I was in the same fix however I did some research and went for a high-end point & shoot after considering the below points:

1. Necessity: First & foremost - identify the necessity. Why do you need it? If it's simple usage like taking some family snaps, random outings, family events and getting that straight into Social networking sites, a compact Point & Shoot is more than enough. 
2. Time: DSLRs are complex gadgets and you need to spend a lot of time to learn it. There are thousands of intricate things from settings to composition and if you do give that time to learn, you are not going to get what you actually want. Are you ready to spend time to learn the gadget? On the contrary, point & shoot comes with preset modes and you can directly click you way with some basic options. Saves tons of time.
3. Patience: Do you have enough patience? If not, simply go for point & shoots. DSLRs are complicated and you need to have a lot of patience to learn the mechanism even for a simple picture.
4. Spend: One of the greatest advantages of DSLR is the interchangeable lenses. On the contrary, this is a bane in itself because the lenses are extremely expensive. We do not a lens which is typically like a "fits-all" and hence you need to have different lens suiting different occasions. Lens are costly propositions and it ranges anywhere between 6k to 200k, based on the requirement. Not only the lens, as and when you grow, you need to keep spending (read: investing!) on equipment & accessories like flashguns, tripods, monopods, filters, extenders, bags etc. If you put all of them together, DSLR is a very costly proposition
5. Control: Do you want the control over the images you take or do you want he camera to do it automatically? if your answer is "I don't care!", go for a P&S.

Here's my quick tip for a starter: First buy a P&S and learn the nuances of photography. Once you think you are comfortable and you genuinely see your interest going, go for a DSLR.

Today DSLRs are fancy gadgets to have and literally everybody have it especially with low rates, but unfortunately I have seen so many cameras slipping into a deep slumber and eventually getting featured in online and mobile classifieds portal.
There may be thousand other technically oriented or feature based points as well, but above points are something which is very simple and preliminary which one may like to consider.

My $0.20! 

Health is much more than wealth!

I still remember those days, very early in my childhood. We used to get drenched in rain with no second thoughts. The only ways of games were outdoors and the computer games or gizmos were unheard of. We could eat literally anything from outside from the local bhaiyyas bhel puri shop giving a damn about hygiene. We could roll on the sand, play on the dirt, give the puppies and the street dogs big hugs without thinking much about hygiene and “keedas” factors. Falling sick was a once-in-a-blue-moon phenomenon and that too a tablet would be enough to bring us back to our toes and be up & running. I give the credits to the strong immunity system for the foods and the supplement mantra of our times – Dabur Chawanprash.

Today things are so different. Take the case of my housemaids young daughter Tamizharasi. She comes from a very hardworking, average earning family coming from the slums. She was brilliant in academics and literally tops in schools but was not faring very well in extracurricular activities. She was not malnourished but she used to fall sick quite often. The illness was not major but it was as simple of a cold fever or running nose which used to impel her to stay indoors. While this was becoming a steady usual phenomenon, soon came the time of the board exams. The girl had done exceptional preparations and was quite confident to top the charts. But unfortunately during one of the exams she fell ill and could not take up one last paper owing to which she was not able to clear the boards. This instable health was impacting her personality and she was getting into a shell, becoming an introvert more and more. Our housemaid completely depressed about this entire issue openly discussed this with us and we took her to our relative who is a doctor. After a brief investigation, he gave some simple vitamin tabs for the short run and a strong recommendation of Dabur Chawanprash as part of the daily diet. My mom quickly related this to my younger days and gave her a three month supply of Dabur Chawanprash. After a couple of months things started changing drastically. Tamizharasi is a fit girl now and being bedridden has become a thing of the past. She not only topped the school in academics this year but also got a medal for 100% attendance.  

I am a young parent and it gives me jitters when I think of my little girl’s health. Our world starts and ends with her. I want her to enjoy everything in life under the open sky and above the earth. While it’s good to live in a world of sanitizers and hand washes but don’t your kid to enjoy that feel of the young new born puppy at that animal shelter? Health should not prohibit her from experiencing all those small things in life which are priceless. While we take that one small step from outside by giving her Dabur Chawanprash, it protects her from inside to build a strong immunity system which goes a long long way. Dabur Chawanprash has been a doctor in itself 2 generations now, it would continue to be part of us for a long time to come. Our children today are ours & our nation’s future. Make them strong and healthy with: https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/