Think positive, Do positive and Be positive!

What is optimism? As per the Oxford Dictionary - optimism is hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something. Let's take an example. We are in the last leg of the cricket World Cup 2015 and the entire nation is optimistic that we are going to retain the cup.The nation was positive that the Mr. Narendra Modi would bring in a much wanted change and hence he is our Prime Minister now. The recession hit America was positive that it would jump back to normality over a period of time. Optimism actually can mean different things to different people but for me it's mostly making the best of the bad outcomes in life or looking at the brighter side of life as a whole. So let me take an example of a real life scenario and see how optimism changed my life.

Smoking kills, everybody knows but how many believe in it?  And for people who believe in that truth, why do they do it at the first place? Why are they still indulging in that habit?  Why don’t people quit it forever? Why aren't they able to do it? Ever thought about it?

I have been a smoker myself and I used to puff up quite a few of them. I am an early entrant in this area which was during my teens and have been consistent if not a chain smoker. Hence I am doing “walk-the-talk” and not giving a sermon here!

Normally teens start smoking because they feel it is “cool”. Well even I thought smoking is fun, kind of psychological pleasure. It is quite natural that you do not realize the consequences of this habit at that age and hence care a damn about what people say. I used to smoke a couple of packs when I was in junior college and that gave me a hunk feel. Slowly it followed me at home as well. Whenever I was alone at house, the amount of sticks increased in arithmetic progression and if it was a night out with friends, the numbers followed the geometric progression pattern. My clothes used to stink of nicotine and my shirt or jean pockets had leftovers of tobacco. Finally it had to happen! My parents back home came to know about this habit of mine and they give me piece of their mind. Although it was a tough few sessions to handle but I did not care much because I earned my own pocket money through tuition and so the “give-a-damn” attitude continued. I graduated from college, joined work and the routine came along harder. This time I had more money at my disposal and hence I started buying costlier brands of the cigarettes with an increment in the quantity as well. I did not realize the toll that my body is taking because all these deeds. Did I try to quit in the middle? Yes, I did but was never successful. But then came a time when I had to put my foot down and say this is it!  

I am a complete sportsperson and an active cricketer. I understand that sports and smokes have such negative relationship but I never could actually sense it. In a game of cricket, earlier I could bowl 6 overs on the trot but later the number came down gradually. Thirty minutes under the sun and I would feel tired. One chase to save a boundary and the tongue sticks out! Two laps in the swimming pool and I would gasp for breath. Cigarette is regarded as a stress buster but now this was giving me stress in return. I was ashamed of my fitness level and I immediately knew the root cause. I decided to quit smoking immediately!

Mark Twain said – “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times!” He was 100% right. Kicking the habit was easy but sustaining that was very tough! The most important attribute because of which I was able to sustain this life changing move was “positivity”. I started disbelieving the fact that smoking is an addiction. No, it is not and I really feel it is not how much ever scientifically proven it is. I added positivity by analyzing the amount of savings that I can generate just by doing away with this habit. I always had an excuse to smoke but now I started thinking of reasons why I shouldn't with only one question. Which was more important – sport or smoke and the answer was easy to pick. By putting more efforts on conditioning my body and mind through a lot of physical activities, I stayed positive about the end result. Like the great Dalai Lama says - "Choose to be optimistic. It feels better", I was quite optimistic that it is tough but not impossible and finally here I am, after being quit smoking completely for close to 5 years now.

I have come a long way on this habit and if I really put my head around it, I recognize that there’s nothing great about this. Although I completely agree that it is the most difficult habit to resign but I can truly tell you that it’s a package of pleasure worth kicking! Think all positive effects of quitting smoking, Do positive things to quit smoking and be positive that you can quit smoking! Quitter wins, sometimes!

Optimism is everywhere and with that you can achieve literally anything in life. Stay strong and never give up - that is my story on optimism!

Chai pe nahi, breakfast pe bulana hai!

Mayer Hawthorne said – “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely have a hearty breakfast before I do anything.” And we as Indians literally beg to differ to that concept and usually we are the first to skip breakfast citing n number of reasons. Children getting late to school compromise on breakfast, working parents due to want of time grabs something and rushes to office and most importantly for the housewives & moms breakfast is generally a cup of tea with a couple of biscuits that too way past the breakfast timings! Have we not experienced this very often in each of our households?

All these we have indulged in very conventional type of food when it comes to breakfast like idly, dosa, pongal, vada, upma when it comes to the southern part of the country. These are little heavy on our stomach, requires a lot of ingredients and eats up a humongous of time before it comes to the table. But the question is can we bring in a change in the system of breakfast to make it more interesting, more delicious, more nutritious, more compelling and absolutely uncompromisable?

Dhan te dan!! The answer is yes! Here comes the welcome change in the form of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has redefined the very concept of breakfast. We all have heard about a three course or four course meals but have you heard about a three or four course breakfast, at least in India? Never! But Gupta ji’s home has all the recipes ready to meet such demand of a breakfast spread. The most important point here is the time consumption. With Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, nobody can give an excuse of “no time”. Out of the lavish 116 spread, each dish doesn't take more than 15 minutes of time and hence throw that excuse of “no time” goes out of the window. Not only that, one has a recipe or an exclusive dish to match every occasion and to celebrate it. At the Gupta ji’s household from celebrating Sunita mousi’s home visit cancellation to impressing the kid’s first crush; from getting back the authority on remote to preparing tiffin for a competition in school to a “Sanskaar” session at home – Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has a perfect breakfast recipe for everything. Isn't that exciting?

Secondly this gives way to the old school of thoughts where one invites another over lunch or dinner. Now with this versatility on the breakfast spread and lesser time consumption in the areas of preparation, who would even have one percent of apprehension? So #KelloggsWaleGuptaji, like many others, I am waiting for the breakfast invite and to be a part of the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes family.

Here’s my wish list for the nashta:

Welcome drink: 

• Kellogg's® Oats Peppy Papaya Drink

 Starter

• Kellogg's® Oats Veggie Nutri Cutlets
• Cheese Curd Dip
• Grilled Cornflake Polenta Sticks
• Basil Curd Dip

Soup & Salad

• Cornflakes Mushroom Soup
• Crunchy Fruit Salad

Main

• Apple Cornflakes Pancakes
• Mayo Cornflakes Sandwich
• Cornflake Dahi Upma
• Cornflakes Anjeer Porridge
• Kellogg's® Oats Tamrind Rice

Dessert

• Cornflake Walnut Chocolate Muffin
• Cornflake Coconut Ladoos
• Cornflakes Kewra Badam Kheer
• Black Forest Shake

  

To naashte mein kab bula rahen hain #KelloggsWaleGuptaji?

We are always better - Together!

Life isn’t easy all the times. The smallest of things like missing project deadlines, unhappy appraisals, credit cards EMIs, high housing loan interest, traffic, load shedding in the night, Chennai Auto rickshaws fare negotiations, SPAM emails, low phone battery, flattened tire, personal loan phone calls, houseful signs for movie to the largest of events like demise of somebody close, financial losses, health problems can drain you completely. In such situations you brains refuses to work and this effects everything in you and around you. One such year for me was 2013! I had hit lowest point of my life and I needed a break bigtime.

I packed my bags and headed to Kolkata for a week’s break. The beauty of Kolkata lies in its people and being born & brought up there, I had no dearth of friends. For me the first stress buster has always been cricket. In our complex or apartments in Kolkata, we started of something what is called “Gully Cricket”. The uniqueness of this cricket was it is played by plastic ping pong balls. We have a bi yearly tournament called the Shantikunja Premier League (SPL) and the second edition of it happens in Dec that too with day and night match schedules. My friend pulled me into his team “RED BULL” and with a series of victory, we won the tournament.

If you ask me the best time to visit Kolkata is the Dec –Jan apart from the Durga Puja time. I was right there during the best of the winters with the best of my friends and during such times what’s fun without a road trip!! Hence on the chilly Christmas day, four of us decided to take a road trip to this place called Falta which was 50kms from Kolkata. The place is right on the banks of Ganges and pretty scenic. We booked a cottage at Hotel SeaBird and started our day out. We had a few drinks, hogged on some good food and spoke our heart out.  Since we knew each other from our childhood, we had so much to talk about. Reliving our schooldays, discussing about ex-girlfriends, movies, life abroad, Indian Tax system, gadgets, medical facilities in India, law and order, our time just flew! We had so many things to talk and discuss that a night wasn't enough. The food was fantastic to complement the occasion and added to that was a splendid location overseeing the river Ganges. One of my friends is a singer and we had small jamming session playing the guitar as well.  In the night we took a stroll to the banks and by looking at the vastness we felt how small we were. We slept for an hour or so and early morning took a boat ride on the river. It was beautiful! Soon after a filling breakfast we packed our bags and were on our way back listening to the Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik songs of our times!

Outside Hotel SeaBird

Boat ride on the river Ganges

Life had been tough and it will still be! It’s not only me, it’s a known phenomenon for everybody and nobody can escape it. The trick is how to come back to normal from such demotivation, such falls, such situations. It is such small events of togetherness bring you back to life! For me these friends, these moments of togetherness are like rechargers. After this quick get together, I could recoup, infuse positivity, feel motivated, plan on the next set of events, execute and achieve success. Trust me, it works.. that’s the power of being together!

#together

Start A New Life - From Kolkata to Chennai

It was a hot & humid sultry afternoon in May 2000 when my cousin gave me this news. My dad was getting transferred from Kolkata to Chennai. I was 19 then and at the peak of my youth. I did not know how to react to this at that time. I am basically born and brought up in the "city of joy" and hence for me Kolkata is my hometown. Culturally I am a bong but racially a Palakkad Tamilian. I don't know to write tamizh but I am well versed with Bengali. Because of this homogenous mix I was quite popular and the Bongs loved me. It was a huge matter of pride when Bengalis appreciated my diction and love towards Kolkata. With a huge set of friends I was quite settled.

Then came this transfer bomb which created ripples in my life. When you are in first year of college you have your own set of friends and way of life. With 19 years in a place, you would have figured out how to live, way of having fun but this location change derailed it. While in the beginning I was against this move and I decided to stay back in a hostel or at a relative’s place, later my dad's emotional blackmails impelled me to reconsider. Finally I decided to move to Chennai tagging along with my family. 

In June 2000 we reach Chennai. Fighting the hot and humid conditions we reached our new den, our new house. I hated it... 'Hated' was an understatement. I wasn't comfortable with the people around in our colony. I just wanted to get out of this place. 

Next was the college. In Kolkata I had completed my first year B.Com and getting admission directly into the second year in Chennai was a difficult task. Finally I chose a college which was close to my house with help of some influences. The first day in college gave me a culture shock in the form of girls and boys sitting separately. I hated Chennai more! 

My Tamizh was bad especially not local and my accent was like Palakkad'ish resembling the Kameshwaran of Michael Madana Kaamarajan! People used to make fun of me and I hated it. 

Adapting to this change was hard. It was getting tougher and tougher day by day! I had to do something about this because as the famous life-coach Tony Robbins said - Change is inevitable, progress is optional! I had to lift myself up. I starting looking at what best ways should I adapt to bring this change? I got the first cue when I realized I need to do something to keep myself happy. Immediately I started to play cricket with a club close by. My neighbor used to take me out for some prominent leagues and that kept me quite happy. Next step - make friends. The question was how? It was sheer coincidence that I friend of mine suggested for some part time work. Wow! that was a great idea! I immediately got placed in MusicWorld for a part-time job especially because of my multi lingo skills. This move was a great one. Not only did it keep me busy but also was I making friends and was also learning business, customer service plus getting paid as well. My team, customers loved me there and I think that was a changing point in my life. From there I never looked back.

This approach changed my life. I got good scores in academics, and then got placed in multinationals with a decent pay.

Today I look back and think what would have happened if I had been in Kolkata? or If hadn't changed to the situation in Chennai? Life would have been difficult!

From this entire experience, I think the best and most important parts to manage a change are:

1) Are you aware of the need to change? Now I call this as "Awareness". I was in a different city Chennai, talking a simply different language, with a different thought process, living in a different culture but was I aware that I need to switch to survive here?

2) Do you really want to change? Is there a need? What is the benefit? I call this as the "Need" step

3) "Capability" is the third step where one needs to understand if he/she has the capability to manage the change. Here how do I read Tamizh? How to speak local Tamizh? If I don't have the capability, then how to develop? This is the third part of the phase

4) Finally for every small achievements, celebrate and reinforce! 

Making a big life change is pretty scary but, you know what's even scarier? Regret!!! #StartANewLife

HMT Watches, it's legacy& my madness

Recently I heard in some news sources that the famous Indian watch manufacturer Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) is closing down. When I told dad about it, he was quite heartbroken. He has a couple of watches which is more than 40 years old and he treasures it. HMT is considered as an household name in India and the tagline of the product runs as "timekeepers to the nation" . The HMT watches are an integral part of the Indians because it brings in a lot of nostalgia. HMT watches are typical gifts which a parent promises to give their sons/daughters when they clear their board exams. In the 1970s and 80s, like the Bajaj scooters, HMT watches were sought-after dowry gifts and cherished status symbols at a time when household incomes were low. It's a part every wedding as it's one of the gifts given to the groom & bride. An HMT watch exemplifies goes on for decades because it gets passed from generation to generation, from a father to a son to a grandson.

Today the unit is getting shut down because it is getting saddled with losses for close to a decade. Growing competition from Indian rival Titan and the entry of foreign quartz watches after import restrictions were lifted in the 1980s and HMT’s failure to adapt to change led to falling sales, a slump from which the company never recovered. This watch making public sector unit has been ailing since 1999 when the Government took actions including pumping in capital to restore it's operations and boost its performance. It went through a restructure to make it like a Royal Enfield brand however nothing big has changed. The company has close to 1100 employees including 180 odd executives. 

Like many others hearing its shutdown even I frantically started to look out for two models i.e. HMT Janata & HMT Pilot. I called up literally all the HMT retail outlets in Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata but in vain. The answer was the same NO everywhere. While inquiring about the models availability, the person from the Bangalore office blamed the customers for not been loyal & the government's policy equally responsible for the company's demise.

My review on HMT Janata:

Finally after a lot of search and wait, I got the Janata from the HMT official website.Among the first watches to be made by HMT, the Janata was a favourite of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This winding watch was plain, affordable and had more than 25 variants. Janata watches have been known to tick on for more than 40 years.

Pic source: HMT official website

The size of the dial is smaller than I thought compared to an usual men's watch however this is how it was manufactured and so be it! The the whole thing is rather thin, due to the the manually-wound movement. The seconds hand mentioned in the image is red however the watch I got delivered had it as silver colored. I love the handwinding mechanical movements and since this was the first time I am using one, it created some problems. After a brief usage I found the watch stopping quite frequently despite giving the key but then later I found that I was doing it anti-lock wise instead of clockwise. Pl remember usually if you key the watch in the reverse way it may screw up the watch springs but since this was coming from the house of HMT it withstood my err. Now it works absolutely perfect!

The strap with the pack is a sad one. It's made out of cheap rubber however I went ahead and changed the entire strap which cost me more than the watch in itself. The person in the strap store (and I think it was Titan) was surprised seeing my watch and he really appreciated for wearing old watches despite changing times.

Now I am waiting for HMT Pilot and the stock is awaited for a long time now in the HMT stores. The pieces are available in e-retails but it comes at a premium.

Pic source: HMT official website

I am a watch collector myself with around 8-9 watches and Janata would be right on top. I am dying to add the Pilot piece into the collection and without these a collectors box would never be complete.

My Bullet, My Life!

My first post was on my Bullet which I bought way back in 2006. It was a 2004 make RE Electra 4S with cast iron engine and right leg gear. I had tubeless tyres and original harley parts in the form of gear shifts and brakes.

During that time the RE Classic was just launched. It's craze pushed me to dispose this to get a new one which eventually never happened!
I sold to at a throw-away price only to repent for the next 8 long years! I was using my brother's Bajaj Pulsar 180 for my daily commutation however it was in 2012 that me and my brother decided to go for a new RE Bullet. I had enough of the bikes! I did not for a Classic because a) the height was a little low and b) there were lot of technical complaints. So I stuck to my old choice - RE Electra.

I got my Bullet delivered a year later (yes! that was hell of a waiting period!) and here we are with the life coming a full circle, finally!

My thoughts on Bullet based on my experience:

• Never sell an old Bullet. It's gold!
• Never indulge in huge modifications. This will only pull down the performances and invites recurring issues.
• Stick to RE authorised services and worst-come-worst a Bullet specialist. It's very difficult for a 100 cc two wheeler to understand the dynamics of a Bullet.
• Never go below the petrol reserve capacity. I would prefer to have the tank filled to the brim every time it hits reserve. Make sure you have a petrol lock to avoid thefts.
• Identify a puncture mechanic who would be available on the call. At least keep a good track of all the puncture shops on the roads that you travel frequently. It's a pain on the wrong place to drag your machine when the tyres are flat!
• Avoid rash driving and squeezing in between vehicles. You may have done this on a 100 Cc bike but this may be fatal on a Bullet given it's size. Never ever try this!
• Rust is a common problem. Always wipe off the water on the guards post rains. 
• Always talk to fellow Bulleteers and ask for opinions & insights. This is gold dust!
• A little Petrol/Oil leak is normal. Don't worry.. it's marking it's territory! :)
• Never triple carry people. The Bullet may have extra space but it is manufactured only to carry two aaram se!. Remember - it's against traffic rules as well! 
• Wear a helmet - always! You have brains and you gotto protect it!

While I am looking forward for some of the future Bullet trips, do get in touch if you have planned one. Would love to tag along! :)

Keep riding.. keep thumping!

Made like a gun, goes like a bullet!

Some brilliant Quotes:

http://www.quora.com/Royal-Enfield/What-are-the-best-quotes-one-liners-for-riders

My review on Sterling Holidays MariGold Ridge - Yelagiri

It was long since I took my wife & parents and a vacation was long due.
Being in Chennai, finding a vacation spot is quite a task but considering the amount of time we had, Yelagiri was an obvious choice. Being a frequent traveller myself, I had never being to Yelagiri but have heard a lot of reviews (positive) about the place and this added to the reasoning behind the choice of destination. Finally after a lot of research and lot of reviews on various websites, we picked up Sterling Holidays MariGold Ridge as our place to stay. We booked the hotel from 14th Jan to 16th Jan through MakemyTrip & they gave us some decent offers with a pricing of 4k/per room/day

Location:
The hotel is located right next to the Lord Murugan temple and hence finding the place isn't a challenge.

Parking:
The parking space in front of the hotel premises can accommodate around 5-6 cars and since it was a Pongal holiday, we couldn't get a space because of the brimming crowd. Nevertheless, they have a additional parking half-a-km from the hotel and that space can accommodate more than 10 cars.

Property:
It's a decent sized property which has an old design It's a four storey building with rooms on the three sides & a swimming pool in the middle. You can visualise the Centaur Hotel which we would have seen in a lot of Bollywood movies however the size is much smaller.

Rooms:
Brilliant.. Brilliant.. Brilliant! I asked for a hill view and the rooms exactly gave that! The rooms are quite big with good moving space. This was important to me because we had an infant with us :)
The highlight of the room was the see-through big glass door which divides the room and the balcony. The bright view of the hill & the greenery from the bed is simply outstanding. Aesthetically the rooms are premium with beautiful lighting, paints and bed location. It also has an additional sofa-cum-bed or can be termed as a recliner. The bed is quite big and ultra cozy! Pl see if your door locks work because we found it late in the midnight and had an issue fixing it.

AC, TV & Fridge -
Of course it has AC and thankfully works brilliant including the remote. You have a mini fridge for the bar usage. The room is equipped with a 20-22 inch LCD TV with STB.

Facilities:
The property provides a host of facilities like Gym, game room with TT and carrom tables, swimming pool with child area, trampoline for kids, Meditation room. They have a Spa which comes at an additional cost. They organise party games with music based on customer request & since it was festive time (Pongal), they had some events in progress during our stay. I also get to know from them that they organise treks and team building games on request.

Food & Dining:
A big heartbreak for the tipplers - this place doesn't have a bar. So if that's a part of the agenda make sure you have it before you end up here.
Food is good but when it comes to the cost, it comes at premium! The breakfast spread is huge and most people would enjoy it the most because it comes for free however when it comes to the Lunch or Dinner, the spread & quality doesn't justify the cost. The hotel provides room service but as I said earlier charges gold.


Staff:
Huge plus of this place! Very helpful and courteous people.
The place is filled with some Oriya & Bengali people and since I am from Bengal, it was easy to connect. You have native language speakers as well and communication isn't a challenge at all in this place!

Ambience: 
I would say the ambience is good if not excellent. Given the backdrop of the location the ambience could have been much better. Since the swimming pool is right below your room, the commotion & pandemonium creates a lot of disturbance. This I found was quite irritating.
Apart from this, the walk area isn't that big given the size of the property however it serves enough for a quiet walk after dinner with your spouse.

Overall - I would rate this property Sterling Holidays MariGold Ridge a 3/5

OnePlus One - my review

Just a month back my Nokia Lumia 820 conked off and its display got screwed up! Courtesy - my wife!

Lumia 820 was a fantastic phone (and it still is!) with great display and camera however was handicapped because of the Windows OS. Mind you Windows OS is pretty good but for a person who has tasted the Android blood, this OS may be primitive stuff.

I got the Lumia 820 one day after its launch which is more than 2 years and hence I decided to go for a new one.

There were lot of mobiles in my contention like ASUS Zenphone, Moto G (2nd Gen),  Xiomi but then when I did some research on the OnePlus One, I was bowled over.

I would consider it as the Numero Uno phone of the segment and it would give the rest of the "master" androids a run for their money.

After a lot hard work over the social media for the invite finally ordered the phone with 10 mins in hand for its expiry.

My take:

Size: one of the features where I was a little apprehensive cos I find 5.5" a little too big. I have used Dell Streak earlier and people used to gaze with awe because 5" during those days was a big deal. In two days when i got my OnePlus, this fear went out of the window.

5.5” inch is big. Yes it is, but you can handle it with two hands it’s easy. Size is one of the best features of this phone and you would realize this only when you watch a few videos on this phone. Remember the Sandstone finish? – gives a super awesome rough grip.

Display – is a stunner with 401 Pixel/inch! It has awesome color reproduction with great sharpness.  Auto brightness and the warm hue are additions for ambient lights and eye fatigues.

Call Quality – Fantastic call quality with noise cancellation

Battery Life – I would say is average compared to their tall claims with 3100 mAh battery. For me it comes around a day with decent use (not heavy for sure!) and I think my phone battery is still getting acclimatized with my usage. Pl remember I DON’T game at all and I have hardly 80-90 apps overall with 20 odd apps always active in the background.

Design – Absolute beauty! Thin, lightweight (trust me!) and the finish gives it a posh look. It is made up of high quality plastic but nowhere would you get the feel of that material. It will fit into the pocket but riding a bike with it is a challenge because you would be cramped for space when you bend your legs for the gear/brakes.

Processor - Snapdragon 801 Quad Core Processor clocked at 2.5 GHz for flawless performance and Adreno 330 GPU for perfect acceleration at par with iOS devices. The Device has 3 GB of RAM and works like a war horse!

Media & Sound: Full HD support and plays almost all the important file extensions. Sound quality is better than the most and with the headsets (JBL Silver Bullet), I cannot ask for anything more.

Camera – plays a spoilsport here. 13 MP rear camera with Sony glasses and 5 MP front. My selfie pics are much much better than the other pics from the rear camera cos of motions blurs resulting due to the absence of IS. I think the rear camera pic quality is poor compared to the Lumia 820 carl zeiss lens though was had less mega pixels.

Storage – 64GB (Internal only!) is like a world in your phone! What more?

Price – 22k, is awesomely priced for this featured phone which would beat its competition with same or similar features hands down.

Overall there’s lot hype behind this phone but after a month and more of usage I think this phone is a beast. It is the best Android device available in the marked and would go on to kill its competition in the same circuit. The invitation is a pain but it’s worth it!

For me: Air, Water, Cloth, Food, RE Bullet & now OnePlus One! :)

KG Kaptures - A new brand in photography!

"You don't take a photograph, you make it" famous American photographer Ansel Adams once said. Photography is an art, on par with perhaps music and poetry. It captures the moment for years to come, allowing that one instant to live in the memories of generations in the future.

With my characteristic observational and non-intrusive style, candid photography is my calling. The leisurely yawn, the gregarious laughter - moments shared with unsuspecting candour find a new life through my lens. Viewed from this perspective, weddings, family reunions or any occasion of joy finds a whole new dimension of expression.

The clichés are many. A picture is worth a thousand words. Let your actions speak louder than your words. The list goes on. Yet, ever since the shutterbug bit me rather late, this has been the characteristic of my work. I allow my pictures to do the talking, being a man of few words myself.

Every picture tells a story, brings back memories, crystallises experiences.  Years after you have forgotten that moment of time, a picture has the power to bring it all rushing back to you in a wave of nostalgia. It is this pursuit of deriving and spreading the joy that drives me to photography.

My portfolio includes various conferences and events such as TiECON, TEDx events across the city and flashmobs apart from a multitude of pictures taken for family and friends. For anyone who asks what I do, the answer is simple – I shoot people.

Benjamin Franklin is believed to have said “Lost time is never found again.” Grandmother’s tales draw a parallel to trying to hold a fistful of sand that quickly slips through your fingers. The question of capturing time is said to be impossible.

My answer is simple. Try me!

KG Kaptures

https://www.facebook.com/kgkaptures

Sachin - in their words

Some famous quotation about Sachin :

• I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India – Matthew Hayden
• I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I felt that this player is playing with a style similar to mine, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two…his compactness, technique, stroke production – it all seemed to gel! – Sir Donald Bradman
• We did not lose to a team called India. We lost to a man called Sachin – Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)
•  India me aap Prime Minister ko ek baar katghare me khada kar sakte hain. Par Sachin Tendulkar par ungli nahi utha Sakte.– Navjot Singh Sidhu
• Harder he works, the luckier he gets – Ian Chappell
• I’ll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player – Shane Warne
• He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect – Viv Richards on Sachin Tendulkar
• Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don’t know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives – BBC Sports, on Sachin Tendulkar
• He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling – Richie Benaud
• India’s fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing – Sunil Gavaskar
• There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others – Andy Flower
• Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world – Allan Donald
• On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98.  The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India! - Peter Roebuck
• Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal – Brian Lara15. Sachin is the greatest role model I’ve ever met – Gary Kirsten

Source: http://www.sachinandcritics.com/quotes_on_sachin.php, 

https://rammipr.wordpress.com/category/sports/

Sachin - his road ahead

A week before I was watching the WC match between Aus & NZ. It was such a fantastic contest between the leather and willow! Despite Aussies losing it, Starc won my heart. The precision and the consistent pace were worth watching. As a cricket player myself, I understand the hard work that goes behind every performance at the highest level. And whenever we talk about hard work, I can't think of anybody else than the Master himself. There have been a lot of talks about his talent, of he being a child prodigy, of his passion about the game but for me what stands out is the "discipline". Incredible!

Let's take some examples:

1. Sachin practiced 12 hours a day at the age of 12-13 and used to doze off at the dinner table. 
2. Sachin doesn't smoke nor drinks.  
3. He ensures he gets good sleep before a cricket match. However before the match against Pakistan in the 2003 WC, he had a lot of sleepless nights. He was preparing how to handle each bowler to such an extent that he would have played an entire innings - in his head!
4. He would have a lot of discussions with the bowlers to understand their thought process when it comes to challenging a batsman. He would set imaginary fields and tries to see how he can work through them.
5. In English tours, there would be a lot of rainy day situations during matches. The rest of the players would be having a day out but Sachin would be the only person practicing with a tennis ball to face the bounce. 
6. Sachin and Kambli started at the same level. Both were equally talented and gifted in their own ways however when it comes to discipline, this is a solid case study of discipline in contrast. Kambli's performance took off in style and he bettered Sachin in the international stage. Success got to Kambli's head and his focus shifted to off-the-field or non-cricketing activities while on the other hand, Sachin was meticulously working on his batting. We all know what happened in the end

I can keep on writing on this topic however my main intention was to pen on how Sachin can contribute to the future of Indian Cricket?

India is a country gifted with the passion for cricket. While one indulges in cricket at a very young age, we have decent academies to ‘teach’ them on the technicalities. The difference is taking it to the next level and this is where Sachin’s contribution would be invaluable.

For e.g. What if Sachin can be the ‘coach’ of the Under-16 or Under-19 National side? Sachin understands cricket like no other keeping aside his experience on the field. It’s obvious that he is a demi god and the youngsters emulating him are like “grass is green”. He can provide such strong perspectives on the technical aspects of the game and at the same time provide thoughts on how to approach a problem. He can teach the young players how to read the bowlers, how to adjust according to the conditions and so on. I feel he should be kept away from cricket administration and should mainly be given the job of laying a strong foundation to the future of Indian cricket by coaching the U-19/U-16 national teams. What say? :)

TEDx Chennai 2012 was quite an experience

I have been a part of lot of events till date but have never seen such an enthusiastic and bubbly crowd ever.. Immensely dedicated, disciplined & talented ppl like Balaji Vijayaraghavan Balaji Ramaswamy Natarajan ShyamSundar Etios Aarthi Rajagopalan Gayathri Seshadri Kabeer Nen, Vignesh Srinivasan & so many of them not only made us feel young but motivated further to work harder! Guys, take it from me - you have a sensational future ahead! my best wishes for that..
Hari Balaji maintains a low profile and let his work do the talking! Exceptional designs my friend! Sheer brilliance!
Sandeep Chaetan is an experienced brat and thru his digital magic, made the social net work for us!
Last but not the least, how can an opera run without its conductor - Samuel Eddy himself?! Taking the bull by its horn aint that ez and moreover spearheading an event of this length & breadth needs nerve, skills and in the current scheme of things requires a lot of endurance.. It wouldn't have been possible without his leadership and vision! - RESPECT!
It has been an incredible journey and today, we all can sleep contended & satisfied!
Give yourself a standing ovation,a royal salute & a lot of applauds! You deserve it the most!
I am heartened by the love and respect showed and pl accept my sincere gratitude for all those kind words of appreciation! These would go a long way in my "pursuit of happiness" in the form of photography!

Looking forward for many such events 

Hewlett-Packard lifts Blue-Sky Corporate League Trophy (2006-07)

Hello All,

On a sunny Sunday morning, with the whole nation celebrating the festival of colors "HOLI", we entered the ground with a sincere attempt to rewrite record books, bringing more color and glory to the team.

Our last column had analyzed the performance of team during the most frenetic stage of a one-day match - the run chase. This time the focus shifts to the start of the innings as well our lethal bowling attack, an aspect which is likely to be vital in key tournaments on tracks which are unlikely to provide much cheer to the bowlers. The days of openers playing themselves in and exercising early caution have long been replaced by a whole assembly line of dashing, throw-caution-to-the-wind style of openers, making the new-ball bowlers' task a pretty tough one as well.

This was really the intention of our opening batsmen yesterday, but unfortunately after we were put into bat by Irevna Research, it was a pretty jolter of a start as we lost all the key players, Hemanth (a mistimed pull), Ramesh (dubious caught behind decision) and Karthik Sridhar (failing to read the line of the ball) very soon. Lakshmi Narasimhan and Rajesh Muralidharan then started to consolidate the innings, essaying few delicate cuts and square drives, which did not last long as they too lost their wickets to over ambitious shots after scoring 20 each. Manchi Rajanikanth too fell for a poor umpiring decision. This left us stranded at 60/6 after 11 overs.

Yesterday, to our advantage, Hewlett Packard had the batting experience and depth plus the resilience of K Karthik and K G Sriram to play sensibly under pressure. It looked like they continued from where they left off in the semi-finals. Their shot making and running between the wickets were incredible which enabled us surpass the early storm. After settling in, KG Sriram threw caution to the winds with two exquisitely timed boundaries and an amazing six which kissed the hoardings on the terrace. KG Sriram was finally out for a brilliantly made 30 off 30 balls. If KG Sriram was only very good,  K Karthik was simply outstanding. His unbeaten knock of 52 (39 balls) was studded with 3 fours and two sixes - a straight six being the pick of them. This knock won him the "Man of the  Finals" award. He displayed silky elegance as his innings was a signature of beautiful brutality. KG Sriram and K Karthik shared a partnership of 68 runs off 52 balls. Lakshmi Narayanan was finally unbeaten on 6. After a bad start, we took the total to really competitive levels, ending at 166/7 after 25 overs, giving some encouragement for our bowlers.

With batting coming good after an initial jolt, the big question mark was the ability of the bowlers to hold it together when they are attacked in the field restriction period of an innings. To everyone's delight, we did raise the bar and the bowling was truly outstanding. We picked up wickets at regular intervals and kept applying the pressure with innovative field placing.

As usual, Vikash, Ramesh and Rajesh were the pick of the bowlers. Ravindran and K Karthik supported them beautifully with their excellent line and length.

Vikash has taken his bowling to ultimate levels which enables him pick up wickets at ease. He looks like getting a wicket of every delivery he bowls. He was totally dominant yesterday picking 3 wickets with in-swinging deliveries. Ramesh and Rajesh (The Spin Doctors) really treated us with an outstanding and economical bowling picking 3 wickets each. Hemanth showed his agility behind the wickets accounting for two crucial stumping. Vishal substituting for Karthik, took an outstanding catch at long on.

Finally, it boiled down to 25 runs off 2 overs with only a wicket remaining in the opposition ranks. Karthik Sridhar accounted for the final wicket effecting a run out from where the celebrations started to begin.........as Hewlett-Packard won the finals of the Corporate White- ball Blue Sky League Trophy by 19 runs.

"During the presentation ceremony late in the evening, everyone started saying, the team to watch out for in the future, is clearly Hewlett Packard. They have the firepower in their bowling  attack, they have the depth and firepower with the bat, and they have the momentum. All they need to guard against now is complacency. We thanked all our well wishers and vowed to carry this momentum forward..."

Allow me to sign off as the statisticians are busy updating the player profiles. Keep watching this column as some amazing player profiles are going to treat your eyes today.