December 13th, 2011
Prats
It was a full moon a few nights ago. An eclipse as well. While most folks (especially in India) are well advised to stay at home and avoid looking at the moon etc., I spent a considerable amount of time on the terrace of our building balancing a tripod and battling a mild gale in an attempt to take my first photographs of a lunar eclipse. Since I had a perfectly good view of the moon from my balcony as well, I moved downstairs later. It was mostly cloudy during the actual eclipse itself, so I spent some time playing around with the camera settings and discovered / stumbled upon some ‘exploding bokeh’ techniques that I found to be very cool. Shall upload pics of that experiment and some of the eclipse in flickr later.
After the eclipse was over and I was settled, I was standing in the balcony when I noticed the sky was perfectly clear. The moonlight was falling beautifully on the windows and practically shining into the room. It brought back a memory.
My parents were visiting us in Mumbai in August 2009. They happened to stay with us for the first 15 days or so, and it so happened that there was a full moon at that time as well. I am not getting into the details, but I remember my dad lying on the bed and looking up through the window at the moon. As it happened, the sky was perfectly clear that night as well and the moonlight came in just the same way, softly through the windows. I recall the smile he had on his face while looking up at the moon. A pleasant breeze was wafting in and he had that expression of being completely content.
He passed away a few weeks later.
The full moon on Saturday reminded me of him and the sense of peace I hope he was feeling. That’s the way I always want to remember him.
I miss you Dad.
Sometimes waking up in the morning & hunting for breakfast does this to you….
Warning: Reading the below may be injurious to health. Unlike having cereal…
Kellogg’s is crunchy,
Kellogg’s is fun,
Kellogg’s is better,
Than a tutti-fruity bun!
Kellogg’s is yummy,
Kellogg’s is nice,
But Kellogg’s can’t beat,
My dal & rice!
Kellogg’s a cereal,
Kellogg’s a school,
Make a drink, Kellogg’s,
Now, THAT would be cool!
Kellogg’s is healthy,
Kellogg’s is good,
But is Kellogg’s really,
A substitute for food?
Moody skies,
Bluesy tunes’,
Earl Grey,
Perfect evening
Reached Nasik. Weather’s like Bangalore. Bad bad jam at Kalyan, averaged 80 otherwise.
Strangely, the (Airtel) network just wouldn’t register my BB all along the highway. Miraculously sprang to life when I got to Nasik. Spoke to someone in Airtel on the way but little help.
Up at 6 tomorrow, puja etc. It’s been one (Hindu calendar) year already. Very hard to reconcile though, the memories are so fresh it feels like yesterday….
Attempting to post thru twitter tools yet again; the last one was a disaster. sorry folks!
I’d rather do something I’m passionate about than spend my whole life wondering what if?
Just wondering if I should rename this blog to ‘Analyze To Death’ from ‘Amused To Death’ based on what I have been doing in the recent past!!
Over-analysis kills.
Just testing out the WordPress for blackberry app.. Yeah, am not particularly sleepy right now.
Reminded today very strongly of what a very wise colleague of mine told me a few years ago…. “?Think of a problem as a monkey sitting on a shoulder. When someone approaches you with a monkey on the shoulder, his or her main objective is to get the monkey to jump onto your shoulder. Your main objective is to keep the monkey sitting where it is.”
He added his own bit too, “…and if you have any of your own monkeys on your shoulder, try passing them off to the others as well!”
And that’s exactly how my day has been today.
Wish you a very happy, prosperous & peaceful new year 2010! I guess it’s a good time to start blogging again though it’s not part of my ‘resolutions’ per se. In fact, this year I have no resolutions at all 
A quick update on what I’ve been upto (apart from work & wife, the two ‘W’s in my life)… Managed to sneak in to Goa on 31st with V. Arya & Adi managed to make it with their families as well, so a gala time was had by all. We drove both ways and stayed on Bogmalo beach with a number of excursions to the usual sinful places to be in 
More later, for now, back to W… work, i.e.
Cheerio & God bless!
