A Sudden Memory

I was sitting at the dinner table when I remembered that it is my grandmother's death anniversary. Many questions came into my mind.
I also remembered how she died. Old and alone and in pain. Away from the people that she loved and who loved her back. She only had the people that she found odious for company in her last hours, not that it mattered a lot because she was to ill too know who was with her. But still. And that it is now only 6 years that sh is not here, having got 8 children into this world, I wonder how much more is she than just a dim, fading memory now. 
And where does one go. I know she had this morbid fear of dying but she died. But where did she go or is it just that she ended up in smoke.
What comforted me was that maybe she just came alive for a moment when I remembered her. And now that I am writing about her, a part of her with all her faults, malice and goodness will live on. 

In Praise of the Commonplace

The Honda Brio and Hanuman, a photo by Shubh M Singh on Flickr.

I have been writing an extremely boring and irritating book chapter about something I know nothing about. And there is a voice that tells me to write something about something that I know about.
So let me talk about photography. Or rather my article of faith.
1. A photograph should look like a photograph. I have no need or time for a photo that looks like a painting. If I wanted a photo that looks like a painting, I would much rather have a painting.
2. There is a photo, there is beauty everywhere. One does not have to go to an exotic location (all the time) to get a photo. There is always something to be found around you.
3. Less is more. There is no need for clutter. In real life, I am an extremely untidy person. But I like my photos to be clean with a few straight lines.
4. Don't cheap out. In whatever you do, equipment, effort, vision whatever.
Have fun. And others will follow some day.