Mumbai international airport transformed !!!

 

 

Last time I was at the international airport it was a mess ... However all indications were that things would finally change for the better.

It has happened ... The interior décor, ambience, duty-free shopping, dining options et al are all world class !!! 

Though the economy has lost some of its sheen our airport is definitely shining !!!

A pledge in the memory of Manjunath

On 19th Nov 2005, Manjunath, sales manager at Indian Oil Corp, a fresh alumnus of IIML was murdered in cold blood. Reason : He stood by his principles and refused to allow adulteration of petrol in his territory which irked the petrol mafia.

How many of us would be brave enough to actually do this if we knew that our very life was at stake ??? Not many ...

Thats what makes Manju special, a hero ... on his 3rd death anniversary lets all take a pledge :

I, a Citizen of India, know and acknowledge that integrity matters today more than ever: to me, to those in my life and to the wellbeing of all of the collectives of which I am a part.

I therefore commit myself to set an example through ethical conduct for the furtherance of integrity and to work against all forms of corruption that I come across in whatever ways possible to me.

I will not accept or offer any advantage, gifts or benefits that compromise my values of integrity.

I am prepared to explain honestly and be accountable for my actions when dealing with all spheres of society. Therefore, my actions will be transparent.

I will strive for high standards of service and ethical behaviour and promote these values in those around me.
Through the above actions I hope to promote the welfare of all our people.

This is my pledge as a responsible Indian Citizen.

Please click this link and sign an online petition

Buying nice stuff for niece

This is also a mobile blogging test for my new samsung i780 !!!

Photographing diwali firecrackers

 
 

Of late everyone seems to be buying and flaunting their expensive DSLR cameras with an array of wide-angle / super long focal length lenses and filters ... and all they talk about is the relative merits and demerits of Canon EOS vs Nikon DXXX, how best to use lenses, filters, other accessories and post-processing of the "RAW" format pictures ... enough to give me a headache.

I was travelling with one of these guys the other day and the weight & size of his camera kit was actually more than his laptop bag. He had to literally beg the airport staff to let him carry both laptop and camera as cabin baggage ... at one point he was even considering checking in his laptop bag and holding on to his precious camera stuff !!!

Finally they relented and he was allowed to carry both laptop and camera kit as cabin baggage. Throughout the flight he bugged me with his tall camera tales and exploits ... I suspect he thought of himself as the next Gautam Rajadhyaksha. 

According to this GR wannabe getting a perfect shot of firecrackers was the hallmark of a good camera and the holy grail of photography ... he showed me a few he'd taken with his Nikon D4ox.

Now I have a Canon Powershot A620 which is a point and shoot and though its supposed to have some manual controls I'd never used any of them in the 2 years I've been using the camera. So this Diwali I decided to experiment with aperture and shutter speed and take pictures of firecrackers ... of course I had no special lenses and worse I could not even find my tripod. 

Anyway I took a few snaps propping my camera on the window grill and the results are not too bad !!! So I guess I'll just stick to my trusted point and shoot and pass up the temptation to upgrade to a DSLR ... at the very least I'll never have to worry about checking in my laptop bag :-)