Vacations — how we love them! It’s not just the water which comes in shades that give the colour blue not just a personality, but a soul; it’s not the sand that’s so fine that you’re tempted swim in it; nor does the salty tang of the insistent ocean breeze really explain it.

What really explains it — as my wife and I had dinner, we discussed what we dream of doing before reaching 40, instead of whether we want to watch Star Trek or the Big Bang Theory. Earlier, I saw a bi-weekly reminder on my phone to wash linen; and broke into laughter. Death by a thousand chores can’t reach me here. Given a little distance, the seriousness we accord the smallest details of life while ignoring the broadest strokes looks exactly like it is — ridiculous.

It’s good every now and then to go to the edge of your existence, force yourself to the shoreline of your day-to-day life and look outward. Where you’re free to blank your mind on the void of the sea, or imagine the distant shores you’d set sail for if you could.

One of the most impactful books I’ve read about photography. Very little words, except the thousands in the photographs. Any number of gurus, books, lectures on photography will tell you how important it is that a photograph tell a story; but until I read this book, I really didn’t understand.

I can give no better testimonial to the book than tell you a little story that the book inspired in my own photographic efforts soon after I read it.

We were in Yosemite with friends a couple of weeks ago, on the cusp of winter and spring. It was still snowed in, and the views were breathtakingly beautiful. An hour before sunset, a posse of photographers gathered on Sentinel Bridge to capture the majestic Half Dome bathed in the last rays of the sun. Unfortunately, nature had other ideas; and we waited in vain while a cloud obscured half dome all the way till darkness. If I hadn’t read Abell’s book, I might have gone back disappointed. Instead I made this photo, the pros with their cameras and the amateurs with theirs – there’s even a phone camera in the mix – all restless and, by this time, resigned to not making that ideal sunset photograph. There’s a sense of irony and bemusement that I’ll always remember. Click on the image for a larger version.

The moment you cross the border from Singapore to Malaysia, you somehow get a sense that life is more chaotic, more unpredictable, more spontaneous, more free. These guys at the Larkin bus terminal saw me with my camera and had enthusiastically asked me to capture the moment. At the time, I said I’d try and make it to the front page with the photograph :) but this will have to do.

Singapore being a small country, I really miss the endless landscapes one gets to see while traveling in India – the highways in Malaysia though offer ample amounts of the same.

Melaka has had very strong cultural influences over the years – both Islamic and European and it served as a very important port for a long time. This is reflected in a disproportionate number of buildings being architecturally aesthetic (I’m no critique, but they’re better than boxes).

St. Paul’s Church in Melaka has a very interesting history. The guy in the picture was doing an amazing job singing Knocking on Heaven’s Door – an appropriate song in more ways than one – the Church is at a high vantage point and overlooks the city.

There are some really good museums in the city – hosting art, literature and historical knowledge and artifacts. One of them, a naval museum, is inside a ship; unfortunately, it was closed for renovations when we were there.

The streets of Melaka can be very colourful and lively.

The river which runs through Melaka is a great place to enjoy a quiet evening at sunset.

Chinatown in Melaka was a really busy place on Saturday night.

The river I mentioned earlier runs throughout the city. There were lot of activities around the river on the weekend from fairs to kayaking to performances. There are also a number of houses along the river and there were families having a barbecues just outside.

Great place to go, even if only for a day.

In India, we used to celebrate the 14th of November (birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru) as Children’s Day in school. It was one of the few days when wearing our uniforms was not compulsory, and instead of classes we used to have games and fun all day long. Truly the good old days.

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

– Khalil Gibran

The photo is a mosaic of snaps taken from my Flickr stream.

Wishing everyone a Hapyp Diwali and joyous year ahead!

Quintessentially Mumbai.

The flag hoisting.

Mini Rang De Basanti being acted out :)

The President’s address delivered by the High Commissioner. I’d say the speech lacked a certain something that was always there in Dr. Kalam’s addresses on Independence Day. Can’t help wishing he was back for a second term.

More photos here. Happy Independence Day!

(Click to go to the photoset)

The message on his t-shirt stopped me short. He lives in the slums seen in the distance, and in his hands is a piece of cloth – he was collecting those he could find so that his parents could sell them off later and make some money.

Seeing him, a lot of kids came around asking to be photographed. At many places in the world, photographers need to know their rights because people consider photography an invasion of privacy, but in India it’s more like photographers’ duties.

Mumbai dogs are pretty smart.. evolution and all you know. Need skills to survive in the city.. so they seemed not only perfectly aware that I had a camera but were really interested in having their picture taken. This one actually came right upto me and had his shot taken inches from his face. Maybe he thought I’d get him into Bollywood.

And of course, there’s always beach cricket virtually anywhere in India. The way this fellow missed a pull shot though, it’s almost like he was playing for the India team.

Small things, but it all adds up to an undeniable fact – there is no place like home. When I came back home, I saw the sunset from my window – I’ve seen a thousand times, yet it’s always different.

Hope everyone’s been having happy holidays. Happy 2007 to all.

This, by the way, is the view from my window at home. Probably the greatest wealth I will ever have.