Posts tagged ‘thoughts’

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January 1, 2021

Reflections & Perspectives

Reflecting back on 2020, it had been a tough year. Travel had been restricted and not great in sense of capturing moments. One good thing with the lockdown – mother nature seem to be healing. We now hear more of birds chirping even in the middle of Marathalli, Bangalore :) For the many lucky folks who are not stranded away from home – the lockdown had brought in a much needed break to reflect and introspect. For me it had been a great year professionally with more reading, new challenges and associated experiences. The ups & downs were like never before but the lessons learned were inevitable.

Let us drop the prejudice of 2020. Focus, enjoy and equip for the journey forward. Here is to 2021 – to more learning, more travel, more connections & enriched experiences :)

This week shot is from Badami (from a pre covid trip). Badami Shivalaya was the regal capital of the Badami Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD. Most of the visitors miss this as the focus is always on the Badami caves. The fort is quite opposite to the caves on the other side of the lake. Also one needs to trek to the top . The path is quiet defined with steps but is a bit strenuous, especially in hot weather. The massive hillock hosts couple of different levels with – the pillared structures, the lower Shivalayas and the upper Shivalayas. One is treated with  Chalukya architecture and the views are directly propositional to the effort one puts in to climb up :)

Sony A7III : Sony 16-35 mm : ISO 100: 16 mm : f22 : 0.5 sec

Upper Shivalaya Temple
Badami, Karnataka, India

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March 2, 2020

Signs of Spring @ Badami

Though Badami is more famous for its cave temples, I liked the visit to the Shivalaya temple better. Situated on the hills on the northern shore of Lake Agasthya, it faces the cave temples on the southern shore. The trek up needs a bit of an effort, but the experience so much makes up for it. This particular early morning, the clouds did not play along for the dramatic sunrise we expected, but the twilight was serene.

The fresh spring leaves felt juxtaposed by the gnarled tree & the rugged landscape, but it indeed had a beauty of its own :)

Sony A7III : Sony 16-35 mm : ISO 2000: 16 mm : f2.8 : 1.5 sec

Upper Shivalaya Temple
Badami, Karnataka, India

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April 30, 2019

Courage

Courage in the path is what makes the path manifest itself

– Paulo Coelho

Canon 7D : Canon 10-22 mm : ISO 100 : 10 mm : f3.5 : 6.0 sec

Appalachian Mountains
Pisgah National Fores, North Carolina, USA

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November 21, 2017

Twilight by Grandfather Mountain

I went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sun down, for going out, I found, was really going in – John Muir

 

Canon 7D : Canon 10-22 mm : ISO 100 : 10 mm : f3.5 : 1/60 sec

Buy Print    Tanawha Trail
Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA

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May 5, 2011

Where are the Buffalo – Gone

Toroweep is one of a kind – awe inspiring, rare places, where one can stare into the face of time, still un-touched and un-spoilt. Check this out for the amazing 3000 feet Vertical drop at the view point. Anyways, while visiting this place, we stayed at a small inn, enroute from Kanab to Toroweep. It was a small cozy place, with a typical country side set up. The rooms were based on tribe themes with wooden floors – it went really well with the outside surrounding of red rocks. As soon as we entered the room, the hanging on the wall caught my attention – a framed letter from Seattle Chief to then US President (1855). It was quiet touching and I feel it is even more applicable today and not just for the whites referred here. Present to you the same, below.

  Flickr Page

Graze lands Enroute to Toroweap
Kanab, Utah, USA

 

The Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land * How can you buy or sell the sky * The warmth of the land * The idea is strange to us * Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water * How can you buy them from us * Every part of this earth is sacred to my people **

We know that the white man does not understand our ways * One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs * The earth is not his brother but his enemy and when he has conquered it he moves on * He leaves his fathers’ graves his children’s birthright is forgotten **

The is no quiet place in the white man’s cities * No place to hear the leaves of spring or the rustle of the insect wings * But perhaps because I am savage and do not understand, the clatter only seems to insult the ears * And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the or the arguments of the frog around the pond at the night **

The Whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than the other tribes * Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste * When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest, heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of ripe hills blotted by talking wires * Where is the Eagle * Gone * Where is the Buffalo * Gone * And what is to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt, the end of living and the beginning of survival **

 

Chief Seattle to President Franklin Pierce, 1855

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August 14, 2010

To FB or not to FB :)

Yeah! To Facebook , or not to Facebook, that is the question, I had been debating for quiet sometime (rather a long time) !!! FB might still  not be considered a verb as xerox or google, but it does have a very significant impact on the people social lives.  The recent security stint helped lot of people move to one end or the other and few even log off of fb completely.

But that really has not created any major dent on the followers for fb in general, and the company had been pouring out new collaborative features continuously. I had signed up for the service during the initial days to check it, but never got to using it full fledged. Today I lay out my (current) thoughts on how I would (dis) like to use the service going forward.

One major pull towards fb, for me, is it lets u easily connect with your lost buddies. I was able to get the mobile # of a old time school friend from the site & gave a casual call. During the same learnt about his wedding which I would have completely been unaware of otherwise. FB does help you to connect with people.

Image Courtesy : Acquisio.com

But at the same time some of the downsides , or factors restricting me away from the same are

  • Connecting with people should be in the real world, there is huge potential of sitting behind the desk being so very social online, connecting with people- only to realize you had not gone out of ur home for 5 days continuous and the only person you had talked to was the pizza delivery guy – yeah I am exaggerating , but u get the point !
  • One size cannot fit all. The current categorization of FB friends – pools in ur immediate family, relatives, close friends, friends, acquaintances, business relationships, online strangers [kind of in that order] all together. Different relations require different level of bonding and different quality of discussion. Getting them all mixed up under one umbrella, would cause confusions in the long run ! [downside to fixing this would result in making the fb control console complex :) , but that is the challenge – how would this be tackled without making it complex for the user !]
  • fb is in control of the data. It is so hard for the user to identify and define what and who see the data that is created. This becomes all the more significant , because of all types of relations having same level of access (ur either a friend or not) .

Slightly digressing, one key points is – whatever… WHATEVER… u want to remain private, don’t even think of getting it online. Does not matter if it is within a group of friends, or on a particular site etc. If it is online, it is pretty much deemed to be public.

Online Privacy is probably an oxymoron.

 

So, for now this is what I have decided, what do u think – do share on comments below !

  • Would predominantly use fb as a tool for reaching out to people , where as the actual connection might really happen in the real world.
  • Because of the way the fb does the friend’ing – you end up exposing the data meant for one group to the other with out your knowledge. This predominantly happens when you have one common person between two groups. Hence I might refrain to get any business acquaintances onto my network. I know that this defeats the purpose in some case, but that is a call I am taking , at this point :) , and change is not something that is constant !


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