Sundar Narayanans Travelog

Prayer

2009-11-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

The little one was feeling a little off tonight before going to bed..

San said "un kanne patturukkum.." (your eyes need to be warded off).

So she decided to do a little "drishti" thing. For non South Indians, this is a thing that parents teach you to ward off evil spirits and eyes by doing an "aarti" for the little kids. Think this helps the parents convince themselves that they have done something to cover the unknown more than it really helps the kids. (Persian friends tell me that they do something similar by burning incense and saying "insallah" three times).

Before she did this San told the kids "please pray to god to make sure you listen to parents, do well in school, not fall sick and be healthy, etc. " a

and the little one closes her eyes and goes "Ummachi, please make sure Daddy does not get any more big boo boos."

That was the sum total of her prayer. Now we have to do a Drishti for the Drishti. The little one knows how to get me all teary eyed.

Kids, what can we tell you?

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Emotions

2009-11-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

Have been watching and listening to old vintage music videos recently, thanks to some tube-hopping? on Youtube!

While listening to some DD documentary on GNB, Balamurali Krishna mentioned Salaamat Ali and that took me to this..

part 2 is here..

Thanks to the person who uploaded this. The music is just divine and his "lecture demonstration" in the first video just speaks volume of his mastery over subject matter.

Have seen Salamat Ali perform on Doordarshan when in school and remember it. Never knew there were videos of him performing when he was this young.

Listening to this in the dark with headphones on, simultaneously brings a range of emotions up.. butterflies in my stomach, an intense urge to just go hug that guy and cry, memories of things long lost, questions like "why did you leave me?".. even without necessarily understanding the words or their meanings.

There is so much love and longing in the way he sings it!

If only DD and All India Radio took their old archives and put them on youtube.. that will be heaven!

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Audio tapes to MP3

2009-11-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

An old box full of audiotapes has been dusted out.

They contain precious recordings from 1977 to 1994..

Including the only tape of my childhood voice singing a few lines of "kandar Shasti kavasam", my grandpa reciting Vishnu Sahasranamam for me the day before I first left for the US of A, my grandma singing me my favorite Carnatic songs, audio of a concert where I got to sit on the stage (as Mic boy) and enjoy Lalgudi Jayaraman and his kids perform, etc. etc.

Most of the tapes seem to be deteriorating and I might have one chance to transfer them to digital format before they self destruct!

so the question is..

If any of you who read this blog in the US have converted Audio tapes to MP3, is there a product out there that you would recommend? (some kind of tape recorder that outputs MP3? or connects to your laptop through USB? and then you can import it into itunes?)

Please do let me know.

Life has been busy with work, ice cream, physiotherapy, listening to music, voting, enjoying time with the wife and kids, not particularly in any order..

Lots to write, but it has to wait. Until Friday...

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Excelling at your job

2009-11-02T22:05:00.000-08:00

Physiotherapists know what they are doing! Can personally attest to it.

They measured my strength again today and my right hand was able to exert 45 lbs. It was 25-30 two weeks ago. I have to get to 80 to match my left hand and technically it should be close to 100 (me being right handed and all).

The hot wax works...

why, I do not know.. but it works and that is all that matters!

Get to lift some weights?! (which Jr. can do effortlessly, but I have to spend a lot of effort on), in this case 2 lbs (less than a kilogram)..

On second thought, am really proud of all the improvement.. from 1 lb to 2 lbs in one week!

Like the therapist says "One step at a time!" They sure know what they are doing and how to get you to make incremental progress.

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Architectural Detail - photoblog

2009-11-01T23:06:00.000-08:00

Architectural Detail, was the topic for this weeks assignment..

Pressed for time (euphemism for I was too lazy to go outside), decided to focus on things in our house and grabbed this shot of our Chandelier..

Was actually happy with the result.

ps. On a totally unrelated topic, can anyone point me to videos of Ilayaraja playing an acoustic guitar? Would really appreciate it!

Two plus two plus two equals...

2009-10-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Pumpkins + some time available on a gloomy Saturday afternoon + new lens = HDR photos!!

High Dynamic Range photos, created by superimposing multiple shots of same object with a constant exposure time but with different f stop settings to get fine details on over exposed and underexposed areas of picture.

If that was all information overload, the idea is to create a photo that closely captures what the human eye can see. (It also adds a depth perception)

A glass globe on our dining table (composite image from 4 images 1/8 s exposure f2.5, f3.2, f4.5, f6.3)

and the pumpkin, a composite of 5 images with 1 second exposure and f11.0, f8.0, f5.6, f4.0, f2.8

Okay, time pass is over..

Off to do more serious things!

Wishing all those who celebrate a "Happy Hallllllloooooweeeeen!"

ps. Updated globe..

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Pumpkinography - yet again...

2009-10-31T01:52:00.000-07:00

Halloween weekend begins!

We had a quiet pumpkin carving session at the Cousins place and had a parade with four kids. It was quiet quite fun. Tomorrow will be the trick or treat routine (if it doesn't rain or get too cold)

This year, I was not sure of my carving abilities, what with the right hand being at 25% strength and all, but took a long time and used the "erumbu oora kallum theyum" routine (even an ant can polish a stone by repeatedly walking on it...) and managed a scarecrow and a crow in the background.

The pictures..

The idea was to carve two images and have one create a shadow. The Michael Jackson looking scarecrow on one side and a crow on the other side to get the shadow. The crow side...

The MJ scarecrow with a bird on his hand..

Looks like the standard has been set very high in the previous years. Jr., said "good, but not as good as the spider we did last year"!

(Checked and found that the spider was not last year..Previous pumpkin links from 2005, 2006-1, 2006-2, 2007-1, 2007-2, 2008)

Next year, it is going to be a web full of spiders, on all sides..

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The new find

2009-10-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

The long quest for a unscratched lens was ended on Sunday. Realized earlier this month that my chances of getting a lens would increase 4 fold if I bought a used lens. (No three digit purchases were allowed).

Finally got a 50mm f/1.8 Canon II lens.

The hand instinctively tries to zoom and realizes that there is focus.. focus.. and fantastic sharp focus only!

Takes great shots without flash and great macro shots.

Here are the first few shots with this lens...

I am in love.. more so than ever before!

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Color in the eyes of an almost 7 year old

2009-10-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today Jr. did not have school. The plan was for me to take the day off (and still work when possible from home for urgent stuff)!

While we were walking out of a building as part of our joint adventures, we saw a cat outside and Jr., started her questioning..

1. whose cat is it?
2. who feeds it?
3. where does it sleep?
etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Then while we were getting inside the car I told her, the people in the lobby probably give the cat milk.

She goes "that Barack Obama person?"

For a second, this daddy didn't get it. Figured out after a few seconds that she refers to African Americans (who you don't see or interact with much in the bay area, compared to say Philadelphia or Upstate New York, where daddy spent his early years in the US of A) as "Barack Obama people"!

The best part is that the person she mentioned was probably Sri Lankan or Jamaican Indian! (that would be my guess)

In today's world we meet Black Japanese people and Chinese kids who are half Tamizhian. So it might not be as easy for her to figure out ethnicity based on facial features or skin color.

Maybe "Barack Obama People" is easy for her?!

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A concert, after ages

2009-10-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to San, I went to a Carnatic music concert today. Sanjay Subrahmanyan enthralled the audience with his singing. It was an amazing performance.

It has been a long time since I went to a formal concert.

Hope this is a new beginning!

If you have not listened to Sanjay, here is a link to get you started (youtube suggests link after link)

Truly gifted!

ps. Have been quiet on blogger because of a very busy week checking out physiotherapy locations. Have finally zeroed out one and going to start tomorrow!

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California Tamil Academy

2009-10-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Jr. is learning Tamil (Tamizh) at the CTA for the last two months. She has a lot of fun. Teaching her at home (and the little one on the side) is a ton of fun for me.

This Sunday they had a Deepavali celebration in the school quadrangle after class was over and they had all the parents and kids gather for some mehendi, villu paatu, song and dance.

The Mrs. joined in for an impromptu kummi adi performance with her kummi buddies at the end of the events.

Here are some photos..

We now have the Deepavali hangover.....

In other news, the hand has passed the Doc's criteria for making it to Physiotherapy! The bone bends around the screws and the break and has formed callouses. It was amazing to watch the x-rays. The human body is an amazing thing!

Next goal, be able to eat a pizza with my right hand!

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Inspiration

2009-10-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

During the recent Navarathri golu visits, we were treated to "Muddu Gare Yashoda". Both Jr. and the little one were so impressed by the A. akka's singing that they came home and asked me to teach them the song.

Having no clue as to the telugu lyrics or the tune, but remembering only the first line, found the clip on youtube, sung by Priya Sisters. They sing it sooooo beautifully. (note how the percussionists just stop at the right time to let them sing the last few words in each paragraph!.. just brilliant)

After watching this twice a day for almost two weeks now, they are singing it.

Note, that their Talams are impromptu and made up. While Jr. has been going to music classes for almost three months (she is learning dhattu varisai now) and has some idea of scales, sruthi and taalam, the little one is just trying to imitate the video and what she sees her sister do in class or at home.

The little one is also a lot more bold and is not afraid to look into the camera and sing. She is definitely going to get music lessons next year. (Jr. is also not very co-operative these days when it comes to doing anything in front of the camera. She deliberately makes faces while singing!)

A big thanks to A. Akka for singing this during Golu. Not every kid sings when their parents ask them to and with that kind of sincerity. When Jr. and the little one grow older, it would be a blessing if they oblige our requests like that!

On the lighter side, the kids were asking me for the meaning of the song. Found the meaning from the web and taught them bits and pieces. Here is a conversation during the earlier lesson..

Jr. : who is Yashoda?

Me : Krishna's mom. He had two moms. One who gave birth to him and one who raised him?

LO : I have only one mom. How can someone have two moms?

Me : You see "Dinosaur Train" right? In that Buddy the T. Rex is raised by a Pteranodon mommy right? Same thing. Krishna was given to Yashoda to be taken care of, but Devaki was the one who delivered him!

LO : But why does Devaki want to kill Krishna?

Me : !!!!! Where did you get that story? Devaki loves Krishna..

LO and Jr. : Because it says "Devaki suttudu.. Devaki suttudu" and suttudu means shoot someone with a gun and kill them!

Me : (ROTFL) The song is in Telugu, not Tamizh. It is suthudu and not suttudu. Suthudu means "son of". They are singing "Krishna, son of Devaki"!

Now the kids are getting used to Telugu words..

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More fun with Sparklers

2009-10-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

Saw a photo on the school site where someone wrote I Love You with a flashlight with a dark field in the background.. It was a neat shot!

So, could not resist the idea to write I love U with sparklers in my backyard.

Here are the two tries that came out. The sparkler lasts 18 or so seconds and the shot in self timer mode starts only after a 10 second countdown. Really wish there was an option on the XTi to change timer to 2 seconds!

If you want to try this, go manual mode, try an 8 to 10 second exposure at f20 or a smaller aperture..

Spent a lot of sparklers and then realized that when I wrote I L U , it came out as U L I in the photo. So make sure you practice writing in reverse to get it right on the photograph....

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Sparklers

2009-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Now you know all about the kid in me coming out and having fun!

Sooooooo wish that we could burst bijili vedis here. Someday, someday, we will be in Madras for Deepavali and we will show our kids the type of fun we had growing up.

After talking to relatives in India, they all said two things that are downright baffling..

1. Only my youngest cousin who is 11 and my nephew who is 3 are into bursting crackers. The rest of them are happy with the good eats and watching TV or going to the movies!

2. A box of 10 sparklers (Kambi mathaapu) costs 2$ here and it costs 3$ in Chennai!!! Velai vaasi(cost of living) has indeed risen there!

At this rate, Cupertino might become New Chennai... much like they named New York, or New Jersey a few hundred years ago..

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Windows - Homework assignment...

2009-10-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

Two photos for the "windows" Photo homework assignment .. Have not decided if these are it or need to find something more..

Let me know what you think..

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A very happy Deepavali to all of you

2009-10-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a belated Happy Deepavali!!!

Hope everyone had a great time on Friday night and yesterday. Here in Cupertino, the celebration is still going on..

We did get to wear new clothes, have vadai, paayasam, bakshanam from friends, have fun with some mathaapu (sparklers), watch a new release movie(daddy was sent to the theater on a cheer up mission) and have a fun time with family.

We also had a marathon session on the phone calling/receiving calls from all relatives on the land line, the Vonage phone and two cell phones!

Diwali was much needed in this household. It cheered me up a lot, enough to bring the kid in me out to have some fun! Seeing daddy happy, mommy and the kids cheered up as well.

Have a lot of things to catch up on with what is left of the weekend. Here are some photos.

Here's to lighting up all the darkness in our lives!

ps. Watched "Aadhavan". Vadivelu was at his best, but the movie was so-so. One of those movies where you watch the first half and if you walk out of the theater in the second half, you are really not going to miss anything.

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Bokeh - the learning continues..

2009-10-10T23:13:00.001-07:00

The hand did take a turn for the worse and limited activity for most of the day. After a lot of rest, got up this evening and tried taking photos. Options were restricted to indoor and that meant, the Christmas lights came out!

Like they say in Tamil "Yaam Petra Inbam" ... (the happiness I received, should be passed on, no?)

The camera modification

The setup on the dining table

A few shots which are better efforts than the previous one's posted earlier

Jr. is an amazing model. After getting hit by the flash a few times, she suggested that the picture be of the side of her face. It was a great idea.

Also, a tip. If you happen to try this at home, remember that 1000+ Christmas lights generate a lot of heat, when you pile them up in a heap. You are guaranteed to get your hands burnt if you unplug the lights and try to grab them off the table. It is NOT recommended under any circumstances, especially when you are recovering an already broken hand.

My kids asked me "how can you be so smart and stupid at the same time?"

How? How?

or should I be asking myself "Why?"

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An interesting week

2009-10-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

The temperatures dropped this week significantly. The hand which is still trying to close the gap in the bone, is feeling a lot of pain because somehow the metal pieces inside are stressing out the bone.

That has meant no sleep from 4AM to 6AM the first few days this week. Wrapping the entire arm in warm fleece blankets helped a lot.

Then the wife fell ill and between work, the kids calling me a "bad parent" and more pain in the wrist trying to exert myself, it has been a challenging week to say the least..

Going to do some camera accessory shopping tomorrow to cheer myself up.

This weeks photo homework assignment is "Bokeh" and it appears that I am way out of my league here.. Spent two hours to understand the concept (which is to highlight out of focus objects to create light patterns in the background)..

But here are some interesting results (going to work on this some more.. how they manage to get the object in the foreground in focus while still creating the shaped Bokeh is beyond me.. at least for now)

Cut out a star shaped hole on a cardboard and taped it to the focus ring..

Every point of light takes the star shape..

Notice Jr.'s eyes.. even her eyes show the star pattern (reflected from the flash).
Every light point on her necklace takes the shape of the star..

Cannot understand the physics behind it either. A flashback...

When we were going to IIT Physics coaching class, Balu Sir (god rest his soul) told us to go practice with MIR publishers book by Russian Authors "Tarasov and Tarasova" to master Geometrical Optics. There were no copies that we could get our hands on, but the platform book seller who used to have a shop at the bend near Nalli in Pondy Bazaar told me "Tarasov-aa thambi. Oru copy irukku pa.. aana Tamil copy, paravaa illiyaa?" (I have a copy kid, but it is in Tamil, you still want it?)

Two of my friends who saw me buy that book thought I was nuts. Understanding geometrical optics by reading a Russian book translated in Tamil?

Spent the next week understanding the terms for convex, concave, focus, object, image, radius of curvature etc. etc. in Tamil and figured it all out. It was actually very entertaining and rewarding.

But this Bokeh thing, beats Tarasov and Tarasova..

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The world we live in..

2009-10-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

Remember, my old rant on Sun TV showing a violent movie to commemorate the birthday of the dude whose name was synonymous with Non-violence?

Things haven't gotten much better.

Saw this via boing-boing..

Luxury items to commemorate the life of an austere person..

Somehow, somewhere, the message is lost... way way lost!

Next thing we know, Tommy Hilfiger will come up with a leather jacket with Gandhi's spectacles as the logo and the NRA will support a new gun which will kill sooner and call it the Mahathmatic ..

It is not that far fetched.

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Very very busy

2009-10-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

With work..

Might be a couple of days to get back to Blogger.

Managed a 30 minute break earlier today to do the Photo school assignment, which was titled "collections" and this was my homework submission.

When you are surrounded by princesses, there is no other collection worth presenting, no?

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Shadows...the homework continues

2009-09-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

Two more photos of shadows..

our front door glass pane casts a brilliant shadow on the wall, thanks to the sunset

and the shadow of the fish tank on the wall behind it..

The schooling continues..

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Navarathri 2009 - The rest of the golus..

2009-09-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Previous golu posts on this blog...

2009 : first set of golus

2008 : Part 1 (Golumania), Part 2(padis), Part 3(Megolumaniacs)

2007 : Golus and Paavaadais, more paavadais and golus..

2006 : Don't know and don't remember why we missed the golu scene in 2006.. we had just moved to Cupertino and things seem to have been normal. But no golu posts...

2005 : The first golu post when San was still very pregnant with the little one (ah, how time flies!), stitch shots of golus

Now for the last of this years photos.. (the little one deleted two of the photos on the iPhone by mistake)

That is all folks!

The Chronicles of Navrathria continue next year.

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Siblings

2009-09-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

Hope they stay like this forever...

Will post the pictures of all the golus we visited over the last seven days tomorrow night..

It has been an eventful and busy week. The coming week will hopefully be less hectic and bring us back to normal pace..

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Digital Photography School

2009-09-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

They give you homework assignments!

Nice to do Homework you like...really like!

Posting my assignments from last two weeks here.. (also on Flickr now thanks to the photo school)..

The hand is improving slowly but nicely. The range of motion has increased perceptibly. Even drove to work and back on my own yesterday! (mostly used left hand, but still this is a giant leap for sundarkind..)

We are going to wrap up the golu season this weekend.. so stay tuned for more golu photos.

Until then....

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School can be a double edged sword

2009-09-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Looks like Jr. is learning "letter writing" at school.

Earlier this evening, she was practicing it and both the adults were surprised to read the letter..

There has been a lot of frustration and anger in this house for the last few weeks. It is all behind us now. Maybe we will see the letters improve as well as the writing ?!

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