Month: June 2019
Mind Speaks: Finally, a few thoughts in Malayalam
It was not easy to write using fountain pen after a long, but tried and managed. Thought, I first start writing in Malayalam itself. Found, both old and new formats are getting mixed. Somehow managed. Will continue to try, till I regain my flow.
Photo Speaks: Three landmarks in one Frame
Corniche Hospital, the premier Women’s and Newborn Hospital in Abu Dhabi has delivered over 250,000 babies. The hospital first opened in 1977 and moved to the present site that it has occupied since 1984.
The Flower Clock on Salam Street in the UAE capital, a gift from the city of Geneva, was officially inaugurated on April 30, 2002
Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel & Resort, opened in December 1979.
Try it out – Weekend for #cycling #InAbuDhabi
#ExploreAbuDhabi with #ClicksandWrites and #PassionatePhotographers
Photo Speaks – Getting back to Write it Right
Photo Speaks: It is time to restart my weekly blog post titled “Mind Speaks”. This time, it will be handwritten. Not finding it easy, as I have not used a pen, or to be frank, a fountain pen for a very long time. These days, writing has become short, may be one or two sentences! I will try and make it legible and interesting. A challenge, as I do not have the option to delete and re-write when I write with a pen. Thoughts, words and writings have to be very clear!!!.
Photo Speaks: Year of Tolerance.
Summer is getting better, brighter and hotter. One way to win over it is to get used to it as much as one can. Like other activities, cycling is one of my passion and it is the best way I find to get acclimatised to the change of weather. Either in the morning or in the evening, through the dedicated cycling tracks #InAbuDhabi city, it is more than fun to ride a bicycle at a leisurely pace. As a #PassionatePhotographer, you get to see the city from various different angles that you normally don’t notice if in a car or any other mode of transport. My route today was through the Abu Dhabi Municipality. The special sign boards or “Year of Tolerance” are prominently displayed there from the day it was was launched. Seeing it, my thought process argued with me, how many times, I had to really practice my Tolerance skills this year?!
I am sure, reading this small note, each one of you will ponder about.
I wish to hear your experiences on this key topic.
Footnote to my post of today – Too much of computer and mobile and absolutely no writing by hand!. I found that my handwriting has become extremely bad!😢! So, decided to have a weekly blog post handwritten and posted as jpeg.
Mind Speaks: Trust and Friendship is Forever
I have written about him before too. In this photo, I am with Sandeep Dubey… He drives a taxi in Mumbai, India
My love for photography was the reason I met him. Monsoon in Mumbai is always a fascination for me. It was about 17 years ago, when I was waiting in front of my hotel, looking for a suitable taxi – a Maruti High Roof Van those days, that will give me a good view and options to click the Mumbai city on a rainy day that I met him. He was young and knew very little English that time, and with my Hindi and English we managed.
One full day, we drove around through various lanes and highways of Mumbai. Just like we try and run our fingers through the veins on our hands. In a short time, he knew what I was looking for and I knew, he was one person I can trust. Since then, each time when I touch base in Mumbai, he is my man. It has been a long friendship that remained from that rainy day.
Mumbai has that magic. People come from various places, different religion, different languages, but once you bond with each other, the friendship remains.
My repeated visits to Mumbai is also one like that. It is because my father’s close and only soulmate, roommate, friend for life (many derivatives for him) lives there. During their bachelor days in Mumbai in the 1960s they lived and worked together. Their friendship remained forever and passed on to me by both. I try and find reason to go and meet him and his wife, WHENEVER I CAN. With all the roadworks, changes and progress, Sandeep has been my “go to man”. I can tell you, I entrust him with all my luggage and valuables and go everywhere in Mumbai and he will make sure, they are safe, as well as me too. Over the period of time, his Maruti Omni Van was discontinued and he now drives a small car without air-conditioning. But, that’s never an issue for me as his humble and ever-smiling service is of great value than the comfort of driving around in a luxurious or modern taxi.
This time, in fact, after repeated requests for a long time, I visited his home….
It was another opportunity for me to visit the narrowest bylanes of Mumbai city and see and understand how people live happily within their modest means.
Hospitality at its best, by his mother, wife and 2 sons. I had known them since several years, as we always talked continuously during our drives. However, only this time I met them. He had told them about me, his daily life struggles, children, family in Mumbai and back home, the same way I introduced him to my family.
It was one wish that I fulfilled before my father passed away 2 years ago, to bring him back to Mumbai and drive around with his close friend and see all the places where he and his friend lived and worked. With Sandeep, I was able to do that and also an opportunity to introduce him.
As we entered his tiny little home, I could feel an extra special parental relationship. His little son came running and hugged him closely by his feet calling him Papa, aah aap jaldi vaapas aya kaam se? (meaning, Dad, today, you came early from work?). Hospitality was at its best, from his elderly mother and wife and children in whatever little way they could. As I left his home, touching his mother’s feet, it was a special feeling, beyond I could explain and ever imagine!
We returned after a short while and when I walked back to my hotel room, I re-affirmed myself one thing, Trust and Friendship, has no barriers. It will remain forever.
{Read my blog post about him done earlier Mind Speaks: Some connections happens just like that And stays forever }. You can find his phone number in it and in case you are in Mumbai and wish to have a ride with him, you can call him.
#InMumbai #ClicksandWrites #PassionatePhotographers
ClicksandWrites 
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