`My Coffee- table Travelogue’

We all have yesteryears’ family photos that we treasure greatly. For many of us, these photos mostly lay forgotten in albums until, once in a while, we are reminded of them, either by an old friend or by an overwhelming memory of an event from the days gone by. As reassuring as it was to have all my photo albums stacked neatly in one place, I thought that my vast collection deserved a better place in my life. Let me share with you some ideas on recycling old print photos and making them more accessible to those who matter to us.

My association with photography goes back to my school and college days. I always found myself drawn to the idea of clicking photos and getting clicked. That photography was a `hobby’ of mine, is a realisation that dawned upon me much later in my life. In retrospect, this realisation explains a strange childhood habit of mine; when my siblings would spend their pocket money on buying gifts for visiting nephews and nieces during their summer vacations, I would hold on to my savings until the perfect summer noon arrived; then I would quietly slip out of the house with the little ones and take them to a small studio in our neighbourhood to get them photographed. Why this stealth, you would ask? When the temp. would be above 40oC, everyone else in the house would be enjoying their afternoon siesta, leaving me with an unrefuted freedom of movement. If my intentions were to be discovered, I knew, there would be resistance to the idea. In 1970s getting photographed was considered a luxury in a middle class home.

People would go to a studio only for strict purposes-- for a passport/Id card, or if it were a marriageable girl, to obtain photos that would be fit to send to the prospective groom’s family, or even rarer, in the case of some ‘modern’ parents, to capture their son’s image on his first birthday. In any case, the expectations were high from the photographer for the simple reason that everyone wants to look better in one’s photo. The expectations were even higher on the second case as every girl’s parents would want their daughter to appear `fair, tall, sharp-featured and well-disposed’, in her photo at least.  With little advancement in trick photography, it used to be a bigger challenge for the photographer and in some cases, an impossible task. Knowing well that nothing ruins a business like an unhappy customer, an experienced and smart photographer would even turn the subject away on some flimsy excuse if the girl was incurably plain. The risk was not so high in the third category, as a child, that too a son was to his parents their best creation on earth; how could any image of their son not warm their hearts?

My yearly visits to that lone studio in my neighbourhood, helped establish a good rapport with the studio owner. Then came the era of coloured photos and I was irresistibly impressed by this invention. Initially, it was not in the printing and developing that the change occurred, rather, the photographer coloured the photograph post-development, not unlike a painter. I too wanted one of my nephew’s pictures to be coloured but the price was simply unaffordable. Undaunted, I dared to paint one of the black and white photos myself equipped merely with a prior interest in drawing and painting. The result, in my opinion, was quite encouraging. I couldn’t wait to show my handiwork to my friend, the the studio uncle and till today I remember the surprised and appreciative look on his face.

Seeing my interest in the photography, one of my brothers-in-law voluntarily parted with his box-camera. I took the gesture in a big way and participated in ‘Photo Exhibition Competition’, organized in my college, and submitted my entire collection of photographs. I won a consolation prize, not for the quality of photography but for the highest number of the entries made by a single contestant!

To keep up with the rapid pace of technology, I kept upgrading my camera --- a Kodak box-camera to Isoly II to National auto-click, and with age, my subjects changed as well. From cousins, nieces and nephews in the family, my camera had now shifted focus to my own lovely (no photography trick here) daughters, family, friends, parties and travel.

Then came the digital camera, and this caused a major setback to my interest in photography. Perhaps, it was the ease that digital photography lent to this activity. Where was the fun and challenge of good photography, I thought. More importantly, the thought of parting with my dearest and highly advanced Nikon SLR, which was surely to become obsolete soon, was unbearable. I resisted the situation as long as possible and seeing my dilemma, one fine day, my just-married daughter and son-in-law gifted, rather, forced upon me, a digital camera. After using the camera for some time, I became even more possessive about my collection of old print photos as I realized that the advent of the digital age spelled doom for the art of print photography. With this began my exercise of rearranging and reusing photos in an attempt to save them for posterity.

collage for my home

Collage for my daughter

 With the help of my daughter,I got all the photos scanned. With all the photos secured so, I was free to use the prints the way I wanted to. First of all, I segregated the pics to make three collages, one each for my two daughters and one for my own house. The choice of pics for each collage was easy to make as the aim was to capture occasions, people and places that were landmarks in the life of the person in question. The final results were truly amazing, and together with their immense sentimental value, they made great surprise-gifts for both my daughters.

 Then came the idea of recycling my travel pictures, of both long tours with family and weekend-getaways with friends. These photos always got my friends nostalgic and I wanted them all in one place. I decided to make a coffee-table book or `my coffee-table travelogue’ as I call it. It is basically an album. I have arranged the pics in a chronological order in collage-form on individual sheets with small foot-notes. Arranging pics this way made the album more interesting to see and saved the bulk of multiple albums. There are 3-4 types of albums available in the market. I used a loose one in which additional sheets can be added, if need be. The sheet has a self-adhesive surface, where you can stick the chosen photos. When the page is ready, there is a thin transparent film that you must place on the photograph-laden page. This step requires extreme care as you need to press this film from one end to another avoiding air bubbles and creasing. It is a tricky thing but not impossible. The result is there before you to see.

Coffee-table book when open

My Coffee-table Travelogue

 

PARIS

Hi, I am back to share some more of my travel accounts. While going through my photo albums recently, I came across my Paris- trip pics and, immediately, decided to write about my Paris trip. My recently concluded trip of Jodhpur and Jaisalmer can wait.

This time, I will elaborate, about various places through my picture album/slide show. I feel it will make an interesting and illustrative journey.

Allow me to take you on a trip through the awe-inspiring city of Paris. Here, I will briefly elaborate on the must-see sites of the city, and let my slide-show do the rest.

Paris can be divided into five imaginary zones – Old city, new Paris of today, Right/north bank of Seine, Left/south bank and working class Paris.

Old Paris has survived its charm despite the ravages of time, innumerable wars and revolutions. At the same time new projects and redevelopment in recent times have added charisma to the city. The Right and left parts of the city are situated on the two sides of the river Seine.

The capital city is abundant with ancient buildings and monuments that have witnessed not only several battles and revolutions but also the two mightiest of wars ever waged in world history.

One has several options of transport to choose for sight-seeing. Most popular are bus tours, for a two-to-four days’ stay, and the bookings can be done either online through their websites in advance or at one of their bus stops instantly.Before doing booking, please compare the route followed, bus-stops, fare and other features offered by different tour operators and decide on the one that best suits your schedule. Their buses ply on fixed routes and there is an audio guide to inform you about the monuments you see to your left or right while sitting in the bus. You can get down at various tourist sites, see the place at your own pace, come back and take the next available bus of the same tour operator. Cool!

When in Paris, one must also experience the joys of cycling. The city first introduced its bike rental scheme in Aug’2007. `Paris’s Velib’ or freedom bike scheme turned cycling into a fad instantly. `The Velib’ or the `Velorution’ added Paris to the league cycling pioneers like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo and Lyon. These bikes are excellent in quality and environmental-friendly. (Refer pic for more info)

Besides, one must also make a cruise trip of Seine River, as the river has twenty one beautiful bridges connecting two halves of the city. These bridges were built at different times as the city and its needs grew. Moreover, it offers a scenic view of the major tourist spots that lie on its banks.

It is always better to hire an audio guide wherever it is available.

Old Paris will basically be the major consideration of a tourist’s agenda as it offers many historical sites which are architecturally very grand, viz.-

 Notre-dame cathedral-The symbol of Gothic Paris, it was founded by Bishop Maurice in 1163 and took200 years to complete. Its huge size was unmatched until other cathedrals were built in 1230. It was damaged during the Revolution and its gothic status was restored post 1845. In 1991, it was declared a Unesco World Heritage site.

One must obtain the brochure available at the site to fully understand and appreciate the layout of the structure. Specially look for- Chimeras, finial, Belfry and the Great Bell (the largest bell with the deepest sound), chalices, cups and crosses. The visit requires an hour on an average. If you choose to ascend the towers (400 steps and no lift), be sure you are very healthy.

P.S. Victor Hugo’s famous novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, published in 1831, was a huge success as it coincided with a general interest in the medieval monuments at that time. Later, another book, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown evoked the curiosity of visitors in the Pyramid at the Louvre, museum itself and the Mona Lisa, in particular and the Notre Dame.

 The saint-Chapel- A 13th century chapel today, is surrounded by other contrasting modern building complexes.

 The Palais-Royal

 The Louvre Museum and The Pyramid – The Grand Louvre Complex is the largest complex of museums in the world today. Minimum time one needs to even look around the whole place is one day; for genuine art connoisseurs, sky is the limit.

 The Vendome – the square with the central column

 The Pompidou centre – A modern structure situated in the heart of the old Paris and surrounded by old buildings.

 The town Hall – A fairly accurate reconstructed building after the original was burnt down during the Paris Commune of 1871.

The Left bank has-

 The Invalides – In addition to the invalides Hospital, it has the Monsart Dome with Napoleans tomb and Military office and museum.

 The Sorbon Quadrangle and the Sorbon Chapel – The University site

 The Odeon Theatre

 The Pantheon – The church of Saint Genevieve, now the resting place of Victor Hugo and Jean Moulin

 The pond in the Luxembourg Gardens – One of the principal attractions for children

 The Observatory – Built in 17th century, the Paris meridian cuts through the exact centre of the building whose four sides are oriented to face the four directions.

 The Montparnasse Tower – This is a conspicuously visible high-rise modern structure in an otherwise city of low-rise buildings.

 The National Assembly

 The Eiffel Tower – This name is now synonymous with Paris

 The Saint Sulpice Church – It has some paintings and sculptures by famous painters and sculptors.

 The Jardin Park and the Maze – A garden on a hilly ground with a spiral promenade and a complicated sundial with the cheery inscription, ``I count only the happy times”.

 Roman Thermal Baths and The Cluny Museum

 The Senate and its gardens – Originally a palace built for Catherine de’medici, resembling the Pitti Palace in her native Florence.

Right Bank – Has considerably more recent buildings than those of the Old Paris. To the south of the Triumphal Way which passes through the Triumph arch, it extends to the areas having restaurants, sports arenas and grand avenues.

 The Triumph Arc and The Triumph way

 The Concorde – one of the finest squares of the city with its famous obelisks

 The Grand Palais and the Petit Palais – the central place for the 1900’s World’s fair and many other famous exhibitions, these palaises are very ornate.

 The Russian Church- a five- domed Russian Orthodox church

 The Opera Garnier

 The Trocadero Palace – Built more recently for world exhibitions, this place now houses several museums and is also noted for the quotes from Paul Valery carved on its walls.

 North-eastern Paris of the working class – Built largely on a hilly terrain, this part is more of historical importance compared to the remaining city which mainly boasts of architectural excellence.

 The Gare De Lyon – a 210-feet high clock tower is a monument to the great era of railways.

 The Opera Batille and The July Column

 The Sacre-Ceor Church at Montmartre

 The Pere-Lachaise Cemetery – This final resting place of innumerable celebrities has become an open air museum of funerary art due to diverse styles of the tombs made over centuries.

The New Paris – This part was basically developed much after the World War II. The new and modern constructions and renovation and redevelopment of some of the earlier structures are now favourite landmarks of the city.

tHE mAD mAD wORLD OF mEDICINE

Dedicated To The....

``Mumbai is not the right place to fall sick,” announced my friend while introducing me to the city. It left me confused. I thought to myself, ``is there a right place to fall sick? Why on earth would anyone like to fall sick, anywhere?" When I asked her what she meant by that, she just waved it aside saying that I would understand when I would have my first encounter with a doctor in Mumbai. So far, I had only heard of encounters between Mumbai police and underworld gangsters, but an encounter with a doctor? Sounded strange! When I voiced my thoughts to my friend, she told me that the doctors were as good (rather bad) as gangsters in extorting money from their victims (oops... patients) because their charges were exorbitant and simply unaffordable.

The day was not far when I actually had to see a doctor, after settling down in Mumbai. At the appointed time, I reached the clinic with some apprehension. While in the waiting/reception area, I broke into a conversation with other patients. I was dismayed to learn that the doctor had given the same time-slot to three more patients! ``This doctor must be very competent and busy,” I tried to convince myself and people around me. ``Nothing of that sort,” said one of my co-patients (who shared the appointment time with me). ``Most of the doctors do this to create this impression of being in great demand.”

After waiting for an hour, I was called in. I was impressed by the very clean and hygienic look inside, I must admit. One gets to see such sterile look only in movies. I was asked to sit. Expecting questions about my condition and ailment, I was taken aback when the doctor began with, ``who referred you to me?”

I was startled and before I could gather my senses, pat came the next question, ``Are you working?”

``Yes, of course. I am a housewife. I slog 24/7 hours to look after my family.”

``In that case, where does your husband work?” he asked blatantly, without appreciating or sympathising with me on my work conditions.

I gave a puzzled look, as I wondered what relation my husband’s job had with my condition.

He added quickly, ``I mean whether in a public sector or a private company etc., and whether you get your bills reimbursed.”

I had to tell him, albeit reluctantly, that my husband was a banker. Finally, the `doctor’ somewhere within him woke up and he enquired about my health and condition.

As I started off with my list of problems, I noticed that the doctor was least attentive to me and was vigorously jotting something down. He had prescribed me a long list of medicines and a couple of lab tests before I had finished!

I asked, “Am I to go for the tests first?”

``Hmmm. You can start the medicines right away; go for the tests at your convenience. But you must undergo these tests, just in case....” he left me nervous at the complexity of my disease.

At the reception, the lady had already prepared a receipt-cum-bill for a handsome amount. Having parted with the amount, I left the clinic with a heavy heart and a lighter purse. On my way back home I pondered as to how the receptionist knew that I would ask for a receipt for the payment made, as my husband was enititled to get a part of such medical expenditure reimbursed from his employers. What the doctor was inquiring in his cabin, made sense to me now and presented a perfect picture of telepathy between him and his receptionist.

After a few days, I had to take my younger daughter to a dentist. An old filling had come off and needed to be redone. The dentist examined my daughter’s teeth and uttered something, which sounded quite alarming and compounded my fear and premonition that my daughter was in for a long course of treatment. Although the doctor sounded quite sympathetic towards the patient, the expression on his face didn’t quite reflect that. To me, he appeared quite thrilled and ready for his kill. For a while, I thought that I was becoming too suspicious by nature. But my fears came true as I was explained an elaborate treatment plan. After a treatment covering ten to twelve sittings and stretching over a period of five weeks, I came to know that the doctor had gone to Europe on a holiday tour, leaving my daughter high and dry in the middle of her treatment with a few freshly dug openings and canals, not unlike BMC leaving dug pot holes and roads before the onset of monsoon. Anyway, it was a much needed commercial break for the doctor ((literally). My daughter is a sweet, charming and accommodating person. Though not endowed with a very good set of teeth which can launch a thousand toothbrushes of all shapes and sizes and toothpastes of all hues of a rainbow, she’ll nevertheless have a `million dollar’ smile by the time she leaves the clinic or Mumbai, whichever happens first.

My elder daughter, who is a computer graduate, suffers from recurring bouts of backache. Recently, I took her to one of the city’s leading orthopaedic surgeons. The reception room had a portable TV mounted on a wall just below the ceiling, to entertain waiting patients. It was placed at such a convenient (or strategic?) height that everyone was able to watch the TV, but only by giving a slight twist to one’s neck. By the time my daughter went in for consultation, I had a stiff and sprained neck. I had no option but to take an appointment for myself too. What an idea!(Sir ji). The long list of degrees, the doctor held to his credit, looked like an anagram of the English alphabet to me. I could decipher only two of his degrees. One was MD to `ensnare’ prospective patients! And the last in the list but not the least was an MBA! (That explained the position of TV set). When I narrated this incident to one of my friends, she told me of the innovative ways pursued by some doctors to manage substantial turnover of patients.

Everyone knows how the smallest ailment, which could best be attended by the family physician in good old days, gets referred to a never ending chain of specialists nowadays.

The veterinary doctors are not far behind in the pursuit of this unholy wealth accumulation. A friend of mine had a pet dog. One day, the poor dog just collapsed. My friend took the dog to its regular veterinary doctor to confirm its death. The doctor put the dog on the examination table and went inside for a while. He came out holding a cat in his arms. The vet left the cat on the table and it walked over the dog’s body. The dog did not move. The doctor thereafter proclaimed that the dog was dead and apologised to my friend for his inability to save the poor creature. At this moment of grief, my friend asked the doctor with hesitation whether she had to pay some money.

The doctor said, ``Yes ma’am, you may pay rupees three thousand and five hundred only.

``Rupees three thousand and five hundred?” asked my bewildered friend.

The doctor confirmed, ``Yes, rupees five hundred as my fees and three thousand for the cat-scan!

Note: All characters except the dog and the writer of the article are fictitious and any resemblance in real life to any doctor or patient is purely coincidental!

Recycling invitation and Greeting Cards

Wedding bells are in the air. Invitations have already been pouring in by the dozen a week. Most of the cards are so beautiful and innovative in design that I don’t feel like throwing them away after the wedding is over. I have found a way to recycle them by using my art and craft skills. I put these cards to different use depending on the design, size and material of the card. I share here a few of my creations—

This picture of Ganesha in the frame was the front cover of an invitation card. I carefully removed all the thin sheets attached inside it. I was left with this neat, square and thick sheet with a Ganesha embedded on it. I knew what I had to do and I just did that. I got it framed!

 

Most of the card covers I have been using to make gift envelopes to put cash, cheque, or gift vouchers. It just requires a pair of scissors to cut out the right portion with the best design possible for the envelope, an adhesive to seal or paste sides and a fancy thread to tie on the cover. This is very easy and as you can see yields interesting and eco-friendly results.

The leftover parts and cuttings of the cards can be used to make book-marks and compliments/message cards.

My creations are also up for your purchase and proceeds will go to charity. Please leave a comment if interested.

TEENAGE TEENACHE

To take a break from my travelogues, I want to share an article I wrote sixteen years back for a women’s magazine for their teenage special issue. My elder daughter had entered her teens that year only. This is the time when most teenagers are trying to come to terms with the various Bio-physiological and Psychological changes going on inside them and reaction to these sudden changes is manifested by resisting to their external environment. The most common reaction is their social behaviour, like, not taking advice from elders kindly and the tendency to do the opposite against their advice in a hurry to be called grownups, independent and worldlywise. Surrounded by teenagers, my daughter and her peer group, who all behaved in a similar manner, I found it proper, then, to put down on paper what I observed about them.

My story----Teenage Teenache

Summer vacations had started. I had to face the same old question from my teenage daughter that she had been asking for the past two years.

``Why don’t you let me make something in your kitchen, mom? All my friends know atleast two to three basic dishes to make. How come their mothers allow them to cook?”

Their mothers must be brave enough to have allowed them to enter the kitchen, I thought to myself.

``Okay, you will be allowed to do some cooking this vacation if you first learn to arrange washed dishes on the kitchen rack without dropping any.” I knew this was not an easy feat for her to perform with her head always moving to the music of A.R.Rehman and her feet tapping to the tune of MTV. Contrary to my expectations, the challenge was accepted. The sound of the falling vessels lessened by the day and on the eighth day she dropped only a spoon. At that stage she requested (read forced) me to allow her to cook on that day itself as according to her, dropping of one small ,unbreakable, steel spoon was an ignorable mistake. Moreover, a friend of hers was coming over to spend a day. As I felt she was looking forward to some support from her, I had to submit.

Finally the auspicious moment arrived. The girls (including her younger sibling) started to discuss the menu for the meal. I overheard her friend cleverly suggesting to make `Pav-bhaji’. The idea to decide on pav-bhaji was to choose something which sounded like a two dish meal but actually involved cooking the bhaji only.

``Cool”, I thought.

The mission started.

On overhearing some argument I went in to check whether they needed any help.

``So, what is going on young ladies?” I enquired.

``Photosynthesis”, pat came the reply.

``Photo...... what!” I was shocked. Slowly it dawned on me that what they meant was food-making, and the term was picked from the plant world.

I left the kitchen in desperation but kept myself in hearing distance as I thought it would be interesting to listen to some teenage lingoand to know what they were up to.

Next, it was time to put spices, I could hear. When they opened the masala-box, there was a short pause as they studied its contents, cluelessly.``Forget about their names yaar”, said her friend.

``Let’s start with the red powder. Don’t you know all curries look reddish in colour?”

``Oh yeah”, agreed my daughter, appreciatingly.

``Now step-by-step (really?) let us add all other powders too. Here we go ! One measure spoon of green masala, one of yellow and one of black.”

``Don’t you think it is darkish?” asked one.

``You are right, what do we do now?” wondered the other one.

In the meantime, my younger daughter, aged eight, who had joined them out of curiosity, came forward with a suggestion. (She had recently joined a painting class).

``My drawing teacher says, if you want to lighten some colour, add white,” she parted with the information.

``Lo and behold! There is a white masala in the box,” screamed her friend with joy and put one measure spoon of salt in the curry.

Impressed by the application of one’s textbook knowledge in situations like these by her younger sister, the older one was inspired and corrected her friend instantly, ``Hey, come on, this white powder is the chemical sodium-chloride which we use in the school lab,” Now it was her friend’s turn to be impressed!

Bhaji was almost ready. (So they thought!) They asked the younger one to have a look for expert comments.

``Humm’’ she said feeling important “Don’t you think it is too watery?” she opined.
``Yes we know that,” said both the seniors admittedly hiding their irritation. ``We know that the last step of any cooking is still left and that is evaporation,”

``Food is ready”, came the announcement in chorus, loud and clear. ``And Mamma is going to have it first. (``Oh my God”, I panicked.)

``It is alright, dear ones. Since you have put in so much of effort, I won’t mind if you make a first move. I will join you shortly,” I said politely. ``It smells and looks tempting” I added not to hurt them.

So all three of them tasted one spoonful each from the dish and my elder daughter exclaimed in horror, ``Oh mom, why can’t I make things the way you do? How are you so perfect in everything?”

``Never mind”, I sympathised. ``It is a matter of approach”.

``When your approach or attitude towards a task is right, everything gets right.’

A matter of approach...attitude”? What do you mean?”

``Errrr.... I mean a matter of principle” I added cautiously.

``What? A matter of principle?”

``Look girls, I, as a teenager, always tried to do things the way my mother did. And you modern day teenagers always try not to copy (by principle) what your old fashioned mothers do. Generation...g.ap...ya...know!”

``Anyway don’t get disheartened, there is always a second chance.” I tried to console them and reduce their guilt at the fiasco.

``Disheartened? What do you mean?” She retorted.

``Take it easy my child. What I meant was, you know,” I added hesitatingly, ``at your age, I could cook for the whole family without any outside help.”

Her friend glared at me.

``What is the big deal mom? At your present age also you are doing the same. But when I will be thirty, I will be well placed in a company and earning well for a family.” She argued.

``Agreed, but cooking is still......”

``Leave that for the men folk. Mom,” she cut me short.

``What? Come again?” I was amused at the idea.

``It is women’s liberation, you see!” quipped the junior.