Currency of life

is time. Currency of survival is money.

Recalling how we spent our time will determine in a big way the extent of our satisfaction when we would start leading a largely inactive life.

Fuzzy Logic? No, Fuzzy Duck!

Those in Ahmedabad and read Ahmedabad Times must've seen this ad. The size compels you too. And if it holds your attention, you must've noticed the name. FUZZY DUCK.

FUZZY DUCK?! I check my eyes every time I see the ad. Must admire the audacity. Not sarcastic here. Of course, with their spends and audacity, they could think of better branding efforts surely. I really want to see how they fare.

Don't see it, so don't feel it, so don't do it

That's the reason for laziness.

There's only so much that our memory can hold for us. When I don't see the list of tasks that I need to complete, sometimes I don't even begin until a few days have passed. 

Alternatively, when the laptop screen is the only thing we see - in that the facebook or the twitter screen - that's what we get reminded of, that's what we feel and that's what we do.

What does my click-ready mind tell me?

That it's easy to stare at the screen than do any other thing when awake. That to look like working, it's easy to keep clicking here there and everywhere and keep checking nonsense too. That after a day full of clicks, mind's tired but there's no satisfaction.

How long should a table be?

8 feet.

Left-hand-side half for laptop, printer and whatever other gadgets. Right-hand-side half to place open notepads, books or magazines. The arrangement might be the other way round for those writing with left hand.

1.5 ft for printer. 6 inches of empty space. Then, 2 ft for laptop+mouse. 4 ft. in total for gadgets. Remaining 4 ft. for the real things.

Try this if you have that kind of space and you'll see how efficiency improves. Mind you, this is the work-space. Stock-space should be considered separately.

The Skill of Anticipating

I've been trying to click birds in flight for the last few days. I am so wont to simply switching the camera on and start clicking that it has taken a little while to remind myself to prepare before clicking.

Well the thing is I couldn't quite grasp what it means 'to prepare' either. So after switching the camera on, I would adjust the controls and get ready. I couldn't click any great pictures.

Then I realized that like I have my moods, these birds also their moods. Like I give some indications of movements, they also indicate a few things provided I am willing to read.

So I tried reading the indications, and thereby, anticipating the direction of the birds' movements. For that I had to keep the camera aside for a while and just watch. And then I adjusted the position and settings of the camera accordingly. I left ample space in the frame to capture the birds' movements in a certain direction. I took a few decent pics, by my standards.

Next, I figured that it's important to place oneself in a certain manner vis-a-vis the bird and the source of light. And I figured that to place oneself one has to move. Move quite a bit on legs. Because you see birds have moods and they swing more than we can imagine. They don't pose. They simply move. Faster than the trigger. And to get a great shot you got to have legs to help you. Or the sense to place yourself precisely at the point where you know the bird will perch and offer a super pose. To sense the point, you would need your legs to develop that sense.

Rufous Treepie

I just had an excursion in the neighborhood.

Over the last many days, I've been sharing pictures of the birds that play around wherever I am. What started as developing photography skills results into this.

By about 4pm today, I was bored. Like I've tried filling every empty moment off late, I set out photographing birds, more specifically birds in flight, more specifically Black Kite in flight.

I reach this neighborhood stretch lined with a lot of trees and empty landscapes. I find all sorts of birds perched on the electric wires and the trees and I forget the 'Black Kite in flight'. I spot a White-breasted Kingfisher and a flock of Rosy Starlings singing in liquid notes. I start clicking...

I go further. I find some 30 Peacocks together roaming around in a field. Laughing Doves, Mynas, Ravens, Bulbuls, Black Drongos, Parrots, Black Cormorant, White Egret, Shikra... Until I find this. Rufous Treepie (also called Indian Treepie).

No. I didn't know the name until half an hour back. I had never ever seen this bird until this excursion. I stood astonished by its colors and its presence so near to me. I read a bit about it on the net and am stumped by my ignorance of it for a good 30 years of my life. Beaten hollow.

That's the point. I could see the landscapes on this stretch getting ready for new construction, for the growth of our city. For most, it seems pigeons are birds and birds are pigeons and pigeons are pests.

What's incredible is that as children when we are at our curious best, we are taken to zoos and museums but we aren't made aware of what lies right beside and around. As children we have no cognizance of the numerous remarkable life forms that exist around us. And then on many occasions we marvel at their fetish for mobile phones and video games and insensitivity in general.

I am literally dumb-founded. I can't change the course of life and the 'lifestyles'. But here's a simple thought. Like kids learn about apples and bats and cows from visual books, they can learn about a variety of life-forms. Through toys. And I imagine soft toys in all shapes and forms of birds and animals. I said 'all', not just teddys and doggies (no offence meant to teddy-lovers and dog-lovers).

Am sure the kids would evolve to appreciate life and life-forms before they develop the desires for objects and gadgets.