India : Unlikely Yours

Tired of the same old Tourist twists on what India looks
like in the Entertainment Sections,


Fashion magazines


and in Travel Guides,


I recently decided to search for more realistic and meaningful
photographic captures that pay homage to the seamier side of
life there. The life that I saw as a boy growing up in India, long
before I immigrated to America.

Fortunately, I had a head start when I saw that three of
my Flickr contacts had already paved the way for my quest.
None of them can be pigeonholed, easily related to or
explained. Each one approaches their work from a Mission
standpoint. Each brings the full force of their lens to every
picture, which is a near-unachievable feat in my experience,
an experience not that of a Photographer but that of an adult,
one who has grown to understand and more deeply appreciate
true artistic talent. The kind that speaks directly to the soul of
Man, as I learned from my artist Father.


Firoze Shakir of Bandra, Mumbai has the approach of a
poetic soul and he rips it open, while hoping you won't rip
off his precious, personal mind-boggling collection. I intend
to tell you more about his tremendous achievements at a later
time - if that is ever possible - because I have yet to digest
the brunt of his prolific blogging, photography and outpourings
on Flickr, WordPress, Scribd, Friendfeed, Twitter, etc.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/firozeshakir/collections/


Psychiatrist Dr. Glenn Losack of Manhattan, New York
is a world traveler, Musician, and a National Geographic-
calibre Photographer among other things. A true humanitarian
and a Renaissance man, he was introduced to me online by
Firoze Shakir....they are like two sides of the same coin,
having shot Mumbai street scenes in tandem.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glosackmd/

Another great recent connection made thanks to untiring
Mr. Shakir, is Author Linda Schaefer

who teaches at ECU in Ada, Ok. This lady who has served
as an NYPD photographer and worked with CNN among
other things, considers one of her finest moments to be the
work she did at the Missionaries of Charity, an Organization
started by Mother Teresa of Kolkata. That icon blessed
Linda with her personal permission to shoot what turned out to
be the final photo documents of an exemplary existence.
A Single Mother, Linda tours the country frequently, sharing her
life experiences via speeches and photo exhibitions.
Linda is my idea of a true Renaissance lady.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schaeferphotos/

And finally, to round up my list of great unknowns, may I
present the simply amazing talents of Roland Lubiger of
Dresden, Germany. His son Bertie was an International
Exchange Student living at my sister's place in Pearland,
Texas where I had the opportunity to learn of Roland's Travel
and Photography exploits. While Mr. Lubiger does not
display images in the same vein as the Trinity above, his work
is nonetheless in their league when it comes to quality and
content borne of sheer gusto. From climbing the highest peaks
in the Himalayas to up-close shots of the Komodo Dragons
in Indonesia, from dancing natives in West Papua to the
ruins of mountainous Machu Picchhu, Roland is fittingly
represented by fotocommunity.com

which feels like a broader-based European alternative to
the USA's National Geographic Magazine.

Find more photos like Roland's on Flores eco tourism

Click on all the links. Leave comments, for it is only
with your honest input that these artists receive appreciation,
inspiration and recognition.

From World Globes to Humanitarian GPS

I always love a World Globe when I see one.
Like so many children of my time, I was fascinated by this
intelligent toy/ Educational aid so prominently displayed
in many a living room I visited back in India.

Relatives who returned to India from their work overseas
used the Globe to sneak in many an exciting tale of villages
in Africa; Colonels in the Indian Army leaned back at their desks
and expertly flicked their wrists to outline regions where they
had seen combat, and my school teachers came up with truly
creative ways to incorporate the Globe into subjects other than
Geography and History. The ability to pinpoint a country location
in the shortest time was something we considered a great talent,
simple pleasures in the days before computers, Google
Maps and GPS entered our lives. The importance of these
World Globes have thus receded but their history and unique
designs will always have a respected place in our memories.

Nowadays, it's all about high-speed locating of areas of critical
importance, as we know from the 'pinpointing' of targets in Iraq,
and the locating of missing personnel in similar situations.

Enter MapAction.

' When disaster strikes, getting relief help to the right places
quickly hinges on rapid transfer of information. MapAction
delivers that vital information in the form of maps, created
and distributed in the field. By conveying a 'shared operational
picture', our maps make a crucial difference in delivering
humanitarian aid to the right place to relieve suffering.....
...the fact that relief agencies can 'hit the ground running'
and make decisions based on accurate data can only help to
save lives and reduce suffering.'

This week the UN is deploying a MapAction team in the
African nation of Benin where severe flooding has affected
20,000 or more people in 43 communities.

Click here to find out how you can play a role in keeping
MapAction’s volunteers ready to respond to disasters
around the world.

The Furious Physician

There are tales of despair that I thought would never darken
the pages of this little corner of mine where I share the kinder,
gentler, funnier things that visit my consciousness in life and
online.

And then there is this : masterful images from an extremely
talented individual who has made my acquaintance via
Flickr and Facebook, someone I now count as a friend, even
though we have never met in person.

Like a snail-mail Penpal from the days before email, I share
many interests with him such as Music, Art and the need for
a better place in this world for the folks such as he pictures
in his Flickr sets and on his website.

Visiting his photographs and pondering his words I find many
parallels in my life for I have seen a lot of the misery and
misfortune that has befallen so many of his subjects, and
have personally faced trials similar to what he mentions.

So as a small tribute to Glenn Losack, MD ( yes, he is
really a Psychiatrist ) I have taken the liberty of linking to
one of his recent works

in the hope that sharing his amazing photos will help in
spreading his message of love, compassion and
understanding. Which is what he desires, I gather.

Please visit his website and leave a comment.
and also his Flickr collection here.

My sincere thanks go to Glenn for allowing me the liberty
of uploading the small-sized picture above as a teaser for
you, the viewer. Enjoy !

MJ Rehearsal 2 Days Before Death

A look at what might have been an amazing comeback/final
live performance. I believe he had his talent and spirit pretty
much in control here, true to all the talk about his 'control freak'
behavior. Wish his health wasn't permanently affected by that fire
at the Pepsi commercial shoot. He certainly had the moves in control.


With the sensational Orianthi

on guitar taking it up more than a few notches I think this is a
sizzling moment that serves well as the last bit of live footage
we are privy to there will be more unseen but not unexpected
footage popping out , I'm sure and I hope).

Liberian Girl by MJ

Leave it to Michael Jackson to add a new record to his long
list of accomplishments : he captured more Celebs per frame
than any I can recall in a single music video, back in the
early days of MTV.

First, see how many Celebs you can recognize and then check
out this link to find out who you missed. No marks for spotting
Steven Spielberg, since he's sitting in the Director's chair.

Buzz Aldrin Meets Snoop Dogg !

Buzz Aldrin, the iconic and legendary American Astronaut
who was the second man on the Moon,

seems never too busy to make a public appearance or be
involved with anything in which he's the star of the show.
Unlike the others on that historic Lunar trip, Mr. Aldrin is not
camera-shy or introverted. He's a one-man celeb/star/agent,
engineer and businessman all rolled up into one who takes
everything in stride. Smooth and very calm and cool even when
he's not on camera. But when he is on camera, as you'll see
after you read my story, you'll be amazed, I promise !

In 1996 I was working at the Nassau Bay Hilton in Texas

when a disheveled older man with a rather noticeable comb-over
( I was just giving up mine then ! ) and dressed in a windbreaker
softly stepped up to the Reception Desk and said he had a
reservation. He spoke so unassumingly that at first I thought he
was one of the local cab drivers who hang around Hotels in search
of late-night business. Boy, was I shocked to verify from his Credit
Card that this was Buzz Aldrin, the VIP we had been warned
about and were expecting all along ! That was one of the most
unforgettable Celeb meetings I have ever had, simply because it
was so late at night and there was no one else around except for
the two of us at the Desk. No fanfare, no lights or chaperones or
agents.

I often had to inspect the topmost floor where Mr. Aldrin had a
permanent reservation for the Penthouse Suite, a.k.a the
Honeymoon Suite, when he didn't need it and some couple did.
With a 360-degree view of Nassau Bay, it had an unbelievable
ambience and luxurious touches like a huge round sunken Jacuzzi
spa right in the center. A room that was bigger than any of the
apartments I've ever rented in my life, and one that has always been
a part of the Buzz Aldrin agenda for Houston. Buzz was just a trainee


(see this TIME magazine slideshow here)

when he joined NASA and began staying at the Hilton, he explained
to me once; he preferred the old Hilton over all the other fancy new
Hotels because it is five minutes away from the NASA/ Space Center
Houston complex and it held so many memories of his youth.
Now his lifelong relationship with this landmark hotel is ended, (?)
thanks to a severe hit from Hurricane Ike which created enormous
damage but still left it standing, looking like it had received a few
rounds from a nearby cannon. The lady takes many a beating and
weathers many a storm and it shows.

So that's my little true-life Buzz Aldrin tale, except - as promised -
the latest Buzz on Buzz. At age 79, I find he's taking another giant
unheard-of leap, this time into the world of.....Rap !
Alongside Snoop Doggy Dogg, no less, Buzz looks great

in the studio as he eagerly and swiftly gets into the groove
under the experienced eye of Snoop. What a concept !



Buzz Aldrin website - a must see !
Buzz Aldrin wiki

The Twitter Revolution : Is It All That ?

In the wake of its ubiquitous presence in the past week for
people following the recent Iran elections and the bloody
aftermath that we are now daily witnessing,
has been seen as a symbol of the
Revolution of the young and the restless :

text-messaging addiction has been given the go-ahead as
the lifeline for the world's communication needs. And more
than the 1,000 words that are repeated by the second, there
are the Twitpics,

garnering more 'followers' for the Tweeter who posts pics
faster than the speed of texting. The urgency of such digital
instant relays are indeed amazing to those of us who are
not participants, but is it all that ?

Apparently not, judging by the way those in power in Iran are
showing that they not only can they stand toe-to-toe with the
Revolutionary Tweeting, but they can also micro-control
the generation of what's being sent out to the Twitter world.
Thanks to its earlier investments in technology provided by a
Siemens/Nokia partnership, Iran's ability to monitor,
dissemble and re-assemble user transmissions in milliseconds
is truly phenomenal as is now being revealed in the news.
Tweaking and using this technology during the elections has
made Iran's control of its people more public and fearsome.
The world may be watching, but Iran is able to watch and
increasingly control what is being watched, where and by whom.
How ?

To put it simply, it's legal hacking, something that is a major
selling point for Communications Technology providers. Offering
unlimited data control to their clients is like Spam control
for your email : you have the choice to block or mark messages
as Spam, but it's still limited control. The ingenious Hacker
who gains access to all your Inbox and Outbox info can use your
name and picture to create a whole new profile on say, MySpace
and then ask to be 'added' to a whole slew of that Social
network's users. I myself have to deal with such trickery frequently,
so I can say with conviction that the tricksters may not 'get' me but
they certainly have been successful in enticing hordes of lonely
internet addicts in search of online companionship. The rush of
finding someone who seems to share the same interests, likes
and dislikes often blinds the unsuspecting user, and so it is now
with Twitter.

It's too late to turn back the control that has been provided by the
Technology consortiums. Asked about selling such equipment to
a government like Iran's, Mr. Roome of Nokia Siemens Networks
said the company "does have a choice about whether to do
business in any country. We believe providing people, wherever
they are, with the ability to communicate is preferable to leaving
them without the choice to be heard."

See how caution is the keyword for Twitter users :
at The Wall Street Journal and at The BBC.co.uk

Related :
http://tehranlive.org/
Your ISP Can and WILL Tell All

Ohhh....if you're on Twitter, could you spread this link,
please ? I'd like to see just how many tweets this gets ;-)

WBFO: Tunes4food to Benefit Food Bank of WNY (2009-06-15)

WBFO: Tunes4food to Benefit Food Bank of WNY
(2009-06-15) Shared via AddThis

Thanks Susan Marie !

Blessed Are the Bombay Blind

Many years ago I had a truly memorable experience
when I visited St. Anthony's Home for Orphans
in Pune, India prior to taking part in a Charity concert
to benefit those orphans. Along with three friends who
gladly agreed to perform as 'The Lighthouse Band'

we threw together an evening of 'Gospel Rock' music and
enjoyed ourselves in a way that we never expected, simply
because of the pre-show lunch and visit with the kids at the
Orphanage. To be surrounded by a room full of Orphans
for whom you hope to raise funds, and then to succeed with
a sold-out performance is a most satisfying, humbling and
eye-opening experience. We didn't have many sponsors or
knowledge of fundraising, but we certainly had an inkling
of its impact from that day onward.

Responsible advertising for a Non-Profit Organization
sometimes blossoms into a movement that not only
recoups the expenses of the ad campaign but raises the
subsequent creativity level more than a few notches.
Nowadays the Non-Profit ad arena has certainly been
put front and center thanks to some brilliant design,
maneuvering, and genuinely concerned individuals in
the Advertising and Entertainment industries.
Think Ravi and Anoushka Shankar for PETA,

or Eric Clapton for Children with Leukemia and

you'll see the impact of celebrities on fundraising for
the needy. But it's not always the celebs who make the
difference. Below is a video of a campaign by a Mumbai-
based agency that created a monumental surge in the
effort to help the Blind children of India's oldest
school for the Blind, called Kamala Mehta Dadar
School for the Blind. I will not offer any details about
this video because doing that often detracts not only from
its beauty but also its impact. Enjoy.



Credit where credit is due, to :
Advertising Agency: ideas@work, Mumbai, India
Creative Directors: Zarvan Patel, Prashant Godbole
Art Director: Shriram Mandale
Copywriters: Kartik Smetacek, Roy Abraham,
Tejas Uzgare

Aired: December 2008
See larger version here

Australian Photographer Richard O'Farrell displays some
exquisite portraits of the Blind schoolkids of Dadar here.

Real Age: Are You a Cell Addict ?

I must confess I am not a Parent, Husband or Lover
of Chat, SMS, Texting, IM-ing, Twittering, Beeping

and such things. I use my Cell Phone with the most Basic of
payment options, try to use my Cell only when away from home,
where my good old-fashioned landline works great, even in a
Hurricane-prone area such as mine.

The 2009 season for Hurricanes just began in June. Here in the
Texas Gulf Coast region we expect two major ones to hit and disrupt
our lives and communications once again. Cell phone towers may not
respond as well as expected and the heavy usage of Cell phones at
such times means those phones need juicing up by connecting to car
chargers and alternative power sources . I noticed many frustrated
persons at such times get all stressed-out and restless about making
and receiving calls, and while that was totally understandable from a
family safety standpoint, I couldn't help but wonder how the previous
survivors of Hurricanes in the pre-cell days must have focused on
helping those in the vicinity, instead of spending time trying to work
out Cellphone aggravation like some do nowadays. Which leads
me to this....

I've always considered myself the silent type, not a Cell addict.
So I gladly took the latest test that came along with my email
subscription to


yes....Real Age. Below, my answers highlighted in Red :

The Newest Addiction: Are You Already Hooked?
No.
Think you’d die if you had to give up your cell phone?
No.

Answer these three questions:

1. Are you preoccupied with your cell?
No.
2. Do you use it despite soaring bills?
No.
3. Do you get irritable when you have to cut down on calls?
No.

If YOU said yes, you -- along with countless other people --
may be addicted to your mobile.

In Britain, where cell phones outnumber people, researchers
asked volunteers these and other questions and found that
17% had an unhealthy dependence on their cells.
(And we thought Diet Dr. Pepper was bad!) More than a third
said they were preoccupied with their phones and used them to
lift their moods or avoid facing problems. A whopping 65% said
they continued to use their mobile phones despite mounting bills.
Don’t text your friend this tip yet!

In another study, the same researchers managed to pry the
phones away from a group of frantic addicts. And do you know
what happened? Not complete collapse, meltdowns, and isolation.
Instead, the digitally deprived group actually felt less stressed,
and their blood pressure stopped spiking as high when they
talked about their phones.

Turn yours off and you might find that, gee, you have a pretty
interesting life. Or that you can concentrate better. Or that not
being constantly “on call” is relaxing. Even if you just spent a
fortune on the latest and greatest iPhone, there’s an off button
for a reason. Your body will thank you for using it. And really, that
call can wait.

See how old your Real Age is, click here