31-10-2008 - End of (useful) life

This belt would've seen 5 years on the job in a few days' time. First the phone (which hasn't yet reached EOL actually), and then this. Now my wife has started entertaining doubts that I'll ditch her in another 4 years' time! Hey, I didn't ditch my belt or phone. They ditched me!

30-10-2008 - The sword is mightier than this pen

29-10-2008 - Entry to gymnasts only

It doesn't show up very clearly in this picture, but none of the side berths in this particular compartment (a very old AC 2-tier coach) feature steps to help one get into a side-upper berth.

28-10-2008 - Age no bar

Age can only slow one down physically. Spirit is always indomitable.

My grandfather is usually a very quiet man, and this is how he expressed his great happiness at having my wife and I around on Deepavali.

27-10-2008 - Two-in-one

Or one-by-two, whichever you prefer. I've reached a stage in this PAD effort where just about anything goes. Please bear with me.

26-10-2008 - To be fit and safe

300 up, incidentally!

25-10-2008 - Enjoying the rain

24-10-2008 - On and off

23-10-2008 - Just another day

...in the IT capital of Asia.

22-10-2008 - Oriental silhouette

21-10-2008 - What are we supposed to believe?

20-10-2008 - Branches, loops and deadlocks

19-10-2008 - Birds at twilight

Don't be fooled by the colour. This is another fine example of how even a modern camera's auto white balance can be tricked by conditions. Quarter of an hour or so later, though, the sky really took this colour, albeit much darker. It's a constant game of one-upmanship between nature (human eye) and engineering (AWB).

18-10-2008 - Clean sweep

Well, almost.

17-10-2008 - Springs

Seeing this reminded me of many things - giant springs, transformer coils and other industrial stuff.

16-10-2008 - Clean teeth, dirty brush

15-10-2008 - Zor lagaake

14-10-2008 - Don't use more force

Use a larger hammer.

13-10-2008 - Seeing red again

A different kind of red this time.

12-10-2008 - Affection

That's my friend Mohit totally lost in his new pet Joey, an 8 week-old Golden Retriever pup. It was difficult to take a clear picture of Joey because he just wouldn't sit still unless he had something to chew on. Here you can see him content chewing Mohit's right index finger.

11-10-2008 - Roadblock ahead

Sometimes, especially when I'm not driving, I don't want divided 6-lane highways without speed limits. I just want to amble along and enjoy the scenery.

This picture was taken between Kothagudem and Vijayawada. Hot and humid as hell outside, but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.

10-10-2008 - Garden at night

My in-laws have this wonderful garden at home. Oh, the joys of living in a small town where time and space are not at a premium!

09-10-2008 - Dasara fireworks

They have this grand and very creative (ground-effects such as the spinning tree and hissing, spitting snake) display of fireworks just before the Ravana samhara in the colony in which my in-laws live. I couldn't get good pictures last year. This year was better.

08-10-2008 - Bridge over calm water

One of the many bridges over the irrigation canal that accompanies the road from Tenali to Vijayawada. I caught this shot "blind" (without looking through the viewfinder) out of the window of a moving car. I'm pretty glad at the way I lucked out.

07-10-2008 - Rat-infested KGBS

I think there were more people than rats and cockroaches at KGBS (Kempe Gowda Bus Stand, or Majestic as it's called but definitely not what it looks like) today because of the coming long weekend.

I even had a flying cockroach crawl over me (didn't notice it for a while).

Painful night -- I sprained my ankle while scouting the busy and haphazard platforms for any sign of our bus, which eventually got delayed by 3 hours because of the traffic jams caused by the hordes of people and vehicles.

06-10-2008 - CFL through frosted glass

05-10-2008 - Wind power

Self-explanatory, I guess.

04-10-2008 - Settling in for the night

Unfortunately, I disturbed it.

03-10-2008 - Woof, woof!

02-10-2008 - Chocolate chess, Singapore style

I love hazelnut!

01-10-2008 - Found it!

Touchdown from (especially international) travel always entails a frantic search for that one small key which was pushed into some pocket of some bag in the hustle and bustle of a security check at the airport.