May 21, 1991. Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. Indian politician, Rajiv Gandhi, assasinated while campaigning for the then upcoming elections.

Come to think of it, the memories of this shocking news are still fresh in my mind. I had woken up late that day - summer vacations, so no school. And then people at home were talking in sad voices. Our maid was talking & crying at the same time. I looked out of the window and found few men with a gloomy look, standing outside someone else's home. On enquiring from my aunt as to what has happened, got to know that Rajiv Gandhi has been assasinated while campaigning for upcoming elections. By a LTTE suicide bomber. I was in tears.

Till date, he has been the only politician whom I found with the 'need' and 'want' to take India forward. He made reforms that made changes to lives of many common people. He was the one to reduce import quotas, taxes & tarrifs on technology-based industries. He also announced National Poily on Education in 1986, with special emphasis on removal of disparities in education. It was due to his efforts that MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) was created in 1986. Not only that, he was also instrumental in creating public call offices or PCOs as they are widely known as to people in India. PCOs helped rural areas to a lot extent in order for them to connect with others through telephones. There were many other initiatives - for example, reducing the voting age for Indians from 21 years to 18 years.

May 21, 2010. 19th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi. 19 long years. I don't cease to wonder how better India could have been if Rajiv Gandhi was still around as our Prime Minister. Things would have been different. For good.

Remembering Rajiv.

Finally I joined the photography workshop early May. It's been 4 classes already - 50 % of the classes already done. So the way this workshop happens is one theory class, followed by a practical wherein we get to apply what we learnt. We get to go out on photo shoots and then those photos are dissected in the next theory class.
I could have learnt the theory basics from Internet or from a book on photography. However, what I could not have learnt is what is good or not in the initial photos I click. That is what exactly makes a difference.
Last time we went to Jantar Mantar for a shoot. We clicked photos in monochrome; I still need to download the photos & get a print. Will post some photos that were better.

Today morning I missed my office bus. It's so very irritating to find the office transport going 3-4 minutes earlier than the time it reaches. I kept on trying to book a cab for nearly an hour to find out that no cab is available till at least noon. All cabs were overbooked! Finally, after multiple calls and follow-ups - fortunately also - a cab finally arrived earlier than noon. And I am in office earlier than anticipated.
Over the past few months I've realized the importance even more of having own transport for commuting to various places. It's so easy to have a car at disposal - just makes life much easier. Small car is good too. There's no dependency on public transport, such as cabs and autos.
Cabs were a call away till a few months back and they were available readily at a time we needed. Obviously, we had to give them a heads-up call 30 minutes in advance - very much understandable. This has changed now though. The cabs are mostly not available at the 30-minute notice. Even if you call them at 8 AM, the cabs will never be available by 8:30 AM. Cabs are always, by default, overbooked nowadays and the call operators refuse to even take the bookings before 2.5 hours a person calls. So, if I call at 8 AM, cabs are overbooked and I'm asked to call again at 10: 30 AM to check if a cab is available or not! Ridiculous!! What if I have an urgency at home? I need to wait for 2.5 hours before I can act on it?
Autos are even worse. They will, 9 out of 10 times, quote an exaggerate amount to take a person from location A to location B. Their fare meters are never working. And then they also refuse to take people to their destinations if they don't want to!
Wishing public transport was better.

Hi. I was on a one week vacation & I must say it was simply amazing!! I went to few places in Delhi & totally enjoyed it. Walked so much that the footwear I walked in kind of wore off.

One of the places I visited was National Museum, which is one of the places I love going now & then. Earlier whenever I went there, it was with friends or classmates or some family member. And it was more like quickly see and finish the entire museum. A big ground, first, and second floor. To be completed within 1 hour. This time, I took all the time in the world to see everything I wanted to see. And it took me a good 3.5 hours to relish what I wanted to see. Took photos of such beautiful pieces of art. Loved the beauty of our history. I am amazed as to how much effort, time, and creativity went into creating art. Beautifully created deities of Vishnu, Natraj, Devi the Goddess, Kali the Goddess, Deepalakshmi, and so on...

Beautiful beatle cutters..

Arms and ammunitions beautifully crafted - swords, daggers, pistols... I saw a sword that acted as a pistol too!

All this left me wondering - what beauty, art, creativity are we leaving for our future generations? Barring a few good painters, sculptors, & counted architects here, where are the sculptors, craftsmen, and architects who created pieces of art? Or is our art meant only people coming from outside & appreciating the art work of our country?