The Winter Sun

 

The mellow winter sun filtering into my house! I thought it made a pretty picture, so I fetched my camera and went "click, click!"

Ronnie with his "Terminator" look.

This is Ronnie with me seated at my laptop in the background.

My sister Babyammamma (third from left) with her best friend Rajalakshmi (second from left) and former colleagues at the engagement ceremony. All are retired government servants.

Ronnie (right) with my brother's son Joel at the engagement of their cousin Ancy at the Abbot Hotel in Vashi, New Bombay.

Isn't the bride-to-be beautiful? Ancy with a bouquet on the occasion of her engagement ceremony.

This is ol' grandpop me with my grandchildren at the engagement of my neice (Ancy, in picture below on left with her fiancee Saju and friends). On my left in this picture are Riya and Alby grandchildren of my sister Lillykutty and on right is Neha, my brother's daughter.

The Valley Park, CBD Belapur

 

This is the "Valley Park" where I go for a walk every Morning. In the mornings there is a profusion of bird sounds in this pristine forest land in CBD Belapur.

Dan Performing Dastangoi at the Kala Ghoda Festival

My new Writing Bureau, bought just yesterday!

This is Ronnie from up close.

The Apocalyptic Rain

 

 

Rain clouds outside Vashi Infotech Park where I work!

The Movie Addict's Diary

 

The Movie Addict's Diary - is a special diary, in the collection of poet and architect Savio Lobo, circa early 1900s. It has pages with pictures of film stars of yesteryears, Yul Brynner, for instance. Savio treasures this leather bound diary, which can be held in the palm of the hand, and is so elegantly filled by the owner with addresses of his friends, similar movie buffs, I assume.

Savio also collects old gramophone records, and has a collection of 5,000 of them, all cataloged and in good condition. Savio also collects first day and last day editions of newspapers, a interesting hobby besides writing poetry and designing buildings.

Me and my guitar!

 

This is me holding my favorite instrument, the guitar!

Me, in Saudi Arabia

 

This is me with friends in the residential camp in Saudi Arabia. Trouble identifying me? The guy with the broad smile, looking a bit like Rajnikanth - "The Boss" - is me!

This Building, I Built!

 

This is the building I, sorry, our company, built in Saudi Arabia. It is the head quarters of Islamic Development Bank and is the tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Pictures of Kritya International Poetry Festival

Eminent Malayalam Poet K. Satchidanandan with Indian English poet Mani Rao

These are some pictures of me (reading my poem) and other poets at the Kritya International Poetry Festival. Poets from around the world presented poems ranging from sound poems to wallpaper poems. The Indian contingent was well represented with Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and English poets.

Ronnie's Childhood Album

The Kritya International Poetry Festival, Thiruvananthapuram - Pictures

Me, somewhere in the eighties!

Oh! This is so embarassing and at the same time maudlin nostalgic! This is the way I looked somewhere in the eighties when I was editor of Ambit - The Journal of the Bombay Management Association. I had long hair (: See, son, I had hair then :) even then! Beside me is my trusted remington portable (a gift from JP deSousa (Jr.)) on which I typed editorials of Ambit (not to mention my first short story and articles), which since has rusted so much so that I had to sell it off for a rhyme.

For three years I enjoyed my editorship though I was paid only peanuts, but, those days in Army and Navy Building, Kala Ghoda, were halcyon, no doubt!

Ronnie in the courtyard of our Kerala house

This is Ronnie when he was around eight years old in the courtyard of our house in Kerala. Courtyards in Kerala are filled with sand or pebbles. Our courtyard is filled with sand and that keeps away the creepy crawlies. The weather in kerala being equatorial, there are a lot of these creatures of humidity and warmth around. Anyway, for the picture I used a white towel to get the white glow on Ronnie's face. But the effect wasn't that flattering. Anyway.

A terrible self-portrait

A terrible self-portrait
Originally uploaded by dan_husain

This is Dan Husain's self portrait which he has termed "Terrible." It isn't terrible compared to some of the pictures I have taken. Dan's efforts at spreading the oral tradition of story telling called "Dastangoi" (blog). Drag your lazy selves there for a visit. You would be glad I recommended.

Bombay Readmeet-May 07

Bombay Readmeet-May 07
Originally uploaded by soney

With Abhigyan Jha, the director of the movie "Sacred Evil" at the May 2007 Caferati readmeet.

Our Church in Kerala

This is our recently rebuilt church in Kidangannoor, Kerala. It is unique in the sense that all members belong to one family. A necrophobe, prone to thought of death often, I sometimes have dour thoughts about lying here one day, near my father and mother.

Airplane beverage

Airplane beverage
Originally uploaded by jennie

I am sitting here in the office and wish I could take a sip of this amber liquid. (Courtesy: Jenny)

Bombay Readmeet-May 07

Bombay Readmeet-May 07
Originally uploaded by soney

Reading my short story "The Girl Who Fell in Love with Shahrukh Khan" at the May Readmeet of Caferati (courtesy: Suniti Joshi)

Feeling nostalgic about shifting office!

This is me with the office staff before we shifted office to another part of Vashi Infotech Park. The park is just above Vashi station so it saves me a lot of commuting time. The park is full of open space such as the one where this photograph is taken and the door behind us leads to our old office. Guess nostalgia is something that will always haunt me.

My Bungalow in Kerala

My Bungalow in Kerala is surrounded by lush vegetation including: rubber, coconut, teak, Indian Laburnum, etc. It has all comforts including running water, electricity, gas, etc. In the early morning it is a glorious sight when the sun light falls on the leaves and the dappled shadows falls on the walls of my abode. This is where I repair to for a few weeks, my getaway.

John P Matthew’s getaway

This is Ganga and me at our monthly party. You must have seen him in the Clinic Plus ad (he is the sagely looking teacher who is shown teaching young children about ayurveda and some such thing....). He has also acted in movies and directed documentaries. He is an advertising copy writer (one of India's best) and co-owns a six-crore-billing advertising agency. We were in the same class in Adarsha Vidyalaya, Chembur.

Video of Our Boys on the Ganpatipule Beach

On the Way to Ganpatipule

This is me and my colleagues on the way to the pristine beach of Ganpatipule 200 kilometers away from Bombay. We crested a hill and the view ahead of us was magnificient. So we paused, and posed!

Mercy and Ronnie

My wife Mercy and son Ronnie at a church picnic at Green Hills, Nalasopara.

Me in a Cab

Asheeth caught me in a cab, on the way to an SandC meeting.

Our School Graduation Photo

This photo always breaks my heart. It was a sad parting when we finished our term of 11th standard and parted with our school Adarsha Vidyalaya in Chembur. I am second from left on the last row. My hair was combed in the style of the day (my son doesn't believe I had hair on my skull at all, but I had tumbling locks of hair that I kept long). Ganga is the one with the locks falling over his forehead. We were rivals then as he was heading the Yellow House and I was heading the Green House.

We (Ganga, Sanjeevan, Ajit, Chandran, Anil, Shankaran, Sarasa, Geeta, Felix) relive those happy days by meeting at Ganga's house every month. Nowadays when we meet we are friends and rivalries are forgotten.