I finally made my way to a neighborhood park today. So expect to see some park photos over the next few days. Unfortunately, I shot everything with the ISO set on 1600 (didn’t realize that until I got home) so the noise levels, in what otherwise should have been clean images, are rather high. Oh well mistakes do happen!

Evening falls over the campus of the University of Hyderabad, India, my old alma mater. I fell in love with its campus, especially with the huge rocks and the forms they took. Each shape had a different story to tell. Someday soon I’ll go back and record those stories with my camera.

As I’ve been busy in lab I didn’t get time to go out and shoot. So here is something from the past. This was taken in Bruges, Belgium. It is not a very good picture as the highlights are blown and the framing is not perfect. But what I like about this picture is the period mood sepia brings to it.

Much of the Indian blogosphere is up in arms against the IIPM, a college offering mainly MBA degrees. I will not go into the details of the controversy here. Go to Desipundit if you want to read the details and for an excellent summation of the various viewpoints aired on this issue. But what irks me the most is an educational institution behaving in such a Hitlerarian manner, launching personal attacks and sending dubious legals notices.

Lots of people were wondering why bloggers were being targeted in particular. Would they have resorted to such cheap tactics if a major newspaper had come up with the expose? No, I think not. I think they are attacking bloggers because they think it is easier to browbeat individuals. Perhaps they feel sending legal notcies (of dubious value) will frighten bloggers, most of whom are young people barely out of their twenties. Perhaps, they thought they could limit the damage done to their name by bluntly supressing dissenting voices.

Hello, will you please wake up and smell the reality? The last time I checked India was still a democracy. And to beat a cliche to death democracy means dissenting voices. Instead of resorting to underhanded tactics more befitting a gangster IIPM should look at how false their many (exaggerated) claims turned out to be under the magnifying glass of a courageous reporter. Or, are they so scared that they have nothing to defend that they have to resort to such scare tactics?

It is also gratifying as a blogger to see so many different bloggers coming together for a just cause. The claim that blogging can change the world may not be too far from the mark when I look how this issue is being taken up. As far as I know this is the first time that the Indian blogosphere has banded together for a cause. Let us hope this leads to a change in the way IIPM has been dealing with the issue. At the same time let us bloggers also exercise considerable restraint in how we deal with this whole affair. Let us not run amock with our emotions and egos and crucify the institute. The fact that the future of innocent students at the institution is at stake should be a sobering thought for all.

The last of the series of photos from my garden and balcony, for now. I just can’t get enough of the rich colors of the leaves!

Another shot from yesterday, this time from my garden (actually more like shrub-land!).

A creeper had invaded the balcony of my house and was in the process of overrunning it. So today I finally shook off my lazyness and cleared it off the balcony proper. But the intense autumn colors of the leaves caught my eye and so here they are.

Taken in Bruges, Belgium. Like the unity in numbers here and the endearlingly familiar actions of the two children.

That is the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha, son of goddess Parvati. There is an interesting story behind why he got the elephant head but it is too long to narrate here. He is quite popular as he is supposed to bring good luck and help one to overcome obstacles in life. Oh, and he is also believed to have taken down the dictation of the epic Mahabharata non-stop!

Another one from Brussels, in a church near the Royal Museum whose name I’ve now forgotten. This was me trying to shamelessly imitate a photo which was taken in similar style and was present in the church’s brochure. I shall leave you to pass judgement!