Manish Dhingra: Photolog

9/11-The sculpture that said it all

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 19:13:11 GMT

I took this picture when I was visiting Ground Zero-WTC, New York City,last year.

"For three decades this sculpture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center. Entitled, the sphere, it was conceived by artist Fritz Koenig as a symbol of world peace. It was damaged during the tragic events of September 11, 2001, but endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of the country. The Sphere is a temporary memorial to all those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

An eternal flame was ignited on September 11, 2002 in honor of all those who were lost. Their spirit and sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Disturbing the eco-system through Pigeon Feeding.

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 18:07:28 GMT

It’s been a while since I updated my Photolog. Being mostly at work doesn’t give me enough opportunity to venture out and catch sites worth shooting with my humble cybershot.

At various parts of the world, you would see sites which would be major tourist destinations because what would be seen there are Pigeons, flocking together, people feeding them. Makes for quite a picturesque site when someone runs and the flock separates itself. Some examples of such places are London (Trafalgar Square), Venice (St. Marks Square) and Mumbai (outside Victoria Terminal).

However an anti-pigeon policy forced these feathered beings to find other avenues for food at these tourist destinations. The picture attached is of one of the apartments below mine. No anti-pigeon policy here though and no tourist spot this as well. In India feeding pigeons is more out of following customs and trying to please the gods like Kamadeva (The lord of love).

What this does bring to light however is how much of a hygiene issue feeding pigeons in this manner is. As you can see in the picture, there are pigeon’s droppings all around on the rain sheds. There have been instances where dead pigeons have been found lying around. This poses as a major environmental hazard also because we are disturbing the eco-system by feeding these pigeons. In essence their food finding capabilities are going to get affected.

Besides this, the pigeon droppings are highly corrosive and a host for many bacteria. Contamination of food by Pigeon droppings can spread infectious diseases such as Salmonellosis, Tuberculosis and Ornithosis to the humans.

If Maneka Gandhi and the people of PETA are reading this, then please take some action as also all those concerned about the cleanliness of the buildings, I really don’t think this humble post of mine will change too many things, even though I wish it could.

Cashing in on the Craze

Sat, 16 Apr 2005 18:27:31 GMT

We keep on hearing about global brands opening up in India every now and then. So whether its apparel majors like Armani, Swatch, Levis or Nike, or fast food joints like McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken, every one is keen in expanding in India in a big way.

The reason for all these brands opening up in India and growing is because the markets elsewhere, whether in Europe or Americas are pretty much saturated. Whereas in India, not only has the buying power of the people increased immensely, but also the craze for these brands is extremely strong.

A visit today to a newly opened mall, near my residence in Pune brought out these facts pretty clearly (See Picture). No, these are not a set of people admiring the interiors of the restaurant, but these are people queued up waiting to order. Yes you guessed right, the queue stretched way way outside the restaurant and was about 500 meters long, and this is the length outside the restaurant I am talking about, add another 20 meters, at least inside.

Phew...talk about craze for KFC. I can only co-relate this craze with that seen on Thanksgiving weekend in the USA, when people queue up outside shops at 2-3 AM waiting to cash in on the best deals when the shops open.

Speaking of KFC, PepsiCo (which owns brands like Pizza Hut and KFC) has had its fair share of trouble opening up in India. Its first store which opened in Bangalore’s popular Brigade Road-MG Road intersection was pelted with stones, in a mob violence which aimed at condemning all foreign brands. This was almost about 10 years ago. PepsiCo rebuilt the joint and continued, and I guess something similar followed suit a few months later. The next outlet which had opened up in Delhi was forced to shut down because the FDA felt their kitchen lacked basic sanity and a cockroach was seen in their kitchen. This led to KFC being a brand not seen as commonly as a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut in India. However that seems to be changing.

As kids, KFC was mine and my brother’s favorite fast food joint. So I hope to visit it soon, however if you think I would stand in such a long queue to savor what Col. Sanders has patented, Fried Chicken cooked under pressure…fat chance of that happening!!

When a Chihuahua taught me a lesson

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:25:35 GMT

A Chihuahua is a miniature dog, a dog which you can carry on your pocket. Now I am no expert on dogs actually , infact I used to detest dogs as pets until last year when my cousins got a pet dog, which was absolutely adorable as a puppy and even today is really adorable.

Anyways, the other day I was on an after dinner stroll in my complex when I saw this really small dog with it's owner. Of course the dog was out for a stroll too, and to do stuff which only male dogs can do (yes I mean pee with your one leg in the air).Thinking it was a cute puppy and who doesn't love puppies I went close to caress it. The dog was leashed so I was kind of thinking how cruel this owner is to leash such a small creature.

I was about 5 meters away from the dog, when it growled really bad and almost jumped at me with so much ferociousness that I just saved my hand from being eaten up.The guy who had the leash too, was pulled a couple of steps at the force which the dog exerted when it pounced at me. Such ferociousness from a puppy, no way something was wrong.

I was keen to enquire, was this dog on steroids or something ? The guy with the leash then told me that it was a chihuahua, and chihuahua's even when they reach their maximum size are smaller than cats. Boy..have a look at the picture if you don't believe me.

But this really taught me a lesson, no matter how small or tiny you are , if you have guts, grit and are a braveheart, even the strongest will fear you, cause everyone is afraid of getting hurt. So who ever said "size does matter", size deficiency can certainly be eclipsed.

Yo Akihito are you listening ?

Cramped for space and whats more...a 1 Lac car

Mon, 31 Jan 2005 16:07:25 GMT

Tata motors and Ratan Tata are coming up with a car that would cost a mere Rs. 1 lakh (approx $2230), which would appeal to the Indian Middle class (Read here). Does our infrastructure have the capability to handle such a huge inflow that this car could create, our roads are already plagued with burgeoning vehicular pollution. Leave alone big cities like Delhi and Mumbai, places like Pune are beginning the feel cramped for space.

The attached picture is the view from my apartment. As you can see the cars are parked anywhere, none of the parking spots you see are actually parking spots, and my apartment complex is supposed to be one of the more spacious ones in Pune.

Mr. Tata, I know you are an entrepreneur but it's about time you start thinking about strategies which are a win-win for all, give us better public transport, something like a electric tram service or a bus service which runs on electricity, save vehicular pollution. I don't know how the apartment complex where I live in would be like, one year hence, after the 1 lac car comes in,one thing I know, it would certainly be a room with a view.

This is the first of the series of Photologs, do let me know what you think about it