Aparna Shukla

Aparna Shukla

This is an excerpt from my diary. Closest I could get to make you guys feel what I felt.

Tilo was jolted out of her sleep. She was sweating mildly and was still on her bed. She had the same dream again where she falls off a cliff and is shaken up on her bed. Mom says it’s a very common dream and one shouldn’t be scared of it.  

Obviously mom doesn’t care about her, she’s her least favorite child. Arvindo and Rupa di are the one’s she loves most. They are in one team, Rupa di, ma and even the stupid arvindo. She wishes Baba would be home more often to take her side. Baba loves her and that’s why he’s come home only for her birthday with the most beautiful cake she has ever seen; it’s a two storey vanilla with strawberry slices all around it.

The thought of the cake makes her jump out the bed and run towards the kitchen to have a look at it.  She thumps down noisily from the stairs, maa’s reading her morning newspaper. She  bolts into the kitchen so fast that she bangs on cupboard. She looks at maa once but she still is busy reading. Tillo opens the door to the most beautiful cake ever made. She looks at the white icing and the missing strawberry and three big ugly finger marks!

They have had it this time, both of them arvindo and rupa di. She runs out into the garden and yells angrily at arvindo, she tells him how stupid a boy he is but arvindo doesn’t care and keeps looking elsewhere. How can they spoil the cake, her birthday cake! She’s in tears as she turns to rupa di. She shouts at her bursting into tears but that has no effect on di, she’s smiling, not even looking at her.

She calls on for maa. She rushes back to Maa, she’s reading her newspaper,she cries how cruel both her siblings are and  how badly they have spoilt the cake  but  Maa doesn’t care, she doesn’t move, she’s still reading. Tillo angrily tries to push ma to look at her but she still wont move, she’s frozen! Tillo looks out of the window and neither of her siblings are moving. She runs upstairs to wake baba up. There’s no one in the room, baba has left, his luggage is gone. He would now never return. How will she cut the cake now? She thinks, maybe baba died, . She is climbing down to the kitchen when It strikes her how lonely is right now. She starts sobbing out of fear and fat drops of tears roll down her eyes. What would happen now? How will she live alone? As she climbs down the third step her body loses control and she slips. She can feel her body move up in the air ready to hit the stair case and she’s jolted out of her sleep. She was sweating mildly and was still on her bed. She had the same dream again  but  Mom says it’s a very common dream and one shouldn’t be scared of it.  

Vanessa Carvalho

Dikshita Karopady

Brenna Ribeiro

Mamta Kalambe

Brenna Ribeiro

A young woman with whitish make up that makes her look scary stares upwards. She is at a lower level and so its like a top angle shot. Everything around her is dark. She is wearing something that can be called a cluster of white threads. Its looks very much like fur but it isn't.

Still staring she gives a wicked smile and turns around. Slowly then faster she starts spinning around.  All I can see now is the white threads moving in circular pattern like in a washing machine.

This movement suddenly transforms to a relatively straighter movement along a curvy path like a river. From the initial spin of the woman to this, the speed of motion increases at each level.

The river-like movement of the threads tranforms into a real river. And now finally the surrounding is not just darkness. The river flows along small rocks hitting it and creating a splash as it moves ahead.

Now I see the bank of the river. The noise of the speeding waves is gone. The water is moving very slowly, it's more or less silent.

The bank is of mud and small stones. Not too far are hills, many hills. It appears to be evening time. A young women trembling, scared is running down a hill. She is wearing a salwar kameez and has bruise marks. She keeps turning around as though to see something. There are a lot trees and shrubs on the hill. A man is chasing her. He's not too far from her.

He's dressed in a blue kurta and has shoulder length grey hair. He looks straight at me with eyes wide open reminding me of the scary woman's stare.

Another man with the same hairstyle but a few grey strands is now staring at me through a huge glass window. This man is standing in a small room which is on a ground floor.

The room is all wood and glass. The external wall, the internal walls, the flooring its all wood. There is a door and an unusually big window in the external wall, both in glass. Through the glass you can see the full room which is dimly lit and the man is staring.

The same stare that the two men gave is given by a third man. The young man is standing in a narrow lane with buildings on both sides. It is night time. He has the same hairstyle as the two older men but with no grey. He is Shahid Kapoor.

It's early morning in a chawl. Wooden railings and stairs from where I can see doors, many doors. The wood here is of the colour of dark chocolate while that in the wooden house of the second man was coffee color. A woman is putting clothes to dry on a rope. I don't see her face.

*I am the third person in the dream. I don't see myself at any point.
* Blame it on Group 3. I guess all the mystery and horror stories we are working on is spilling onto my dreams. :D

Mamta Kalambe

Sitting alone on an open ground I see this immense landscape that captivates my eyes.It must have been one of the most beautiful sight that has ever met my eyes. Or should I say my mind? Because this was a dream. I wish this was reality. Why wouldn't I! After all reality doesn't seem so beautiful. And to escape reality we often day dream.At least I do.
Now getting back to my dream. This dream was most beautiful one and hence sharing it. However this isn't a recent dream, I got this dream last month. I reminiscence a few scenes from it.

I am lying on a ground, no thoughts in my mind. Absolutely still. I am watching at the expanse of the sky. I know I have seen the sky a million times but it still brings that feeling of ecstasy. The sky for me is a roof which holds the world together as one family. It reminds me that I am not alone here. I share this space with others too.
My arms wide spread, rub against the coarse ground as I move them. The texture of the ground comforts me. I gradually fold my arms to sit upright now. The scene that next meets my eyes is breath taking. I see a white horse towards my left. The horse's tail sways smoothly, its flow just like that of river water. The The movement of its feet are in rhythm to the sounds of nature. Its white colour stands out from the orangish hue of the sunlight in the background. This elegant yet powerful animal transports me to a realm of tranquility. Adoring the pleasant sight of the horse my eyes now move to the green pastures around it. There are parallel rigid trees on the right. A soft sunlight escapes through the branches. The tress evoke a sense of support in me. Now I look around even more, scrutinizing the environment around me. The trees seem to be on the edge of a mountain. The bright sunlight seems to be calling me. I still sit still, mesmerized by this beauty of nature. I still think what lies beyond. Maybe another heaven awaits for me.

I got up with a smile on my face. Thinking it is time to travel, travel in search for the place that I dreamt of. My alarm rings and reality hits me...it was time to get ready for college!

Farah

Nakita Rodrigues

Ex#7: A Study Of Light Contrast

 
The human eye simultaneously registers a wide range of light intensity. Due to their limited latitude, image sensors (ccd's) are unable to do this. The difference in the level of light falling on or being reflected by a subject is called "Contrast". 

When harsh, directional light strikes a subject the overall contrast increases. Indirect, diffused light produces soft, shadowless images with low contrast. Understanding this behaviour of light and the effects it creates makes a huge difference in photography / cinematography. But you still have to make sure that the camera records it accurately, and that’s where an understanding of contrast comes handy.

Contrast is the range of tones between pure white and pure black. Low contrast images have a wide range and appear soft to the eye, while high contrast images have a small range and appear stark. 

For this exercise, I want you to take two photographs using the black and white mode on your camera OR, reducing saturation/colour using photoshop or any such program after you have taken the photograph.

Choose your subject (animate or inanimate) and take one photograph in high contrast light and another one in low contrast light. Post both photographs together with NO written word.
Enjoy! - Ajay

Rememeber :

Your name in "Post" and Name, Contrast in Lables.
Deadline: Sun 5th Oct 6pm.

Ex#6: Dream On!

 
Fed up with SCM and all it's assignments, etc?! Here's your chance to tune out n let your dream world overtake you :)

The celebrated editor Walter Murch has this to say about dreams -
 "Well, although 'day-to-day' reality appears to be continuous, there is that other world in which we spend perhaps a third of our lives: the 'night-to-night' reality of dreams. And the images in dreams are much more fragmented, intersecting in much stranger and abrupt ways than the images of waking reality - ways that approximate, at least, the interaction produced by cutting. Perhaps the explanation is as simple as that: We accept the cut because it resembles the way images are juxtaposed in our dreams."

For this week, I want you to sleep with a notebook n pen by your bedside :) Write down your dreams each night or any night that you remember your dream. Write in as much detail as possible. Choose any dream (or part) that you'd like to share with us here on the blog. If you don't end up dreaming this week, feel free to include a daydream, fantasy, nightmare recurring dream, or any altered state.

Write in an evocative manner, in a way where we can "see" your dream. Choose one that intrigues you! Enjoy. - Ajay

Remember:
- Your name in the "Post"
- Your name comma Dream in labels.
- Deadline: Sunday 5th Oct 6pm

My Favourite 'Back to Roots' post

Firstly, I would like to thank you for posting. I appreciate the fact that most of you dug through your closets, physical space and minds to symbolically represent your memories.

I like the thought behind the photos of Tanmayee, Vanessa, Valencia, Srishti Singh, Farah, Aparna, Mamta, Amanda, Saloni, Nakita, Tejaswi and Arushi. Of these, I liked 2 posts the most. 

One is Srishti Singh's. Her second photo simply steals the show. It made me smile and told me a story even before I read the explanation. The fact that she included the shadow just adds to the nostalgic feel. In the third photo, the angle, the lighting/filters and positioning of the objects gave me a very dreamy, fairytale like feeling. I didn't quite like the first photo.

The other post I liked is Nakita's. The way the first and last picture is taken and the filter used truly invoke a nostalgic feel. I also liked how the bright area at the left is contrasting with the staircase in the third picture. It's very dreamy.

I liked Aman and Sameer's posts the least since they look like they are/they are taken straight from the internet. I liked the thought behind Shobha's photo but I think she could have represented it better.

Well that's from me. If you didn't notice it already I'm quite liking the judging part of this and other subject assignments - appreciation and constructive criticism :-) 

Shivangi Srivastawa

This teddy always makes me remind of my childhood. I got this on my 7th birthday.

Sameer Panchasara

This game Need for speed was very popular when I was a kid. This game always reminds me of my childhood. I cant play this game at present on windows 8 because it does not supports this game. When I was kid I have played this game a lot. I use to play this game for 7-8 hours sometime when.

This is a hand game. When I was in 1st std. i got this game on my birthday. I played this game a lot. This game runs with batteries. When I play with this game for so long time the batteries got over and I have to put new batteries, but my mom does not give me new set of batteries for a long time. 

When I was a kid the only thing I do is sit in front of TV and watch cartoon. I never miss Scooby-doo. I watch it all the day. If this comes for whole day, I watch it for whole day. 

When I was in 7th std. there was a big trend of beyblade cartoon, and beyblade toys were out because of this cartoon. I was having more than 10 sets of beyblades and its battle ground. Me and my friends always had an get together for beyblade battles. Beyblades always makes me remind of my childhood days.

Ex#5: Audio Photographs

For this one, I want you to work in learning pairs, that is, two of you will do this exercise together. Quite simply, Roll No.1 will pair up with Roll No.28, 2 with 27 and so on. (If at last, one person is left without a partner, I could pair up with you).

Think of the ONE place you gravitate towards. Something like your favourite space you like going to at the end of the day, perhaps. A place you like to go, to get away from it "all". A place you feel most comfortable being there. A place you can truly be yourself. Go there at different times of the day and LISTEN to the sounds. Do you feel differently at different times of the day? Write down a list of the sounds you hear each time you go there. Write at length why this space is your favourite place. Make a test recording on your mobile phone. Go into your phone settings and ensure you are at "best" quality.

I want you to capture the ambient sounds without any overt intervention. Meaning, if people are washing utensils at that moment and you don't want it, wait for them to finish. Capture it in a way that will communicate to the rest of us in class the essence of that space that you like so much. Almost like, we should be able to create a a mental image of that place.

Once you are ready to make your final recording, take your learning partner there and let her/him experience the space. Partners, listen carefully! We will be relying on you if we fail to guess the space. If for some reason you cannot go there just before the final recording, go at least once whenever you both can. Obviously, this is not going to be done in 5mins in one day, so please plan and enjoy the process as well.

The final recording needs to be of 60seconds MAX. We will not play back recordings longer than a minute due to time constraints, so please cooperate. I want you all to maintain a log of this exercise from the moment you start thinking of it.

Deadline: 6pm Sunday Sept 15th.
Remember: Only your name in the "Post" and "your name comma audio photo" in labels. All of you pls ensure you use any one name and edit all your previous posts accordingly.
Any questions/boubts pls ask in class tomorrow morning.
Cheers n have fun!
- Ajay

An apology!

Dear all,

Before I post another exercise, I want to say sorry to each of you, especially those of you who responded enthusiastically and posted your best effort and in time. I haven't been late in responding for a combination of reasons, ranging with my own struggle with you as a batch, to my work n travel. I do not say this as an excuse, but to acknowledge you.

I know we had a discussion in class and we all agreed to carry on with the blog and the last exercise has been a revelation. Most of you have posted in time and many of you have commented. I think we have overcome our initial hesitation or inhibition. Thank you, Brenna!

Today was a bonus off-day and I had to time to respond to every post. In case I have missed out any, please bring it to my notice. Onward we go!
Cheers - Ajay

Aman Sharma

This assignment reminds me and takes me back to my childhood memories.  Dragon ball z was one of my favorite cartoon. I imagined that i should have the same powers the characters had and i could rule the world.

Mc Donalds Happy meals, every child favorite and mine too. I visited MC Donald's only because i needed the Happy meal toys and this was the reason i bought the Meal .This was one of my favorite places of my childhood. Memories got refreshed thinking of those wonderful days. 

  

Hot wheels cars was from the list of things that remind me of my childhood. They were my toys which i never shared with anyone. They were very precious to me. 

Calling Brenna!

Brenna, it is time you let us know which post you liked the most and why. And, like Tanmayi did last week, take time and effort to elaborate on your comment bringing in all you have learnt in class so far.

Similarly, tell us which post you like the least and why it didn't work for you.

Thanks! - Ajay

Tanmayi Oak

Well, this is what reminds me of my childhood and I miss this a lot. In the busy world, I don't get a chance to play my favourite sport-Cricket. I love batting and that is why that Bat reminds me of my first bat that was gifted to me by my dad. I still remember how I used to hit balls into people's house with that bat. As children we were often asked to refer Oxford dictionary. Later I developed a hobby where I used to open random pages from the dictionary and read the words and their meanings. Drawing is another hobby of mine. And the game of marbles reminds me of how I used  to play this with my grandma. 

Aquila Khan

The Haji Ali Durgah brings back memories of childhood as I would visit this durgah very often with my parents.

Mango sweets- Reminds me of my school days. Everyday after school I would rush to buy a few of them.

Wooden chair- It reminds me of my hometown as my Dadaji would sit on a similar chair.

Vanessa Carvalho

This exercise gave me the chance to actually analyze, and think of things that actually matter to me or I remember. 

 This picture take to my roots in my native place, where I used to run behind the goats at my grandfathers farm and even hide between the goats while playing with my cousins.

 This picture takes me to my roots in school, this is my first standard classroom, I used to sit right opposite the class teacher since I was a talkative child, innumerable memories are attached to this class.

 This  staircase belongs to the building where I was born, as a child I used to sit on the stairs and watch the light patterns and wonder as to what lies beyond the window as I was too small to reach the window and look outside.

 This Picture is of the Catechism class of my church, where children are taught their prayers and educated about Christianity, I have passed all my classes and tests and miss attending them, it takes me back to all the roots of my faith in god.

This is the pin wheel vendor, I was very fascinated with the mechanism of the pinwheel and used to ask my parents to buy one every time in the hope that I would figure out its movement pattern. It takes me back to my childhood.

Vanessa Carvalho, Mardani

The story is a crime thriller about a fearless female cop and a heartless villain, PradeepSarkar’s “woman-oriented” movie follows the exploits and bravery of Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji), a Mumbai crime branch senior inspector who springs into action when a girl child she knows, goes missing. She tracks down the villains in Delhi and of course ends them brutally showing of her macho side.The movies sexist title informs us in advance about the cops bravery, honesty and dedication.The film gets

over-the-top towards the finale with Rani showing of her fighting skills rather than simply using the gun and getting over with it, the ending is sort of stereotypical and over-dramatic with a message and some facts about the child trafficking trade thrown on screen. India is the ‘hub’ of this trade and throughout the film Delhi is shown the hub of child trafficking, something I disagreed with and equally disliked.
Rani carries the film on her shoulder single handedly, and her work in the action and acting department is good enough but the simple fact that she can do everything on her own is not convincing. Her dialogue delivery and Marathi slang is funny. The film manages to stick to its topic and not over sensationalise the issue it portrays like the other cop – villain films.The film is raw and gritty minus the song and dance, the background score is serious and tense which complements the story. The beginning of the movie is silent without any backgrounds score just the conversation of two cops on their talkie which builds the mood for the film. The introductory scene of the lead is very original and normal; the cop is shown in her true form not with flying cars and 1000 dancers. Mardaani has a dark opening where there is an undercover operation spearheaded by Rani shown which helps the movie start on a good note but as it progresses the movie gets confused between procedural and procedure, no explanations are given for Rani’s actions and of course the villain has to lose his intelligence towards the end so that he could be caught, not enough building of character or mood.The movie no doubt is a good attempt but it certainly does not match the hype and buzz it created before its release. 

Srishti Singh

The other day I had gone to Gokuldham the place where I still feel I belong and I went to the temple over there after almost seven years. I didn’t wanted to take pictures of it from inside because I had actually forgotten about clicking pictures. The very temple I had spent most of my Sundays running around and looking in marvel at people chanting, playing hide and seek with my cousins and getting tired and falling off to sleep on the marbel floors. It was funny when I realized now I reach the height to ring the bell of the temple on my own. Everything felt just the same. In this picture sadly so many tall buildings have come up, there is so much of traffic and the once upon a time quite neighborhood had lost its charm. The building far off between the two towers used to be the tallest in Mumbai and now it’s hidden. Stories of it being haunted were all that I heard and believed when I was a kid. Funny as it may be my first boyfriend used to live in the same building I was super scared of. Its always lovely to just sit on this terrace of my friend's building and spend most of the time just talking singing and remembering our school days

In my first house I used to chip of paint and draw in the little boxes with frame of the colorful wall, the most favorite of my creation was that on the mumma and baby earthworm. I still remember my mom used to always look at my drawings with or without me knowing. When she saw the drawing of the earthworms she laughed,she hugged and kissed me and said such nice imagination you have. My mom and I every afternoon during our nap time used to try to find patterns in the chipped of paint and I used to fall asleep dreaming about the patterns. When we left that house I asked my mom can I take the earthworms with me? for few hours I sat and tried to carve it out but I couldn’t manage to get it out. In every house since the time I have moved out of the old place I make sure I draw it again on the first chipped wall I find. This one is drawn in the present house.

This picture taken at a friends house, reminds me of my 2^nd house where my dad had bought this small showcase in which we used to keep everything precious to us mostly it used to be small marble or stone ducks, my dad used to call my mom a duck. And where ever he used to find a duck show piece he used to buy it. Sadly the Showcase broke while shifting, and also few of the ducks.

Farah Thakur

I had gone to Borivali National Park today. This stream at the Kanheri caves reminded me of the river in my village, Rajapur where I spent a lot of time just sitting along the banks of that river. As a child I went there often for my summer vacations. its been very long since I have been on such a vacation. Under the extreme pressure of assignments I really wish I could turn the clock back and be a child again.

This cave reminded me of the tribal's house made of mud and stone that I lived in for a day at Udhwa where I went for my Social Service camp in 10th Std. I ate sugarcane from the fields, carried stacks of hay, and even ate dal and rice at their place. I remember how she served me a big mountain of rice on a plate and I had to literally spend 10 minutes in telling her that we do not eat so much. At first she thought I was shy. Believe me I was not.

Every modak reminds me of Lata aunty's handmade modak. She makes the best modaks. I really miss her and I am really longing to meet her now. Every time she sent us these on Ganpati I would hog away most of them. 

Aparna shukla

Like every other outsider, it was difficult for me to "feel" home or connect to something that reminds me of my roots. Still, I'v tried to capture things that made me remember a few sweet memories.Staying so close to the Daman beach, its impossible to not have a memory on the sand. I dont know how many weekends have I spent at the Daman jetty, just gazing at the sky. This picture is taken near the Manori beach, which had a jetty just like Daman's. It made me blissfully travel back to time. 

The book store holds a very special place in my childhood memories. Every sunday morning, my father used to take me and my sister to get one archie comics ceremoniously. Sheer nostalgia!

This picture reminds me of my dad. Its a Ganpati pooja held at Dikshita's place. The way her dad's instructing everyone, the way he stands, the way the white thread (what we call, janeu in U.P) falls on his belly, the grey hair. Everything reminds me of him and the poojas held at my place.

Its an old fashioned toaster and as my father is a phenomenal cook, this picture reminds me of the time when mom used to fall sick and dad had to prepare our tiffin boxes. Beautiful memories attached to this one.