MORE PAGES PLEASE!

The best thing about lack of technology was more time invested productively. Growing up with books, I was accustomed to reading a lot. It came to me as second nature. And now as an Aspiring writer, it demands lot more of it. The sad part to the scene is I have slowed down on my pages. I keep buying books as a habit strongly embed in my nature, but the piling stacks drop me like a numb emotion. I live, work and write in the same space, hopping between offices I have my laptop as a companion, for everything I do, it's technology getting me there but in the midst of all this I have forgotten the little gaps of reading, and the tasks often blur. If I decide to put away my Ipad, then I have my phone, which is an easy access for any leftover on my laptop or a tablet. I was standing by my office door this morning on my day off at home, and looking at all the gadgets lined up on my perfectly clean and neat freak glass table, I could see everything of necessity to get my blogging, photography,website accomplished, except MY BOOK! I have never gone days without reading, never forgotten to put a book in my purse, until lately. I have books all over the house, just in case I felt like catching up and in regards to all those precautions I have half read books all over my humble abode. And to add to the lost habit, I have a kindle I carry solely for reading, stacked on top of a book in my almost collapsing tote bag. Like everyone else, I get sucked into the whirl of online world. Unfortunately my work and life demands that, it connects my readers to my writing, it connects people to my photography, my laptop works in the editing department- over time, and to top that there is so much information on the internet, it's a world in itself but the sad part still remains, I haven't had much time to sit in my backyard with the cicadas as my entertainers and a nice cup of coffee and a book. And every time I decide to time myself on how long I am going to stay online, it gets worse, suddenly I hear beeps and peeps on my cell, Ipad, laptop as a reminder I have a new viral video shared, or a Facebook message with a new gossip or beeps from my Flickr admirers and there is no way a human accustomed to the routine is going to ignore any of that. I read a lot online though, but the feeling of a book in your hand doesn't justify it at all. Reading books to my niece last week, reminded me, how much I have slacked off lately. And I always believed reading is  very essential and I still do. It makes me smirk when people have grammar mistakes and it's nothing else but lack of reading habits. I see children not being able to spell the words correctly, and growing up I do not remember going through that embarrassment, so I make sure my niece picks up a book, even though she hasn't started reading yet, I still surround her with the image. While I am typing my blog, I can hear beeps on my phone letting me know my photography admirer just left me a comment, HUHH... So as I am typing this very sentence, I am trying hard not to distract myself from the keyboard and my thought process to randomly pick up my cell and check the new awaiting message. Don't take me wrong, it's a good feeling when you are awaiting motivating and appreciating comments regarding your work and I would never dare to ignore it, but the problem is I will end up spending another 30 minutes browsing and commenting back. Last week, while catching up with friends, I was in the passenger seat catching up on my tablet while the driver is busy getting us to our destination, that really sucks! Because I always read a book while I am in the passenger seat. So I decided, before I get sucked into the pool of electronic madness, I will have to find time to sit, unwind and open a book. And the sad part about the new technological world is despite of all the warning signs regarding the light emitting from televisions and laptops messing up the humans' Circadian rhythms, we still Ignore and choose to let it mess us up. Therefore, I am timing myself with the beeps and peeps the machines have been designed to do and making sure I shut everything off when work is accomplished. And as a writer, reading is a luxurious necessity, I keep reminding myself. It's very important for grown ups to educate their kids through books and not screens. The lack of general knowledge is all because books have almost gone missing from our daily lives. So please make sure you read and encourage your kids to read. So what's your next read?

ARTSY WEEKEND

 

I live in a city packed with museums and galleries and it was long due for a visit. So my friend and I decided to do just so. It hit me last week, while I was going through my art books getting stacked on my book shelves, how important art is for me in my life. Museums, Galleries, Bookstores are places I indulge in quite often. I love spending summer afternoons museum hopping.  When I was little, I'd spend hours flicking through art books devoted to Renaissance and Surrealism. I was always interested in what has been created, and every painting has a complex meaning behind it, a rigorous analysis of each stroke of the paint brush.  It's sad the children are not much involved with the art world, this classic hobby is slipping through hands of time. Children have now become robotic culture bodies, there's not much observation left, it's all about technology and the apps. It's becoming a meaningless preserve rather than a necessity. Art teaches us patience, observation, it opens up doors in our minds to an Imaginary world which then helps us to expand our mental horizons. It enhances the way we see the world. I was quite fortunate growing up in a family where creativity was a daily dose. I grew up watching my mom paint, and she encouraged me to understand the world through art, by observing the work of others but also in our own imaginative endeavors.  Young people should get more involved and experience the pleasure of  Art and the artists behind it. It enhances our intellect, inspires us to expand, motivate us to learn and provokes our thought process. I don't think I am ever going to loose interest in anything creative, it's the acquisition of knowledge that keeps me going, the inexplicable feelings not only makes me more curious but provokes a thought that takes me beyond my own limits of understanding. So let's hope the new generation appreciates the works of amazing painters who left their legacy behind for us to adore and appreciate. My weekend with my friend was at Cornell Fine art Museum in Rollins College.

EUPHORIA

Through the eyes of dreamer, is how my life feels. As years passed, I saw my dream unfolding into a magical life. Watching the very minute spark turning into a full blown passion is still running it's currents in my imagination. To unwrap the riddle, I am talking about Photography. I wouldn't call myself a photographer yet, rather I should say Aspiring because I still have long ways to go, but just like they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Looking at the world through my lens, changed my whole perspective on how I vision the world around me. It took a bit of conjuring to follow through my dreams, and finally live through it day in and day out. It was like the doors opened up the day I just started clicking away with a hidden intention. I was never one of those, who has a finger on the flicker just because.....I now realize why I took the shots I did, because they all meant something to me, but the realization came subtle. There was always a huge craving for creative expression and I just wasn't sure how, and one day I realized it was time to take action to bring my creativity into my daily life. I was never the type who can just do the same mundane things, I had to go beyond and I did.  This blog is not only about photography, it's about the subtleness, the little miracles that started unfolding within me. Looking at the world through the lens, started making me realize the world I live in from different angles. I started seeing beauty in everything and everywhere, I could be driving, sitting in a coffee place or just playing with the dogs. My vision started to open another dimension in my mind, I started noticing things I hadn't noticed before. Maybe the way the light enters the room or the reflecting trees under the moonlight or the yellow leaves on a Maple tree or a snake uncoiling itself on a tree branch. My camera taught me to watch the sunset (see the colorful ridge lines, the streak of colors that lash the sky), an Owl perched on a branch, the rhythm of the ocean waves, birds taking flight, etc, etc....My vision of the place I chose to live or the things I preferred to be around became clear. I crave nature, sea and mountains. I love to wake up while the birds are chirping away right on my window sill, a place of extreme weather or roads with mirages, places you can fade into, these are my choices. As I started exploring how I shoot and capture images, I realized as a Photographer you cannot stand outside the landscape, you have to be a part of it. Little things that used to bore me, now hangs on a different light. I fall in love every day in the most possible way. My life, vision, perspective is different everyday. Little things make me happy. I find joy in solitude and class. I am a rebel who is still searching for new adventures and understanding through her camera Lens.

Someone I know recently observed something very subtle and sweet about me, and it was a huge compliment towards my two passions and I would like to share it -
"Be careful what you say or do in front of Saloni, because whatever you say she might Blog it or whatever you do, she might Capture it."

It's a compliment because I am recognized by two things I am greatly working towards perfection. And this is to all, who live their life in the most unique ways, who have seen the world through different eyes and to all those who live out of the norm, the ordinary.....

FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

THROUGH THE LENS

RAPTURE

"I listened with rapture the tunes flowing from the strings of a violin. It's bearing witness to the unfolding of a dream. It's a dance under the sky, with winds embracing you like the moon embracing darkness. My soul untethering and drifting away like a winged feather on the plains of infinite, I could feel the moonlight flickering through the trees, evoking a subtle enigmatic silence like a secret being revealed. Besotted with this poetic and passionate instrument, I felt my soul move in the depths of my being, like a sculptor whose dream is in his hands. The dark skies that engulfed me, now loosening it's grip over my shoulders to give way to the shimmers of moonlight, under a star filled sky that had spread out all over like a canopy."

 I am not a poet, just a writer, trying to spin my feelings and emotions into words, this was my dream last night. I could hear violins. Music, a universal language of soul, can evoke simple pleasures and emotions. Sometimes my dream world is more exciting than my regular day to day life. But then who is to say we are in the dream world, because dreams come true eventually. So I prefer to call it "Parallel World". Music evokes a lot of forgotten or ignored human emotions. I love to explore my heart yearnings, and sometimes I feel like I ignore my heart that sits under my tough mind, but the secret is to play a violin tune and it melts all this hard emotions frozen like ice. I am not saying I am not an emotional person or heartless, It just takes a heart warming commercial to wet my eyes, but in my practical and real life, I am not an easy grip. I dont use my emotions as a GPS of life to guide me to my destination, so instead when I get tired of driving on the road of life for too long, I take a break, pick a corner in my heart and tangle myself in the tunes of a Violin. Eash string, emits a tune that reach the summit of heavens. I cannot tell you with enough rapture, how I love this instrument. There is always a thrill in the unexpected surprise of a new tune. I am just a regular person, who paints larger-than-life images on the canvas of mind, giving voice to the shadows and brooding fire in the depths of my heart.