Keepsake Photos

 Photographs are a great way to remember people, occasions, planned events, chance meetings, and places too. Many of us have a Taj Mahal pic from our visit to the beautiful monument. I have one from the Eiffel Tower, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa too.

My grandmother's pic at the steering wheel of a car (she didn't drive) is one of her best in my collection. Another is from when many of my aunts had visited us with their kids - my Mom had six sisters and a brother. 

Another category is with students, alumni or colleagues from various workplaces. Some I meet repeatedly and some I met maybe only once. But a photo reminds me of the fun time we had. There is one with Vivek Gupta - a colleague at IIM Lucknow, which was during a hailstorm we had on campus. I went home, got my camera and we took some memorable pics. One with Avinash Mulky too, during this short time.

Many of the vintage pics from IIM Bangalore-an architectural wonder that I was lucky to be in- are now priceless. A couple with the Clemson Tiger- he was a mascot of Clemson University, or one during a break in the Football game -very colourful, are similarly priceless. 

Pics with family - particularly when our daughters were small-are gems in our collection. Digitisation has made it easy to preserve these, but I have a huge collection from pre-digital days, including a flight in a Cessna over Clemson! 

Interesting Business Ideas - Virtual Holidays

 Do you really have to go somewhere to prove on social media that you went there? The short answer is No. Basically, you have to have a few pics of yourself superimposed on those sight-seeing marvels. That a company can do, apparently. I heard about this line of business (on social media, I think- ha, ha). 

For a price, you can visit Bhutan, Alaska, Bali, New Zealand, or whatever place catches your fancy on that day. The price may differ, depending on whether you are (virtually) visiting Bhedaghat with its wonderful Marble Rocks, or Gulmarg's ski slopes. Or Yash Chopra's favourite, Switzerland. If you are feeling like a foreign visit, you can choose between the Great Wall of China (ok, not now, maybe), or Disneyland in USA. Or Japan's Mount Fuji.

The simplicity of this idea is striking. Armchair travel, anyone?

Digging Into The Past Through Photographs

Photograph is more 'graphic' than pic, because it actually shows you a graph of your journey through life. Particularly when you are going through a lockdown like the present Covid-19 -20 one, you have some time to look back at the life you lived.

I have been enjoying this part of the lockdown- looking back at life through photos or pics. It helped that my parents were photography buffs, because that means I have a lot to look back on. Here are a few nuggets..

 With grandmom. (above)
SSB Selections which I failed.. no. 12 (below)

 With parents who were visiting the US. (above), and nieces, ditto, with their parents.

 My first day in the U.S, June 1986, with my brother.
My first day in a Gondola, Venice, 1987.

 Fooling around at a European beach, with sand covering.
My colleagues in ad agency New Horizons, CP, Delhi. (below)

 My sister, wife, and friends, Hyderabad terrace.
Deep dive, Bahamas

 Discussions with Dr. Gopi and Prof. Chary, KIAMS.

 Friends from engineering on a road trip. Srisailam.
Friends from IIM Bangalore, at a reunion.

 IIMB friends more recently, Bangalore.
My only stint in a play -Waiting For Lefty, IIMB.

 Taking a swing. (above)
Launching Marketing research, Edition 4, at IIM Indore.

 Heritage- not just the train.
Me and my alter-ego (below), Bombay Presidency Golf Club guest house.

Interiors

I do up my (office, home) interiors with photographs, and sometimes, with mementos. As good as any, because they stir up memories..that sometimes stretch back to three decades, like that pic of mine on the cover of Newsweek :)

 Japan and Bali.

 Vietnamese and Sri Lankan.

 Japan, Sri Lanka, Bali.

Goa (above), and Cambodia, Greece, Bali (below)