Cadbury Scandal - Part Deux

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I am a big choco-holic and frankly I dont have too many Indian chocolates that I like except maybe Cadbury Crackle, which I do consume tons of. So in the past few weeks with a lot of late night work and round the clock deadlines I needed more sugar than ever and what best way to ingest some than Chocolates. I bought two of these and lots of other stuff from a local shop, as usual, and was shocked to see fingerprints on my chocolate. I realised it could be spurious and so concerned I called the number listed on the wrapper and reported the case to the company the next morning (Sunday). I informed the chap on the other end that I could send him photographs of the product and help him get a better picture. He agreed and asked me to send it on the address - suggestions@cadburyindia.com. He informed me that I will be contacted by the Cadbury rep the next day and the matter will be looked into.
And you're right... two days and no call, no e-mail and no contact. That is ridiculuous!! After having such a debacle the last time around with the cockroach incident I thought they would deal with this in a much better fashion now. But apparently I guess Indian consumer is one who can be taken for a ride quite easily. I am determined to stand up this time around though. I've given them a 2 day notice to get back to me else I go to the scribes.
Let's wait and watch!

Six string and a song

My newly acquired six string. No song to play though.

Amelie -ish

I wanted to try to get the effect they used in the movie - Amelie. I dont think I managed to nail it.
I might have come close though :)

40 winks

Coming back to journey that was... meet the second partner on the trip. The sage, the poet and one heck of a driver.
No! I mean it. If I was ever curious about how much fun it would be to ride those scary Chennai or Karnataka buses, I wasnt so much after a ride with him :). No wonder all the motorsport talent is all down south.
Caught him here taking a nap in an Italian restraunt after a hike up Wallace Monument in Stirling. A nap, some yummy pizza, vino and off we went....onwards to search for the Loch Ness monster.

Rescue?

Coffee on 53rd st. in midtown NY. An accidental capture of the funny side of signage.
Perhaps I ought to go back to that city. So much to see ... so little time.
Sigh.
Like always.

Glass eye

Last meal in the Second City.

Anti-mornings

Meet my first fellow traveller - Ms. Shah. Always grumpy in the mornings. A disease even two potent cups from the best beans cant cure. Mornings are just not her thing. Hence all our morning plans almost always got canned or delayed. This however was an exception because we had to set out early on the road. Plus she was granted pardon from driving duties hence the backseat snoring is what she took up - happily.

Morning Ritual

We started early saturday morning. Getting up was one bit but actually lugging our bags out of the rooms to the car rental place was another. This was taken at the 'pit stop' on our way there. Fueling ourselves up before the 8 hour journey to Lake District - the stop for the night. A really nice cafe by King's Cross this, right after Starbucks when you walk up towards the one way street towards Nido. The plan was to hail a cab next to our rental car agency and then kick off.
Ofcourse we were surprised to find that instead of the Ford Mondeo we'd be allotted the Mercedes. We were definately off to a good start then.

Road Trip: The Ride

Trying to link the string of thoughts to the 'Pot of Gold' here. I dont think I'd be able to do justice to the place or the trip that was. Amongst other highlights this was the silver lining. The Mercedes B Class or the rental car we took for the week long road trip from London to Inverness, Scotland. It was spacious and comfortable to say the least. One huge and two normal sized bags and three people. A sun roof and and 1.5L engine. Just enough grunt to take you upto 170 Kph and torquey enough to make the hill climbs a lot of fun.
Although I will perhaps want a convertible the next time around I have to say driving this car for almost 2300Kms was more fun than imaginable. It served well and we even managed a parking ticket :-)

Rick Chocholae Ceke

A certain Mrs. Philips makes one of the most delicious chocolate cakes.
Combining that with Kahlua can make you dyslexic.

Yellow Fever

South Bombayite

And not the good kind :P
Anyhow since this is about my photography and not the subject I'd rate this photo pretty high with a little loss in the shadows. But then I deliberately wanted high contrast and a strong vignette. Pretty old picture. I love going through my pile of stuff.

Double Take

One of the alternative shots. Still working on the Scotland and Chicago snaps.
Between applying to a MBA school and discovering the place I have little time to play with Adobe or Picasa.

Chicago GSB Product

Still experimenting even though I dont post here enough. Here's something I put together quickly. I envisioned the selective desat while composing but I would have liked a little more time to play around a bit. I have a few alternative shots which I will try and put together soon.
Oh and this is with a 55-200 VR ... a lens I borrowed from a friend who moved on to a 18-200 VR. Excellent boken in this lens though its a little slow for my taste. The 18-135 spoils you that way. Though I cant complain about the bokeh... top notch stuff.

Granny

...a.k.a Megha. A pint sized monster. :-)
Well ok... so she's a nice cook and all that. And all grand-motherly, in a nice way :)
A future Wall St. honcho .... cheers to some good rib-poking times :)

Pot of gold

A glimpse of what was that one blissful week in Scotland.

A dream ride

While I have been travelling myself for a while in the past few weeks, keeping this space updated has become a bit difficult. But after looking at this picture I knew I had to put it up as a reminder to myself to live this dream, which my brother did this summer.
He rode to Leh/Ladakh from Delhi on the only bike in India which can do this without any strain. I think this picture defines what its like to travel through those valleys with just your thoughts for company. I am very proud of him because I remember only a few years back when he would take my bike every other week and come back with some dent, scratch, fall ... but this trip for him was without any events at all. It is indeed quite a surprise and definately a first for my brother.
I've been busy discovering the land of scotch whisky and the land of opportunities. Will put up some pictures soon, if nothing else then just as journal entries for nostalgic purposes. (cos I am pretty sure whatever few readers I did have, have left and gone long back :-))

Happy Couple

Well not just yet... but in not too distant a future, they should be.
Cheers to them.

I-spoon

One from the archives. Some people will do anything to avoid being photographed.
This one thought she will try the pirate look.

A happy 200!

And with this post I reach 200! Wow I'd never have thought I'd make it till here when I started almost 4 years back.
Here's to paradise and making it there ....
I made it to the one pictured above. Murud on a lovely chilly February morning.
There's nothing better than to wake up to that sight

Remains of an evening

Ela II

Realised that knowing when to click the shutter button is far less difficult that to make your subject strike the right pose. I guess thats why the pros take 200-300 shots to filter the right ones. I have new found respect for people who can get the perfect shot in lesser numbers. Only if one had an encyclopedia of jokes in one's memory to make this job less painful.

Ela

Moving away from my typical white border and stamp. Instead putting in smaller pics and experimenting with borders.
Its a pain to get people to pose for the right frame. This one took 137 tries! Well ok so there were some other poses in there too... but this one stuck. Some did tell me use a reflector on the right to 'fill' in the left side of her face. I kinda preferred it this way except I'd have liked it sharper esp around her mouth.
Now to go fetch the rum and coke I promised her ...

d Maj

Essentials

A continuance from the evening in Morisson's. Considered as one of the top 5 things most smokers would never leave home without.