** Do u know why it doesn't rain during Chennai Super Kings matches?? Becos CSK already has Suresh 'Rain'a in their team!!! :-P
** Why do they say 'kiss and make up'? Why not 'make up and kiss?'
** If u appoint someone it is called 'appointed', but when someone is sacked or resigns from a job, why isn't it called 'disappointed'..sumthing like 'he has been appointed by the company. He has been 'disappointed' by the company?!!
** Why is a rocket called a 'rocket' if its not made of rocks?!!
**U can only drive as fast as the vehicle in front of u.
** The inevitable is inevitable!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"Will This Rocket burst"??
Guess, it takes a satellite launch for me to start blogging again. This time, its 'Risat-2', India's own digital 'spy sat' in space, meant to keep a tab on our borders and infiltrators. Of course, ISRO did its best to assert that it was not a 'spy sat'.
But then as Arun Ram told me, all sats are spy sats, except this time around we will get digital images of almost everything. This one can image a number plate on a vehicle, it is believed.
But what got me writing this is the first place was this:
Ok..I dint get such a good picture of these two kids. They were there opposite the spaceport near the Pulicat Lake where a few of us media ppl were, to watch the launch. 6 am for any kid is too early...but then they decided to come there and watch a live rocket take off for real. They will remember this for the rest of their lives. Wonder what will happen when they return to school and tell their friends. 'Whoaaaa....the rocket went like this, like that...fire came from below....and stuff'
Children are children and questions they ask will dumbfound anyone(Mom tells me I used to keep asking questions non stop about anything and everything when I was a kid!!). The innocence in the question struck everyone standing on the solitary bird watch tower opposite the spaceport.
As the rocket took off, we were busy taking pictures, while the Times Now crew went live from there as they were told OB vans will not be allowed inside to cover the launch (spy sat...see?)! As the rocket went up, one of the kids said 'it's like a flower pot'!!
Then the other one asked her father, who was busy watching the rocket..."Appa, appa...inda rocket vedikuma, vedikada?" (will this rocket burst or not?"). For a country that celebrates Diwali in a grand manner, I believe this one question summed it all up. For a child, it was equivalent to just an ordinary firecracker going up.
I am sure she would have gone back home and asked her dad who lit the wire on the rocket for so much fire to come out of the bottom? May be, once she grows up, she ll come to know of the significance of the launch and may be proud of the fact that it was meant to help Indians keep their country a little more safer from enemies.
But that one question... I will remember for my lifetime!! More than covering the launch, that single question made it worthwhile that I did not go inside the spaceport and watch the launch from the reporters gallery!!
But then as Arun Ram told me, all sats are spy sats, except this time around we will get digital images of almost everything. This one can image a number plate on a vehicle, it is believed.
But what got me writing this is the first place was this:
Ok..I dint get such a good picture of these two kids. They were there opposite the spaceport near the Pulicat Lake where a few of us media ppl were, to watch the launch. 6 am for any kid is too early...but then they decided to come there and watch a live rocket take off for real. They will remember this for the rest of their lives. Wonder what will happen when they return to school and tell their friends. 'Whoaaaa....the rocket went like this, like that...fire came from below....and stuff'
Children are children and questions they ask will dumbfound anyone(Mom tells me I used to keep asking questions non stop about anything and everything when I was a kid!!). The innocence in the question struck everyone standing on the solitary bird watch tower opposite the spaceport.
As the rocket took off, we were busy taking pictures, while the Times Now crew went live from there as they were told OB vans will not be allowed inside to cover the launch (spy sat...see?)! As the rocket went up, one of the kids said 'it's like a flower pot'!!
Then the other one asked her father, who was busy watching the rocket..."Appa, appa...inda rocket vedikuma, vedikada?" (will this rocket burst or not?"). For a country that celebrates Diwali in a grand manner, I believe this one question summed it all up. For a child, it was equivalent to just an ordinary firecracker going up.
I am sure she would have gone back home and asked her dad who lit the wire on the rocket for so much fire to come out of the bottom? May be, once she grows up, she ll come to know of the significance of the launch and may be proud of the fact that it was meant to help Indians keep their country a little more safer from enemies.
But that one question... I will remember for my lifetime!! More than covering the launch, that single question made it worthwhile that I did not go inside the spaceport and watch the launch from the reporters gallery!!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
'He who must not be named'!! :-P
Remember the famous line from the movie The Village- 'Those we do not speak of'? Or 'He who must not be named' from Harry Potter if I am right!?
Well, I do not understand what its with government officials, who throw such a fuss just to tell their names. In the last two weeks, I encountered two officials who gave their designations to me but not their names. Strange, since being a journo and on official duty, it wouldn't have taken an additional minute to figure out their names from someone in their own office!
Having had to check on a couple of cases (thanks to all the bloody fraudulent companies coming out of India Inc.'s closet :( )at the Department of Corporate Affairs (DCA) and SEBI offices in Chennai, I was reminded of the two lines above.
At SEBI, the person at the office refused to give his name after telling us that the regional manager was not available. At the DCA, I had gone to meet the director since i was asked to come and meet him. But the director was held up in a meeting. So the deputy regional director came out and asked the purpose of the visit. So when I wanted to know who he was, he said "I am the deputy director" and when asked for his name, he said "No, no...you don't need to know my name. I cant tell you my name!" Bad luck ppl..I got your names as immediately from someone as your refused to tell them! And ya, if you had thought I would write something bad about you in the papers, you were wrong! I am writing about you and your stupidity on the internet..all thanks to your refusal just to give your name. Cos, if you had told me your names, this post would not have been possible!! :-P
I ask- afterall, 'Whats in a name, mate?'
Well, I do not understand what its with government officials, who throw such a fuss just to tell their names. In the last two weeks, I encountered two officials who gave their designations to me but not their names. Strange, since being a journo and on official duty, it wouldn't have taken an additional minute to figure out their names from someone in their own office!
Having had to check on a couple of cases (thanks to all the bloody fraudulent companies coming out of India Inc.'s closet :( )at the Department of Corporate Affairs (DCA) and SEBI offices in Chennai, I was reminded of the two lines above.
At SEBI, the person at the office refused to give his name after telling us that the regional manager was not available. At the DCA, I had gone to meet the director since i was asked to come and meet him. But the director was held up in a meeting. So the deputy regional director came out and asked the purpose of the visit. So when I wanted to know who he was, he said "I am the deputy director" and when asked for his name, he said "No, no...you don't need to know my name. I cant tell you my name!" Bad luck ppl..I got your names as immediately from someone as your refused to tell them! And ya, if you had thought I would write something bad about you in the papers, you were wrong! I am writing about you and your stupidity on the internet..all thanks to your refusal just to give your name. Cos, if you had told me your names, this post would not have been possible!! :-P
I ask- afterall, 'Whats in a name, mate?'
Back yet again
I have been wanting to blog in the last few days, but never got around to doing it, thanks to eye problem. Now, am looking at the world through a pair of glasses :( and since its about 3 hours since I got the glasses, I am trying to get used to it by blogging! :-P . Well, I think I wanted to write about a lot of things..but I have forgotten them. So, no point. But yeah..oh well...three things have changed on my face front(not that it matters a great deal but anyways since I am writing something, I might as well write this!!)..one is that my long time companion---the lion tooth got plucked one and half months back...then I got a 'mottai'and then last week I realised my eye wasnt in great shape as well--so the glasses...so there...thats about it...I will write something in the next few minutes if I can think of something good or bad or mokkai to write about!! :-P
Friday, October 24, 2008
Chandrayaan Launch Pics
These pictures were taken from outside the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Even ISRO officials did not get a full glimpse of the rocket, as within the first few seconds it went into a thick pall of cloud and reemerged at a higher distance.
Chandrayaan-The Launch
This story has been published, but only half. So here goes the whole story with pics taken by me
T.K.Rohit|Tnn
Sriharikota: The solitary tower on a non-descript road by the side of the Pulicat Lake overlooking the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) was calm and quiet at 4.30 a.m. The stillness of the chilly morning was disturbed by a few lights on the road. Exactly one hour and 50 minutes later, there was a huge rumble, a ball of fire and a pall of smoke which finally disappeared into the infinite skies. Chandrayaan-I, India's first moon mission spacecraft had successfully taken off, carrying with it a billion Indian dreams to the moon!
About eight kms away from the launchpad stood the solitary tower, old and shaky, separated by the Pulicat Lake teeming with painted storks and a few other birds which were blissfully unaware of what was to come at 6.20 a.m. The two lights appearing on the deserted road was a van. Its progress was slow, courtesy terribly bad roads. When the vehicle came to a halt, out hopped a smart guy sporting a beard.
He proceeded with enthusiasm to climb the tower only to be told by one photographer that it was only for the media which had assembled there. So the young man went back to the bus and out came about 30 students, boys and girls. "We are students of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. We came here to watch the launch," G Philip told The Times of India. Abhinav Saket, a research student in physics at the institute said, "I will never have another opportunity to watch a rocket launch live, because this is my final year at the institute and I will be relocating elsewhere. It will be difficult to come back and watch another one." By 6 a.m there was a sizeable number of people at the spot, locals and people who had come from afar to watch the historical moment.
Chandrayaan being launched
But no one would have complained. All the large contingent of electronic and print media and ISRO officials inside the space centrw could be satisfied with was a just about two seconds of the rocket taking off, before it entered behind a huge pall of rain clouds and disappeared. But the people who had gathered at the spot near the Pulicat lake, had a glimpse of the rocket taking off from the launchpad, disappearing behind the rain clouds and reappearing at a higher level in the sky enroute its orbital direction. As the rocket reappeared from behind the clouds, people shouted, "Look, look...there it is," like children watching with glee a Diwali rocket light up the sky.
"It's spectacular!" remarked a girl in the group with happiness writ all over her face. A group of five young boys studying at the Sri Kalahastishwara Institute of Technology woke up at 2 am to ride on their bikes in the rain to see the launch. "We rode 50 kms from Kalahasti just for this moment. This is such a wonderful achievement. India will surely become a great
space power. Watching this was a great experience and such an inspiring moment,"N Vinay Kumar said.
Even as India took another giant leap towards becoming a technological superpower, it was the age old technology, the radio, that kept almost everyone at the spot keep tab with the launch for almost one and half hours till the rocket took off, giving intricate details about the launch and the countdown. A middle aged man kept the small FM radio glued to his ear all the time till the commentary said, "PSLV has now completed PS-II", and then he smiled!
A scientist with the National Geographical Research Institute said, "Now we will be on par with super powers of the world. Every Indian should be proud of this achievement," he said before helping a media personnel identify a species of birds at the Pulicat Lake, which was quite oblivious to India's leap into the international bandwagon of 'moon chasers!'.
T.K.Rohit|Tnn
Sriharikota: The solitary tower on a non-descript road by the side of the Pulicat Lake overlooking the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) was calm and quiet at 4.30 a.m. The stillness of the chilly morning was disturbed by a few lights on the road. Exactly one hour and 50 minutes later, there was a huge rumble, a ball of fire and a pall of smoke which finally disappeared into the infinite skies. Chandrayaan-I, India's first moon mission spacecraft had successfully taken off, carrying with it a billion Indian dreams to the moon!
About eight kms away from the launchpad stood the solitary tower, old and shaky, separated by the Pulicat Lake teeming with painted storks and a few other birds which were blissfully unaware of what was to come at 6.20 a.m. The two lights appearing on the deserted road was a van. Its progress was slow, courtesy terribly bad roads. When the vehicle came to a halt, out hopped a smart guy sporting a beard.
He proceeded with enthusiasm to climb the tower only to be told by one photographer that it was only for the media which had assembled there. So the young man went back to the bus and out came about 30 students, boys and girls. "We are students of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. We came here to watch the launch," G Philip told The Times of India. Abhinav Saket, a research student in physics at the institute said, "I will never have another opportunity to watch a rocket launch live, because this is my final year at the institute and I will be relocating elsewhere. It will be difficult to come back and watch another one." By 6 a.m there was a sizeable number of people at the spot, locals and people who had come from afar to watch the historical moment.
Chandrayaan being launchedBut no one would have complained. All the large contingent of electronic and print media and ISRO officials inside the space centrw could be satisfied with was a just about two seconds of the rocket taking off, before it entered behind a huge pall of rain clouds and disappeared. But the people who had gathered at the spot near the Pulicat lake, had a glimpse of the rocket taking off from the launchpad, disappearing behind the rain clouds and reappearing at a higher level in the sky enroute its orbital direction. As the rocket reappeared from behind the clouds, people shouted, "Look, look...there it is," like children watching with glee a Diwali rocket light up the sky.
"It's spectacular!" remarked a girl in the group with happiness writ all over her face. A group of five young boys studying at the Sri Kalahastishwara Institute of Technology woke up at 2 am to ride on their bikes in the rain to see the launch. "We rode 50 kms from Kalahasti just for this moment. This is such a wonderful achievement. India will surely become a great
space power. Watching this was a great experience and such an inspiring moment,"N Vinay Kumar said.
Even as India took another giant leap towards becoming a technological superpower, it was the age old technology, the radio, that kept almost everyone at the spot keep tab with the launch for almost one and half hours till the rocket took off, giving intricate details about the launch and the countdown. A middle aged man kept the small FM radio glued to his ear all the time till the commentary said, "PSLV has now completed PS-II", and then he smiled!
A scientist with the National Geographical Research Institute said, "Now we will be on par with super powers of the world. Every Indian should be proud of this achievement," he said before helping a media personnel identify a species of birds at the Pulicat Lake, which was quite oblivious to India's leap into the international bandwagon of 'moon chasers!'.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
My First time....!!!!
It is my first time and I am all excited. As the bus reaches the place, dark clouds hover above. We are worried. Once the bus reaches the destination, we are herded into breakfast. One hour later, we are on the bus again. This time, lesser space for seating in the bus. This bus is almost like a school bus. It goes through a lone road, a one way with greenery on both sides. Two more buses are ahead of us. I'm reminded of a scene from Kamal Hasan's 'Kuruthipunal'. I jokingly say "It looks right out of the movie. Somebody is going to kidnap us and the police will come!!" Laughter all around. Now trees appear on the right side. Then,a brief gap between trees that are not so densely populated as before. Ah! Water...it's blue, Wow!! It looks like it would have been a extremely popular global tourist destination.
Almost nine kilometers later, we reach! Finally. Yes!! This was what I was waiting for, for more than a week. It materialised only the previous night amidst anger, frustration and confusion. After all, this was to have been properly finalised three days before, which it was but finally had to be changed.
And when the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota loomed large in front of our bus, my camera tried to photograph from inside the bus. After all, not everyone gets an opportunity to see a launchpad of the Indian Space Research Organisation nor the rocket that will carry India's first ever moon mission satellite 'Chandrayaan-I'. Notwithstanding the fact that I was able to sleep only for two hours since the pick up for the media was slated at 5 a.m. Ultimately, the media pickup left only at 6.30 am and almost everyone of us caught up on the previous night's sleep on the Volvo bus. However, a couple of rather irritating tv media personnel, apparently from a local channel were listening to music with their cell phone speakers blaring out fully loudly, disturbing our sleep. This is the fourth time I am at Sriharikota, but the first time being taken to the launchpad. Journos are taken to the launchpad very rarely because its a high security area and only when some very important event happens.
The launchpad is huge. Never seen anything like it before. It's beautifully coloured.It has grey, blue, red and yellow all around. An ISRO official leads us to a board that has pictures and description of how the rocket launch takes place. I hang around for sometime. It gets too technical and the heat gets to me. I would rather go and take some pictures of the launchpad. I mite not get another opportunity for all I know. Slowly, the number of journalists surrounding the ISRO official dwindle and they move towards the launchpad. Photos are clicked furiously. I frantically keep looking for our photographer. He is not to be seen around. "Must have gone to get some unique pictures. He will return..."I tell myself. I open my camera. The batteries are almost empty and the camera keeps switching off. "Damn!" I fumble around in the camera bag and find four more batteries. "Hope this works" It does. I take a few pictures. A few journos are now standing near the pit from where the rocket will take off and are listening to what Guruprasad is saying. Guruprasad is the ISRO PRO. I go and try to get some 'gyan'. He is explaining something, then a few questions are thrown at him. I click a picture of the group. I m tired of so many questions being asked. The heat again! "Damn...and we all thought it was going to rain when the bus entered the complex..." I move out again. A few more pics are taken.
Gopu is around. "Hey take a pic man". The sun is beating down. He clicks a few. "I can't see anything on the monitor. The sun is glaring down on it," he says. He's taken a few good pics. Now it's his turn. I try to get a good pic of him. Comes out well. And after sometime, a few more journos want me to click pics of them. I oblige.
Finally, my photographer! Ah! There he is with another photographer. "Went to get some different shots," they tell me. Competition can force people to think differently! They take more pics and finally a few pics of me are taken by them professionally. By this time, all of us are asked to get onto the bus again.
"We are going to see the rocket..." Guru says. "We are going near the rocket? You are taking us there?" I ask. "Yes yes...let's go" Once more herded back into the bus. Two more kilometers later, the rocket building. Then the rocket in view. Everyone's excited to see the rocket from such close quarters.Water! A few hands stretch out for water.
TV journos make sure they have the rocket in the background when they deliver their PTC's. So what are we poor print people supposed to do? So we take pics.
Heavy security around. Chandra asks one security personnel in Hindi "How do u feel about Chandrayaan?" "We are very proud". "Why?".."Arrey...we are Indians. We are employed by the Indian government. You are an Indian. You also feel proud about this, so do we," he says. "Who are you people?" he asks apparently not seeing so many cameras around. "We are from the press in Chennai..." "You are from Chennai and you speak shudh Hindi?" he asks. "Ya...we do....," comes her reply and I lose the rest of the conversation as by this point, I lose interest again. Another angle, more pics.
We leave after sometime. There's some discussion about some orbit the satellite would be going through. "Ya Ya..it's all going over my head...the heat...the physics of the orbit....grrr" I think. The way back to the hall is not that scenic, am disappointed. We reach the hall...press conference in a few mins...nothing great is discussed. It's all routine stuff. I get my story on the way back and the story is...
Almost nine kilometers later, we reach! Finally. Yes!! This was what I was waiting for, for more than a week. It materialised only the previous night amidst anger, frustration and confusion. After all, this was to have been properly finalised three days before, which it was but finally had to be changed.
And when the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota loomed large in front of our bus, my camera tried to photograph from inside the bus. After all, not everyone gets an opportunity to see a launchpad of the Indian Space Research Organisation nor the rocket that will carry India's first ever moon mission satellite 'Chandrayaan-I'. Notwithstanding the fact that I was able to sleep only for two hours since the pick up for the media was slated at 5 a.m. Ultimately, the media pickup left only at 6.30 am and almost everyone of us caught up on the previous night's sleep on the Volvo bus. However, a couple of rather irritating tv media personnel, apparently from a local channel were listening to music with their cell phone speakers blaring out fully loudly, disturbing our sleep. This is the fourth time I am at Sriharikota, but the first time being taken to the launchpad. Journos are taken to the launchpad very rarely because its a high security area and only when some very important event happens.
The launchpad is huge. Never seen anything like it before. It's beautifully coloured.It has grey, blue, red and yellow all around. An ISRO official leads us to a board that has pictures and description of how the rocket launch takes place. I hang around for sometime. It gets too technical and the heat gets to me. I would rather go and take some pictures of the launchpad. I mite not get another opportunity for all I know. Slowly, the number of journalists surrounding the ISRO official dwindle and they move towards the launchpad. Photos are clicked furiously. I frantically keep looking for our photographer. He is not to be seen around. "Must have gone to get some unique pictures. He will return..."I tell myself. I open my camera. The batteries are almost empty and the camera keeps switching off. "Damn!" I fumble around in the camera bag and find four more batteries. "Hope this works" It does. I take a few pictures. A few journos are now standing near the pit from where the rocket will take off and are listening to what Guruprasad is saying. Guruprasad is the ISRO PRO. I go and try to get some 'gyan'. He is explaining something, then a few questions are thrown at him. I click a picture of the group. I m tired of so many questions being asked. The heat again! "Damn...and we all thought it was going to rain when the bus entered the complex..." I move out again. A few more pics are taken.
Gopu is around. "Hey take a pic man". The sun is beating down. He clicks a few. "I can't see anything on the monitor. The sun is glaring down on it," he says. He's taken a few good pics. Now it's his turn. I try to get a good pic of him. Comes out well. And after sometime, a few more journos want me to click pics of them. I oblige.
Finally, my photographer! Ah! There he is with another photographer. "Went to get some different shots," they tell me. Competition can force people to think differently! They take more pics and finally a few pics of me are taken by them professionally. By this time, all of us are asked to get onto the bus again.
"We are going to see the rocket..." Guru says. "We are going near the rocket? You are taking us there?" I ask. "Yes yes...let's go" Once more herded back into the bus. Two more kilometers later, the rocket building. Then the rocket in view. Everyone's excited to see the rocket from such close quarters.Water! A few hands stretch out for water.
TV journos make sure they have the rocket in the background when they deliver their PTC's. So what are we poor print people supposed to do? So we take pics.
Heavy security around. Chandra asks one security personnel in Hindi "How do u feel about Chandrayaan?" "We are very proud". "Why?".."Arrey...we are Indians. We are employed by the Indian government. You are an Indian. You also feel proud about this, so do we," he says. "Who are you people?" he asks apparently not seeing so many cameras around. "We are from the press in Chennai..." "You are from Chennai and you speak shudh Hindi?" he asks. "Ya...we do....," comes her reply and I lose the rest of the conversation as by this point, I lose interest again. Another angle, more pics.
We leave after sometime. There's some discussion about some orbit the satellite would be going through. "Ya Ya..it's all going over my head...the heat...the physics of the orbit....grrr" I think. The way back to the hall is not that scenic, am disappointed. We reach the hall...press conference in a few mins...nothing great is discussed. It's all routine stuff. I get my story on the way back and the story is...
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