Strings Of Life

      Every art is unique & so is the style of any artist. Even today when we read our childhood poetry books we very well recognize the author by the mere rhyme of the words. When we are involved with any form of art, consciously or subconsciously we tend to develop a style. Style is an artists way of portraying the elements of composition.

“…the modern portrait photographer should strive, with the help of his own feeling for light, to express himself in a completely personal manner, create his own style, and deliver with every portrait his visiting card… in order that he can be recognized in every one of his pictures.”   

- Helmar Lerski

I too wish to have my unique style. To me, a perfect photograph is not the answer but a question in itself. It should engage the viewer in such as way that he/she feels looking over it again and again, not only because of its aesthetic value but also because of the story being told. I'll consider myself a photographer the day people will start recognizing my images without my name written on them.

Do Check Out: Supar Studio

Getting inspiration from Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", I decided to experiment with the Manual mode of my Nikon D40. After loads of confusion and reading I got to learn few of its features. The above image is one of my first taken in the Manual mode.

Mr. A: I lost my wife in the market today. I informed the police & searched everywhere but still couldn't know her whereabouts.

Mr.B: Did you try Google Search?

It has been a long time since I wrote something here.
I don't feel like writing these days and moreover I don't want to fake it.
I have not only stopped writing but even stopped thinking and that is quite a dangerous thing.

Remember the face of the most sincere person you've ever known. Maybe your office colleague, your neighbor or a college mate. Our society regards sincerity as the greatest virtue. And you won't disagree with the fact that sincerity demands a great deal of effort, but are the rewards in accordance with the efforts? Maybe Yes, Maybe No.

Sincerity means doing things you are supposed to do with a perfect dedication. But isn't it that sincerity limits ones vision?, it kills your ability to think beyond the obvious & ask questions.
Lack of questions leads to lack of vision and existence without vision is a monotonous existence.

Since past few days I have been thinking about complete makeover of this blog, right from the title to the style. I had always been in love with the phrase 'Strings of life' but since past few months the outlook of my blog has changed from personal to general perspective. Hence I've decided to change the title 'Strings of life' to 'Thought Cafe' so as to justify the type of articles posted over here, and now onwards I'll focus more on writing articles of general concern.
Your suggestions in this matter are much appreciated.

"Dedication to duty is not a sacrifice but a justification to our existence."






















Busy bee- My favorite photograph (till now). Captured this one while on morning walk.

Last week while traveling to Shimla I was accompanied by an unknown lady in whose lap was sitting this small kid of six years. Quick witted, cute, wearing spectacles like those of Harry Potter he was restless and kept firing rapid questions which his mother found difficult to answer.

When the bus halted for a lunch break this boy was keenly observing the fruit vendor who entered the bus to sell his fruit stock. But he hardly found any takers.
After few minutes the vendor again entered the bus to fetch in some customers this time. At very moment when the vendor stepped inside, the boy screamed: Mummy!! Double role!.
And the whole bus went gaga over the boys comment.

I wonder: How an innocent comment can sometimes lighten the moment.

Since childhood I have been fascinated by cameras but could never afford one till my professional independence.
I pledged during college days that my first salary would be invested in a good camera.

Point & Shoot or DSLR?
The first camera which I laid my eyes upon was Canon Powershot SX1 IS but its launch in India quite disappointed me, it came with a huge price tag of 36995/- INR. Then I started searching web for more options and gradually came to know that a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is what a serious amateur photographer needs. The biggest advantage a DSLR offers over Point & Shoot is the flexibility of lenses(i.e you can select lens according to your need).

Nikon D40:
I was looking for a DSLR suiting my budget and finally decided to go for Nikon D40.
It's merely three days since I bought this camera and I'm literally in love with it.
Nikon D40 kit comes with body, 18-55m lens, battery, charger & Nikon strap.
The things I liked about D40 are:
Great kit lens: An 18-55mm lens covers most of my general needs.

Great feel: The advantage any Nikon camera offers over any other brand is the feel it gives in your hand.

Great Image quality: Nikon D40 comes with 6.1 Megapixel sensor which disappoints many buyers but the real thing is that Megapixel is related to the image size and not the image quality.

Small size: Nikon D40 does not have a giant looking body like that of a camera in any professional studio. Rather it can be easily carried in a normal V-shaped bag.

Pocket Friendly: One of the best thing about Nikon D40 is that it comes within budget and it is always better to invest in good lenses than to invest in a costly camera body.

And finally it's the technique and knowledge that makes great images and not the camera.
So now onwards I'll frequently post images taken with my Nikon D40 over this space.
Meanwhile you can check my Flickr blog over here.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela

Indian society has always given high importance to the education. Education enlightens the soul and helps an individual to understand the world. Ok! that's fine!. But let us take a look into the facts (Source: Smile foundation India).

• Less than half of India's children between the age 6 and 14 go to school.
• A little over one-third of all children who enroll in grade one reach grade eight.
• At least 35 million children aged 6 - 14 years do not attend school.
• 53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are illiterate.
• In India, only 53% of habitation has a primary school.
• In India, only 20% of habitation has a secondary school.
• On an average an upper primary school is 3 km away in 22% of areas under habitations.
• In nearly 60% of schools, there are less than two teachers to teach Classes I to V.
• On an average, there are less than three teachers per primary school. They have to manage classes from I to V every day.
• Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.
• 1 in 40, primary school in India is conducted in open spaces or tents.
• More than 50 per cent of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12.
• 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school

Poverty:
Poverty is an outcome of illiteracy. The only permanent solution to poverty is education.

Each one teach ten:
"Each one teach one" has been an old credo. But the need of the hour is "Each one teach ten".

Privatization of govt. schools:
Most of the indian primary schools lack quality staff, infrastructure and basic facilities. privatization would make the management more efficient and hence proper utilization of resources.

Corporate responsibility:
Many top Indian companies understand their social responsibility and are providing helping hands in this field. but as any company derives its profit from the society, every company irrespective of its size and profit margin must contribute for the education of poor.

Efforts at individual level:
We as an individual can really make a difference. All that is needed is:
• Identification of the areas around you.
• Gathering a group of educated enthusiasts.
• If possible contact some NGO.
• Cause awareness among people around you.
• Little monetary help.

*One such effort with which I was associated during my college days was Literacy Mission at NIT Hamirpur.


All it needs is time and dedication and this small efforts of yours can really make a difference.
So let us come forward and dream of a different tomorrow. Dream of a better India, a better world.

*Image source: CSmonitor

Three months, and I’ve not written even a single word on this blog (a thing which I really adored during college days). It has nothing to do with my hectic professional life but the thing is, that I feel as if my heart and mind have stopped working. I hardly introspect these days and everything seems hazy.


I don't know where my life is heading and what my priorities are, I simply don't know. Made so many commitments but everything in vain. The only positive sign is that since past few days I'm missing my blog a lot and thinking of a complete changeover (of blog) maybe this new resolution will refresh my priorities. And again I’ll be doing the thing I love.

UPDATE:
Hello friends. Due to some reasons I won't be available here till July end or August.
Thanks for your valuable comments. And I'm sorry for not being able to post comments on your blogs.
I'll miss my favorite blogs & bloggers. But i'll update myself when I'm back.
Miss you all.
Take Care! Stay Happy, Stay Good.
-----

I took this TAG from Rajeev's blog. And I tag everyone reading it. :)

Sunil Parashar: A memoir in six words.

"The other good name of LUCK!"

Talent was the name of a coin in ancient times and those who had a lot of talent, or money, then-just as it is now-were indeed the ones who saved and invested gainfully. Before making a long journey, the Bible says, a rich man called three of his servants and "unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one."

He that received the five talents went and traded with the same, and gained another five talents. And likewise, he that had received two, also gained another two. But he that received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the master of those three men returned, and reckoned with them. He that had received five talents came and showed another five talents, saying, "My lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained five talents more."
The master said unto him,"Well done...I will make thee ruler over many things." The master was also pleased with the man who had doubled his two talents. "Well done... I will make thee too ruler of many things." These two men would now lead a more joyous life. They were talented!

Then the man who had received the one talent came to his master and said, "Lord, I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth: here take what is yours." The master answered and told him, "You wicked and slothful servant... you ought to have put my money to the exchangers and at my return I should have received it with interest."

Obviously, this man had no talent. "Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents," the master then ordered. "And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness."
-MATTHEW 25: 14-30 in the Bible.

Learning lesson from this story I purchased the bestseller "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham.- My first investment towards investing.
What was your first investment towards investing?

"Whenever I look at you, you seem very silent & lost within yourself. You don't seem happy, something bothering you?. You can trust me as a friend."


I'm well acquainted with such questions but this time it was my teacher who rang the bell.
I plainly denied the charges & the conversation went on.



Now I wonder what happiness exactly is?.
To me happiness is more a matter within & not inside out.
If someone stays silent does it imply that he/she is not happy?.
Is it mandatory to reflect happiness?.

I often get engrossed in the word 'Life'. What is the meaning of life?. Is it happiness? Is it Love?, or is life some sort of gimmick played upon us by some higher power?.

One day pondering over such questions I subconsciously sketched a guitar on the paper at hand and titled it as 'Strings of Life'. Later on this became the title for my first blog.
The idea behind Strings of Life was to create an online souvenir where I can express myself, share my thoughts and discover the meaning of Life.

The new face of Strings of Life:
The two year journey from 2006 to 2008 was like sea waves, full of highs and lows.
Now I've moved Strings of Life from Google owned domain(www.sunilparashar.blogspot.com) to a custom domain SunilParashar.com so as to make a fresh start.
Whereas the theme remains same: Life.

Hello and welcome at Strings of Life (SunilParashar.com).


My shortest résumé:
Name: Sunil Parashar
Age: Currently on my 23rd 24th revolution around the sun.
Location: Hamirpur Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.
Education : NIT Hamirpur (B.Tech, Electrical), Sainik School Balachadi, Jamnagar, Gujarat (Higher Secondary)
Occupation: Currently in the final year of Electrical Engineering at NIT Hamirpur. Working as Engineer in a PSU.

In retrospect, I aspired to be an army officer, a multi millionaire, join merchant navy, be an IAS officer, join the corporate world, start my own industrial conglomerate, be a writer, and what not but it took me 19 years to discover that all these realms demand hard work and therefore I ended up being an engineer(maybe).

Literally speaking I'm not a genius/technical person but yes I'm a curious soul and once I make up my mind for something I give my entire self towards it. I believe, if you don't have something then create it. After all life is all about being passionately passionate about ones aspirations & dreams.
These lines by Emily Dickinson best describes me:
"A face devoid of love or grace,
A hateful, hard, successful face,
A face with which a stone Would feel as thoroughly at ease
As were they old acquaintances —First time together thrown."

My hobbies include:
Reading: Imagination has no upper limit & to me books are as important as breathing. View my collection of books over here>> .

Writing: I love collecting diaries and scribbled pages appear better than the blank ones. It took me 20 years to realize that I've no talent for writing but by then I was already popular.(Quote)

Web designing: Internet is the best medium to express oneself & I think it's better to get your hands dirty with some elementary coding than to pay some professional web developer for such a stupid thing.

Photography: Oops! I don't own a camera but I think I've an eye for photography. Soon I'll be equipping myself with a DSLR, but then soon itself is a big word. :D
Thankfully now I own Nikon D40 & my photography skills can be viewed over here.

Cooking: It's fun, creativity & far more a thing than keeping utensils on fire. So what would you like to have for the dinner today? :)


Blogging & me:
I first heard the term blog way back in 2005 & thought to get one for myself. My first blog can still be accessed over here. As the word 'Life' fascinates me more than anything I named my blog as Strings of Life & have still retained its name. The philosophy behind Strings of Life can be read over here>>
Blog is the best platform to express myself & the friends I've made over here are worth a million posts.If you don't own a blog I advice you to immediately start one and I'm sure you'll be surprised by the results.

Thank you for reaching this far, I admire your patience. To stay in touch or to know more about me drop me an email at:


Or else visit the Contact page.

Welcome to the contact page of SunilParashar.com.


To get in touch with me or to know more about me please feel free to drop me a mail at:




Instant chat:

What is this?
If you liked this blog site and want to keep yourself updated with the regular articles posted over here; you need not visit it time and again rather this site will reach to you.
Yes! The feed technology has provided legs & wings to it.
If you are wondering what exactly is known as feed? Read an interesting article over here.

How do I subscribe?
There are many ways but the recommended ones are:
Subscribe into your email inbox:
For this all you need to do is enter your email id (on which you want to subscribe the regular articles) in the box provided below.

Enter your email address:

After you are done with this you’ll receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription(This is to avoid other people entering your email id).

So, is it Secure?
It is perfectly secure as well as there will be no unnecessary emails or any Spam.

Is there any other way?
Yes! The next best alternative is to use any online feed reader.
Feed reader can be online (it is as good as accessing your email inbox) as well as offline (the one to be installed on your pc).
The best & popular feed readers(online) are:
Note: You need an account with any of these services in order to access your feeds.
Google reader (recommended)
Bloglines
Netvibes
Rojo
My Yahoo
Pageflakes

For any query please feel free to post your comment.

Hello friends,
Life is too hectic now a days, i'm not getting time to write anything over here.
Recently my system was down due to cold & fever. :(
Yesterday i put my hands into a new domain.
I've named my new blog as blogzene . If you've time do check it & leave your valuable comments over there.

Regarding Strings of life. I'll be writing here after i'm done with my technical pressure.
Most probably I'll be back in Sept or Oct.
Till then i wish you all my special friends a good life & happiness.

Note: In the meantime I'll be available at blogzene.

He choose to remain silent.
No! not because he had no other option but silence was sweet, silence was burning the pain.
Silence meant giving another thought to the choice made. silence spoke for itself.

His mind couldn't register her words. No, not exactly so; he didn't intended to hear them.
They touched his ears like the sea waves.-turning back every time they touch the shore, and turn they must because the shore is not the end but a beginning towards end.

The rain started pouring in; first drop by drop and then heavily and they had to move separate ways; their own ways.
By choosing silence he assumed he conveyed everything but somewhere deep inside he knew....this was the end; end to everything.

This time when he glanced at the glass of his window, the rain didn't remind him of the first time he missed her but there rose a pain; a feeling new to him. And tears rolled down his cheeks; first drop by drop......& then heavily.............like the first rain.