Eashwer Dass

Rear View Reflections If this is the view (the picture) you see every time when you take a peek in the rearview mirror of life then, you will not have to worry so much, because the world you live in, seems to be moving in the right direction. The comparison of a journey we make in a vehicle and the one living our lives have remarkable similarities. They can provide us valuable lessons in managing dangers or simply avoiding one altogether. While driving, what you see in front of you is equally important as being conscious of what’s happening behind the vehicle, so just to keep accidents rightly as a non-existent statistic. As much as we would like to move forward to charter new territories, there should be an equal vigilance on the hind side. Painstaking initiatives should be taken to keep the world in the same pristine condition as we received it from our fathers and them from theirs and hand it over to our children and they theirs. Therefore, if the reflection y...

Friendship begins in many ways, sometimes we look for it and there are times when we just bump into it. EDit

Writenow: The Pandemic Voyage. Having sailed through 2020, just pray we never ever journey another one with damaged sails that almost ran aground the entire world in a rudderless voyage.  Sailing was an underrated expression for the expedition, white water rafting anchored with misadventures would be a more appropriate substitute. One will never forget this tumultuous year which brought out the best in a few, the worst for some and death for the unfortunate multitudes. Dubbed the pandemic year, it was studded with continuous eyebrow raisers, heart wrenches and puzzlements without any one Incident outweighing the other. Days, weeks and months passed by making no sense of whatever was taking place, only fortifying having no control of our destiny. Our faith in God, Governments, families, friends and esteemed institutions have been litmus tested in this unpleasant odyssey and produced unexpected results. The world's most powerful nation had the litmus test matching the colour of her P...

The race, religion, language tradition, culture and many more would be different but the feeling of pain and the colour of blood will always remain the same.

Water Even though they do not mix, water and petroleum are the two top commodities that mingle quite well on a list that shapes human existence and development. Not only does petroleum fuel our industries but it also contours the facade of modernisation synthesised by its countless derivatives to give the splendour that man constantly desires. Since its discovery, our planet has been perpetually squeezed for crude like a flattening tube of toothpaste to quench the insatiable thirst of what is known as progress. Unfortunately, the reserves of fossil fuel will one day end, with wells running dry, so will the black gold’s global dependence but this will not stop man’s resourcefulness. He would have by then, expedited explorations on other planets or would have found niche alternatives to preserve the energy continuum. The same cannot be said about water, only because this life dependent liquid cannot be substituted or easily harnessed. Just ask anybody out of the blues a sim...

Coz, they don't give a tinker's cuss Take a look at kid's clothing, they would eventually be reduced to a faded and tattered pile of rags within no time but just hold them up for a while and reminisce on how much delight they would have given you as especially their lingering body odour.  Imagine the struggle that these fabrics would have tolerated against the best detergents available in the market and more than often lose the battle to come out clean and spotless. Definitely , a little more seasoned and a shade of colour loss from the rude tumbling of a  heavily soiled pre- programmed wash  mode  set on the  washing machine.  Just think of the little bodies these apparels host, the bodies that least care about the type of clothes their mommies or daddies buy them. No matter what type of clothes these little bodies are wrapped in, be it branded or a one picked up from the flea market on a bargain, its origin or history does not both...

The oppositions of the past and the present To keep the government machinery well-oiled means having the opposition parties to watch their every move and to make sure that they are always on track. The previous opposition mechanic in the first picture, who with his band of soldiers relentlessly splattered oil on the previous government machinery to check its corrupt ways. If one scratches the walls of our parliament, he would definitely without fail hear this man’s voice. After decades of abuse, the machinery finally brakes down and falls apart to provide the nation an opportunity to test a new machine and new machines come with new mechanics. Lim kit Siang has now begun hands on, defusing the ‘Time bombs in Malaysia’ after clinching the mandate of the Rakyat to be promoted from an opposition mechanic to a law maker in the Government. The picture next to the detonator is that of a young man who has begun surfing on the crest of a wave that he has created ever since the Na...

After 6 decades of a single brand of rule being artificially popularised, the Malaysian Rakyat finally decided that they have had enough and voted for change. Now change comes with a price especially when the new ruling Government is head by the same brand disguised under the pretext of a rebrand. After condemning his predecessor of almost bankrupting the country and fully aware that the country is debt ridden, the Prime Minister with a weakness for fast and fancy cars is toying with the idea of burdening the country with yet another Malaysian car. By broadcasting bad reviews, he coerced the entire board of the Khazana National BHD into relinquishing their posts and successfully wrested control over it by appointing himself as its new Chairperson while selecting his own brand of people to serve along with him. His rebranding has also denied the Indian Government of an extradition request of the infamous Zair Naik to face criminal charges in the Indian sub-continent, a matter wh...

A Jolooker is a person whose eyes have a direct relationship with his testosterone production levels, mainly because his ministry of discipline completely erodes even with the slightest input of misinterpreted eroticism. It is a condition that psychology has made inroads to explain in detail but the psychiatry for relief still remains to be a myth. There is a great demand for cardboard in the market these days because of this and clothes manufacturers are outrageously attempting to source for even more. Ever since Minister Anthony Loke was pressed in parliament to resolve the eye-disturbing dress code issue of the stewardesses in the National Airline or MAS, the Kardbaya or cardboard Kebaya came into existence. The issue turned out to be a hot debate for politicians and backbenchers of a parliament who had seemed to have already solved all the important matters in the country and were running dry of issues to debate on. They began to undress and redress the poor kebaya-ed staf...

A Dab of Red in a Lung of Green This amazing dazzle of a view I almost missed. My  concentration was more on my strained lungs and wobbling  legs.  To focus on limbs and lungs during a strenuous ascend up a steep slope was reflexive and more so a gravitating  requirement. Especially those tricky ones circumventing the hills in the Trivandrum district of Kerala, South India.  Thanks to a co-climber who in better  physical shape pointed out this little dab of red conspicuously floating on a vast ocean of green.  It was indeed a sight for sore eyes that   tranquilised   mind and body. With gratitude, I  replicated her soothing beauty, capturing her digitally and instantly share it  with the rest of the world.  ED. Location: Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Perunad Grama Panchayat, Kerala.

                                      

Eashwer Dass 20 May at 22:23 · Kathakali Kathakali is a mystical fabric of an embodiment interwoven by tradition, culture, and faith which is gloriously illustrated through dance by the enigmatic people of God’s Own Country or Kerala. Rolling eyeballs, nictitating eyelids and strenuous body postures, these exponents with years of practice, are cloaked in elaborate colourful costumes and painted faces to tell tales of Gods, Kings, and of folklore to an audience from all walks of life only through the language of dance. Kathakali makeup ritual fast-forwarded from 4 hours to under just 3 minutes.

Eashwer Dass Synchronicity This is an experiment of removing the original soundtrack of three different Indian classical dances and replacing it with only one randomly chosen soundtrack. The outcome is quite amazing, it is almost as if there is an auto choreographic built-in mechanism that magically synchronises the two almost perfectly. EDit.

POLICEWOMEN Well Hello! They look like characters that just tore themselves out of a Marvel Comic or an action flick, but no, this is as real as it gets.  It may not be incredulous to see a woman wrapped in Kevlar armour  and with her pretty face hidden by a vision enhancing visor  anymore,  but even if it is, it will always remain to be a refreshing sight. Pretty Women Born smack on the Equator with pleasant demeanours and splendid complexions, these women are forged and moulded by the heat of a melting equatorial sun.  To Imagine Their Colour They possess a subtle and unique shade of the colour brown with each wearing one varying in intensity.  To best describe their complexions is to simply imagine a thin ceaseless flow of fresh latte being piped into a steaming cup of fresh black coffee simultaneously being swirled  with a tea spoon; an  action displaying the varying degrees of brown, begining from an intense...

An acquired taste that can prick your wallet If you are a durian lover, then you are so doomed! We now live in a time that the price that you pay for your acquired taste is as bizarre and freaky as the robust smelling delicacy itself. It’s become quite unthinkable to stop along roadside stalls breaking long journeys across the countryside to indulge in one of our many National die hard habits, which is to savour on fresh durians as well as other local fruits and produce. Enter the new business concept of cafes just serving durians and curtains down to the days when Malaysians just enjoyed squatting on roadsides to gobble up the fruit sold at throw away prices. The top of the range of the fruit is known as the Musang King and has an asking price of RM 70 to RM 100 per kilogram, whereas, in China, people actually pay a King’s ransom to sink their teeth into its sweet yellow flesh. A durian contains 5 or 6 pieces or fleshy seeds inside its compartmentalised thorny shell, ...

NOT TRUE This is an awesome portrait of two beautiful women on the cover page of an elite fashion magazine featuring the untapped beauty of the African continent and her people. Both women are highly acclaimed professional models, bathed in the finest branded perfume, masked in branded makeup, wearing a fine collection of branded non-precious contemporary jewellery and cloaked in trendy summer wear.  And that's just nonsense! THE TRUTH These two African women woke up this morning and promised that they would live life to its fullest as they do every day, as simply as they breathe the crisp Ethiopian air. BEAUTIFUL Dressed in their pleasant hand woven garb and donning local handcrafted colourful adornments wrapped around limbs and neck they set off to catch a bus into their local village town.  EDit . Photo: S. Gopinath

  Coz, they don't give a tinker's cuss Take a look at kid's clothing, they would eventually be reduced to a faded and tattered pile of rags within no time but just hold them up for a while and reminisce on how much delight they would have given you as especially their lingering body odour.  Imagine the struggle that these fabrics would have tolerated against the best detergents available in the market and more than often lose the battle to come out clean and spotless. Definitely , a little more seasoned and a shade of colour loss from the rude tumbling of a  heavily soiled pre- programmed wash  mode  set on the  washing machine.  Just think of the little bodies these apparels host, the bodies that least care about the type of clothes their mommies or daddies buy them. No matter what type of clothes these little bodies are wrapped in, be it branded or a one picked up from the flea market on a bargain, its origin or history d...

The Brahminy Kite With iron-claw grip, the Brahminy kite remained perched on an insulated power line, that slung between two electric poles while maintaining a guarded distance from its predators. These beautiful predators are super cautious about their safety, which is only second to their deadly instincts for hunting. This majestic brown eagle watched us, watching her with our smartphone cameras rolling, photo shooting the rare event that was going to be multimedia material in the split second after the sound of shutters dies down. The event went on for a few minutes with the beautiful bird fluffing its feathers while showing off and probably even aware that it is being remotely digitalised in megapixels as video clip trophies going viral for human entertainment. The bird finally got a little restless, maybe even a little bored and decided that its time would be more wisely spent not by amusing humans, but rather shopping for a prey without a prayer whic...

Colours of a Peacock Nestled deep in an oil palm plantation in the humble town of Maran in central West Malaysia, is a century-old Hindu temple that rears peacocks. The peacock is considered sacred because mythology has it that it is the preferred mode of transportation of Lord Subramanian, who is also the patron deity of worship in the said temple. The peacock never seems to amaze me with its awesome coat of colours that it wears, especially when it fans out its feathers in a courtship ritual. What truly inspires me from this, is to appreciate the finer details of every colour application that exists around us.  There is not a single thing in nature that is off colour or coloured in bad taste, it simply means that God has coloured everything we see meticulously with perfect design and taste. We are then, only left with the task to view, appreciate, replicate and occasionally write about it in absolution. EDit. This picture was taken during a visit to Maran Maruth...

Blondies These primates actually wore blonde hair and looked as though they had just come out of a hair salon sprucing up for a party at the Forest Reserve of the Trivandrum district in Kerala. They reminded me so much, of what we would do when we have a party. The requirement for preparation for a great party is getting dressed up, getting sloshed and lots of monkeying around  symbolising  man, ironically as the social animal. Edit. Location: Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Perunad Grama Panchayat, Kerala.

An Artist’s Impression This man has made many trips to India. An artist, he calls himself and with only one thing on his mind, which is to capture her entire beauty on his easel.  He says to accomplish this, it will take an infinite number of journeys to this sub-continent and which he wishes that he can scrape off every detail of it delicately and paste it onto his canvas in the exact manner he experiences them. EDit. Location: Varkala Beach in Trivandrum District Kerala

Child Operating System The operating system of a child’s mind stands out to be more advanced compared to an older version, like a classic of the sixties just like yours truly or me. A child handles a computer, a smartphone or any other gadget with great ease just like a natural and can take on any adult at entry level. Something that makes one wonder about how these babyfaces, not even fully toilet trained and still creating unimaginable stuff in their diapers, while just armed with only a birth certificate had mastered how to manoeuvre complex devices with great dexterity, with no coaching. These newer additions to the human race seem to have some sort of ‘learn by feel’ program hardwired into their psyche giving them an edge to synchronize with interactive technologies. EDit.

Mongoose This busy little mongoose made a quick appearance before dashing back into the bush, but nevertheless, my nimble fingers ably triggered my Samsung NX300 shutters, trapping the nifty, little camera-shy creature instantly, digitalising and imprisoning its image in the secure digital confinement of an SD card. This picture was taken at the foothills of the forest reserve in Trivandrum district, Kerala, India. The Mongoose is the sworn nemesis of the cobra and will fight till either one dies if they were to ever cross each other’s path. As folklore has it, the entire world will live in total peace and harmony with no wars to fight for eternity, only if the mongoose and the snake became friends. EDit. Location: Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District, Perunad Grama Panchayat, Kerala.

The image of an entrepreneur When you see a person like this standing in front of you with his hand held out to you and not in a gesture to shake yours, but instead requesting a token in alms or rather begging you to part with some of your money, what would come to mind? Are beggars’ losers? Or is there something else that deceives the unsuspecting donor?  Many third world countries have sad images like this painted for tourists who rather wish they did not have to deal with.  Begging is a fail-proof career because all one needs to invest is time and to look as miserable as possible. A career which is rewarding by being self-employed, while having the flexibility of choosing one's working hours with no tax man to bother about. This could either be an operation in the form of a syndicate, a private enterprise or even a family business. Now I ask you, what would come to mind if you saw a beggar again? Location: Tamil Nadu South India

Antics of a Wedding Package   Recently, while strolling along the PD beach, relishing nature’s amazing gifts, the blue ocean, fresh air and the sound of its relentless waves, I thought, I saw an angel.  Elucidating this as either a sign from God or the tremendous rush of blood to the brain caused by the shifting sands and random pebbles kneading continuously underneath my bare feet, I continued to approach her.  This beauty in a white flowing gown, with a face glistening in a concoction of perspiration and melting cosmetics that was beginning to precipitate stood orphaned under the shade of a palm tree. From a distance she resembled an angel on a stopover from heaven, taking a break on this uninhabited beach assured of total obscurity from God’s children. As I approached her, she looked just like an imagined picture of God’s angel with wings clipped, just like a one from Baywatch, but retrofitted in a different wardrobe.  She told me that she was g...

I t was official then, that the new journey had just begun. My cell phone portrayed a digital picture of my friend wearing a bleached synthetic wig. A picture of him in a black suit when all he wore before this day had always been a white garb. From the food-stained apron armour , wielding saucepan and ladles like weaponry in the hands of a mercenary and performing meticulous culinary skills to the demands of a connoisseur’s palate who feasts on it with fine dining cutlery. He is now a certified able demonstrator of the law, being the protector of those who are troubled by it or those who want it to trouble others. The recipe of persistence has concocted the sweet taste of an ambition, which finally came true and now called to order. All rise to hear the judgment on he who stands accused of this exemplary feat. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!  Was what was said before a loud thud came from the drop of the gavel.  EDit . I write this piece about a dear friend ...

This BLACK mad bad boy’s artistically exuberant presence was the most gratifying justification for my good money spent on tickets, fuel, pop-corn, coca cola, parking lot and most importantly precious time on an overrated, star-studded, huge budgeted movie where acting was visibly being slowly outsourced to the GRAPHICAL might of computer technology. Unfortunately he, my hero was crushed in the movie making the next sequel of BAHUBALI, a sure bet of watching a pirate in private.  EDit. The villain played in BAHUBALI the movie.

Settling of daylight, its last bits of rays sprinkled on the shores of Port Dickson. All boats anchored to the jetty sitting nice and pretty waiting for a new day when the sun rises again from the other end to sail out in the direction of where it last sunk. EDit.

Clouds building up a storm and soon its silver linings will burst to begin spurting water in the opposite direction of the fountainhead. KLCC lies scrapping the skies behind the Photographer Raj Gautam in this enigmatic photo.EDit.

An acquired taste that can prick your wallet If you are a durian lover, then you are so doomed! We now live in a time that the price that you pay for your acquired taste is as bizarre and freaky as the robust smelling delicacy itself. It’s become quite unthinkable to stop along roadside stalls breaking long journeys across the countryside to indulge in one of our many National die hard habits, which is to savour on fresh durians as well as other local fruits and produce. Enter the new business concept of cafes just serving durians and curtains down to the days when Malaysians just enjoyed squatting on roadsides to gobble up the fruit sold at throw away prices. The top of the range of the fruit is known as the Musang King and has an asking price of RM 70 to RM 100 per kilogram, whereas, in China, people actually pay a King’s ransom to sink their teeth into its sweet yellow flesh. A durian contains 5 or 6 pieces or fleshy seeds inside its compartmentalised...