You Work As You Play

This photo was shot around 1996 and this is one of my favourite photos of my children Manal and Maaz. Long before digital photography, I had shot this on film and enlarged it for a photo exhibition held at our Youth Center. Their seriousness and sheer concentration is so captivating. Catching tiny coloured fish that dart in and out of every niche and cranny of the corals during low tides must have been one of the favourite past times of our children since time immemorial.

In a still photo that takes about one sixtieth of a second to capture, we may not be able to know who the leader here is and who is guiding the action. But when you watch someone at play, you know a lot about that person. The person’s dedication to his or her hobby or sport will be in the same proportion he or she puts into life, or chosen field of work. As a nation the Japanese play hard and work hard. I cannot think of any other nation that plays so hard and also works so hard. It is scary to watch the Japanese when they fell a huge tree, strip it off all branches and pull it down a steep slope and people just jump on to this huge log as it goes crashing downhill! One would think they are out of their minds!

We all know that children learn a lot about life through play. Important aspects of life such as teamwork, not to give up, do your utmost even if you are dead tired and what is more important, how to lose with dignity and be gracious in victory is what we learn through play.

The mature people among us must have seen how the latter two qualities have been fading in sports and also how our society has changed now. Coaches stress on winning, not enjoying the play. Coaches in schools must emphasis on the importance of enjoying what we play because if we instill this in our children, they know that they did their best and they enjoyed, even if they did not win. If we stress on the importance of winning what does the losing team get? Nothing, not even the sheer pleasure of the game and we teach our children that the end justifies the means! We must teach our younger generation that the journey should be enjoyed as well as the destination!

Thank You

Tribute to Dragonflies

Gentle Dragon

Few days back I saw this dragonfly snoozing on the Yellow Allamanda vine my wife grows in our balcony. I believe this is a male Green Darner ( (anax Junius) one of the largest varieties of the vast Dragonfly family. Perhaps, it is called this peculiar name because the tail resembles a darning needle!

I have always been very curious why dragonflies are called such a sinister name in English. We in the Maldives have quite different names in various atolls to this seemingly very delicate insect which in fact may be a record breaker! In the north, the common name is HATHARU FIYA DHOONI which literally means Four Winged Bird! Whereas, in Male' the common name is DHON DHOONI.

I found out that in Japan dragonflies are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness. The Japanese have revered this amazing insect so much that they have traditional names for almost all of the 200 species of dragonflies found in and around Japan! Who would expect anything less from the meticulous and nature loving Japs!

Children everywhere seem fascinated with this beautiful flying insects. Japanese children catch large dragonflies as a game, using a hair with a small pebble tied to each end, which they throw into the air. The dragonfly mistakes the pebbles for prey, gets tangled in the hair, and is dragged to the ground by the weight. Although we do not see children using the sap of the Breadfruit tree as glue any more to catch these visitors to Maldives, it was a common sight just a decade ago. Our roads in Male' are not safe any more even for pedestrians, let alone children running to catch dragonflies!

The dragonfly spends most of its life in freshwater and since we do not have large freshwater bodies in the Maldives it was quite intriguing to find these aerial acrobats in large squadrons all at once all over our archipelago! Most of us never give such phenomena a second thought, but my Dad is the most intellectually curious Octogenarian an average Joe will ever meet! I knew he had wondered about the dragonflies' sudden appearances and disappearances for more than seven decades! So, as soon as I listened to Dr. Charles Anderson's lecture on Tedtalks, I was very eager to share this new found knowledge with my Dad! As Arabs say, when you know the reasons, you stop being bewildered!

Dr Charles Anderson is a Marine Biologist by training who was with the British VSO, and he was fascinated to see these four winged wonders in Male' every year at mid October ! His curiosity got the better of him and the scientist in him took over ! Please listen to his mesmerizing lecture on Ted talks India at this link:

www.ted.com/talks/charles_anderson_discovers_dragonflies.

Tribute To A Little Boy

My Son Rose To Occasion

My son Maaz, studying in Malaysia ( on the right) was home for a short holiday. We were so happy to have him with us once again. The day this photo was shot was an exceptionally beautiful day, I was anticipating a very spectacular sunset and arranged for the whole family to cross over to Vilingili just about a kilo meter away ( or just about 7 or 8 minutes ) from Male'.

As soon as we set foot on the island I knew we were just a couple of minutes late for a sunset photo! I was mildly upset about this and had no hope of getting a good photo and accepted the trip was in vain. Almost giving up on shooting a photo we sat chatting on the western side of Vilingili when my youngest son Mazin on the left, just clicked a photo of his brother and it was unexpectedly good. A silhouette of course but needed the subject's profile. I was amazed at this result and it taught me a lesson I shall never forget. Many times we have a preset idea of what should be 'right' and how the conditions should be. Children with their agile mentality are more susceptible for trying different approaches and exploring new angles to what is so familiar to us adults. It is so natural for kids to refuse to be imprisoned in the concrete boundaries adults so often jail themselves in. I took the camera from Zin and asked to sit with his brother and after some adjustments got this charming photo of my sons! One of my favourite photos!

The sun was down but my youngest son rose to the occasion and made my day! We live & learn!

Art Imitates Nature

Art Imitates Nature

My life long friend M. Uvais had uploaded on to his "flickr" photo sharing page, a photo of a water plant floating on a small pond. He had photographed a macro of ( a variety of ) water lettuce which had very thick leaves. I commented that I could carve something very similar to that with soap! His reply was this; "I will email you the original" . When I received it, I found out that he had photographed three separate plants, two plants were framed in such a way that only two separate halves appeared and one full plant. He had cropped only the center plant for "flickr".

The above is my endeavor to imitate his photo ( on top ). I have carved three soaps, placed them apart as in his photo & to replicate the brackish water in his photo I placed my soap carvings on a piece of dark plastic and then photographed my work. Took few experimental shots at different shutter speeds and apertures and above is the best.

When I uploaded my version, Uvais was very impressed and clicked it as his favourite.
Please click below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahmedsameer/6226639484/in/photostream

Tribute To A Knife!

My Knife

This is a flower I carved out of a beetroot. It is very kind of you if you found this to resemble a Rose! On this particular Friday, I bought the largest beetroot I could find to carve a rose with fully opened petals. Gracing the picture is my favourite carving knife I bought out of curiosity! They say when you buy a pet, it is often the pet choosing you, rather than the logical way things are ‘supposed’ to work out! In this case I simply had no idea what I can do with it. The peculiar shape appealed to me and I just had to buy this strange knife!

My wife knew that Hotel School (now Faculty of Hospitality) students used such knives to carve pumpkins and papayas. Never having tried such exotic a craft, I sheepishly hid the knife somewhere. Months passed and the knife was forgotten till one day I saw on YouTube, a short video of a Papaya being carved into a beautiful flower or multiple flowers! My heart raced, and searched for the red handled knife that I was so rude to!

The very organized lady to whom I am married to, just opened a drawer in the kitchen and fished out the knife for me, and a passion for vegetable and fruit carving and later soap carving was kindled in me and that is how I was sucked into the charming world of carving!!

A person who was never praised for artistic abilities cannot go from zero to an acceptable level of carving without making awkward and perishable mistakes, destroying many attempted projects at infancy. But there is a silver lining here; in fruit carving, when you carve melons and papaya or mangoes the advantage is, one can always eat the failed attempts!

Room With A View

This is the view from my living room! I am immensely blessed with this ever changing picture post card view every time I look out. Not one idle second if you look out, sometimes three sea planes, millionaires' sleek yachts, wooden ships from South India, huge container ships, high tech Catamarans with their tall masts will be in the vicinity!

This is the North Western end of Male' our capital island. I live on the 4th floor, so the relative vantage view is of high advantage to a serious amateur photographer like me. In this photo, right in front is a Liberian registered cargo vessel called "Tiger". Next week it may be a " Maersk" Shipping line or local Lily shipping anchored in front of my balcony.

Speed launches in their never quenched thirst for more speed will crisscross through the narrow water way between the cargo ship and the wave breakers every minute, non stop and round the clock. As all this is happening smaller cargo ships will come closer to the unloading platform and get moored alongside and parallel to the wharf.

I have always believed and stressed that one of the major beauties of our tiny island nation is that we can always ( well, almost always) see a handful of other islands whenever you looked into the horizon, or even without having to look that farther. Although only Feydhoo Finolhu and only Baross (out of the triplets; Ihuru, Vabbinfaru & Baross) is seen in this photo, I can easily see eight islands even now. When we moved into Lucky Star new building just before the Asia Tsunami, we could see from Villingili to HulhuMale (that is almost 180 degrees, people!) And about a dozen islands!! After the tsunami, the construction industry simply could not keep up with the extra ordinary demand for more apartments in Male'. New buildings came up faster than Giant Bamboo grew in its prime habitats, blocking our panoramic view little by little, drawing our attention to the remaining beauty and reminding us to look, absorb and enjoy this precious blessing while it lasts!

I shall not forget to add this; when my v good friend Siraj visited us here for the first time, he looked out and said " Sameer, you must pay for this (view) in US Dollars " !!!

Credit goes to my father who had the foresight to reclaim this land out of the sea, keep it intact and build a seven story house so that all his children can live under one roof! Thank you Dad.

Thank You, reader.

Tribute To A Rock

The Lone Sentinel

I am The Guardian of this beach, the Lone Sentinel of this magnificent shore. Many suns have risen in front of me, and set behind my back. I have enjoyed countless silver moons rise and bathe me in showers of mercury moonbeams. Never have I turned West to behold vivid and vibrant sunsets. On guard, I have never wavered nor faltered. To be content with one's task is the sacred duty of every sentinel.

Mighty waves break into a thousand ripples and gently embrace me in lucid hugs! Many a child has jumped over me thrilled by an affectionate chase! I have lost count of grandmothers who rested on me but not one fugitive ever hid behind me!

A sentinel, to guard and embrace, a lone soldier to lean on and a Rock to rest the weary; that’s me!