Peek-a-boo

A second thought
Was all that I had
Be it for
The food I eat
The roads I took
The people I met
And each month
It was just a peek-a-boo

My heart yearned
For you
My mind imagined
Symptoms
My body longed
To carry you
My voice craved
To sing for you
And each month
It was just a peek-a-boo

Mails clogged
My inbox
Telephone rang
Its maximum
Parties were
Never attended
Questions ran
Out of limit
Lullabies over radio
Pierced through me
And each month
It was just a peek-a-boo

Ob-gyn first remembered
My file no.
My name,
Face
And labelled me
"Still figuring whats wrong"
Clomid gave me
Panic attacks, palpitations
And mood swings
Pearls were all over
My ovaries...
And each month
It was just a peek-a-boo

The wait
Was tiring
I felt
Brave and broken
All at once
Every night
The pillow drenched in
Silent tears
Every morning
Puffed up eyes
Concealed the broken heart
Every day
Was a fight
I led alone
And each month
It was just a peek-a-boo

The lone soul

The lone soul
Let loose its grip
But without a life
To merge in
It wandered

Staying inside
An invisible cage
Its urge to
Live life was
Never seen
Never known
Never appreciated

Its rhythm matched
Its mate's beats
It witnessed the
Ups and downs
Of its mate
Gaspin' n pantin'

Being invisible
It partnered and
Took sides
Between the one
Who decides
And the one
Who feels

It felt the same,
The same as
Its mate
As it lay for a nap
On its mate
A thump could be heard
At intervals

Thump seemed suspicious
It was fast
It was uneven
Mate was dying
Mate was crying
For help....

The lone soul
Lay still
Lay mum
Its attempt to pacify
Its mate went
In vain....

The arrogance
Of the decision maker....
The ignorance
Of the decision maker...
Confused the
Lone soul!!!!
All the lone soul
Could do was
Stay caged but silent
Stay strong and look for help
But never understood
What a few wires
On the chest
And the readings
On the screen meant

Loneliness ....

Wrote this a few weeks back....


An eye lid
That remained open
Longing to kiss
Its better half...
The desire of being together
Being caressed with its love
The urge to meet
Its love
In a fraction of a second
The ability to
Wipe out its tears
It all seemed lost
It all seemed vague
Loneliness gave in
An excruaiting pain

A barren land
That remained lifeless
Longing for a rain
Its better half
To shower hope
Bliss and Love
To brush its face
With ecstacy and joy
To give in way
For a seed to bloom
For a flower to bud
Loneliness gave in
An excruiating pain

A flower
All blloming and cheerful
Longing for a bee
To suck its honey out
To kiss its petals
To spread its fragrance
To pass on its love
To the flower's
Better half
To make love
It stared down
At its withered mate
Loneliness gave in
An excruiating pain

A boat
Set to sail
Unknown destination
The next moment
Seemed vague
It stood still
Longing for a paddle
Its better half
Currents kept hitting
Weather kept rumbling
The boat kept mum
Unable to move forward
Water seeped in
Sadly the boat
Digested it all
Loneliness gave in
An excruiating pain

Someone who touched my heart....

Its true that the best way to touch anyone's heart is through the stomach..... Normally its just me and my phone that gives me company during lunch breaks I choose to sit among the crowd in a large atrium centre at my workplace, only to find people laughing and having lunch with their colleagues.... So even if its being in a crowd, I do feel left out...but yeah, that's the nature of my job. 

When I started thinking that to find a person with the same vibe just like me would be impossible, I happened to get hold of a colleague of mine. The saddest part is she'll be leaving the job within 2 weeks and I'll be probably back to square one.

 I have been with my team mates who sit with me the whole day at workplace....but never did anyone invite me to join them for lunch. But this friend of mine did.... Its just been a week or 2 weeks since we started talking and from then there was a connection... She didn't just promise me that she wud join me for both the breaks that we got, she even looked to it that she kept her word with me...

 Yesterday I simply felt blessed ..even if it was a short time that I could spent with this girl, it was like a temporary relief or escape from the loneliness that I was facing here... 

I wanted to take my break and called this friend of mine... I could see she was engrossed in her job..but she left everything and came with me... We had our sandwiches at the open balcony...and we talked a lot... For lunch I called her again ..she was busy..but she did keep her word and called me to the pantry to .share her lunch.... As I was pushing down my croissant (supposedly my lunch) down my throat, she shared her lunch with me.. I didn't cry...but I did have tears within me and I didn't know how to show my gratitude to her.. I didn't want to look formal or seem formal.. We were good friends and friends do share and eat from the same plate... 

Yesterday was the day I got to work for 10 hours and while she shared her lunch, she kept reminding me that I have to eat and get energy to sit till 6pm. When I kept pushing the her plate back to her,she insisted that I had to have her share. 

I had to rush back soon to work, cos when you are new, a minute late to your desk will earn you a "rolling eye" look from your seniors. The look instantly falls on you...the clock and back again on you.

 I resumed my work and by 4:30, I took a break from the covering I've been doing for a colleague of mine. I came back to my seat,put my things down and headed right inside the door behind us...thats where two of my good friends sit. 

She was finishing her work and was ready to leave. That's when she handed out her fruit yoghurt to me and said...You would need this.

Who was this girl? Why was she being nice to me? She knew I looked tired. She knew I wouldn't take a break. She knew I longed for a company. 

I could see myself in her at times. She smiled each and every time. She had a bundle of positive energy within her and she knew how to be with people, cheer them up and make them happy at least for a moment.

 She is someone whom you can call as a good friend - You can rely on her, she'll keep her word and will be there for you... She is someone whom you can call as a sister- She's naughty,fun and extremely adorable. She would sing and dance with you. She would pull your leg. She would make you fall them but in the end,she'll never let go of your hand. 

Sometimes words aren't enough to express your love... Feelings are much beyond words... I may even get a kick on the butt if she happens to read this... If ever you do.. I just want to tell you...you're very special...

 

"Life .... " Time lapse

After "A day in a minute" time lapse, I wanted to something different and striking. Thats when I decided to do Kidney bean germination ... I knew it was tough.. but that was the fun part ...

People only notice your works and stuffs, when they find your works different and unusual from the rest of the photographer's clan.

I didnt have any idea as to how many days would be needed to do this experiment. But I decided to go with the flow.

Got my tripod arranged. Found a perfect spot to keep a watch and shoot the germination procedure. I made sure that the place I chose had enough of sunlight , so basically the subject was kept on a table next to the window.

I started of this experiment on January 31st. Soaked the kidney beans and kept it in a plastic container. The climate being unpredictable, I found the beans weren't sprouting even after 1-2 days. Soon, half of the kidney beans that weren't sprouting started to decay, I had to throw them off. In place, I soaked a few black eyed beans too to fill the gap

I had no intervalometer, so basically this stuff was tough to do. Cos, I needed to be alert and take an image at a fixed time interval. Occasionally I had to wake up in the middle of night to take few shots and then go back to sleep.

 

Please excuse the set up... the background may seem horrible. Gradually while experimenting with this germination process, I could relate to my Grade 6 Science lessons, at the end of the day I was more concerned in the growth not for photography purpose... but I could see life in front of my eyes.... Right from the sprouts ... the the roots growing underneath ... to the stem standing tall... I felt blessed ...!!! It was all about life ...from a mere bean to an upright stem ..... 

Merin Christy Photography presents - "Life" ... a 2 minute journey from a sprouting bean to a plant ....

Music Courtesy - Late Pt. Ravi Shankar (Raga Kedara)
Shots - 1323 images
Photography and editing - Aleena Merin Saju (Merin Christy Photography)
Special Thanks - My brother (Alwyn Christy Saju) and my parents

  

                                   

Hope you guys liked the video.
Here's the vimeo link to it -  Life
Don't forget to visit my facebook page - Merin Christy Photography

After shooting the time lapse, I decided to replant it in a bigger pot ....
 

 

So guys.. thats all for now :)

Until we meet next time.. more experiments to try on ...
More posts to come , hopefully :)

Takecare,
Aleena

"A day in a minute" ---- Time lapse

I've always experimented with different genres of photography, and then recently I happened to watch a time lapse work by an awesum and wonderful photographer (Subodh Shetty) on vimeo .... Thus I actually decided to try out a time lapse ....

I had a doubt as to what to start with. As usual, I was at home and decided to shoot what I see outside my room window... To begin with, I took out my cam in the morning... I could see few patches of cloud here and there and tadaa... it seemed a perfect day to start...

I took some bits in the morning, noon and the highlight was evening just after sunset ....

So here guys...the final result -----

Merin Christy Photography presents "A day in a minute" ---- Time lapse...... !!! My first try in time lapse photography. !!!! Music -- Lindsay Sterling (Crystallize)

766 shots, 1 video :)

 

And ya ... that's the vimeo link "A day in a minute"

Do watch the video and leave the comments :)

Soon to write about my 2nd time lapse experiment....

Till we meet .... Good bye

Regards,

Aleena Merin

First win of 2014 :)

I have a good news to share in this week's blog post..... In my post 2 weeks ago, I had mentioned about going for a Photo walk with a group named Photowalk Dubai, a group which had members who regularly met over a venue for photo shoots. It was my first experience with photo walk... and I must say, I truly loved it...

The venue was Sharjah scrapyard... a area that lies adjacent to one of the Sharjah Industrial areas and Safeer mall, Sharjah. I happened to click many snaps there, some of them are as follows .....

On 26th December 2013, three of my pictures were published in Gulfnews

 

And then... tadaaa...little did I expect I would be receiving a call from Gulf news... that I had secured the 1st place in Gulf news reader photo competition for the month of December 2013..... Thus on January 26th, 2014 the winning entries along with the photographer's profile came published in Gulf news... And I was sooo thrilled .... my first win in photography... :)

The link - http://gulfnews.com/pictures/viewer/not-always-an-inborn-passion-1.1282038
http://gulfnews.com/pictures/viewer/featured-reader-photographers-of-december-2014-1.1281365

All thanks to my parents, my lil bro... n my friends who stood by me and supported me constantly ... :)
I was filled with wishes and congrats on my facebook wall after posting this image... and to this moment... I'm thrilled and excited ... :)

Friends shared my image....my degree mates changed the profile pic and subject in Whatsapp to congratulate me ....

So guys.... its a good start for the year :) :)
Thanks to the Almighty for the wonderful win .... :) :)

For those who haven't liked my photography page in Facebook, its "Merin Christy Photography"

Till we meet next time....

Regards,
Aleena  :)