Aadhi Tamil Short Film : The evolution

திரும்ப வந்துட்டேனு போய் சொல்லு !!!

There is a metaphor behind the above punch, you will know soon :) BTW, this is gonna be a bit longer post.. Keep at least 10 minutes free before you start...

Its been more than a year since I stepped in to this space. I largely focused more time on the pre production for my 3rd Tamil Short Film, Aadhi. We have launched the film 2 days ago and honestly, I never expected such heart warming reception. Before I continue, please watch the film here if you haven't watched it yet :)

Aadhi - Tamil Short Film (Eng. Subs)

I was a little upset for a while as my previous short, 2 haven't attracted larger population partly coz of the expectations set after 12AM and the overwhelming metaphors that I have used. However, i am still happy i made 2 as i learnt a lot getting in to all new departments. Later, I did thought of numerous one liners, then stopped watching movies and started reading books. Lots of books. My colleague and friend (Kishore) referred this Hollywood flick, Man from Earth written by Mr. Brixby. Absolutely my type. I nailed my plot. I ripped it from the Hollywood flick ;) I have indicated this in the initial slides in the film too.

My primary objectives are clear

• to make a film that runs more than 30 mins
• to have more than 4 active characters through out the film
• to make this as close to zero budget as possible

I have decided to make the Indian version of predominant "Man from Earth" and as a home work, I went out wild researching on various topics like ancient world civilization, Geographical reformation, historical events, Mahabaratha as a true event, Chola empire etc.,I tried my best to learn more on the art of screen writing.

Mid Feb 2016, Balaji (joint Director of Aadhi) who was in Singapore expressed his interest to make a short (he was an award winning Indie fim maker already for Artifcle 39f) As my other friend Hari was also interested, we met in Anjappar (Little india) and after a long discussion, finalized Aadhi  for which I have almost done 90% of the scripting.

We absolutely had no idea on how we gonna form the team. Balaji was still new to Singapore and dont have much of contacts. Though I can do basics of editing and cinematography, I am reluctant as I have already had stress issues during 2. We had decided to step on, so we first thought of sorting out actors first. As Hari's nature matched Aadhi's character sketch, i asked him and he wasn't sure. Balaji agreed with me and we persuaded Hari to do the lead role. The other characters Kani (Rithu - femal lead), Mohideen (Angry man) were Hari's contacts and didn't said no for our request.

Since then, Hari was part of our core execution team. My 2 hero, Vishwa was auto selected for Chris's role and I didn't bother to even check with him ;) The old female character was a big challenge. We almost planned to drop that character and smear the role with others. Mohideen came as god and found this gem (Hema Madam) for us. As no one was available and due to space constraint at home, i volunteered for Karikalan role.

We all had our first meeting at Mohideen's apartment for photo shoot. Mohideen is such a darling that he even stepped in to sponsor the whole project on top of delivering good performance. We all had a mini workshop and totally shocked by Rithu and Hema Madam's first take performance. We got confidence. On the technical side, we sought the camera man/DOP PB Raj who worked with me in 2 and he is always open for such adventures. We haven't thought much on Editing as both Balaji and Myself are comfortable with our own softwares, we have kept that as last priority. Music is obvious, Ashwath-my brother.

Two weeks later, we started the shoot, we have decided to release the first look teaser to check on audience reaction and to announce the project too. Rocking hit. Here you go...

Aadhi - 1 Min. Teaser

We have hired some dolly tracks and lights. Hari managed lots on the procurement side. Mohideen once again pitched in and actively involved in all set arrangement. I would credit Hari and Mohideen for art department. I, expedited my final research work and tightened the script in parallel. My other friend Nanjupuram fame "Raagav" who was directing his first feature film, "Ticket" that time, helped me as script consultant and indicated few critical areas which dented the flow. I further worked on his and Balaji's feedback. So, final script was ready on time :)

The whole shoot schedule was absolutely grueling. Most of the team members were actually in key positions in their own organizations and busy with their personal life too with kids. I was jaw dropped to see the amount of dedication each has put in. Mohideen was more like our mother who made sure we were never hungry during the entire project. The kick off happened and we had so much fun. All the time, I was actually nervous on one side purely coz am holding up all the sweet hearts and there is a sponsor who trusts me. I always kept this at the back of my mind during the whole project.

The wrap finally happened. After working on the teaser and surfing through footages, I was pretty sure that i cant edit the film as its really really huge for my abilities. Balaji was ready but i didnt wanna load him too much just because he was nice. He actually did the first rough cut of the entire film and gave us the confidence that 'this is working' I made up my mind, copied the 100+ GB footage to a thumb drive, flied to India and handed this to my old friend Govi (who edited 12AM promo song) and narrated him the entire stuff. He agreed with smile and I came back. Its purely technologies like whatsapp, gdrive etc., kept us runnin for the rest of the time.

Music was never an issue as Ashwath is always known for being organized. Once he has his inputs, no hiccups no questions, the product will be ready on the promised date. At this time, we released the full length trailer which was again accepted well

Aadhi - 2 Mins. Trailer

Govi and I had numerous exchanges on the first cut for dub and finally we made one. Now, the most frusturating activity of the project ... DUBBING... we got a good mic for ourselves for dubbing. Hari and Balaji did the dubbing engineers role with almost perfection. Once again, the artists behave like they were born to perform. Dubbing ourselves was the first time for all of us. So, few mistakes.

Slowly our Aadhi whatsapp group got busier every day. The amount of enthusiasm raised after the release of trailer. We also made a quick promo song out of montages. Hari once again stepped up and showed the mettle in him by penning the lyrics for this soothing song. Ashwath and Mahitha's voice are cherry on the cake : )

Aadhi - Promo Song

The dubbing is done, sent all the files to Govi and he did a very good job by fine trimming and sent us the complete HQ out. Job well done. I took over the editing from there. I have further trimmed down from 45+ mins to 40 and sent the final out to Ashwath and our SFX master Suresh. They only needed a week to do the magic. I started working on next gruelling work, Subtitles. More than 1000 text bits are there in the film and i always take subtitles very seriously as i always thought the purpose of film making is to reach anywhere in the world. Archana (Mrs. Hari) was instrumental in the subtitle work and ensured, we delivered this bit with utmost quality.

After couple of weeks, most of the items are ready. We did a complete review and sent final corrections to Ashwath and i further cracked my brain more on adding SFX and scene transitions. Honestly, i didnt paid good attention to scene transitions. Hari did a splendid job for end credits and title design as well. We finally got the beta version ready and my core team (Balaji and Hari) acted happy just out of good will that i shouldnt be stressed with this any more : )

We decided on the ultimate Rajni starrer Kabali's release date as our release too. This should be registered in history : ) The week before, we decided to screen this too and Rithu (our female lead) quickly jumped in and organized this in her condo. Until the night before the release, i was tensed, nervous and completely busy with final renders. The 4K render and subtitle patch is a 8 hours process. I had the final out only the morning of release. I also made this prelude combined with making videos.

Aadhi - Prelude & Bloopers

The final moment has come. We had invited around 80+ guests and most of them turned up. We have already prepared our minds to get hit. We just wanted to celebrate the fact that we have completed almost half feature film with out caring how its gonna be received. We were almost in shock to see the audience clapped hard and surrounded us with all good thoughts. I never ever imagined, this will fair better than 12AM. 10K+ views and millions wishes under 24 hours of release : )

Now, scroll all the way up... be happy that you read this whole boring post and either watch the short again or share in the social network to reach more : )

References :
Movies - Man from Earth, Age of Adaline, Lucy
Books - Ponniyin Selvan, Krishna Key, Thirai Kathai Eluthuvathu Eppadi etc.,
Visited Places - Tanjore & Angkor Watt (Cambodia)

Please do like our fb page for more updates : https://www.facebook.com/aadhitamilshortfilm/

மகிழ்ச்சி  !!!

2 Tamil Short Film: Metaphors and more

After loads of thoughts and further, toiling many weekends in last few months, I (with help of my friends) finally managed to release my second short film, 2. This time, I rather focused on experimenting new stuffs instead of spending money or follow the conventions. 

This short film, 2 was shot on Nikkon D7000 (200 mm Mark II lens). I just used the DSLR that was lying down in my room for ages. The only few bucks I spent are over the audio part as it’s too expensive in Singapore to spend for dubbing or music. Editing… Well, I just used the available software with some basic learning from youtube videos.

Please do watch the film once here before you read further : )

I am writing this blog post right the next day after I released the film in youtube. Primarily for 2 reasons

   -    Few thinks that I didn't focused enough on script and just went with whatever I thought

   -   To further share the hidden intentions on what few tagged as poor execution

To the cream of my circle, thanks for cracking some of the metaphors. Honestly, I don't expect a short film audience to imagine the film may carry hidden messages. Hence, i have decided to share them here.

I never really tried this before but to make a film satisfying for the creator, I believe it’s important to place the metaphors in the screenplay that gives the uniqueness for the writer-director. Here are few that I have attempted in 2. Some would have conveyed, some didn't, and some were mess-ups... I have only drafted the metaphors and the intentions behind it.

- The opening shot: 2 leaves stamped in the first shot... Later, 2 kids die in the film and the reason is negligence. Rings a bell?

- The Unnatural park conversation in the first 3 minutes:  Ajay and George (2 fathers) are actually schizophrenic.They were talking to empty spaces and not to each other (you would have realized this in those 2 shots after accidents where they look at empty spaces or during Doctor’s voice over). Hence, the conversation shots and dialogues (in first 3 minutes) placed in such an obscured manner and i partly expected that one might feel this as poor execution.

- Double act: Why same actor played both father roles why not different actors?  If you notice, most of the attributes between them is in contrast in this film. Rich and middle class dad... Introvert and extrovert... One had son and other had daughter... however, there was something common between them ... Love and Ignorance... The similar looking dad carries this message with 2 portrayals.


- Are these Dads careless? Hell no... Observe before accident, one consciously locks the seat belt and also, the other holds hand of the boy even while walking in pavement.. They are loving and equally caring.. The subject focus is sheer ignorance at wrong time.

-Father and Son Camera angles before accident: While the Father and son walks to the signal (just before accident), there are 2 suggestion shots of each. This is an attempt to show how different the other world looks to both of them.

- Doll and crocs shots after accident: I just thought you don’t need blood or body to justify a successful accident.
- Female and Doctor's voice over: There was no indication if the female is wife of George or Ajay. Well, it’s basically a representative of both wives and the doctors’ advice is also for both patients. They both (2 fathers) had same trauma and that shocked their mind (Schizo)
- Schizophrenia : Guilty of killing 2 kids and both thinks they are the sole reason. Further, the love for own kid and the way they can imagine the condition of other kid’s family turned them Schizophrenic. Note, we haven't mentioned this medical term intentionally.

- Mom’s missing in the film: A hand wave in pre-climax is the only point were moms needed...

- Lyrics: ~~Marupiravi ullathendral unn madiye~~ strategically placed in both instances in the film to convey both happy n sad moods

- The title 2: lots and lots of reasons.. At subconscious level, you can shed out better than me

 Apart from the above, I tried to answer few questions as well here…

- Why lengthy montages? : Why will u tear jerk in the climax (at least, feel the impact) when u don’t have good character and love establishment in the initial few minutes.
- Were both fathers in same place during the accident? : Audiences' choice and imagination. Doesn't matter actually. The point is, both of them think his ignorance is the cause of 2 deaths.

- Did the 2 fathers ever met? : Irrelevant

- Are both Dads real characters? : Yes, both dads are real and both of them lost their kids for real and both went in to schizo due to the impact. Now don't ask the smart question how come both got same mental issues at the same time. The point is the impact not the Schizophrenia

In summary, this film is an experiment to see how well the metaphors works in a short film and the purpose of the post is to request the viewers to watch the film again to appreciate the thought process behind it. Here is the link again to relate better : )

My view of film making is when you cannot even satisfy even 50% of your target audience, the fault is on the product and not the viewers. However, even if its 1% of your viewers, if they recognize you in the product, you shall be proud : )

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Yennai Arinthal : Not again !!!

The purpose of this post is to vent out my frustrations on Gowtham Menon as a writer and director. However, let me quickly finish my review of this latest epic.

The movie is not entirely 100% crap and there fore I can confidently list out few positives to begin with

Arun Vijay : This man is sure an underdog all the time and now this layed him good launch pad for his next few years career. He did worked hard and shed out everything he could to come out successful. Sadly, he wasn't still used enough to justify his character I would say.

Ajith’s charm : Ajith’s cute smile is always a charm and garning attention of huge mass with just this factor is amazing. However, well, later…

Vivek : Short and neat role for him. He still sticks to his signature gestures and dialogue delivery. Evokes laughter in the otherwise bleak “Everything”

Gripping 20 minutes post interval : Though marred by logical issues, the screenplay was still decent and I would say “Wasn't boring”

I was never a big fan of gowtham but I love to watch Kaaka Kaaka anytime for pure reason that it was fresh and the entire package was a new glam for Tamil audience. In Vettayadu Vilayadu, the Kamal and Music factor helped for movie’s success and definetly not Gowtham

Here are few irritating stuffs I noticed in Yennai Arinthal and this is predominant in many of Gowtham menon’s movies. I am assuming GM is a classic film maker who thinks hez making movies like John Wick or 500 days of Summer in Indian style. So, here we go…

Ajith’s outlook : Salt n pepper is ok, his charm is fine but what about atleast a basic fitness n shape. If not building macho muscles like Arun Vijay, how about some 30-45 mins basic ab work outs for 3-4 months that would have did some justification for a tough cop role ? The first variation from Kaaka Kaaka.

Poor but Rich : Be it Varanam Aayiram or YA, the hero born and brought up in rather lower middle class background. However, the life style is not justified for the house hold income. For eg., in VA, I had no idea how the family gets their bread but all on a sudden, this punk heads to USA jus like that to find his love. In YA, our hones Satyadev sir who lives only with mere Govt. paid income, resigned from job and tours around India just like that working as a village school teacher where ever he goes and besides, travels to Boston to safeguard a stranger. Don’t say this is irrelevant logic. I bet, even a software engineer who earns 2 lakhs a month cannot afford such cool life style.

Second world : What in the world the characters in GM films thinks ? The conversation of female leads specially, is sooo artificial and their still expressions. It will stay classic if this happens just in one movie (say, kaaka kaaka) assuming its directors one off imagination but watching same sequence of again and again is too cheesy

Handsome Ajith : Why does Anushka keeps lauding Ajith’s charm over and over ? to please ajith fans ? Ofcourse he is charming but the in-plane sequence is more like mocking him than praising him

Other logical stupidity that shouldn't be happening in a supposedly classic :

The villain knows the kid is surrounded by armed police. The hero knows the villain is madly behind to get the kid. Whaada father who still sends the kid to school and inspite of that villain mocks the armed and trained police officers to get the kid.

When hero’s friend mentioned about his daughter’s kidnap. The hero straight away go to this particular person and asks for kidnaper’s identity and this guy gives address (he could have given email, facebook id too) and then he will catch that Y. Whaata cake walk ? if my rationale thinking is right, a corrupt officer should know the whereabouts of such criminals better than honest officers.

Its getting lengthy already ;)

On a closing note, here is my request to big directors I once admired

Bala – Enough of Paradesis please

Hari – stop doing Poojais

Lingusamy – get rid of Anjaans bro

KSR – you know it

GVM – I am pretty sure you won’t change, DOT

Linga – Funny moments

After a long wait, I was so excited to watch the style king on big screen but the fun didn't last too long. Ranjnikanth is at his charm of his life and this product is complete waste of resource. Besides, I always admire KSR movies. Muthu and Padayappa was amazing with right mix and therefore my expectation will only increase with Linga. Anyways, there are enough reviews bashing linga but this post is all about those funny moments in Linga that really pissed me off while watching but a good laugh later with friends.

Disclaimer : Rajnikanth fans, please don't be offended. My target is the sheer product and definetly not thalaivar or KSR. Besides, I paid 18$ and I can vent out J

Here are the irritating-later-funny moments in the movie:

Rajnikanth’s entry : This is one of the sick entries thalaivar made in recent bunch. Jump out of the car and dances for a song that I cannot hum no matter how many times I hear it. Right after that song, its even worse. He is dreaming about this as a petty thief. Crap !!!

The whole robbery sequence: Never thought KSR can lift the magnet-key scene as it is from ‘How to steal a million’ movie. On top of that, this is one of the most boring robbery sequence I ever watched in tamil. Balloons to hide cctv, head security who safeguards 3 million+ value stuffs is a joker, hiding inside a closet bla bla .. what a screenplay. When superstar is doing an impossible, you need to put brains on it to make it top class. I am not comparing to Italian Job or bank robbery but tamil flick, Nanayam (though lifted from Hollywood) had better robbery sequence than this.

The thief gang: Rajni and his friends (karna, santhanam, balaji etc.,) looked like they are seriously making a spoof of Boys.

The Raja Bday event : Excuse me, all on a sudden I thought am watching a documentary on how kings celebrate their birth day. I thought I came for a movie that is supposed to entertain and move story in every scene (atleast if not every frame)

British Tamil : All this time we heard british English and now its time for British Tamil. “Nee Dam kata mudyaathu venaa intha ponna kattiko nalla thaan irukkaa” LOL you cant degrade a villain worser than this.

The climax : Wareee Waa… Waada climax. Vijaykanth, Balakrishna all gets flattered by this balloon climax. Do you want to laugh even louder ? watch KSR sir’s explanation here (when spiderman can do why cant superstar)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXs2nDKpLDs

Though many digested this movie for the sake of the magnet, Rajnikanth. As a diehard fan of Ranjikanth, I cant excuse this product who made a mockery of the star’s charm. This is the least I could do to vent out.

Creative Accomplishments

Last year was a good start for myself to get involved in creative tasks, especially in the film making department. My first attempt was a magnum short film attempt, 12AM where I worked mainly on Script-writing and Direction. From there, I tried hands on Acting, Lyric writing (for songs), Editing, Camera etc., Here is my collection of links for your visual pleasure.

Direction : Short Film, 12AM

I never thought I can pull out what is shaped up as 12AM. Though there are lots of dents, I would still be proud of this product which grabbed lots of attention and accolades being my first ever attempt in to film making. Here are few links

Trailer : The idea was to mislead the viewers and give them a wrong perception about the entire film genre. Some liked it but many didn't (honest)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOSRZXYD8iY

Promo Song : Honestly, the actual credit goes to Akbar Basha (Camera) and Govind (Editor). The footage is snatched from the feature film SUTTAKATHAI promo song ‘Unnai Naanum’. Also, this is my first Lyrics attempt where I could say am partially succeeded. The real hero is the music man Ashwath. I love this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL1EfJOosE8

12AM, the film: After a lots of difficulties, we managed to release the short film in youtube. I have intentionally kept this away from being picked by many companies as simply because this is my first ever creative product J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riDxIRA4U5U

Lyrics:

Apart from 12AM promo song, I also worked with my friend Madav to pen the title song lyrics for the feature film NALANUM NANDINIYUM. Full thanks to the director who trusted on my abilities. Once again Ashwath and Palakad Shriram made this song ‘listenable’ J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCBNPGfBRg

Acting:

This was seriously not in my list and I was persuaded by director. However, turned out brilliant.. My tiny performance in Nalanum Nandiniyum J

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoD0-8Rt3r4

Editing:

I thought I can dig back old candid videos (mobiles, old handycams etc.,) and make a video out of it with some theme. I wanted to get my hands on edit tool. Editing is one department that always fascinated me and pushed me to do more creative stuffs. Here are couple of video compilations. Excuse the poor video quality (old files, you see)

Achyut (when he was a baby): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCKrbPwhDN4

South Africa days : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFztzqBQlD8

Camera and Edit:

Since, I was fairly doing well with editing, now I realized I always had a good DSLR with the video format completely non-tested. So, I took my Nikkon D7000 and went for a ride to Hong Kong. I thought I can make a beautiful memory out of it. Here you go, my camera and edit work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trWphMFjYZA

This time, I was all happy to hear my friend wanted my help to design a promo video. I was all excited, sleeve up and recklessly worked on a weekend to get this below video out. A meaningful cause, I would say (Camera, Edit, Sound mixing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF1Ej_J1NhE&list=FLmkMG_q3FaUgoKe-szilXCw&index=3

Hong Kong : If you can dare the crowd and bear the heat

As a travel freak, we (family) always make it a point to visit a new place every year. Last year has been an exception as we were awaiting the arrival of new member. So, this year, to celebrate my first son’s fifth birthday, we zero’d in on Hong Kong. Achyut (my first son) was always craving for Disney land. I had no idea how he gained the knowledge about Disney land even before he reached 5. At this age, I think the maximum I craved for was a trip to my grandparents next street : ( Never mind,  such is the globalization (eh ??)

Hong Kong is again a small country (may be around 3 times the size of Singapore) and located on the South Eastern border of China. The country is formed out of Chinese people moved out of mainland china (I don't wanna go in to the political reasons for good reasons) Macau, for your information is not a place in Hong Kong. It is another tiny country located 30 KMS away from Hong Kong. I came to know this only a month ago ; ) Hong Kong is predominantly crowded with Chineese and Filipino Tourists. People their hardly speak English but you won’t be completely lost as in case of Austria or Prague.  After our tough and exciting experience, here is the perfect info to help you plan your trip to Hong Kong

The evening tour of City and Victoria Peak:

This is all about depart at evening (around 4 or 5 PM) reach the tram station in the bottom of the hill and take your tram to the Victoria peak. The tram ride is about 8 minutes and the view from the hill is just beautiful overlooking the HK skyliners where you can walk around, take pics and visit the famous Madame Tussads Wax Meusesum. This is the meuseum chain in London, Paris etc., where you can find real life size wax models. This is the best chance to take pic with celebrities. You will definitely love your visit to Victoria Peak. After this, get back down and visit the Clock Tower which is a huge stretch along the bank where you can walk around and enjoy HK skyliners at night. There is a laser light show at night you may want to watch. (Total duration : 4-5 Hours)

Lantau Island-Tai O Village:

HK is composed of 3+ main islands. Lan tau is the one where Airport, Disney Land, Buddhist monastery and Tai O Village exists. The Lan Tau Island is a blissful Cable car ride (for about 30 mins) to the top of the hill and relax yourself under the giant Buddha statue. The monastery is one of the main attractions and nothing much other than that. From there it's a 15 minutes’ drive to Tai-O village. To me, this village is the real Hong Kong with some history.  The villagers are the original HK residents and the main trade was fishing those times. You can still find the living village who stick with the old houses on the banks rejecting the housing facilities provided by the govt. This, over the years turned out to be tourist attraction. You can pick Tai O village only if you are interested in history and exploring HK culture (Total Duration: 4-5 Hours)

Disney Land:

The gigantic-huge-stuffed Disney land is the chief attraction of Hong Kong. I would suggest you not to target those silly thrill rides. Instead, spend your quality time in the shows they conduct over there. Here is the list of items (in the order of top priority to the least) for your pleasure in Disney land

- The evening parade that stars at 3.30 PM where all Disney characters comes out in the main street. This will be damn crowded and you need to be there atleast 40 mins prior to the start to secure a decent view spot. The parade will be for around 30 minutes but a high quality one. Mind you, it will be scorching heat there and be prepared with umbrellas and hats.

- The fireworks at 9 PM around Castle area. This is a beautiful fireworks show and again, you got to be prepared well ahead and after this, people start walking off and call it a day

- The Disney characters (Light year, woody, Stitch, Mickey etc.,) will be wandering everywhere and you can take pictures with them. The kids will absolutely love this. Achu was so thrilled to find his fav. Light year buzz and still thinks that is the place the actual Buzz lives.

- The well-organized shows in each land are mind blowing. The lion king show was my favorite. Stellar performance, well air conditioned auditoriums and all were like minimum 30 mins duration.

- Of course, there are rides everywhere. Doesn't matter how crap is the ride, you have to be prepared for at least 1 hour wait

I will strongly suggest you to try and spend 2 days in Disney Land if you are a Disney lover or if you are with kids. Most importantly, plan these 2 days over the weekdays and make sure there are no China or HK school holidays that time. We were horribly stuck in the school holidays time but knowing this ahead wouldn't have mattered as it was Achyut’s birthday : )

Ocean Park:

This is one place where tourists generally over look. I should say this was surprisingly a good visit. This is again a huge theme park with not as much crowd as in Disney land. You can meet lots of fishes, animals etc., here and there are elements of attraction for all ages. You definitely need whole day here. Google for Ocean park website to know more.

Macau Island Trip:

We chose to skip this as the chief attraction of this trip is the flowing Casinos everywhere.

Overall, 4 nights trip to HK is the ideal suggestion for any one irrespective of age group if you chose HK as your holiday destination. I wouldn't say its out of the world but definitely worth visiting.

Here is the video composition (shot and edited by me) for better understanding :) Enjoy travelling : )

On-SIGHT opportunity

The ultimate joy of being in IT industry is the on-site or business trips that one encounters very often. The greatest advantages being all expenses paid and top of that you will get a daily allowance (what is called as ‘per-diem’).  Above all, you get to visit a new place and start enjoying the new culture altogether without shedding a cent. Here are the highlights that I experienced over different office trips. Also, tips for other travelers on a business trip.

The travel : The business trip travel will not be as cumbersome as your personal vacation. The reason being, YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR ANYTHING : ) The ultimate challenge is you need to be ready for Monday morning office. Means, make sure your office attire (dress, shoes etc.,) are in a good shape to be used for the office day. The flight travel is pleasing part. Most of the times I will be travelling alone, use the time to the best for reading books. I usually love to pick a book randomly (just go by the cover page info) from the airport, head on to coffee place or viewing gallery, sip n read -> heaven

Credit card : Most of the companies will give the option to pay and claim for the expenses based on the agreement. So, always keep the card ready for any surprises. Once, I had to end up paying 3 weeks of hotel stay (in KL) and claim later due to my office admin’s mistake. Always, be safe and ensure you exchange enough money in local currency or have good amount of US dollars for your safety.

Behave : You might be a super star in your team or family but while you are on travel in a public, you are just another human. Be extremely careful with your communication and activities especially in alien countries. Be extremely patient and co-operative to immigration official. Your visa status or reason to enter the country may b 1 out of 100 which the official are encountering each day. They are in a pressure to ensure no illegal entry and very likely that you might be suspected. The more co-operative and polite you are, the less trouble you may face. This is embarrassing but I have to highlight. The Dresden (Germany) immigration officials ripped all parts of my DSLR to make sure I am not smuggling any drugs. Me, being the only colored guy might have been mattered but they apologized and appreciated my co-operation. They even explained the hidden cargo on a flight from UK to Dubai incident that happened the day before. And, they fixed my camera back in to shape : )

License : Carry your driving license where ever you go. This is very much handy. If possible, have an international license too. Driving anywhere out of Indian cities is a bliss and you don't wanna miss the fun. Most of the countries does accept Indian driving license if you are on a short trip (some countries allows longer duration too) If your base is out of India, try and get a local license too which will be very handy. If you don't know driving, LEARN FAST otherwise you are missing biggest fun in life. Ya, drive safe and observe speed limits all the time. I had a very bad experience in South Africa due to speeding and after a havoc, got rid off it. After that I vowed not to speed even when I go for Marathon run ; )

Research : Do a research about the country you are going to. Wiki is an amazing source. Learn the local culture, weather, currency conversion rate, where not to go, what not to do etc., Since, am a person always excited about new culture, I do these religiously if not, atleast for the sake of safety and comfort, know where you going. Since its official trip, all you got is weekend to hang around. Make the perfect plan from Friday evening to Monday morning before you reach. My best plan and execution was Dresden (Germany) to Prague (Czech) weekend trip with my mate from Dubai turned out to be one of the finest memory of life (ya, we ended up staying in a Boatel (Hotel on boat) filled with mostly honeymoon couples and imagine the state of 2 (male) guys ) : (

Food : I am ovo lacto vegetarian (vegetarian who eats egg) and I have no problem in traveling to any corner. Reason, I can adjust myself to eat anything vegetarian. You cannot definitely get Dal Tadka in every corner of the world. However, being an Indian vegetarian is again a privilege. Indian food is almost everywhere I went : ) But I still love to taste the local cuisine (of course vegetarian options) The best surprise is the everyday south indian lunch I got in Brunei (that too in a remote town called Siria) close to my office.

Enjoy : Above every thing else, enjoy the trip and make your trip more meaningful by accomplishing what you went for (I meant work) and study the place you live. Remember, per diem (the daily allowance) purpose is to support your stay in the country and not your salary. Stop complaining the company and love travelling (be it official or vacations)