Photosindia.com graces international magazine covers

On the topic of ‘right faces at the right places’, I must add that I am seriously considering proposing that tag line for our ‘people’ images. Whenever Photosindia.com images appeared in advertisements we felt gratified by that presence, we felt validated for the kind of research and effort we put into image making and most of all we felt proud. Our images are used across American and European business and lifestyle magazines because of their multi cultural, urban feel. Whenever a product or feature is speaking to Asians, they look to us for inspiration.

Photosindia.com images were used on the cover of a trendy print production based out of Texas, USA. Diya’s Salaam Namaste magazine is targeted at Indian Americans and people doing business with them. From Lifestyle to Bollywood, Diya’s SN has got it all. The features in the magazine are typical of Indian culture and I am sure it makes hundreds of thousands of Indian’s feel more at home, feel more at sync with their country. There are recipes from back home, the fashion scene and best of all the gossip. The most endearing part is the fabulous balance of Eastern culture and Western living that is evident in every article.



With time the canvas is expanding, the usage of our imagery is changing manifold. Fortunately for us consumers are awakening to the potential cost and design benefits of royalty free stock photos. Considering that most creative people try to tell an entire story through one visual, the impact of an image is essential, it should hit home. Photosindia.com images tug at the heart, lighten the moment and add class to a product. Producing for an unknown buyer is the real challenge in stock photography. With collections running into millions, there is still a demand for that elusive image we hope we can think up and produce. At that moment the right question to ask is, what does India look like today? Who is she in 2008? And then make images out of the answers. India is fresh, alive, vibrant, wholesome, unique and today India is brand new.

Our images are apt for such publications because they tell stories we have already captured in our images. The love of a family, the bonding of friends, the support system of a community, it is all so ‘India’! The featured images do complete justice to the concept of this magazine. The image complements the words and makes a delectable package for everyday reading.

Photosindia.com image showcase on Itasveer.com

www.Photosindia.com is happy to announce their collaboration with yet another likeminded, youthful and spirited e-venture, www.Itasveer.com. They print pictures, we click them. They even put them on t-shirts, mugs and calendars and we would love for you to have some of our images on that kind of stuff. Makes complete sense! Watch this space for more of Photosindia.com & Itasveer.com product launches.



Photosindia.com is a pioneer in Indian stock photography. Our extensive research and development is evident in our content. Our images are soulful, real and extremely relevant to the current market scenario. Not just in India but the entire world. Photosindia.com images are much sought after because they are the perfect balance of east and west. As Indian lifestyle creeps closer to a more westernized landscape, so does the design of products and services, this in turn effects all the images associated with that product or service. Sometimes you need just the right faces at the just the right places, we guess that’s what Itasveer.com found on Photosindia.com. We are always looking for services that complement our images and the plans with Itasveer.com are definitely unfolding in that direction.

Whether it is digital imagery or old school analogue prints, photographs are the best way to preserve memories. As life gets busier it is good to have pictures on the go, on your laptop, on your phone and in your bag. For all the long hauls at airports, crawling traffic, endless business trips and tiresome relatives, print your pics now.

Vets for your pets

Veterinarians are not considered just animal doctors any longer. Whether they are engaged in the care of domesticated animals or have dedicated their lives to wilder species, they are a section of medical professionals that usually get involved in this profession for the love of animals over everything else. A good vet will first establish a relationship with the animal in his care and that is most prevalent in vets looking after pet dogs, birds and cats. Since domesticated pets are already humanized to a certain extent, it is important for a vet to develop a personal equation with the animal. Vets consider trust to be a vital component in their treatment technique. Apart from these emotional ties a vet is required to provide basic medical care which includes yearly vaccinations, monthly check ups along with nutrition and exercise advice, emergency care and support.



All vets maintain medical records of the animals under their care. Since pets require yearly inoculations, it is advisable to encourage such record keeping. There are two core vaccinations for dogs, the most important being Rabies vaccine because rabies is a fatal disease that can be transmitted to humans and has no cure. The vaccine is given between 12 and 16 weeks of age, a booster shot is given after one year, subsequently additional boosters are given every three years. The second is the Distemper combination vaccine which includes Distemper virus, Parvovirus, Adenovirus, and Parinfluenza virus. This vaccine is given every 3-4 weeks, beginning at 6-8 weeks of age and continuing until at least 16 weeks of age. The Non Core Vaccines are those that battle diseases from exposure to other infected animals and environments. Their administration depends upon the evaluation of the pet. Bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine is recommended for pets that have exposure to others dogs in their living premises or play areas. This is an annual vaccine depending on the product used and the dog’s degree of risk.



The debate raging these days is whether to administer annual vaccinations to dogs at all. Vaccinations are now being suspected of creating vulnerability to diseases and chronic illnesses like, arthritis, seizures, allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, thyroid disorders, and even cancer. Veterinary experts recommend administering fewer vaccines to dogs now than the earlier norm of yearly vaccinations. How does a vet determine whether or not a dog really needs further vaccination? The answer at hand is called the ‘Titre Test'. The term “titter” refers to the concentration of a substance in a solution. When testing vaccine titres in dogs, a veterinarian takes a blood sample from a dog and has the blood tested for the presence and strength of the dog’s immunological response to a viral disease. If the dog demonstrates satisfactory levels of vaccine titres, the dog is considered sufficiently immune to the disease and not in need of further vaccination against the disease.



Apart from providing the basics of animal healthcare, vets also need to have an ‘emergency care’ unit prepared at all times. Animal emergencies can be more severe and have fewer diagnostics as compared to human emergencies. Vets provide this service by being available 24x7 and/or having the medical equipment and facilities to treat an animal in urgent need of medical care. Specialized emergency Veterinary care includes emergency surgical equipment, diagnostic equipment like x-ray, ultrasound, pathological testing laboratory and recuperation rooms. Enterprising vets have combined this setup with a boarding facility for not just sick pets but also for pets that need a home for a specific amount of time that their owners are away. Though people would love to take their pets everywhere with them it is not a realistically possible. The most basic function of a boarding kennel is to provide a happy and healthy environment for a pet to live in. The staff needs to be loving and patient to help the pet get acquainted to a new living arrangement. The living area should be clean and well ventilated. There should be plenty of open spaces for the animals to play, rest and interact. The feeding area should be hygienic and provide enough space for all the animals to eat peacefully. A vet owned boarding kennel has the obvious advantage of a professional at hand, but a kennel providing the above will surely suffice.

Yoga for all

My personal experience with ‘yoga’ can definitely qualify as a journey. It started way before the ‘fad’ did and the inconsistency of my efforts is apparent every time Madonna is mentioned in the same sentence as ‘Ashtanga Yoga’. Painful! India is the home of ‘yoga’, it ought to be part of every Indian’s lifestyle and though it is creeping into most Indian homes, there are a lot of potential converts left to target. Every colony and every locality boasts of a yoga center or yoga teacher, though I highly doubt the credentials of some, I am hopeful that after little of recce and user feedback, I may just find the right instructor or school for my hundredth stint with ‘yoga’. What swayed me was the history and theory attached to ‘yoga’ that made it seem so tedious. Now that it is developing as a new age ‘mantra’, I can relate to it better.



Old school preached ‘yoga’, new age instructors help you develop a taste for it, make you a connoisseur, so much more tempting, don’t you think? ‘Yoga’ can be your path to ‘nirvana’ without the ‘righteous’ tag. Take out an hour a day, wear loose, flowy, preferably light linen clothes. Find an engaging environment, it could be your favorite nook in your apartment, the landing of your building staircase, your balcony on the 9th floor or if you are lucky, your 10 acre backyard. If you haven’t picked any of the above, sit on the floor of your room and picture that ‘engaging environment’. Yup, that’s it. Now stretch … that’s my approach to ‘yoga’. Throw in an annual trip to the mountains and my experience is alive again.



References to ‘yoga’ are present in the ancient texts of the 'Upanishads' and 'Puranas' composed in the Vedic period. Patanjali, a Hindu ‘Vedanist’ wrote the 'Yoga Sutra', around two thousand Years ago. The book contains 195 aphorisms or ‘sutra’s’ that explain the principles of ‘yogic’ discipline and practice. ‘Ashtanga Yoga’, a fairly new entrant into the new-age realm was also based on ‘Patanjali’s’ writings. The best explanation I could find was on www.ashtanga.com and it said “This method of Yoga involves synchronizing the breath with progressive series of postures—a process producing intense internal heat and a profuse, purifying sweat that detoxifies muscles and organs. The result is improved circulation, a light and strong body, and a calm mind.” Wow, that’s deep! Now I really want to try it!

My Baby and Me

I was destined to be a mother of daughters. I knew it from the time I was 17 and decided I wanted to get married early but have kids late. Worked out beautifully for me, I was married at 20, had a wonderful 9 year party with my favorite person in the world, my husband and then one fine day decided, I wanted to be a mom! Nature was kind, we conceived the very month we discussed it and our beautiful little baby was on its way. I have deep spiritual leanings and I rely heavily on the Tao, it kept telling me to be a rock in the river and let the water flow, so I did. The pregnancy was uneventful, no morning sickness, no aversions and certainly no complications. We scheduled a C section a week before the baby’s due date and were thrilled to know the exact very day we were going to be parents. Even the night before the big day, I had pink dreams, hues of pink, peach and lilac all over everything in my dreams, like I was dreaming in rose tinted glasses. Nature blessed us that day at 3:15 pm with a 7 ½ pound, healthy baby girl. I watched my C section in a mirror on the ceiling, I watched my baby breathe air for the first time, I watched my soul reach out from my body and touch her toes. We named her Alyssa Maya Shirazi.



Life was never the same again. I had my muse, my friend, my baby, my blood, right there in my arms. The wonderful journey of motherhood had begun. The one thing people noticed most about me was the amount I kissed my daughter that was simply because I couldn’t believe she was there and that she was mine. It’s been over two years now. She is a million times more of a doll than she was the day she was born! She speaks fluent Hindi and is catching up on English fairly quickly. Her doctor has suggested we get her evaluated for IQ levels in the next 3 years, she has a vocabulary of over 500 words and can hold a 3 minute conversation verbatim, all before the ripe little age of 2 ½ years. Ally draws already, mostly straight lines and bulbous circles. Ally prefers her books to toys, she can name ever object in a picture alphabet book, she said she preferred to say ‘X-mas’ tree for X, xylophone was too much of a tongue twister. We agreed with her! Ally has been eating on her own since she was 18 months, she can put on a pair of pants, she can wear Velcro shoes on her own and she has been threatening to do her own hair too! These developments have left us thrilled no doubt but we are also doubly concerned about channelizing this energy correctly. Fortunately for Ally her paternal grandma is a qualified child psychologist and her first piece of advice has remained Ally’s social mainstay, she advised that we let Ally socialize as much as possible. Toddlers like Ally ‘give’ more than ‘take’, if they are not provided an avenue for this energy release, they implode emotionally. And if you think you have seen a toddler throw a tantrum wait till you see a bright one do it! Over the last 6 months we have picked up the following points to make Ally the complete person she craves so much to be –



1. Avoid boredom at all cost: even if it means stocking up on pounds of play dough or making a sand pit in your 10th floor apartment, a smart kid needs an outlet, all the time! Since I am very fussy about the kind of materials Ally plays with, I prefer to make my own play dough. It’s a simple recipe:
Nature's Playdough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the dough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices to make green, pink, and orange. Store in an air tight container, the salt will keep it preserved for as long as 4 weeks but keep an eye out for mildew.
2. Make eye contact: the only way to address an intelligent child is to take them seriously. Children can easily identify when they are being taken for a ride and when mom and dad are really listening. Perceptive kids can pick up on parental nonchalance and that’s one more reason for them to rebel.
3. Answer every query: even smart toddlers don’t always have a fun story to tell but by and large their nature allows them to ask exceptionally sharp questions. Avoiding the question is not an option, even the hardest one need to be dealt with and weak answers are never acceptable to tardy toddlers. So even if you are asked where babies come from, no need to get down and dirty but make sure the stork and baby story is believable and entertaining! A lot of questions mean a lot of thoughts, a lot of thoughts can result in action only if the child is helped in comprehending what they are thinking, that’s when you come in.
4. Listen, I mean really listen: I have heard insanely profound words come out of my daughter’s mouth. Since she does not have a maternal grandmother, her curiosity about ‘nani’ is slightly on the peaked side. I told her that her Nani was with God and her immediate retort was why, I answered that God asked for her to come visit, to which Ally promptly announced, ‘Mummy, you don’t go if he calls you, say you are busy in the office’. Sharp kids can let you in on how they are feeling, how they are coping and what they are missing by simply talking to you. You can address deep set fears and anxieties by listening to what the child is trying to say, ask a few interested questions and you will be able to deduce exactly what is on your child’s mind.
5. Respect your toddler: the only way a child will learn respect is by having it meted out to them. Even when a child is being unreasonable, they deserve the same respect you would give to a peer. We have to accept that our children have a difficult world to live in. They need tools like self esteem and pride to be able to be respectful and disciplined. Don’t undermine your child’s anxiety, look for signs of activities or people that stress them out and most importantly always speak politely to your child. A 3 years old child’s stress can revolve around an ill pet, a missing hair-band or a sulking friend. These are bona fide issues for a child and can be dealt easily with conservation and patience.



These are learning’s of a first time parent but these are also easy ways to herald a bond. I have felt these revelations develop around me because I have a daughter, I chose to assume they are a more sensitive and intuitive sex. So please nurture while nature takes its course. Even if you have those 2 hours in a day, make them worthwhile. Girls are wonderful people, they make excellent executives, exceptional students, remarkable sportspeople, I am running out of superlatives … but you know what I mean. Celebrate your daughters, they deserve it!

A little bit of Heaven!

How I love Kashmir? Words beseech me and that’s a feat because I am rarely ever gobsmacked! My association with Kashmir is roughly 30 years old but if you consider vivid human memory then I would say 27 years to be precise. My first real trip to Kashmir was at the age of 5. We flew to Srinagar and stayed at the Centaur. We drove all over the state for 2 weeks in an Ambassador (for the uninitiated, this is the most sturdy, rural & iconic vehicle of India). Even as a child all my memories centered on a deep sense of awe. I was perpetually smitten. I fell in love with something new every day, sometimes every few hours. I had never seen these many colors before, that’s what I remember thinking so often. I had been to Baramula Army Base as a 2 year old and that’s where we were headed on the first day to meet old friends. I remember meeting one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen over there. We were visiting a Major General if I remember correctly and his orderly had his family over from a village elsewhere in Kashmir. Her name was Renu and she was exquisite, I asked my mother if she was a film star (she was gardening with a typical Kashmiri head scarf on and it looked so chic). I can still picture mom turning around to tell the General’s wife that the women in Kashmir only get prettier! So it wasn’t just the place, it was the people too. Kashmir invoked feelings of oneness with nature, something city kids never felt and I carried that feeling with me for the dozen trips we took thereafter.



It was at age 13 that I had my ‘real’ Kashmiri food experience. I guess the palate is more honed by that age and I was always a self proclaimed gastronome. We had been invited by a Veterinary doctor friend of my parents. The word ‘wazwan’ floated around the car through the drive. We had to spend almost 3 grueling hours discussing possible tension in the region (how gullible we were, looking back that was probably the most peaceful the valley would ever be) and all I could think of was the food. The layout was fantastic, rich and highly exuberant and the flavors were perfect, way more than I had expected. That’s when Kashmir became the ultimate holiday package for me. Through the teens and early twenties I kept a keen eye on the socio political developments in Kashmir, a part of me was constantly saddened. Kashmir became like a first kiss, lovely but you could never go back and feel it again. I was resolved to that idea for a decade and even adopted Goa as my backup piece of heaven till I heard about a group of friends headed to the real and only heaven on earth, Kashmir.



This I had to see. I stressed about the Chinar’s on the Dal Lake, they had to be there or it wouldn’t be perfect. I thought endlessly about the florists on shikara’s, the sunsets at the lake, the horse ride to Gulmarg, the river rocks that changed color in water, the glowing ‘kangri’s’, the soothing ‘kahva’, the aroma of burning wood, the sweetness of mountain tea, the crispness of the air, the clarity in vision … oh my God! Kashmir was that ultimate piece of heaven and more! So we took the first flight out that Monday and I prayed, I prayed for peace and more selfishly, I prayed for ‘my Kashmir’, the pretty one! My prayers were answered manifold. Everything was perfect. My nose thanked me for the air, my eyes wept at the beauty, my hands wafted on the surface of the Dal lake for like an hour and I bought the largest, most gorgeous, most exotic bunch of flowers I had ever received, or seen for that matter. The people were wonderful and the women were actually prettier, the serenity was so unusual for the turmoil this region had seen, it tugged at my soul.



I saw everything I wanted to see and I felt the fulfillment I had felt years ago, the déjà vu was so unique. The river was exactly like I left it, I swear I knew the horses going up to Sonmarg, the gardens were exquisite and I was once again, smitten! The icing on the cake were definitely the tulips. It was tulip season (which lasts for barely a month according to the hotel manager) and we just had to see it. I can’t help but get nostalgic but my first exposure to a field of tulips was a lovely Hindi movie called ‘Silsila’, were Amitabh Bachchan serenades his heroine in the tulip fields of Holland. I stood here in Kashmir and I could see the whole song unfold in front of me, I was in Holland, I was missing only the clogs. It is inexplicable … you have to go there to see what I mean.

Back To School

Indian kids are back to school this week. I don’t really know how most of them feel about it but the few that I know are basking in their new ‘back to school’ stuff and hoping for some fabulous extra-curricular activities this year. Our days were so much simpler. Going to a new class every April meant simpler joys like fresh mangoes in the lunch Tiffin, best friend from last year as a partner, new class books and maybe a little more respect for the one year that we had grown. I went to a fairly popular convent school of Delhi, one that imbibed a deep sense of commitment to personal achievement and performance. Every year there were new academic challenges, new books to conquer, new teachers to appease and new schools to visit for the million things we participated in. I rarely hear children speak of such plainness when they talk about school. Maybe my recent exposure to school children is limited to private schools in and around Gurgaon but I really don’t see genuine joy in their faces. The quandary lies in the fact that though we have provided a multitude of opportunities in the past 15 years it seems like we have taken a lot away too. I can name and quantify all the new provisions in schools like alternative subjects, international school trips, fencing, horse riding, archery, film making, script writing etc. I can’t put my finger on what we have taken away. Whatever it is that is devoid from our children’s lives, one thing is for sure, it is taking them away from basic and necessary entertainment like reading and the outdoors!



Our children think the outdoors require peripherals, perhaps a picnic or at least a pony to ride on. Whatever happened to bug hunting (Oh shush to PETA …. Bug hunting, knee deep in soil is the core of childhood discovery plus the bugs multiply way faster than our kids can kill them!), playing ‘house’, climbing trees (there are a few left, at least in Delhi there are!), playing catch, hopscotch, throw ball (is that even a sport?). All that was fun, maybe not awe inspiring and deeply intriguing but it did leave space for human contact and conversation. What do two kids playing video games together actually ‘do’ together …. Nothing! They have digitized alter egos communicating for them. All the joy, energy, excitement and fun are actually relayed through two unfeeling illustrations. How frightening is that? Please don’t get me wrong, I am a big one for video games albeit the old fashioned arcade variety but I swear I can put a 12 year old to shame when it comes to ‘Pacman' but it’s still not something I will invite a bunch of friends over for, not now and not 20 years ago.



Since I don’t have a generalized solution for this heavy issue, I have decided to make a few changes on the home front. I am at the threshold of some serious motherhood, my daughter just turned 2 and I am beginning to see meaning in the term ‘terrible twos’. Before I begin, a small piece of advice for mommies to be – the first 6 months are not the hard part …. Everything after that is! Now that my daughter can communicate in complete sentences I plan to practice mini plays with her through the week, just ½ hour a day, then we will perform it for the family on a Sunday. I have written 3 plays with just two characters, one scene and 5 dialogues, she seems to love it so far! She can also walk and run confidently, so we will race every day, if it’s not with me then with her dad, her maid, her granddad or even one of her adorable little friends. She can now hold an object steady, so she will draw me one image a day, yesterday is was a very poor looking cow and today I received a suspicious looking snake, I think it started out as a flower! She will spend 2-3 hours outdoors provided the weather cooperates, while she is there she can play in the mud (off late the mud is contained within the hands, so this is a plausible situation), she can look for ‘safe’ bugs (what I mean is preferably imaginary), she can try to tell colors of the flowers, she learn a few of their names, she can meet everyone in the park, she can run free, the options are endless. She has never been into toys and I don’t see the value in a $50 toy that she will either destroy or hate within a week. There were times I felt buying fewer toys was a level of deprivation but now that my daughter is such a confident, highly communicative, imaginative and funny little person, I don’t think I was entirely wrong. No two kids are alike but I think the basic nurturing they need is absolutely similar. Children need time, love, security and routine above all other things and this is something I have learnt from experience.



So whether your child is 2 or 12, their needs remain as basic, the way we fulfill them becomes different that’s all. This year let them roam free, let this year be their ‘pseudo year off’, let this year be the year all activities are organic and involve either one parent. As parents we are all used to sacrifice, this is yet another manifestation of it. School was always meant to impart education, let’s not look at them for everything. We hope our choice of school provides good education and good discipline the plus on that can be motivation, inspiration, confidence, independence and courage. So if your child’s school lacks in any of those areas it is better to start providing the missing traits at home.