Cochin trip and press back home

Got back this morning from a trip to Cochin, Kerala. Cherian, Deepak, Akhil and Suneef thanks a lot for the ensuring a wonderful time guys.

The place was amazing. Yesterday, went out to Fort Kochi to see the Chinese fishing nets and tried out the most tastiest fish I’ve ever had in my life. The concept is pretty simple: The fishermen catch the fish using the nets and they display them fresh right there. You buy the fish you want and walk over to the other side of the road, where a small restaurant will cook it for you. I tried some Butter fish fry, which was mind-blowing.

Then we noticed some dolphins in the bay and we decided to rent out a boat to go see them up-close. I was kicking myself for not taking my camera gear along, as the dolphins came really close to the boat and were showing their backs and faces once in a while out of the water. Got to see lot of marine birds too. Don’t know why, but as people say, there is nothing more relaxing then spending some time with the dolphins.

Then went to the Kashi Art cafe near by, which had some fresh and excellent home made cakes. Then to the India’s oldest synagogue followed by bunch of antique places near by. Overall I loved Cochin and I sure am going back there with my equipment.

While I was away, a lot of things happened.
Beyond Shotz - a monthly photo journal from photo enthusiasts
Bunch of folks from the Bangalore Shutter bugs have come together and launched a very impressive online photography magazine called Beyond Shotz. The quality is way better then any of the photographic magazines that we find in the bookstands. I hope they come out with an issue every month and I hope, this mag see’s a print edition some day.

And the featured artist of the month for the inaugral issue is you know who :). I’ve never been called an ‘Artist’ before, but you see and hear something new everyday.

Saturday’s Deccan herald carried a piece by Deepa titled “Capturing wildlife on lens“. Looks like it will be a while, before I can totally get rid of the “IT professional” tag. I don’t know why the editorial folks love to use that term. Anyway it came out well and I’m glad they printed the pictures decently.

A bit too much press than I’d like it to be at this moment 🙂

29 Comments

  1. Anonymous · February 6, 2006 Reply

    With great coverage comes great expectations. Looking forward for a lot of wonderful stuff from you in the future. Keep on going dude.

  2. tariquesani · February 6, 2006 Reply

    The Beyond Shotz guys indeed have a great thing going…

  3. riteshn · February 6, 2006 Reply

    Awesome!

    You are now our in-city IT PRO celebrity.

  4. simplesand · February 6, 2006 Reply

    Tha article on u @
    http://flickr.com/groups/bangaloreshutterbugs/discuss/172796/
    was nice.

    Need to check ur recent pics tho, will do it before my next comment 🙂

  5. sravann · February 6, 2006 Reply

    butter fish?

    I went to the exact same places, the chineese nets, the synagogue and the art shops, but damn! I missed the fish.

  6. Anonymous · February 7, 2006 Reply

    The best part of this press attention is that it also makes your friends famous.Hey isnt kalyan varma you friend??? He is in the news.and you are like “what did he do this time?”;-D…Good Good.Now all you have to do is treat your friends at leela palace.what say?

  7. admin · February 7, 2006 Reply

    You got hopes dude. after that day, you think I’ll ever take you guys there

  8. gromhellscream · February 7, 2006 Reply

    come on it wasn’t my fault!! it was all the tequilla’s that shot it up!…Swap/Shanu and others are to blame for it not me!!..me poor veggie eats only ghans and it costs pennies /cry 🙁

  9. fiveonehalf · February 7, 2006 Reply

    Wow! Congrats! And that was a very impressive article about you in the Deccan. Wish you all the best 🙂

  10. indianerd · February 7, 2006 Reply

    Congrats for the article man,great going.

  11. dianaparadise · February 7, 2006 Reply

    Gromy+tequilla? What’s going on?

  12. dianaparadise · February 7, 2006 Reply

    Nice going Mr Kalyan Varma:o)

  13. gromhellscream · February 7, 2006 Reply

    mmm you got it wrong…me poor boy had only ghans phuns… shanu/swap and others were the tequilla guzzlers.

  14. deponti · February 7, 2006 Reply

    ah….too much press, you think? don’t worry!!

    22K…most of us make it to the newspapers a few times, and then sink back to our daily lives….don’t forget the definition of a celebrity as “someone who is well-known for being famous”! Most Page 3’s stay there by dint of regular doses of publicity.

    But since I did that article, *I* am hoping that you will remain in the public eye with that prodigious talent of yours!

  15. kewldeaf · February 7, 2006 Reply

    Congrats for making to newspapers 😛

    Btw, must say Chembra peak coverage by Beyond Shotz and their magazine as a whole ( pdfs ) are amazing.

  16. redobsession · February 8, 2006 Reply

    very cool!
    congrats again.

  17. Anonymous · February 8, 2006 Reply

    Dolphins

    You really think there were dolphins in Cochin??

  18. admin · February 8, 2006 Reply

    Re: Dolphins

    YES ofcouse. Got to see them with my own eyes 🙂

  19. admin · February 8, 2006 Reply

    I swear. After reading the mag, badly want to go there now 🙂

  20. mujib · February 9, 2006 Reply

    Congratulations on the article. Pity you didn’t carry equipment to Cochin.

  21. unitedrulez · February 14, 2006 Reply

    Hi Kalyan,

    Good to hear that you are going places… I work for a company which publishes a magazine called Smart Photography, may be time for me to put in a word to my edit team as well. Also we are planning to organize a workshop on digital photography in Bangalore sometime in May..May be i will have to get in touch with you on that in the near future.

    Rgds

    Srikanth

  22. admin · February 17, 2006 Reply

    Hi Srikanth,
    Sounds like a good plan. Do keep me posted. Looking forward to it 🙂

  23. ezee123 · February 28, 2006 Reply

    Having a look at Beyond Shotz. I hope it is still running and worth it. 😉

  24. Anonymous · May 5, 2006 Reply

    You bet it is.

    April issue is out. Check it out on http://www.beyondshotz.com
    -Venkatesh

  25. Anonymous · March 18, 2007 Reply

    Top Reasons to Opt to Digital Photography

    Today, more people are getting hooked over Digital photography. Since the birth of digital photography, it has been easier and more convenient for people to capture the best photos they desire.

    http://www.sohoindex.com/digital-photography/top-reasons-to-opt-to-digital-photography.php

    resources:
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  26. Anonymous · August 17, 2007 Reply

    Very interesting story. I am a digital photography fan and when i go somewhere my favourite activity is to take photoes.
    http://www.thedigitalphotographyjournal.com/

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