A TRIBUTE TO MY GREAT FRIEND

My dear Raja…

A year has been passed since you left us sending shock waves. It is hard to believe that you are not with us. We still believe that you are in an official tour and would come back soon. Not a single day goes by without us thinking of you, because you were so close to our hearts. You were so sincere and caring to all of your friends too. You used to keep continuous interactions with all your friends. That is the legacy of a great friend -- and you were certainly one of the finest, the best friend in the world. Everybody felt something special inside of you.

One evening at Vardhmankrupa

When we came here from Trivandrum, we didn't know anyone. It was Sasi (the first Malayalee friend I got in Ahmedabad) [ you call ‘Nair Sasikumar Krishnankutty’] taken us to Vardhmankrupa where you, Ayyapan and Sekhar were staying. I was really happy that day that I got three friends from my native - Trivandrum. That was the beginning…

On the terrace of our home at Ashokagar

At our rented premises

"A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart." For us, you were such a personality. You, ofcourse with Geetha, helped us a lot to get through the worse times in our life and shared our worries and happiness at all times.

On the day housewarming

Owning a house in Ashoknagar was my dream and that dream would not have been materialised without your effort, support and cooperation. The role you played in achieving my that goal is unforgettable.

At Meghaninagar

Meghaninagar AG's Staff quarter was our favorite hangout, when you shifted there. I think you got the Title of "Jayamaman" from there (first called by Sreekutty and Dinal). Your company minimized the distance between the Ashoknagar and Meghaninagar and we spent our valuable time there. Those days will never fade away from our memory.

You always cared and loved all the children with lots of love and affection and you got the great and unique title "JAYAMAMAN" which nick name lovingly used by children as well as adults. I fondly remember the birth of Malu, when you both stayed with us for a long time to help us and to share our unforgettable golden moments.

Trivandrum Group

Rakshabandan

Dear Raja.. You were a great coordinator. You also had excellent managerial capability. If at all any differences of opinion amongst us, you meticulously managed to lead us like a GrouplLeader... and we celebrated all festivals together. But now...when the main Man is missing... we feel missing everything....

Onam Sadya at Ashoknagar

Amongst countless moments of life, these are some special ones, which flashes our memory on and often. It is very easy that the life is a mixture of sunshine and rain and... every day of our lives will find hardship and pain etc. etc. When we feel the reality, it is very difficult to digest and control ourselves. This is life.. One has to actually pass through all these phases of life either willingly or unwillingly.

You are my great friend and truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget.  

Good friends are like stars…. we don’t always see them, but we know they are always there.

With lots of love,

SUNILRAJ, SARASWATHY & MALU

ONE TREE MANY LIVES

ONE TREE MANY LIVES 
a film for children and nature lovers

SYNOPSIS:   In an age crammed with TV, computers, and electronic gadgets, children are isolated from the simple pleasures of exploring nature. Interaction with flora and fauna seems to be mostly through television and a trip to the Natural History Museum once a year. There are many things that parents, guardians, and teachers can do to help children develop a love for nature : Enhance their enjoyment of nature by giving them magnifying lenses, a pair of binoculars, or a simple telescope. Encourage your children to observe things they see and record them. Give older children a simple camera, if they show an inclination for photography. 

 This short film ONE TREE MANY LIVES visualizes a class discussion by  a group of nature loving children on the World Environment Day.  It also depicts a  successful experimental story of a nature loving parent who gifted a camera to his school going Son to develop love for nature and the encouragement of his teacher in the school.

 Caring for plants, and seeing them grow and develop, is a wonderful opportunity for the children to know the cycle of creation first hand. This short film ONE TREE MANY LlVES is all about the caring and observation by young students of the life of one tree in the compound of their school and the many lives around it.  Santosh comes to the school regularly with a small camera gifted by his father on the last World Environment Day. His inclination for nature photography helped his friends to develop the skill of observation of the natural world and apply most of the knowledge gathered from it in their studies.

 Many animals, such as birds, squirrels and a variety of insects, spend much of their lives in trees. These animals are born in trees, live in trees, raise their young in trees and seldom come down to the ground. Trees provide them shelter from the weather and from enemies.

Trees provide food in the form of fruits, nuts and leaves.  Many people pass trees and don’t realize that they are a home to all these living creatures. When ONE TREE is cut MANY LIVES will be ruined. ONE TREE AND MANY LIVES portrays the wonderful experiences of young school children in their class discussion about nature through real interactions with it. The film ends with an appeal to "Do'nt cutting down Trees" .

I selected a tree in the IIM campus to observe and picturize the life of one tree, in a year. I hope, this short film will be a visual treat for children and  nature lovers.  The main narration is given by Varsha Sankara Raman, daughter of my friend Sankara Raman (Ayyappan).  Teacher's voice is given by Dr.Anita Vidyadhar.  

                                                  Created by : SUNIL RAJ

 

NATURE Ek TEACHER

POSTER DESIGNED BY MR. ARUN RAAJ

POSTER DESIGNED BY : MR. ANEESH SWATHI

GOOD MORNING, SQUIRRELS! [DIRECTOR'S VISION]

GOODMORNING, SQUIRRELS

A short film for children and nature lovers

Years ago, humans and nature coexisted in a harmony.  We needed to connect to nature as it was integral to our very existence.  Present life style forces us to keep our children indoors, hooked on to computer or TV  rather than outdoors, exploring. We need to drive ourseleves to “get back to nature”.  We must induce this feeling of “connecting to nature” in the coming generation. We must help our children to develop a respect to their immediate natural surroundings.

  The importance of animals, especially those with which a child can develop a nurturing relationship, needs special emphasis, particularly for early and middle childhood.  We need to be connected to nature, primarily, to realize our duty towards maintaining ecological balance. .  The film Good morning, squirrels is an attempt in this direction.    

 Squirrels make a great "science project" because they are essential parts of our ecosystem, even urban ecosystems. They eat, mate, give birth, plant seeds...and provide other services for our natural communities      Squirrels are quite used to humans and many will come close to people hoping they will be fed. However, squirrels deserve our respectful distance. They have very sharp teeth and sharp claws and defend themselves by biting and scratching if they are startled. However, they are fun to observe. 

There are many fun observations one can make about squirrels.  These little critters are some of the most loved animals in the wildlife world, and they are right under our nose... well, may be right in the vicinity of your house/premises! Or porch! Or tree!  The lovely  relationship between Children and Squirrels is a favorite theme of our Poets and Lyricists.

           When a child is out in nature all his senses get activated.  He is immersed in something bigger than himself, rather than focusing narrowly on one thing.  Kids who have direct access to nature are better learners. The story of GOOD MORNING, SQUIRRELS depicts the activity of a group of “nature loving” children, early in the morning, before catching their school bus.  The movie speaks of how children, when out in nature, get their senses most activated.  It tells us how they become better learners by exploring our nature.  

Shrinath, Vineeta, Anjali, Rohita & Alwyn

It portrays that we must help our children to develop a respect to their immediate natural surroundings as every creature has its own value to maintain our ecosystem  and the films ends with a catching phrase:

TAKE CARE OF NATURE, THE NATURE WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU.

I tried to capture panoramic scenes against the back-drop of the lush-green IIM Ahmedabad campus from close range with lot of difficulty and efforts with a view to disseminate the visual knowledge contained in snapshots for the advantage of the tiny-tots…the ones who love nature more than anyone else. The task was especially difficult because squirrels run fast and jump long distances on tiny branches so fast that they have been clocked at 20 miles per hour. I hope   Visual media being the star attraction of children, kids would love to see this short film of 14 minutes’ duration…so also all nature lovers and environmental enthusiasts.

Dr.Anita Vidyadhar has played different active roles in this movie such as Music Director,  Flutist and a Narrator. The names of other friends who have contributed to this movie are : Smt. Saraswathy S (Technical Support), Shri M V Prabhakar (Background score), Shri Arun Raaj and Shri Aneesh Swathi (Design), Shri Johny Joseph (Orchestration) But the name which I ought to have mentioned first is my friend and relative late Shri Sajan  (Lyricist) who had passed away in the last month following liver cirrhosis.  In loving remembrance of Sajan, as a Tribute, I posted below the  song written by Him for my short film GOOD MORNING, SQUIRRELS.

                                                                                                               ( SUNIL RAJ )

a song from the short film:

[song theme : self introduction by a Squirrel]

passionpicture@gmail.com  

Design: Arun Raaj

MY PURPLE SUNBIRD, a flashback

MY SOUL STIRRING EXPERIENCE

Some people believe that purple sun birds presence brings good luck. THIS is a true story of good luck brought by a pair of purple Sunbird. We may call it this story as MY PURPLE SUNBIRD.

Ever since I was 5, I wanted to become a photographer. But when I grown up my ambition to become a wildlife photographer is not fulfilled and I became a government servant. When I got a job, it was my only determination to buy a good camera and as desired, I bought a reasonably good camera with my first salary. As a true nature lover, I started to click every nature element photo which I find interesting around me.

My passion to photography has developed and I slowly switched over to digital still and video art enjoying video shooting and editing at a greater level. I started making short films for children and nature lovers.

I would like to share my soul-stirring and exciting experience I had with two sun birds, which came to my house for nesting as my GOOD LUCK. As I said earlier, my eyes are always wandering for some eye-catching frames for nature photography.

It was a hot morning of April 2009, when my daughter Rohita (nick name Malu) saw a sunbird sitting on an iron wire [kept for drying clothes]. She noticed that the bird is seriously searching for something.

She loudly called me… Papa come fast with camera… there is a good shot for you. Within no time, I rushed there with my Sony Handycam and my Sony Still Camera and started shooting from the other side. Yes…the sunbirds were searching for a suitable place for nest building.  We all know, the small yet lovely, Purple Sun Bird….is a pleasant surprise to watch. All of us must have seen it but could not watch its life as we do see it just for a moment. There are over 100 species of Sun Birds. These birds are often mistaken for Humming Birds. Its flight is fast and it was difficult to shoot. I decided to capture every possible moments of the nest making. I spent lot of time to picturise some of the most eye catching aspects of Sun Bird’s daily life…from feeding nectar from buds and flowers in our premises to the amazing architectural ability of this small bird to build its nest after a careful scrutiny of its life’s security in the location preferred for nesting/laying eggs.

 I minutely observed the nest making and captured the beautiful shots. The nest is a pouch made of cobwebs, thin strips of vegetation, lichens and bark. The entrance hole on the side is shaded by a overhanging projection. The nest is built almost entirely by the female. It took about eight days to complete the building of the nest.

The inner cavity is expanded by the bird by openings its wing and turning around on the inside.

When the shooting is over, my focus was to make a short film using with the rare footage. With the fault of repetition, I may state that I am a self-tutored cameraman, editor, director and a sound engineer. I produced and directed number of short films for children and nature lovers. Lastly, I directed a film called “NATURE EK TEACHER” and “COCONUT NEST” which have got much appreciation from nature lovers and children. It has screened in nursery schools, primary schools, societies and nature film clubs.

With that experience, I scripted a short film starting with an appeal to nature lovers and children that WAKE UP WAKE UP IT IS A LOVELY DAY…OH PLEASE GET UP AND COME AND PLAY….. My little daughter Rohita has narrated the film in her own style After editing, sound mixing and titling, a short documentary film is born called ‘MY PURPLE SUNBIRD”. The film is liked by all nature lovers and her school children and ultimately, at the instance of the famous Environmental Activist and Nature Lover Shri Madhu Menon, I sent the film for a competition in the 5^th CMS Vatavaran Environment & Wildlife Film Festival which was to be held in 27-31 October 2009. Though I made number of short film for my passion, I never sent them to any competition, as they were mainly made for my daughter and her friends, as part of their study and enjoyment. I strongly believe that involving of such activities by children are among the most effective way of stimulating awareness and sensitivity to our natural surroundings.

Normally, getting a nomination in the CMS Vatavaran Film Festival is a himalayan dream, as 31 jury members were associated with the process to short listing the nominated entries from the hub of 366 films. The jury members came from diverse backgrounds ranging in the areas of expertise from academics to water conservation, agriculture, mass communication, art and culture and so on. During the four day long (July 28-July 31, 2009) films jury members saw 216 Indian entries (in sixteen categories) and 89 international entries (in nine categories). And I am glad to know that my film MY PURPLE SUNBIRD was nominated for the Armature film award. It was really a thrilling experience.

The CMS Vatavaran invited us as guests to attend the award function to be held on 27-30 October, 2009 at their expenses. My film was screened on 29^th in houseful at the Stein Auditorium and at the end of screening, we received a stand up applause from the audience. It was an awesome, amazing and a breathtaking experience for us. And finally we were not believing our ears and eyes when Mr. Jahnu Barua announced me as a winner of Best Ameature Film – MY PURPLE SUNBIRD. The golden moment was mesmerizing when Dr.N.Bhaskara Rao, Chairman CMS, Mr. Jahnu Barua, Chairperson, Jury and famous film director Mahesh Bhatt have presented a memento and a certificate scripting that “A unique approach to the breeding behavior of the sunbird depicted in a sensitive presentation by a child that is appealing to children as well as adults”.

Dr.N.Bhaskara Rao, Mr.Jahnu Barua, Rohita, Sunil Raj, Mr. Mahesh Bhatt

http://cmsvatavaran.org/cmsvata/WinnerInfo.aspx?PicNo=235

Story of a Short Film Maker

I am Sunilraj MR. I live in Ahmedabad. Perhaps, I don't want to talk about my official career.

But I have a parallel career. Do I want to call it as career? No, that is my passion.

I make short films. I am passionate about it.

It all started when I shifted with my family to a beautiful housing campus in the city of Ahmedabad.

My daughter showed me a sunbird making its nest, hatching eggs and bringing up its chicks.

I was hooked. I passionately followed the life of this bird with my Sony Full HD camera.

My first film, 'My Purples Sunbird' was born then.

For this movie I was conferred with the award of 5th CMS Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival Award for the debutant amateur director in 2009.

I had contributed small little visual stories to some of the television channels.

But somethign was calling me. Now I have realized that my calling is to be a short film maker.

With short moves, I make my short movies.

I will keep posting them here, my experiences, my tribulations and my joys.

I love nature. And my films are all about my love for it.

I want to share it with you. And I want you to share with me your short films, your ideas, your comments and your valuable suggestions.

Thank you till I see you next......