A huge favor to ask of you. Nirali Naik, an 18-month old baby in Chicago is in dire need of a bone marrow transplant from an Indian. I don't have to tell you that the bone marrow registry in the US has abyssmally low number of South Asian registrants.

Nirali happens to be the grand-daughter of Larsen & Toubro's CEO, Mr. A.M. Naik, a close family friend.

I am writing to you to publcize her desperate need for a match. Could you please send this note out to all your email lists and friends? Due to her current condition, please consider this request URGENT.

For more information about Nirali, please visit the following web site dedicated to her.

We finally made it to Madras. The trip was a mixed bag of high decibled toddlers, lost luggage and arguments at Heathrow about what I could and could not carry on board.

One thing is for sure, the security authorities in the US aren't talking the same language as those at Heathrow. What I could take on board in a 20″ suitcase [usually a carry-on until the new rules were hurriedly applied] through the US port of Boston was declined at Heathrow. The rules changed and the security folks there told me that I would have to check in my gear. Gasp! No way man. I couldn't risk that at all. Not the way I have seen baggage handlers toss [no, I really mean this cuz I have seen it with my own eyes] baby strollers.

Anyway, I asked to see a representative of British Airways. She called someone else. Someone she only referred to as the “DM.” The DM arrived and I explained the situation. She was apologetic and convinced the security folks to let me through with my luggage. No sooner had she left the scene when new security folks replaced the ones she had talked to and of course we had to start that dialogue all over again. To make matters worse, a desi at the helm didn't seem to want to help us at all. In fact, he seemed hell-bent on giving us a harder time with our hand carry-on which also included a bag for the baby with diapers and such and another bag holding most of his food.

Traveling has changed dramatically. I am not thrilled by the changes and while the precautions are all valid, it makes for a tiring journey that at one time was really enjoyable. Well, not any more.

To make matters really worse, after we landed in Madras, we couldn't find three of our suitcases. They were stuck in London and still are there. No word about when we will get them. With a wedding to attend and only on chane of underwear [this is a personal post right?] we are biding our time and hoping that by some miracle we'll get the rest of our stuff in the next flight.

More about the morons at Madras airport in my next. I gotta do some laundry now.

For the next two weeks, I'll be in India. I am heading back home where my parents live in Madras [Chennai] and off for a few days to Bangalore to visit my wife's side of the family.

It's been nearly three years since I was last in India. I expect a great many changes. Some I have only read about in the Western media. I am toting my camera gear and am hoping that the folks at the TSA and British Airways don't give me too much grief. I'll let you know how it goes, perhaps even penning a post about how to pack for travel these days.

I'll post images and random thoughts about what I encounter. Follow along as Tiffinbox is transformed, ever so briefly, into a travel blog of sorts.

I already wish this was a longer vacation, but I need to get back to reality [aka. my job].

In a clutch, Congressman Bobby Jindal of Louisiana helps deliver his third baby. Does this feat alone qualify him to run for President?

Carolyn E. Wright is the PhotoAttorney. Read the blog. Protect yourself in myriad ways.

Photoshop Online Video Podcast, tips and techniques by Jan Kabili who ran theunofficialphotoshopweblog

Travel Advice For Photographers

Devi Prakashan is selling a Raja Ravi Varma book on Lulu

Daljit Dhaliwal leads Wide Angle and two documentaries: 1-800-INDIA and Back To School. Check them out on PBS.

Check out SAJAForum.org. I am thrilled to be included as an Editor, though the more accurate title should be Producer.

onDeadline, USA Today's blog is now a must-read for me

Nikon has announced the D80, a 10.2 megapixel camera

JPG Magazine has a deal you should check out

A good read for photographers who once rolled their sleeves up and got into the thick of things in the darkroom: What's that smell?

Photograph Superman [via Melissa Lyttle]

“The most controversial tool in Photoshop that we use is the cloning tool.” – Reuters' Gary Hershorn, News Pictures Editor for North America, does some explaining about the recent debacle involving a Lebanese freelance photojournalist and Photoshop

PhotographyBLOG tips us off to an Annie Leibovitz retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum from October 20, 2006 through January 21, 2007. Gotta go! Gotta go!

Photographer Jill Greenberg is in a heap of trouble for swiping candy from kids and making them cry [all in the name of Art and a dose of reality, she says]

Jan Kabili of the unofficial photoshop weblog has an interesting post about High Dynamic Range photography and links to a recent New York Times article

Kerala, a state in Southern India [for my brothers and sisters outside of the desi scene] has decided to ban the production and sale of Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. The decision is going to hurt the companies for sure.

The reason: Labs have found pesticide residue in the caffeinated elixirs.

“This is not the first time Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in India have faced charges of pesticide content in their soft drinks. The allegations surfaced three years ago, when the Center for Science and Environment said its tests revealed PepsiCo and Coca-Cola drinks sold in India contained pesticides that were respectively 36 and 30 times higher than European Union safety standards.”

And I thought it was the sugar content that was going to kill us!

Apple's ode to Magnum in Motion

Alien Skin has just launched Blow Up, if you are into enlarging digital images

Find Your Photos Fast

Rediff.com chats with Steven J. Sasson, the inventor of the digital camera at Kodak

Entering the photojournalism job market

Craig Newmark, of Craigslist fame, has aspirations in journalism [that should read “perspirations in journalism”]

Is Chandamama, an old-time favorite magazine of mine, going to Disney?

“Disney's move, if it succeeds, could see it controlling a publication that is deeply entrenched in the minds of the traditional Indian middle-class household.”

I wonder what the late Mr. Nagi Reddy would have thought about this potential transaction.

“As custodians of our cultural heritage, Tablaonline™ seeks to use the web to create connections between listeners, musicians, and organisations to ensure that Indian classical music continues to flourish. Tablaonline™ hopes to encourage networking, partnering and education, as well as sharing our love for our musical tradition with all corners of the world.

For now, Tablaonline™ concentrates on Indian classical rhythm – the backbone of our music. It brings an insight into the personalities through exclusive interviews, profiles, video and audio clips of the great tabla players. In the future, we aim to widen our canvas to other Indian classical instruments as well as dance and vocal.”

One word – Rockin!

Blueeyes Magazine launches issue 13

High Dynamic Range Photography

Adobe 2006 Design Achievement Award Winners

If you are at all interested in design, read this blog: UNBeige

Mark Kramer at the Nieman Narrative Conference says that registration for the ninth annual meetup is open. He also suggested that we check out Nieman Narrative Digest, a repository of links, video clips and other forms of inspiration for those interested in this genre of journalism. If you haven't been to the conference, you ought to check it out at least once.

Colin Hastings is “relaunching kijiji*Vision in the Autumn as a result of some significant and exciting developments which will create the first web site solely to promote the work of talented photographers from the developing world.”

Connected to kijiji*Vision is Majority World: “A unique collection representing the wealth of fresh imagery emerging from indigenous photographers from within the developing world and global South.”