Introduction

My name is Pavan K Murthy (or "p6" to some). This is my home on the interwebs. grahaNa (kn: ಗ್ರಹಣ, Devanagari: ग्रहण) in Sanskrit/ Kannada means "Seize". Less precisely, it is often used to refer to an Eclipse.

I hail from the southern part of India; Born, brought-up and based out in the wonderful city of Bangalore, Karnataka.

As a mostly-geeky, hyperactive twenty-something, My identity constructs roughly sum up to a conglomerate of the following facets:

Musings

Software, Programming and The web

I'm a strong supporter of Open Source software and Open Standards. I'm a GNU/Linux user and most of my work revolves around various Open Source stacks. I'm a casual contributor to the f/oss world.

As somebody on the web-side of things, I mostly live on PHP. I also speak/read/write Java, C, VB, Python, Perl and JavaScript fairly conversantly. While at it, I enjoy programming.

My mentionable interests are primarily centered around LAMP - High performance, Content Management Systems, MVC-frameworks, RDF and NoSQL (lately).

Music

I've been interested in Indian Classical Music since childhood. While I enjoy hindUsthani sangIt, my cultural leanings are more towards South Indian Classical Music / Karnataka SangIta.

Apart, I also enjoy Hindi / Kannada film music from the 70's and the 80's, bhAvagIte, Western classical music (and lately), some Rock Music.

My musical talents are sparse, but I try meddling with the flute (Something I've picked up from Akarsh Simha). The vINa is now learning to bear my musical pursuits.

Travel

I've a huge calling in life for going places. My primary travel motivations include (but aren't restricted to) places of Indian history, temples and architecture.

I also have an equally self-overcoming urge for adventure. Hitting a trek route in the Western Ghats is almost always a monthly affair (if not fortnightly). Lately, I also hit the Himalayas atleast once every year for an adventure-filled vacation.

The want for travel affects my life and the decisions thereof rather significantly. I have made rather unpragmatic compromises (with no regrets) in various walks of life to keep myself travel-compatible.

Photography

I'm a rabid photo-enthusiast. My camera travels nearly as much as I move about. My current equipment (needs upgrade) includes a Canon EOS 400D, 18-55 f/3.5 - f/5.6, 28-80 f/3.5 - f/5.6 and a 70-300 f/4-f/5.6. I borrow, pool and share lenses (atleast better ones) fairly often.

Long-exposure landscapes, Portraits and Action photography interest me quite a bit. I've also tried a hand at bird-photography, HDR and Astrophotography.

You can find some of my photographs on this site as well as on Flickr.

Philosophy

I enjoy reading (or talking about) Philosophy. More specifically, I hold high affinity towards Philosophy of Science and Comparative Philosophy.

Kant, Nietzsche, Spinoza, Schopenhauer and Russell are my primary sources of interests amongst Western Philosophers. I've also found interest in various Indian schools of Philosophy - Primarily, Advaita Vedanta.

I hold strong political inclinations and influences.

Astronomy

I've had long standing interest in Amateur Astronomy (which probably arose out of interest in popular Physics and Cosmology). These days, I mostly claim to be interested in Astrophotography, Observing and Programming. I also ground a 8" f/7 telescope mirror for a while, but gave up claiming boredom and laziness.

In April 2006, I started an Amateur Astronomy community on a popular social networking site, which gradually grew into a formal association and what is today, The Bangalore Astronomical Society. As a web-centric organization, we've amassed a user base of 5000+ on our web portal, 700+ subscribers on our mailing list and 1000+ members on various social networks. Our work, especially in publicizing and promoting Amateur Astronomy has brought us recognition and media attention.

I was also the Secretary of this organization till 2009. I continue to be passionately involved with it's activities. I also maintain their website.

At a personal level, BAS has brought me a circle of hobby-friends with whom my connection goes well beyond Astronomy.

Books and Literature

Shakespeare, Dickens, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Marquez, Kafka, Ayn Rand, Wodehouse, Mark Twain, O Henry, Joseph Heller et al.

Amongst Kannada literature, I've mostly read works of S L Bhairappa, Kuvempu, Tejasvi, B G L Swamy and Shivaram Karanth.

I also read (not necessarily like all the time) Salman Rushdie, Khushwant Singh, Taslima Nasreen, Vikram Seth and other contemporary writers from the subcontinent.

I've read and loved all Tintins and Asterixes.