Flora #2

Flora #2, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

Being in their shoes.

Tuesday last week after a catchup session with friends I hadn't seen for a long time, we were ready to go home. As we walked back towards union station, some people decided that they'd instead go for dessert. So they called up someone else who lived close by and asked if she could join. And the group decided to lurk around on front street while waiting for a good 15 minutes. I was the only person who wanted to go home, and be the party ruiner -- but it was getting late.

I, with my usual erratic behaviours, decided to sit right there, on the sidewalk, cross-legged. This was directly infront of east side marios. About 7 people standing around me -- and one new person who I was introduced to while sitting on the sidewalk -- a manager of sorts. I was sort of embarassed since I could potentially be working under/with him someday, and he was just leaving the datacenter/office. I got around this by telling him to smile, and taking a picture of him, bottom up. So I sat there, realizing sitting on the ground allows me to rest my arms thus take pictures of longer exposures.. under the low light, I snapped a few. Combine this with the foot traffic coming out of the stadium after the tuesday baseball game -- and you get one busy front street. And everyone looking at me, since I'm the only one sitting avec la camera.

Then something even more out of the ordinary happened.
A homeless person, decided to walk by.. throw a dime at me, and said "I know you'd do it for me if I was sitting there.. here you go buddy" and walked away. As I picked up the dime.. my friends were laughing .. "hahah... he thought you were homeless" But I was wondering would I really have given him a dime if it was him sitting on the street? My friends said it's a lucky dime, and I should keep it.. I don't believe in superstition, but I kept it out of respect. Then my friends decided to mock me a bit more and throw more change at me. It wasn't too funny. I got up soon after and left with another friend, who dropped me off at home. Everyone else went for desserts.

I pass by plenty of homeless in the downtown core of toronto. And many I find are not legitimately homeless.. some I have given money to because they made excuses, which later I found to be untrue. Over time I've become somewhat desensetized to 'giving money' portion, but I do have the feeling for 'sense of well being' portion.. so I try to keep a balance on whether I donate or not.

I have thought about doing an exhibit of sorts online with photos of homeless people, but that runs into ethical dilemmas.. so it's on hold for now. There's much more that could be told about this issue. I know we've had to work hard to live after moving to canada. And it's unfortunate that there are such people on our streets.

So I guess that's what it means when 'if you were in my shoes' is stated.
What would you do, if you were in their shoes?
And have you considered what he did do, when he was in yours?

Miracles of life? Or a Telus ad?

Miracles of life? Or a Telus ad?, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

This was taken while sitting on the bench here and pointing straight up

Went by the scarborough lakeshore yesterday until it got too chilly. Wonderful afternoon though. I almost forgot how much nature had to offer. I need to take out my bike after almost 2 years of hiatus and actually ride around the trails a bit more.

Pollen-o-mania

Pollen-o-mania, originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

Where life begins..
Right before our eyes.

Took this sitting at a second cup near university and front street. :)

Oh Toronto.

This morning walking on the way to work, these two gorgeous ladies, who were probably close friends.. were diagonally crossing my path from the left. Habitually.. I made a sudden stop. I usually tend to stop if I feel someone is going to cross my path, old highschool habit from the hallways, so you don't try to take over or bump in. I'm sure it gets annoying to some people -- but foot walk has traffic rules in my head too :) I hadn't realized the one on the right had ignored her friend -- who was talking to her, smiled at me and said thank you, until after the fact -- because I was zoned out, thinking about something else. It was as if she was waiting for a response.. Obviously me wearing sunglasses doesn't help the lack of eye contact. Within seconds, there were 20 more people on the scene and we'd gone our merry ways. I just realized that was the first smile of the day. Even a split second makes a difference.

In this cosmopolitan city, atleast at the heart of downtown toronto, there exists a variety of people. I like to observe and often wonder what someone's life is like. Could be the artsy looking dude at the cafe, or the lady that looks like she's worried about an upcoming real estate deal. The ones that hurry like ants in the morning rush hour.. then return again in the afternoon to make their way back. It's rare to see personal contact.. But experiences such as today's suggest there are good hearted people, and everyone has a little something to offer.

Ironically, I was thinking of the amount of independence the city offers when the incident happened this morning. I was thinking about how busy these people are, how they have a night life, and perhaps have no limits to their fun. Then I realized, everyone is still working hard, paying bills, dealing with a family -- life isn't quite the fantasy .. unless you're an irresponsible teen or early twenties with no dependants. Everyone does have a limit. Their individual ways may be different.. Their faith, creed and culture, may be different.. yet they interact, and depend on each other. I'm still happy I live here though. I love it. :)

Shadow on dundas square.

Shadow on dundas square., originally uploaded by Elysium Exposed.

This is toronto city's time square.. with sun at the back.

First post

This is me entering blogger.
Mostly because there are interesting people on here that I'd like to comment on. :-)

Other links to link to me.

http://elysium.naseeb.com
http://flickr.com/photos/a-z