Best views of India Inc.

BEAUTIFUL INDIA. Nine times out of ten, a foreigner for the first time in India will be disappointed that it really is not the snake-charmer-rope-trick- land. But once they get used to that, there is still a lot more in India that is breathtaking: breathtaking - in its natural state of existence, in the interaction between the land and its people.

`Beautiful India' is a photo contest for amateur photographers, conducted by Global Adjustments, a relocation service established to `ease your passage to and from India'. This year marked the fourth such annual expatriate contest of the organisation and expats from Germany, U.K., USA, Belgium, Austria, Korea, Russia, New Zealand participated. And the prizes were for not necessarily for the `best technical shots' more for the `best ideas', Ms. Ranjini Manian of Global Adjustments says.

The first prize went to Russian Andrew Yelliastroff for his picture captioned `Sunset in the backwaters'. And that's what he gets - a weekend's stay at Tranquil, plantation hideaway in Wynad, Kerala. Yelliastroff also gets a year's supply of cookies, from Cookie Man with promises that a fresh bunch of cookies will be delivered to his home, the beginning of every month.

Steve Van Allen from the US lined up second with his `Misty Pillars'. Allen qualifies for a set of champagne glasses while Brenda Tunnell another American, won a Konica camera for her picture `A bird of different colours'.

There was also a prize for the best caption by Briton Margaret Thorpe. Clicking an ornate Indian indoor setting, she captioned it ``It ain't much, but it's home''.

Besides all this, the winners got a whole load of gift coupons to take home. Among the sponsors are Chola Sheraton, Freight Systems, Lakshana Picture Framers, Tranquil, Konica, TNT India, Sabena Airlines, Mehak and Odyssey.

Phil Spender of Ford India and Karsten Warnecke, German Consul picked the best clicks, while Anita Ratnam gave away the prizes on Sunday last.

The frames will be on display in the city on March 26, 27 and 28, at Shristi, the gallery in Hotel Chola Sheraton between 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By Ramya Kannan

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