Journeys and Memories Book 1

Amboli
Stick insect
Amboli is a small hill-station in
the Sahayadri hills of Southern
Maharashtra. In the daytime,
there are “normal” tourists, but
in the night time in the monsoons,
the crazies like us come out to
photograph the “herps” – frogs,
insects, snails and the like. It is
heaven for macro photographers.
In those days, I was dabbling with
every genre of photography
grassshopper
Green Vine Snake

How we go to
SHOOT IN AMBOLI
Chequered
Keelback
Art in Nature
Mating
Gliding
Frogs

Sometimes a whole world
can get reflected and
contained in a Drop of
water
Tadpoles
in their eggs
The mother lays the eggs
after carefully selecting
the location. This is
usually under a leaf,
above slowly running
water. When the tadpoles
hatch, they break out of
the eggs and fall into the
water. Get-set-go!
A fighter aircraft ready to
TAKE OFF!

Gecko
Malabar
Gliding Frogs
They actually glide from tree to tree! See the webbing in
their feet, they open it up to float like a glider!
Eye of
the fly!
Amboli Bush Frog
In the mating season, they fill up air in the sacs at
their throats, to amplify their croaks to be heard the
females. Good photo opportunity, but it happens
only in the night. You have to listen for the croaks
and follow up to where it seems to be coming from.

Bali
Infinity pool
at the resort
The only Hindu part of the mostly Muslim Indonesia, Bali is a tropical paradise
with flowers of every shape and colour. We share some common Hindu heritage with
them, they have a version of the Ramayana depicted in a dance called “Kechak dance.
We went on a short trip for a conference, and then extended it to visit Ubud, the
handicraft village with elaborate carvings amongst other things.

Learning
Indonesian
leaf craft
Traditional
Bali attire
Traditional Homestay
at Ubud
Surprised
to see this here
Wood Carvings
AT Ubud

BANDHAVGARH
Bandhavgarh is considered
one of the tiger capitals
of India (the other being
Ranthambhore). It does not
disappoint. We got closeup
photos of these majestic
animals. We were lucky to
spot Kankhati (bearing the
injury marks of her fight
with another tiger) and her
cubs. Sadly she passed away
shortly after our trip, and
the cubs too did not survive.
The law of the jungle.

See the jeep
in the
background!
Her cubs

Kankhati
Common Jungle Fly

Photographers delight
Yellow tiger in green background

Bangalore
and
Madikeri
Krish is now 4 years old, and we made one of our first outstation trips to Bangalore
to meet up with sister and family. Made a short trip to Madikeri and Krish had fun
with bulldozers- that’s what he was obsessed with at that time! (Something to do with
Construction!)

Fun with Family, Down South!

BERA
Going for the kill
Bera is a small village in Rajasthan which would have gone under the radar, except for the
fact that leopards live in the rocky outcrops, just outside the village. They live more or less in
harmony with the locals, and the Thakurs rent out their havelis and the villages make some
money guiding tourists.

Leopard
emerging out
of his lair
Lord and Master
of all he surveys

Strike
a Pose

Residents of
Jawai
Bandh

Bhandardara

Bhandardara is a small hill
station in Maharashtra that
comes to life in the rains.
The scenery plays peeka-boo
with the clouds,
you have to have luck and
patience to get the views.

BHARATPUR

Bharatpur is birder’s paradise. Stay with Devendra at the Iora Guesthouse,
hire a cycle or rickshaw with the guide and photograph birds to your
heart’s content. Nearby Dholpur in the Chambal Sanctuary allows you
to click crocodiles as they come out to bask in the sun. It’s the only place
to see gharials..

Looks like a
PAINTING!

Cormorant
Painted Stork
Purple Heron
Indian
Roller
Mood lighting
Brahmini Starlings
Gharial

BHITARKANIKA
Bhitarkanika is situated in a
remote corner of Orissa, 6 hours
drive from Bhubaneshwar.
This hidden wildlife sanctuary
can be explored only on a boat.
Why do people visit? It’s the
only place in India, where you
can spot 7 different kingfishers!
We manged 6! Crocodiles are
a bonus, some as as long as 20
feet!
Black- capped Kingfisher

The only way
to get around the sanctuary
White Beauty
in the Dark!

Collared Kingfisher
Brown winged Kingfisher
Black- capped Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher
White
throated
Kingfisher

Bhutan
Buddha
Dordenma
Statue
Bhutan.. the Himalayan Kingdom. What a fantastic place! The people, the landscapes, the colours!
It’s a photographer’s paradise. Most people do only West Bhutan (the Paro-Thimphu-Punakha circuit). But we
explored further going up to Bumthang in Central Bhutan. The Taktsang Palphug Monastery – commonly
known as the “Tiger’s Nest” - was an exciting trek. It is 10,000 feet above sea level. The flight from Bumthang
to Paro (30 min flight), but it took over 8 hours, it is entirely weather dependent. The pilots navigate by sight
only, there is no radar!

Bumthang
Airstrip
tongue
twisters
of
Bhutan

Tiger's nest

Simple Bhutanese vegetarian meal.
They have a vegetable made exclusively of
chillies!
It's just our
3-star hotel!

Punakha

Punakha
Monastery

Over 70%
of Bhutan is
forest
Bumthang
Airport
Terminal Building
Special
package delivery

Bangalore
Mysore
Krish is a town-mouse, whereas Peter and Rita are
country-mice! So going on holidays is difficult. After
all the treks and tents, Krish chose Bangalore and
Mysore for a short holiday. The Sand art museum
was interesting, as were the signboards and the
gardens! And Krish at 18 still loves Go-karting!

Bangladesh
Daffodil Computers, our business partner in
Bangaladesh, invited me to deliver a seminar
on antivirus to his customers. The MD of
Daffodil, Mr. Sabur Khan, is also the founder
of Daffodil University and he meets with the
likes of Bill Gates!

Beautiful
France
Business trip to France in 1998 – we went skiing,
attended a conference at Monaco, but no photos
survive – except these two. We were very heavily into
the fruit diet at that time!

Forbidden
City
Beijing
I visited Beijing, China to attend the Symantec
partner conference in 2000. English was not
widely spoken. The hotel guys arranged a taxi
to take me for shopping. They gave me a card
with the hotel address written in Mandarin, to
show to the taxi driver, to bring me back. After
shopping, the problem was, where to find a taxi!!
Did not know how to ask the locals, where can
I get a taxi! Finally an Indian guy selling pirated
CD’s helped me.
Great Wall of China
VERY LONG, BUT NOT ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE

Pagoda Temple
Chinese English
Lion Dance

Chadar Trek
Every winter, the Zanskar river
freezes over. Not the whole
river, but a layer a few feet thick.
This blanket (Chada) of snow and
ice covers the river, and it becomes a
road – kind of, that you can trek on.
Imagine a trek on a frozen river – for
10 days! No hotels, no electricity, no
toilets, no baths, no civilization, stay
in tents, daytime temperature -5 Deg
C, night and early morning -20 Deg C
or lower! Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
They say the chadar is the never same
twice. In the morning you can walk
over the ice, the next day it can thaw,
and there can be a river flowing where
you were walking yesterday. You are
walking on a layer of ice above a river
that is flowing with icy water. If you
fall in, you will die of hypothermia
in a few minutes. The saying goes
that you don’t think of your wife or
girlfriend when on Chadar – you only
remember your father, mother and the
Holy Father!
The crazy gang
Only 5 are trekkers. Rest
are the support staff for the trek

The river
flows alongside
and underneath..
Runway at
Leh Airport
The mighty mountains and tiny humans

Frozen
Waterfall

The roads to the Chadar trek starting point
The solitude of
the mountains
standing on top of the
Frozen river
View from the flight to Leh. You may think the
Himalaya is a range or line of mountains. More
accurately, it is a SEA of mountains, spreading as
far as the eye can see
The river melts and thaws in parts..

The landscape gets bleak
when it snows

Chopta Valley
Uttrarakand Trek in 2008, when Krish was
still young enough to want to come with us!
Devria Tal
Campsite

Confluence of the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi
rivers at DevPrayag. Note the different colours
Monal Hotel, Village Tungnath, Dist Rudraprayag,
Uttarakand
View from the Tent

Coorg
One of our first holidays with Family

Buddha temple at the Tibetan Settlement
of Bylakuppe

CORBETT
the Land of
Elephants
enough said!

Spot the Elephant!

Dabul
Hidden in the heart of Mumbai, a tiny Catholic neighbourhood, Dabul, immortalized by Jane
Borges in her book “Bombay Balchao”. She took us on a walk in Dabul, showing us the places she
grew up in, the majestic mansions, decrepit now, but we can only imagine the grandeur. Ancient
Churches, stained glass windows… a trip back in time.

DANDELI
Short break
wildlife safaris, sunsets, boat trips

DELHI

Diwali
Fireworks

Tried my hand at fireworks photography at the CCI Diwali
Party. Went armed with camera, tripod.. got strange looks,
but the results were worth it!

Diwali
2010

Dodital 2002

One of the most fun treks of my life
with buddies Sharmila, Seema and x.
Just 3 months after Krish was born.
I was an amateur photographer
at that time… note the date/time
stamps on the photos!

DUBAI
Dune bashing, belly dancing,
Falconry, and Thaub wearing
at Dubai for a conference…
Ski Dubai

Duke’s Nose

One of the craziest things I have done in my life. Rappeling down Duke’s nose (near
Khandala), then traversing across the rock face and then a valley crossing.

Everest Base Camp
T he iconic trek to Everest Base Camp was on my bucket list, and finally I got
down to doing it in 2019. Managed to make it up to 18000 feet, and came
back with lots of memories. Thanks to Milind of Countryside and his team!

Lukla runway, one
of the scariest in the
world.. One end of
the runway ends in
the mountain!
The other end of the
runway drop off into
the valley
Market next to Lukla
airport

Liquid Gold

view from
the flight
to Lukla
Lukla
Airport
Solitude
Namche
Bazar

Natural
Bouquet

Spot the campsite

Mountains on Fire

Spot me on the suspension bridge

Water colour painting

Village
on the
way
The route

Dawn breaks

Mordor

Cuteness overload
These guys are tough!

Flight at Dawn

Standard meal
on the trek
(Dal-bhaat)
Last stop before Base Camp

Twins

Everest base camp

This is it

Gandikota
The mini-grand canyon
of India, no one has
heard about. It’s a couple
of hours drive away
from the nearest railway
station of Kadapa. The
people there speak only
Telegu. But its worth
the trip (a weekend trip
from Mumbai!)

Ganpatipule
A small beach resort close to Mumbai, good for a short break.

Great Himalayan National Park
When you talk of
Himachal Pradesh,
everyone thinks of Kullu/
Manali. But there is
another part of Himachal
too, the Great Himalayan
National Park. Not much
heard of, not much visited,
pristine. It probably is
what Kullu/Manali was
like, 20 years ago. We did
a short trek with Panki
Sood, and even went up to
Jalori Pass – 10,000 feet
above sea level

Jalori Pass

GIR

award
winning
pic
Gir, the last abode of the
Asiatic lions.. Does not
disappoint. Thanks to
Vipul Ramanuj of Wild Ark
for his expertise. One of
my photos at Gir won the
Editor’s choice award at
DCP photography

Raju – he died unfortunately
Close encounters of the lion kind

Goa
Sun, sand, beaches and fun! Churches too, and we got
to see an aerial parade. Attended a conference also, by
the way!

Bhagwan Mahaweer
WLS, Goa
LANTERN FLY
PLUM JULY
One does not normally associate Goa
with a Wildlife Sanctuary, where you
can photograph snakes, insects and
other such creatures (commonly known
as “herps”) – but you can!

BABY KING COBRA

AMBOLI FROG

Buff
Striped
Keelback

Great Lakes of Kashmir Trek
Hands down, this was the prettiest and most pristine trek of my life. Probably one of the toughest
too. When you think of Kashmir, you think of Srinagar, Pahalgam, Gulmarg. But the real beauty
of Kashmir starts AFTER you leave these places behind. This trek takes you to seven lakes- Gangabal,
Nundkol, Vishansar, Satsar, Gadsar, Tarson- giving you some of the most breathtaking views in the
world. No words can describe the natural beauty.. only when you do this trek can you understand why
they say that Kashmir is heaven on earth.
Refl
ctions
e

The lakes begin

Shepherd
Jawans guarding our borders

Misty Mountains and forests

Campsites by day and night
Shepherd Girl

Tiny trekkers

The first view of this lake took my breath away!

The Last lake and Yours truly getting the certificate of completion – I
was introduced as the senior citizen on the trek, since all the others
were in their early 20’s and I was in my forties..
Yours truly showing off

In 1999, I was bit by the health bug and we decided we needed to eat Organic. But how? There
were almost no organic food stores in those days; so the only way was to grow our own food
organically. So we bought a small farm, 1.5 acres, with the help of Rita’s Dad.
Farm
The farm had a river attached - the Pauna River! (lucky us), and since Rita’s dad was a rowing
champion in his college days, he bought us a rowing boat. And with his help again, built a small
house on the farm. I tried my hand at farming, without too much success. Krish took a bath in
the river at age 2!

GERMANY Diaries
CLOPPENBURG
One of Cloppenburg’s main tourist attractions is the Museumsdorf Cloppenburg, a collection of old
buildings from the region that were dismantled and reassembled in the museum.

WORSPMEDE
The artists village, with over 130 artists in residence. The most famous being Henreich Vogler. You
have to pass a moor to get there

Germany
Diaries
BREMEN
Bremen is a small town in Germany,
where our host Lutz lives. Like every other
German town, it has its has a town square
with market hall and typical architecture,
narrow lanes… interesting!
in Lutz’s
garden
This is one crazy
restaurant. You sit at
the table as usual. Then
when you want to order
you go to the central
kitchen and order.
When it is ready, you
go back to collect your
food and bring it to the
table to eat. Mercifully
we don’t have to clear
the table and do the
dishes!
Narrow street!

Bremen
scenes

Germany
Diaries
BREMERHAVEN
A Vintage WW II sub
what could be cooler?

Germany
Diaries
HAMBURG
Hamburg is a big city with a rich
cultural heritage. Interestingly,
Hamburg’s rivers and canals are
crossed by around 2,500 bridges,
making it the city with the highest
number of bridges in Europe.

Germany
Diaries
HEIDELBERG
Heidelberg is a fairy tale city
with castles, cathedrals,
canals, bridges… the works!
The forested mountain
in the background is the
bonus!

Germany
Diaries

Germany
Diaries
SCHWARZWALD
The Black Forest Schwarzwald, is a large forested mountain range in
southwest Germany. Lovely views along the way!

Germany
Diaries
SPIEKEROOG

A tiny island in the North of Germany. No roads to get there, have to
use the ferry. And no cars allowed on the island, so you have to walk
everywhere, including to the beach! Quaint houses dot the landscape.

Germany
Diaries
RHODODENDRON
PARK
Pictures speak
louder than
words

Germany
Diaries

Germany
Diaries
“Not all those who wander are lost”
JRR Tollkien