Once upon a time..

“Everything begins with a story”

              -Joseph Campbell

I love pictures which tell a story. That is what sets a good picture apart from the ones clicked after downing two beers. And thus I love road photography. Ironically nothing can convey as much as a long twirling highway road. Roads have more stories to tell, more than the interesting bedtimes of our beloved grandmothers. They have been there for years immemorial.

Following a road is like reading a murder mystery. There are so many questions the mind is seeking answers for. What is at the end of the road? Will there be any mysterious turns? Is the road going to lead us to where we think we are heading? And God alone help us if there is a dead end.

As much as the roads keep you intrigued, so do the people who walk on these roads. Just like the man in the picture above. What is his story? May be he is walking on the road because it leads to his house where his family waits for him. Or may be life is harsh for him and he takes this road to run away from the only thing he had, his family. I can never know. And this is the beauty of this picture. One never knows whether the road leads you to a happy or sad ending. In an intricately deep personified way, this picture inspires me to walk right till the end of the journey I set out on, so that I never have to carry the burden of sharing an incomplete story. 

Knock knock...Who's there? Opportunity!

I had taken this picture on a trip to Kerala. Something about the composition compelled me to capture it on my lens. Was it the wall of a small house with the mysteriously dark window or was it the bicycle left without any owner in sight against an old crimson wall, I don’t have the slightest idea. But what makes this picture one of my favorites is the bizarre enlightenment that struck upon me through this picture.

All of us at every point of life are unconsciously always seeking for that window of opportunity to prove our mettle and show the world who we really are and what are we made of. All throughout in school I always waited for that window to show my teachers how talented I am. All throughout junior college I always waited for that window to show my friends how faithful I am and now in Degree College I was still waiting for that window to show my parents how pride worthy I am. But 19 years later, a picture clicked in Kerala made me realize that the window of opportunity is never going to come to me. If you really choose to go from who you are today and decide whom you want to be tomorrow, you have to ride on your bicycle and go search for that window of opportunity.

The window is always going to be where it is. Where it is supposed to be on that wall. But one has to have the heart and the true will to search for it. Only then will the picture of life seem complete. 

My Paradise

This is a place called Belapur. A  paradise in Navi Mumbai. This is one place where I have a few unforgettable, extremely special memories. I go there quite often to trek, for photography and sometimes just to be alone and enjoy the serenity.

I love trekking and Belapur is the ideal place to go for it. The mountains are steep and the forests are pretty dense. So the trek is quite challenging and during the trek you get to see many kinds of reptiles, birds and insects. On 31st of December 2008 I wanted to celebrate new year in a completely different way. I didn't want to go clubbing or go for a house party like every other new year night.

And so I decide to go night trekking at 11 p.m. I set out into the forest along with 3 friends of mine. The atmosphere was magical! The darkness of the night was filled by the subtle silver light of the moon, the air was chilly and only the things that fell within the radius of the torchlight were visible. Everything else was pitch dark. As we walked through the forest we saw owls perched on the high branches of trees, well camouflaged frogs and scorpions. But to our disappointment we didn't come across even one snake.

After an hour or so we started returning from the forest when a friend of mine who was walking ahead shouted loudly. We all came running and to our utmost excitement it was a python lying motionless on a rock. We took photos of the python and resumed our walk back when we came across another python! It was unbelievable. Finding a snake in the wild sometimes takes a week but finding two of them in one night, that too rare one's was like a jackpot. This was a baby python and it was injured and so we decided to bag it and take it home. As we were exiting the forest in between two rocks i saw one of the rarest snakes found here. The cat snake.

I shouted my lungs out in excitement. Never in my dreams had I thought that I would come across this snake in Belapur.  It was a jackpot night for me. Who would have known that the first night of the year had such surprises in store for me!

                                               (A few other images I clicked at Belapur)

Fiery Passion

Fire signifies a number of things. The bringer of destruction, love which is described as the eternal flame, hatred or a strong desire. For me fire signifies passion. 


Speaking of which, I have always been very passionate about music. Music is a way one can express himself easily in a subtle manner. It defines a person's character. Music can accompany you anytime in any mood. I would never generalize a genre for a particular mood though. Many people would say that if you are angry listen to metal and unleash your anger! I'm sure such people haven't heard songs like Fade to black, The Unforgiven, A Tout Le Monde which have a perfect combination of powerful riffs along with soothing clean chord progressions. Many feel classical music is slow and boring. Priority by Niladri Kumar will change your perception.Every genre has a wide range of variation. 


I listen to more of metal, classic rock, progressive rock and instrumentals. Music inspires me to do something, it helps me take decisions, helps me let my emotions out. My all time favorite band is Megadeth. They are a thrash metal band and their front man Dave Mustaine is a huge inspiration for me. Being a part of the best thrash metal band of the 80's (Metallica) he was thrown out of the band. He promised that he will form a band which will be better than Metallica which he succeeded in doing so i.e. Megadeth. At the peak of Megadeth's success his hand got paralyzed for a few years because of which he forgot to play the guitar completely due to loss of muscle memory. But in spite of all that he learnt to play the guitar all over again and brought the band to the top. 


His life story always inspires me to move on when going gets tough. His music has taught me that one cannot get something good without earning it. There are so many songs of Megadeth to which I can connect my thoughts to. Music is something i will alway be passionate towards and will always play an important role in all walks of my life.

It's a small world.

Macro shots are really fascinating! It just makes me realize how detailed even the smallest of things are. Besides, I have noticed that the world of small things has a very alienated feel to it.For example the flower in the image looked quite ordinary from far as it's details couldn't be seen properly. The flower was smaller than a finger nail. But I wanted to try out my new macro filters and so I took a close up macro shot of it. I was really amazed by the image, the details of every diamond shaped every pore , the unique slender petals shooting out in every direction. It looked like one of the flowers I could find on the planet Pandora from the movie Avatar.

This insect looked like a tiny orange dot to my eyes. Yet again due to my obsession with macro shots I clicked a close up shot of  it. In the image the insect looked so different with its detailed antennas, its legs partitioned into two parts and the huge button eyes. If you look closely, each leg has a claw. A perfect cast for the sequel of E.T.  

When the angels come to stay

"The day is gone,

               When the angels come to stay, 

               And all the silent whispers,

               will be blown away"

                                   
                               -Wasted sunsets by Deep Purple

The second line is so true for sunsets. They truly give us a feeling that angels have descended to stay among us for those brief moments. To ease out all the pain and difficulties we go through during the day. A sunset is like a gift, a treat for the eyes, the mind and the soul. Even the scorching sun which can't be looked at throughout the day turns into a soothing orange glow.

Watching birds fly back to their nests, the mellow river, the calm glistening water, and the slowing breeze is just altogether such a gentle feeling.

The sunset is my favourite part of the day. It is my moment to reflect, my moment to ponder. It is something that gently drowns me into the night. And I couldn't have asked for more when I got the opportunity to watch the sunset at the banks of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The sky looked like a painting in progress, with its incomplete splashes of colours and a blot of orange, albeit one of near perfection.

Venomous Beauty

Photography has made me realize that even the most feared things in this world can prove to be really beautiful subjects. Photos can change your perception towards something you fear.


Snakes are feared by many people especially in a country like India. Here snakes are in great numbers and due to their conflict with humans cause many deaths every year.


I have been always fascinated with snakes. I never feared them as my curiosity to know them was immense. Two years back i met this guy named Ninad Manjure who was into herpetology. I learnt a lot about snakes from him. He taught me everything from identifying to handling snakes.


In these two years I have realized that there is a lot more in snakes than just being creepy. Each snake is so different from the other. Some are aggressive, some are extremely harmless. (To an extent where they won't bite even if you sit on them). Even among the aggressive ones, their aggression is unique. The cobra will warn you before biting by spreading it's hood, a Russell's viper will warn by letting out a high pitched whistle, where as a common krait strikes with no warning at all. Snakes possess really interesting characteristics. Like the hump nosed viper catches its prey by luring them with its tail which looks like a worm. Pit vipers actually have a thermal vision because of which they can see in the dark perfectly.


There is so much one can learn about snakes and for me, they never fail to amuse me. The snake in the picture was the first one I had rescued. It's a female Buff striped keelback. After the rescue it not only recovered well but also laid eggs. I was really lucky to see its babies hatch. The eggs cracking and the young snakes coming out into the world for the first time was an unforgettable sight and being able to look after the eggs and finally watching them hatch gave me immense satisfaction. No matter what people think about these reptiles, I know for a fact that they are really beautiful. People need to know more and that will let them look at snakes from a different perspective.