About this blog

My upbringing as the son of an army doctor is probably the source of my wanderlust. Right through my childhood we moved from one place to another every year or two. This had the plus that I am always comfortable being in new and unknown territory, but had the minus that I never bothered to make too many friends during my childhood: what’s the point when you know you will move on in a short while?

This childhood experience made me determined to give my children stability in their growing years: something that I had never experienced myself. But plonking myself in Bangalore for the last 19 years led to feeling of ennui within me with the wanderlust remaining caged within, until I developed the coping mechanism of taking several short breaks each year.

Travel for me is invigorating and enjoyable right from the moment when the plan to travel is made. I can hardly sleep the night before a trip and usually wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed in two or three hours; rearing to go.

For me the journey is as important as the destination. I enjoy the experience of traveling and watching the scenery change as you move along. That’s why my preferred mode of travel is by road which gives you the freedom to make frequent stops to experience things first hand for yourself , rather than have them pass you in a blur while looking out from a train, or miss them altogether while cruising at 30,000  feet in a plane.

Splashing through a stream @ Satkosia Tiger reserve. Pic by Tasneem. 

Leaving aside the initial training my father gave me on his ancient Yashica ( which took incredibly good pictures ) I was not much of a photography enthusiast until the age of digital camera’s dawned. While I enjoyed the sharp pictures we took with our Panasonic Lumix ; deep down I yearned for a D SLR ; a dream which came true in 2013 when my wife got us a Cannon 1100D. This was a whole new experience, which led to us taking a lot more photographs, and taking a lot more trips so as to take photographs. I was still very much a keen amateur photographer until we attended a workshop by Toehold where I learned the “science part” of D SLR photography. Since then I have become a passionate photographer, and the results have been improving steadily as well. I think I still have a long way to go as a photographer, but then; journeys have always fascinated and excited me…..

A boatman in the Mahanadhi river. Picture taken  with the maximum 250mm telephoto zoom I had at the time, and cropped to bring the subject into the foreground. 

A brook in the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Orissa. 

My friends and family have often suggested that I write a travel and photography blog to share my experiences with like-minded people. For long I was overwhelmed by the technology and the thought of writing and posting on a regular basis, but with steady prodding by my wife and some help from a friend with the blog layout I have finally taken the plunge.