Bits and Pieces.... @ismailshariff - Tumblr Blog

Tsaatan or Dukha people of Mongolia

Extreme north of Mongolia, resides a tribe called the Tsaatan, or the Dukha people. Tsaatan means people of the Reindeer. True to the name, their life revolves around their Reindeers.

They say that if the Reindeer dies, so will their culture along with them.

These nomads move around based on the season and are in tight-nit communities. The Reindeers serve the purpose of The families I met during my cultural expedition of the forgotten tribes of Mongolia, were quite skeptical about how much longer their culture will remain, as the younger generations are all moving out to the cities for a better 'settled' life.

The kids, I envied them, for they had the whole Taiga as their home, their playground, their school and also their work.

They would wade in the flowing stream by their tents, walk the Reindeers to the mountains, run behind the two dogs that they had, feed the young ones of the Reindeer, and then settle down by sunset in their cozy warm tents.

Definitely a tough life, to keep moving from place to place, and now with the younger lot moving to the cities, looks like another culture on the brink of dying out. Now that more and more people want to go meet them, I hope that their culture stays and the tourism takes care of their daily needs and resources. A catch-22 situation though.

Following are some flora and butterflies and critters that I came across in that region. By the way, you should see the last one.. the size of the mosquitoes there I tell you!!

#tsaatan #dukha #dukha people #nomads #nomadic tribe #reindeers #reindeer people #taiga #mongolia #north #nature #central asia #lost tribes #photography expedition #ismail #ismail shariff #snow leopard man

WHAT TO TAKE FOR A MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION IN THE SNOW

Considering that so many more people are gearing up for Snow Leopard Photography Expeditions this season, thought ill share my PDF on what to carry for an expedition in snow. Brief and comprehensive, and would appreciate it any kind soul reading this might add, correct and/or help with the things I might have missed to focus on. Appreciate it already. :) The following text is a copy and paste from my original PDF, and is written after trail and error and learning from other mountaineers during the course of the last 4 years of Snow Leopard Expeditions. Im not shouting here, but just that it was written as such. Please excuse the capitals.

BRIEF

“THE BEST VIEW COMES, AFTER THE HARDEST CLIMB” - UNKNOWN “YOU ARE NOT IN THE MOUNTAINS, THE MOUNTAINS ARE IN YOU” JOHN MUIR “MEMORIES MADE IN THE MOUNTAINS, STAY IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER” - UNKNOWN “AND INTO THE MOUNTAINS I GO, TO LOSE MY MIND AND FIND MY SOUL” - JOHN MUIR

WHY THESE QUOTES YOU MAY WONDER, BECAUSE THATS WHAT MOUNTAINS DO - THEY MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM SO MUCH, THAT YOU WANT TO KEEP GOING BACK TO THEM. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, THEN IT MEANS THAT YOU ARE PLANNING FOR A MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITION OR A PHOTOGRAPHY EXPEDITION IN THE MOUNTAINS. READ ON THEN..

SO WHAT TO TAKE FOR THE EXPEDITION - FIRSTLY, PLEASE KNOW THAT THE MOUNTAINS ARE NOT EASY. THEY WILL TEST YOUR PATIENCE, THEY WILL TEST YOUR STRENGTH, THEY WILL TEST YOUR PREPARATION AND MOST OF ALL - THEY WILL TEST YOUR WILL. EVERY STEP YOU TAKE AT THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE MUCH TOUGHER THAN HERE ON LAND, BECAUSE OF THE THIN AIR. CONSIDERING THAT FOR LADAKH AND SPITI YOU WILL BE ABOVE 3,500M, AND IN SNOW, MOVING FORWARD WILL NOT BE EASY. HENCE, PREPARE FOR THE TREK. START BY WALKING A FEW KMS EVERY DAY. ADD A BACKPACK WITH SOME WEIGHT, ONCE YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH WALKING. TRY TO USE THE SAME SHOES THAT YOU WILL BE WEARING FOR YOUR TREKS. ITS GOING TO BE VERY WARM, BUT IT WILL WEAR-IN THE SHOES AND SAVE YOU FROM ANY SURPRISES ON FIELD. IF POSSIBLE, WORKOUT AT THE GYM OR GO FOR A SWIM, AT LEAST 3 TIMES A WEEK, OTHER THAN WALKING. BASICALLY, INCREASE YOUR LUNG SPACE AND STAMINA.

CLOTHING

COMING TO THE GEAR, LETS START WITH CLOTHING REQUIRED FOR THIS ALTITUDE, WEATHER AND TEMPERATURES.

HEAD - - MONKEY CAP OR BALACLAVA OR WOOLLEN CAP THAT COVERS YOUR EARS

UPPER BODY - (LAYER IT) - BASE LAYER, OTHER THAN YOUR INNER WEAR, PREFERABLY A Merino wool (HELPS IN ABSORBING THE SWEAT, AND DOESNT IRRITATE THE SKIN, LIKE some THERMALS DO) - THERMAL LAYER - PREFERABLY FULL SLEEVES - FLEECE TSHIRT OR JACKET - DOWN JACKET - A DOWN JACKET IS A WARM JACKET FILLED WITH THE SOFT FEATHERS OF A DUCK OR GOOSE, AND THE OUTER LAYER IS USUALLY MADE OF MATERIALS LIKE NYLON OR POLYESTER which is water resistant - SHELL JACKET - IT IS WATERPROOF AND WINDPROOF, PRIMARILY DESIGNED TO KEEP YOU DRY IN RAIN AND SNOW, worn when its snowing or very windy

LOWER BODY - (LAYER IT) - INNER WEAR - Merino wool or THERMAL LAYER - (Preferable to add to the layers) GENERALLY GOOD QUALITY TRACKS that ARE MADE OF SYNTHETIC MATERIAL, have NET Inside TO KEEP THE SKIN AND THIS SYNTHETIC MATERIAL APART AND THEREFORE ALLOW AIR CIRCULATION - SNOW PANTS - THEY are Waterproof and windproof, and CONSIST OF MULTIPLE LAYERS TO PROTECT AND INSULATE AGAINST LOW TEMPERATURES.

GLOVES - - BASE LAYER - THIN GLOVES MADE OF COTTON OR SILK - SNOW GLOVES OVER THE BASE LAYER

SOCKS - (PREFERABLY) - COTTON SOCKS FIRST - FOR ABSORBING THE SWEAT - INSULATED OR HEAT RETAINING OR WOOLLEN SOCKS

SHOES - - 100% WATERPROOF - PREFERABLY ABOVE ANKLE-LENGTH - BUY THEM AFTER WEARING THE 2 LAYERS OF SOCKS THAT YOU WOULD BE WEARING AT THE EXPEDITION.

NECK-GAITERS - - A NECK GAITER (OR BUFF) IS AN ARTICLE OF CLOTHING WORN ABOUT THE NECK FOR WARMTH. IT IS A CLOSED TUBE OF FABRIC, OFTEN THICK FLEECE OR SYNTHETIC, WHICH IS SLIPPED ON AND OFF OVER THE HEAD. IT CAN ALSO BE PULLED UP OVER THE MOUTH TO KEEP OUT WIND AND SAND.

GAITERS (FOR LEGS) - - GAITERS ARE GARMENTS WORN OVER THE SHOE AND LOWER PANTS LEG, AND USED PRIMARILY AS PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT, ESPECIALLY FROM SNOW GETTING INTO YOUR SHOES.

SUNGLASSES - - POLARISED AND PREFERABLY COVERING THE SIDES. THE MAIN ISSUE HERE IS NOT DIRECT SUNLIGHT, BUT THE REFLECTED SUNLIGHT FROM THE SNOW/ICE.

EXTRAS

- HAND TOWELS - ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO USE THEM WITH HOT WATER FOR A BODY RUB. - LIP BALM - DOUBLES UP AS A ‘CREAM’ FOR PREVENTING FROST BITES ON HANDS. - SUN SCREEN LOTION/CREAM - PREFERABLY ODOURLESS. SPF50. TO BE APPLIED EVERY DAY. - SMALL BACKPACK - IN CASE YOU WANT TO CARRY SOME OF YOUR THINGS WHILE TREKKING/WALKING, LIKE DRY FRUITS, MEDICATION, VACUUM FLASK, CHOCOLATES, ETC. - FLASHLIGHT OR HEADLAMP. - PERSONAL MEDICATION AND/OR MEDICAL KIT (MEDS FOR COLD COUGH, FEVER, DIARRHOEA, ALTITUDE SICKNESS, PAIN BALM, PAIN KILLERS, ETC.). - BINOCULARS OR SPOTTING SCOPES. - NOTEBOOK AND PEN/PENCIL. - EXTRA CAMERA BATTERIES FOR THOSE OF YOU CARRYING CAMERAS. - MULTI-TOOL KNIFE.

PLEASE NOTE:

- THESE EXPEDITIONS REQUIRE GOOD AMOUNT OF TREKKING AND WALKING. - PLEASE BE MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY PREPARED FOR THE SAME. - IN ALL PROBABILITY, THERE WILL BE NO CELLPHONE RECEPTION DURING YOUR STAY AT THE BASE CAMP/HOMESTAY, SO PLEASE INFORM THE RELEVANT FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES ABOUT THE SAME. - IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE. (VEGETARIAN FOOD WILL BE SERVED AT THE CAMP/HOMESTAY)

#mountaineering #mountains #expedition #trekking #mountain climbing #snow #extreme #extreme sports #nature photography #wildlife photography #photography #snow leopard #snow leopard expedition #himalayas #snow leopard man #photography expedition

Hands-on with Sony Alpha 6300

Wildlife photography, especially with prime lenses like the 400mm f/2.8, or the 500mm, 600mm f/4s on professional camera bodies or camera bodies like Canon 5D mk iii and Nikon 810, Nikon 500d and battery grips, is very cumbersome if we have to lug the gear along on treks and/or expeditions. Lets face it, at times it does become a little inconvenient, and more so because of the added weight of the tripod and the head as well. Even losing out on 200-500 gms from that total weight is a huge relief.

That said, I use a Canon EOS 5D Mark III and a Canon 600mm f/4L IS for about 3 years plus now. And lugging it on my shoulder and walking on the Snow Leopard Expeditions that I lead, or shooting handheld with them, is not always easy, unless of course when you see a Snow Leopard and the adrenaline rush compensates for most of the strength and stability. Up until now we were all very satisfied with this setup as there was no other way out. But the advent of the mirrorless cameras from Sony Fuji and Olympus to name a few, show a ray of hope, that hopefully, there might not be a need to carry so much weight in terms of camera gear.

A few months back, I happened to get hold of Sony Alpha 6300 and then arranged for a Metabones IV converter to try and use the Canon 600mm lens on the Sony body.

I will not go into the technicalities of the camera and gear, other than the fact that the setup with Canon 600mm lens and the Sony A6300 body was much lighter than using the Canon 5D Mk iii body with a battery grip.

Other than that, here is what I felt about the mirrorless.

Pros: 1. Even with the Metabones converter, the focussing was quite fast. 2. Birds in flight was a bit difficult to begin with, but with time and usage, I was getting the hang of the focussing system and the autofocus points. 3. The quality was brilliant. The sharpness and the contrast in the picture. 4. Stability-wise, the setup was a little off-balance, but definitely much lighter, which made handheld photography bearable and doable for more time than with Canon setup. 5. Even though there is no in-body stabilisation, the lens IS was working quite well. 6. Because of the 11fps, it was an ideal setup for birds in action (BIA) photography. 7. I could review the pictures in the viewfinder itself.. zoom-in and all that. Love that feature too. 8. The Panorama feature is too cool.

9. Downloaded the apps for time lapse, but for a first time Sony user, it took some time to understand and learn how to use it. After that, it worked flawlessly!

https://www.facebook.com/ismailsphotography/videos/10158296164765203/

8. The best part about the camera was the video. I love the quality that it produced. I got some very nice videos which i used in my video about my Snow Leopard expedition, and should be posting it online soon. It was crisp, and the sound quality was also not bad. I would use a mic next time, but the sound in the videos was still quite good.

Cons: 1. I didnt like the white balance reproduction on it. It was a bit more warm-ish to my taste of photography. Not the warm light sorta warm, but sepia kinds. Even in postproduction, when i tried to line it up with the camera profile in Lightroom Camera Calibration, I didnt quite like the output. Of course its a personal choice but still havent figured out in getting it to look like how I could see there. 2. 11fps is definitely a boon, but do keep in mind, that getting too friendly with it will give you a lot of pictures to delete. 3. The live view. I would have liked to have an On/Off provision for the live view. It would save me on my battery usage too. 4. The placement of the video recording button was a bit off. I prefer recording the video while looking through the viewfinder, and hence, whenever i wanted to stop recording, I would fumble and shake the frame, trying to ‘look’ for the button. Might not be much, and I could just record a few more seconds to not shake the frames I would want to use, but it could be placed a bit more ergonomically.

That said, if i remember anything more to this, I will add it here later... and the pictures too. For now, lets see some examples.

Cant wait to try the Sony Alpha9!! :)

#metabones #metabonesiv #sony #SonyA6300 #wildlife #wildlife photography #nature #review #nature photography #handson #ismail #ismailshariff

Adding borders in Adobe Lightroom 4

When we search for creating borders or making frames for a picture in Adobe Lightroom 4, typically, this is what we see.

We have a good set of ways to work it out. Some using the Print Module, some using "Stroke Border", and definitely one of the most popular one - LR/MOGRIFY, and not to forget the 'Effects' tab in the Develop module. I have tried all of them, and by far, LR/Mogrify has been the most satisfying from them all. So why am I writing this when it is a known fact? Well, I am into printing Fine Art Prints for photographers and corporates, and my print studio is based in Hyderabad, India. My recent project needed me to create borders to 30 prints that i was making for "Pixel8ed", and this is how i ended up creating those borders. As an example picture, i will be using a picture of a Leopard, shot by me. (For more pictures, please click here)

Lets create a 1 inch border to this 8x10 picture. 1. Go to the Print Module and click Page Setup.

2. Once you click on "Page Setup" a small dialog box appears on the screen. Click on the Paper Size drop down menu.

3. From the drop down menu, search for and select 8 x 10 in

4. Select the Layout tab, and change the cell size to 6 x 8 in, as we want a 1 inch border on all sides.

5. Select the "Page" tab, and click on the "Page Background Color".

6. Now click on the box beside it and choose the color of the picture border.

I have chosen Black.

7. Almost done now.

Click on the "Print Job" tab, and click on the "Print to:" option.

Change that from "Printer" to "JPEG File".

8. Make your custom adjustments in this tab, and click on "Print to File" to save the picture with a 1inch thick Black border/frame. Make sure to click "Custom File Dimensions" and give the values for the desired 8 x 10 inch picture.

9. Here is the finished product.

This is a bit of a lengthy procedure, but what i like about this, is that it gives me precise amount of border for any sized picture.

Hope this helps.

#adobe, #adobe lightroom, #Lightroom, #borders, #create borders, #LR/Mogrify, #ismail, #ismail shariff, #imprima, #imprima - to print, #prints, #fine art prints, #leopard, #wildlife photography, #photography, #ismail shariff photography,

#LR/Mogrify #ismail shariff #ismail #imprima #borders #adobe lightroom #adobe

Erzsebet Lookout, Nagyos Hill

I have been to Budapest a number of times before. But the way I am exploring this beautiful city now, I am beginning to doubt that I managed even half of it earlier. Budapest holds a really special place in my heart. My friends are all fed up of me telling them about this city, the people i.e, my friends there and not least, the local food there such as Langos, Turo Rudi, Goulash, and the beautiful bridges connecting Buda and Pest. The bridges are lit up at night and if you happen to be at Gellert Hill, near the Citadel, then the view is to die for. I have been to Gellert Hill every time I visited Budapest, but I am still not satisfied with the pictures I have taken there. I am planning to go at the end of this trip and try my luck again :)

Last week, I came across a few pictures from Nikoletta Gólya's album, of Hungarian Parliament building, which were taken from Nagyos Hill. My immediate reaction was "I should go there". And once I decide, I just about always make it happen :) So I was there, and it was great!!!!! I loved the place. But getting there was not as easy as I had thought.

To go to Erzsebet lookout at Nagyos Hill, I searched on google, but didnt come across anything substantial. The bus numbers mentioned were either not working anymore or were not the right ones. Luckily, the magazine provided by the CEU Conference and Residence Center had a small half page article about the exact place and this is where I found the proper directions.

To reach the lookout, you need to get to Nyugati Palyaudvar (this is where the Trams 4 and 6 go through, and the Blue metro - Metro no 3 has a stop). Once there, you need to go to the bus stop, right in front of the Westend entrance. At one of the corners there is a small general store, and right on front of that is the stop for bus no 291. This is the first stop of the bus, and we need to go to the last. It takes about 45 mins :-s.

Once you get down, you will see the sign for camping and another for Libego (means chairlift). Just get in there and walk right up to the counter. A couple of reviews about the place said that if you want to walk, its a loong and very tiring trek. So to be on a safer side, I took a 2-way ticket (1300HUF = 7USD appx 4.9Euros) to the Erzsebet lookout point. The libego's are continuously moving, and you need to just go and stand on the big coloured circle, and they come and make you sit automatically while the person there will lower the safety rods. These rods also are your foot-rests.

The ride to the top is pretty comfortable and the birds seem to be so used to i that one landed about 3 feet from me and didnt budge from its place. They seem to have gotten used to the libegos, and if you dont move or make a noise they dont move from there. Once I reached the top, I was floored by the view. I started taking pictures of the landscapes with my 24-70 f2.8, but didnt feel like i was doing any justice to the view that I was so lucky to experience. Thats when i thought i should try panoramas, And the results can be seen below.

This is the overall landscape panorama from the lookout.

You can see the Hungarian parliament, Buda Castle and the Citadel in this Panorama.

I must admit, the ride back was a bit scary. You can see the cars from up there which look really small, and then you are going from over the houses of others.

I would definitely suggest everyone who is going to Budapest to go there. Bus No. 291 from Nyugati Palyaudvar :) :) And dont forget to share your pictures. :D

Regular blog posts

Its been more than a year, since i scribbled anything here, for lack of interest in writing and/or I would start to write something, and would eventually loose track of what my intention on writing that was. :-s :(

Hopefully though, I shall try to account for my trips again, in this blog. All thanks to a friend (if i may call that) who happened to visit this blog recently. I received brief insights on how to maintain and keep writing a blog, and hence, would try to adhere to them from now on. So this new year, lets see how many posts eventually turn up on this blog. :)

I just returned from my favourite wildlife place – Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. Fantastic sighting there, of 3 Tiger cubs. :) :) Working on a blog post for that, so best of luck to me :)

How’s this for a teaser from the trip ;)

Flickr Tags: Tiger,Bengal Tiger,Tadoba,Ismail,Ismail Shariff,www.ismailshariff.com,www.thejunglecalls.com,Panthera Tigris,Photography,Wildlife photography,Nature

Tadoba – Andhari .. Finale.

After spotting a Tiger and 2 Tigress’, our trip was already fruitful in respect to the Tiger, but thorough humans that we are, for the last safari we were expecting to see the leopards too :) We started pretty early, and were greeted with a dimly lit path. Just about 3-400metres inside, and we spotted a Changeable Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus cirrhatus), perched on top of a tree right in the middle of the jungle path, but this time me made a mistake of going a little too close to scare it away. We couldn't even take a single pic :( Moving forward, we came across a Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus). Then we came across a Pigeon, which i haven't yet been able to ID. Its either the Yellow-footed Green Pigeon (Treron phoenicoptera) or the Wedge-Tailed Green Pigeon (Treron sphenura). Why the wedge-tailed.. because of the wedge-shaped tail and the indistinct yellow edges to its wing coverts. This hasn't been spotted in the forests in here i guess, but I would leave the experts to identify them from below.

From there on, we went further ahead, and were lucky to spot a wild cat hunting a hare, though, because of the thicket again, I wouldn't get any clear shot. I don't even know whether it actually made the kill or not. Just about there, we came across a very high tree which had lines all over it, in a slant profile. Ravi told us that these are the marks made by the Sloth Bear, when it climbs the tree to get access to the numerous bee-hives on its top branches. I wondered what would happen if it looks down from up there :D :D

Further up we came across a Serpent Eagle, which was patiently waiting for its prey to come out of hiding, whatever it was. A few metres from there was a small waterhole, considerably bigger than all the ones we came across till now. It had quite an activity going on there. A lot of spotted deer and birds were out there drinking water and playing around it. The young Stags were improving their fighting skills, by fighting amongst each other. There must have been about 20-25 deer there. We could hear the sound of horns clashing against the other. We also saw Rose-Ringed Parakeets, Mynas, Asian Paradise-Flycatcher, a few doves, and some other small birds, which i couldn't click.

The highlight of the last safari was the guy below. He/she, posed for us for about 10-15 minutes. It gave us about 3-4 profiles of itself, to shoot, and later on it got scared with the extending of my lens and turned away. It was very interesting, and come to think of it, it was Ravi who spotted this one, when we wouldn't even notice where it was, after coming back to the same spot. A really good camouflage i must say, else i need to change my glasses :-s The best part about shooting this little thing was the bokeh.

After that, on our way back, we came across a group of Langoors, and a small patch of green with bright purple flowers all around it.

Nothing eventful, other than spotting the Indian Roller.

From there, we had our lunch, and set out for Hyderabad. All of us were pretty content with the trip, and thanked Ravi for coming along with us. I had packed my stuff and parked it in the boot, so on the way, when these guys stopped to take a few shots of fabulous landscapes, I was a little lazy to take it all out. Wonderful places to see on the highway. The best was, about 2-300 ducklings, all walking by the side of the road in a line. Suman and Suraj got the shots for that one. It was really cute. Rest of the journey was pretty smooth and we were back in Hyderabad by about 9- 9:30pm.

I would like to thank Ravi Naidu, for his help and support through-out the trip. He was very thoughtful and proved to be a great teacher. Now all I can think of, is where do i go NEXT… :)

Flickr Tags: Tadoba,Tiger Sanctuary,Wildlife Sanctuary,Maharashtra,Tadoba - Andhari Tiger Reserve,Chandrapur,Ismail Shariff,Ismail,HPC,Hyderabad Photography Club,Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D,Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM,Wildlife,Nature

#Wildlife

Tadoba – Andhari .. contd.

After last night’s Tiger ‘show', we were all pretty content about this trip. Now we wanted to explore the other fauna of this heaven, called Tadoba. Our guide, Israel, is one of the most experienced guides available there. He has been taking guests around for quite sometime. His knowledge about the jungle is never-ending. Alert, and always on the lookout for signs of movement and or marks on the trees and ground and any calls from the jungle, he justified the decision of taking him for all our trips. From my side, I would take him for any ride that i have in Tadoba again, after all, its the guide who can make the experience good or bad :)

So the next 3 safaris were also pretty good. Saturday morning, as soon as we entered the park, we had a model (Indian Bison) waiting for us. A couple of profile shots and all, and we moved on. Just a little further up, there was a Peacock, with with all its feathers up in the air. ooooh what a sight!! Beautiful. We were pretty far, and slowed down, lest it ran away. Slowly we inched forward, and came close enough to take this picture. It went round a couple of times, before it heard another vehicle coming and ran inside the jungle.

Right about then, we heard a call, made by the Stag, about 200metres behind us. This meant that there is a predator around. We turned around and went in that direction. As soon as we entered that path, a few metres inside, and we saw the pugmarks, and impressions in the sand, which meant that a Female Tiger was lying on the ground there, just a few minutes back. We ventured further, and were treated to more pugmarks, coming from the opposite side. This were of a Male Tiger. Its pretty interesting to notice, that you can tell the gender of the animal just by looking at their pugmarks. Haven't learnt how to do that yet :) While we were still scouring that area, our guide and Ravi, gave us an insight on pugmarks. How to tell which direction it went in, and that pugmarks of Tigers are like fingerprints of humans, completely distinct to each of them. We spent quite sometime there, and then decided to move on, as we were only getting more and more fresh pugmarks, but no sign or sound of the tigers.

Moving on, we came across the Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis), which sat tight for about 5-6 minutes. Good enough time to take some clear pictures. The others we spotted are Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela), Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Oriental Magpie Robin (Copsychus saularis), Laughing Dove (Streptopelia senegalensis), lots of Black Drongos (Dicrurus macrocercus), and near the Tadoba Lake, we spotted Asian Openbill Stork (Anastomus oscitans), Black Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa) and more of Indian Roller and Rose-Ringed Parakeet and Doves. We also came across a family of Langoors, who didn't want to budge from where they were sitting; which was right at the corner of the road, even with passing vehicles. Pretty daring lot :-|

There was a fawn, which reminded me of Bambi :D It was sooo cute, just couldn't help but take a lot of pictures of it. Here is a peek-a-boo for you all.

We came across a waterhole, somewhere inside a small path, which was buzzing with bird activity. There was a constant buzz around, which we later realised, was coming from Honey bees. Not just 10-20 of them, but hundreds of them, alllll over the place, and even on the ground. In that one single place, we saw – Great/Grey Tit (Parus major), Oriental White-Eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Warblers (have to identify that one), Red-Vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), Brahminy Starling (Sturnus pagodarum), Leafbird – but it was very far and behind a lot of clutter, to identify which leafbird, Orange-Headed Thrush (Zoothera citrina cyanotus), White Throated Kingfisher (Halcyon Smyrnensis), Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda), Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), Female Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae), Plum-Headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala), and i dont remember any others :) At about the same place, we also came across Dhole – Wild Dogs. They were lazing around and were least bothered about our existence there :D

Moving on, we came across a pond, which was just about completely dry, and had Red-coloured water. I thought there must have been some kill there, and hence, the colour, but supposedly, the water itself is red in colour. There, we saw Black-Headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), Great Egrets (Camerodius albus) and some small ducks, which I couldn't see clearly from the lens, and the Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis).

Another waterhole greeted us to – a pair of White-Eyed Buzzards (Butastur teesa). Going back to the Lake, we saw Black-Hooded Oriole (Oriolus xanthornus), Lesser Fish Eagle (Ichthyophaga humilis), Juvenile Grey-Headed Fish Eagle (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle Rudis), and a few Crocodiles. There was a group of ducks which was again, way too far to get a clear shot.

On our way back from the Saturday evening safari, we saw the same sight again. a group of cars all waiting, and we knew that the tigers whom we were tracking in the morning must be around. What did we do then ? We also joined the lot :) While driving towards the other side, from where we were coming, we saw one Tiger sleeping just a little inside from the road. When we took our position right out in the front, we were told by the other driver, that there are 2 Tigresses inside. In just a few minutes, literally about 12-15 vehicles were waiting on either side of the area, where the tigresses were. A lot of commotion and placement of cars was for sure disturbing the royal animals. There was one person in particular, who was wearing an orange turban and was moving to and fro all the time. He was one of those who was bragging about how many times he has been to forests and the etiquette about it and all, and he was the one ruining it for all of us. He also tried to get into an argument with Ravi, who sensibly ignored him.

That when we thanked the forest official, who happened to drop in at that time, and made all the cars move back, and wait in line. He made enough place for the tigresses to be comfortable enough to come out at the water–hole. He was right there through out the evening, making sure everyone ‘behaves’. Just about then, the DFO of Chandrapur came along, and sat in the vehicle beside ours. A small chit chat session and then we all went back to concentrating on the Tigresses.

About after an hour of waiting, one of the Tigress came out, scanned the area and went back in. In another minute or 2, it came out and went and sat in the waterhole, keeping a watchful eye on us. Just about then, something irked her from the crowd, and she stood up and started growling, and walked past in the other side of the road. She had that angry face, as to “get out of my house” and had a barely audible GRRRR.

That was the last of the Tiger that we got to see. We waited for a bit more, hoping the other Tigress would also come out, but she was sleeping like a log :D While waiting, we got see some Red-wattled Lapwings, Rufous Treepie, and a Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus).

We came back to the room, realising that there is only one last trip left, and then back to ground-reality. Nevertheless, the room at the Maharashtra Tourism Department Corporation aka MTDC, was a very comfortable and big room. Slept well, to be ready for the last safari and the drive back home :)

#Wildlife

Tadoba – Andhari Tiger Reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra

I have always been fascinated by nature and its creations, hence, it was very obvious that once i got on to photography, my favourite subject was nature and wildlife. The same inclination, resulted in a wonderful experience, at Tadoba.

Before i get into the details, Ravi, thanks a lot for all the help in terms of organising this trip for us, and for coming along with us. It was wonderful and very insightful to have you there. I hope we haven't pestered you so much, that you don't come with us for any other trip :P

So to start with, this wasn't really an impromptu trip, and neither was it planned. It was somewhere in the middle, where in you know you want to go, and you are going, but still are thinking as to whether you will go for it or not. A very weird feeling, yes, i know. But, beating all odds, Ravi, Suman, Suraj and I went ahead with this trip.

We left in the early hours of 24th April, 2009. The 380kms distance was covered as below-

Hyderabad (Banjara Hills) – Ameerpet (picked up Suman) – Malkajgiri (picked up Ravi and Suraj) – Shamirpet - Siddipet - Karimnagar - Ramagundam - Mancherial - Asifabad – Rajura – Balharshah - Chandrapur - Padmapur – Moharli.

Most of the road is pretty good, but when you enter the towns, the autos and the heavy vehicles make you crawl through, which gets your average speed to around 60kmph only :( The temperature was definitely on the higher side, and I could feel the heat on my hands, while driving. We were all expecting this, and hence, had come aptly prepared with clothing to cover the face, big hats, and full-sleeved shirts and thin cotton pants. By 2 pm we reached Chandrapur, and stopped for lunch. Half hour there, and then we left for the resort. We reached our resort by 3pm, and were ready to go for the evening safari, which starts at 3pm. Even though the journey had got us tired, the prospects of what lies ahead got us excited enough to forget all about it.

First Safari

As soon as we entered the park, we were greeted by a common Buzzard (Buteo buteo), perched right on top of a tree. It was behind a lot of foliage, hence, did not get any complete body shot. A little further ahead, there was a waterhole, which was a busy spot for a lot of birds. Adult White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis), a lot of White-rumped Munias (I think, not sure on this. Will correct when i get the precise id), beautiful Asian Paradise-Flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi), Red-Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), Red-vented Bulbuls (Pycnonotus cafer), Jungle Babblers (Turdoides striatus), Orange-headed Thrush (Zoothera citrina), and a couple of small grey birds, which flew away as soon as we stopped there.

Moving on we came to another water-hole. Here we happened to see Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae), Oriental Magpie Robins (Copsychus saularis), and another looked like a Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea). Just then, we heard calls of a predator being around, and turned about to see a Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) cross the road, just about 20 metres from us. It walked out from behind the bamboo trees and come onto the road, gave us a quizzical/inquisitive look, and walked slowly across the road. What a sight :D :D My first bear sighting in a jungle :) All this while, the only other thing i noticed, was the clicks of about 3 cameras and the beeps of a video camera.

The rest of the trip went on the same note. Lots more of birds, Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda), Drongos – Black and Racket-tailed, more of Red-wattled Lapwings, Orange-headed thrush, and those lark/sparrow looking birds. It was close to 5:30pm, when we spotted a deer, which didnt completely look like one. Ravi also got confused with it, as it was the first time he saw something like this. Looked like a cross between 2 different deer families. Do let me know if you know what this is (Albino Deer ??)

To make it even more exciting, we happened to see fresh pug marks. Even though, it was getting dark, hopes of getting a glimpse of the tiger were not washed out :D We moved out from that area, and headed to waterhole no2, if i remember it right. On the way, we came across another waterhole which was buzzing with activity. Langurs groomng themselves, and drinking water, alongside the winking-Gaurs (Indian Bison) and a Barking Deer (Muntiacus muntjak). Further ahead, we saw a group of cars all lined up on either side of the road. It was already dark by then, and we were on our way out of the jungle. We caught up with them, and asked as to what is happening, and were we glad to hear about a fully grown male tiger being around. We drove very slowly, and then came the noise of the rustling leaves, from the dark side into the jungle behind the bamboo shoots. A couple of cars switched on the lights and tried to look at the source of the noise. About 15-20 seconds later, came out a large Tiger, walking majestically out of his hiding, least bothered about the number of people around, though, looked a little pissed about the lights on his face. Oooooh waht a sight!! The orange fur glowing in the light, and the black stripes looked as it they were slithering over his body. Just then, some driver started the engine of his car, and moved forward, which made the Tiger leave the path and go back inside the jungle, on the opposite side of where it came from.

As it was very dark, I could not focus on the tiger, with the light falling on it. My lens was searching for the Tiger in that light. Once the tiger went in, I thought to myself need a new lens, but then, … I’d better ‘watch’ it walk, than capture it in the picture. The scene still is fresh in my mind and makes my eyes go wide with excitement. My first Tiger sighting at Tadoba Tiger Reserve, thanks to Ravi for taking us there, and driving the vehicle out in front, to be the first in line, from in front of which, walked the magnificent Tiger.

Time to go back and eat, and get ready for an early morning. We went back to our rooms, and were definitely not happy with what it was. A small room, with plastic walls; YES, no cement, or bricks or mud, just plastic sheets covered with thin wooden sheets for walls. In the heat, it was like living in a Greenhouse. We went to the MTDS resort, for dinner, and Ravi spoke to the manager there, to get an air-conditioned room, where we all could get extra mattresses to sleep. But we had to wait till the next day, as it was not available at that moment. We finished our dinner in the open area outside the resort. It was a starry night, and very pleasant compared to the afternoon. Much cooler for sure. We went back to the rooms at Tadoba Resort, and slept early, as we had to get up by 5am for the morning safari.

Next… Second Safari (coming up)

Trip to the Zoo :)

On 15th March 2009, a few of Hyderabad Photography Club (HPC) members, teamed up with Birdwatchers Society of Andhra Pradesh (BSAP), for BSAP’s monthly outing. This was to take place at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. A very famous place per se, but I had not been there for ages now.

After getting up by 5:30am, made a couple of calls to wake the others up. Got ready and was waiting for Suman to pick up Aditya and come over to my place. From there, we went to pick up my cousin Abrar, and headed towards the zoo. It was about 6:25am, and by the time we reached there it was 6:40am.

As we entered, we saw a long lineup of cars, must have about 8-9 of them, and the typical crowd with binoculars and cameras. In a few minutes and a couple of ‘Hellos’ we went inside the zoo, in the cars. We had to go to the Lion safari, and be done with the birdwatching/bird-photograph’ing’ by 8:30am, as thats the time to let the lions loose. Im sure they would have loved the sumptuous breakfast, but we had other plans :D

We walked down the trail and came across a herd of Deer, who were very inquisitive about the new species of ‘chattering animals'. Moving on, we came across a group of black Kites, close to 12 or 15 of them, all perched up on the metal fence. By now I had seen a few birds here and there, but the list with one of the BSAP member, showed about 18 different bird sightings. As always, that was no surprise for us photographers.

Just after we crossed that, we were informed that its just a few minutes to 8:30am, and we all hurried out to the exit.

The fun started AFTER getting out of the Lion Safari. There was a small pond, right across where we parked our cars. This happened to be the nesting grounds, rather waters, for Grey Herons, Painted Storks, Black-Crowned Night Herons, and Great Egrets, while on the other side, we had Ruddy Shelducks, Common Sandpiper and a Black Bittern.

All pictures of the birds sighted are available here Zoo Bird Pics.

Some examples -

Do check out the other pictures too, and please leave feedback for me to improve on. Nehru Zoological Park pictures.

Bylakuppe, Karnataka

Saturday the 21st, I left for Bangalore, as from there, we were to go to Bylakuppe. Bylakuppe is a Tibetan settlement, about 85 kms from Mysore. It also houses 13 Monasteries, from which the famous ones are The Golden Temple, Sera Monastery and Tashi Lhunpo, amongst others.

The Journey

I boarded the bus for Bangalore, at about 9pm. A very nice vehicle, and the best part was that it was clean and was smelling a lot better than the normal buses i have traveled in before. Thanked Neel for the suggestion to get into this one. It had 2 seats on either side of the walkway, and I got comfortable at the aisle seat. We moved on, and they played a comedy movie on board. Once the movie finished, and the speakers went dud, all of us prepared to go to sleep. i tried to push my chair back, but it just wont budge. I tried again, but nothing. I told to myself, this is why you shouldnt stop working out :D

Well, a few minutes passed, and slowly different types of rhythms started surfacing. Im sure, if Beethoven would have heard it, he would have created another masterpiece. The guy beside me had started snoring, though, it wasn't that loud. only whent he guy in front of me started his heavy snoring, that the competition began. Sometime my neighbor was loud, and was ahead of the one in front of me,with his series of snores, and sometime vice-versa. In between, some background music was thrown in by a couple of ppl behind me, somewhere there.It went on for sometime, before i checked the time. It was just about 11pm yet. I couldn't sleep, as my seat was upright. Hence, went out in front and told the bus cleaner, about the problem with the chair. He came along, and tried it once - didn't happen.The second time, he literally stood on that lever, and behold!! It went straight down :) aaaaahhhh at last i can get some sleep now :) Next thing i remember, I was in Bangalore.

Bangalore

I reached Bangalore by 6:30am, and Neel came over to pick me up. We went to his place, I got ready, and Sethu, Neel and I, left for the Pixetra Store, at Cunningham Road. Thats where, the rest of the group was. We all got to meet each other and left for Bylakuppe.

On the way, there were brief introductions, and a stopover at Lemon Tree restaurant. After that, i dont know what happened, as I was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :D

Bylakuppe

We had to search a bit, for the monastery, but we landed up at The Golden Temple.

A very serene place, and I must say – very colorful. Especially the blues, they stand out. As soon as you enter the gate, you are welcomed by the huge open space, and then another gate leads you to the temple. We loitered around a little, and went off to the other Monastery, where we have a friend in a monk, who goes by the name Lobsang Nyima (meaning – Beloved/Gentle Sun).

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery

We reached Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (TLM) by evening time. Yannick took us around the Monastery, and told us about the dance rituals and how its going to proceed.

This dance ritual takes place, just before the Tibetan New Year, to prepare for the new year, and to get rid of the evil from the last year (Please correct me here, if I understood wrong). The dance has different forms to it, and different ppl perform it in different ways. Eventually, the effigy, which is covered by white cloth given by the local ppl, and the money donated by the people, all goes up in flames, signifying the burning of evil for the coming new year.

We were there in time to see their practice dance. But it was too dark for proper pictures. Hence, after a few pics, we bid farewell to Yannick, and went over to our home-stay, for a fabulous home-cooked meal and a good night’s sleep, in preparation for a very early morning.

The next morning, we were up by 5, and by 6, 6 of us were ready to leave for the TLM. When I got out of the room, i couldn't see the ground, from my first floor room. No, i hadn't turned out to be blind, but it was the thickest fog i have ever see yet. When we went out of the house, it seemed like there is a huge white wall behind our minibus, as nothing at all was visible. After reaching the monastery, we walked around a bit, as everyone was busy with the preparations for the day to follow. There again, fog gave us some really good opportunities to click.

The experience of being there with those kids, for the first half of the way was amazing. There was a completely different feeling in the air. Of course cold, but something which was very pleasing and comforting. Comforting from the hustle bustle of the city-life i presume. But felt really nice. The kids had their duties to carry out, and those who knew English, always passed by with a simple and smiling “Hi/Hello/Good Morning”. There were so many happy faces around, that me, not being a people photographer, wanted to click so many ppl/kids out there. They were like any other kid, just that they were without those heavy bags, without the stress about exams and schools, without having to worry about what their parents or teachers are going to scold them for, when they get to school today.They were all playing amongst themselves, and soccer seemed to be the leading game there.Pulling each others’ legs, having fun around the monastery, and there was so much bonding between themselves, I dont know how to explain it.

By about 8am, it was time for the dance to begin. I didn't even realise, that one and a half hour had passed, and all I was doing, was looking at these kids play. We went in and the dance started, and so did the inflow of people and tourists.

The dancers had very colorful masks on, and one of them was Dharmaraja, who was spoken about for a lot of times, while being explained about the dance.

The dance consisted of slow rhythmic movements, with huge Trombones (see pic) and Cymbals and Drums.

The dances went on till about 12, and then the effigy was taken outside, behind the temple, to burn it, and to start the new year a fresh. As soon as the effigy was burnt, all the people started clapping and dispersed with all the good wishes.

With this, the complete rituals were over, and we all were invited to the sumptuous vegetarian lunch, which we ate like we had never seen food before :)

We left for Bangalore that same afternoon, and I came back home, to Hyderabad by 25th morning. All in all, it was a very good experience, to have spent such time with the monks, especially the kids. Would love to do that again sometime.

Technorati Tags: Ismail Shariff,Monastery,Bylakuppe,Pixetra,Monks,Kids,Buddhists,Traditions,Rituals,New Year

Volvo Ocean Race

My friend and MD of Pixetra, Sreekanth came to Hyderabad around October last year. He called me and we agreed to meet for lunch. Sreekanth mentioned about an international event to be held at Cochin in Kerala in the south of India. He asked me to come to the event, and I gladly agreed. How was I to know that I would actually become a part of this amazing sports event, The Volvo Ocean Race.

Based on what I had read and understood, this was a once in four years event where the participants would race across the world in Yachts, and that they were going to have a stopover at Cochin for 10 days starting December 3. I was very excited. Another travel plan, another shoot, a new place, more new people, and an uncertainty about what’s in store.

In due course of time, it materialised and I was scheduled to be there by 2 December. But things don't always happen as planned, do they? I was informed about the first yacht arriving three days before schedule. So, I had to fly down to Cochin by the 29th of November. By 8pm I was outside Sreekanth and his wife Fiona’s apartment.

The race

The Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) started in 1973 as Whitbread Round the World Race. There were 17 yachts aligned up to sail on 8th of September, 1973, from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, for the first of its kind sailing event. In 1998, Volvo managed to strike a deal for the ownership of this event, and since 2001, it's been called the Volvo Ocean Race.

Sailing for 1 year, with a team of around 11 people, and least or no proximity to the rest of humanity, is like a hardcore jail-term. But not for the brave sailors who have been participating in this event. For them, it’s the challenge that actually drives them to the extreme, and hence their slogan – “Life at the EXTREME”.

For the 2008-2009 race, VOR had a stopover in India, at Cochin, Kerala for the first time in its 45 years history. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and no excuse would have sufficed for missing it. Also, a doubt as to whether it will ever come back to India had made it even more desirable to be a part of.

There were 8 yachts viz. Delta Lloyd, Ericsson 3, Ericsson 4, Green Dragon Team, Puma, Team Russia, Telefonica Black, and Telefonica Blue. The race started at Alicante, Spain and takes the following route:

Alicante -> Cape Town, South Africa -> Cochin, India -> Singapore -> Qingdao, China -> Riode Janeiro, Brazil -> Boston, USA -> Galway, Ireland -> Marstrand, Sweden -> Stockholm, Sweden, and finish at -> St. Petersburg, Russia.

The stopover at Cochin was for 10 days, from December, 3rd – 13th.

Every team that landed at the port was greeted with much fervour and fanfare. The team members were all exhausted, and the relief at meeting their family members was palpable. The kids waiting for their fathers, friends of the team members anxiously waiting to meet up with their buddies, restless wives who could no longer take the suspense of when their husbands would set foot on land. It was all very dramatic and very emotional. Be it at 12 midnight or 12 noon, or even four in the morning they were all there. A truly heart-melting moment.

The Port Trust Authority of Cochin, had organised a bunch of events, for the VOR sailors, their family and friends, and all the VOR crew members.

To name a few -

Mini Pooram

Fusion Music Programme by Shri Mattannur Sankaran Kutty Marar, Shri Fazal Qureishi, Shri Luiz Banks Shri Carl Petes & Shri Bala Bhaskar

Naval Band organized by Southern Navy

Snake Boat Race

And on 13th there was a multi-religious event to bless the fleet for their forward journey.

All in all, it was a culture rich festival, for the guests.

The Memories

Before I went for this event as an official photographer, I had no clue what to expect. I had said to myself - a bunch of sailors, going around the world, and their friends and family members. But I never expected such an overwhelming experience.

I was all geared up for catching them in action. The first yacht that came in was spotted at about 4in the morning, two days ahead of its scheduled arrival, at about 25-30 nautical miles, out at sea. As a photographer, taking the first shot of the arriving yacht was like getting a glimpse of the elusive Tiger, in a thick jungle. All those expensive lenses that I had taken along for the shoot seemed to fail miserably at capturing the yacht in the pitch dark. After trying everything I could, I decided to use the cheapest lens in my bag, the Canon 50mm f/1.8. Two shots; and I knew I had got what I had come for. For all the photographers reading this, 50mm 1.8 is a must-have lens in everybody’s kit.

The whole event was very well-organised, and a few people from VOR team were very helpful. I must mention Marcus Hutchinson, Beatrice and Sophie, who were a great help to all the media persons there. Even though, at times, they had to fight with some people, they did a wonderful job, at managing so many media persons.

This event will go down as one of the most memorable ones I have attended so far and I would surely like to be a part of this again. It has been a pleasure to be a part of the Pixetra team (www.pixetra.com), and to work with Sreekanth, Fiona, Sethu, Judy, Roel, Neel, Balan, and the other members of the Pixetra club, who have helped me learn and achieve the best from this event.

Volvo Ocean Race 1

Even though i am still in the middle of this event, i think i'd better start this blog, before I forget about this all. So, what is this about now? what is volvo? Ocean? and some race too ? And why on Earth, am I in a race?? So lets start :) Sreekanth, MD of Pixetra, came to Hyderabad, I don't even remember when. I think it was October. He called me up and we happened to meet for lunch. Surprisingly Sethu was also there. Sreekanth happened to mention about an international event that is going to be held at Cochin, Kerala, South of India. How was I to know, that it would actually become a reality, and that I would get to be a part of it. And, this IT being the Volvo Ocean Race. As per what I had read and understood, this was a sport, which used to happen once in 4 years, and the participants, would race each other, across the world, in Yachts, and that they were going to have a stopover at Cochin for 10 days, starting 3Dec. Very exciting, and as usual, like always, I was thrilled. Another travel plan, another shoot, a new place, more new people, and uncertainity about whats in store :) In due course of time, it materialised, and I was scheduled to be there by 2 December (very few would know the significance of this date). But as always, things dont really happen as planned do they? Soooo, well, it so happened, that the first yacht was way ahead of its arrival date, and was about to reach in 3 days. So I had to fly down to Cochin, by the 29th of November. By 8pm I am outside Sreekanth and Judy's appartment. Judy comes out to greet me, with her 'Ever-ready' smile :) While we are walking towards the lift and to Sreekanth's flat, I get updated about the present situation with the Yacht. I will have to leave on the media boat tonight, as the Ericsson 4, is expected to come down by 12am. When we reach his flat, Sreekant and Fiona (his wife), greet me at the door, and I am welcomed by them. We all settle down, and I get to know that I will be staying in the adjoining flat. I was asked for dinner, and do I ever say no to food - NEVER :D :D While i am at the table, Sethu and Roel (Judy's husband), join us, and in another few minutes Neel. I have a quick bite, and leave with Sreekanth to go and get my media pass from the Race Village. On the way, i get more details about the race, and we talk a little bit about politics (soooo unlike me ) :) We get the pass and get home. I get fresh and get back to Sreekanth's flat. By about 10:30pm, we get a call that we would need to be at the media boat by 11pm. As per our strategy, 2 ppl will be on the ground, and the rest will go on board, and try to click as many pictures of the yacht, as possible.

The drive to Hampi

Well yeah, so we leave for Hampi at about 10:30pm on the 14th of August. The route we were to take was Hyderabad - Shamshabad - Shadnagar - Jadcherla - Mahboobnagar - Raichur - Gangavati - Hospet - Hampi. As we started and came close to Mehdipatnam, it started drizzling, and really picked up from near the Shamshabad Airport. Till about Jadcherla, we had pretty heavy rain. From there onwards it was drizzling, till i dont know when. I realised that the wiper was running, but there was no rain, and hence switched it off. The night drive was pretty good, calm and the scarcity of traffic was making it a wonderful drive. We stopped about 3 times on the way for tea, and once for pee :P Azam was the DJ for the night, and I dont know what all he played. There was English and Hindi songs for sure, and some which i didnt even understand. ummmm well, I didnt understand most of them. Alright, alright. I didnt understand ANY of them. Sandeep, the one who missed his train, and Suman, were at the back-seat, enjoying all the good moments, in terms of the night photography and clicking each other kind of way, of course. The night was eventless and by morning we were near the Tungabhadra Dam. Wow!! What a sight. All the gates were opened for the water to flow out of the dam, and the river, below the bridge we were standing on, was flowing like a class 10 rapid. In short, the flow was very hard, and you could see the water splashing on to the rocks around and on itself. The thundering noise of the gushing water was enough to get us all on our feet, and cameras at hand. We went around the length of the bridge, frantically taking as many pictures as possible. In about half hour, when our excitement wore down a little, we thought of driving on. When we reached the car, I saw the hordes of mosquitoes, smashed all over the windshield. After cleaning the mess, we start again, to stop right in front of our guest house. A small lane, with just about enough place for 2 cars to go in or some out or either way, together. At the end of the lane, is a right, where our room was booked. But we didnt like the a/c room there, and hence, shifted to the other guest house. Padma Guest House - Hampi Address : Near Govt. School, Hampi(p) Hospet(tq) Bellary, Hampi, Karnataka, 593239 Distance : Railway - 12 Km, Airport - 350 Km, Bus Terminus - 12 K. The lane housed entrances to the other guest houses there, and small restaurants. Actually, these were just houses, where in the owners were renting out the rooms. After having breakfast at some place opposite to the lane, in the open parking area, we went back to our room, and dozed off,.

Hampi - Day1

At about 5pm, on the 14th August 2008, I just got done with my packing, and was ready to leave. All set. The bag with the clothes is in the car - Yes The monopod - Yes The cool-box for keeping the drinks cool - Yes The tent - Yes The sleeping bag - Yes All set :) Ohhhh the camera bag. the most important baggage of all - Yes, NOW it is. At about 5:40pm, I get a call from Suman, one of the other 2 people I am to go with. At about 5'5", Indian Brown color, and straight hair falling on his forehead most of the time, but with a receding hairline, and a thick beard (he thinks he looks 'hot' witht he beard, yeah riiiiiiiggghhhttt!!!), he is an ever smiling, sober person with a very creative driving sense. He is about to reach his Restaurant (Cafe Irani Chai - tried searching for a link detailing about this place, to promote it a little more, but nothing available online, yet!!). ummmm yeah, he is about to reach his restaurant (now you know why i had to write good about him :D), and I would be meeting up with him there. I set out in my loyal mode of transport, Toyota Innova. After reaching there, I get to know the further plan, in which, Suman would drop his mom at a function, go to his place, take a shower, pack his bag, and drive back to Irani Chai. And like a dork, I was thinking that we would be leaving by 7pm, thats in an hours' time, whereas, all of Suman's chores is going to take about a couple of hours. Nevertheless, I thought I will get an Irani Chai, in compensation to that :D I went upstairs at his restaurant, and ordered the chai, while I waited for Suman to finish his work and come back, and for the restaurant staff to change the sports channel to a movie channel or something. In sometime, I was accompanied by the other restaurant partners of Suman, Pramod and Ashwin. We chit chat for sometime, and just then I get a call. It must have been about 7:30pm, when Dr. Azam calls me up, after his meeting with Satyam (no time to explain what this is). Dr. Azam, at about an inch taller than Suman, a Sports Physio by profession, very well built physique, with a never ending zest for tightening his muscles with even the slightest touch, and everready for trekking, FINALLY found time for trekking with us, in the last 6 years. He was to go home, change, pack and meet us up somewhere on the way to the highway. I get back to chit chatting with Pramod and Ashwin. At 8:53pm, Suman calls up and tells me that he is on his way here. In another 5 minutes, Azam calls up and says the same. Suman turns up earlier than expected, and we shift his stuff in my car and leave, to pick up Azam on the way. Yeah, I had to pay for the chai as well. At about 300mts from the restaurant, I ask him about the cans of Red Bull, as I would be driving through out the night, and was expecting those cans to keep me awake :) He had forgotten, and hence we turn back to pick it up from Irani Chai, and head out again, to meet Azam at a small eatery close to his place. This is where the drama starts. Sandeep (a fellow member/colleague at the Hyderabad Photography Club) calls up and is like, the train is about to leave in 5 minutes, and he hasnt yet reached the station. Well, obviously, my answer was, "then go to the station, what are you doing, calling me". errrr seems like he was stuck in traffic, and wouldnt be able to make it to the station, and was asking whether he could join us in the car. A person is asking me to join in, and reduce our costs, Of Course you can join in. Come to the eatery and we will all leave together. Somehow, we all meet up at the place, eat the rolls and leave. Hmm, this all cannot be so easy. Not so precisely timed, and not exactly as I had hoped that we would leave by 10pm. No, no, no. There has to be a catch. OOOOOh yes. I forgot to take the money from home. And off we go there, to startle mom, as to why we are back in less than 5 hours of our journey. I pick up the money, and Finally, we leave for Hampi. Hampi is about 360-400kms down south of Hyderabad. It is a city of ruins from the bygone era, and is supposedly - Worlds Largest Ruin City, ever excavated. What we expected to do there ?? Go for trekking and perhaps even take some pics, Though the folks who were coming in the train, were all coming only for photography. Lets see where this journey takes us, is all I muttered and started driving.

Trip to Hampi, Karnataka

Well, unfortunately i couldnt complete writing about the HMI experience, but this time, I will make sure, that this trip doesnt just vanish.

So keep checking.

We leave tonight, by car, and would be travelling about 360kms, overnight.

Best of luck to us, and you all pray, that we come back to complete this :D :D

Take care all, ciao.

HMI Day 2

Trring!! The alarm goes off again. Yes, this time its not as long as the previous morning, as nobody is in the mood to get up. It 4:45am, and I seem to be the only one brushing my teeth. I call out for everyone to get up and go to the washroom to get ready. After about 5 mins, when i get back, nobody seems to have moved a muscle. After another round of the wake up call by me, Dada and Amit get up. Yaseen and Rahul are still sleeping. At 5am, then bell rings, and Yaseen is still sleeping, but Rahul is rushing out to the bathroom. It was tea time :)

15-20 minutes into the tea time, and we all realise that the 1 hour of physical training is about to begin. Cursing about it at the top of our voices, we all leave the hall, and go out to get ready for it. 6am and reluctantly, we all assemble again, at the square. Damn, why why why.... ?? The running starts, we go down the slope, and then start climbing another. After some distance, I stop again. Realising where I had stopped, I was glad that I improved from the previous day. Yesterday, I had stopped 2 steps behind my present position. Smiling at that, I start walking, and hear a voice from behind. "Chalo, chalo, chalo. Rukna naii" (Cmon, Cmon, Cmon. Dont stop). Aaaaargh. Brisk walking and then the same routine starts again. I run, I stop, I walk, I am made to run again. Finally, I finish the run again, and am back in the room. Cursing ourselves for coming for this training, we prepare and wait for the breakfast bell.

By 8am, we are ready to go to the classes. After assembling at the square again, we are given a brief about the equipment that we were given yesterday. A backpack full of mountaineering equipment, and weighing between 20-25 kgs. Here I realised, that having big feet will increase the weight, coz of the bigger shoes. No choice at that now :(

Today was a good start, as we were to learn Face Climbing and Chimney ascent and descent. Now this is what I thought mountaineering would be, not running. We left the campus, and walked down about 3kms to the Tenzing Rock site. This is where we would be learning anything and everything about Rock Climbing. The Tenzing Rock was a pretty high boulder of Rock, with an inclination of about 70 degrees from the ground. It had cracks, slippery places, and what not. We all gethered in fron of it, and sat down while the instructor told us on how to climb up and come down. The way they were doing it, looked as easy as walking on plain ground. We were to be proved wrong pretty soon. We all started ascending the rock, and we were greeted with a breathtaking view of Kanchanjunga mountain range. All white, and shining under the sunlight, which was being filtered by the clouds above it. Amazing view. Just then, someone held my hand, making me come back to the present situation. We had a small place on top of the rock, where we all could manage to stand, but not too many of them.

I freaked out a little there, by the way everybody was swaying, and that to soo close to me. I told everyone to fall alone, and not pull the others along with them. One side was a fall right on the road, and the other side was an even longer fall, down in the trees and bushes and what not. Well nevertheless, we all did a good job there, and all of us completed the training. We all had a good time laughing at the faces made by us, at different heights of ascent and descent. In the chimney, I scraped my left hand pretty bad, and somehow felt good. Thought to myself, "ok NOW I am doing something in life :D". By afternoon, we were all back for lunch.

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