One Wish and one resolution for 2011

2010 was the fastest year of my life. Very eventful. Most importantly I took up photography this year. Photographing in the wild gets a person closest to God. The best way and place for meditation. The last few hours of 2010 are perfect moment to say Thanks to HIM for everything in life.

A new year usually starts with resolutions- mostly to be broken during the year ahead. My life has not been a planned one. I firmly believe in destiny and it has moved on where ever it was destined to. The hard work that has been put in the various activities is also because destiny made it happen. Even though we are not sure we will wake up alive next morning but we do plan for generations ahead. That's human psychology. We feel we are in command. Life is not going to give us surprises. We believe that the future will be nothing but past repeated again and again. So we plan. With this in mind I also made a plan. In 2011 I plan to take the first step to move out of the big city in the next 5 years. Its getting more and more impossible to cope up with the fast life of a city. A simple 8 km drive to work on the highway takes me 45 minutes. The pollution, cost, hassles, loneliness does not earn me enough. Its high time I start to Live. So I plan to take the first step to prepare for moving out of this maddening city. Have had enough of it. Extracted whatever I could and given my best.

The One hope and prey I have to make this country more civic is to have strict implementation of laws governing driving licenses. Its so unfortunate that driving license can be bought in this country for few hundred Rupees. Most of the people driving on the roads have got it without knowing any rules and sense of the driving. Nobody goes to school to learn driving. There is absolutely no awareness. Most of the guys on the wheels don't understand road signs. Driving in lane is foolishness. I had a funny experience driving with some one in Jaipur when the driver took his seat belt out as soon as we got out of the city on the highway. I asked him to buckle up but he replied back that theres no cop to give him a ticket on the highway. The law is within the city. I just could do nothing more than feel sorry for him and the system. The licensing authorities are bigger criminals than murderers. For some petty gains they have let loose hundreds of thousands of untrained drivers on the road. Hundreds die everyday in road accidents in this country. A murder in a posh colony in a city gets immediate headlines in the newspapers but who is bothered by the road accidents. I hope and prey that a general awareness in 2011 forces the cops and RTO's to be very stringent on the process of issuing licenses. A better traffic will save many times more than the cost of implementation.

Wish you all a wonderful 2011, a safe, healthy and happy year.

Sanghai Skyline at Night

Sanghai Skyline at Night
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Shanghai is the most populous city in China. As a global city, Shanghai exerts influence over commerce, finance, culture, art, fashion, research and entertainment. The city is located at the middle portion of the Chinese coast, and sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Thats too big a catch to handle

Thats too big a catch to handle
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Saras Cranes in Rain

Saras Cranes in Rain
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

It had been raining heavily in the entire trip to Bharatpur and risking the lens and body we went on shooting some beautiful birds. Our guide saw a pair of Sarus cranes flying some Kms away and we took the rikshaw all wet , somehow protecting the kit with plastic packs and got them.

They are tallest of the flying birds, standing at a height of up to 1.8 m (5.9 ft).The Sarus Crane is easily distinguished from other cranes in the region by the overall grey colour and the contrasting red head and upper neck. They forage on marshes and shallow wetlands for roots, tubers, insects, crustaceans and small vertebrate prey.The adult Sarus Crane is very large with grey wings and body; a bare red head and part of the upper neck; a greyish crown; and a long greenish-grey pointed bill. In flight, the long neck is held straight, unlike a that of an heron, which folds it back, and the black wing tips can be seen; the crane's long pink legs trail behind them. This bird has a grey ear covert patch, an orange-red iris and a greenish-grey bill. Juveniles have a yellowish base to the bill and the brown-grey head is fully feathered.

The species is venerated in India and legend has it that the poet Valmiki cursed a hunter for killing a Sarus Crane and was then inspired to write the epic Ramayana.

This day in history

19 years back on this day Sameep came in our life. It's astonishing how time flies. August 26, 1991 seems like yesterday.

Living in Purulia had its own advantage. Being a small town and our family being well known we had the privilege of reserving a room at the hospital for Sameep's arrival for almost a fortnight before his birth. Dad had got the hospital room freshly painted and all things new. A grand welcome awaited him in this world. I was too young, all of 25, when Sameep was born and was nervous of what all is gonna happen. Apart from Minoo's regular doctor Dad had called for a senior one from Bokaro, a neighboring town with better medical facility. Minoo and me were both excited about the new person to arrive in our life. She wanted a boy and I a girl. Minoo was admitted to the hospital on 25^th. When she went in the labor room, the whole family was there outside waiting for a new member in the family. Though we are a small family but long distance cousins, friends had all lined up at the hospital. I was anxiously waiting on the stairs and at 3:27 pm the nurse came to inform about Sameep's birth. Suddenly tears rolled down my eyes. It was hard to hide the emotions though I tried my best. The whole family was excited and too happy. It was after 18 years that we had an addition to the family. We were now four generations in the family, living together. My grand parents were over the moon. Sameep became my model and I took his pictures of every mood and action. I used to write about all happenings around the globe with his each event – whether annaprasan or first day at school or first diwali etc.

Sameep became the joy of our life. Epicenter. He took to everything very fast. In almost 8 months he was walking around. It still remains the same. Sometime it helps him, sometimes it has a negative impact. It was around the same time we were setting up the plant at Faridabad and also I was deep into Rotaract. Traveling every week. To be honest, I missed out the fun years with him. He was always hisgrand pa's favorite. I got more and more involved into my work as it needed me in its growth trajectory. I was working more than 80 hrs a week. Never understood Sameep needed me more. Somewhere welost out on each other. He got used to my absence. In between when we were relocating to Faridabad he lived with my parents for couple of years while Minoo and I were settling up our new home at Faridabad. I got more and more busy expanding my work. Time flew. Sameep learnt to live with my hardly being there around him. I was busy with my work. By the time I realized and wanted to be with him, he flew out of the nest. As always, he wanted to fly faster. Too eager to be on his own. It is his third year away from us and he is at Pune. My little love had grown up to live life his way. Taller and stronger than me. As handsome as I would have dreamt my son to be. I know he loves me more than I can even think of.

As I write these lines, in complete solitude of my hotel room at Kuopio in Finland, tears roll down naturally, just like 19 years back. Wish I was there with him on his birthday. Love you and wish you all the happiness in your life. Happy Birthday buddy.

Early morning at Archipelago

Early morning at Archipelago
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

The early morning skies over Baltic sea in Archipelago, Finland. Its amazing how the sky changes its colors from the morning to night. The colors could not have been better. Simply awesome

Life is today and not tomorrow

I am at this one of the bigger towns of Finland - Turku. It has a population of just 1.5 lacs. Flew in Finair for the first time and they have nice new aircraft. Had a free evening. So went for some bird watching . Went to the Ruissalo Islands and did a 3 km nature walk in the park. Saw some new species of birds not seen in our part of the country. Didnt carry my camera but binos. Wonderful moment and environment. Picked up a pizza on way to a park. Had my dinner by the stream. Setting sun and rising moon gave the sky one of the best colors I have ever seen. The moon looks quiet bigger here may be because of 7000 kms nearer to our place. Went to meet a friends wife and she had come out of breast cancer surgery. Was trying to motivate her with some gyan when she gave me the gyan of my life - Life is today and not tomorrow. Never to forget words. Leaving for an early meeting and then to a beach house for next three nights. Will go to various islands on the speed boat exploring the fauna and flora of this country. No internet and cellphone just pure nature. Carrying some Utpal Dutt DVD's, books and my camera for company. Trying to live life today. Next week is going to be tiring, hectic with all travels, meetings and training.

Every denial brings attraction

I received a nice mail from my dear friend Rajesh titled." If you cant enjoy then what is life for". Basically he shares with me Osho Rajneesh' s words. I also read and hear a lot of his CD's and find them so true and practical. Todays write up reminded me of my past and present. I did my schooling at Rama Krishna Mission Vidyapith which is one of the most religious and orthodox schools in the country. It was time of long hairs and bellbottoms. The school authorities wanted us to always wear narrow bottoms and keeping long hairs was just a dream. Watching a hindi bollywood movie was a taboo. The school authorities only showed us Vande Mataram ( I might have seen it so many times that the author Bankim Chandra Chattapadhyay will find it difficult to face me in a quiz on it) or movies based on life of Rama Krishna Paramhans or other religious ones. This restriction on fashion, movies and other things "bad" had such a counter effect that all the guys would compulsorily watch movies everyday during the holidays. Those days there were no multiplexes and movies used to run for weeks. So during most of the holidays it would be one or max two movie changes and each movie was watched nth time. Similar incidences happen now with my kids and how we bring them up. But with all the exposure of todays world - I myself get confused whether going happily to a pub is better than going unhappily to a temple. Is Happiness not the desired end? Are we supposed to do all things for future happiness? Does Life wait for long? Is it all just not NOW. If I am unhappy, something is wrong with myself. If I have some hesitation and feel guilty in doing something that means somewhere some external factor is overshadowing me. Hesitation means there is contradiction. I feel, the more my wife says Icecream is bad for my cholesterol, the more I am attracted to eat it. Denial brings attraction. Every time I have my Ice cream , hesitation crops in. I am unable to enjoy my Ice Cream. Similarly there is hesitation in most of the things in life and I feel I will miss my whole life. Its high time I have to drop my hesitations. I am sure the moment I drop my hesitation ice cream will become an ordinary thing. I will understand that I can enjoy it sometimes and it should not be an obsession. Sometimes even harmful things are not that harmful Obsession is part of repression. Living in hesitation has become a bad habit and as Osho says ," If you cant enjoy, then what is Life for". Drop hesitation. Live life happily

The Angry India

In few days we are going to celebrate our Independence. 64 years of Independent country. One of the worlds fastest growing economy. Tremendous wealth creation for its citizen. Some of the best entrepreneurs and corporates ( The world is least bothered if some senator calls Infosys Chop shop). Some of the world largest corporates now are headed by Indians. It will not be a surprise to see some Indian becoming head of state of the so called First world countries in the next few years.

Then why don't we have quality life? Why don't we have civic sense? Why do we believe in always breaking the law of state? Why are we sadist? Whether newspapers or television - all show ugly sad and bad news? Why don't we have happy news? We always try to sympathize and also create an atmosphere around us where people can sympathize.

Everyday we have incidences of people destroying public property. For every mundane thing happening , some buses are broken, trains set on fire etc.... Why this anger? Why the frustration? Is it because we are attached with the way things are? Or we identify with the pain and feel it ourselves? Or is it frustration of being ruled for donkeys years by Mughals, Britishers and now the politicians. What ever be the reason - we do not see and realise that its us who loose. We only hurt ourselves. I have never seen or heard anger make any positive impact on anyone. Have you? I think we feel that if we don't show anger and be dormant , the other guy will walk over . This is a myth. We should be assertive, positively assertive instead of angry. We don't see any solution by being angry. We only get un necessary victims. People get killed and public property destroyed. Our own property. The taxpayers money. Its a different story that only 4 billion of the 120 in this country pay taxes. How do we bring the change? Of the various means available and possible the simplest I believe is Media. I have been following Indian Idol on TV and was discussing with Dad last night when one of the participants danced and hug Amir Khan - how this "nobody" suddenly has become a known figure within few weeks and till this time he never even dreamt of seeing Amir Khan in person and today he was dancing with him. There are hundred such examples. Ramdevbaba and his yoga would have not gone beyond Haridwar without media. I feel if the media spreads positivity - things may change drastically. Lets not glorify the wrongs. Why does the Media not do something to help making the situation better? Trouble is it has become a compulsive complainer. If it just keeps complaining that means it is not prepared to actually do something about it.

Hey friends, lets do something to make this country a heaven that is now part of only grandma's story. Even that generation has forgotten it as a Sone ki chidiya. Lets be honest towards our country and its people. Jai Hind and Wish all a happy Independence day.

Ashy Prinia on the grills

Ashy Prinia on the grills
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

The Ashy Prinia or Ashy Wren-Warbler (Prinia socialis), is a small warbler. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, western Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It is a familiar bird of urban gardens and farmland in many parts of India and its small size, distinctive colours and upright tail make it easy to identify.These 13–14 cm long warblers have short rounded wings, a longish tail usually held upright, strong legs and a short black bill. The crown is grey and the underparts rufous in most plumages. In breeding plumage, adults are ash grey above, with a black crown and cheek with no supercilium and rufescent wings. In non-breeding season there is a short and narrow white supercilium and the tail is longer.

Twilight

Twilight
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

In India, the word "Sandhya" -Twilight is synonymn with prayer. If you approach an orthodox Hindu family who is praying , he will say "I am doing my Sandhya". When the sun rises , there is a great change.The whole passive existence becomes active.Sleep is broken, dreams dissappear. Everyone arises.A resurrection,.An opportunity to rise to new peaks.

And the same change happens when sun sets.Everything quiets,calms. A tranquility, a deep silence, pervades existence. In that moment we reach to depths.

Both moments are beautiful. Either go high or go deep. In both ways you transcend yourself.

The Killer looks

The Killer looks
Originally uploaded by Thanks for 40K+ visits

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

Looking in ur eyes

Looking in ur eyes
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

First ever shot I took of the tiger at eye level

The Misty morning

The Misty morning
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Read the unfortunate news today in TOI that the Sultanpur lake has completely dried up this season because of utter mismanagement by the concerned officials and rapidly growing Gurgaon population. The authorities though say thats a blessing in disguise as the lake will now be rid of the predator fish Magur which was eating away all small fishes resulting in the migrating birds not getting enough food and flying away. What ever, before the winter comes this place needs to be full of water.

This shot was taken in February and what a heavenly atmosphere.

Storm over Ganga

Storm over Ganga
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Thats the place some 200 mtrs off my retirement home on the banks of river Ganga facing Rajaji National park and the foothills of Himalayas. Away from the hustle bustle of city life. You can see Elephants and other wild animals coming to the other side of the river bank to drink water. How do you like the place?

Save Water

Save Water
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

On all my trips to the wild - dried rivers, waterbodies was a shock. Last years low rainfall had made water scare and life difficult for animals and birds. The department is trying hard to make artificial water holes and supply water through tankers.

Water shortage is also being felt in civilization. Lets all do our best to conserve and save water. A very minor but very effective way could be to take only that much water in your glass that you want to drink. Also when you offer water to your guests , offer half a glass and if required offer again but let not the water go waste. Save Water - it is more precious than any thing else.

Blue Winged leaf bird

Blue Winged leaf bird
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

The Blue-winged Leafbird (Chloropsis cochinchinensis) is a species of leafbird found in forest.

The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch.
As in other leafbirds, the call of the Blue-winged Leafbird consists of a rich mixture of imitations of the calls of various other species of birds.

Kitty in the hole

Kitty in the hole
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Shot at Tadoba, it looked upset at all the tourists. The casual picnickers are a problem in Indias widlife reserve parks. Also we cant do without food for even couple of hrs inside the park. Ridiculous

Positive Attitude

Positive Attitude
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

My grandfather always used to motivate and teach me to be positive in life. He always used to say under all circumstances speak positive. He used to give a religious reason for this that in Hindu religion there is a mahurat (moment during the day) called " Brahma mahurat( Gods moment)" it comes every day but no one knows when. Any wish made or any thing said at that moment happens. So if u keep on cribbing and that moment comes all those u were cribbing about happens. He would always advice to speak positive. If someone asks you "How are u? ", he would always suggest to say" Wonderful" - whatever be the circumstances. By always speaking positive you always discharge a positive energy to others which makes them happy.

The reason of sharing this is a bit selfish. I will be off to Tadoba sanctuary tomorrow to catch some good shots of a male tiger,hopefully. I already have visualized the output and think abt it positively. I just wish all my friends at facebook, flickr and twitter also wish the same for me and one of us will hit the Brahma mahurat and I get what i visualize :-)

Thanks and Have a nice week ahead :-))))

Simplicity

Simplicity
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

In photography, the technique of simplicity is used to achieve the effect of singling out an item or items from their surrounding.

Simplicity is one of the underlying photographic techniques; a cluttered picture distracts the eye and takes away from the subject. A simple picture can be achieved by getting closer to the subject, which is also one of the main rules of photography.

Simplicity is one of the main components of most good photographs. The simpler the picture, the easier it is for the viewer to comprehend the subject and appreciate it. Cluttered images and backgrounds are less visually pleasing and more likely to cause the subject and lesser objects to confuse each other visually.

Golden Himalayas

Golden Himalayas
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Sunset over Mussoorie Hills. View from Gun Hill. Had an excellent three day with Minoo, Divyansh and siblings. Sameep was missed badly

T 17 at Ranthambore National Park

T 17 at Ranthambore
Originally uploaded by www.sandeepmall.com

Understanding Anger- Does getting angry help?

I have been in some very embarrassing situations at work when heated angry words are exchanged between colleagues. A few years back I myself had gone through some difficult times when I used to get angry at smallest issues and had broken my hand trying to hit a TV and broken many a glasses in a fit of anger. I had used abusive language for my own people and family. Some counseling sessions helped me regain myself and made me more stable and confident. When I think now why I used to get angry and why I justified my anger - it feels very funny. One of the reasons I can recollect now telling my counsellor was "Anger is a natural response to someone else's behavior. I get upset because some one didn't do the think I wanted him/her to do. Secondly, I have to be angry to assert myself on others. I have to use this as a weapon". Looking back to all the incidences in my life in the past and what all the people do around me when they are angry, I just can not help myself other than laughing at this foolishness.

What changed in me that minimized my anger? The counselor increased my self awareness. I realized that anger begins with an irritation towards something or a person. As more and more attention I gave to this irritation it led to frustration and then anger and then rage. The method is simple - find the root cause of anger. When that is known there are two choices - to stop creating it or continue creating it. The choice is ours. There is no reason to justify creating anger.

Medically also it has been proved that anger has ill effect on health. Its a fact and not just a "movie thing" when they show people with having heart attacks when in rage or anger. The only way to find solution is to ask ourselves - Does anger help? What value is peace in my life? Can I forgive? Is it difficult to forgive? It has to be acknowledged and understood that we are the creator of our emotions and not any other person or thing. Few years back I had heard two phrases in one of the religious discourses that my Grand Mom was listening on TV which influenced me tremendously - Let Be and Let Go. When ever I am upset I try to remember these words. They help.

Simplicity in Life

I suddenly realised today how grateful God has been on me as I rarely had to do things that always looked simple but are the most complicated. For all the services that I use I always had some body assisting me and I always got things on a platter. Today my relationship manager at Citibank was on leave and I had to call these guys on some urgent matter with regards to my credit card. What a pain it was. When I was able to connect with somebody human after pressing so many ones and twos - the lady on the other side simply ended the call because she was not able to listen to my voice properly. I was just mad and frustrated. I had once a similar experience with Make My Trip. I had a confirmed hotel booking through them and when my guests reached the designated hotel at Tirupati, they were shocked that there was no booking for them there. I just couldn't connect to any human in next 15 days at Make My Trip to complain and get the refund. Now I have a feeling that the more things we have which we feel is for our own convenience, the more headache we have. If every thing goes fine , they are wonderful but if there is a breakdown somewhere you had it.

These are very small examples but in our daily life we have made ourselves so complicated, so much ego, jealousy ... a long list. The perception that the other guy is happy because he has something more than what I have makes our live unhappy and the whole satisfaction and enjoyment of things that we have is gone. With "more" - its more complicated. Simplicity is always a winner. I believe the best electronic product today is from Apple and its just one thing - Touch. Look at the Google screen. So simple. That's why they are so successful. The best pictures we like are "Simple". But still we have a habit to complicate things. The more we want, the more complicated it gets. I never realised this because someone else was doing the hard work for me and I was enjoying the best part of it. But with few experiences now I understand how comfortable and peaceful it is to be Simple. I am sure lot of people understand it but still cant do it because Simplicity is hard. That's why its actually rare to find . Simplicity implies beauty, purity and clarity. God is Simple. Simplicity is Peace, Peace is strength. It makes mind calm and clear, easy and content. Its better not to fritter away life after details but simplify. Someone has rightly said "Nothing is more simple then greatness; indeed to be simple is to be great"

The First Encounter

The first encounter
Originally uploaded by Sandeep Mall

At 40 degrees plus we had been waiting for the Kitty to give us some glimpse. Couple of Sambhar calls behind us and we see the beauty eying us from behind the tree. It came out close enough to shake hands and literally modeled for one hour exclusively for us. My first proper tiger sighting in the wild and this is what I saw. It gave all possible shots and then got down on a vertical cliff more than 100 feet below, jumped over a stream and sat down on the grass. All the time least bothered about our presence though continuously giving us the glare. For more pics check out my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandeep40/ or at facebook http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2064674&id=1195613311

Green Bee Eater with the Bee

Green Bee Eater with the Bee
Originally uploaded by Sandeep Mall

The Green Bee-eater, Merops orientalis, (sometimes Little Green Bee-eater) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family.

Just as the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps and ants, which are caught in the air by sorties from an open perch. Before feeding, a bee-eater removes stings and breaks the exoskeleton of the prey by repeatedly hitting the insect on their perch.
A study showed that the Green Bee-eaters is capable of interpreting the behavior of other animals. They showed an ability to predict whether a predator at a particular location would be capable of spotting the nest entrance and then behaved appropriately to avoid giving away the nest location. The ability to look at a situation from another's point of view was previously believed to be possessed only by primates

Why others decide my happiness?

Though this is there for donkeys years but since last few months I have been realizing how my being happy or sad or whatever feelings I am going though is controlled and dependent on others. Citing some of the recent events - I felt depressed when Divyansh didn't come up with his expected results, when my friend Rajesh quit Rotary, excited with my new Mac, some great shots with the camera etc etc. We are taught to make our happiness dependent on others - some object, thing, people,events , conditions. Now I understand the lack of real long term happiness in my life is because of dependence on others. I feel I delay my happiness till things are just right. But life is never just right and future never comes - there is only now. Sunils untimely death should be an eye opener. Life around his family and friends just took a complete turnaround the moment the doctor said he had few months to live. Just 42 with two young daughters. It was a moment of shock more than I had ever experienced. But still why don't I learn? Why I keep on postponing my happiness? And the only reason I can find out is my dependency on others for my happiness. I have seen all my happiness being dependent on acquiring something or someone, seeing the result I desired, waiting for some pain to go away before being happy. Happiness has to be my decision and not a dependency. And to do that I have to change my state of being from dependency to freedom from dependency.

Fly Past

Fly Past
Originally uploaded by Sandeep Mall

The Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) is a small white heronThe adult Little Egret is 55–-65 cm long with an 88–-106 cm wingspan. It weighs 350–-550 grams. Its plumage is all white. It has long black legs with yellow feet and a slim black bill. In the breeding season, the adult has two long nape plumes and gauzy plumes on the back and breast. The bare skin between the bill and eyes becomes red or blue. Juveniles are similar to non-breeding adults but have duller legs and feet. The subspecies garzetta has yellow feet and a bare patch of grey-green skin between the bill and eyes, whereas nigripes has yellow skin between the bill and eye and blackish feet.
Little Egrets are mostly silent but make various croaking and bubbling calls at their breeding colonies and produce a harsh alarm call when disturbed.

Kingfisher

Kingfisher
Originally uploaded by Sandeep Mall

Shot at Okhla Bird Sanctuary