Stories by Vasudha
Just some stories based on my travel experiences
Sunday 26 June 2022
Gone but never forgotten
Friday 2 April 2021
A smile to remember...
In 2018, I visited the Land of High Passes. Ladakh, a barren yet beautiful region located in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
It was my very first photography expedition in life as well as with
Impressions Photography. Learning the art of capturing time at a
destination with an abundance of culture and scenery from enormously talented
photographers and mentors, Mr. Lalit Deshmukh and Mr. Sarang Mhaskar, it felt like I hit jackpot! It was a 10 to 12 days journey and each
day still remains fresh in my memories.
It was the last destination of our trip, Turtuk. A small yet
beautiful village situated on the border of India and Pakistan. It was a part of
Pakistan until the war of 1971 when the Indian Army occupied the village. It is
one of the very few places where you can experience the Balti culture.
With cameras in our hands, we set off to explore this fascinating
place. Everywhere we saw, we could find something to capture. While observing
someone in the group noticed a little girl peeping through the window. The
moment we saw her, she immediately hid behind the curtains... One of us
waved at her and started a conversation. She only replied in yes and no head
nods. In no time this little girl became friends with the person conversing
with her. The moment we asked her "Can we click your pictures?" She
nodded in excitement... She came down to us running and stood in front of us.
Her hair was a mess and she had dirt all over her face but she looked so
beautiful. She went straight to the brand-new friend she had just made. They talked for a few seconds and all of a sudden ran back inside her
home. We all looked at each other cluelessly. "Is she coming back? Did we
do or say something? Why did she go back inside so suddenly and
hurriedly?"
After a few minutes, she came back outside. She looked different. The dirt on her adorable little cheeks wasn't
there anymore. She had a scarf over her messy hair and her clothes seemed cleaner than before. She looked radiant. Apparently,
she had cleaned up for the photoshoot.
It was surprising that she wasn't even a bit scared of us
or our cameras. She stood in front of a wall and everyone was taking pictures.
Looking into every camera, smiling and posing as per the instructions given to
her, she patiently waited for everyone and let us capture her beauty. Every
time someone called her, her eyes looked straight into their lens and her
little lips curved into an innocent smile.
I moved a little away from the crowd hoping to get a candid shot. I wanted to capture what my eyes were witnessing at that very moment. For the first few minutes, I didn't click any pictures as my mind was captivated by her grace. Her golden eyes, her little nose, her rosy cheeks, and her innocent smile; everything about her was so, so beautiful! Especially her smile!
Eventually, we decided to let her go and move ahead. She didn't seem happy with the thought of ending her photoshoot. She was barely 5 or 6 years old but she was more patient than any adult. We could see how much she loved the attention which she very well deserved. But we had to say goodbye as we had a long way to go.
On my way back home on the flight, I took my camera out to check out all the photos I captured. I stopped at her picture and starred at it. Her gentle little smile made me happy. It was pure and blissful. And it has been stuck on my mind ever since.
I don't think I will ever get over her cute little smile. It will forever be a smile to remember!
I hope you enjoyed reading my post! Please leave your opinions in the comment section!
Saturday 9 January 2021
The fallen soldiers of the forest
Here we lie remembering the good old days... From bearing just one tiny leaf to being a big branch full of leaves, flowers, and fruits. We believed that providing shelter and food to the winged and the four-legged ones was the purpose of our existence. We danced to the melodies of the birds, stayed still for the leopards that slept on us, and became a home for the monkeys.
Even today
as we lay on the grounds, we protect the tiniest creatures of nature. For we
see what the naked eye cannot. We survive the hottest summers, the coldest
winters and not to forget the heaviest rains. Tried our best to fight the odds
and live for our dearies.
We live for the forest and we die for the forest.
We are the branches, the fallen soldiers of the forest...
Tuesday 15 December 2020
The Lucky Owl
When you go for a wildlife
expedition, you don’t come back home with just one story, you come with a sack full
of tales to share for the rest of your life. Here’s another experience from my
favourite wildlife tour, Kanha National Park expedition.
As I mentioned in my
previous Kanha blog, I went to this amazing jungle with Impressions Photography
led by Sarang Mhaskar and Snehal Joshi.
Kanha is a beautiful jungle
and has so much more to see than just tigers. But since the main attraction are
the big bad striped cats of the jungle, we all want to at least catch a glimpse
of them.
The first safari of our expedition
was very exciting. We started with an evening safari the day we reached Kanha. As
soon as we entered the jungle we could hear the symphony of the forest. The purity
of nature was so blissful. As we went deeper into the forest, we could hear a
variety of birds chirping.
While we were busy enjoying the serenity of the wild, our driver spotted a Brown Fish Owl and stopped the jeep. We were all so excited for it was the first sighting of the expedition especially me since I had only seen owls in pictures or on Nat Geo. We clicked a lot of photos and admired the beauty of the wise old owl while he sat there and posed for us. Since we didn’t have a lot of time, we decided bid goodbye to our new friend and continued with our journey, secretly hoping we’d see him again. A few miles later, we also spotted a bear somewhere far in the meadows. After an hour we decided to return since it was about to get dark. While coming back, we were passing the spot where we spotted the Brown Fish Owl and we all curiously looked for him hoping he’d still be there. And we did! So, even though that evening we only saw the owl and the bear, we weren’t disappointed…
The next day we started early at 6:00 AM. We once again passed by the owl’s spot and looked for him. To our surprise, he was still sitting there as if he waiting for us for another photoshoot. Jokingly, we bowed at his feet and hoped for some amazing sightings that day. On our first morning safari we spotted vultures enjoying the early morning sunbath and a few other wonderful creatures of the jungle. We could hear the calls of deer, foxes and some point even tigers! Although we didn’t really see any tiger that morning, we were hopeful... Our minds were capturing more images than our cameras were. We knew the jungle would never dishearten us. We roamed for a few hours in the woods until it was time for lunch. While coming back, we once again saw our friend, the owl. This time, we really were surprised. He was still sitting there. That’s when we decided to call him our lucky owl.
Post lunch, we left for our
evening safari. The owl was still sitting there! We bowed at his feet and moved
ahead. that evening saw a herd of spotted deer with a black buck and some
guars. While leaving, we once again saw our buddy, the owl. We once again bid
him good night and hoped for a miracle sighting in future.
The next morning, we passed by the owl’s spot and to
our surprise he was still sitting there. This time, he facing the other way. He
turned his head 180 degrees as soon as he heard us. Once again he was posing for
us. After his short photoshoot, we prayed to him for an epic sighting. And we
did! We witnessed an actual chase between an Indian Sambar deer and a pack of
wild dogs. The most mind captivating encounter of my life. We
were all so excited. Our minds were boggled. While returning, we saw the owl
sitting in the exact spot, in the exact pose he was before. We thanked him. He
was indeed our lucky owl!
In the evening as we passed by the owl’s spot, we
saw him once again. We bowed at his feet and thanked him again for the epic real-life
Nat Geo scene we witnessed that morning and moved forward. It was our second
last safari of the expedition. Hence, we were all really observant and alert
hoping for a tiger sighting. Deep in the woods, we heard some tiger cubs
calling their mother. We were all very thrilled yet very quiet. It was the most
alert I had ever been. We were following the calls and finally we saw a tigress
somewhere far in the meadows. We stealthily followed her and reached a spot
where we knew she would pass us. We were trying our best to be quiet and control
our excitement…And then it finally happened! A beautiful, majestic tigress walked
by us. We quietly captured numerous photos. It was only for a few minutes but
we felt accomplished. One of us jokingly said, “I think our lucky owl blessed
us.” On our way back to the hotel, we stopped to thank our lucky owl, he was
still sitting there. We thanked him for giving us not one but two amazing memories.
Then arrived the last safari of our expedition. We
weren’t ready to bid farewell to beauty and to our beloved lucky owl. We passed
by our lucky owl’s spot and bowed at his feet like it had become a ritual. That
day we didn’t really come across anything. Not even a bird or a deer. Only lush
green forest. We had to leave early since some of us had a flight to catch the
same day… We stopped for a final good bye at our lucky owl’s spot. Only this
time he wasn’t there. It was kind of heart breaking to not see him and wish him
farewell.
A few miles later, we spotted a leopard sleeping on
a tree deep in the forest. Seeing a leopard in the woods of Kanha is a very
rare incident. We were obviously overjoyed.
It was the farewell gift from our beloved friend,
the Brown Fish Owl. We will always remember our lucky owl. Although we didn’t get
to say good bye to him, he gave us a souvenir. He proved that he will forever
be more than just a Brown Fish Owl, he will forever be our adored lucky owl!
Thank you for reading my blog! Please mention your
opinions in the comments!
Wednesday 30 September 2020
An evening on my terrace
Just like everybody else, I too found my key to staying sane, my happy place during the lockdown. It was the terrace of my building.
Every day at 5:00 PM, I went to the terrace and sat on the topmost part of the terrace. I felt the cool breeze on my cheeks and in my hair. I watched the sun slowly hide behind the buildings, the white cotton-like clouds turn grey and the birds fly to their nests. Sometimes accompanied by a friend, sometimes alone. I eagerly waited for 5:00 PM every day. Those evenings had become an important part of my daily routine and were the most blissful and relaxing moments of my life.
One fine evening after a hard and depressing day, I went a little early to my happy place. It was a cloudy, grey day. The strong wind would not let the birds fly to their homes. The sky was dull and gloomy, just like me. It was all so overwhelming that all I wanted to do was cry. However, just as I was about to have a mental breakdown, the sky seemed to change its colors as the sun started going down. The sky slowly started clearing and within no time, a yellowish-orange shade was above my head. I felt peace as the wind was taking the grey clouds and my sadness with it.
The sky now had changed to a reddish-pink shade. I could see the birds chirping happily, as they flew home. I could hear shutter sounds of people's cameras as they captured this magnificent view. The colors gave me a feeling of being in the seventh heaven. I had never seen the wild blue yonder turn into such marvelous colors before. I had never seen a sunset so alluring. I was once again overwhelmed but this time it was because my dolefulness was disappearing. My heart was feeling lighter and contented.
As the sun went down, the sky turned purplish-blue. The bright, shiny moon had come up. It was a hint that the show is ending. My mind and heart were finally at peace. Every bitter emotion I felt was gone. I had witnessed the finest sunset of my life. I did not click any pictures that evening. I did not feel like it. I just wanted to absorb the colors and moods of the sky. I only observed everything around me. I knew that I would never forget that evening.
That evening taught me something. It is okay to feel miserable sometimes. Because joy follows misery. When you are picking yourself up, you feel happiness and peace take over every glum emotion. The sunset taught me that anything could inspire you; anything can lead you to positivity. You only have to let it in.
Please leave your opinions in the comment section below. Thank you for reading my blog!
Thursday 30 April 2020
Survival of the smartest- Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Sunday 8 March 2020
People of Pushkar, Rajasthan
Camel traders sitting together inspecting a camel to buy |
Camel
traders sitting together inspecting a camel to buy
|
Don't let the wrinkles deceive you, he was one of the most positive and enthusiastic men I met in Pushkar. He had come to visit the Pushkar Temple like almost every Rajasthani does on the last day of this 7-day fiesta. We asked him if we could take his pictures and he immediately agreed. He seemed quite excited because he posed for all of us, looked into each camera as we carefully observed, and captured his expressions.
After a few clicks, I showed him his photographs. His eyes twinkled and his mustache curved into a smile. He loved the pictures and this one was his favorite. Later, he came to me and asked me to click a few photos of his wife. This was a bit surprising for us because the people in Rajasthan are known to have a certain mindset and this type of reaction to photographers is less common unless the photographers are willing to pay them in exchange for photos. But this gentleman here wasn't anything like what I heard or experienced. He loved his wife and thought she genuinely deserved to be photographed. He said, "My wife is very beautiful. Take a few photos of her." Unfortunately, his wife was very shy to be photographed so he respectfully apologized and gave me his blessings. It made me wonder how we automatically judge people. Youngsters follow the modern lifestyle while the oldies are still stuck in patriarchy. This man changed my perspective. His wonderful attitude towards us and his love and appreciation towards his wife was truly adorable. What impressed me more was how he respected his wife's choice when she said she didn't want to be clicked. He did ask her politely a few times but when she said she felt shy, he stopped and said, "Sorry beta, I cannot force her if she's not comfortable." The man is an amazing example of how men should be.
I was so touched by this. She was very different from the rest of the crowd. I knew I would never forget this woman and her words. She was so different from the woman in the story for this one. Yes, she also asked about my 'Jaats', but instead of getting offended, she was more interested in me and the Maharashtrian culture. That is what made her different from the rest of the crowd.
Thank you for reading my blog! Please mention your favorite story and your views about the blog in the comments!
Wednesday 26 February 2020
The story of Jaswant Singh Rawat- Hero of the Indo-Sino war 1962
But in all this mesmerizing beauty, so many heartbreaking, "not so famous" stories are hidden. This one is about a brave soldier of the Indian army- A hero of the Indo- Sino war 1962.
The tree where the Chinese army placed Jaswant's chopped head. |
Jaswant Singh Rawat's uniform and other personal items |
Wednesday 19 February 2020
The Legend of Nohkalikai
Please mention your opinions about the story in the comments. Thank you for reading my blog!
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