At the Pearly gates!!!! In hindsight, I must say, that trip to Hyderabad in November over two decades ago was Jinxed from the start. It was a last minute one, it had to be planned on the sly, been postponed once and meeting times rescheduled twice over. Honestly, an interview call from the top management of Oracle in 1990’s was a dream chance - a great career opportunity and I had to make sure that my current employer (Nexus – erstwhile Aurelec) did not catch wind of it. It was normal for my office team to stop by at home to help parents for my wedding preparations (which was around the corner). I had to ensure none knew of the trip and so had to work it on the sly. With travel banned at home with the wedding a few days away, the story was a very close high ranking IAS official, a family friend, was at an ICU at Pondicherry and hence the last minute travel. There were no direct flights from Coimbatore to Hyderabad and so had to get to Chennai which meant an overnight stay...

It was all over in a blink of the eye. That regular short pitched ball from Abbot, a lifting bouncer was  climbing on the swivelling Hughes, who in a momentary rush of blood took his eyes of the ball, went for the hook, played early, ended up exposing his left ear and neck. The 160 gm red cherry thudded into the area below the ear and neck which had no protection from the helmet. What followed was a tragic on field event which is a blotch on the once aristocratic Gentleman’s game.  (To be fair to Abbot and lend a consoling hand, the replay will tell you, it wasn't a menacing missile, rising from an uncomfortable length, but a rank short ball which was a mere 80 mph run of the mill short pitch delivery) Debates on forums, blogs and cyberspace have sprung up by the millions dissecting, analyzing, discussing the event from multiple views. From the technique, safety, rules of the game, new laws every possible view point and aspect are in for a detailed sc...

A Slice of TIME Ever felt like a vamp at a black tie dinner? Ask me, for it was one such gathering of early Baby Boomers, which I had inadvertently strayed into. I was flummoxed by the topic, terminologies and convictions being thrown around on a subject being passionately discussed – NADI JYOSIUM (or palm leaf reading form of astrology). A thumb impression smeared with a black cream, scanned on a non-biometric piece of leaf, was able to throw up a precise data file, from a huge data farm of clustered palm leaves, which contained transcripts of your past and a peek into your future – phew!! I know, it is foolish to try to ‘Rationalize’ or ‘Scientify’ everything in life, but as part of a unique ‘Cusp Cult’ -born between the last year of the Baby Boomer and first year of the Generation X categorization, further compounded by the fact that I was one of the early riders of the IT Era – embracing technology, it was really hard on me for my right sided brain was refusing to ac...

Mark Davidar, a blessed son of the well-known conservationist E.R.C Davidar is no more. Rivaldo, his most cherished tusker will miss him more than anyone else. Having lost a good portion of his cheek and trunk to heartless poachers, Rivaldo was all at bay, when Mark decided to take care of him, and the rest is history. Though fortunate to have spent a bit of time during my visits to his wonderful place, it took me a long time to see beneath and beyond Mark's complex, sometimes intimidating yet mature persona.  Yes, he had a short fuse, true the huge influence of alcohol was disturbing, agreed that his profanities (especially when drunk) were annoying, yet here was a simple man, with a mature head on his frail shoulders. A man who had an uncanny ability to have a serene, calming approach to the wildest of the wild, and a love for the wilderness which is simply unmatched even today. A wonderful human being, like his illustrious father, Mark was a great lover of the wild...

Friday, the 12 th of July would be etched in our memories for long. This would be especially significant for Suresh and Deepa, who probably have had their first such experience.  For me, Lalli (Wife) and Vaishu(Daughter) being frequent jungle goers and experiencing such incidents, we were quite used to this though this was possibly one of the closest we came to a brush with disaster. It was a cloudy evening as Suresh, Deepa, Lalli, Sanjeet (a fellow wildlife photographer) and me along with a naturalist from Jungle Lodges Resort set out for an evening Safari.  As we entered the Mysore – Kerala road stretch, we were greeted by Langurs, Cheetal and even a Crested Serpent Eagle. Turning into Zone A in front of the forest office, we ambled along past the first salt pit to the right, when we saw a jeep in front of us signaling a ‘T’ (the left hand horizontal to the ground and the right under it on a vertical position – similar to the timeout sign or the decision review si...

We all have heard of WORKOHOLICS, ALCHOLICS, and even CHOCOHOLICS, but I seem to be getting into a new form of addiction which is yet to be ‘Christened’ so I like to call it ‘PHOTOHOLISM’ You see, it wasn’t always this way for me. As most of you know, I not only love shooting wildlife and spending most of my weekends in the jungles, I also enjoy writing about photography, sharing ideas and experiences. It’s probably the most satisfying job in the world! The more time I spend making pictures or talking about photography with others, the more passionate I became about it. However, of late I’m a bit worried that I’m now a ‘Compulsive PHOTOHOLIC’. I get a feeling that I’m relating everything in life to PHOTOGRAPHY. Let me explain . . . . I met my doc after ages at a party. After the usual pleasantries, he fired the dreaded salvo “I know you are keeping fit, but nearing 50, let’s get a complete medical checkup done”.   So, here I was, sitting in the clinic, a band around my elb...

There is a popular belief that you need to be damn lucky to spot a big cat in the wild. While there is quite an element of truth behind the statement, in my personal view there is more science and art to spotting the great cats of the wild, along with Luck. This is especially true in the South Indian jungles where Luck does play an important part but then there is an element of preparation and labor involved in creating a conducive environment for luck to come in. It is like the famous verse: To win a Lottery, you need to buy a Lottery Ticket! Let me elaborate .   The key to spotting the elusive big cats is all about understanding the call of the wild. In other words it is about deciphering the Sounds and smell of the Jungle.   The movement of these big cats is constantly tracked by the natural GPS of the jungles. Yes, Langurs on the high perches on tree tops keep a constant vigil on the movement of these cats and give out a warning call to the others on the ground of a...

There's something about being deep in the Jungles—surrounded by nothing but the green and brown canopy of trees and bushes, occasionally broken by a refreshing waterhole or a salt pit —that makes me feel so incredibly alive. Every moment inside the jungles keeps the adrenalin levels soaring and the mind is alert for those magical moments that the wild animal or bird makes an appearance. I remember my friend Deepa Suresh’s words, a few years ago, when we were planning to take her on a Safari at Kabini. Are the Safari’s dangerous? What if a ‘Yaanai’ (elephant) attacks? While I did convince her with statistics of insignificant numbers of fatal incidents in the decades of Safari tourism, to this day, I keep pondering of what ‘Wildlife Tourism’ or a ‘Jungle Safari’ means or is perceived by different people. For me, the Jungles are a second home, a mind refreshing, blissful place—but in Deepa's world, this is probably an enigmatic, dangerous and unpredictable terrain, which can ...

We (wife, Daughter, Niece and I) were holidaying at Gorukana, a wonderful Eco resort on the BRT range last September. The innovative cottages and tree houses were a great experience and we decided to take a drive through the main road since the official Safaris through jungle roads were called off – awaiting the Supreme Court judgment. We did a few drives the evening, where the usual dose of barking deer (BRT is famous for its high density of barking deer population), gaur, elephants and a variety of birds were seen. As it was getting dark, we retired for the night, planning an early morning drive. We set off early next morning, with two other cars from the resort joining us. The first was an Indica which had the senior naturalist Jadaswami leading the way, followed by a Wagon R with a couple of guests. I chose to drive my own Honda behind both. Barely had we gone post the first check point, the barking deer made its appearance, followed by the CSE’s, Peacocks and other little ...