Bhaskar Krishnamurthy joins Paul and Elizabeth to talk about the impact on local culture that elephants bring to the villages of mahouts in India.
Bhaskar Krishnamurthy joins Paul and Elizabeth to talk about the impact on local culture that elephants bring to the villages of mahouts in India.
Preparing for a project is no mean task. Months and months of preparation, sleepless nights, unending phone calls almost 24×7, exhaustive paper work, ground logistics…I just can’t thank enough people who work behind the scenes. Coordinating the equipment, calling up friends for unknown and the known, uncertainties of field logistics, exhaustive international travel, VISA and Customs, the list is endless. When the day arrives, when you zip up the luggage, look at the ticket and get to the airport, time stands still…Yet another time, waiting at the security and ready to take off to the distant land hoping to submerge and be enriched with the world culture and the indomitable spirit of human nature. And I am now ready to get to India, the land that I belong to, the land that has taught me what I am today and the people, who share common passions.
For 25 years, Canadian Tourism Commission has rewarded the Outstanding work in print, online, photography, broadcast TV and online video. In a glittering luncheon in San Francisco on April 3 2012. John Fennell, Associate Professor of the Missouri School of Journalism, judged the print entries, Jayne Morris Berry of JMB Post Production judged the online video and Don Young of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium assessed the broadcast entries. There were more than 300 entries across the five categories. I was honored to receive the award for my work.
Here is a look at the award winners – http://ht.ly/a50oj
Often people ask me, how do you travel so much and manage all the paper work. Someone must be processing your visa. Sorry folks, I don’t hold a Diplomatic / Head of State passport. I am a common citizen and have to go through the same procedure as millions across the world do. I always get the same reply from my travel agents. Your Visa is subject to embassy clearance. I am always proud of my background and my nationality, though it has been quite challenging on many occasions. My Visas have been rejected on few occasions, yet, it has been a fulfilling experience to be part of a journey saying proudly, of where I come from. So many wonderful stories of human endeavors, people’s passion and incredible energy from such diverse people across the world, we truly live in one of the wonderful planet and human life in particular is so fascinating. I will bear the irritations of VISA many times, as I know once I land on the other side of the immigration counter, it is a whole different world.
On a recent visit to Kaziranga National Park in North East India leading a workshop with my students, we visited the village Molipetar Basti, adjacent to the National Park. A small herd of 4 elephants in the late evening walked through the reserve forest and to the community rampaging the fields and the adjoining homes. One particular family of Sanjay Ghosh with wife and four children were lucky to survive as they ran onto the tree top where they have a temporary shelter. In a span of 15 minutes the elephants pulverized their home and in particular snatched the rice from their kitchen. Jyoti P Das, researcher with AARANYAK who was with us when we visited the village said, these conflicts are increasing as the elephant path is encroached and rouge elephants take advantage and seek their rice and toddy from the village homes.
The approach to the village of Molipetar Basti where a small community of 10 families live. Their main occupation is agricultural labor.
4 elephants from the adjoining national park crossed the path through the agricultural fields right into the homes in the community.
The affected mother with her four children huddles to a corner still recovering from the shock.
Sanjay Ghosh, the sole bread winner for the family picks up the plastic can which stored Rice. Elephants rampaged and took away all their daily groceries. The family was left with nothing by grief and shock of surviving an elephant attack.
The family stand helplessly and innocently not knowing what to do next for their house and their daily life.
More than 400 years ago, Miguel de Cervantes, one of the legendary Spanish Novelist published two volumes of literature Don Quixote, considered one of the influential work of literature ever published in Europe. I traveled across parts of 620-mile Route of Don Quixote visiting some of the destinations mentioned in the novel. Here are a few glimpses of the photo adventure.
Located at 3268 ft on the banks of Ravi River, Chamba is one of the oldest towns in Himachal Pradesh. Town has many temples and palaces and is famous for the annual Minjar festival in July/August. The fair begins by distribution of Minjar which is a silk tassel worn on some parts of the dress by men and women alike. This tassel symbolizes the shoots of paddy and maize which start to blossom around the middle of the year. In earlier times, the Raja would begin this tradition which is now transferred to the invited chief guest from the administration. As part of the opening, the chief guest throws a coconut, a rupee, a seasonal fruit and a Minjar tied in a red piece of cloth – Lohan – as offering to the river. This is followed by all the people throwing their Minjars into the river. Traditional Kumjari-Malhar is sung by the local artists.
Regarded as a biosphere reserve, Little Rann of Kutch in the state of Gujarat, India is an ecologically important and biodiversity rich landscape. Famed as the last refuge of the Wild Ass is also home to many diverse migratory birds that includes Merlin, Pelicans, Flamingos, Imperial Eagles etc. It is also home to smaller predators Desert Fox and Indian Wolf.
For centuries nomadic tribes called Agarias have been involved in the salt panning activity inside the sanctuary. Children elsewhere may get a chance to play in the fields, in the school, play grounds, slide, on the swing, but these two children Mahesh (Boy – 6 yrs) and Janak (Girl 5 yrs), have got only the Salt mounds to play everyday. Living far away from everything in the world, in the desert, their father works on the salt pans inside the Wild Ass Sanctuary in Western India. The nearest village for them is a good 10 miles and they get their vegetables once every fortnight, weather permitting. He earns a total of $ 40.00 every month to sustain his family of 3 children, wife and his widowed mother.
