Water of Life

“It's in responsibility that most people find the meaning that sustains them through life.”
— Viktor Frankl

Last of the Mahabaleshwar MTDC

There is a quiet serinity to the whole place. The ancient building (some from 1890s) and the ancient forests took you back in time.

March 2025. This was our last trip to the Mahabaleshwar MTDC. Now it is gone. Sold to some private contractor.

Over the years we have come here often. Starting from 2007. In the early days it used to be boys trips to the dormitories on week days or in the off-season. We used to have all the space to ourselves. We have had many a great time. One such epic trip from 2009 is documented here

We used to roam the points. Talk nonsense. Come back to the market to eat - chinese from Bahadur's cart, makkai pattice, strawberry and cream at Bagicha. Then head back to the MTDC for long sessions of daaru and jua and warewolf.

Then family trips. Me and Jo once randomly came and stayed here while returning to Pune from the Konkan -- we took the scenic route. We will miss you MTDC. Truly so.

The cottages nestled amongst the trees. This gave a vibe found nowhere else on the hill-station.

The ancient trees, all garnled and twisted

Politics and purposeful neglect. That is the story here.

The Market

After day long trips to the surrounding countryside to visit the points, the tired junta gravitate towards the famaliar hustle and bustle of the market. Here we find food and above all - shopping!

Strawberry seller

The ubiqutious Vada Pav

One of the food carts.

Buddhi ke baal

A local woman selling combs.

Kid's footware

Big lady-kid's footware

Shopping is the passtime. There was a time when places like these offered unique wares and local art. Now everything is made in China and available everywhere.

All photos shot on the Sony A7RIII with the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1 lens

Serious Observations of a Funny World

Me the Photographer

A few days back I decided that in the coming year I will focus on monochrome photography. I will study value and tone. And I will document my journey.

Recent events have resurfaced the question of what one means by a fulfilling life. What is that one really wants to do? Are we doing it? Time suddenly seems precious.

For long I have stood on the sidelines of photography. I started the journey when I was in primary school when my father handed me his Zenith-E with the 58/2 Helios-44. I have had a black and white darkroom for a while and I printed photos on Illford paper. I have clicked portfolios. I have shot for film promotion. And so on.

But I always hesitated to call myself a photographer.

Let me now embrace this aspect of my life. I am a photographer.

Portrait: The Jo

The Jo.
The Better Half. The supporter of life.

Single directional light. Iphone 17 Pro Max.

Sunday Flower

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”
— Jack Canfield

The New View

After 13 years of 1202 we had to move out. It was the first shifting for the wife and the daughter both.

Moving is hard. We get attached to a place. It becomes our safe heaven. Breaking that safety leaves us open -- vulnarable. I tried to believe that the true roof is the sky on our heads and no one can take that away. But for the second time in my life I felt the pain of leaving home.

Luckily we managed to stay in familiar environs. The view, though, has changed. Now we look towards the south instead at the west.

An Angle

Life is full of angles, circles and lines. Or so it seems. An angel is an abrupt change in trajectory. An acute angle is an ouch. A right angle is often the sign that all is not right.

One wonders.

Tough Year

It's been a tough year.

That photo is from Sept last year. It feels like yesterday. Time is flying. Its been 9+ months since I have been slaving on Canon.

And then the health shocks. All the excesses of life finally caught up.

One has to pay the price for all foolishnesses.

Kumbhe Dam

A fast trip to this remote land in April. My mama and Unnu came down from Solapur. Mama had worked in this area about 15 years back. He wanted to revisit memories. This is the site of a earthen dam project which was abandoned.

The landscape is still pristine. Till the tunnel was made, this was inaccessable wilderness.

There is this desolate kind of settlement on top for the people displaced by the dam. Sort of a new village. Mama went looking for a person who had worked with him all those years back -- and found him! We explored the dam site a litte more but it was sweltering hot so we decided to head back. The road to Kumbhe forks near Nizampur on the Pune-Mangaon road. Food was to be found near Mangao so we headed in that direction. The journey back via Tamhini was beautiful as always. Every time I visit this landscape I am in awe. So magestic.

Goodbye 2025

This must be the earlierst goodbye from me. Its not even 3 hours since the year ended.

2025 has been a difficult year. The peace gave away to financial distress.

I believe 2026 will bring lasting change.

Portrait: Siddhu

We used to trek together, long back. He was always the quiet reliable happy mate. Always ready to help.

He fought back to life after a devastating motorbike accident.

Siddhu is a fighter.

Camera: Sony A7R III
Lens: Voigtländer Nokton 50mm F 1
Light: a tall Ikea paper lamp


Portraits of the Soul

Bhuleshwar Temple (भुलेश्वर मंदिर)

After a lightening visit to Bhigwan at our friend Sandip Nagre's Agnipankh Flamingo Point we were heading back home. We decided to stop over at the Bhuleshwar temple. It was my first time. I had heard of this place a few times. Even Jo had visited it when she was staying at Urli.

It's a beautiful place. Perfectly period. These are strewn all over our land. They are testament of a time gone by. A time of much glory. It's peaceful. I just wish we would take better care of our history. The hill on which the temple resides is barren. It could be very beautifully wooded.

Light

“The most precious light is the one that visits you in your darkest hour!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

The owlets of Pench

These owlets were screaming their guts out at sunset.

Sometimes you meet some new folks and are taken aback by their warmth. They easily welcome you into their fold and share their lives. The positive impact this leaves shows how intertwined we all are. The human experience is essential to happiness.

Shirish Katikar and family are such people. Last year in November I got a chance to head down to Nagpur to visit their small farmstead near the Pench forest. We stayed in a tent, cooked some food and took walks in the surrounding jungle.

Random brickbat

Dried moss as seen through a kids microscope.

Sometimes life does throw a brickbat. Amit met with a bike accident. He barely made it to the ICU. I had never been to Cooper hospital and it was an eye opening experience.

The night we took him to the casualty was a regular rush night. 3-4 patients per bed. They saw his condition and started working immediately. But there was only one stretcher and only 2 nurses. All rushing around. He was then admitted to the Trauma ICU. The first 48 odd hours were hell for all of us - total mental and physical exhaustion.

He was in the Trauma ICU for 11 days. Then another 6 in a ward. Thankfully his legs and hands were not broken. Only about 5 ribs and the collar bone. The real risk were the numerous internal injuries and the head injury.

We got him back home after a miraculous come back from the brink. The tireless efforts of the doctors and his instinct to live pulled him back. He now has a long slow recovery ahead of him.

Government hospitals are an experience you will not easily forget. They cater to terrific loads with minimal staff. The poorest of the poor are not turned away here. I routinely saw doctors doing 24hr duty. These are the ones learning in the attached collage. Nowhere else can you get this kind of experience. Despite the multitudes of dogs, cats and heans staying on the premisis, despite every corner being used as a spitting zone, despite the mosquitoes and the dirt, despite the stinking and overflowing toilets - despite all this people do get cured. People who otherwise would have nowhere else to go.

As a society we must rethink the importance of these institutions and how much effort we need to put into them for all our sakes...