200
A local changpa kid posing for picture on his donkey
"The next morning, i was by the stream again taking a few pictures and i met Karma. He was a chirpy little boy studying at the SOS school in the village. He was eager to show off the few english words he knew. The usual, "What is your name ?", "Where are you coming from ?" routine. Once he exhausted all his sentences, we kept the conversation flowing by playing the 'name that object in english' game.Soon our encounter turned in to photo shoot with Karma eager to pose for the camera. He then took me to his home and there i met the girl from the day before. Her name was Sonam and unlike her brother, she did not know a word of english or even hindi."From story :Â Sonam And Karma, Two Siblings With Two Different Destinies.
190
Salt beds near the Tsokar lake
The TsoKar ('White Lake') is one of the three high altitude salt water lakes in Ladakh. It is located at an altitude of 4660m/15280ft in the Changthang region of South Eastern Ladakh. The reason why it is called the 'White Lake' ('Kar' - White, 'Tso' - Lake) is obvious when one visits the lake and sees all the white salt deposits all over the lake shores.Read more here.
186
Pangong range towering over the Merak Village
The snowcapped peaks of the Pangong range mountains towering over the Merak village.
212
Puja in preparation for the solar eclipse.
Jan-15-2010 : Day of the Annular Solar Eclipse. Near Thanjavur, India. A local merchant family gathered by the beach to perform a ritual puja before the eclipse. They were expected to get in and stay in waist deep waters for the entire duration of the eclipse, but most of them gave up and got out midway.
They were more interested in taking a closer look at the eclipse using my solar glasses than in doing the puja.
213
Curious Kids
From the Netala village on the outskirts of the Uttarkashi town. We meet these kids almost daily on our evening walks outside the Sivananda Kutir ashram.
214
Closeup
Taken by a friend during one of the festival ceremonies at the Sivananda kutir ashram in Uttarkashi.
215
Haridwar Ghats
The Ganges flowing between the bathing ghats in Haridwar.
217
Himachali Hamlet
Somewhere on the outskirts of the Manikaran village.
222
Sonam Karma
"She came, a tiny thing carrying a big yellow can over her shoulders like a backpack. She was smiling at me, the biggest, the most beautiful, warm, friendly smile that i have ever encountered. I smiled back. Without exchanging a word we acknowledged each other's presence and there was a sense of familiarity between us. If there was ever a moment to be captured and remembered, then this was it. But i realized that i did not have my camera with me and at the same moment knew that the camera would've spoilt this moment, making the divide between us more obvious and apparent. She crossed the stream and walked on by. I did not see her again that day."From story : Sonam And Karma, Two Siblings With Two Different Destinies.
244
Caught picking..
Actually its a different monk helping the mask dancer to adjust his mask.