If you are not a trained snake-handler, avoid fooling with snakes and do NOT ever handle with bare hands, unless it’s a serious emergency. However, if inclined to do so or you need to handle snakes for study or photography, use a snake hook or better still, a snake grabber/ tong, specially designed for the job. Nowadays, there is snake handling equipment available in the market (especially, in the Western countries), which is professionally produced. Also, one should never handle venomous snakes when alone, even if you are an expert, unless there is emergency. One must learn handling of snakes, under the guidance of a well-trained snake handler. One must store live snakes in cloth-bags, which should be made of strong cloth and check for holes and weak points along the seams. Must replace these snake bags, at the beginning of every monsoon season, as these get weaker with exposure to moisture, and a snake can tear open the bag by pushing its head through weak cloth. Avoid handling snakes for fun or `show-off’’ or to be a `macho-man’; it is not worth it. Remember, anti venom serum also can cause death (some people are allergic to serums), in many cases it may lead to complications and result in ever lasting side-effects e.g. some experts have lost limbs. So, never fool around with snakes without a clear purpose.

ADVISORY:

• Never feed a snake with live rat, when its in a cloth snake-bag. Usually, snakes avoid attacking its prey in such close places, in effort to avoid any injury ensued from the scuffle for grabbing its prey. Snake will not attack it’s prey for long, will keep lying in ambush to administer a venomous bite to immobilize the prey and rat (prey) will remain alive. It will get enough time to attempt to make an escape from the bag, by chewing a hole through the snake-bag. It happened at my place, when a Russell’s viper made an escape at my place, in August 2000.
• Snake bags should be made of dark and thick cloth which is usually meant for trousers. In the West, one gets ready-made snake bags.
• Never pin down a snake and hold from the neck, very dangerous. Unless, you are doing some serious work and it needs to grab it’s neck.
• Never indulge in any kind of conversation, while handling a venomous snake. First of all, finish the handling of the snake, which is in your hands for specific purpose and place the snake in secure place and then talk. Many snake-handlers have got bitten in such a way.
• Snakes are known for making great escapes and give surprises all the time. Beware !!!

Snake Handling Equipment: Venomous snakes should never be handled with bare hands, no matter how expert one is. There are specially designed equipment/ gadgets being sold in the international market for herpetologists i.e. hooks, tongs, gloves, shoes, bags, etc. These come in various sizes and shapes, made of variety of materials.

WORD OF CAUTION: Please do not use locally made contraptions, which you have not been tested by yourself. Try and fabricate hooks with good material i.e. a broken golf club makes a very good snake-hook. Best is to buy a tested and tried equipment produced by a branded company, its worth any price. Always, make snake-bags of dark colour cloth, as snakes love dark area to be comfortable when disturbed.

Snake Keeping: Avoid keeping venomous or unknown snakes as pets. Remember, that they pose serious hazard not only to you, but also to your family and neighbours. Also, I advise that as Indians we should NOT try keeping snakes as pets and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, it is illegal to keep snakes as pets in India, all are protected under WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT. Only a researcher could do that to study the behaviour of snakes, even then a formal permission from the wildlife department has to be sought for the purpose. It is hard to understand the requirements of snakes, especially at different times under different circumstances, for different purpose i.e. sickness, special diet, growth, baby feed, etc. Also, in India we do not have good support system for such pets i.e. special food, equipment, clinics etc. Snakes could die easily under stress, which is caused by frequent handling and variation in temperature around them. One of the most difficult aspects of snake-keeping, therefore, is gaining the expertise required to know when things are not right; spotting the subtle differences in behaviour patterns, which indicate that the animal is struggling to survive.

In India, snake-keeping is regarded as a somewhat suspicious occupation, carried out by a few, rather weird enthusiasts. We do not have any stock which is captive bred in zoos or pet-shops. All the snakes available through snake-charmers are caught from the wild, which means depletion of environment, affecting your ecosystem adversely.

So, I would like to advise you to never keep a snake as a pet and deny him his basic `rights of freedom’, as they are NOT meant to be in captivity. Also, avoid environmental depletion.

Legal Aspects: All reptile species are protected in India, through listing in the country’s wildlife conservation legislation – Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Keeping snakes without a proper legal permission would invite an `uncomfortable place’ in jail.

NOTE: Soon, I will be selling snake tongs and snake hooks, basically to raise funds for the Snake Cell and to help snake enthusiasts have easy access to snake handling equipment/gear.

All my images are available for publication, but NOT for FREE. The fee for using a photo is determined by how and where these will be used. Please send details about the usage of the image i.e. magazine, corporate report, brochure, newspaper, editorial, etc, then comes the place of the image (front page, inside page, last page, inside page), size of the image (i/4, 1/2, full page), circulation numbers, regional, national, international, etc. I will quote reasonable rate and then send you a high res at short notice via snail mail in CD/ DVD or FTP upload.

I have contributed as the main photographer to THE INDIAN ARMY – AN ILLUSTRATED OVERVIEW , a coffee table book about the Indian Army, released by the Defense Minister of India, in September 2007. My photos have also been published in news papers, magazines, textbooks, websites, and magazine covers in the international market.

WARNING: I, Capt Suresh Sharma, reserve the right to sue any unauthorized users of my image or part of any image. If you violate the law of the land and exploit my intellectual property blatantly, you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and I will claim part of profits you derive from the use of any of my images or part of any image, and, where appropriate, the costs of collection and/or statutory damages up to $150,000 (USD).

Almost everyday, I spend my hard-earned money and valuable time to acquire these photos, heavy investment to buy and upgrade my equipment, not to mention I have to pay my bills as well.

So, nothing FREE.

Golden Temple is a unique building, which hypnotizes any photographer or visitor of any religion or nation; its mesmerizing, bewitching, spellbinding, magnetizing, enthralling – I can go on till I exhaust my own vocabulary and that of the entire universe. Trust me, a visit to Golden Temple is a soul stirring experience of life time. Whenever I go there and I see any `first time visitor’ to Golden Temple, I see them gasping with reverence at the main entrance gate itself. Where almost all first timers just stop and love to absorb the first glimpses. Trust me, it’s that life time moment and experience, which is hard to forget. Once you have entered the Golden Temple complex, then you are disconnected with the outside world, most people wish if they could spend all their lifetime there and would be very happy to involve with `kar seva’ (anykind of service for cleaning of floor, utensils, Langar – the holy kitchen). All visitors, known as Sangat at Gurudwaras, sit around the holy Sarovar (water tank) `parikrama’ (the banks and the path to complete a circle around Golden Temple) and listen to Shabads of Gurubani. The tranquility is spellbinding for the soul.

The regular visitors, mostly local Sangat, who visit Golden Temple, everyday before they begin for their daily chore, stop at the entrance point after descending the first flight of steps. I see God on the faces of the Sangat which stops at this point, they stand with their eyes closed and hands folded, murmuring words to endorse their wishes and repentance for their sins. I think, they beg to God to forgive them for the sins they did the previous day, lest He punishes.  How silly we are, majority of  us forget the right way, I think, its to ask for `Satbudhi’ (wisdom to think the right way). If we are blessed with `Satbudhi’ then we will not do anything wrong and no fear of punishment by God. I am sure, this world of `devotees seeking blessings and making wishes’ must be having quite an amazing spectrum of desires of human beings. Most of us, go there and beg for all the niceties of life, comforts, blessings for anything which can make people comfortable and happy and leaders to make other jealous and envious of us. May be, I am no exception to join this practice, I do beg to Him. I do not know whether my wishes are right, I ask to bless me with plenty of `Satbudhi’ to be a good human being, give me work, will to work, keep me honest, keep me healthy to do my work, I assure You that I will work and I am sure You will take care of me. A good religious preaching by spiritual teachers is that if you have faith in Him and yourself, then no need to even utter a word, He will take care, He knows. The root cause of all the troubles to our own life is that we do not have faith in anything, we are always worried and keep making calculations and make wrong projections to ourselves and thus majority are utterly unhappy.

One day, on one of my photography visits to the Golden Temple, I noticed people were in direct communication with God for those few moments, I think, He must be allowing these kind of calls at this spot. As you can see a different expression on the faces of people for these few moments. Some rub their head and some their nose on the floor, to please Him. They are `in trance’ for few moments. I wish people could carry these moments with them home and remain with these expressions all the day, this world could have been a heaven. I love capturing these expressions with my camera now.

My experience as a photographer at Golden Temple, has been unmatched by any other place on this earth. What I enjoy, apart from the solacing atmosphere, is no restrictions of any sort on anyone, can you believe this! Anyone can enter anytime of 24 hours, no restrictions as long as you respect the basics of visiting any Gurudwara i.e. cover your head, no shoes or socks, etc. Its such a free world at the Golden Temple – total freedom – as long as you are within `maryada’ – the norms. There is no pressure of anykind on anyone to make anykind of offerings, if wish to make then there is no specifications on miimum or maximum. On my travels, I have experienced some nasty things about offerings at religious places. At the Golden Temple, you are free to visit any place of worship, no bar based on caste, creed, colour, religion, etc. Whenever, I have requested any devotee to consent me for a photograph, they happily agree.

How lucky are the  denizens of Amritsar! We all may think that they all visit everyday. Alas, we all falter!

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What I know and can say about the Sikhs is that they are an unparallel race on this earth. Sikhs are the most brave and bold people, full of pride and self-esteem, most warm and kind hearted of all, uniquely handsome with their attire, well built; all this makes them unique. The self-esteem and pride is unmatched – you will never find a Sikh beggar on roads. They are the best when you request them for a photograph, no questions asked from photographers and ever-willing to be photographed with smile on their face.

The Sikh soldiers enjoy very special place in the Indian army, they are known as the `THE BRAVEST OF BRAVE’ and have the highest gallantry awards to their honour, won in all the battle field. The stories of Sikh gallantry are unmatched in the world. Though, I did not serve with Sikh troops, but had close interaction with them in Sri Lanka, where I served as an IPKF member for 18 months. They were bold like no one ! Their military history is full of unmatched valour and grit.  Their contribution to the British Empire, as soldiers is very much appreciated by the British, even today.

They are traditionally generous to travellers and there is no bar to caste and creed or religion, when it comes to hosting a traveller. Though, materialism and modern `rat race’ have taken its toll of that unique feature of Sikhs to great extent in modern times. If one is travelling and finds a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), and one needs shelter and food even at odd hours, just walk in and you will be welcome to be their guest. I have never enjoyed photographing any other place as much as I have at the Golden Temple; its open 24 hours, no restrictions, free kitchen, cleanliness of the highest grade, water, bathrooms, rooms to stay, etc. Since, Sikhs are very prone to political interference in their religious places as well. Most political parties reach the people of Punjab via religion and have political offices in Gurudwaras.  Off late, when I went to Golden Temple, I was shocked to face the irrational restriction for the use of tripods in Golden Temple, which is really sad.

Sikhs are workaholic, this trait has made them the most successful farmers in India and have proved it even overseas. They believe in this philosophy `work like a horse and enjoy like a king’. Also, they have acumen as transporters and they dominate transport business all over the country, they are leaders in the automobile spare-parts business as well. They are bold to explore any place on earth to make wealth.

The biggest worry of the custodians of this religion is that young generations are diluting the values which were well guarded for centuries. The menace of drugs is engulfing the health of youth in Punjab, which is affecting Sikhs as well. It has lead the youth to be casual towards values and respect for the teachings of their Gurus.

They are very interesting people to know, till you do not get on to their wrong side !!!

DISCLAIMER : This post is NOT to promote or support any religion. Sikhs are like any other subject to me, as a photographer. I have not written anything about religion here, so NO controversies please. These are my own views. Do not try to dig things out of a mole hill. All religions are respect worthy. My religion is ONLY to be a `good human-being’.

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One day in the summer of 2006, Ms Bharti Sharma, our family friend, who is a graphic designer, came to visit us. She had just returned from Egypt, after spending about a year on her professional assignment. Rajbir and me were glued to our chairs, with all ears to her travelogue narration. We got so engrossed listening to Bharti, we even forgot to offer any customary drink or something to eat to her. While listening to her, my wife and me realised that a visit to Egypt was our common dream, which remained only in our subconscious minds. Somehow, we never got around to ponder over the subject together. May be considering it a bit far fetched in our minds, or simply it just never came up for discussion. I think, most of us do drift into dreamy wishes occassionaly while chatting, but even that never happened over the numerous cups of tea, which we both love sharing to discuss life and its goodies, twice a day. We both were quite amazed over the mystery of our hidden common desire for a visit to Egypt. We discovered our intense love for Egypt only through Bharti, when we both poured our hearts to her about Egypt. Moreover, I think, we are so used to travelling in total comfort, onboard our Kingcobra (motorhome) that we never put our minds together to plan any trip to Egypt. Also, the most tricky thing is the process of choosing a tour operator, who can either shatter your dreams and make it as the most bitter travel of lifetime, or make it wonderfully memorable trip of life time. Probably, did not have the courage to go through that.

I was quite amazed when Rajbir was expressing her wish to visit Egypt repeatedly, like a child does, to Bharti. And we pulled our chairs closer to Bharti to hear her with curiosity, like babies hear interesting story of fairies, and it gave us a feeling as if we were inching towards Egypt. I looked at Rajbir in amazement that how come I never knew about her this dream and wish for a visit to Egypt. As we had set out on a journey through Egypt, day dreaming, with lively narration by Bharti, we often interrupted her with volley of questions. I am sure, many times Bharti must have had headaches with us, as our questions and curiosity were that of kids. Now, I did not want to have a rush trip to Egypt, which is usually organised by a tour operator, you miss so much in that regimented group tour. So, I was trying to discover if there were other options like that of staying with one of Bharti’s friends in Egypt, who could accept us as `paying guests’ for two to three months. Bharti also gave us a brilliant idea of hiring an apartment in Cairo and stay there for three to four months and capture Egypt in our minds and with cameras as much as we wanted and at our own pace. This plan swept me off my feet and I was already soaring high in that dreamy world, day dreaming like I never did before in my life. I was gasping in awe and dream, I was getting restless and wanted to fly to Egypt anytime. All of sudden, Bharti got a call from her mother and she left for home, abruptly. We could not conclude anything concrete about our plans for Egypt, as we wanted some more info from Bharti. And thereafter, we could not meet Bharti till she got married. Should I say `Bharti left us in doldrums about Egypt’. That night, I could not sleep as I only dreamt about Egypt the whole night. But it seems, when you are passionate and madly in love for something, God gets on your side. Exactly, at this point a miracle took place. One day, I got a mail from Mr Sushil Gaur, whom I had met briefly at Haldwani (now in Uttrakhand state of India) at my cousin’s place, while travelling in our Kingcobra. After few months or a year, Sushil wrote me a mail that  eversince he saw me at Haldwani, he has been wanting to communicate with me. He said that he envys our life style, as he sees us swaying with the wind of life and enjoyed every whiff that came our way. Sometimes, even we wonder and enjoy about the will of God, that how exhilarating life we have been blessed with, so far, indeed.

Finally, Sushil fixed up a photography assignment for me with Eastmar Tours. The notice was too short to organise myself and my family for the Egypt tour. I realised that our small kids did not have passports and my own passport had expired. As I mentioned, when God is happy with your work, if passionately done, He decides to be on your side always. I wanted passports in four days and I could not dream of getting our passports before two weeks at least, by any means. As I was wondering how I will get all the passports, I got a phone call from Mr Ashwani Attri, a good photographer friend, who was the Accountant General of Haryana at that time, to meet him for something. On meeting, I asked if he could help me in getting the passports and he did, as he helped me in a proper legal way through proper channel and got me passports within four days, in `urgent category’. As it had happened too soon and too quick, Rajbir often said that she will believe about it only when our aircraft for Egypt will take off from Delhi. And one day soon, we were airborne for Egypt!

We, as a family, did a great memorable trip to Egypt, stayed in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, the best was Nile Cruise. It was organised by Eastmar Tours. They have superb Nile cruise ships named as RA-I and RA-II. On our arrival on-board RA-II, we were pleasantly surprised, we had not expected it to be so mesmerising atmosphere on the ship. We had great views of the River Nile, right from our cabin itself. I must say Nile cruise is really an experience which one should never miss in life. I met many wetsern tourists on the same ship, who told me that its `dream come true’ tour for them. They all had heard a lot about Egypt and dreamt about the River Nile all their life.

I must appreciate that Eastmar has a great Chef and his team in the kitchen on board RA-II; food is superb and very hygienic (in fact certified). And that is what one wants on a tour, good safe food, good comfortable room!

I am told Eastmar Tours is the oldest tour operator company in Egypt, since 1939.

I am planning to organise photo tours to Egypt, soon, alongwith Eastmar. I have proposed Eastmar Tours to make all the arrangements for a good photo tours. If anyone desires, please contact via email wildhiss@gmail.com

In the photo galleries below, you will see all the photos of Egypt by me. I must say, its a highly recommended tour for anyone, even a 90 years old can do these tours.

Dervish Dance/ Sufi Dance Video

MORE ABOUT EGYPT

Taj Mahal (also “the Taj”) is one of the seven wonders of the world, and established historians have noted that its architectural beauty has never been surpassed. And is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles.  The Taj is the most beautiful monument built by the Mughals, the Muslim rulers of India. Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond any kind of description in words, particularly when seen at dawn and sunset. The Taj wears different looks in different weather conditions of all seasons and the time of the day, like a married woman looks in different colours of her dresses and jewelry – there is mesmerising glow on it in the light of the full moon, on a foggy morning, the Taj looks as if suspended, especially when viewed from across the Yamuna river, at sunset and sunrise it entices all the photographers as the glow of the last and first light transforms it into a big jewel.

In 1983, the Taj, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”

Like any other photographer, I was fascinated to photograph the Taj. The day I bought my first digital SLR Canon 20D at Delhi, I drove straight to Agra and spent a week around the marvel. With everyday spent around the Taj, it fired up the intensity of my love to photograph it, which I have never had with any other subject. During all the winter photo sessions, I stood shivering behind the Taj at 0515 hours in winters (used to get get up at 0430 hours), I could not touch my camera tripod with bare hands, it was chilling. Also, I have scorched myself  under the Sun of June, I have stood chest deep in the muck of Yamuna, which doesn’t have much of water content, I have slipped and banged my bums on human excreta many times (lost count now), sometimes the level of the muck flow increases and when it recedes leaves an evenly thin coating of muck behind on ground, which is nothing other than the sewerage flow of whole Agra city. But my passion always took over me and I could not see all that.

In June 2007, I went to photograph people congregating behind the Taj for the celebration of Ganga Dussehra. It is a local fair to Uttra Pradesh (one of the states of India). On my first such shoot, while I was shooting large congregation bathing in that murky Yamuna River, composing the Taj in the background, I had to be in my underwear, as I was not prepared for the kind of shots I was being offered by the festival. On my previous shoots, I used to avoid touching the water flowing in Yamuna, with my feet even. I was moving around very carefully, while holding two cameras up in air in my both hands, scared of slipping and hitting the cameras on ground first. But then the inevitable happened, I slipped on the thin layer of muck and then discovered that it changed my life and my view of the shoot. I was sitting on ground comfortably all over to shoot and regain those lost shots, which I had missed in last one hour, it was like losing virginity – thereafter no worries. I sat all over without any hesitation and was rewarded with some excellent photos. All this gets eclipsed when your passion makes you blind for as a while.

Now, I love going behind the Taj Mahal, on Yamuna side, on my each visit to Agra and the kids of Kacchpura village love to tag along with me on each shoot. After the shoot, its a ritual to have tea at the `cart mounted tea stall’, with the whole gang and my driver. My driver has never been able to understand why I visit this area again and again, why I am not tired of photographing  Taj. After this ritual, I take my driver to `Ram Babu Pratha Walla’ at Belan Ganj in Agra. You have to visit this place to believe and enjoy the best `prathas’ you can ever taste in India. This routine has been evolved to keep my drivers in good humour and motivated to bring me in the morning hours when he loves to sleep. I get up at 0430 hours to reach the entry point on the road near the village Kacchpura village at 0515 hours and be in Yamuna riverbed at around 0530 hours. And the driver has no charm to get up in the morning and then wait indefinitely in the jeep for me, while I am shooting. So, I pamper my drivers at `Ram Babu Parantha’ shop.

Why I reach there so early? Most of you may wonder about me being there with my cameras, behind the Taj so early in the darkness, much before the sunrise. I am sure some readers may ridicule me being there so early. I like to scout around the right spot in the river bed for the day-break and then have enough time to deploy my camera tripod, lens cleaning, filter mounting rings, etc. I do a stock check of each pocket of my photographer’s jacket, to ensure that I know where is what and in case I need anything suddenly, I can pull out things without any confusion. By being there right in the nick of time, I do not want to be caught running around by the first light of the day and then the rising Sun, likelihood is that one may trip over something as well. I am always there at the right spot and be ready in advance to catch the royal structure making shapes in front of the crimson light, at first light of the day-break. And when fog adds to its beauty, its like newly married lady shows her face through the veil slowly. Its simply mesmerising, ecstasy!

No words can express my joy of each day I spend behind the Taj. Though, I will try to do that through my photos of the Taj, posted here in its gallery.

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Dr J S Sarkaria joined the army shortly after outbreak of the Second World War.  He was a Captain in the I.M.S. (Indian Medical Service) and was in the frontlines during the entire Burma campaign.  His field hospital was once virtually bombed out of existence by the Japanese, with very heavy casualties, and he was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery under fire. Sometime after the end of the war he joined P.C.M.S. (Punjab Civil Medical Service), and post-1947 his first posting was in Palampur.  He served subsequently in a number of stations: Amritsar, Rewari, Simla, Sirsa, Ludhiana, Simla again, Bhatinda, Nangal, etc., etc.

When he sought premature retirement he had been Medical Superintendent of Rajindra Hospital, Patiala for 2-3 years. Previous to that he had served in Chandigarh as Assistant Director of Health Services and Drug Controller at Chandigarh for some years.

He had obtained M.S. (Master in Surgery) early on in his service, when he was posted in remote Rewari (Haryana), a feat in itself because (at least at that time) this degree was very demanding even for people posted in medical colleges.  My father was acclaimed as a brilliant surgeon and had a fantastic amount of energy and drive.

Single-handedly he converted — through donations that he sought from the public directly — the ramshackled and run-down civil hospital in the desert town of Sirsa to a really good facility.  This was during the Chief Minister Mr Kairon.  He was quite impressed when he came there for an opening ceremony.  It is a great pity we now have very few (even in those days such people were rare) government officers with this kind of dedication and drive, which Dr JS Sarkaria had.

The biographic details of Dr Sarkaria, that are directly relevant to the Cactus Garden pertain to the years after he took retirement from P.C.M.S.  Quite a lot about these is in his book on this garden. The book can be accessed via this Link.

More will be written about Dr JS Sarkaria later probably with photos, if I can get from his family. I have written this as extracted from the e-mail sent to me by Mr Karanbir S Sarkaria, son of Dr JS Sarkaria.