MY FAMILY – MY WORLD !

Family life is bliss! And `happy family’ life is the delight.

I used to push and bend my life like most of us do. In spite of the fact that we do hear a lot from the wise that let life take its own course and one must take life as it comes. At one stage, I thought it was all weird thinking and not practical. Why shouldn’t one bend it like we like? Well, there is truth in that that we should bend it like we want, but are unable to decipher the codes of life accurately, thus the result is a mismatch. I think, the twists and turns of life bring a lot and life has a lot to offer, but we deprive ourselves much of happiness in life with our pushy attitude. Now, I understand what it means. Have a direction, be focused on it, one should do one’s work with passion; be rest assured one will get rewarded.

MY MARRIAGE
In the true Indian culture, marriage has the status of `sacred institution’. And house of a happy family is considered as a temple. We have to understand about what marriage is and what is the role of a life partner. Most of the time, our expectations are out of proportion from our marriage. Anyway, when I met Rajbir I had no plans to get married ever. As we worked together on the mission to educate people about snakes and snakebite, I found her to be a good human being, which I consider to be the best quality of a `life partner’. I proposed her for marriage, which she neither declined nor accepted. She told me that it may not be possible, as she is from a very religious Sikh family.

As its often said `marriages are made in heaven’. Probably, I agree to that. We wouldn’t have been married being from different religions, in normal course of life. The biggest surprise was unfolding soon, as Rajbir’s father suggested Rajbir to propose me for marriage, which is a very unusual thing for an Indian father, that too being a Sikh. On one of her trips to her home town, her father Sardar Avtar Singh, discussed with Rajbir about what marriage is and what kind of life it brings, how one has to live as married and all the related aspects. At the end of the discussion with her, he suggested her to find out if Capt Suresh could be interested in getting married to her. It was the most pleasant surprise for Rajbir, as well as me, of our life time. He also had no conditions about anykind of issues, like most parents have. His point was that one should get married to a good human being and where you gel with each other and agree about the ways of working and living.

I consider Rajbir’s father as a real PhD about life, he understands the real life and the practical aspects of it, whereas I find most educated people having turbulent family life, as they do not understand the nitty-gritty of happy family life.

Finally, on April 23, 2000, we got married  in a simple and Spartan ceremony defying the custom of ostentatious and lavish functions. By mutual agreement, we spent the money so saved for the Snake Cell.

MY WIFE
I often say that if there is something good which could happen to me, is that I am married to Dr Rajbir Kaur. A very fine human being and has really shown me in life about how to be courteous and respectful to even a simple pedestrian on the road, while I am driving. I confess that in India we have no respect for others while we are driving. I am proud of being an Indian, but we do have this serious flaw.

I never forced Rajbir to join me for any of my activities, she has taken everythnig herself, like `water and milk absorb each other’. She loves being on outdoors, she loves to maintain her household herself, unlike others she has no domestic help. Rajbir is a qualified homeopath and most people wonder why she is not practicing her medicine. Her reply to all is that she wants to have a happy family life, which is the best practice and leads to contentment.

MY CHILDREN
Sukhmani, our daughter is about 5 years and our son Chirag is about 3 years. Our strong family values include, grooming of children in the best possible manner to make them good human-beings, unflinching faith in God and in ourselves and leading the children by example. We try to follow traditional Indian culture and values with slight adaptation for the modern times.

We sincerely believe that travel is one of the best forms of education for the children and for ourselves. Our extensive travels far and wide have only further reinforced this belief. In 2003, when Sukhmani was only six months old, we travelled for six months and 12,000 kms by road. In 2004, we travelled for four months in Rajasthan and Gujarat again by road, stopping frequently wherever we found audience for nature related lectures or subjects for photography. Our travel to Egypt with our children is unforgettable and a unique experience to them as it was to us.

Our deep faith in God, combined with our confidence in ourselves and our well-wishers help us lead a contented and happy family life. Happy in the thought that there are people who care for us in the Heavens and on earth, and in the satisfaction that we try to selflessly do what we can for Nature.

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MISSION: SAVE INNOCENT SNAKES AND IGNORANT PEOPLE, WITH MY CAMERA

We all know that `an image is worth thousand words’!  I say that a good image is worth million words! Isn’t it?

So, I decided  to accomplish my mission by educating people about snakes and snakebite, basically to make them comfortable with the presence of snakes, through good quality photos. I strongly felt that good photos will project snakes as beautiful creatures and handsome, thus hoping that the hostile attitude of common man may get friendlier towards snakes after seeing their beauty through my photos.  So far, I have been encouraged by the remarks and comments of the viewers of every quality snake image I have shown to public through my websites, blogs and others forums on internet.

I am sure, this endeavour will save the snakes from being misunderstood, as most dreaded animals. There are reports that in pre-independence India, British government promoted extermination of venomous snake species from certain areas, though it turned out to be a futile effort. This indicates how hostile we can be against innocent creatures, without even making an attempt to understand our neighbours,  who cohabit this beautiful planet Earth. I do not blame the commoner squarely, as he struggles to muster for basics for his living. It’s the government agencies who have to organise the right type of educational material and effective strategy, which has had glaring failures in the field of  `nature conservation education’ so far. For the will to do quality work is missing at all levels in the government department of wildlife.

My endeavour will be to bridge the gap between  `INNOCENT SNAKES, IGNORANT PEOPLE’, through well written literature containing good information about snakes alongwith good quality images; common man needs it the most, to join hands to `SAVE OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET’.

Finally, I said, “What the heck, why I can’t do photos of snakes, so what if I am poor at this stage, if I start now then one day I shall create good snake photos”. That was enough to motivate me. I started trying my hand with snake photography, while using rescued snakes,  and as the time passed by, with practice I started getting reasonably good photos, ever since I have been improving. I am happy with the results.

Here, I would like to advise you to be careful about buying any camera equipment `on line’, especially the one you have not used before, one must refer existing users of equipment, first. I bought Canon macro lens 180mm L series and a 2x converter to compliment it, alongwith a Canon Ring Flash MR 14-EX. Soon, after some photography with snakes, I discovered that ring flash had no role in snake photography for me. Also, I realised that snake photography can be done with other lenses i.e. tele lens, wide angle lens, etc. Most people think that snake photography means macro lenses.

Now, I love doing snake photography, though I have a long way to go, before I can make my snake photos stunning for quality. I am dreaming to do some quality shots for the `snakes & snakebite poster’, which should be able to attract and stop any onlooker with its quality of images and get them read the text.

In the past, whenever I posted my snake photos on my Flickr account, I used to get mails from viewers, who were curious to know how to go about snake photography. And I was quite surprised that there wasn’t much on the subject on the net. Therefore, I decided to publish about this subject on the internet, in stead of writing individual mails. Be rest assured that I have explained all about snake photography on my own blog and websites, as much as I know, nothing has been hidden. I love to share my experiences and knowledge with everyone. So, this will be a sincere  endeavour to disseminate knowledge about snakes through my Canon.

Snake photography is not at all difficult, provided you know the snakes well (like you are supposed to know your subject well, in any branch of good photography), one should have a competent snake handler for the snake shoot, follow the safety instructions, suitable camera equipment, etc.

Many Flickr viewers have commented on my snake photos there that I am gutsy, bold, brave and what not. I do not agree with all that. Fact remains, when you know about snakes well and about the consequences of snakebite, you are more scared and respect snakes more ! Its a matter of practice and knowing your subject, keeping in mind the safety.

Good discipline is the key to snake photography!

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I consider myself to be amongst those few extremely lucky ones, who got introduced to the wonders of nature while yet a toddler; I must highlight here that whole credit goes to my father, who used to take me out to the nearby jungle patch for morning walks everyday. These morning excursions, while holding my father’s finger, inculcated in me everlasting love for nature, and I have kept in touch with nature to this day; its a passion with me, now. My unfathomable love for outdoor life i.e. nature, photography and travel enticed me to join the Indian army, which lofted me to all corners of India and abroad. But my heart was to be with nature full time, through my camera and travel. It coaxed me to bid the Indian army adieu to pursue my passions whole time, like a free bird. There is nothing like freedom! This got me  explore my latent strengths and soared me in different world – a treasure trove. I got associated with wildlife film projects, including two for the National Geographic Society, USA. I could contribute to these films, as I have expertise in designing and fabrication of natural history sets for shooting wildlife films, under controlled conditions. I also designed cine support equipment and contraptions for wildlife filming.

Many of you will say that life is too short to do experiments for fooling around, but some love experimenting. I love challenges and experiments; otherwise life is stale and drab for me. But then I am very clear what I want in life, happiness, not by achieving big goals, but by doing what I love doing the most. My sole mission is `Nature Conservation Education’. I have envisioned my MISSION: NATURE CONSERVATION, to be accomplished through my photography and tourism. To raise funds for all this, Green Dot Expeditions. has been commissioned to organise special interest tours and photo safaris. I am one of the founders of this outfit. Also, my wife and me design and manufacture souvenirs with wildlife motifs to raise funds for the  Snake Cell. I must say that our wildlife T-shirts are the best in the country.

I love nature, snakes, photography and travelling in my own self-made motor-home/ caravan named `KINGCOBRA’, to reach people to educate them about snakes and snakebite. My wife and me educate people about snakes and snakebite – a self-funded project The Snake Cell.

PUBLICATIONs: I have contributed as the main photographer for THE INDIAN ARMY – AN ILLUSTRATED OVERVIEW a coffee table book for the Indian Army, released by the Defense Minister of India, in September 2007. My photos have also been published in newspapers, magazines, textbooks, websites, and magazine covers, in Indian and overseas.

Green Dot Expeditions supports the Snake Cell. Green Dot organises special photo safaris and photography workshops in India.

I love the following poem the most, which has remained closer to my heart, since the 6th Standard in school.

Abou ben Adam

Abou ben Adam (may his tribe increase!)

awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,

And saw, within the moonlight of his room,

Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,

an angel, writing in a book of of gold.

Exceeding peace had made Ben Adam bold,

And to the Prescence in the room he said:

“What writest thou?” The vision raised its head,

And, with a look made of all sweet accord,

Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”

“And is mine one?”said Abou, “Nay, not so,”

Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,

But cheerily still, and said, “I pray thee, then,

Write me as one who loves his fellow men.”

The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night

It came again, with a great awakening light,

And showed the names whom love of God had blest,

And lo! Ben adam’s name led all the rest.

- Leigh Hunt

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