Oh my…

I have been sketching all my life; and it is so much a part of me that I have never thought much about it. When I moved into my present apartment, I finally decided to frame a few of the sketches that had been autographed, and a few that I liked…but that was about the limit of it.

I tend to sketch mainly when I am stuck indoors because of the heat. (Cold weather allows me to wear extra clothes and stride off happily.) I do not even have an easel or a special set of pencils…

But if I knew that posting a picture of a sketch would bring in the compliments like this…I would have taken it a lot more seriously…

I will be posting more of my sketches now…in sketching, I love the way a few lines can indicate so much of form and content!

Thank you for the compliments, all of you…I feel so happy; that tiger-sketch entry is going to be one of my treasured ones!

My sketch…..

I was just posting this sketch of mine on to LJ when I get a call that sainath had his first wild-tiger sighting in Dudhwa National Park over the weekend…

And here’s my sketch, dedicated to these majestic creatures….

I wish they burn brighter and brighter in the forests of the night!

We were here, and they were there before us…

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A very young tigress, and a gaur, had left their prints on the road; we left only our jeep tyre-tracks behind, and took only photographs and memories:

Mongoose Hide And Seek

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You saw the tusker hide and seek…here’s a mongoose doing the same thing in Bandipur, checking to see that the humans are going away and not staying back to disturb him

It is SO difficult to photograph an animal which is running across in the undergrowth, though the others managed it with the greatest of ease…I think I was lucky to get this shot!

No post-processing yet…will have to begin one of these days…. as of now, WYSWYG…what you see is what you get, or, rather, what you see is what I got!

Hide and Seek

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Well, I am back with KMC (K Mohan’s Camera) in one piece, and now there’s going to be a spate of photographs of Bandipur, all my OWN (somewhat awful) work!

A lot of people who are going to look at my snaps are good photographers. To them, I say: move on, move on. My name in photographese is not even Murphy, its…Sekhar, spelt, Shaker. It’s as if the all the earthquakes yathin experienced in California had come along to jog my elbow. So if you expect crispness, technical correctness…pass on, pass on!

The rest of you….here’s my intro shot of Bandipur, with a hide-and-seek game…that’s the tip of the elephantberg! Will post more pics and an account of the trip….later….!

AM I WELL CAMOUFLAGED?

On the eve of visiting Bandipur, a tiger sanctuary

,,,,,

Deep in jungle I am went
On shooting Tiger I am bent
Bugger Tiger has eaten wife
No doubt I avenge poor darling’s life
Too much quiet, snakes and leeches
But am not feared these sons of beeches
Hearing loud noise I am jump with start
But noise is coming from damn fool heart
Taking care not to be fright
I am clutching rifle with eye to sight
Should Tiger come I will fall him down
Then like hero return to native town
Then through trees I am espying one cave
I am telling self – “Ranga be brave”;
I now proceed with too much care
From nonsense smell this Tiger’s lair
My leg is shake, I start to pray
I think I shoot Tiger some other day
Turning round I am going to go
But Tiger giving bloody roar
He bounding from cave like shooting star
I commend my soul to Kali Ma
Through the jungle I am went
Like bullet with Tiger hot on scent
Mighty Tiger rave and rant
Rangaswamy shit in pant!
Must to therefore leave the jungle
Killing Tiger one big bungle!!
I am telling that never in life
I will risk again for damn fool wife

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The Bandipur trip

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The forests of Karnataka have been beckoning to me for a while now, as the Uttaranchal visit started fading into the mists of time….. Lalbagh is beautiful and accessible; but the peace of the forest, and the chance to spot mammals, keep up an insistent call which gets stronger until you can’t resist…the wildlife bug is one that gets under the skin and starts itching unbearably after a while!