Kaziranga: My Childhood Revisited

The endless tea estates, lush green grassland with flowers scattered as in woven into a carpet, lakes full of aquatic life, and giants like rhinos, elephants and buffaloes grazing in the vast flood plains totally owing the place-that’s quintessential Kaziranga for you!!! (Kaziranga National Park,Assam)

 I recently visited Kaziranga for a wildlife photography workshop – a hobby I am quite seriously invested in now.

One horned rhinos stole my heart when they quietly emerged from grasses tall enough to hide them. Giant but not gentle, you need to mindfully stay away, watch them in silence and let them be. With already having ample shots of rhinos my heart still craves for more.

And then there were elephants! A moving herd of elephants is like a live painting: mud, water, tall grasses (aptly named “Elephant Grass” after the giant) and vast endless plains!! It’s a heaven for them. I spent hours with them capturing frames after frames.

It was as much a trip down the memory lane filled with nostalgia where my own childhood flashed before me bringing forth my fondest memories to the forefront of having grown up Assam. The land felt like my own and resonated with a strong sense of familiarity.

It was that point in life where I forayed into wildlife photography on a serious note. I began to see every form of wildlife with the lens of a photographer. I learnt that it’s not the species but the story and the emotion it portrays in the frame is relevant. What story is that I want to feel and convey became the focal point from rather what am I capturing.

The workshop was a big part of the trip- the learning was immense, the camaraderie even more so. But in quiet moments, it was Kaziranga itself that left a mark. It’s a place where the landscape teaches you patience, the animals teach you presence, and the memories teach you to look back.

“A trip down the memory lane, etched in my subconscious forever”