Ex wrestler

Sadanand Joshi, aka Sada - our ex-wrestler. Look how he sits proud and unaffected by the weight of two heavy duty trainers on his lap.

Treasure Hunt

A photo taken mostly by instinct during a night treasure hunt on the day before yesterday. Nice mist. This was a programme for ESSAR at Rajkot.

Nirvana food in a village home in Pachal

On our way back from Goa, we stopped at Mangesh's village Pachal. This is what we cooked ate there. This is typical food from this region rice bhakris (A kind of flat breat) and chicken curry. Believe me, this tasted as yum as it looks.

Jaywant Joshi

Mr Jaywant Joshi. Another mountaineer friend. Very fit, an excellent artist. He has an enormous appetite - we have nicknamed Jewan (meal). This is Manoj "Mogli" Kadam's special friend.

Sam's dog

My friend Sam works at the YMCA property near Kamshet. This is his German Shepherd dog. I forgot his name.

Back to work

View from rappelling point at Lonavala. I was trying a different technique on my phone - clicking panoramas. You can see the Mumbai Pune Express highway.

Again Mr Buddhya. He needs a helmet to play chess. Go figure.

Our guesses on why this is so:

1. Chess is a high risk adventure activity
2. To shield the world from the lethal radiation from his brain when he is thinking
3. To use as weapon in an emergency if he is losing.
4. As a precaution in case there is a bird flying above.......
5. Oonche log oonchi pasand

Standard disclaimer: we keep making fun of each other, and Buddhya is in reality an excellent mountaineer and a highly respected outdoor professional.

Biggest monkey in the world

This is my teacher in mountaineering - Shirish Sahastrabuddhe aka Buddhya. He gave me a lot of exposure to the world of pinnacle climbing. Not just mountaineering, this guy is a guru of many things - jokes, playing cards, playing pranks and generally fooling people, teasing people and making faces, laughing in a whole range of voices, handling poisonous snakes (ask him about it :P) etc.

Sachin Malvankar - Chota Vakil - Malya

Yet another snap from Daffodils katta. This one is Sachin Malvankar aka chota vakil aka Malya. One of my closest friends. We know each other since we were 9 years old. We have done many things together, including many start up businesses and have been partners in profit and loss (mostly loss). Our friendship is legendary in Vile Parle.

We are always fighting - its our hobby. As kids we used to wrestle. I mean I used ot wrestle, he just stood there. His size is such that he didn't really need to do anything. Initially, we were just acquaintances an school, but our friendship grew through a shared love for trekking and grew both in the city and out of it.

He is currently in Kuwait.

Prasad Apte

This one has also been clicked on the Daffo katta. The great cook in our group. Used to work for some 5 star hotel. He is fond of getting photographed and he asked me to click this one. I'm glad I did, because it turned out really nice.

The lighting in the back and the overall feel of the photography is something I enjoy.

The beautiful orange lighting in the background is the Cafe Coffee Day next door. I really made no extra efforts for lighting - it just came out very nice - its totally natural.

View from the rappelling site

View from near the rappelling site near Lonavla. I am one lucky guy. I get to go to nice places and then I get paid.

This was just the beginning of the monsoon, and the sky was full of clouds in amazing colours. You won't believe it, but this is the afternoon. This picture hasn't been touched in any way. This is how we saw it.

Mohak

Mohak Velankar. A guy on the "Daffo Katta" - Restaurant Daffodils in Vile Parle East - my first home when he is in Mumbai.

I was trying out the various functions on my phone, and this one is from the sepia mode on the phone. This is one of my favourite photos.

Mowgli Part II

Mowgli is not fiction, he's fact and here's the proof - Manoj "Mogli" Kadam

This is a blog of my - Raka's photos

This is a blog of my photos from everyday life.

I currently use the camera on my phone - a Sony Ericcson W700i.