Popagandhi

Me: “It’s all your fault now I’m convinced of the need for a big and sturdy c…”

Pete: “Ah, yes, I like the sound of this, go on..”

Me: “… camera. I want a 1Ds Mk II too. It’s so big and beautiful.”

Pete: “Sigh, I guess we can’t change them all!”

My time here has come to an end. I have with me 3 notebooks, completely filled, and a bag full of experiences. Crawled on all fours through 2 kilometres of a shaft in a coal mine, confused the entire town of Sohra by putting on my best Khasi in a local accent (”She what? She said khong doh ter kong and ai sha dut laitili, she must be Khasi!”), sat in my beautiful garden at Circuit House drinking milk tea for breakfast looking at Bangladesh from there, and much more. Pete taught me there’s no such thing as a big break, only a great start, and showed me the resilience and sacrifice it takes to be a photojournalist in the field; our careers are both taking off in exciting ways, the collaboration has been fantastic, now we’re talking selling stories to a number of magazines, each with approximately a million subscribers; documentary work for big name NGOs, possibility of paid travel work on the most exciting journey one can do (the Trans-Siberian). I’ve also been introduced to that aspect of field work which breaks most people: the sheer loneliness. While I return to normality in a few days’ time, this opportunity has left me with even more wanderlust, and some hints at what career could be, if I chose.

Flying three times in three days can’t be very good for your ears, or your head: you live exclusively off one backpack (check in), one camera bag and one laptop (cabin), make sure the backpack is <20kg, that the dimensions of check in baggage are correct, that you have no lighters in your pocket, and now, no liquids, gels, pastes in cabin baggage too.

This morning, 3am: Cherrapunjee/ Sohra
This morning, 6.40am: Shillong
Right now: Guwahati
This evening: Calcutta, sweet home
Tomorrow: Bangkok
Day after: Singa- pur