Best Destinations in India for Wildlife Photography

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India is home to a diverse range of wildlife, from majestic tigers to endangered one-horned rhinoceroses. The country has numerous national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that offer opportunities for wildlife photography. Here are some of the best destinations in India for wildlife photography:

Sundarbans National Park - West Bengal

The Sundarbans is one of the best locations for wildlife photography. This place is also well-known for its elusive Bengal tigers, which presents photographers with the challenge of capturing them in the wild in an untamed setting.

The park’s landscape provides ample scope for capturing stunning images of various bird species and animals. From the rugged hills to the dense forests, Sundarbans offers a perfect setting for wildlife photography.

By Soumyajit Nandy - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Key Features:

• Elusive Bengal tigers
• Opportunity to capture images of various bird species and animals
• Diverse landscape with rugged hills and dense forests

Ranthambore National Park - Rajasthan

Known for its majestic fort and diverse wildlife population, Ranthambore offers opportunities to photograph tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and a variety of bird species. The park’s landscape provides ample scope for capturing stunning images.

From the rugged hills to the dense forests, Ranthambore offers a perfect setting for wildlife photography. The park is home to a wide range of bird species, making it an ideal destination for birdwatchers and photographers.

Key Features:

• Majestic fort
• Opportunity to capture images of tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and various bird species
• Diverse landscape with rugged hills and dense forests

Kaziranga National Park - Assam

This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the endangered one-horned rhinoceros and offers an opportunity to see various species of birds, including the greater adjutant stork. Photographers can capture images of these incredible creatures in their natural habitat.

Kaziranga is also known for its rich biodiversity, with a wide range of plant and animal species calling the park home. From the rugged hills to the dense forests, Kaziranga offers a perfect setting for wildlife photography.

By Diganta Talukdar - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Key Features:

• Home to endangered one-horned rhinoceros
• Opportunity to capture images of various bird species
• Rich biodiversity with a wide range of plant and animal species

Pench National Park - Madhya Pradesh

Located near Hatta, Pench offers a chance to see wildlife in its natural habitat, including tigers, leopards, and various species of birds. The park’s beautiful landscape provides plenty of opportunities for photographers to capture stunning images.

Pench is also home to a wide range of bird species, making it an ideal destination for birdwatchers and photographers. From the rugged hills to the dense forests, Pench offers a perfect setting for wildlife photography.

By Fitindia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Key Features:

• Opportunity to see wildlife in its natural habitat
• Variety of bird species
• Beautiful landscape with rugged hills and dense forests

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Latest FD Rates for leading banks and NBFCs for terms more than 1 year (as on 31st October 2020)

I started compiling this information for my father and after spending quite a bit of time, I realized that this information could be helpful for many of us who want to know the options available for senior citizens. 

Senior Citizen Schemes

Scheme Name	Duration	Interest	Comments
PM Vaya Vandana Yojana	Maturity 10 years	7.4% per annum. Payable monthly/quarterly/six-monthly/annually.	PMVVY gives a guaranteed payout of pension at a specified rate for 10 years. Purchase Price is returned to investor or nominee at the end of 10 years.   Pre-mature withdrawal penalty 2% Read more
Senior Citizens Saving Scheme	Maturity 5 years. Can be extended to 8 years	7.4% per annum. Interest paid quarterly.	Joint Account available for spouse. Available in ICICI Bank, Govt banks, Post office.

 

Fixed Deposits

FD rates from leading banks for Senior Citizens:

 

SBI

Tenure (Months)	Interest rates
12 – 23	5.4%
24 – 35	5.6%
36 - 60	5.8%
60+	6.2%
SBI We Care FD for 5 years +	6.5%

 

HDFC Bank

Tenure (Months)	Interest rates
12 – 23	5.50%
24 – 35	5.65%
36 - 60	5.80%
60+	6.25%

 

ICICI Bank

Tenure	Interest rates
One year to 389 days	5.50%
390 days to less than 18 months	5%
18 months and one day to two years	5.60%
Two years and one day to three years	5.65%
Three years and one day to five years	5.85%
Five years and one day to 10 years	6.30%

 

Bank of Baroda

Tenure	Interest rates
One year to 400 days	5.60%
401 days to two years	5.60%
Above 2 Years and upto 3 Years	5.60%
Above 3 Years and upto 5 Years	5.90%
Above 5 Years and upto 10 Years	6.30%

 

Bajaj Finserv

Tenure (Months)	Interest rates
12 – 23	7.15%
24 – 35	7.25%
36 - 60	7.35%

 

PNB Housing Finance

Tenure (Months)	Interest rates
12 – 23	6.20%
24 – 35	6.45%
36 - 47	6.60%
48-59	6.60%
60+	6.70%

 

Post Office Time Deposit

Tenure (Years)	Interest rate
1	5.5 (Annual Interest Rs. 561 on Rs. 10000 deposit)
2	5.5 (Annual Interest Rs. 561 on Rs. 10000 deposit)
3	5.5 (Annual Interest Rs. 561 on Rs. 10000 deposit)
5	6.7 (Annual Interest Rs. 687 on Rs. 10000 deposit)

 

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Tourist-ification of our food!

“I asked a question, at least you could reply with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’!”

Shweta’s comment made me realize that my affirmative chuckle had failed to convey its meaning so I quickly said “Oh right. I meant I didn’t!”

The aforementioned question was, “You said you would write a blog about ‘Punjabification’ of Indian food. You didn’t write that, did you?”

And she was not wrong. I have been very vocal against lack of local dishes in the menus of restaurants in our tourist destinations. Every menu starts with a ‘Tomato Soup’, continues to the legendary ‘Paneer Tikka’ or the nouveau ‘Crispy Babycorn’, marches into the kingdom of ‘Paneer Butter Masala’ or ‘Butter chicken’, aided and abetted by ‘Tandoori Roti’ or ‘Paneer Kulcha’ along with ‘Dum Biryani’ and summed up by ‘Vanilla Ice Cream’.

I am mainly a vegetarian so more emphasis on veg dishes but you get the effing idea!

I agree that using the term ‘Punjabification’ is probably incorrect since the staple restaurant-y North Indian cuisine includes dishes which may or may not have originated from Punjab but somehow all that Paneer and all that chicken give this food an aura of ‘Punjabiness’!

So I didn’t find Jhunka Bhakar in Mahabaleshwar but I could select from 5 types of Parathas because ‘tourists’ get what ‘tourists’ want.

And I had met a similar fate in Port Blair which led to the question. However in Havelock Island, tide turned for a little while because Full Moon Cafe had a delightful collection of dishes in their menu. Although they kept the Great-Indian-restaurant-tradition alive by keeping some of these dishes, they had lots of other lesser-seen dishes as well like ‘Bamboo fish’ (fish steamed in bamboo leaves) and Bengali ‘Fish Paturi’. I sincerely regret not reading their menu more carefully! The place is scenic and quiet, the food is superb, the staff is helpful and I specially love their policy of not selling bottled water to reduce plastic waste on the island.

Venom Bar has got a 5 star rating on TripAdvisor and it’s not for nothing. The place has a lovely vibe and stands as a symbol of nightlife on the island. The Paneer Tikkas (yeah same old, same old) were surprisingly good and their lobster (pronounced ‘law buster’ by our server) looked absolutely ravishing!

(Its price was ravishing as well and since they don’t accept cards we had to take along one of their guys to the sole working ATM on the island, withdraw money and pay him for the meal!)

But what would get a 5 and a half star rating from me is a small restaurant close to Baratang Jetty. The restaurant doesn’t even have a shop board, but has two sections ‘Veg’ and ‘Non Veg’ complete with green and red dots respectively. We went to the ‘Non Veg’ section but they served us vegetarian dishes as well and the chickpea-pumpkin-carrot curry in a thick gravy just blew my mind. There was a beans dish and a cabbage one as well, but I could eat hardly anything else. Though Keerthi was busy tinkering with the crab (considering the heaps of bones he extracted I wonder how much he ate!) both Sirisha and Shweta continued to dig in for this curry and we took a second serving as well. Rice was long and thin, fish was beautifully grilled and any regret that we missed the 12.30 ferry to Middle Strait dissipated in thin air!

Back in Port Blair, it was back to same drabness.

May be the problem is with us, the Indian tourists, who love our lunch (or dinner) money so much that we are afraid to try out a new thing and stick to our Chicken Tandooris or Masala Dosas wherever we go. I really wish there are more restaurants like that tiny place on Baratang who will put the local taste back on the menu!

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If you are a Ram Gopal Varma fan, don't watch ‘Guns and Thighs’ trailer!

If you have watched that nearly 7 minutes long ‘trailer’ of his upcoming web series and the visuals of naked women and some of the dialogues focussed on female anatomy failed to titillate you enough to ignore sheer pedestrianism of his latest venture, you can only weep.

Coincidentally these visuals and probably dialogues have spurned many YouTube commenters to label this as “India’s Game Of Thrones”! And since many of our fellow country-people (see I am not saying ‘countrymen’, because gender-neutrality) believe that nudity and violence will make any thing GoT, is probably one of the reasons we will never ever have a series as captivating and as painstakingly crafted.

And the violence in the trailer is doesn’t even impact you like the violence in some of Varma’s movies. For that matter NOTHING in this trailer even seems to try to touch the bar his previous films have set. Or to be more precise, his films of last decade.

Yes, it was 2007 when his claim to infamy ‘Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag’ came. Before this he had hits and flops but even his failures were not due to lack of effort or mediocrity of his craft. The films that made us believe in him: starting with ‘Shiva’ and ‘Raat’, setting the pace with ‘Gaayam’ and ‘Rangeela’ and finally peaking with ‘Satya’ and ‘Company’. Even if you are not a cinema connoisseur or film buff, even if you have seen these movies just once there is a definite chance that you remember a character, a scene, a dialogue or one of the songs.

Now ask yourself how many of the 25 feature films he has made since 2007 you remember? Not all of these 25 films are worth forgetting. None of these 25 films can hold a candle to his better work.

If this trailer is anything to go by, this series is going to be worse than his worst film.

Where do I begin? The trailer which is laden with so many quotes that I both lost the count and the interest in reading these (seemingly made-up) quotes, starts with voice over of what seems like an old woman confiding to the viewers, the history of gangster-ridden years of Mumbai.

The narration tries too hard to make you sympathetic to the plight of the woman whose face we are shown once in a fleeting visual. However the narration (or is this internal monologue?) is so lame I could hardly care. And once the narration ends and story takes over, all hell breaks loose. One character speaks the same sentence which you have earlier heard during narration. I kid you not. And both the times this seemingly ‘hard-hitting’ statement falls flat on its face. The acting is uniformly terrible. A girl is made to sit in nude and talk to his boyfriend (who is fully clothed btw!) There are some close shots of women’s legs (‘Not A Love Story’ anyone?) and some amazingly terrible dialogues involving human anatomy because that is how the dialogue writers thought the gangsters speak.

This is Ram Gopal Varma we are talking about. The man who made Antara Mali, J D Chakravarti and Vivek Oberoi perform brilliantly on screen. The man who has given us quality acts from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Manoj Vajpayee, Urmila Matondkar and several others. Now picture him dishing this drivel.

At the very beginning of the trailer Varma says that since for various reasons he could not show ‘the full story of Mumbai Mafia in its raw and real form’ in films, he is going to do it here. It is amply clear that the man is scraping the bottom of the barrels of his once-legendary craftsmanship. ‘Satya’ and ‘Company’ are classics and he is besmirching that legacy with cheap, lazy and titillating cinema.

As I said, if you admired his work then, now you can just weep.

(If you are tempted to watch the trailer to see naked woman, heed my advice and watch some porn instead. If you want to watch the trailer just to see how bad it is, please don’t watch it and save 7 minutes of your life. You will thank me!)

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