The Lone Warrior - Srirangapatna. KTK

Srirangapatna (also spelled Shrirangapattana; anglicized to Seringapatam during the British Raj) is a town in Mandya district of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located near the city of Mysore, it is of great religious, cultural and historic importance.

Ranganathaswamy (Lying Vishnu) - The town derives its name from here

The town of Srirangapatna was too far for me even after I moved to Bangalore in 2005. There were chidhood stories I recall and then there was the ever dependent DD telecast who ran the series on Tipu Sultan. At that time I had never ever thought I would come to form such a strong connection with him. So much that we shared our birthdays didn't even occur to me.

Snaana Ghat

From 2005 - 2012 I might have visited Srirangapatna as many times as a schoolchild might visit his nearby museum. Each visit my heart would open but I couldn't hear much. This time though I wasn't sure if it were my camera lens or the quest to match the writer's story that opened my eyes as well. I was seeing Srirangapatna as if it were the era of 1800s. The era of Tipu Sultan. There were conversations that were pro and anti Tipu but in my mind there was no doubt that I could hear, see, smell and touch Tipu's presence from Ganjam to Sangam and Ghosai ghat to Jamia Masjid, from Ranganathaswamy to Thomas Inman's dungeon.

Col Bailey's Dungeon

Very usually the crowd would swift you away from one corner to another almost like a pack of birds. You would have the will but the chaos just wouldn't let you sense unless it means so much to you. And I am glad it did.

The Gol Gumbaz, Tipu, Hyder & Fakhr-un-isa's graves

Dariya Daulat Bagh captures various
battles and the court proceedings 

This story with National Geographic Traveler's has been the toughest so far because the story and the space meant so much to the writer, I had to almost get into those shoes. If I would actually sit at any of those bastions or the river banks or watch the Minarets of Masjid or look down the long alley that leads to Ranganathaswamy or merely enter the Watergate, I can feel the strength and courage of Tipu. How he single handedly stood between British and India. How he resembles today's Sid or a Rockstar or a Karan Shergill. How he despite all odds represented solidarity, hope and beauty all at the same time. How easily he left the mask of an artist and took over the mask of being a warrior - The Lone Warrior.

The Water Gate that was allowed to breached which led 

to Tipu's downfall

There is much to see and absorb in his territory, you will need to hear him, feel him and he'll guide you. Not only past his life but in yours as well.

Negotiating with real peace - Bylakuppe. Mysore. Karnataka

Bylakuppe is home to two of the many Tibetan settlements in India, established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969). Today an estimated 20,000 Tibetans live in the settlements, which were established on land leased by the state government to accommodate some of the Tibetan expatriates who came to resettle in India after 1959.

This how our travel usually happens: 1. Google the destination. 2. Select a resort 3. Book your room 4. Zip drive through expressway. 5. Spend the weekend – swimming, drinking, sightseeing, indoor gaming, and exploring the facilities. 6. Swipe your card 7. Head back and log in to work next morning.

Not that it always turns out that way but it most often it ends up like that. And no offence to those leisurely luxurious visits or any of my precious votes to adventurous treks and camping.

I did not head out to Bylakuppe for a recreational visit neither was it my first, in fact fourth. And, my first official shoot for the Nat Geo Traveller magazine. I obliged the commoners by Googling up and driving out to my destination, but only in pursuit. 

The story brief was simple – documenting convergence of two cultures. It was interesting only till then. As I begun to explore the brief into bits and pieces, my curiosity killed the interesting angle. The thought of a ‘what-if’ so intense has perhaps become so common that it doesn’t stir us from within. Often hearing stories of basic definition of life the discussion takes an abrupt stop at survival.

Tibet has, from so long been fighting, not just for survival, for identity, for fairness and for acknowledgement. There are so many who have created Bylakuppe a home away from home, unsure if they would now survive in their real home after having lived here all their lives. It’s culture, climate, people, homes, nothing has been seen what the real deal is back home. Yet, a monk builds it’s home in the same way everywhere believing that there won’t be a some day I’ll go back home.

 Away from the pulsating cities and towns, Bylakuppe not only gives you your own space but it gives the time to open and deal with things that I am so often in a hurry to close and move on. There is so much silence that it almost screams back when there is noise, to respect it, experience it and recreate it. 

Namdroling Monastery

At Bylakuppe, my heart might have gone out to the young soldiers dreaming of seeing home if ever, but my mind reached calmness and equilibrium, a realisation of how much once converses in silence. It feels strange sometimes when I can't make sense of a language that a person speaks but so easily interpret everything that a pet communicates. It’s just a thought...only a thought. 

Tibetans don't think of they have adopted to Indian topography,
they are worried how will they adopt to a Tibetan lifestyle when they go back.
The important thing is WHEN and not IF.