[whitesquall]

Couldn't stop myself from complimenting you on this travelogue since hordes of your fans like me have already done the speaking!

Another 5 start rating for sure!

[MohsinRoadster]

Amazing pics!!! keep them coming
All of them are awsome.. the best i liked was brthers in Arm.

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by agspins

Amazing pics Doc, I second googleman.Btw whats your weapon of choice for those superb shots.

Doc's weapon - canon 40d body with a wide angle macro zoom lens and telephoto

This is already mentioned on page 2

[gd1418]

Dr. Ghosh, as always a gripping TL and amazing pictures. The vine snake with its snack was just mindblowing.

I don't think TATA makes a 4x4 Sumo, though I wish they made one. My humble suggestion would be go for a Pajero till you & I both could get the moolah for a Discovery or a Defender.

Originally Posted by abheekg

A 4x4 Sumo is on my radar till I have the moolah for the Defenders and the Landcruisers
regards,
Dr. A Ghosh

That's one helluva info.

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

the circular lines are sticky, for the prey to get caught, the radial lines are not, for the spider to walk on them.

you can touch them and see for yourself.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Excellent writeup and and photos. I too love the wildlife since my childhood. But was never intested in PICS, but now I do love photography. I hope that I will be in India soon and visiting these forests.

Well, would love to know about the macro lens used to take ant photgraphs.

[gd1418]

Don't know what brand you use. But if you are a Nikonian then, the AF Micro-NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8D or the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR or the AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D are the lenses for Macro photography.

The 105 mm gives distance between you & the subject and 1:1 reproduction. The f/2.8 gives you the low-light ability. What would I not give to lay my hands on this glass..?

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

Well, would love to know about the macro lens used to take ant photgraphs.

[ExtremeTorque]

The doc does it again! Excellent pics Abheek! 5* from me as well. So, what are you waiting for? Dont keep us lesser mortals waiting and keep them coming, cant wait to see the Leapord pics.

Arun

[fazalaliadil]

Dr. Ghosh!,
A start of a very interesting thread again. I too was out for the weekend to Srisailam, will go through extreme detail a little later and soak in the info and pics.
Keep it coming until then.
Regards,

[abhinav.s]

Oh my!! Amazing pics Dr. Just loved every shot and you do have an eye for detail when it comes to wildlife photography.

The best for me was the bug trying to escape from the rain drop and the leopard at night

Great going! Hooked onto this thread.

[schitre05]

Very Informative first post about the Melghat thanks a lot for the information
and again amazing pictures Dr. you have a great gift and an eye for detail
great macro shots.
The Tiny bug in the water drop was so Nat geo pro
cheers!!

[kaushik_s]

Lovely photographs. Liked the the black and white misty photo a lot. And that bug trying to get out of the water droplet is amazing.

[abheekg]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I see a pretty girl, and for a moment I don't think further, then I realise that babies should not look like that. That picture leaves me with tears in my eyes.

Very true. This is the other side of this heaven.
As I had informed in my first post, this visit of mine had an other angle too.
Let me try to bring out this other side too and remind you that there exists a very different lifestyle of the inhabitants in these parts beyond the eautiful photos that I have posted
I the 2 days that i was there I was able to gather the following :

All the children belong to the Korku tribals who live in this area. The three main reasons that account for malnutrition are:


1] Lack of medical facilities,
2] poverty and
3] poor infrastructure.

There are not enough doctors in Melghat
the children succumb to curable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid because there are not enough doctors in the area. There are three doctors with MBBS degrees; the rest are doctors with a BMS (Ayurveda) degree.

For a population of 200,000 tribals, there are 11 public health centres, three village health centres and one rural hospital.

The public health centre in Hathura, 120 kilometres from the district headquarters in Amravati, is without electricity or water. The hospital in Churni, about 50 km away, that was built at a cost of Rs 10 million (Rs 1 crore) has been lying shut for more than a year now. Some medical centres do not even have a building and most don't have electricity.

'Most children die in the first month itself'

Ramya with her 15-day-old-son at the Churni primary health centre. The baby was breathless with pneumonia, and just as he was to be put in an incubator, the lights went off. I witnessed this in front of me.

Some other things that I was informed about :

1] Infant mortality in Melghat is 7 times the national average

2] Large families, poor meals, scare means

3] The tribals can hunt no more

With Melghat being declared as a tiger reserve, there's a blanket ban on hunting.

4] There is no electricity in most villages, no drinking water

5] On paper there are 400 schemes for the tribals. If only the tribals knew that.

The objective of this travelogue is to showcase the beauty of this place and also bring out these realities in front of all of you.

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

the circular lines are sticky, for the prey to get caught, the radial lines are not, for the spider to walk on them.

you can touch them and see for yourself.

Thanks for this informative addition to this pic.

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Mist - looks like a watercolor painting. Great use of black & white mode

Escape!! Tiny bug trapped inside a rain drop trying to break free -
Guess a Macro lens used ? Great pic again.

The Spider and Rain Drop and the Eye of the vine snake stands out.

Originally Posted by agspins

Amazing pics Doc, I second googleman.Btw whats your weapon of choice for those superb shots.

Originally Posted by whitesquall

Couldn't stop myself from complimenting you on this travelogue since hordes of your fans like me have already done the speaking!

Another 5 start rating for sure!

Originally Posted by MohsinRoadster

Amazing pics!!! keep them coming
All of them are awsome.. the best i liked was brthers in Arm.

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Doc's weapon - canon 40d body with a wide angle macro zoom lens and telephoto

This is already mentioned on page 2

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

Excellent writeup and and photos. I too love the wildlife since my childhood. But was never intested in PICS, but now I do love photography. I hope that I will be in India soon and visiting these forests.

Well, would love to know about the macro lens used to take ant photgraphs.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Don't know what brand you use. But if you are a Nikonian then, the AF Micro-NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8D or the AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR or the AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D are the lenses for Macro photography.

The 105 mm gives distance between you & the subject and 1:1 reproduction. The f/2.8 gives you the low-light ability. What would I not give to lay my hands on this glass..?

Originally Posted by ExtremeTorque

The doc does it again! Excellent pics Abheek! 5* from me as well. So, what are you waiting for? Dont keep us lesser mortals waiting and keep them coming, cant wait to see the Leapord pics.

Arun

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Dr. Ghosh!,
A start of a very interesting thread again. I too was out for the weekend to Srisailam, will go through extreme detail a little later and soak in the info and pics.
Keep it coming until then.
Regards,

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Oh my!! Amazing pics Dr. Just loved every shot and you do have an eye for detail when it comes to wildlife photography.

The best for me was the bug trying to escape from the rain drop and the leopard at night

Great going! Hooked onto this thread.

Originally Posted by schitre05

Very Informative first post about the Melghat thanks a lot for the information
and again amazing pictures Dr. you have a great gift and an eye for detail
great macro shots.
The Tiny bug in the water drop was so Nat geo pro
cheers!!

Thanks for the wonderful comments and I am so glad that you liked my creations.

Originally Posted by gd1418

Dr. Ghosh, as always a gripping TL and amazing pictures. The vine snake with its snack was just mindblowing.

I don't think TATA makes a 4x4 Sumo, though I wish they made one. My humble suggestion would be go for a Pajero till you & I both could get the moolah for a Discovery or a Defender.

Thanks. As a matter of fact Tata does make a 4x4 sumo. One can also convert and customise a 2wd sumo to a 4wd sumo very easily [you only need to shoot a pm to Arka ]. A used Pajero is currently off my budget with my finances stuck in other projects : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...ml#post2034445


Since many of you liked the bug in the rain drop pic, here's a pic to get you a idea of the scale of that shot

Trapped - An idea of scale


And here's one more from the same series......


Another death


Another magical moment during the trek


And finally...... the ALMIGHTY

Was super lucky to have the equipment and the time to shoot this beauty.
Will tell you the story of this eerie encounter & capture at leisure.

Originally Posted by Googleman

According to me, you are the best photographer in the community.

Thank you for the kind comment but I feel that I am nowhere near the best sir. Seniors like Fazal saab, Rudra Sen, Samurai and the likes are miles ahead of me.

I will label myself as one of the most passionate though.

Originally Posted by Googleman

I have a request to not resize the pics, I wanted to download some for walpapers but the dimension is less than required.

Please upload atleast 1024*768 if possible.

One of the pics you requested.


Let me know the others that you want.
Let me know if anybody wants me to join in Tadoba over the extended weekend after Ramzaan (10th to 13th Sept) for a exclusive visit to a lively Tiger reserve with stay at Kolsa Forest rest house or in Moharli village amidst greenery and Thundershowers ? I will be doing just that !!! Howzzat ?

For references on tadoba, members are directed to these wonderful threads :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2049200

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post1731005


regards,
Dr. A Ghosh
09960332228

[maddy42]

Dr Ghosh: Beautiful pictures and for a great cause. The pace of the growth of the country is catching the tribals unaware and the worse case is that they have a house which they cannot call theirs though they have been living in that area for generations.
If only politicians stopped making photo ops at tribals houses and actually cared!

The number of hospitals for the number of people is alarming. Is this REALLY the same state where an apartment in the city which costs couple of crores is fully booked in a month?? Same state which has many noteworthy ministers in the central govt?? Need i say more on who is cared for!


Now moving over to animals i have a query which i am looking for an answer for: Why is forest dept more concerned with planting teak trees in the forests with elephant population? Should the trees be diverse and have all sorts of species and specially Bamboo? As this is one staple diet for elephants and i believe elephants hardly touch a teak tree! Is it because of the price of selling a teak tree in the market as compared to the other species?

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by abheekg

Thank you for the kind comment but I feel that I am nowhere near the best sir. Seniors like Fazal saab, Rudra Sen, Samurai and the likes are miles ahead of me.

I will label myself as one of the most passionate though.

One of the pics you requested.

Let me know the others that you want.

You are modest too but as far as the pictures I have seen in this forum, I found your's are simply the best.

I know I am asking for a lot, but put the actual size of all the high resolutions pics. All are equally beautiful and wanted.

[fazalaliadil]

Dr. Ghosh,

Awesome photography...bug in rain drop, bull frog perspective, crested eagle, dead frog, brothers in arms, misty four, colors of monsoon are the pick of the lot.

You are emerging as a Wikipedia for the central Indian forests, a great help for guys like me and many other newcomers. The info and data you share here is most invaluable and a guide to many who want to visit these places.

I will be there in all probability during Dussera vacations, need to catch up with you very soon as time lost an never be brought back, just been to Srisailam and the prey base and predator numbers here (3, 558Km2) compared to smaller reserves is extremely woeful and pathetic.

My 5 stars added to many on this thread, as this is an ocean of information pertaining to Melghat and wonderful photography.

Regards,