Prayagraj: I have been a news photographer for 25 years.  Every year, there is a new challenge, such as Lok Sabha elections, assembly elections, the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, festivals, national level concerns, the Ayodhya Ram Mandir, and so on.  I’ve written about them extensively.  I shall never forget two coverages: the Praan Pratishtha of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj.  The Praan Pratishtha at Ayodhya, Lord Ram’s birthplace, drew the attention of people all over the world.  I was given the opportunity to cover it because of some destiny from my past existence.

I stayed there for a month, capturing that historic event with my camera and feeling it from the bottom of my heart.  There could have been only 7 or 8 photographers on the temple grounds; I was one of them.  When Praan Pratishtha began, the entire premises became devotional with the sound of bells, conches, and mantra chanting, and the shower of flowers from the helicopter in the sky brought tears to the people’s eyes.  I was lost in two minutes, and my colleague asked where I was so we could perform a picture shoot.  The second event is the Prayagraj Mahakumbh Mela in 2025.  Though I have covered several Kumbh Melas in Prayagraj. Along with this, I have also covered Kumbh Mela at four places in the world, but this time’s Mahakumbh Mela was amazing and unimaginable. So many people came bearing all kinds of hardships, but after taking a bath in the Sangam, they felt as if their life had been successful. As a press photographer, I covered many such places which I probably would have never been able to reach. Be it the earthquake in Nepal or working with the Army, Air Force and Navy.