I grew up surrounded by books.Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and (even Khushwant Singh) were my idols.Not Ansal Adams, Edward Weston or Henri Cartier-Bresson.I discovered photography as a journalist.While covering fascinating assignments that only journalism can provide, I found that no matter how succinctly I wrote, a picture was always worth more than a thousand words.

Now photography is not only a profession but a way of life.I believe photography makes one more aware, more total, more alive and more sensitive to ones surroundings.It makes one see more colours in the rainbow, more texture in the sand and more ripples in the tide.It teaches one to observe more.To understand more.To celebrate more and to document the phenomenon of life without judgement or prejudice.

Therefore, I try not to stereotype anything.I am not interested in taking pretty pictures but in pictures that have meaning.I don't like to stereotype women as a certain body-type, a particular measurement of the waist- reducing them to a statistic that is at best a western notion suited best to western women.I like to shoot women as they are in India and as they have existed down the centuries- unapologetically full-bodied and far from the curse of anorexia.

When I shoot Indian people and places I don't want to sell exotica or kitsch.The pictures of Naga Babas with pierced testicles or the pictures of one-legged beggars at traffic-lights are out unless there are also pictures of the Indian IT revolution and the swashbuckling IIM graduates.

I believe photography like all art-forms is liberating and all inclusive so I don't restrict myself to doing a particular type of photography.I am as happy shooting people in my studio as I am excited about shooting animals in a forest.I am as enthusiastic about showcasing a wizened and wrinkled old woman as I am about a lissom, twenty something beauty.The majesty of the snow--capped mountains inspires me as much as the heat , dust and noise in city streets.