Oct
14
My second book, Peep Peep Don’t Sleep, just came out and I am pleased to share this news with you.
It is a collection of funny road signs and ads I have been collecting on Indian highways over the past one year, with a bit of my own commentary thrown in. It is a high quality picture book, printed in all colour on 170 gsm art paper. It came off the press only two days back.
You can check it out for images and sample chapters at http://ajayjain.com/peep-peep-dont-sleep. Links to order the book can also be found here.
Happy to receive any orders for the same. 
Do feel free to ping me at ajay@ajayjain.com or +91.99100 44476 for more info.
Oct
8
Whenever I get a promotional mail from German Tourism, I can’t help feeling a little amused and irritated at the same time. On the one hand they are trying hard to attract tourists to their country, and on the other hand they are the most painful embassy in western Europe to get a visa from.
For one, they love to call you again and again - to submit papers, for interviews etc etc. And then expect you to have everything in order including air tickets, hotel bookings, insurance, itinerary etc. First question: Why do they need me to have an air ticket? Once I get a visa, won’t I buy one anyway? Or if I decide to swim all the way, does it matter to them? And then, why should I book a hotel? Surely they will not let me sleep on the streets there. Once I have paid for these, and my visa application is rejected, won’t it all be such a waste? And I may want to stay in hotels I cannot book in advance - like small ones and hostels who take in walk ins only? Only the more expensive hotels have online bookings. Even when the smaller ones do, I would rather see the state they are in before booking it. Credit to USA and UK who do not ask for these. Read more
Aug
18
Muslims marrying Buddhists in Ladakh can only mean violence
Filed Under Travel, Social Issues | Leave a Comment
According to a senior and responsible army officer posted at the Siachen glacier, a point of conflict between India and Pakistan, the town of Leh in Ladakh sees the local residents getting violent twice a year on average. The issue: When a Muslim decides to, or already has, marry a Buddhist.
And this sentiment was echoed in many parts of Ladakh. In the town of Padum in the Zanskar Valley, a young student named Ghulam Ali Baig told me Muslim – Buddhist marriages are virtually unheard of. When couples do decide to go in for such inter-religion marriages, their only option it to quietly run away to another place like Leh or Jammu where no one knows them. The only mixed couple living in Padum are Ghulam’s own grandparents: his grandfather is Muslim. But that was many years ago when society was more moderate according to him. Read more
Jul
5
India Travel Photo Contest
Filed Under Travel | 2 Comments
India is a photographer’s delight with its natural features, wildlife, flora, people, cultures and festivals providing more fodder for a shutterbug’s creativity than one can chew.
So why not take out your camera, or dig out your stock, and participate in Kunzum.com’s travel photography competition? Bring out the spirit of a place, or its people, its flora and fauna, or things you may have done in India through photographs for a chance to win a professional LCD monitor from Viewsonic, or holidays from Banjara Camps? Read more
May
21
If you are not aware already, I also publish a blog based on my travels in India called Kunzum. I am on the road most of the time, covering the length and breadth of India creating content for this blog as well as for some planned travelogues. I invite you check out my experiences on Kunzum.com, and even join me on any of my trips. The blog if full of the written word, photographs and videos.
And if you have anecdotes, pictures and videos of the kind I have on Kunzum, I would be happy to consider them for publishing on the blog.
Aug
4
Tabo, the village of cavemen and Lamas
Filed Under Travel, Featured Posts | 3 Comments
Click here to see photos taken at Tabo
Once upon a time, there was a small Himalayan village located 3,050 metres above sea level. In the Lahaul-Spiti valley, mostly a cold desert region. Populated by only a few ‘souls’, their homes being caves found on a mountain face of the village. Living at close quarters were some Lamas practicing their faith in what is the oldest continually functioning Buddhist establishment in India. Going back to as far back as 996 A.D.
