Sep
24
Kunzum Gallery now has a bricks and mortar presence in Delhi’s fashion district of Hauz Khas Village.
The gallery is currently displaying a collection of Ajay Jain’s travel photographs from Ladakh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Prices start from a modest Rs. 750 and go up to Rs. 25,000 for select limited edition prints. If you are planning any festive gifting, or want to add something to your home or office, check out the gallery for many attractive options. You can even preview the collection here.
Address: T-49, GF, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi 110 016, India
Timings: Monday - Saturday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Call +91.99100 44476 / +91.9650 702 777 for further information, directions or to visit at hours other than mentioned above.
May
23
Interview with His Holiness, the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa
Filed Under Social Issues, Travel | 2 Comments
It is not very often that one gets an opportunity to meet someone of the stature of His Holiness, the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the 800 year old Drukpa lineage. I did for an exclusive one-on-one chat on the eve of his pad yatra from Manali to Leh starting on May 23, 2009. Click here to know more about it.
The Drukpa Lineage follows the Mahayana Buddhist tradition in philosophy, i.e. the philosophy of “getting enlightened for the benefit of others†and the methods are based on the Tantrayana teachings passed down from the great Indian saint Naropa, who was born in 1016 in a West Bengal royal family. The Drukpa Lineage is one of the main Buddhist schools throughout the Himalayas including Bhutan, Tibet, China, Nepal and India, with four to five million students. The most revered monastery in Ladakh, the Hemis Monastery, comes under the Drukpa school. Click here to read more about the lineage.
Click here to read the interview on my travel blog, Kunzum.
Jan
18
Peep Peep Don’t Sleep gets publicity in Hindustan Times, Outlook Traveller and more
Filed Under Travel | Leave a Comment
My latest book on funny road signs, Peep Peep Don’t Sleep, seems to have managed a fair amount of publicity for itself in leading media in the country since its launch two months back. Besides others, it got a real shot in the arm with a half page in the Hindustan Times and a full page in Outlook Traveller. To see all the coverage, click here. For easy access, I have also given a few key links here:
PRINT MEDIA
The Hindustan Times: The best publicity one could ask for: A half page piece in the Sunday edition of the most read newspaper in New Delhi, the capital of India. It does not get bigger than this in the country.
Outlook Traveller: The #1 travel magazine in India
DNA (Daily News and Analysis): A leading newspaper in Mumbai
Metro Now: A popular tabloid in New Delhi
Asian Age: A half page piece in another popular newspaper in India
Better Photography magazine
Indian Express: The newspaper is an institution in itself
ONLINE MEDIA
At Home, Writing Blog by Bhaswati Ghosh
Tshema Blog
Oct
14
Peep Peep Don’t Sleep: My second book is out
Filed Under Travel | 4 Comments
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
31
Is Muslim population growth in Ladakh a part of a plan?
Filed Under Social Issues, Travel | 6 Comments
A major concern of the Buddhist Ladakhis is the population increase by Muslims in Ladakh, where the latter are in a minority, as part of a plan to disrupt the existing demographic patterns. If true, the consequences could be socio-economic as well as political in nature.
And for those indulging in such practices, the law helps them too: in India, polygamy for Muslims is allowed but not for other communities. As a result, large Muslim families are not a surprise with each wife bearing more than a couple of children. The Buddhists feel Muslims are spreading their influence in the mostly Buddhist areas of Ladakh by consciously having many more children – some men have been said to father over 20 – and buying property. The Buddhists believe the money to buy such property and support football team size families comes from the rich benefactors in the Middle East. Read more
Aug
18
Muslims marrying Buddhists in Ladakh can only mean violence
Filed Under Social Issues, Travel | 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 | 4 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
Travel with me on Kunzum.com
Filed Under Travel | 3 Comments
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 Featured Posts, Travel | 5 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.
