When I visited Bhutan – a small neighbouring country I did not have much knowledge about – it was still not charging Indian passport holders a daily fee. I was lucky, as I was often told by people, because they had to pay a per day (yes, per day) fee of USD 200 or 250 depending on the season.

During my short time in Bhutan, I spent three nights at a farm house in Paro, got invited to join Buddhist monks for a lunch, visited some interesting places, and ate some delicious food. Bhutan also turned out to be an interesting country for one my favourite activities: People watching.

I love to observe people busy in their daily life. Whenever I travel to a new place, I visit different places like local markets where I can observe people. I usually pick a corner and spend my time observing locals as they engage in different activities. Markets, temples, streets, countryside, parks etc. are some usual places I prefer to visit to observe people.

Most interesting people I met in Bhutan were at Buddhist temples. Children, young adults, elders — everyone regularly visit temples to pray. Most elders visit these temples almost everyday. Watching them circumambulating a temple is something I can never get tired of. At every temple I visited in Bhutan, I saw elders in groups who would pray together, then sit down and get busy with their chitchat.

My photography skills at this time were nearly non-existent. But the urge to click whatever I could was already having its moment and this album is the result. The album exists to remind me of my early days of photography.

Year: 2017