Gujjar Family

On my recent trek in the Kullu district of the Himalays, I had an honour and good fortune of visiting a Gujjar family. Gujjars lead a nomadic lifestyle and also inhabit parts of the scenic himalayas, besides staying in other parts of North India. They migrate to higher altitude in the summers and lower reaches during winters. For more information on the Gujjars check out this link on Wikipedia.

STORY: I was on a trek in the Kullu district of the Himalays with another friend from Delhi when it started raining very hard, which is very much expected when you trek in the monsoon season. We were lucky to find one solitary hut on big meadow. The hut belonged to a Gujjar family that was very kind. They not only give us shelter in thier hut but they also cooked some excellent organic delicacies and and gave us fresh buffalo milk. I was very overwhelmed and deeply touched by the hospitality that this family showered upon us. We continued our trek when it stopped raining after four hours. I took many photos of this family and printing them and sending back the photos is the least that I can do.

PHOTOGENIC: I would consider this girl as the most photogenic gujjar person I photographed on my trip to India.

THE POSE: This dude was hard to photograph, I guess his pose gives a good idea about how moody he was. I was pretty happy with some of the portraits that he gave me.

THE MOTHER: Mother of the family.

THE KIDS: Children of the family, watch out the stare of thier mother over the shoulder of the girls.

THE FAMILY: The whole family huddled together around the fire for cooking food.

CURIOSITY: Curious children looking at thier photos on the LCD of my camera.

THE MILK: Yes this is me, relishing the super hot fresh buffalo milk.