Bikram Saluja

FRIENDSHIPS

Ending the year by spending time with my friends from the past… In this journey of mine I have traversed through various worlds - from tennis to modelling, ads & fashion to theatre to films to books to documentaries… So luckily I have friends from different spheres of life whose friendship I cherish a lot… No matter where you are in life or to which heights it takes us one should always hold onto your friendships and friends with whom you go back a long time… They are the ones who smoothen the bumps of the trials & tribulations of life… Have a great 2024 to all out here!

CAMOUFLAGED

In wars & battles not just victory and defeat are scripted but also stories of resilience, perseverance, loss and triumph of human spirit… Unfortunately barring a few stories, majority of them get forgotten in the cacophony as well as chaos of war and lost forever… one great endeavour that brings some of these incredible stories to life is a book titled ‘Camouflaged’ by Probal DasGupta … Probal was my senior from our school, Daly College in Indore, and he had mentioned the idea of this book to me, which is his 2nd one after the hugely successful and riveting tale of India’s forgotten victory over the Chinese in 1967… Am really happy to see him realise this gem of a book and also happy to be present when it was released some days back… At the launch event, hearing Wing Commander Sunith Soares narrate their squadron’s story from the 1971 Indo-Pak war, which has been encapsulated in the book, about shooting down 3 Pakistani fighter jets in a dogfight that lasted 3 minutes which seemed like a lifetime brought that moment alive for the audience and took us back in time… was an absolute honour to meet one of the ‘Top Guns From Boyra’… Congrats Probal and like you mentioned in your autographed copy of your book to me - Heres 🥂 ‘to more stories’!!! Onwards and upwards buddy…🙌

| | Juggernaut Books

WE THE PEOPLE

This is one of the most disturbing and demoralizing piece of news I have read in a while… What sort of nation’s representatives reward people who fought for the freedom of the country and put their life, all their land and belongings as well as their family on the line against the British rule like this… it’s a disgrace of the system, of the people governing us - the politicians irrespective of belonging to any party, whether Bjp, Congress or any other party, the administration and the administrators as well as the bureaucrats… All have failed to create an India that the freedom fighters fought for, dreamt about and envisaged, one that is just, fair and humane… And more than them being accountable it is us as people who have failed our country ‘cause we have let morally corrupted people rule us and handed power to them time and time again, gotten swayed and lured for our own gains, prejudices and beliefs as well as intoxicated by the scent of religion that has been sprayed around us by them and let them get away with wrongs of extreme proportions and not thrown them out of office and shown them who actually holds the key to the seat of power that they have come to believe that they are entitled to… Against all
odds and extreme sacrifices our forefathers and mothers booted the white sahibs out of our land but in due course of time we have let our very own become sahibs, take over their position and rule us with zero accountability, a rule far worse than any cold blooded Maharaja’s or even for that sake worse than the Britishers’ era… In reality for getting our country to the state it is in where the conscience of the ruling class is dead it is we the people who have to take the blame and it is we the people who have been the actual bane of our country…!




News Article Credit - NewsClick.in

Wish leaders, politicians, army generals, defence personnels, spys & spy agencies of both Pakistan & India take a leaf out of the conduct of these two champion athletes Neeraj Chopra Arshad Nadeem Olympian … Inspite of being fierce competitors on the field they still have managed to forge a friendship & camaraderie… A lesson that the establishments and powers that be of both the nations need to learn… Congrats to both of them for scripting historic wins for their countries at the World Athletics Championships.

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

In our lives there comes a time when we get immersed in the labyrinth of layers from where it becomes a challenge to come out unscathed… The only way to emerge out of it is to keep focused on your journey and keep putting in the work day in and day out… That’s what I am doing to get out of the labyrinth of web that I have managed to weave myself into and paving a way to come out of the shadows and into the light… you do the same if you are ever caught in it…

Brigadier Khushal Thakur, YSM

One constant feedback out here on I have received from a lot of people is to smile in my pictures rather than being my intense brooding self… guess they will be glad to see this mood of mine thanks to Sunalika Sinha who clicked these pictures and brought out my peppy side… I vividly remember meeting Sunalika for the first time on the shoot for Shahab Durazi way back in 1995 or ‘96… From gracing the ramp and making a mark there she’s moved onto being behind the camera and working her magic as a photographer… As far as I am concerned, for close to a decade or so have been practically living a life of a nomad, chasing stories and travelling to the far ends of our country for my documentary series so having a stubble or a beard became like second nature… Sunalika wanted a very clean cut fresh look so this is one rare occasion I shaved after a long time to fit the part… Hope my smile is infectious enough to make you all smile 🙂


Pictures: Sunalika Sinha
Clothes From Personal Wardrobe
Jacket: Hugo BOSS | Watch: Ulysse Nardin | Shirt: Zodiac Clothing |Trouser: ZARA