It’s Over at Hargun’s! #3

Sat Sri Akal!

I welcome you all to this terrific third episode of ‘It’s over at Hargun’s!’ OAH started as an idea I had in my initial days at wordpress, when I used to be amazed and inspired by the works of my talented and very creative fellow bloggers. I would have loved to meet them in flesh and blood, but since that was not possible- I thought why not call them over at my blog and get to know them more! Since then there’s no looking back and here I am with my ‘photogenic’ third episode. As I disclosed in my previous ‘pulling up the covers’ post, today’s guest blogger likes to roam and take us to those marvelous places at the comfort of our homes, just like his tag line- ‘Let’s Go for a Photo Walk!’.

If you haven’t guessed it still- them let me unravel the mystery. Its none other than Mr. Jithin S. aka TraBlogger with a lovely photoblog titled PhoTrablogger. 

Jithin hails from Kerala, an incredible state known as god’s own country.

A self learned photographer, he loves to travel and  share those travel stories with us  through his photographs. He has recently authored a book titled ‘Journey is My Path’ which is releasing this September. He also loves to collect Bucket lists, aspiring to make it into one of the biggest of its kind. Interesting, isn’t it? And yes, I totally forgot about his Canon EOS 1100 which he says is his most prized possession; his loyal companion on all journeys 😉

I Think that should be an ample introduction ,now let’s get on with the chit-chat!

Hi Mr Jithin! I welcome you at Living The Dream. I really marvel at how you have had a chance to appreciate many great and some of those little known places of our incredible India like the serene Kundadri hills. In your view,  how is India like at heart? Do you feel there is any common thread  which runs in all these places?

I haven’t even travelled half of India. But I can tell that India is amazingly vibrant and definitely diverse. Each an every state in India has so much to offer. There are thousands of less explored, less touristy places worth visiting all over India. The most interesting thing is the changes one feels when travelling from one place to another. Language and landscape, clothes and cultures, weather and vegetation, almost everything changes from place to place. But still its all part of India and  we all are Indians. Once you travel across India, you will understand how amazing this country is and what some of the medias are projecting about India is not entirely true.

Yes, I have to agree with that. Media can project a thing in a way which is different from what is inside. Moreover, I too think exploring a different culture and environment in one’s own homeland is quite amazing. And when I think of travelling, I can never forget the incident when a monkey came out of nowhere, snatched my aunt’s handbag and ran off at a amazing speed, leading to rib tickling race to catch the mischievous monkey and get the precious handbag back ;P

I think in all your adventures,You too must have experienced some moments you can never forget – some fun filled , hilarious or spine chilling memories which makes traveling all the more beautiful and exciting . Tell us more about them.

If you ask any traveler, what was the most amazing experience felt while travelling, most of them would reply. It was the kindness offered to them by some random strangers. So there were many occasions I was at the receiving end of random acts of kindness by strangers while travelling. Those experiences felt amazing. Once a guy hosted me at his place and trusted me with the house key. Those kind of kindness during travelling will always be in my mind.  There are other interesting travel memories too. Some of them have found a place in my book with a tinge of fiction to it.

Ah yes, that brings us to your debut novel. So is it inspired by real life incidents?

Yes, such a thing happened 😀

The book is a fiction basically. But definitely some of the events are inspired by real life incidents. Mostly  they are inspired by some of my travel memories and the lives and people I have come across. But the task for you is to decide what all incidents were real and what all were fiction. I have tried to make it as believable as I could. But that doesn’t mean that everything in the story did really happen. After all it is a fiction. 😉

Hence  proved that travelling does make one a story teller! I would love to know more  about your book writing journey, from the Idea to bringing it down on paper and publishing it. How much time frame did you devote for the same?

Trust me, It was not at all a planned journey. The book writing journey started out of an impulse, like many other things in my life. The clichéd idea of a confused soul finding purpose in life came to my mind and I could connect it with my recent travels. And as I have already written about most of the travels in my blog, I could weave those ideas into my story pretty quickly. So the whole process of writing the first draft didn’t take too much time. As traditional publishing was out of question for a first time so called author like me, I decided to do everything by myself. But I was lucky enough to find a few blogger friends to help me with editing the draft. As I chose the self publishing route, getting published on Amazon didn’t take too long. Kindle edition will be out by Sep 1st. Paperback will follow soon. So altogether it took around 5 months.

Wow! That’s inspring for a person like me. I too think of authoring a book ‘one day’ 😛 Now I know the context  in which  you  agreed with my experience of realizing that some big things need patience and perseverance. Apart from this, what are your biggest learning experiences or surprises in the course of writing and publishing process of your debut novel?

Yes, you were getting back to one of your gifts. Like drawing, writing also needs patience. My patience level are less when it comes to doing things. I wanted to finish writing the book and publish it as soon as possible. I did my part. I finished writing the book. And I had no clue how to get it published. Then the truth was unfolded that, to get it published by any publishing house, one has to wait endlessly. And there were other road blocks too. Also I had to read, re-read and re-read the drafts. I was so impatient to do that. But gradually I understood the truth and worked with patience to edit and re-edit, upload and re-upload and do a lot of other modifications, finally to come up with the finished book.  So I learned from my experience that no book was not written a day.

Ditto with the patience levels! 😉 But you gave some useful insights here. Indeed, no book is written in a day! But what about photography? Were you interested the camera and its functionality since childhood?

I cant quite pin point when it happened. But it was NOT right from the childhood. I was kind of afraid to use a camera in my childhood. Nobody wanted to spoil a roll of film doing Mundane Monday challenge 😉 So I stayed away from camera that time.  Somewhere along the way I was lucky enough to operate couple of digital cameras for a few times. Then I was interested. Then after long wait I got my mobile phone camera which became my first and favourite camera. And when I could save enough money to buy a DSLR, I bought one. From that point onwards Photography really happened. Its been around 3 years since I am using my first proper camera.

Why don’t you share with us one of your earliest clicks with your prized possession?

This is one of my earlier clicks from my first proper camera.It also depicts how I learned to take photographs.  What do you think?

And it happened to be the 79th picture 😀

 It couldn’t be better. I like how you bring out the beauty in a mundane paper pad and a pen. I guess, now I know where the mundane Monday idea originated from!

Its really inspiring to know how you self learned this skill of photography, how you ‘quit your job’ to pursue your true calling- travelling around the world. And now your big day awaits you with your debut novel release on its way . In all this, Did you ever imagine that one day you’ll be invited as a guest at ‘Over at Hargun’s’? :p

I am feeling like a pseudo celebrity right now 😉 Thank you for inviting me for a blog interview. Probably the first interview I have ever enjoyed. I wish all the job interviews were like this 😉

For a long time I wasn’t expecting anyone to call me for an interview. As I haven’t send you my resume, I wasn’t really expecting one. But it was a pleasant surprise when I saw your mail.

I’m glad you enjoyed this. It’s a great feeling when a guest likes what I do and appreciates my efforts. Sensing the smile I bring on someone’s face really makes my day! And I thank you to for accepting to be a part of this event. It was pleasure working  with you on this.

Now my loyal folks, I thank you to for  accompanying us till the end . Its time to pack up. But don’t worry I’ll be back next month- same time – same place, with a new guest to introduce to you. Till then, stay tuned – keep blogging!

Hasta la vista!

PS: Many congratulations to dear Archita and Prakash! You both hit the nail right on the head with your correct guess. But I think, Jithin’s mischief did work in confusing you both to some extent 😛

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