To get a crazy shot, you got to be crazy enough!

Rains always make me do crazy things. And almost every time I do something out of the box, I regret it eventually; especially whenever I come back home n realize that I have yet again managed to mess up my expensive lens. But I am a crazy guy n like crazy people, Rizwan Sikander for instance. He is humble, courteous, talented yet absolutely crazy!

He ended up at my place saying, “I want a unique picture”. Now, I have heard that before a million times. I asked how mad you can go and the look on his face said it all. We reached Versova beach (Mumbai). It was raining mildly yet the sea was in its full glory and the way waves would hit the rocks n the splash at times rise almost 15 feet, it would scare any man. Rizwan n me both hesitated a second. Was it worth the risk, standing on a rock with the angry ocean on your back side, at the peak of the monsoon period? But , I must say this guy has courage, probably that’s the reason he has always won all the reality shows he has participated in, including Fear Factor India '06 on Sony TV n created history by being the only finalist n eventually winning it!

I asked him if he would stand on the rock, appearing to be peaceful, while the waves rose behind him almost covering him. I warned about the risk of falling off n hurting him on the small sharp edges of the rocks beneath. That was my duty as a photographer. Before I had finished, he took off his shirt n was up on the rock in seconds. It must have taken some 20 shots, n for him as many hits from behind, before we got this one perfect shot!
He fell off the rock twice, cutting himself mildly below the knee. And my camera was all wet, and it was almost impossible to shoot anymore because of all the moisture it had absorbed.

But whenever I look at his picture and the peaceful expressions on his face, the powerful wave rising behind him some fifteen feet, I feel good! It always tells me, how one should be in life, in the face of danger---peaceful…courageous …! This picture has the great attitude of a winner.

That’s the spirit of Mumbai and I absolutely love this pic n Rizwan for making it possible.