A photo blog providing a quick distraction in the form of six images from the files at www.timbirdphotography.com

I’m taking the opportunity in this Six Picks to announce the launch of an exciting new venture, Bird’s Eye Photo Tours, which I am planning in cooperation with Intrepid Travel. The first adventure sets off in April 2016 to the state of Assam in north-east India. Initial details of the tour itinerary are listed at Bird’s Eye Photo Tours  – I’ll be adding to these later – and if after reading this you’re interested in joining our compact group of eight photo enthusiasts, just send me an email at timothy.bird@kolumbus.fi or contact me using the comment form below and I’ll tell you more. You need an adventurous spirit, an interest in and basic competence in the basics of photography, and a willingness to accept and embrace India’s special culture shocks. Here are some highlights to whet your appetite:

• the colourful Bihu festival celebrations
• the hidden side of Dibrugarh’s temples
• meeting the residents of the world’s largest river island, Majuli
• capturing images of colourful local tribes
• seeking the one-horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park
• sunrise from river boats in Nameri National Park

I passed through a small part of Assam once on the way to the mountain state of Sikkim, but I didn’t spend enough time there to do much photography. But as my compact but loyal readership will know, I am a regular visitor to India. So in this issue of Six Picks I’m taking the opportunity to delve into the archives and share some previously unseen shots from Indian adventures hinting at the limitless diversity of cultures and geography that this extraordinary country contains. Here goes:

The ceremony of closing of the border with Pakistan near Amritsar has become a tourist attraction. The soldiers are staring towards Pakistan, where a similarly flamboyant guard contingent is staring back at them.

A bather in the Ganges at sunrise on the main day of the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival at Allahabad.

Rope for sale at the Sabai grass market in Odissa.

Goat herder – and goats – in the Rajasthan countryside near Jodhpur.

Sufi worshippers at the Nizamuddin Dargah or shrine in Delhi, my favourite place in the Indian capital

Fishing boat at sunrise at Pondicherry, the one-time French colony on the south-east coast.

OK, I’m feeling generous, so here’s a seventh, bonus shot of the spring Holi festival in Delhi. I needed a bodyguard to stop the guys throwing paint on my camera. My camera came out of the ordeal safely – I was covered in paint myself.

I realized this is just the tip of the iceberg of my Indian archives so I’ll be doing this again! If you enjoyed dropping in, please do follow the blog and tweet, twerp and google, goggle, share and like!

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