Unspoken, Understood

Saluting the national flag

Jawai has become one of my favourite places to photograph leopards—raw, beautiful, and still untamed in many ways. After a satisfying week in the wild, I left the resort around 5 a.m. yesterday to head back to Bangalore. The road to Udaipur airport winds through a string of sleepy villages, slowly waking to the day.

Somewhere near Sadri, I noticed a boy by the roadside, holding out Indian flags. That’s when it hit me—it was August 15th. I had completely forgotten. I bought a flag from him, a modest one, thinking I’d hoist it at our construction site when I got back. It felt like the right thing to do.

But by the time I landed in Udaipur and checked my phone, I realised someone had already done it.

Our construction manager had taken the initiative. He’d wrapped white tape around a stick to make a flagpole, used sand to write “75th Independence Day; We Love India,” and placed a few wildflowers at the base. They’d even arranged a round of simple refreshments for the workers.

A break for some refreshments

I smiled reading the message. What mattered wasn’t the flag itself, but the shared instinct to pause, to mark the day, to honour something bigger than any one of us.

Moments like these remind me that we’re building more than just a home. We’re shaping a place where care, thoughtfulness, and community matter. And sometimes, someone else picks up your thought before you’ve spoken it—and quietly makes it real.

...Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication

... Alert ! Landslide !!!