Awards are rewards that are most often not monetary, but complimentary. They are a vote of confidence. It’s a great feeling when you know that there are people out there who believe in what you do.

The first image that gave me a leg up was ‘Shelter’ which won the Ballantine’s International Award for excellence in 1994 (U.K.). ‘Stairway to Heaven’ won an honourable mention at the International Photography Awards, 2003 (U.S.A.). In 2007, ‘Unbottled’ won a prize in the Epson Imaging Contest. In 2008, three of my images won honourable mentions in the international Px3 contest on the subject ‘The Human Condition’ (France).

In 2000, one of my fine art images, ‘Synergy’ was selected for ‘Ignite Your Senses’, a compilation of the work of 65 artists from South East Asia, published by the reputed Swire Group of Hong Kong.

Since my first solo show in 1994 at the Piramal gallery, NCPA, Mumbai, I’ve participated in several shows in my home city of Mumbai, in New Delhi and in Venice at the 2006 La Biennale di Venezia, along with the annual Exhibit-A exhibition.

In June 2003, I took part in a month-long exhibition called ‘Frame of Mind’ at the Ashish Balram Nagpal Gallery. Interestingly, this was perhaps the first photography-based show in India hosted by a reputed art gallery. Also a ‘first’ was the introduction of posters at the event that were designed to disseminate information on the various criteria required for a fine art print.