Kerala - Kozhikode   

Documenting images of distant lands, culture

The Pharaoh Museum in Egypt

KOZHIKODE: Courage and steely determination have taken this threesome from Kozhikode across hostile territories in Sri Lanka, Egypt and China in their journey to capture the spirit of the lands on camera.

After three years, they have a series of 10 CDs with visuals of historic monuments, pilgrimage spots, tourist destinations, cultural events, rituals and moments in the lives of the people in China, Egypt, Oman and Sri Lanka.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan released the CDs at a function in Thiruvananthapuram last month. “This is the result of our journeys in different times, spanning across three years; our dream is to make it to a lot more countries in the future,” says Abbas Panakkal, leader of the group.

The CDs titled ‘Charitraveedhi’ are packaged in a travelogue format. “It is an attempt to read the footprints of history.” The CDs contain visuals of life, culture, rituals and tourism spots such as Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka, Mount Sina and Pharaoh Museum in Egypt and different facets of the new life in China.

These youngsters, who are by profession visual media freelance workers, began their adventure in 2001 with a trip to Latur in Gujarat a week after the devastating earthquake in the State. “We were among the first Malayalis to reach the earthquake spot,” says Ajeeb, another member of the team. The team’s visuals and stills depicting the gravity of the tragedy won them appreciation.

“Then we began to dream of going overseas with our camera to bring exotic visuals to viewers back home,” says Umer, the third member of the group, which visited some West Asian counties such as the UAE a couple of years later.

What about funds for the journey? “We travel on minimum budget raised from our work and some support from friends and well-wishers,” says Abbas. They also sell the visuals to television channels.

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