Nidhuna’s journey from God’s Own Country Keralam to the godly Devprayag in Uttarakhand and Chakwali in Northwestern Kashmir was a pilgrimage to the unknown. Chakwali, 190 km from Srinagar, is the last inhabited village in India’s northwest. 
She was driven by a passion ignited in her school days when she got her first camera-an early SLR Yashika. Her first shots were either blurred or silhouettes. By the time she became a teen, she had perfected it to be a sharp shooter.  

Devprayag, Uttarakhand

And by 2022 at the age of 30, she was the proud owner of a Canon R6, a camera with all professional touches.  But she had to earn it in the hard way, selling her gold jewellery to raise Rs. 1.5 lac for it. Of late she spent another 1.8 lac to upgrade her lens and another 63,000 for a handy Insta360 X5 camera stick. 

Knitting their life, Harshil Valley, Uttarakhand 

As soon as she reached Uppal, a suburb of Hyderabad where her husband was employed, she started her own YouTube channel to explore her creativity through experimental videos. She hired a camera team and enlisted budding models at no cost. She covered weddings and conducted photoshoots for clothing brands. She went on to create ad campaigns for major brands including Kirtilal Diamonds, Josalukkas and Joyalukkas.

 Sandeep Bedi and family, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Marrying her teen age crush Prabeesh, an engineer with the American machinery company Caterpillar, was a turning point in her career.  She got better opportunities when Prabeesh was transferred from Hyderabad to Bangalore. She worked for  two Kannada films and for the third she was invited to accompany a film crew to work as a still photographer in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. 
For the first time she flew by Indigo to land in Dehradun, but there was no one to receive her. Luckily, thanks to a fellow passenger Sandeep Bedi, she got a lift to the town centre in his chauffeur-driven Mercedes.

Boys at a loggers’ shed in Tulail, Kashmir

Bedi, a passionate photographer, turned out to be a successful entrepreneur with airport projects, etc. She visited his home in Dehradun. The entire family welcomed her with warmth and treated her as a family member.  Sandeep’s secretary Anamika remains her best friend in Dehradun. 

Too small to be a mother, Tulail, Kashmir

The misfortune is that her first film never saw the light of the day. She did not get any remuneration except for a one-way air ticket. 
And yet this was a good opening. She was invited for various projects. During breaks she made it a point to visit Uttarakhand’s unknown green treasure troves. From Dehradun she trekked to Dhanaulti, Auli, and Rishikesh to end up in Devprayag, where River Alakananda meets the milky-white Bhagirathi to eventually join River Ganga.

On the lap of Himalayas, Tulail, Kashmir

Nidhuna recalls Ocha, a mega musical event organised by Saina Entertainments, Kochi as a great opportunity for her on a larger scale. She shot American Rapper Rajkumari and her troupe. Actor Abhinav Raj invited her to do photo shoots for his blockbuster film Amaran.  Actor Sooraj Sun, a compatriot from Kannur, became a close friend. He snapped the best pic of hers for her family album.   
A big break came when Prabeesh was promoted in Caterpillar to a cushy post with a handsome pay packet. He offered to celebrate it with a tour of a few rare locations in Kashmir. They selected Chakwali, also known as Tulail, in the remote Gurez Valley, 190 km northwest of Srinagar. 

 Bullock as a tiller, Tulail, Kashmir

The journey from Dawar, the last town of Gurez Valley on a rough dirt road with jutting rocks and streams to cross, was a breathtaking experience. Sitting on the lap of the Himalayas, its snow-capped cliffs hissing cold breeze was totally uncanny. Nomadic shepherds offered them hot tea with rich milk from their herds of sheep. 

Stay in house boats on the Dal Lake and wooden shacks on their way and hot and spicy mutton curry they were offered added to their palate.

A herd of sheep, Tulail, Kashmir
 
When I talked to Nidhuna on August 19, 2026, it was the World Photography Day.  She was on a beach in Kannur, close to her birth place of Kannavam, with Prabeesh in toe carrying their four-year old Ryan Pranidh on his shoulder. 

Dal Lake, Srinagar, Kashmir

Then they visited Kadalundi, his home village, well known as a bird sanctuary on the Arabian Sea. The last time I called her, she was at her uncle’s place in Kozhikode. They they went to Kappad beach where Portuguese mariner Vasco da Gama landed in 1498 to begin 500 years of India occupation.

Wedding bells for Sunag with siter Suganya on his side, Tumkur, Karnataka 

She returned to Bangalore via Nanjangud where her parents Malappilayi Chandran and Lakshmi were running Sri Lakshmi Bakery for 35 years.  On the last lap to Bangalore, they attended the wedding of Sunag Sankar Bharadwaj, an advocate friend in Tumkur. A greater attraction was meeting his sister Sugamya Sankar, one of her earliest models who is now a busy cine artist in Tamil and Kannada films. 

 A soiree on the Arabian Sea shore, Kadalundi, Kerala

 Prabeesh, Ryan, Nidhuna for the family album by Suraj Sun, Kochi, Kerala

Maps-Nidhuna’s trail from Dehradun to Tulail, Kashmir