Launching his Chartered Cost Consultancy at the age of 23, Gautam says he grew the business into a multi-million dollar enterprise by the age of 35. Yet despite that achievement and the comforts it afforded, some yearning drove him beyond the confines of the boardroom. He then says he wanted to see the world beyond luxury homes and gated communities.
Giving an insight into his life and what led him to publishing his first book, here's what he shared with us:
"On the surface it seemed I had everything, but something important was missing and work was becoming intolerable. Thinking my mid-life crisis had arrived early, I went on a spending spree, buying super cars, a yacht, a beach club and real estate - things I thought would fill the void I felt. None of these, however, seemed to bring me any real pleasure. I was burnt out and dreamed about retiring, leaving it all behind, and at one point even went to Dharamsala to become a monk.
I told my family I needed a break and took a 3-month backpacking trip through China. That cleared my mind for a time, but I dreaded going back to the grind. Yet just as that familiar frustration was mounting again, I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, India.
This was the largest gathering of people on the planet, and thus an ideal place to photograph my favourite subject - human beings. Many of the people I captured with my camera wanted to see how their portraits turned out, and while I could show them the digital shots on my camera, I felt a bit selfish that all my images would return home with me. As many of my subjects had no access to email or social media, I felt a sense of taking these photographs, without giving anything back in return.
That's when the idea of carrying a small portable printer hit me. The setting up of the printer, connecting and then printing afforded me more time to get to know the people I was photographing. The experience of photography for me had changed from whether or not my photograph was composed perfectly or had the perfect lighting or not, to actually enjoying the whole experience from the conversation during and after taking the photograph, to the pleasure of seeing their happiness when they received a print of their photo. I started "pictureforapicture" as a means of giving something back to the people I photographed.
This continuing project has given me the opportunity to meet some remarkable people from the furthest corners of India, tribes in Africa, nomads in Iran, reindeer herders in Siberia, and so on and on. These people, no matter how poor, have shown me extraordinary hospitality, inviting me into their lives, their stories and even their homes, offering me shelter, food and friendship. They have shown me that giving needn't mean sharing just resources, but also emotion, kindness and just basic curiosity about the rest of our human family. Wanting to further share this transformative experience, I collected some of my best images and published them in "pictureforapicture". I hope my book inspires other photographers to give back, and in so doing, enrich their own lives and art.
The success and fulfillment of this adventure led my wife and me to found our charity - the Kara Foundation (#kara_foundation), which thus far has funded education and healthcare projects in India and Nepal. I still run my company, but that work feels infused now with new purpose and energy, a means to expand the reach and impact of the Kara Foundation.
Life for me now is more fully realized. It is centered around experience and connections with people, not possessions and wealth, and I feel at last that sense of peace that had long eluded me.
