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By:

Dr. Abhilash Dawre

19 March 2025 at 10:48:41 pm

A tiny scorpion, a giant achievement

Badlapur’s Sitaram Raul wins global photography honour Badlapur: A photograph capturing a scorpion digging into desert sand to create a shelter has earned Badlapur-based wildlife photographer Sitaram Dinkar Raul international recognition. Raul won the ‘Invertebrate Behaviour’ category at the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition, organised by London’s Natural History Museum. He was honoured at a ceremony in London on October 13, where he also delivered his...

A tiny scorpion, a giant achievement

Badlapur’s Sitaram Raul wins global photography honour Badlapur: A photograph capturing a scorpion digging into desert sand to create a shelter has earned Badlapur-based wildlife photographer Sitaram Dinkar Raul international recognition. Raul won the ‘Invertebrate Behaviour’ category at the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 competition, organised by London’s Natural History Museum. He was honoured at a ceremony in London on October 13, where he also delivered his acceptance speech in Marathi, taking his mother tongue to an international platform. The competition received more than 65,000 photographs from 121 countries. Raul’s achievement came through a photograph of a Buthacus species scorpion digging into the sand to create a shelter in the Rajasthan desert. Raul’s journey began in Badlapur in 2012, when his involvement in wildlife rescue operations gradually developed into a passion for photography. While rescuing wild animals and releasing them into their natural habitats, he felt the need to document these encounters through photographs. This prompted him to take up photography, which eventually became a dedicated pursuit. As his interest in wildlife photography grew, Raul began studying the work of established photographers to understand international photography techniques and the finer details of capturing an effective image. He focused on identifying mistakes in his own work and improving his skills through consistent practice. He had been following the Natural History Museum’s international competition for several years. After gaining confidence in his work over the preceding five years, he decided to participate. However, his primary objective was not simply to win an award, but to have his photographs displayed at the prestigious competition and viewed by people across the world. The photograph that brought Raul international recognition was captured during a visit to the Rajasthan desert, where he had gone to photograph the stars. While setting up his camera, he spotted a Buthacus species scorpion in the light of a torch. The scorpion was digging into the sand to create a shelter. Capturing the scorpion’s behaviour clearly proved challenging. Although his initial photographs were turning out well, they did not adequately convey the action he wanted to document. Raul then experimented with an off-camera flash, adjusted the direction of the light and tried different techniques. After several attempts, he successfully captured the moment when the scorpion was digging into the sand. The photograph eventually won him the international award. Raul also credits artist Suresh Bhosale with playing an important role in his artistic development. According to Raul, Bhosale taught him painting, which significantly benefited his fine-art photography. Studying painting helped him develop a different perspective when observing a scene, improve his observation skills and cultivate an interest in art history. He said these skills proved valuable in his photographic work. His experience with macro photography, the use of different types of flashes in forest settings and experimentation with lighting also contributed to his development. His journey reinforced the importance of combining technical skills with a thorough understanding of the subject and careful observation of wildlife behaviour. Raul expressed gratitude to his parents for their support and acknowledged the encouragement he received from his friends in Badlapur. He also described Bhosale as his mentor, crediting him with helping shape his artistic vision. Beyond the award-winning photograph, Raul’s decision to deliver his acceptance speech in Marathi became a distinctive moment in his journey. While studying previous award ceremonies, he observed that many photographers delivered their speeches in English. He decided that if he ever reached the international stage, he would give prominence to his own language. At the award ceremony in London, Raul fulfilled that intention by expressing his thoughts in Marathi. His decision allowed him to celebrate his achievement while preserving the identity and pride associated with his mother tongue. Raul’s success marks a significant milestone in a journey that began with wildlife rescue operations in Badlapur in 2012. What started as an effort to document wildlife encounters eventually led him to victory in an international photography competition. From observing a scorpion in the Rajasthan desert to receiving an honour in London, his journey reflects his dedication to wildlife photography, patience, artistic development and commitment to his craft. By choosing to speak in Marathi on the international stage, he also maintained a strong connection to his roots.

When Growth Confuses Markets

Writer: Divyaa Advaani 
Divyaa Advaani 
May 16
3 min read

In business, growth is often associated with expansion. As companies evolve, founders naturally begin exploring additional services, new verticals, and complementary offerings that can strengthen revenue and create larger opportunities. From a business standpoint, this progression appears logical. The entrepreneur sees the connection clearly because the new service often emerges directly from existing expertise.


However, markets do not always interpret expansion the way founders expect them to.


Recently, during a conversation with an entrepreneur, this reality became particularly evident. She explained that despite putting significant effort into growing her business and introducing additional services connected to her current work, she was struggling to attract clients for these newer offerings. What surprised her most was not the lack of effort being made, but the lack of understanding from the market itself.


People were becoming uncertain. Existing clients no longer clearly understood what exactly she should now be known for. And in business, the moment perception becomes unclear, trust begins weakening faster than most founders realise. The services were related, the value proposition made sense internally, and from her perspective the transition felt natural. Yet externally, the audience struggled to clearly understand what exactly she now represented. Existing clients knew her for one thing, while her newer positioning was attempting to communicate something broader.


This is becoming increasingly common among founders and business owners operating at substantial levels of turnover.


At earlier stages of business, growth is often driven by activity. More services, more offerings, and more visibility appear to create momentum. But as businesses scale, particularly beyond the ₹5 crore mark, perception begins playing a far more significant role in determining growth.


The challenge is not always capability. Very often, the challenge is clarity.


Many entrepreneurs underestimate how quickly confusion weakens trust. Audiences today process information rapidly and make judgments even faster. They do not spend long periods trying to decode a founder’s positioning. The moment the messaging feels inconsistent or overly broad, attention begins to drift elsewhere.


This creates a hidden business problem that many founders fail to recognise immediately.


The entrepreneur continues investing more effort. More meetings are scheduled, more marketing is executed, more content is created, and more explanations are repeatedly given to the market. Yet despite all this activity, conversions remain inconsistent because the underlying issue has not been addressed.


The market does not clearly understand where to place the individual. This is where personal branding becomes a business necessity rather than a visibility exercise.


A strong personal brand creates strategic clarity. It allows people to immediately understand not only what an entrepreneur does, but why the additional services make sense within the larger


identity of the founder and the business itself. Without this alignment, even valuable offerings begin to feel disconnected. Over time, this confusion creates broader consequences.


Opportunities become slower to materialise. Referrals reduce because people struggle to explain the business clearly to others. Premium positioning weakens because clarity is directly connected to authority. In many cases, founders begin questioning their marketing strategies when the actual issue lies in how their positioning is being perceived.


This becomes particularly dangerous in today’s environment where visibility is abundant but attention is limited.


The founders who continue to grow are rarely the ones trying to communicate everything simultaneously. They are the ones who build a clear identity first and then strategically expand around it. Their audience understands not only what they currently offer, but also why future offerings naturally belong within their ecosystem.


This distinction changes everything. Because in business, people rarely buy what confuses them. They buy what they can quickly understand and confidently trust.


For founders and business owners who feel they are putting in increasing effort yet still struggling to position newer services effectively, this may be an important moment for reflection. Sometimes the issue is not the quality of the offering, but the clarity of the perception surrounding it. I work with a select group of founders and entrepreneurs to help them identify these positioning gaps, refine how they are perceived in the market, and build personal brands that create stronger authority, trust, and business growth. Those who wish to explore this further may book a complimentary 30-minute Founder Brand Audit here: https://calendly.com/divyaaadvaani/founder-brand-audit


In the end, businesses rarely lose only because of weak services. Increasingly, they lose because the market understands someone else faster. In a world overwhelmed by options, clarity is no longer just a branding advantage. It is becoming one of the strongest competitive advantages a founder can build.


(The author is a personal branding expert. She has clients from 14+ countries.

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