A much needed vacation

Work at MSR is getting more interesting - from reading optimization-related research to learning about how AI is being used to tackle Climate Change when I'm not coding, I was feeling slightly burnt out. But then, we had a vacation! Microsoft Research graciously accommodated and arranged for all the Research Fellows'(RFs) here at Microsoft Research India to take a trip to Shillong! This was very timely since I barely getting time to hangout personally with the incredibly talented RFs and RSDEs, so this trip is where I was looking forward to knowing more about everyone I've met in the last couple of months since office has opened up and have fun with them!

I also wanted to give a shot at photography because I've been looking to learn more about it and wanted to understand what my instincts looked like. Here are a couple of photographs and videos I've shot on my iPhone XR (Spoiler: I'm a complete newbie, open to feedback and lessons).

We first visited the Umiam Lake straight out of the airport after a decent lunch in between Guwahati and Shillong. The view was breathtaking

Umiam Lake

Lake Umiam from lake level

Day 2 is when we visited the cleanest village in Asia: Mawlynnong and the adjacent Single Root Bridge. We also pit stopped at a bunch of viewpoints, one of them is captured right below.

Clouds close to the hills here - this picture doesn't do the view any justice

Day 3 was Caves and Waterfalls' day. We visited the Elephanta caves, just caught a glimpse of the Seven Sisters' Falls but couldn't go anywhere close by because of the low visibility

Seven sisters' falls
This is something out of a gameplay. Extremely foggy/cloudy
Light at the end of the cave
Vaibhav Balloli

Vaibhav Balloli

Ph.D. student at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI, USA