Chasing the Rain: 50 Years of Living in the Clouds

Running from 13-18 October 9am – 5pm, and 5pm and 7:30pm on 18 October.

Starting with precarious looking home-made hangliders and microlights (that looked like they had lawn mower engines duck taped to the front) Deepak Mahajan began flying at 19 in Mumbai, circling the megacity and going on to explore the mountain ranges of India.

What started as a slightly eccentric hobby became a lifelong passion, and one he now shares with fellow aviation enthusiasts and future generations of pilots.

Deepak began teaching in 1989 and moved to the UK in 1993, swapping the foothills, forests and snows of the Himalayas for the concrete canyons of Croydon, and has since upgraded from lawn mower engines to carbon fibre modernity.

Having spent half a century with his head in the clouds, Deepak has had the privilege of exploring the globe from a unique vantage point. To celebrate his 70th birthday, we’ve put together an exhibition of some of those views, taken by Deepak, whilst chasing the rain.