Ullal was awarded Germany's highest honour for civilians, Das Verdienstkreuz (President's Medal) for his service in the field of humanity last month. During his 30-year career with Stern, Germany's socio-political magazine, Ullal's pictures, which touched millions worldwide, have been an invaluable medium of awareness. They have also helped the needy and fostered cultural exchange between countries.

Photojournalism is often considered the most glamorous aspect of the fourth estate. One look at Ullal's work, and you spot the other side. Children wielding weapons in Iraq and Lebanon, ravaged widows in Kuwait, remnants of Beirutmassacre, the pain of hunger in the eyes of malnourished Ethiopian children, gory testimonies of female infanticide in India -- no aspect of the ugly life has escaped his lens.

Ullal started his career in 1957 with The Times Of India, where he worked in the photofeature unit. "After five years, I wanted to know why the team's other two members were making more money than me, though I put in an equal amount of work. I was told it was because I hadn't been abroad. So I went to London on a free study tour, and then to Germany." Once there, he contacted many magazines, looking to stay on. He was finally told by Gruner and Jahr group that he could work for their fashion weekly Constanze. "Upon the reassurance that I could move to Stern, a sister concern, later, I joined. I did lifestyle pieces on people like Brigette Bardot, Sophia Loren and King Hussein. When Stern had a vacancy, I didn't want to give up four features a month at Constanze for less at Stern. I declined,"he says.

1969 saw Ullal moving to Stern. From here, he went on to cover wars - India-China, India-Pakistan, Israel-Arab, Israel-Lebanon, Iraq-Iran, Iraq-US, Bosnia, in between covering natural calamities as well.

"War is a terrible thing. It takes lives of innocents who are not involved. I have no sympathy for soldiers, because they know what they're doing. But people who pay... the world has a right to know what ethnic differences do to them," he says.

He speaks of his experiences in Bangladesh, where he sneaked into the camp holding widows and children of suspected spies. "People had a right to know how they were suffering," he says. The pictures he got out of there created a global sensation.

In 1971, he was at Koregaon Park, Pune, attending the discourse of Rajneesh. There, too, cameras were not allowed. "But when Rajneesh spoke about forging ahead, not letting obstacles stop you, I did just that. He was pleased with my attitude, and let me take pictures inside the ashram," saysUllal.

He's the only photographer in the world who has pictures of the inside view at Osho's Commune. Two days later, photography was prohibited: the diktat still stands.

Ullal has also lived through a kidnapping: he was picked by bandits when he went to do a photofeature on the only existing tribe of Stone Age people in Tasaday (near Philippines). "They treated us so badly, I wanted to die,'' he reminisces. But he was back with a fantastic photofeature.

From here to Death Row in Zaire, Ethnic Cleansing at Nicaragua and Sarajevo, the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Miss Universe School at Venezuela, and more recently, the Surat Plague, there seems to be nothing Ullal hasn't seen and shown. He himself has no ideology. "I just want to show the world what's happening. A photojournalist can't have any leanings," he believes.

With Stern, he found the freedom to express himself. "We publish everything," he says, proudly. "We're not afraid. When we did a feature on child marriages in India, there was trouble," he says.

But when has that ever stopped an intrepid photographer?