5 Hours with Homai Vyarawalla - The most memorable photographic experience that will remain etched in my mind !
Frankly I didn't know who Homai was until three days ago. I read an article on my tab about a 97 year old Indian lady photographer on who was showcasing her work at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore. I decided to go meet this elderly photographer, and Sunday, ended up being the most memorable day of my photographic journey till date. Undoubtedly, she would be the most inspiring person ever, to me in the photography world. Such a simple person with a great sense of humour.
I hurriedly reached the NGMA premises considering that we were the lucky 25 who were to be taken on a walk through the gallery and shown around by none other than Homai Vyarawalla herself. As I entered I saw old cameras stored in mint condition that belonged to this ace photographer. As I was looking through the cameras I heard Homai's voice in the background and she was explaining the situation under which she had shot the handing over ceremony on the 16th of August 1947 when India got its Independence from the British. There was a small group that had gathered around Homai. I luckily had enough cameras to capture footage of Homai explaining every single shot and how she shot it. It was instant love at first sight for me towards someone who I hardly knew but began to adore the just a minute ago. I have always had a reverence for the elderly, but here she was, Homai, sitting in her wheelchair full of life and speaking impeccably well in British English. Her choice of words and clarity of speech were something astounding. I just started recording. For once, I wanted to record someone simply because it meant so much to me and it was just not another recording. I was video-graphing first hand experiences of a photographer who had frozen moments in Indian history. Wait, I didn't really know much at this moment.
Every conversation would be centered around the likes of Gandhi, Nehru, Mountbatten, Patel and Jinnah. As we worked our way through there were a lot of other questions that were asked by the audience and I knelt down right next to Homai's wheelchair and recorded almost every word she said. There were some things that she said that went very deep within me. What was truly remarkable about Homai, was her instantaneous humor and witty responses, something quite surprising for someone at her age. She was way more than three times my age and stopped shooting 12 years before I was born. She stopped shooting in 1969 after a strange incident that hurt her sentiments as a photographer and she decided never to pick the camera again.
The next few videos are a summary of my next 5 hours with Homai trying to understand her work and her life back then. It's rare to see such ace work and meet in person the artist behind the work. This was truly a moment of a lifetime.
Homai, I can never forget this day !
