When Dalda 13 shot political heavyweights

The grand old dame of photography returns to the city with some great sepia toned shots of every important Indian moment

The grand old dame of photography returns to the city with some great sepia toned shots of every important Indian moment

She was born in 1913, was married at the age of thirteen and the license plate of her first car read DLD 13. Dalda 13, as Homai Vyarawalla came to be known in professional circles, was toting a massive camera on her saree-draped shoulder at a time when women were mostly relegated to the kitchen.

Pandit Nehru poses next to a No Photography board

Photographs that were taken by Homai, India's first woman photojournalist, are currently on display as part of an exhibition, Homai Vyarawalla: A Retrospective, curated by Vyarawalla's biographer Sabeena Gadihoke.

Organised by The National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, the show features her photographs of everyday life in the Bombay of the 1940s and leisure in Delhi in the 1950s and 1960.

The great value of her work lies in photographs that archive the nation in its infancy documenting both, the euphoria of independence as well as disappointment with its undelivered promises.

Also on display are the 97 year-old legend's old cameras, photographic equipment and other memorabilia.u00a0
Sabeena's association with Homai Vyarawalla spans a decade, right from the time the Delhi-based filmmaker worked on a film titled, 3 Women and A Camera.

She has also written India in Focus: Camera Chronicles of Homai Vyarawalla, a book on the photographer. "Films can never capture the details a book can. And I didn't feel a film was sufficient to tell her story," says Sabeena in a telephone interview from her Delhi apartment.

The associate professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University kept returning to meet Vyarawalla, now 97, over the next few months, using the time to record the life of the lady who, back in 1938, was India's only professional woman photojournalist. "When the Parzor Foundation was looking for someone to write about Homai, I was a natural choice."

That Vyarawalla is a Parsi had a lot to do with how her destiny panned out, Gadihoke believes. "It was uncommon for a woman in a sari to be out there in the public realm -- especially in Delhi -- photographing politicos during the day, and dropping by at gymkhanas and theatre performances at night."

Age is just a number
Describing Vyarawalla as "full of life," Gadihoke says she is far from conventional women her age. "She cooks and cleans, and is fond of gardening. The last time we met, we made a trip to a nursery because she wanted to buy select plants."

Vyarawalla's decision to hand over her collection of photographs to the Alkazi Foundation stemmed from a confidence in an organisation that would maintain her prints and negatives and allow public access to historically significant photographs.

Rahaab Allana, curator of the Alkazi Foundation, says his personal favourite is a picture of Jawaharlal Nehru seated in front of a screen, "which somehow shows a compassionate side of his character." Allana says the collection will be employed "to pursue research documentation and create public access to the largest collection of vintage photographs."

Homai's favourites
Speaking of the photographs that feature in the Mapin-Parzor Foundation publication dated 2006, Gadihoke reveals that two of Homai's favourites were clicked in 1954, when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was waiting at Palam airport for sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit to arrive from Moscow.

"When he spotted her on the tarmac, he walked up to her and embraced her. Here, of course, was the picture of our Prime Minister receiving the ambassador to the Soviet Union... but here also, was a picture of a brother giving his sister a warm hug."

The other favourite was taken just before the diplomat's arrival. "Nehruji was very camera-friendly," says Gadihoke, "and he posed near a sign that said photography was prohibited. Homai clicked it, and they both knew it would make for a great picture."

Pulling Ho Chi Minh's beard
"Homai had a close, almost personal relationship with her subjects," Gadihoke reveals. And although press photographers were allowed to get a lot closer to public figures than other people, Vyarawalla respected their privacy.

Until recently, Gadihoke shares, "Homai refused to display a picture of Nehruji, Rajendra Prasad and Vietnamese statesman Ho Chi Minh, because the angle of the shot made it appear like Nehruji was tugging Ho Chi Minh's beard."u00a0

NGMA is also organising a series of walks, talks and films to celebrate Vyarawalla's collectionu00a0u00a0

Docent Walk
Playwright and poet Mamta Sagar will be conducting a walk in Kannada through the gallery and discussing Homai Vyarawalla's photography.
On May 14, 11 am

Three Women And a Camera
Watch Sabeena Gadihoke's film on Homai Vyarawalla.
On May 15, 11.30 am