I've tried to come up with the most memorable imagesI've grown up with in this city of ours. It is of course a personal selection and given my background I found it hard to separate the city from the photographers and from myself. But something like a structure did emerge:there's the people who rule us, there's us, the landscape of the city, and there's me.
The most memorable of all these images is the Cartier-Bresson. It's also the only oneI've selected that's older than I am-- though I did meet 'Chacha' Nehru once. Arguably the least wicked and most visionary of those who have ruled us. But this picture is not about governance. Bresson is reading a lot into the threesome andit's very funny.
I can't think of a picture that captures a person in the city more strikingly than RaghuRai's famous image of Old Delhi at dusk. This is such an Ah Moment. It's thevela. Everyone teases Raghu about it, but this kind of frame-- the scape and theindividual-- is his forte.
The next picture reminds me of going to the Republic Day parade with my parents. In those days it was never about the weapons, it was about Indiashining-- in a sweeter way. I love Raghu Rai's 'backstage' shot, which captures the old character of Republic Day and humanises the uniforms as well.
The third picture by Raghu captures another, very different individual-- the most powerful human being, for the longest time, for people of my generation. For me this image comes closest to what Delhi means in terms of power and running things.
Then there's us. I don't think Prashant Panjiar's picture of three citizens asleep can fail to touch you. Not much difference between anyone whenwe're asleep.
The next three images relate to events in the city that disturbed me deeply--that went against the grain of what we thought we were. The first, Raveendran's photograph of Rajiv Goswami aflame at the AIIMS crossing is disturbing, and disturbingly comic. The expression on thelad's face is a grimace of disbelief. I wonder if he knew what he was doing. The next picture is GurinderOsan's shot of AIIMS students during Mandal II and there's nothing incongruous in the frame. This is about the strength of the disagreement.
The third picture is from an earlier and uglier rupture in this city's fabric. I remember driving around with a friend on an autumn day in 1984 when we realised there was trouble. This is a very simple image by Prashant but the composition and the expressions tell me so much about this time.
Of course there's peace and quiet in the city too. Among my favourite photographs from my own portfolio is the portrait I took of my father sitting by our front door during a power cut in summer. My father is a simple man and an ordinarycitizen-- I like to think I'm a lot like him. And here he is staring at the news of the world which stares back at him while his spiritual background (and his son) lurk behind him.
Ravi Aggarwal and I spotted our first 'official' bird together on the banks of the Yamuna in April 1985. It was a yellow wagtail. His photograph of the same riverbank is a very sad picture. An invitation to sit down and see whatwe've done to the river. It just makes me feel guilty.
For some reason the last picture here, by Ravi Pasricha, reminds me of the first. Perhapsit's the contrast between the ease of power in Bresson's picture and the obvious ghabrahat of the pedestrian in Pasricha's. Ravi used to ride home to Hanuman Road from Statfotos on Asaf Ali Road with his camera arm hanging out and shooting instinctively. Unfortunatelyhe's never published this work but it's great-- just ordinary people trying to get through the day.
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This article and the photoessay originally appeared in Outlook Delhi CityLimits, April 2007
