Dalda 13 in focus

In ten days from now, in order to commemorate 50 golden years of the photo division, a Media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, we shall witness India’s first National Photo awards.

Amongst the four prestigious recipients for the,’ Lifetime achievement award’is India’s first lady photojournalist, Homai Vyarawalla – aka Dalda 13,a nickname that came from her year of birth, the age at which she met her husband and the number plate of her vehicle in Delhi-DLD 13.

Vyarawalla was born in Navsari on the 9th of December,1913.Her father was a Parsi stage artist with a traveling theatre company ;at a very young age her siblings and she were packed off to Mumbai for higher education.

There have been many moments in this eminent and photogenic photographer’s life, which would tell a story of their own, had she been photographed then, one wonders –

Like how it felt to be the only girl in her class and one who went on to pass matriculation.

Like what was the scene like when she first met Maneckshaw –her husband to be at a railway station?

Like what did she paint during her course at the Sir J J School of Arts?

Like what was the experience like while learning photography and processing the pictures in the dark room.

Like how did she look when she took her first pictures independently, those of the women’s club of Sir J J School of Arts, at a picnic party to the Amarnath temple?

Like what was the look on her face, when she looked at those pictures published full page, in the Bombay Chronicles.

Like how it felt to be the only woman in her field and being paid Re.1 (a big thing) in those days.

Like how she felt sharing the Rolliflex camera with her husband, as they together covered the Mumbai of the 30’s, Hospitals, festivals, beggars, cottage industries, et al.

Like how she looked ,with her practical saree and becoming hair-do, while shooting pictures as a free lancer for The Illustrated Weekly of India, when the war came on.

Like how she was perceived in Lutyen’s Delhi of the 1940’s and 50’s as she bicycled around the town which was then safe for women even at 1 a.m.

Like how she sounded when she instructed all her colleague gentlemen to behave and have ‘no hanky-panky or unnecessary smiling that could be misconstrued.’

Like what was the look on her face when she taught fellow photographers to be ‘propah’, dressed in closed collar shirts and trousers and shoes because theirs was then a respectable profession.

Like how did she react, when they nicknamed her ‘Mummy ‘; out of love and respect.

Like how she and Maneckshaw looked while sharing their plate of food (lifelong) and other responsibilities in life as a 50-50 partnership.

Like the eager expression on her face as awaited her mother in law’s signal, from the terrace across her place of work, when it was time to feed her infant.

Like how it felt to spend a night at the Kurukshetra mela,a petite Parsi armed with a large format speed graphic camera that had a composite wood ,steel and aluminum chassis and weighed more than 6 pounds.

Like how she moved around with joy and child like simplicity in the innermost core of political circles.

Like what was she looking for when she always waited even after events for an out of the ordinary shot, at times perched on a table or stack of crates?

Like how she could behave like a thorough professional and not get carried away in spite of clicking the top politicians and India’s most important historical moments.

Like how she gave up clicking after being disillusioned at the sights that changed with the times after a career that spanned from the 1930’s to the 1970’s.

Like how she looks in her new roles as those of being a carpenter, gardener, tailor, plumber, cobbler, barber, gourmet cook in order to lead the independent lifestyle she has always led.

Yes, there have been many moments so far, in the life of Homai Vyarawalla, which would have made fabulous, precious photographs. One such moment will be on the 19th of August.

Though she hates being in front of the camera, this young lady will be bringing as much as dignity to the front of lens focus, as she brought from behind it.