Skip to main content

The years are short, the days are long





THE brothers Jodha — Samar and Vijay — embarked on a project more than four years ago. Finally, on October 1, the "Day of the Aged", the results were there for all to see — an image text based exhibition entitled, "Ageless Mind and Spirit — Faces and Voices from the World of India's Elderly".
Through evocative black and white images, Samar had zoomed in on the world of India's elderly, while Vijay had provided the poignant and insightful text.

Old people are not the most popular, the most romantic or the most coveted muses photographers choose to capture. However, for Samar there was something inimitable, unique, and timeless about them. The lens can be harsh and objective, yet it is through the photographer's sensitive eye that the pictures became imbued with restrained emotion.
India's senior citizens are becoming a forgotten segment of the population, especially at a time when traditional family structures are gradually being eroded and the gap between generations is increasing.
Each photograph, of the 40 subjects had an accompanying tale — the story of the subject and how each one felt about being old. Poignant, touching, and sometimes even distressing were these unique tales. What was really interesting were the first person accounts. Says Ameen Sayani, whose magical voice captivated India's millions of radio listeners in the 1960s and 1970s with the "Binaca Geetmala", "I think one must not use the word `elderly' but `elder'. Anyone who is elder and is more experienced has a lot to give. I feel that ageing has to do with one's frame of mind, apart, of course, from the physical condition. In both mind and body, it is not necessary that use and productivity be always linked with age." The individuals featured in the exhibition and in the book were from across the board — well known celebrities of yester years like the actress Nadira, the actor Jagdish Raj, painters B.C. Sanyal, Paritosh Sen, Akbar Padamsee, politician scholar Karan Singh, the legendary beauty and the perfect photographer's muse Maharani Gayatri Devi, to the last devadasi, Shashimoni Mahari.
The bold and the beautiful always draw attention and have their own enticing quality ....

But what was equally enthralling were the little known, and not so powerful, voices which turned the exhibition and the book from being a mere voyeuristic delight into a thought provoking enterprise — Ram Swarup, a refugee, Bhuggo, a domestic maid, the octogenarian sisters, Gujari and Banthi, who apparently were "bad characters", even though infirm.
While Samar S. Jodha is an internationally reputed photographer, his brother Vijay S. Jodha has been a writer and researcher in numerous film and multimedia projects. Together they have always made a formidable team.


Popular posts from this blog

Love, Sex and Adultery in Ancient Egypt

Women had more freedom than their counter parts in Mesopotamia, for instance, but never as much as Paris Hilton and pals. Egyptians married young, very young indeed, and, in royal families, between themselves. Childbirth was dangerous but encouraged in ancient Egypt - prosperity was a goal for everyone and that included having a big family. The love and sex lives of the Egyptians were as complicated as they are today. Turin's famous Erotic Papyrus assures us that the Egyptians were sexually adventurous, with a penchant for naked belly-dancing, and collections of love poetry from the Amarna era reveal that they were also big romantics. According to Angelina Jolie in recent news “fidelity is not essential in her relationship with Brad Pitt”, but adultery is one of the oldest reasons for divorce, death and depression - the 3 D’s - and in ancient Egypt as in most of the modern world, women often still file for divorce on the grounds of adulte...

Sample of Rajasthan architecture

GLITTERING LIKE A JEWEL: Sri Sankeshwar Paraswanath temple. Photos: S. Siva Saravanan Sri Sankeshwar Paraswanath temple, in R. S. Puram, Coimbatore, is a magnificent specimen of Rajasthan's intricate architecture. Dedicated to Sri Sankeshwar, the 23rd teerthankara, this 25-year old temple is a well-known Jain pilgrim centre. Acharya Vikram Suriswarji performed the `Anjan Shalaka Pran Pratishta' (Kumbhabhishekam) of this temple in 1981. He was the inspiration behind the Coimbatore Jain Swetambar Murthipujak Sangh which has sponsored this temple. The temple has three garbhagrahas — Sri Sankeshwar (at the centre), flanked by Sri Shanthinath and Sri Mahavir. Separate niches There are also separate niches for Sri Munishwar, Sri Adinath and Sri Sumathinath. This temple, situated on the busy Ponnurangam road, glitters like a jewel. All people, irrespective of their faith, are welcome inside. However it is expected that only vegetarians enter the precincts. The temple, built on the li...

Born poor, now self-made billionaires - Ed Liddy

Ed Liddy, former chief executive officer of American International Group (AIG ) had to face lot of hardships before he rose to great heights. Ed Liddy's father died when he was just 12 years old. According to a BusinessWeek report, he had a poverty-stricken childhood. Liddy graduated from Catholic University of America in 1968 and received a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University in 1972. He worked with Ford Motor before joining G D Searle & Co in 1981. The 63-year old Liddy earned about $130 million during his eight-year tenure at Allstate. In the wake of the financial crisis, Ed Liddy came to rescue the ailing AIG, worked for a salary of $1. But the act turned disastrous when the company handed out employee bonuses totally $165 million after it had accepted $170 billion in government bailout funds. This forced him to quit AIG.