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With three decades of travel and over two lakh ‘shots’ of the peaceful kind behind him, the click-happy colonel has documented each Indian state extensively and now has a treasure trove of travel-related slides and pictures, writes Saikat Neogi HIS shots command attention. Which should hardly raise any eyebrows as he is the Commanding Officer of an armoured corp battalion of the Indian Army. But his target is not just the enemy. He is a crack shot, and has also made his mark in the artistic world.
With three decades of travel, and over two lakh shots of the peaceful kind behind him, the click-happy colonel has documented each Indian state extensively, and is now sitting on a treasure trove of travel-related slides and pictures. A selection of Col Singh’s enlargements of Ladakh were on display at a Delhi gallery recently. Heartened at the overwhelming response to his debut show, the Colonel has decided to mount the same exhibition in other cities as well. |
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| A keen amateur photographer since his
school days, Col Singh has been an ardent trekker and
wildlife enthusiast. He has travelled extensively in
India covering places like Khajuraho, Goa, Mizoram, the
Thar Desert, Jammu & Kashmir, specially Ladakh. The colonel’s love affair with Ladakh blossomed in 1989 when he was posted there. After taking command of the battalion, he went on to explore the magnificent landscape and interact with villagers to get a first hand impression of the region. "I mingled a lot with the local people who narrated interesting anecdotes and guided me to some of the most photogenic areas of the region," says Col Singh.
"Ten years ago when I saw him for the first time, he was doing intricate gold inlay on a brass tumbler for the king of Bhutan. Later I visited him several times, and found him doing inlay work on brass and copper for many heads of states and government," reminisces Col Singh. Interestingly, in the same village lies a small lake called Isokar. It is the breeding ground for migratory birds who come here during the summer, and when the offsprings are old enough they go back to their respective destinations. Col Singh has taken some stunning shots of these birds. He has also captured interesting pictures of nomads rearing wool. Both Col Singh and his wife make an interesting pair. While Singh loves shooting, wife Reena does the research. They have published an authoritative book on Ladakh, that has some exotic pictures of the region with an interesting account of Ladakhi life. "We just fell in love with the place, and will cherish its memories to the very end. The warmth and hospitality showered by the Ladakhis is unforgetable", he says. Singh has had the good fortune of witnessing and photographing from a distance a Kalchakra ceremony which the Dalai Lama organised. It was the occasion when Hollywood star Richard Gere and 25 other celebrities were initiated to Bhuddhism by His Holiness personally. Some of Col Singh’s best pictures are titled She World. These are eye-catching snaps of women of the region — with their families, friends or with children. On a sabbatical for two years, he wants to utilise his time on a new coffee-table book on Rajasthan. "I have spoken to a few publishers, and they were all very encouraging about the project," says Singh confident that the book would be an exhaustive picture presentation of Rajasthan.— NF |
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Move over, drooly-eyed civilian
photographers. Shooting from the lens with his Asahi
Pentax 400, Colonel Darshan Jit Singh is out to conquer
pictorial India.
He also
came across many interesting people some of them in their
late nineties and still going strong. The man who left an
indelible impression on his mind and his camera’s
lens was the 95-year-old Memelele of Chilling village
— the only surviving craftsman from a Gharana whose
ten generations have been engaged in making utensils for
the erstwhile royal families.