The exhibition on view till April 28 at Lalit Kala Academy features photographs of three women photojournalists — Renuka Puri of Indian Express, Sipra Das of India Today and Sarvesh, a freelancer — besides Ushaha’s own works. Usha is here on an invitation by ‘Sanskriti Pratishthaan’, a Public Charitable Trust in Delhi, which is a forum for artistes, writers and scholars established in 1979.

Surprisingly, excluding a few striking photographs by Sarvesh, the exhibition fails to impress the visitors due to the lack of telling pictures. For example, most of the photographs by Renuka Puri depict her assignment work, featuring celebrities like Aishwarya Rai, former Miss India Annie Thomas with her tiny-tot, Pandit Ravi Shankar with his daughter Anoushka, Arundhati Roy as she comes out of the Tihar Jail etc. Meanwhile, 45-year-old Sipra Das’ photographs show women voters. The show also has Sarvesh’s Government of India awarded photographs on Kargil war, the scenic dawn and women in different parts of India on show.

Usha’s own camera captures a few scenes from Delhi Haat and families at Nepal. These photojournalists tell one how difficult it is to prove themselves in the male-dominated society that includes the establishments they work with and that does not ‘assign’ them work worth their talent and equal to their male counterparts. They are assigned to click only the ‘softer and glittery side of life’.

However, Usha tells you a different reason for such a lacklustre exhibition. “Most photojournalists in India take photography as only a technical qualification for earning their bread and butter. They don’t understand their social, political and moral responsibility as a professional photographer. I went to many women photographers in Delhi and told them my three criteria of selecting photographs for the exhibition: viz the frame and composition, the importance for their news content but that are not technically sound and pictures that are weighty technically but not newsy. But, surprisingly none of them could understand my criteria and I had to fix my criteria according to their photographs,” she says.

Usha also finds that photographers in India are “highly disorganised and socially and politically illiterate”. She recalls, “I went to one photojournalist of an established news magazine who gave me her picture covering a demonstration by women. I asked her what the demonstration was all about. She could not tell me. She just shot a woman shouting slogans and came back to the office!” Usha observes that Indian women photojournalists unnecessarily use the wide angle and flash while clicking the pictures that mostly disturb the image though it provides them a broad canvas. She also finds it embarrassing when people visiting the exhibition find the displays uninspiring but still take the same in their stride because, after all, they are by ‘women photographers’!

She also questions the responsibility of newspapers and magazines that prefer more to show a political leader speaking than a picture depicting the plight of the people. She gives an example. “Recently I saw Mrs Sonia Gandhi addressing a communal harmony rally in Delhi. I was amazed to see all photographers pulling, pushing and climbing on each other to capture her in their lenses. I did not shoot her but those who were clicking her, their feet, hands and lenses. She asks: “Why does a picture of an opposition leader replace photographs of Gujarat massacre here?”

Usha, who is the winner of PANOS fellowships, primarily works on topics like students in politics in South-East Asia, women’s identity in public life, peoples’ initiative in democratic rights in Nepal’s etc. She has also worked on special assignments on investigative photojournalism on women-related issues.

“I don’t take pictures that have no aesthetic, social or political value even for a great price. If I am asked to take a picture of a nude woman just for picture’s sake, I won’t take it as I know it is not socially acceptable. I won’t work for a great brand of soft drink that is fast replacing coconut water. I feel bad when I witness small Coca Cola or Pepsi units outside every office or auditorium replacing the poor coconut water sellers. I always prefer clicking the plight of such people suffering because of the unnecessary privatisation,” says this investigative photojournalist of 30 summers whose ‘Pictures from Nepal’ exhibited at Helsinki, Finland in 2000, was a huge success. Usha does not want to join any newspaper for she “cannot give her copyright to them or ask for permission to publish a photograph”. Because of the amount of travel she has to undertake for the cause of substance photography, Usha virtually runs into financial scarcity.

Despite her photographs being published in innumerable magazines and newspapers including ‘Asmita’, ‘Mulayankan’ and ‘Himal South Asian’, she is a restless soul. “Since my photographs are not regularly published, I can’t convey my feelings.” She finds it extremely challenging to create awareness amongst photographers, especially women. Yet she has made the beginning by starting ‘Sangya’, a visual media centre in Nepal, which caters to all that relates to photography, viz research, workshop, lab, technical assistance etc. Europe, Germany and South East Asia have already offered financial assistance for this soon-to-be-registered centre.

The Freedom Day Concert of South Africa at Taj Palace was not just a musical evening. It also symbolised “a feeling of freedom” of Letta Mbulu, 50-year-old popular singer who flew from South Africa to India to be a part of this concert.

Letta, who charmed receptive audience singing popular music from South Africa on the occasion had come a long way from the label ‘Lazy Vagrants’ imposed on her by Apartheid policies several years ago.

A member of the prestigious Union of South African Artistes, Letta became the apple of all eyes in her nation when she became the youngest member of the famous African Jazz and Variety Company in the early seventies.

Soon Letta learnt traditional folk music, Brazillian Bossanova and American Jazz and blues.

An integral part of the all-African production’s hit musical called ‘King Kong’, which toured England after a successful two-year run in South Africa, made Letta more popular yet unacceptable in a white-dominated South Africa. However, her first major engagement in America at the famous Village Gate in New York also proved to be her first milestone in the musical career in the early seventies.

Her musical talent was recognised and she was invited to tour with the late ‘Alto Sexophone Virtuoso’, Julian ‘Connanball’ Adderly and his quintet. She also joined the then incomparable Harry Belafonte as his “leading lady” — an association that proved to be the most rewarding in her career.

Letta later performed in Africa, Europe, America, Caribbean Islands and at a lot many other places.

In 1975, she was also invited by Quincy Jones to be the African voice on the soundtrack of “Roots”, the highest-rated television show.

A winner of coveted Emmy award and a gold record for her contribution to music, Letta has also involved herself in films, television, stage, documentary narration etc.