P E O P L E

on record
‘In a frame, reality turns fiction’
Nonika Singh talks to Dayanita Singh, acclaimed photographer
Internationally acclaimed photographer Dayanita Singh has changed the perception that photographs are all about what we see. The sprightly woman who prefers to be known as “a bookmaker working with photography” has come a long way from the time when, as an 18-year-old, she trailed tabla maestro Zakir Husain and found her muse. Today, the world is lauding her works. Her journey has been as fascinating as profound. An alumna of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, she studied documentary photography at the International Center of Photography, New York.

profile
A fine poet born of suffering
Harihar Swarup writes about Kedarnath Singh, Jnanpith awardee
Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh, honoured with the Jnanpith Award, is widely acknowledged as one of the major writers of contemporary poetry. Subtle, economical, nuanced and allusive, his poetry has been associated with the New Poetry and Progressive Writers’ movement in Hindi.

good news
No sting, only sweet success with bees
Gurcharan Singh Mann of Bathinda has taken beekeeping to new heights, showing the way to other farmers. 
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
The journey of Gurcharan Singh Mann in the arena of beekeeping has been spectacular. It began with him earning a meagre Rs 2,000-odd annually in 1992 to a turnover of about Rs 4 crore, giving him an enviable standing in the panorama of state agriculture where a common farmer continues to labour without any mentionable savings.

Off the cuff

on record
‘In a frame, reality turns fiction’
Nonika Singh talks to Dayanita Singh, acclaimed photographer

Internationally acclaimed photographer Dayanita Singh has changed the perception that photographs are all about what we see. The sprightly woman who prefers to be known as “a bookmaker working with photography” has come a long way from the time when, as an 18-year-old, she trailed tabla maestro Zakir Husain and found her muse. Today, the world is lauding her works. Her journey has been as fascinating as profound. An alumna of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, she studied documentary photography at the International Center of Photography, New York. But her most important lessons have come from reading voraciously. With 10 books to her credit, her photographs are as much as about the unseen as triggering the imagination. Her books unfold like a layered narrative. If her latest work the “File Room” is an elegy to paper, “Myself, Mona Ahmed” chronicles the life of a eunuch and “Dream Villa” unravels the unsettling mystery of night time. In “Privacy” she provides an insight into the elite of India. Recipient of the Andreas Frank Foundation Grant, Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography and Prince Claus Award, she has exhibited around the world. It’s not only her photographs that speak eloquently, but also her answers are as cryptic and precise. Excerpts

When editing her pictures, Dayanita ‘refers to poetry and music’.

You call yourself a bookmaker. When did you move towards it?

I think I knew it from the very start, from when I made my first book with Zakir Hussain. Only, it just took 25 years to have the confidence to say it.

When you start taking pictures do you have the ultimate book in mind?

Not at all. The work determines the form. Otherwise it would be like putting the cart before the horse if I shot for a book.

Is photography the best way to tell stories? What kind of stories you best love to tell?

I come from the Calvino school of storytelling. (For the uninitiated, Italo Calvino was an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. He blended fantasy, comedy and fables and was associated with neorealism school of literature).

Do you think this whole business of capturing a moment in photography is exaggerated?

It’s one way of taking pictures, and we have great examples of that in photography. Personally, I prefer the ongoing moment.

There are stories about the challenge you threw at Zakir Hussain. Do you think accompanying him was a life-changing moment?

Absolutely, he taught me all about focus and rigour.

How did your meeting with noted US American documentary photographer Eugene Richards, whose workshop you attended, change your work?

It showed me how vulnerable we make people feel in front of the camera. It was a very important lesson.

Was it with you work “Privacy” that absence became a presence?

Yes, exactly, in the making of the image of Mrs Braganza.

You are called a visual poet and many feel you create symphonies with photographs Do you agree?

No I am not a poet. That would be too tall a claim, but when I edit, I do refer to poetry and music to set the pace.

It is believed that your photographs displace writing not painting. Is that a valid interpretation?

This is not for me to say, but yes, I am most inspired by literature.

How important is reinterpretation and re-visitation in a work of art?

In photography it is endless, especially once you start working with your own archive as images change over time. They change depending on the context; they change with size and medium.

What was the point at which you realised that photography is not mere documentation?

I think I always knew that, possibly when I would enact for my mother’s camera. It showed me right at the start that photography is fiction.

You once said that photography is not about what one sees, but how one sees. Isn’t that true for all visual art?

Yes, it’s true for all arts and photography, especially because photography is seen as the documentation of something in front of the camera. Then it’s a question of what ‘you’ bring to the image rather than what’s there.

Now you are changing the way to look at photographs. How did you discover your unusual ways of display and mobile museums?

With time and patience.

In an age when almost everyone is a photographer how do serious practitioners retain their art form and niche?

By challenging oneself and one’s medium, by pushing the limits, by thinking out of the box.

In a country where it’s almost impossible to make people buy works of art how have you managed to make them buy books of photographs?

By making books like I would make works of art.

Do you think it’s important for an artist to have a common thread in works? What would you say is that thread considering your works are on such varied subjects?

I think when you are an artist, you have a voice of your own. That is what makes you an artist. You are the author of your work, the auteur. It is not a choice or a preference, it is the core.

If art is not about answering questions, what is it about?

Art is about asking the questions, among its many, changing roles, not answering them.

profile
A fine poet born of suffering
Harihar Swarup writes about Kedarnath Singh, Jnanpith awardee

Noted Hindi poet Kedarnath Singh, honoured with the Jnanpith Award, is widely acknowledged as one of the major writers of contemporary poetry. Subtle, economical, nuanced and allusive, his poetry has been associated with the New Poetry and Progressive Writers’ movement in Hindi. His work has been described as “dialogic”, surcharged with a folk and mythical consciousness, capable of evoking “the silent mysterious and magical presence of everyday realities”.

Among his well-known poems is “Kasbe ki Dhool”. Born in Chakia village in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh in 1934, he studied at Benaras Hindu University, where he received his Masters degree in 1956 and doctorate in 1964. He taught at various colleges in Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Padrauna before moving to Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as Professor in Hindi in 1978. He retired as the head of the department in 1999 and was appointed professor emeritus by the university. His works have been widely translated in various languages, including German, Russian and Hungarian.

His early years in rural India endowed his poetry with an enduring legacy of folksy tropes and images for which his poetry is well known. In the cultural hub of Benaras, he was associated with the Progressive Writers’ Movement. These years marked the formative influence of writers like Hazariprasad Dwivedi, Prof Namawar Singh and Trilochan Shastri. He also counts writers like Paul Eluard, Neruda and Brecht as important forces in shaping his growth as a craft-conscious, experimental and humanist poet.

He was the first person to get formal education in his family. Kedarnath left his village at an early age and found it difficult to adjust to the city life of Varanasi. This had a distinct bearing on his early poetry.

He married at a young age, as was the custom in his village, and his wife died within four months of the marriage. This created a psychological crisis in his young mind. He married again when he was grown up, but tragedy struck again and his second wife also died after six years. He says: “My personal sufferings shaped a new outlook that you find in my writings.”

He left Benaras and went to Pandrauna, which was dominated by Buddhist culture. The poverty and humanity of the people made him think a lot. He cites an incident from this period of his life: “I was working as the principal of the college then. There was some communal tension in the nearby village that had a market. I was invited to mediate between Muslims and Hindus. It was decided that both communities would name a representative each to find a solution. When the Hindus named me as their representative, I was embarrassed. Then it was found that the Muslims had also suggested my name to represent them. It was a great moment in my life. The faith those people showed in me was the greatest honour I received in my life.”

good news
No sting, only sweet success with bees0
Gurcharan Singh Mann of Bathinda has taken beekeeping to new heights, showing the way to other farmers. 
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Gurcharan Singh Mann with bees on his farm. Photo by writer

The journey of Gurcharan Singh Mann in the arena of beekeeping has been spectacular. It began with him earning a meagre Rs 2,000-odd annually in 1992 to a turnover of about Rs 4 crore, giving him an enviable standing in the panorama of state agriculture where a common farmer continues to labour without any mentionable savings.

Quitting his studies after BA-I from Government Rajindra College in 1988, Gurcharan took a loan of Rs 1.22 lakh to purchase a tractor. Ploughing his own 40-acre land at Tungwali in Bathinda, and also of others, he returned the loan amount in less than two years. But it wasn’t easy. He had to put in grueling hard work as the soil was sandy and underground water brackish.

In 1992, his love for agriculture took him to a 30-day course for young farmers at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, where he learnt about beekeeping, poultry, fishery and forestry. This is when life changed for this innovative farmer. He began the new venture on his farm with just two boxes, learning from his mistakes, and took his time in settling down to make his name in the competitive market, which was a result of only word-to-mouth publicity. He also maintains a fish pond, which is running in profit.

Besides establishing himself as one of the leading honey bee producers, 44-year-old Gurcharan made a bigger change in environment by planting trees on his farm, making use of his learning in agro-forestry. The green cover with a wide range of plants, including berries, eucalyptus, palm and mango, transformed the farm into a virtual oasis in the dry desert in the neighbourhood. He transported plants on his tractor and distributed them among village residents, who contributed in changing the look of the entire village.

Gurcharan believes in a life of simplicity. He went for his wedding wearing work clothes and made sure his in-laws did not spend a single penny on the ceremony. His wife has been his greatest support and takes care of his farming ventures, particularly those related to post-produce activities like packaging.

He also set up a society for farmers, with which at least 350 farmers from Muktsar, Bathinda, Faridkot and Ganganagar were associated for a long time. A majority of them are now running individual ventures. When farmers from Harkrishanpura village put up banners saying their village was up for sale, the district administration approached Gurcharan for assistance in helping the farmers find alternatives. He goaded them to invest Rs 1 lakh in beekeeping and get Rs 1.25 lakh after one season, failing which he promised he would refund the original amount. Five farmers among them started the venture successfully.

Initially associated with the Dabur group, the Mann Farm today is supplying to bigger dealers like Kashmir Apiaries and Kejriwal, Delhi. The staff employed at the farmhouse does not make boxes merely to suffice the needs of the farm alone. These are supplied to bee farms in the entire North India, financed under a special government scheme.

Since no place grows flower for 12 months, apiary moves from one place to another. Between July and September, the farms of Bathinda and Mansa are best suited for bees. Beekeepers shift their boxes to Uttar Pradesh in September for flowers of ‘lauki’ (gourd) and ‘toria’ crops; to Kota in Rajasthan during October; to Ganganagar and Sangaria in Rajasthan in January; and along canals in mid-February.

This exercise involves very good public relations with the local population, particularly outside the state. One may face rigid views like in Rajasthan where village residents believe “bees would suck out all the energy out of the flowers”.

Gurcharan has visited Rashtrapati Bhavan during the tenure of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil in recognition for his innovative work. He was also awarded the Pravasi Bharti Award by the PAU in 2005, Chief Minister’s Award in 2010 and NG Rangaswamy Farmers Award in 2011..

Place to place

Since no place grows flower for 12 months, apiary moves from one place to another. Between July and September, the farms of Bathinda and Mansa are best suited for bees. Beekeepers shift their boxes to UP in September for flowers of lauki and toria crops; to Kota in Rajasthan during October; to Ganganagar and Sangaria in Rajasthan in January; and along canals in mid-February.

Off the cuff

This is not the BJP's position. Sania Mirza is the pride of India. She has an international standing of her own. She is the country’s brand ambassador.

Prakash Javdekar, union minister
Talking about Sania Mirza row

Rahul will remain our leader. It’s wrong to look at the revolt within state units as rebellion against him. It’s a passing phase. It’s too early to judge him.

Veerappa Moily, congress leader
On Rahul Gandhi

I hope I win some medals. It’s the greatest honour for a sportsperson to be a flag bearer. But it adds pressure because the country will be glued to you. It's an event we don't practice for.

Vijay Kumar, Multiple CWG Medal Winner
Leading the Indian contingent in CWG