The Photo Story
What makes India unique is its vast accumulation of
cultures piled one upon another over the centuries
the sheer variety of communities and their lifestyles
ranging from medieval to modern tribal to contemporary
in a continuous present without any dividing line between
yesterday and today prompting Indiaâs first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru to call India âa palimpsest.â
There is not a moment or a day that is not predictably
unpredictable in this country. This is a land where
enriching rivers are considered sacred where God is
perceived and seen in myriad forms given shape by both
nature and man. There are any number of festivals and
occasions to celebrate month after month season after
season: it is a veritable celebration of life itself.
Indiaâs situation in the southern part of the Asian
continent has made it the receptacle for the many cultures
not only of Asia but also of Europe and Africa. From
invaders to traders from migrants to visitors India has
played host to them all. This continuing influx has created
an ethos and a way of life that is unique to India
continually evolving and contributing to its civilisation
of over 5000 years... While the past is ever present
the contemporary and modern have also enriched
the country... (like) the political and social leadership of
Mahatma Gandhi the literary contribution of Rabindranath
Tagore â two great minds who were to quote Jawaharlal
Nehru âTwo types entirely different from each other and
yet both of them typical of India.â A prolific writer himself
Nehru in his seminal work Discovery of India summed
up the idea of India as a â...bundle of contradictions held
together by strong but invisible threads.â
These photographs are frozen moments in an evolving
narrative of exotic flavours colours and aromas.
And there are many such remarkable visuals present in
this volume â images of life and the experience of India
that animate the narrative of the country every frame
telling a story that is quintessentially Indian.
- Shyam Benegal in the foreword to India Five Senses
A compilation of images from
20 odd photographers India Five
Senses features exciting and
thought-provoking work capturing the
eccentricities of a much-photographed
country in novel and unprecedented
ways (Lustre Press/ Roli Books; ` 1995).Sensing
India anew!
PHOTOGRAPH: SOUMYA SHANKAR GHOSAL (SADHU)