Raul Irani has been living life recklessly. At one level, he blindly followed his heart and then paid for it leisurely for years to come. At the other level, he exhibited unparalleled patience and allowed things to settle down with minimal intervention–like dust after a storm. Sitting still in the middle of a storm for a long time waiting for it to pass is not easy. Stillness can be nerve-racking. He’s backed his proactivity by years of inactivity as a response–a contradiction that makes him a unique person. It is true, sometimes a good way to play a game is not to participate in the game.
The years rolled by and he gained expertise in clicking pictures. He’s very good at capturing a person–vyakti—by way of his camera. They get stuck in that moment till eternity for all to witness.
Blessed with a certain personal charm, Raul has this innate ability to be at the right place at the right time to capture the right moment. One is tempted to think of it as a fluke, he’s lucky. But he’s done it far too often and far too long, almost consistently, for that to be true. He’s best represented by his work. His ability to picture vyakti has become an integral part of his vyaktitva—or the personality.
The other thing that’s wonderful about Raul is that he’s an organic photographer who doesn’t create studio-like situations to capture reality as it is. His expertise is in avoiding artificial lights to depict life. In that sense, his photographs are raw, smelling the earth smeared with a layer of cow dung.
He started early, barely 20 years old, for a local edition of a national Hindi daily in Meerut. He was discernibly good, and he never looked back. He’s now a photo editor of an English national magazine that is known for rich visual content. One of his editors, Manu Joseph, described him as ‘one of the finest photographers in the world.’
Raul did a series of pictorial stories. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, in his case much more, a life’s story. His pictures are indicative of a life lived, choices that shaped destiny. His pictures are an intimate depiction of the Indian heartland, rather unapologetically with a certain disdain.
His body of work is incredible, particularly documenting people who have passed their prime, and are going downhill but are not downhearted. Their zest for life remains unabated, and they make the best of what they have rather than crib about the past. And do wonderful things for themselves and are a source of inspiration for others.
Here are some of the examples:
A resident of Kharkhoda village in Haryana, Ramajit Raghav was 94 years old when his 50 years old wife, Shakuntala, gave birth to a healthy son, Karamjit, who he described as a ‘God’s gift.’ He became the oldest father of a newborn. However, doubts were raised about his ability to father a child at this ripe age, which made Ramajit furious. He demonstrated his raging libido, claiming that he could make love to his wife the entire night. Raul was there to capture. Though Ramajit was keen to have another kid, his aged body couldn’t take his young heart for long. He died the following year.
After the demise of his wife, Tajammuli Begum, 78-year-old Saidul Hasan Qadri built a Taj Mahal for her beloved, spending all his savings of Rs 10 lakh. A resident of Dibai in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh, a retired postmaster, wants to be buried alongside his wife. His wish was fulfilled.
Saidul Hasan Qadri doesn’t agree with Sahir Ludhianvi who wrote “Ek Shahenshah ne daulat ka sahara le kar, Hum garibon ki mohabbat ka Udaya hai mazaq” instead is of the same opinion as Shakeel Badayuni who wrote famously, “Ek Shahenshah ne banwa ke haseen Taj Mahal, Saari duniya ko mohabbat ki nishaani di hai.” He too did the same in his own little way. A king of hearts.
Dharam Pal Gudha - a 113-year-old veteran marathon runner–is from the small town of Mawana in Uttar Pradesh. All his contemporaries are long dead, and he seems to be running against time with great success, is agile and can run long distances, and plans to compete with Fauja Singh, perhaps the only other centenarian runner who lives in Toronto. Running keeps Dharam going, a simple lifestyle, a normal diet, and a self-made chatni did the trick for him.
Prakasho Tomar, 75, known as Amma Shooter or Bandook Wali Dadi is one of the oldest rifle shooters in India. The husband wasn’t happy and would taunt her to exchange jobs with her eldest son in the military posted in Kargil. Amma would practise in hiding and she did well, was rewarded–is a 9-time state-level champion. Mother of 8 children, Prakasho has been to 10 Janpath to see the then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Her eldest daughter, Seema, won the world shooting championship in London and her two granddaughters, Ruby and Preety, are regularly participating in International tournaments. Prakasho too wants to participate in international events and has applied for a passport.
Mian Jabbar Hussain, was the oldest student in the class, his classmates were of the age of his grandson. A vegetable seller, 68 years old, Jabbar, is from Bindki-Fatehpur, hasn’t given up despite 44 attempts to clear matriculation. His favourite subject is Hindi, and he wants to become a teacher.
Gurmeet Singh, then 65, worked in the transport business before he retired and has been a long-time Congress supporter. His claim to fame was his striking resemblance with the former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh. The latter appreciated the fact and made it a point to attend Gurmeet's son's wedding, he was at that time the Finance Minister of India. Gurmeet dresses in a kurta-pyjama and blue turban very much like his famous look-alike. Raul won first prize in the Art & Culture category for this picture--titled ‘Friezed”--signifying the then prevailing political situation in which a genuinely honest man is crippled under the pressure from the various vested interests within the ruling coalition of UPA.
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