“…‘O Kabuliwala! Kabuliwala!’ and the two friends, so unequal in age, would subside into their old laughter and their old jokes…” so wrote Rabindranath Tagore in 1892, in his short story in Bengali, Kabuliwala, about a man from a distant land –– Afghanistan –– living in Calcutta [now Kolkata]. Since then, Kabuliwala has been translated into many Indian and foreign languages with cinematic adaptations and theatrical performances. While until a few decades ago, “real” Kabuliwalas were a common sight on the streets of Kolkata, as in most cities of north, west and central India, stereotypes have formed an ambiguous image of these people today. Moska Najib and Nazes Afroz, two journalist-cum-photographers, co-document the Kabuliwalas of Kolkata, tracing the social transformations within this community over the past 100 years. Shifting fates and cultural integration is intimated in Najib’s [An Afghan herself] own approach, as she articulates how the past accompanies migrants, either scribbled on a piece of paper, in a passport, in memories, and often in their changing geographies. Therefore, while Najib the photographer, scans her own Afghan identity, Afroz is in search of a people and a city [Kolkata] that was once his home.
Taking cues from the literary and aesthetic themes encapsulated in Tagore’s short story, we captured the narrative of this secluded and little-known settlement in the present time through documentary photography. This series connects viewers to the theme of human bonding as narrated by Tagore while contextualising issues of loss of identity and a new sense of belonging. We are all familiar with the idea of the “other” and the story of Kabuliwalas in Calcutta highlights this aspect of human migration.
Photography here, plays the role of a witness and moderator. It also creates a line of sight between fiction and reality drawn from Tagore’s narrative of a Kabuliwala in India who eventually returns to his homeland. Hence, it is a narrative where fantasy is brought within the grasp of the real through a historical account — where the idea of home is usually conditioned around memory — one that is lived and the other that is imagined.
This story is from the Volume 19 No.1, 2016, MIGRATION edition of International Gallerie.
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This story is from the Volume 19 No.1, 2016, MIGRATION edition of International Gallerie.
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Initiated by the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, ‘Kids for Tigers’ is an inspiring project that educates schoolchildren about the welfare of wild animals. Spearheading this program, is Govardhan Meena, a sensitive village boy who grew up to be a saviour of tigers, of forest land and their inhabitants. Born in 1980 to a Meena tribal family living on the outskirts of Ranthambhore, Rajasthan, the unassuming young man is a virtual Pied Piper for children learning about the environment. He works 24x7 with a single-mindedness, building bridges between people and parks. No wonder, the awards and certificates in his prized possession, are more than deserving for a man whose life is dedicated to helping village children seed bonds with nature’s wilderness.
DANCE LIKE A MAN!
Dancer, choreographer and actor, Revanta Sarabhai, the third generation of a famed family of classical Indian dance, believes the arts have a way of reaching out to people in an entirely different way than scientific data or information does; that performance tends to have a greater emotional and empathetic impact on people’s senses rather than only their rational brain. Believing that the arts have a tremendous role to play in championing the cause of climate change [or any major challenge human beings face globally], he urges artists to harness the power of the arts to create change. With this conviction, Sarabhai shares with us his conceptual performance questioning climate change.
DANCE OF THE ACTION BRIGADE
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CELEBRATING THE WILDERNESS
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THEATRE SALUTES THE ENVIRONMENT
Theatres evolve to reconnect us to each other and the environment
FROM TRASH TO TREASURE
Veena Sahajwalla is a whirlwind of ideas and energy, determined to tackle the mountain of waste, especially -waste generated by Australians every year. Recycling waste into ‘green steel’ and ‘green ceramics’ is the result of years of experimentation at UNSW [University Of New South Wales, Sydney]. Director of the UNSW Sydney SMaRT Centre and a Eureka Prize winner [considered the pinnacle of scientific achievement in ustralia], Professor Sahajwalla was also awarded the PLuS Alliance prize for innovation in 2017.
BITTU SAHGALSEEKING SANCTUARY
In kinship with wildlife, with nature, with the air we breathe Bittu Sahgal shares his lifetime’s camaraderie with the environment
