INTIMATIONS OF INTIMACY

Sunil Gupta shares his journey with Gautami Reddy.

- Gautami Reddy

Last year, during the rains, Sunil Gupta greeted us at the entrance of Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery – a group of artists, students and photography enthusiasts including myself – as we gathered around for a special tour of an exhibition that spanned four decades of his life.

Nearing 70, he was wearing a crisp white shirt, striped pants and half a smile. “Welcome,” he said, as he led us into a room of large black-and-white photographs taken in the 1980s – from a series titled Cruising after which the exhibition took its name – it paid homage to his experiences as a young gay man coming into his own almost six decades ago in the 1960s in New Delhi.

“Here’s a photograph of the house I grew up in… B-41, Nizamuddin East,” he said pointing to what could be his heart’s permanent address, “and a walk from there was Humayun’s Tomb which I discovered was a cruising ground for many like me.” For Gupta, ‘many like me’ meant young gay men – shy and unassuming, lost and self-searching – for whom off-the-grid sites such as the medieval ruins and tombs of Delhi had become a place of gathering, sexual awakening and expression.