Beneath Sumant Batra's humdrum profession, lies his aesthetic inclination. With an eye that sees beyond the ordinary, the 43-year-old laywer has put together a collection of pictures in his coffee table book The Indians: Interesting Aspects, Extraordinary Facets. Much as the title suggests, the books touches upon several aspects of everydayness in the life of an Indian.
With 21 chapters and 350-plus pictures, The Indians is about "ordinary people" and life - office-goers, festivals, heritage buildings, booming infrastructure in the metros, candid expression of people – priests, coolies, the roadside press-wallahs, weavers, paan vendors and more
"These are the people who are preserving houses of our civilisation; they are our heritage. And through this book, I wanted to revisit this heritage. The next generation may not probably see some of the things portrayed in the book,” says Batra.
With a compelling picture of a boy dressed as Lord Shiva, the book is a series of photographs what Batra calls his “assembly of thoughts”. Six months of hard work is what took to bring this book out, explains Batra. “I am a collector of coffee table books and I realised I would be more comfortable and satisfied if I showed more creativity in the book. I believe in visual romance,” says Batra whose professional profile includes being a consultant to IMF, ADB, World Bank and OECD among other organisations of international repute.
Batra realised his quest with the help of photographer Sonhal Nichani. “I was sure I wanted someone with a fresh perspective in street photography,” says Batra.
Explaining further on the assortment of pictures, Batra says, “We tend to see through and ignore the ordinary - the most blatant and apparent thing in front of your eyes. And I wanted to showcase that in this collection of pictures.” The book is sprinkled with captions and essays related to the photo. However, not all pictures have related text. “I felt I shouldn’t judge and so, I left it to readers to make up their minds about the picture,” explains the debut author.
Interestingly, Batra has published the book on his own. “I did not rule out the possibility of going through a publishing house. But I sensed from the discussion that they had a certain pattern, a template to bring out such books. And I wanted to follow exactly what I had though it out to be. I wanted it to be a collection of my thoughts and beliefs. I didn’t want that attachment to be compromised for a commercial value,” explains Batra, who will soon start work on a four-volume book whose release will coincide with Commonwealth Games in 2010.
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| Pictures from Batra's book The Indians |
Priced at Rs 8,500, the money coming out of the limited edition copies of The Indians will be donated to Loomba Trust, a charity working towards children of widows. Cherie Blair, wife of UK’s former Prime Minister Tony Blair, is the international president of the trust and has written the preface for the book.
Batra studied law in Chandigarh and at 27 he came to Delhi to find work. “When I came to Delhi, I realised it is a completely different world altogether,” he says. He set up a law firm in 1993 and named it Kesar Dass & Sons, simply to avoid giving a flashy name, in order to attract clients. “Law firms are usually associated with senior and experienced lawyers. And here I was, young and new, and trying to set up a law firm. With name like Kesar Dass people presume that it’s an old firm. Moreover it was my grandfather’s name,” says Batra.
Interesting Picks: Look for the chapter on tea, street food and headgears.
sanjitha at abp dot in
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