A picture of poise

Manpriya Singh

The purpose of a literary festival is not merely to sit and talk, or for that matter just gather and discuss. It is to shake us. Provoke. Inspire. Disturb. So, courtesy the line-up comprising Raghu Rai, Jeroninio ‘Jerry’ Almeida, Avirook Sen, Veer Munshi, GR Iranna among others, day one of the Panchkula Art and Literary Festival ( an endeavour by Rumour Books in association with Satluj Public School) was a neat attempt to ruffle a few feathers. While a couple of the names as listed in the schedule could not make it for their sessions, others quite made up for it.

Frame by frame

It is reassuring to see an artist being stalked, approached and requested for photographs. Once off the stage, Raghu Rai is at home amidst youngsters jostling for space, requesting a picture. What, however, he is not very sure of, is the generation without experience and camera in their hands.

“It is a good thing that larger number of people are participating now but the numbers are riddled with happy snappy generation. It takes years for the strength and vision to come.”

And also for the instinct, which he attaches absolute importance to. “For an artist, instinct is bigger than any knowledge. But there are only very few moments in life when your instinct is alive.”

Having lately clicked a part of the country through his mobile phone, he talks about the experience, of “not having to set the aperture and just clicking.” His latest, India Through The Eyes of Raghu Rai, is a coffee-table book comprising his travels through the country over a period of three weeks.

So, what after the applause, the awards and the accolades? After a point, it must be challenging to sustain the hunger for more? He smiles, “India is very big. I am going to capture the trees, the clouds, the Himalayas and the Dalai Lama.”

As for what he has already captured starts from the very perturbing Bhopal Gas Tragedy. “You have to work like a soldier and do the job in the most responsible way. You can’t be disturbed by the photographs you are taking. Whether it is a dead child or bloodshed...as a photographer you have to be a cool observer with a warm heart.”

A fruitful journey

Any conversation or questions turn into a story telling session. Motivational speaker, life coach, missionary entrepreneur and, of course, the author Jeroninio ‘Jerry’ Almeida, retains the passion with which he set out to share stories through Karma Kurry for the Mind, Body, Heart & Soul. “Which is not a book,” as he likes to get started, “But a journey of many years of ordinary poeple with extraordinary stories. They are a spectrum of stories of the unsung and real heroes.” All because, “youngsters need role models, especially in the times of uninspiring page three culture.”

Like always, there were detractors, advisers asking him to instead share success stories of Shah Rukh Khan, Sachin Tendulkar, or for that matter the likes of Amitabh Bachchan. “They are just celebs. They don’t inspire me. Alright they have done well for themselves but what have they done for others.”

The recent news of his 10 book and 12 crore deal with Jaico, all the attention, the quantification of things doesn’t put any pressure. If at all, “The only pressure is to write the stories well and tell them well.”

Founder of the International Confederation of NGOs (ICONGO), his personal journey in fact, merits to be narrated just as much, right from the age of 8, when he lost his father. At the age of 17, he was already trying to get the kids of commercial sex workers (with whom he played marbles) to school. They contributed to me more than I to them,” shares the Goa born. In the course of the conversation, he inadvertently moves to Dashrath Manjhi, a woman who started the concept of 2 per cent CSR, long before it reached management textbooks, a man somewhere with no mobility in any part of his body but with attitude, ‘I live neck-up.’...The stories must go on.

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