From the footpath to the WTC
Anirudh Gupta

FROM selling readymade garments on Ferozepore's Regal Cinema footpath to rubbing shoulders with the who's who of world cricket — Kamal Sharma has come a long way in realising his dreams.

The story of this son of the soil of Ferozepore, Kamal Sharma has all the ingredients of a real Bollywood flick, with all the twists and turns of a nincompoop who migrates to Delhi to make it big. A postgraduate in Hindi, Kamal after finishing his studies here in this border town, ventured out in search of a job with just Rs 100 in his pocket. He set out to find greener pastures for he did not like a mundane life. But the fast pace of life brought him down to hawking clothes and petty articles on the footpaths of Connaught Place.

But the trick of the camera proved to be the tip of the iceberg as it brought him all the success which had eluded him in the past. The turning point came when he had gone to see a Duleep Trophy Match at Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla ground in December, 1996. One of his friends, Bharti Vij, introduced him to Ajay Jadeja. He took some snaps of Ajay from his Zenith camera. When he handed the photographs to Ajay the next day, the cricketer was so thrilled that he ordered 100 copies of the same. However, a bigger surprise was in store when he found the same photograph carried on the front page of Navbharat Times along with his name.

In a nostalgic vein, Kamal recalls, " I became so excited that I bought all the 16 copies of the newspaper, the paper hawker had with him." This event changed the course of his life. This accidental success emboldened him to carve out a niche for himself in the profession of photography. As he himself was a varsity-level cricket player, his love for the game further strengthened his determination as his photography took him to England, Australia, Canada, Sharjah, Pakistan, Singapore, USA. Having extensively toured cricketing centres around the globe. Kamal captured in his lens cricket icons like Sachin, Saurav, Steve Waugh, Lance Klusener, Health Streak, Henry Olonga, Jayasuriya, and Ranatunga.

Today Kamal is a regular contributor to a leading publication in country and his work has attracted international recognition. Publications like the Inside Edge of Australia, Britian's Wisdon, the cricketer's bible, have also featured him. UAE's Khaleej Times, London's Daily Express have used his photographs. Kamal also enjoys the distinction of pioneering the cricket photographs' exhibition, the first of its kind in the country.

Kamal was in New York to cover the US Open, and was shooting the twin towers of the World Trade Centre till late in the night before the calamitous September 11 incident. Little did he knew that he would be the last photographer to capture the Manhattan skyline in its pristine glory.

The next morning when tragedy struck the towers, he immediately rushed to the spot and shot the twin towers with the instant camera he had got, little realising that he had also captured a second plane crashing into the tower. The only Indian photographer to do so, he managed to capture the tower when it collapsed. Dumbstruck, he kept shooting it for 13 hours.

Kamal who was in his hometown recently, plans to put up an exhibition of his images as he wants everyone to see the horror of such a horrible act which turned out to be his best opportunity as a photo-journalist but the worst nightmare as a human being.