Finished the book last night at 1.30. Tossed and turned for a few hours. Saw a bit of Jackie Chaan's Medallion on some tv channel for a while. But the color of the film was too goddy and vivid as contrasted with the evocative, black and white world that i had inhabited for the past three days.
The images of the book, and Dr. Babasaheb's angst kept me awake till the wee hours of the morning. Wished the Doodhwallah good morning and managed to doze off.
Back at work, but need to pen some immediate reactions before i can switch hats to this mundane world of immediate and perennial crisis.
Mr. Vijay Surwade spent most of his working life collecting photographs and memorabilia about Dr. Ambedkar!
Wherever that he lived; from small shanties in Ulhasnagar, Thane, or Kalyan, he saved the originals from leaky ceilings, and damp walls - whenever that he had the faintest clue of finding a photo or a scribbling, he would rush to the place
(whether it be Aurangabad, Nagpur, Baroda, or Nagpada-Dadar), and chase the original owner to part with the invaluable asset. He would coax, cajole, pay, and what have you till the owner relented.
Thus we have an unbelieavably rich harvest of history speaking through photographs and the text by Vasant Abaji Dahake (but not in that order).
What is interesting is that Dahake does not illustrate his writing with the photographs. The only division that the text allows itself is paragraph breaks; no chapters, headings, date wise dissections at all!!! Vishwasrao does not underline the photographs or the events by any undue, unwanted 'editorial' tippani, asterixs, references, etc. The text is as clean as the presentation of the photographs is; easy on the eye - let the content speak for itself!!!
The book comprises of a very brief introduction by Prakash Visshwasrao, followed by Dahake's factual text, and then the rich collection of photographs and documents.
And then are beautiful sketches of his colleagues, and lists and details...A mammoth task. At the end of the read, its not a history lesson, and yet, i remember every event by it's date as i see the event illustrated by a photograph. But it is with heavy emotion that you look at each phoyograph; Vishwasrao has already inducted you through the introduction of those events writen by Dahake.
So it becomes a personal experience as one gazes at these photographs, and time flies past. The photographs speak of many more stories. These portraits of warriors, thinkers, revolutionaries...At times lost in their thoughts while the photographer clicked the event for posterity, at times not so preoccupied but belonging to one another in an indescribable bond that is crystal clear with the sameness of their countenance, sameness of their purpose-how else can 50 people in a photograph have the same expression???, at times displaying the tenseness of the moment, at times using the moment to be somewhere faraway...and most importantly always with an intensity that bespeaks the responsibility of the cause that they stood for.
It is rare to come across a photograph completely framed, or dictated, or 'directed' as a PR exercise or for some motive. There is a certain purity to each of these portrayals of events and faces.
These are portraits of a man engrossed with his mission, and of his people who by their body language speak a truth that they lived - the truth of a struggle of a higher order!!!
Amidst these gems, one sticks out as the only mirthful photograph.
Dr. Ambedkar resigned from his ministership in Delhi and returned to Mumbai on 18th November 1951. RaoBahadur C. K. Bole had no place to sit on the Boribunder Station. So Dr. Ambedkar plonked him on his lap. And behind them, the police are perturbed and issuing instructions to the followers. Unaware of all that, Dr. Ambedkar, his wife and old Rao Bahadur share a moment they will cherish. So will I.
I wonder whether the English version will be able to retain the charm of the marathi...More as I digest it further...
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