Unsung; Anita Pratap and Mahesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt Publishing, Price not mentioned.
Anita Pratap, the award winning journalist, and Mahesh Bhatt, photographer of international repute, teamed up to produce this elegant book focusing attention on 10 people who dedicated themselves to improving different dimensions of lives of people around them.
There are a number of common factors that bind these unknown heroes. They are all from humble origins and are apolitical and all self-motivated. In their lives they act out their own vision quest. And they go through life unhonoured and unsung, like the gems and flowers in Thomas Grey’s poem.
The authors pay their affecting acknowledgment to each one of them; “This book is tribute to the ordinary Indian citizens who have dedicated themselves to improving the lives of people around them. Their inner resources compensate for the lake of financial resources. They operate in the shadows, away from the glare and glitz of fame and fortune, to quietly fulfil their mission.”
Each chapter opens with a short note that contextualises with precision the work of the person written about.
Very readable
Anita Pratap’s stories around each person are very readable and dense. Sample this: “Some people are born with a mission. Others discover it along the way. A few develop it just about when others of their age are ready to retreat into seclusion, to spend their remaining days in contemplation and introspection, doing the little things of life that they were too busy to do earlier. Prof. Hasnath Mansur’s life demonstrates it is never too late to contribute to society.”
This is basically a book of photographs and the text supports the exquisite images. Bhatt captures, in black and white, the innocence of school children and the timeless beauty of the deciduous forest. His shots of the stark Ladakh landscape remind the viewer of works of Ansal Adams and Edward Weston.
Bhatt’s photography avoids gimmickry. The raw, candid images of Muslim women in Bangalore and the school children in Orissa record the spirit of our times. His images inspire and have the power of changing the common thinking of people
Dissonant notes
However, among his outstanding portraits of people, I found the low angle shot of Chinnappa striking a dissonant note. The legends for the photographs have been thoughtfully provided. But it is a misnomer to refer to the Gaur of Indian forests as bison. Gaur is, in fact, a wild ox and not a buffalo like the bison.
A few corporate institutions including Wipro, Infosys and Canara bank have supported this venture and evidently the money has been well utilised.
Book designing receives scant attention from publishers in India. Philip D’Souza has designed this book with such painstaking care that the form complements the content of the book.
Close attention has been paid to every aspect of the book…the lay out of photographs and the choice of fonts. It is a joy to hold this book in your hands and turn the pages.
The book is a celebration of India, people and the land.. It is an inspiring effort and demonstrates what can be achieved by photography.
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