A walk through history

Govind Narayan,lovingly called Dada Phatak,was a Geography professor in Nanawada from the year 1911 to 1940. An avid photographer,Dada Phatak soon started using his photography skills to teach his students in a more practical manner. And so,what began as an academic pursuit soon became a historical diary of sorts. Today,Dada Phatak’s collection consists of 1000 pictures of the city. Old and rare,each one has captured the rustic yet charming past of the city. His grandsons,Ajit and Dr Arun Phatak,are organising an exhibition that will be held on October 24 and 25 at Balgandharva Kaladalan. The pictures,clicked between 1899 and 1940,show how much the city has changed from the last century and captures its charm and spirit. The exhibition will feature a select 100 to 150 pictures from the collection.

Talking about the collection,Ajit Phatak shares,“My grandfather was a prolific photographer and loved teaching. At times,he would teach geography by projecting glass slides prepared by him on the magic lantern and show stereoscopic photographs to his students. All of these pictures were clicked by him. This not only helped him explain many aspects of the subject,but also fulfilled his interest in photography. He died in 1971 and left behind a collection of over 1000 pictures. His sense of documentation captured a lot of heritage material precious to the city.” Govind Narayan had handed over his collection to his elder grandson Dr Arun Phatak and had asked him to either use it or burn it if he likes. For more than 50 years,they preserved it and then decided to exhibit it. “It was my wife Kiran’s suggestion. When she saw all the pictures,she was awestruck. She said we must exhibit them. We agreed but didn’t know how to go about it,” says Ajit Phatak as he shows one picture after another.

The collection not only showcases rare spots and places across the city,but shows the same places captured in different seasons for comparison. The pictures include old shots of Laxmi Road,Parvati Hill,Reay Market (Mandai),Sinhagad,Purandar,Raigad and many social events like Pandharpur- Alandi wari,visit of the Prince of Wales and so on. An interesting picture is one of Shaniwarwada with the war memorial in front of it,adjacent to the Batatya Maruti. This is more interesting because the memorial had been shifted to Camp in 1940.

Along with the photographs,the exhibition will also have the old 1898 Kodak plywood camera,glass slides,stereoscope,stereoscopic negatives and copies of old photography journals ( The Photo Miniature) dated between 1899 and 1916. And so it is without doubt that the pictures will be a visual treat for anyone who wishes to reconnect with the soul of the old city of Pune.

(The exhibition will be held on October 24 and 25 at Balgandharva Kaladalan from 10 am to 8 pm)