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Journalism of Courage
Growing up in Mumbai, photographer Bindi Sheth was well-acquainted with Parsi traditions through her many Parsis friends. But when she moved to Ahmedabad in 1988, their presence wasn’t as prominent. “I hadn’t met many Parsis in Ahmedabad till I began working on the project. Neither had I visited the Nowrojee Hall, Parsi Sanatorium or Zoroastrian Hall, despite staying in the city,” says Sheth, 55.
In 2021, after being approached by Leica for images of Parsis, which they wanted to share on social media platforms, she began her research on the community in Ahmedabad. Her very first protagonists were her neighbours Ismet and her mother Jhini Tehmesp Khambatta photographed at their home, sharing an endearing gaze. This is also the image that visitors first encounter when they enter her exhibition, “Parsis of Ahmedabad” at India International Centre in Delhi, which closes on September 6.
By January 2023, she had photographed over 65 Parsi homes, one engagement and a few weddings. “According to some accounts, the first Parsis who set foot in Ahmedabad soil were the Kothawalas, the Vakils and the Karanjawalas from 1780 onwards. The Agiayari (fire temple) and Tower of Silence came up around 1840,” says Sheth. She shares a document that records the Parsi population in Ahmedabad from 1824, when there were reportedly four Parsi families in the city. Their total population reached its peak in 1994, when there were 2005 Parsis and 674 families. “These photographs are about my observations and feelings the spaces and people evoked in me. They help me understand the nuances of this micro-community – how they have changed and adapted with the passage of time despite depleting numbers, yet bearing a beautiful resilience to protect their friendly culture and values,” she states.
As she gradually made inroads into the homes of Parsis, she also became more adept with their traditions and customs. “It’s such a lovely and lively community,” she states. In one photograph we see Neville Ginwala embracing his daughter, in another Baktaver Wadiya is seen at her house. Edwin Pithawala is seen in his bachelor pad. In Shirine and Jehangir Vakil’s home, archival family photographs from both sides of the family occupy a table. The photographs also depict the traditional preferences of the community – from antique furniture to well-kept cars to their love for old immaculately maintained cutlery.
A self-taught photographer, who took initial lessons in the medium from Dinesh Mehta, her first project in the 1980s was a series on Indian modern and contemporary artists, which included Bhupen Khakhar, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee and Nalini Malani, among others. More recently, she has worked with differently-abled children for the Prabhat Education Foundation.
In 2013, she also exhibited photographs of the shrinking Bene Israel community in India. “Though both are minority communities, that one is much smaller and the experience was quite different. I mostly shot rituals – weddings and events that would be in the synagogue, which would mostly start at 7 pm. With the Parsis, I have portraits and interiors,” she says, adding, “These are fast-diminishing communities, having many unique traits that they do not share with their counterparts in the rest of the world, the Jews in America, for instance. Hence, it is important that these communities are documented.
The series on the Parsis, meanwhile, concluded with a Parsi wedding in January 2023 that occupies an entire wall in the exhibition – including people in all finery, the rituals, and the groom playing with the family dog, representing Parsi love for animals.
A note on the exhibition is carefully printed on the auspicious sadra material, gifted to her by a Parsi acquaintance. “I have a very dear Parsi friend who saw nothing new in my photos. That is when I realised that what I have captured is natural to Parsis,” says Sheth.
