Out with the past

It8217;s a breezy morning at the imposing monument Jamali Kamali, nestled deep inside Mehrauli. Strolling past the mosque, photographer Sunil Gupta, 55...

Author of Memories of a Gay Life, Sunil Gupta, revisits Jamali Kamali, a tomb he calls significant for the Indian gay community

It8217;s a breezy morning at the imposing monument Jamali Kamali, nestled deep inside Mehrauli. Strolling past the mosque, photographer Sunil Gupta, 55, points out verses inscribed on the walls, composed by Jamal Khan, the Sufi saint whom the tomb is named after. Kamali8217;s identity remains a mystery. 8220;This tomb is significant for the Indian gay community,8221; says Gupta. 8220;We regard it as India8217;s only gay monument.8221;

Gupta has used one symbolic image of Jamali Kamali for his book Memories of a Gay Life, a deeply personal visual account tracing his own journey on coming out as a gay Indian. In a career spanning over 25 years, most of Gupta8217;s work in photography revolves around issues of identity and the ongoing debate on homosexuality. He currently has an exhibit 8216;Street Portraits8217;, shot in Delhi on display at the Tate Museum in London and most of his work is priced upwards of 7000 pounds. After living in Montreal and London where he studied photography, Gupta moved to Delhi in 2004 stating wryly, that he moved for a man. 8220;Unfortunately, that didn8217;t work out. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a big change among gay people here. In the 8217;70s there was so much hypocrisy. Now at least there is a small bunch of us who are out,8221; says Gupta.

Memories of a Gay Life is mostly autobiographical and shows Gupta in moments with friends, lovers and colleagues from around the globe. Gupta gently provokes with some brutally honest images of himself when he discovered he was HIV in 1995. A thread of quiet angst runs through the visuals, fiercely original and brave in their candour. Gupta says the human situation and his own emotional life are the endearing themes in his work. In one exhibit shown abroad, 8216;Love and Light8217;, Gupta describes shooting his then companion in Ladakh, nude, with the Himalayas as the backdrop. 8220;There are few personal stories emerging from India in photography,8221; says Gupta, currently documenting his own love life after HIV for a New York museum. A keen observer of India8217;s gay movement, Gupta is confident there will be dramatic changes in Article 377 that currently criminalizes homosexuality. 8220;Everywhere the attitude to homosexuality is changing. It will percolate here too,8221; says Gupta, though he is sceptical of the idea of gay marriage. 8220;It8217;s an institution that8217;s barely surviving in the heterosexual world,8221; he says. Gupta has another show coming up at the Vadehra Art Gallery next September, again on gay love. As we stroll into the small chamber of the twin tombs at Jamali Kamali, where the ceiling is decorated with coloured, intricate frescoes, Gupta says with a twinkle, 8220;There8217;s hope yet.8221;

Memories of a Gay Life is published by Yoda Press. Price: Rs 995