The man behind the camera

8220;A guru restores the silence in you. A great piece of art does the same, and in its silence, lie answers. The work fulfills you, there are no more questions to be asked.8221; The silence reflects as the computer throws a slideshow of his photographs on the wall, filling up the white space. 8220;Black and white photographs always silence the noise of colour while colour has to blend well to say something,8221; feels Rai, humouring how he has come to 8216;uproot8217; us. 8220;Settlement is boring, repetitive existence where we tend to lose a sense of exploration,8221; something which Rai has never let go, his appetite for more. In his interaction, Rai, unconsciously perhaps, opened windows to his life. Artist, poet, philosopher, Rai reflected many facets to him, the greatest being his humility, his sense of humour, his eagerness to live a million lives in one, a childlike enthusiasm to discover new forms and concepts, to capture the energies and wrap himself in them8230; 8220;each time I put the camera on my eye and look, my energies get concentrated and I start looking closely at the world. Before I know, it transforms into a yogic exercise for me.8221; For Raghu, art is not about beauty. 8220;It8217;s first about capturing human expression, energy, intensity, the magic of it all, and then beauty follows. But first, you make a connection.8221; What were the prints of a programmed mind in his earlier works have now transitioned into magical moments. 8220;Touch and go, that8217;s what creativity is, a soft whisper. I have come to realize that when you make yourself available wholly, then nature helps you get what you want,8221; Rai clicks on the pictures which were 8216;godsend magical gifts8217;. Mother Teresa in deep prayer, Indira Gandhi in deep thought, musicians in a rapture, pundits in awe at Akshardham, a baby8217;s burial post Bhopal gas tragedy, Calcutta8217;s blue docks, purani Dilli, old bazaars of India.

He doesn8217;t believe in 8216;nostalgic nonsense8217; for he believes he is still interacting with life, living in the present. His idea of infotainment is again nonsensical 8211; 8220;It8217;s all Bollywood kachra and same dirty politics catering to urban India. 8221; Perhaps this is the reason Rai never took up fashion photography, 8220;branded middle class mediocrity8221; he calls it. Perhaps this is also the reason he8217;s been documenting a lot of works including his own in the form of books, 8220;for history can be written and rewritten, but you can never re-write photo history. 8221; These days Rai8217;s just finished editing a book on Delhi and is already on to his next, on Indian classical musicians. And yes, wherever his travels take him, he brings home that part of the world with him, 8220;and plant it in my home.8221;

When it comes to capturing the world, India is more than enough says Rai. 8220;The experience of India is multi-layered and it8217;s never one moment in space.8221; Like and electric current, the images flow through him, capturing the essence to the last detail.