Who is homai vyarawalla

The world had changed and she had played a significant role in inspiring and recording this change. In , the year before she died, Homai Vywaralla was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India. Registered charity no. Company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales no. Newsletter Shop Contact. Hit enter to search or ESC to close.

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The first is a portrait of her deceased son Farouq Vyarawalla, and the second is a picture of Jawaharlal Nehru hugging his sister Vijaylaxmi Pandit—these are her favorite photographs, she says. Mountbatten among the jubilant crowds outside the Parliament House on August 15, Photo: Homai Vyarawalla.

Homai Vyarawalla is the perfect protagonist: the only woman in her profession, fierce and independent, full of humor and a lightheartedness that is immediately affable. That she was the only woman is an easy thing to pounce upon, from which to glean more detail about her person and life. It is to place her in a position of compromise, of struggle—the ultimate disadvantage of being the only one of your gender in most rooms you occupy.

There is another way of approaching this, and perhaps one that is more certain of its premise: that the slight invisibility granted to Vyarawalla by her gender becomes one of the most powerful ways to read her work.

Hers becomes a narrative of perseverance, of having a different gaze than the rest; of her lens being met with the gaze, too, of her subjects—identifying, as they often did, the only woman in the crowd.

It was also a way for her male contemporaries to place her into a role with which they were familiar and could thus negotiate. One of the ways in which Vyarawalla was able to maintain her independence was through dress; she never adopted any Western styles, always wearing either a sari or salwar.

She wore her dupatta across her body, its two ends folded into a knot by her side—a certain clue; here was a woman with busy hands. Vyarawalla was clever; she knew which battles to pick. She was thus able to capture her subjects at moments that were more private, more intimate. They trusted her. She shared a friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru, who once, after noticing a foreign male delegate dismiss her for directing him where to stand, linked his arm into hers and suggested they go for a walk.

They stopped to admire the Mughal architecture of Parliament House, its painted ceilings. Jawaharlal Nehru voting for the motion to ratify partition. Indira Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and Govind Ballabh Pant are seen in the background.