My parents

Having begun blogging with Lord Ganesha, I move on to remember my dear parents.

As the old saying in Sanskrit goes, "Mathru Devo Bhava, Pitru Devo Bhava". Here I present a picture of my parents taken in Madras sometime in1940 before World War II.
I found this picture from my father's treasured possessions.

My father had an excellent set of teeth, and my mother quite the opposite. That's why my father is smiling while my mother is tight-lipped.

Men in those days of British regime were switching to western dress - long trousers and full shirts - while women continued with the traditional Indian saree (I think this is largely true even today). The striped tie my dad is wearing was a gift that he received for his wedding. My mother is wearing a simple 6-yard silk saree.

In those days, color pictures were unknown. What you see is a black and white picture taken by a professional in a studio. The camera used for taking this was one of those large contraptions with a fixed focus and mounted on a tripod. To expose the film, the photographer had to take out a circular lid out covering the lens for a few moments and swiftly replace it over the lens. The exposure time , and consequently the picture quality were entirely dependent on the skills of the photographer. This picture must have taken by a skilled photographer.

I got interested in photography when I was 8 years old when I made a pinhole camera using a small cardboard box. Later, after pleading for months, and a strong recommendation from my grandmother, my father bought me a Kodak box camera. It was one of those simple devices that had a fixed focus focus lens and a click button. It would take a roll of eight films. I clicked hundreds of photos with that camera and became almost a pro at weddings and public functions.

More later....