Archiving (for) Begum

After every holiday together, or one of our trips back home, they always made that familiar request – “Ye print karwake dena humko agli baar”. Naana of course, has always been a collector – his books and magazines overflow the trunks, racks, shelves, cupboards of the library on the terrace, with the more recent additions stacked up as installations across his room – next to his bedside, on a long table, atop a glass-shelf (which itself houses a strange assemblage of objects people bring him back from their travels) as well as on top of his almirah. His office downstairs is inhabited by a whole other conglomeration of professional books – running up and down and across all four walls. Understandable that he wanted to accumulate hardcopies of his photos too – and I suspected he would probably go back to them more than I would in my own digital photo gallery. For someone grappling with Short Term Memory Loss, Naani would only insist in the moment that we print them a photo album; it was us of course who grappled with a feeling of zero guilt because she wouldn’t remember to ask for it again, or max guilt because it was all for her that we really did want to put this photo album together.

We would always nod in the affirmative, and then return to our utterly-busy lives in utterly-busy cities, and when we missed home and Naani Naana, simply tap twice to reveal phone archives enough to fill our hearts. And what’s more, just in case we didn’t reminisce the good times ourselves, Google photos promptly reminded one of one-year, two-year, three-year photo anniversaries.

Last summer while visiting distant family, we saw a book of photos of their grandchildren living abroad sitting in their living room- in their minimally decorated house, the three volumes of these hard-bound photo books occupied centre-stage. Almost all the time we sat in their house was spent browsing through these books and listening to subsequent stories that emerged as the pages turned. No one had to tell us how precious the books were to them – and just how many many memories could get triggered or how many micro-narratives the photo-book could produce each time it was picked up and flipped!

So this time when we came back to our utterly-busy city, we decided to hunker down and put together the first volume of the Photo Archive for Naani and Naana. We decided to sprinkle in some text here and there, which would help Naani navigate and recall. It was strenuous business curating out of the millions of pictures we had, but it was fulfilling and fun because M and I worked on it together – and it did turn out looking beautiful!

We peppered the book with photos from the last few years, where we have travelled together as a family, most to jungles because Naana dreams of jungles alone, and once recently to Goa. There were also photos of the times they visited our homes – Naani visited us in Gurgaon a month after the wedding, in the toasty Delhi/Gurgaon winter – and we painted the town red because she wanted to see everything from Qutub Minar to Mughal Gardens, despite her knee pain. She basically wanted to even with Naana, who being a high court lawyer, would often travel to Delhi for work alone; of course he would slip out and visit all his favourite places. Then there were memories from the time the two of them spent Diwali with us in our current house, and checked off bombay things from their bucketlist.

There was, of course, documentation of their Nagpur associations including our wedding to the various Eids of recent times. There were pictures that archived their routines and rituals of everyday, and Fazal Manzil as a milieu to these domesticities – Naani’s practices of nurturing everyone and everywhere in the house, and Naana’s mostly tending to his garden and the office. There were also records of the children and the grandchildren, the sisters and the brothers, the extended family reunion times – all drizzled across the book.

We collected it hot off the press a few hours before our train, and held on to the precious present through the journey home. Do we need to mention how happy it made them – it now sits right on top of the pile of books on their bedside – and we hope it allows them to wander and travel back to the good times as often as they would like. Adding below, some of the spreads from the book, and their first reactions on holding it 🙂

Our cover page echoed the early morning, early afternoon and early evening calls from across the courtyard of Fazal Manzil 

Goa, February 2018 – Serving Goan sunrises and sunsets with a plate of butter garlic prawns on the side

Spotted on Betalbatim beach this morning : Naani’s favourites in a frame

Savouring the Seas and the Spices

Tourists visiting Goan churches, followed by gorging on fish thaalis

Delhi, February 2015 – Escorting Royalty on her stroll in the Mughal Gardens, which we hear are more verdant ever since she visited

Home is where the Begum is ❤

Tadoba, May 2017 – Jungles and Naana keep returning to each other 

Gurgaon, February 2015 – Bringing sunshine and warmth after a long winter, and making Home around her favourite spot for chai

Witnesses and Warmth on our Official Wedding ❤

Mumbai, October 2016 – Lovers meet lovers at Marine Drive, Patrons meet managers at Leopold!

Mumbai, October 2016 – Naana Naani taking a stroll at the eponymous Naana Naani Park 

Mumbai, October 2016 – Ready for a grand Parsi lunch 🙂

Winters in the aangan of Fazal Manzil – the heart of the house and my favourite space to occupy

Naana Naani + Daada Daadi with their treasures of this lifetime, together at Fazal Manzil

Nagpur, Everyday – Naana nurturing his garden and vice-versa; Naani nurturing everyone/everything around her

In his happy space – Advocate Shabbir Husain

Nagpur, Last 82 years – Tall Little Man and the balconies, verandahs, otlas, windows, street-rooms that make his life

Nagpur, January 2015 – Days of long-due reunions, bonhomie, celebrations, and Suheel, Sabina, Taru

Forever Eid ❤

Back cover 🙂

Hot off the press 

M holding our hardbound labour of love 

Centrepiece of this morning had everyone huddled around it 

Waah! Kya banaya hai!

❤

BRB guys.. Working on Photo Book Volume II!