All Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
I was just 5 years old when the National Geographic magazine released their report on the plight of Afghan women in the mid-1980s during the country’s turbulent war phase. That particular article has stood the test of time thanks to the haunting image taken by Steve McCurry of a 12 year old Afghan girl on their yellow bordered cover. Her name is Sharbat Gula and her blank stare into the lens (at a refugee camp) was unnerving to say the least. That picture of the pain in her eyes spoke a thousand words indeed (pardon me for twisting the classic phrase). Steve McCurry was able to tell the sad tale of her life and his one ‘still’ has been able to ‘move’ readers to this day. The story also made millions around the world feel grateful to be born in free, tolerant and peaceful countries, just as I am grateful to be born in our independent India. And let me take this chance to wish all readers a very Happy Republic Day.
In Afghanistan, I too wanted my portraits to capture the mood of a nation and its people who were far removed from the everyday world. And this was not easy as it is one thing to photograph landscapes but quite another to photograph people, especially in these parts as many are not keen to have their pictures taken. This is particularly pronounced in the older generation and in some places taking a person’s image is considered downright offensive. With ‘people photography’, the key is to build a bond and some trust first and to always ask for permission.
Now this may be the right way to do it but at times it is not very practical. So in northern Afghanistan I took my chances and did some sly portraits besides the ones with permission. For many images I used my zoom lens and for some even the mobile did just fine. I did get some decent results however what I didn’t get was the portrait of an Afghan woman. In the changing Afghanistan post 2021, there were no women to be seen outside at all. For me that absence told a story in itself and that’s why I started this piece with the mention of National Geographic’s Afghan girl. The country’s women were in a similar situation back then in the 1980s too.
In that one week when we were in or around the frontier towns of Afghanistan – Tajikistan border, I did see some women in one Afghan farm, but as soon as they saw us they all vanished inside a hut. It was a bit spooky how quickly they performed their disappearing act and more importantly why they felt the need to do so. If there is any male dominated society today, it has to be this one where women are kept away from the public eye, nor given much access to education or jobs. They actually have a ‘Ministry of Vice and Virtue’ (direct translation) and some of its tough rules include women not being allowed to travel long distances without a male relative and the need for them to strictly cover their faces in public. Girls can’t go to secondary school either (primary school is allowed), and in many cases women haven’t been able to continue their government jobs. Needless to say that this is very unfortunate since you are effectively saying that the country would be run by half the citizens and perhaps that’s why economically and socially Afghanistan finds itself where it is. They rightly say that a measure of any society is how it treats its women and children.
But coming back to taking photographs of people in this trip, some of it was done covertly and some of it very overtly, with few of them even posing for the snaps. One trader actually flashed his hand-axe for the picture and completed it with a naughty grin on his face. I think he knew what I wanted to capture and deep down I knew it too. It was to freeze and frame the exotic and to witness what is not seen every day. But in their minds they possibly thought that they were living normal lives and frankly who are we to say otherwise.
Perhaps it was the dark humour of the man with the axe, mockingly saying ‘oh, just see how dangerous we are’ since that’s what everyone outside this country wants to see and hear (and tell their friends back home). Well the truth is that most were simple everyday people caught in a bad situation. I am glad I could meet them, and even share a laugh or two with some. These photographs will serve as a nice memory of the people and their place, even when I have forgotten what we laughed about that day. The important thing was that we shared a laugh together.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and has travelled the natural world more than almost any Indian ever. He has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well. More than anything else, he loves his Himalayan home. Reach him at: www.facebook.com/MostTravelledIndian/ ; www.instagram.com/MostTravelled_Indian/; nitin.gairola@gmail.com
