India A Timeless Celebration
by: Amit Mehra
Amit Mehra's extraordinary book of photographs celebrates a timeless journey. He has captured the simplicity of belief through his sensitive photographs: the village actor dressed as the great God Hanuman in gaily coloured attire and performing at the time of the Pushkar festival in Rajasthan, or the Ramlila actor who takes a break for a cup of tea, or the girl who dances with a sense of abandon and joy as the Goddess Durga is taken on her final journey for immersion, or the sheer burst of colour and gaiety in celebration of Holi. The hand plays an important part in Amit Mehra's photograph: the child who dips her feet in the holy waters at the Bangla Sahib Gurdawara but is held by the firm hand of her mother to prevent her from slipping, the Syrian Christian priest who, with closed eyes and raised hands, says the prayers of baptism, or a Sufi fakir who blesses an elderly lady. In a world that is increasingly being marked by religious intolerance and the fear of other cultures, Amit Mehra's photographs powerfully demonstrate that here in India, Indian-ness has given a home to diversity. As Mark Tully writes in the Foreword, the photographs celebrate India's religious tolerance.
