teenage boy was returning home after
finishing his prayers at a neighborhood
mosque in Srinagar the mosque was in the
vicinity of an erstwhile cinema hall
which now sold as a border security
force camp that night the camp was
attacked by suspected rebels who are
fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir
as this boy was stepping into the
alleyway which led to his home a group
of BSF soldiers
intercepted and dragged him off to make
him as a human shield for four hours
after this incident the scared family of
the boy send you far away to Calcutta
when one of the sisters used to live you
must be wondering how do I know about a
boy because I am boy the entire incident
which lasted no more than few hours left
deep scars nonetheless the fear
humiliation and helplessness that I felt
in that moment is something I carry
within you and me today on the bright
side the one distinct thought which I
had during that whole ordeal was what if
I had a camera so that I could show the
whole world what exactly happened that
night today thankfully I have many
cameras and my job is to tell news to
photographs agriculture Povera finished
my first deployment computers I worked
with an IT company in New Delhi it was
some years before I took a photo
journalism as a full-time carrier I was
around 26
that time and moved back to Kashmir and
started working with local newspapers
there I used to get 1,000 rupees per
month as a salary but the for
regionalism paid rich dividends as food
for soul for me working in Kashmir
became me deep insights in as to how
four agents work in a conflict zone in
2003 I joined Europe in fresh photo
agency in Kashmir I moved to The
Associated Press in 2008 with whom I
have been working ever since throughout
my career
besides the Kashmir conflict of course I
have covered historic 2012 elections in
Myanmar Chronicle the torrents 7 Hajj
pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia the
Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008 covered
the war and presidential elections in
Afghanistan reported on the Nepal’s
transition to democracy between 2010 and
12 the devastating earthquake in Nepal
in 2015 and other numerous stories
across India while all these assignments
have shaped my professional journey they
have also left me via several dilemmas
as an ordinary person let me give an
example in 2011 I was covering Libyan
the revolution for The Associated Press
where Libyan rebels with the help of
NATO fought to overthrow Colonel
Gaddafi’s government during the
assignment near the frontline in
disturbia I somehow managed to embed
myself to a group of rebels who were
heading the front line to launch
missiles towards the forces loyal to
Gaddafi and they let me ride in the back
of a pickup truck carrying the missile
launcher
however obviously as it
during these situations as soon as they
fired the missile towards the enemy
positions we came under heavy return
fire from the Gaddafi forces all hell
broke loose and the rebels I was with
started to running away and they beat a
hasty retreat I barely managed to jump
back in the back of the pickup truck
I was in and now I was staying right
beneath the the missile launcher the
rebels decide to fire one more last
missile or was the chasing Gaddafi
forces as they were speeding away the
blast knocked me off and I fell on the
sand with the third I immediately got on
my feet and started running after the
vehicle but they were too scared to stop
for me to get on at the next few minutes
I found myself deserted in steady
pelting of blood spawns and just like
you see in the movies I hid inside a
small kitchen room at the back of a gas
station the Gaddafi forces over hunting
for the rebels stormed at the gas
station and started shooting everywhere
and they fired into every room and let
loose grenades in most of the rooms to
flush any hiding rebels
more realistically to kill every hiding
rebel it was this time that I finally
realized how close I was to taking my
last few breaths on this earth I could
visualize them searching every storeroom
they finished with three rooms already
now it was a turn of the small room I
was hiding in I could hear the shattered
pieces of glass being crushed under
their boots as they were walking towards
the room I was hiding it outside the
room I could hear them talking briefly
in Arabic and they suddenly left the
place without in firing a single bullet
as
happens in movies I have a video clip a
I call him to cpj 341 just have been
killed in the last 10 years the most
shocking thing is only few of them have
sixty-eight journalists were killed in
the crossfire while the rest wonder 47
turns that 72% of them have been hunted
down and murdered intentionally these
two most of you will be just faraway
numbers I have been close to being one
of these numbers a few times now few
others of my ilk have risked their life
and limb to be a witness and report from
hostile zones we do this so that those
in faraway places just like you in this
auditorium right now can get a glimpse
of what happens behind the headlines we
do this in the hope that we can effect
change on the ground because photography
in a sense is a slice of time captured
forever you can look at a picture
moments after it is taken or look at it
decades later and each time you look at
it a strong picture will compel you to
think to understand to connect and this
connection is what is fundamental to
bringing about a change on the ground
sadly these days more often than not I’m
left amazed and confounded this is
perhaps because we journalists go some
may argue foolishly in two locations and
situations where madness pervades there
we leave our souls open to unimaginable
haunting sights and hope that to our
pictures and our potage the situation on
the ground will change something better
will happen imagine our absolute despair
when we come back and are shocked to
find that nothing changed for me
photojournalism is my way of trying to
make it
people often walk up to me and say we
love your image but it’s so complex it’s
so far how can we help and I think all
those countless pictures have taken over
the years that where nothing has changed
but every once in a while there comes an
opportunity if done right can make a
difference like it did in New Delhi in
2012 10 years ago an Indian shopkeeper
Rajesh Kumar Sharma founded a free
school for underprivileged children
under a metro bridge in New Delhi he
along with a friend teach children every
day for a couple of hours before and
after their stores opening and closing
Sharma a 46 year old father of three was
forced to drop out of college in third
year due to financial difficulties he
didn’t want other children to have the
same fate so he decided to start the
free school that was how the school used
to look when first I first saw it the
school received an overwhelming response
and sportful from the people far and
wide they helped with the school with
new shoes socks school bags new flooring
clean drinking bottled water and others
Wallander to teach this photo story
titled school for less fortunate
received a world press for award in 2013
it was dedication of a single man who
was not even a teacher that changed the
lives of hundreds of poor children by
starting an informal school
he initially started with only two kids
but now the role has gone around 300
as mother Teresa had once said I alone
cannot change the world but I can cast a
stone across waters to create ripples
that’s how for me I bring change as a
photojournalist as a banker a doctor a
teacher an engineer or any other stream
you may be in can do to change things on ground for anyone I absolutely think so