Come July 31,’13 and I shall attain superannuation after serving
the Department of Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs,
Government of Haryana for over thirty-three years. Although this job of a PR
man gave me some opportunities to make images at different places visited by me
, yet it kept me so much busy with its hectic schedule that I also lost many
photographic opportunities of immense interest to me. But all these years I
never let my hobby overpower my profession. I do enjoy my profession as much as
I like photography.
Well, I hope after retirement from this job, I
shall get some time to enjoy photography to its best. When I look back, the
score is not bad. About 400 acceptances of my photographs and several awards since
1997, when I began to enter my photographs in worldwide exhibitions, give me a
sense of a little satisfaction. And to add to these are three international
honours.
But always on my mind is the question that why
on one hand I came across some new friend who would happily share their
knowledge of photography as they believe in moving ahead in the company of
others, on the other, there are those in whose company I had began this
journey, have sidelined themselves. If they are not doing any good to me, they
also do not hesitate in hurting me. Thank
God they are a few, but it’s a sad situation. I am told that the world is like
that only.
This reminds me of a very experienced
photo-artist about whom I had thought would prove helpful in further enhancing
my skill and knowledge, but I was not that lucky at that time too. I took his
criticism as a self motivation to perform better. That was the right move which
helped me a lot. But there are those too who happily guided me to move ahead.
While I am indebted to these well wishers, I am equally grateful to my well
wisher-turned-critic for I tried to prove him wrong and have continued to move
with the flow.
While I look back, I am also reminded of the
days of my childhood when my brother Mr Brij Mohan Sapru had gifted me my first
camera. It was Click III and I was just 13. For me it was the best gift. And
from that day onwards, my interest grew in this form of art and my brother kept
upgrading the equipment . Constant motivation being equally important to pursue
a hobby, it was in 1998 that my sister-in-law, Dr Krishna Sapru,
introduced me to the PSA which has over the years immensely helped me in
nursing my interest in photography. The field of photography is very vast and
still I have to learn a lot.
This hobby has proved to be very rewarding. The
PSA has taught me how to learn from the experiences of others and how to share
my own knowledge. When I began my career as a freelance journalist in late
‘70s, I used to contribute to the Arts Tribune, the Youth Times, Sun, Femina and
Indian Express as well, but after joining the PSA, I also voluntarily
contributed to this prestigious journal which is read in over 70 countries by
both professional as well as amateur photographers. I have got very encouraging
response from the readers of my contributions.
Photography also brought me closer to the
international photographic community thus giving me an opportunity to widen my
horizon and I keep learning and sharing.
