"There is a fixed, designated place for every little knick-knack… Though all of this is second nature to them, as an outsider I had the advantage of noticing minor details that set them apart and make them a unique, intriguing community,” stated photographer Bindi Sheth on the eve of her photo exhibition, "Parsis of Ahmedabad,” at The Art Gallery at the India International Centre (IIC), Delhi, August 25-September 6, 2023.
The press note for the exhibition stated that "the families documented were socially and economically diverse.” Sheth told us she appreciated the different exterior styles of their homes, but the thread that connected each one was the furnishings: photographs, torans, antique floral crockery, reverence for fire, pets, love for nature (expressed in) the use of floral prints, decorative flowers. And the lingering influence of the British.” Sheth is appreciative of the community’s well-kept heirloom pieces and its determined refusal to replace antique furniture. Growing up in Bombay in the 1980s and now based in Ahmedabad, Sheth says Parsis were part of her formative years. "(It is) a community I have been in touch with for many years,” she told Parsiana.
The photographer said the project helped her understand the "nuances of this micro-community — how they change and adapt with the passage of time despite fast depleting numbers, yet bear a beautiful resilience that retains their friendly culture and values.”
Above: Bindi Sheth; her photos, clockwise from top: Villoo Mirza and
her granddaughter; scenes from weddings
The project started with photographing three Parsi homes in 2021, in response to a request from Leica, the company that manufactures high-end cameras, lenses and photographic equipment, to provide one image for the company’s social media. Enthused, Sheth said she ended up documenting over 65 homes, navjote ceremonies, weddings and an engagement in the Gujarat metropolis. "I am hoping for a Parsi baby to be born (in Ahmedabad),” she stated. Most of her subjects were not only "willing to be photographed but also told me who I should approach next,” she said. The exhibition, comprising 81 black and white and color photographs, was supported by Parzor and inaugurated by renowned puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee who told Parsiana that "Sheth captured details of lifestyle and quirks which Parsis themselves may not notice always.”
Parzor director Dr Shernaz Cama told Parsiana on September 1 that "travelling back to Ahmedabad, my birthplace where we still have a home, and reconnecting through Sheth’s photography with friends and relatives who kindly welcomed her into their homes, learning about change and continuity through her eyes, has been an important experience… She has shown empathy and compassion towards people who have now become her friends… I hope we can soon take her exhibition to Ahmedabad and showcase it at our family home itself.”
Also present at the opening were, besides Cama and Pudumjee, Delhi Parsi Anjuman president Ava Khullar, trustees Dr Niloufer Shroff and Marazban Zaiwalla and their aramagah committee member Rukhshana Shroff. The high tea of ravo, pastries and sandwiches was provided by Cama and the Shroffs. Besides Parzor and the IIC, the exhibition was also supported by the vintage camera museum Museo Camera, India Archive and Felix Schoeller (Group) for the prints.
Sheth’s other projects, "mainly centered around people,” include differently-abled children, the Siddis (ethnic minority descended from the peoples of Southeast Africa and Ethiopia), and the Bene Israel community.