The narrow streets of Saucarpet, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Chennai, are known for shops selling a variety of sweets. chaat We met Anand Kumar Bhowmick, 56, at Kasi Chetty Street, when he was busy selling plastic items to customers. One might find it hard to believe if one says that this man has a huge collection of rare photographs.
Near his shop one can find a cardboard with two rows of black and white photographs. These photos are part of his over 30,000 photo collection. To celebrate the birth and death anniversaries and historically significant events of famous personalities, Anand displays these photographs in front of his shop.
on other days, The cardboard has pictures of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, whom Anand calls his ‘Lord’. Anand says that after learning about MGR’s death on 24 December 1987, he remained unconscious for two days.
“I consider him my god. My first meeting with MGR was by my father, who took me to the screening of his film,’Ulgam Sutram Valibana‘… I was attracted to him from that day. His charisma, the way he wore his black sunglasses, and garlanded attention from fans and cadres without disturbing his hat, all made him look like a superhuman. From that day I started collecting his pictures. I never start any work without worshiping him. Every day, I first worship him and then start my work. When I think of him I get a different energy. Puratchi Thalaivar is my life, his movies are not just movies but life lessons, he always preached good things on screen. There was no one like him and there never will be in future too,” he says.
Anand’s brain works like a computer. Talking about his collection, he points to a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi getting down from a ship and mentions that Gandhi never traveled by air to any country.
From World War I and II to the Dandi March, from the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s meeting with Adolf Hitler to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Anand remembers the exact dates and the personalities involved, among other unknown facts.
When one looks closely at his collection, he finds a lot of material related to wars. When asked about them, Anand says that he wants the future generations to understand the impact of those wars and how people suffered because of the decisions of their leaders.
“There should never be a war in the future, countries should coexist with each other and find an amicable solution whatever the difference between them. If you want to see the effect of war, visit my shop Come,” he says.
He also has a huge photo collection of actors ranging from Charlie Chaplin to Dilip Kumar in his early years. In her own words, Anand has a photo archive of everything from Niagara Falls to actresses Nayantara,
With whatever money he saved, Anand started collecting photographs at the age of 10. He says he had a large collection of photographs, negative prints, CDs, hard disks and books gifted by his friends from other countries, but everything was washed away in the 2015 Chennai floods.
“I am attached to the statue of Periyar (Dravidian thinker EV Periyar) in T Nagar for just two days. I even thought of going to my house to take those pictures but my friends and family stopped me. If I died and the pictures were saved, I would be happy, because they were everything to me. Everything kept on the ground floor of my house got washed away. All the rare books gifted by some foreigners… were washed away. If I find them online now, an item costs between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 and some of them are not even available,” he claims.
Anand doesn’t necessarily use his phone or any other gadget, he also notes in a diary the names and numbers of the people he meets. He says that the satisfaction he gets from reading notes cannot be found in any other way.
When asked how he collects his photographs, Anand says he relies on book fairs, magazines and newspapers.
“Book fairs have been my backbone… I have traveled across the country to take pictures. I have done this work with my own money. A part of my income goes to the family, but the rest is spent taking pictures alone,” he says.
Most of Anand’s collections are vintage in nature. He says that black and white photographs are magical and have an artistic flair that can never be experienced in color pictures.
“In black and white photographs, our entire concentration is on the subject alone … it leaves us with things to think about, we begin to imagine how this or that would have happened in that period, whereas in color This is not the case in photographs. More than the subject, our attention goes to the background, dressage and other things captured in the photo.
Every year during the Madras Day celebrations, Anand displays some rare photographs of the city in front of his shop. He is often invited as a guest to many institutions to exhibit his photographs and speak about their importance.
“I have many pictures of old Madras from the 18th and 19th centuries. I have pictures during the construction of the Central Railway Station.”
He says he got an opportunity to showcase his work to late Tamil Nadu Chief Ministers MGR, Kalaignari Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa and has earned her praise.
Anand’s wife Vishakha Bhowmik says that despite opposition from her family, she has never stopped her husband from doing what she loves.
“He (Anand) was collecting these pictures from a very young age. After my wedding, I didn’t understand initially why he was collecting photos, and even asked him to stop it as it was affecting us financially. But I gradually understood how passionate he is about this activity. He used to cut and laminate photographs from books, magazines. Even now, family members advise me to ask him to stop and do something better to earn more, but I tell him that my husband does what he likes and I don’t mind,” she says.
Anand’s next photo exhibition will be held at the 44th International Chess Olympiad, scheduled to be held from 28 July to 10 August at Mamallapuram, near Chennai. He says he will collect photographs of the event and top chess players who are set to participate in it. This.
When asked about his future plans, Anand said that collecting photographs has become a part of his life and he will continue to do so till his last breath.