Adira Thekkuveettil

Adira Thekkuveettil was born in Calcutta, (1990). Through her personal work she explores issues of identity and personal histories, visual culture and politics. Currently, she is working on a project exploring the complex urban landscape of the city of Kolkata.

In her professional practice, she works as an exhibition designer and researcher, collaborating with museums, institutions, archives and artists. She is also part of the core team of The Anglo-Indian Archives, a collective of artists and researchers working to digitize family archives of Anglo-Indian families both in India and the global diaspora.

She is a graduate of the National Institute of Design and is presently based out of Kolkata and Trivandrum, India.

Contact Details:

Website: adirathekkuveettil.com Untitled, Calcutta. 2019 Email: [email protected] Untitled, Calcutta 2017- ongoing

An ongoing project looking at family history and aging. Untitled, Kolkata 2017- ongoing

An ongoing project on the complex urban landscape of the metropolis of Kolkata. The Anglo-Indian Archives Te Context

The present archive consists of photographs taken by the Anglo-Indian community of Madras ().

But they are more importantly family photographs, snapshots of men, women and children going about their lives, sometimes pausing, to ensure the camera records exactly what their memories would eventually cloud over.

These photographs depict a community at a time of transition. From being colonial subjects of the , to citizens of a new nation determined to put its past aside and forge ahead, the Anglo- Indians found themselves at the crux of India’s identity crisis.

To the outsider looking at these photographs today, the foreknowledge that collective memory will relegate these images into the corners of India’s own mainstream image, also casts its own shadow.

Helena & Lionel with their mother Margaret Fernandes. Late 1950's. Te Context

The harmfully stereotypical representation of the Anglo-Indians, especially in Indian mass media over the decades, also has a role to play in how the outsider unconcsiously expects to consume the archive.

Multifold readings are what make for a more encompassing engagement with a photographic archive. The different lenses create the space to involve the Anglo-Indian community as well as scholars, historians and others to participate in a discourse - on the archive, the community, as well as photography.

Margaret Dawson, Shimla. Late 1940’s. Te proposal(s)

Te frst stage of this project was to put to words what we hoped to do. Tis went over many iterations, as our ideas evolved.

Te proposal was feshed out over the frst few months before we engaged in any feld visits. Tis stage also involved research and reading.

With every evolution of our ideas, we consulted acclaimed Anglo-Indian writer Irwin Allan Sealy as well as Harry Maclure of Anglos in the Wind, Chennai who were our mentors for the first phase of the project. How we did it

Harry Maclure of Anglos in the Wind was crucial in both his fnancial support as well as facilitating access to Anglo-Indian families in Chennai.

We met a total of 10 families over the course of 5 days in November 2018.

Apart from digitising the photographs, we also conducted audio interviews with all the families.

In all our feld visits, we were accompanied by Dominic Johnson (bottom right), who knew most of the families personally, and was also wonderful at breaking the ice!

Adira with Margaret Dawson & Dominic Johnson Interviewing Malcom Rodrigues How we did it

All the photographs (prints) had to be photographed in the homes of the families so as to not move the archive out of the families homes.

Each space was unique in its challenges! Curation process

Te digitised archive from 10 families in Chennai as well as the earlier archive totally consists of over 600 photographs currently.

The initial curation involved two slideshow prokections.

Te longer projection looks at the archive roughly chronologically through the photographs of each family in order.

Te 2nd shorter projection looks at the photographs more as visually, merging photographs from different archives together.

These were exhibited in Chennai in January 2019 at the World Anglo-Indian Reunion. Interviews in , Assam

In the summer of 2019, interviews were conducted with Anglo-Indian families in Guwahati, Assam. Family photographs from three families were also digitised.

This stage of the project was conducted by Pranami Rajbangshi, a student of the National Institute of Design, with coordination with the Anglo-Indian Archives team. Our objective going forward

It is important to bring the archive out to platforms where a wider public can appreciate as well as critically engage with it. Archives are too often relegated to the back rooms of museums and collections, and thus a majority of people lose access to it.

Te larger aim of this project is to disseminate the Anglo-Indian photographs through exhibitions, create an online platform through which the archive itself can grow, as well as provide a space for conversations around the archive, collective histories, identities and representation.

We also hope to engage young Anglo-Indians from India as well as the diaspora community around the world, who could come forth to take over this project as it grows, since it is best if the ownership of the archive rests with the community.

Margaret Dawson (top right) with her friends. Mid 1960’s Where all we want to go with access to funding and resources

Mussoorie Dehradun Kotdwara Delhi

Agra Darjeeling Lucknow Kalimpong Guwahati Jabalpur Jhansi Allahabad Allahabad Jhansi Jharsaguda Bilaspur Kalimpong Jabalpur Shahdol Chakradharpur Khurda Road Dooars Bhubaneshwar Pendra Rd Jharsuguda Kolkata/Santragachi Cuttack Kolkata Bilaspur Kotdwara Cuttack Bhusaval Bhusaval Bhubaneshwar Brahmanpally Lonavla Lucknow Khurda Road Jn Chakradharpur Igatpuri Mumbai Chennai Lonavla Pune Coonoor Mussoorie Brahmanpally Ketti, Wellington Pondicherry Hyderabad Vishakapatnam Te Nilgiris Pune Vijaywada Darjeeling Santragachi Delhi Secundrabad~Hyderabad Dehradun Shahdol Chennai Dooars Pendra Road Gold Fields Tangasseri Bangalore, Whitefield Guwahati Pondicherry Fort Kochi Trivandrum Conoor/Ketti/Ooty Vypeen Igatpuri Vijayawada Vypin/Fort Kochi Visakhapatnam Whitefeld & Thangaserry Trivandrum vii 19 JANUARY 2019 WIDE ANGLE | Press so far: Family album

An ambitious project aims to archive photographs BRIAN AND HELENA PEPPIN/THE ANGLO-INDIAN ARCHIVES and voices of Anglo-Indian families across India, writes Ritwik Sharma

MALCOLM RODRIGUES/THE ANGLO-INDIAN ARCHIVES

hotography has been an integral part of the Peppin household. From the time he was six Pmonths old, Brian Peppin’s parents would take an annual snapshot of him and his elder sister. Now 66, Peppin retains his first camera, a vintage Agfa that he bought as a youth to take on the family hobby of amateur photography. MARGARET DAWSON/THE ANGLO-INDIAN ARCHIVES One of the photos of the sib- lings — two nattily dressed kids, holding each other’s hands and (Clockwise from above) Margaret Dawson smiling shyly at the camera — (standing, right) and her friends, mid-1960s; from the mid-1950s and some of Leander Rebello and Agnes Dias, circa Peppin’s own collection have now 1910-15; Brian Jr’s birthday party, Chennai, made their way into a digital late 1970s; Pamela Rodrigues (née Julian), archive project that aims to capture Chennai, 1970s; and Helena Peppin (child the past and present of Anglo-Indians. sitting on the right) with her mother, An exhibition of pictures curated from uncle and aunt, 1950s family albums for the project, titled the “Anglo-Indian Archives”, was held at the 11th World Anglo-Indian Reunion at Loyola College in Chennai last week. Delhi-based photographer Dileep Prakash, whose wife is Anglo-Indian, had published a book of portraits in 2007 after photographing know about us.” more than 1,000 individuals from the com- MacLure feels the archive, which was munity across 41 cities. He was in talks with noticed by a sizeable non-Anglo-Indian crowd several people for nearly a decade to initiate an at the reunion, will bring awareness as “we archival project that would digitise family are a dying community in the eyes of schol- albums of Anglo-Indians nationwide. Last ars”. He hopes the legislators will get involved year, the idea began to take shape after he to help expand its scope. approached Harry MacLure, who edits the While descriptions such as “fun-loving” quarterly magazine Anglos in the Wind. sit comfortably with Anglo-Indians, the cross- Adira Thekkuveettil, a photographer who bred community has for long grappled with Prakash had taught at the National Institute of BRIAN AND HELENA PEPPIN/THE ANGLO-INDIAN ARCHIVES the question of identity. This has led to waves Design, also joined in. With funds from the RUSSELL LOWE/THE ANGLO-INDIAN ARCHIVES of migration in the past. The diaspora is today magazine, the Australian Anglo-Indian spread across countries that include the UK, Association and his own money, all totalling discussed questions of representation, Sealy Anglo-Indian history properly. Stereotypes in taught us English in the first place.” Australia, Canada and the US. about ~75,000, Prakash planned to cover 10 alerted the photographers against looking at mass media have been rampant, with stock Within the community, writings have been MacLure says after Independence, panic families in Chennai to reach out to audiences the community from a certain lens. characters such as villains, vamps or drunk- more nostalgic than ones that offer a histori- gripped the Anglo-Indians as they feared los- at the reunion — an event staged every three Thekkuveettil was fascinated with photos ards reinforcing a certain image through cal perspective, as identity issues have not ing jobs after being treated for long as second years across cities in India and abroad. From of youngsters, singing and dancing and movies until recent decades. However, with been looked at, he adds. So he plans to open only to the ruling British. But the Constitution October onwards, they began making field appearing to inhabit the zeitgeist of the our society becoming more westernised, it up the project for researchers as a visual ensured them equal opportunity. “Earlier, visits, recording videos and audios of family Swinging Sixties. Sealy immediately pointed has made the community less distinguish- source of primary information. “Ultimately it migration was a necessity. Now, it’s a choice,” stories told by Anglo-Indians and digitising out that this isn’t all there is to the communi- able culturally. should go online. Anybody should be able to he says, adding that from the railways, cus- the photos from their family albums. Besides ty. “We then became much The reverse is also true. upload on to the website.” toms and excise, post and telegraph, and MacLure, they were mentored by novelist more conscious of having a mix ‘IT WAS ALMOST AS Peppin recalls that during last Both Prakash and Thekkuveettil are clear teaching, they have ventured into areas like Irwin Allan Sealy. of photos. We tried to break gen- Christmas, at his neighbour- that they do not want to be at the forefront, information technology and oil. With a handful of families from across the res and mixed time periods or IF THE AUDIENCE hood church in the Anglo- but hope the project will be carried forward by Anglo-Indians remain a closely-knit com- social ladder, they managed to gain access to colour with black and white,” WAS LOOKING Indian colony of Veteran Lines young Anglo-Indians with the ownership of munity that is holding on to its culture in hundreds of photos that spanned much of the Thekkuveettil says. THROUGH THE in Pallavaram, he was the only the archive finally resting with the commu- India. The younger members, especially those 20th century and also covered the period till PHOTOGRAPHS one in a white veshti and shirt. nity. To generate more interest, they are also who were born and live abroad, tend to mar- the present day. he history of Anglo-Indians Being an Anglo-Indian is about planning to show the projections at cultural ry outside the community more. Worldwide, From intimate portraits and glimpses of Tis linked to the British rule AT THE PEOPLE having a freedom that some oth- centres in . They will also apply their population is estimated to be around everyday life to events such as weddings, in India. Members of the com- IN THEM’ ers may not have. “There are no for funding, which they say is extremely dif- 500,000. MacLure sees the Anglo-Indians dances and music that the community is read- munity are of mixed British and restrictions. I chose my own ficult to get in India. abroad becoming a dying tribe. “The older ily associated with, the screenings at the Indian descent. The president ADIRA THEKKUVEETTIL bride. My three sons have cho- people are nostalgic for the motherland as reunion stirred conversations and curiosity. “It of India nominates two repre- Photographer sen their own paths, too. There’s ridget White Kumar, an author and expert they were born here. But for the younger ones, was almost as if the audience was looking sentatives of the community in no need to hide who you really Bon Anglo-Indian cuisine, says photographs visiting India is more of an obligation.” through the photographs at the people in the , and they also have a single are. That kind of freedom is accepted by are the best way one can preserve a culture. At the reunion, the majority of the expats them. There was an oscillation between look- nominated member in several state assem- Anglo-Indians in general,” he says. “This is heritage that could be passed on to were elderly. Yet, within a week’s itinerary, ing at the photograph and looking through it, blies as they aren’t native to any state in par- Prakash points out that due to our preju- the younger generation. There is a lack of they managed to slot in three dances. MacLure which was interesting,” says Thekkuveettil. ticular. Their population in India is estimated dices, we tend to forget some vital contribu- awareness,” she says. “The older generation, explains: “We are a fun-loving community. She admits that for most people it is hard to to be anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000. tions of the Anglo-Indians. “The English you which studied in schools that had Anglo- We do not have any political agenda and are see beyond the clichés of Anglo-Indians as Prakash says the main reason for archiv- and I speak is not British English but the Indian teachers, were familiar with our cul- very law-abiding. Of course, at the drop of a railway folks or entertainers. So when they ing their photos is that nobody has written Anglo-Indian demotic. They are the ones who ture. But the younger generation really doesn’t hat we like to have a dance.”

eet Chanda Devi. Illiterate and a mother of says Sodha. Married off at an extremely young age Humanising the refugee two, she and her husband fled with their and with little access to health care, education or M infant daughter from their village in employment opportunities, women like Chanda Pakistan two years ago on a 15-day religious visa. Devi are especially vulnerable. Jodhpur-based Universal Just Action Society has been advocating They are yet to obtain a long-term visa in India and “Most bear multiple children which impacts integration of displaced communities into society and granting live in Anganwa camp outside Jodhpur. They dare their health,” Sodha says. not return home where young Hindu women like Unsurprisingly, maternal and infant mortality them long-term visas, if not citizenship, writes Geetanjali Krishna her face the daily fear of kidnapping, forced mar- rates are high. Personal donations and volunteers riage and rape. Her family’s prospects in India aren’t have helped UJAS organise regular med- too bright either: Without any valid ID papers, her ical camps. UJAS is also training people, two toddlers may not easily be able to go to school especially the women in these camps to here. Indian citizenship remains a distant dream THE use their innate needlework skills to pro- even as her husband works as a daily wage labour- BRIGHT duce marketable crafts. Recently, because er to make ends meet. its 1967 Protocol, which specifies the rights SIDE of their efforts, a men’s shirt-making At a time when the country has been divided in and services that host countries must pro- factory has started working with some its opinion on the newly tabled Citizenship vide refugees,” says Hindu Singh Sodha, Maternal and of the women in Anganwa, enabling (Amendment) Bill, the human face of the refugee founder of UJAS. Yet, Rajasthan alone has infant mortality them to earn about ~350 a day. has been somewhat obscured by politics. In reality, 1,000-odd settlements (12 are in and around rates are high. The debate on the Citizenship religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Jodhpur itself) of Pakistani . He esti- Personal (Amendment) Bill might have brought Afghanistan seek refuge in India only when they mates there are over five lakh Pakistani donations and refugees and displaced people into the have no other option left to survive. Many manage Hindus in the state. About 13,000 have been volunteers have national spotlight, but the focus on to cross the border with no identification papers, granted citizenship since 1997. helped UJAS their religious identity is not helping jobs or education prospects. Which is why, as the Indian citizenship is their ultimate organise regular their cause. Whether the amendment, political debate on granting early citizenship to dream, since the law of the land treats them medical camps which seeks to reduce the residency Hindus from other countries sharpens, the work of as “displaced” people and not refugees. “The period in India for non-Muslim immi- Universal Just Action Society (UJAS), a tiny NGO in process of gaining citizenship is complex, expensive grants from 11 to six years before they can apply for Jodhpur, Rajasthan, which advocates for religious and inconsistent,” says Sodha, a Pakistani refugee citizenship, sees fruition remains to be seen. minority refugees from Pakistan bears mention. (now Indian citizen) himself. “While a few have been Meanwhile, Sodha and his cohorts at UJAS are con- Set up in 2008, UJAS works to empower people granted citizenship, the majority has been denied tinuing their efforts to put a human face on refugees like Chanda Devi and advocates for their rights. The basic rights and access to government schemes such and displaced people — something that could facil- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ as health care, education and employment.” itate their integration into their host country better 1951 Refugee Convention states that any individual UJAS has been advocating that such displaced than any Bill can. UJAS with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for communities be integrated into society and be reasons of race, religion or nationality should be granted long-term visas, if not citizenship. Names changed to protect identities UJAS is also training women in these camps to use their innate needlework skills to produce deemed a refugee. “Much of our work centres around ensuring To learn more visit http://slsujas.org or follow marketable crafts; (right) refugees at a camp “India is not a signatory to this convention or to proper living conditions in these refugee camps,” UJAS Jodhpur on Facebook

Sunday Times of India, Chennai Business Standard, Weekend February 3, 2019 January 19, 2019