The Hindu : New Delhi News : All the way from Afghanistan

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All the way from Afghanistan

Manisha Jha

Photo exhibition about the war-ravaged country

Picturesque: A photo from ‘Footloose in Afghanistan’ to be organised at India Habitat Centre.

NEW DELHI: A unique photo exhibition after travelling all the way from its place of origin, Afghanistan, has finally made its way to the Capital.

Titled “Footloose in Afghanistan”, the three-day exhibition that opens this coming Monday features the works of two amateur photographers, Rakesh Sood and Aly Mawji. These artistes spent years working towards rebuilding the war ravaged land of Afghanistan and fell in love with its harsh beauty, its soft, poetic heart and its vulnerable and indomitable spirit.

Unique pictures

The photographs are unique and offer a view of the Bamyan valley as the ancient Buddha would have seen it. They also capture the dance of the breeze in the Wakhan corridor and peep into the centuries reflected in the light eyes of an Afghan.

Says Sood: “In this exhibition we have travelled as much as we could, sometimes on our own and sometimes together. The photographs that you see give you a glimpse into our travels and Afghanistan as we have seen it, as it had claimed us and as we have come to love it.”

In addition to being an amateur artist Rakesh Sood is also a diplomat known for his long years spent dealing with complex foreign policy issues and India’s nuclear policy. His love for Afghanistan made him learn “Dari”, the local language.

Received prize

As representative of the Aga Khan Development network in Afghanistan, Aly Mawji received the Raymond Georis Prize for innovative philanthropy and for his contributions “to the long term development of Afghanistan and a strengthening of its communities” in 2005.

Despite his busy schedule, he manages to find time for his camera, flying, poetry and literature.

His photographs titled “Children in Badakshan: 1998-2000” during the civil war were exhibited at universities in the Unites States.

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