Poetry in pictures

The gift of a Minolta camera by his in-laws 35 years ago "laid the foundation stone” of Burjor Nariman’s passion for photography, stated his 86-year old mother-in-law Roshan Bulsara. She was speaking at the launch of the 40-page, digitally printed book titled Bhutan: The Land, the People, the Faith by the company secretary and compliance head of the reputed cement giant ACC (Associated Cement Company) at the Yacht Club on June 6, 2015.

A dzong; (inset): book cover

(Clockwise from l): Bhutan landscape; Burjor Nariman; young monk

(L to R): Diana and Arzan Bulsara, Roshan Bulsara and Maharukh and Burjor Nariman

"I can’t remember a time when he was not into photography,” said his daughter Diana Bulsara, an executive with HDFC Bank. "I grew up with lenses coming out of different shelves.” Nariman’s wife Maharukh recalled "camera batteries stored in our freezer and camera rolls all over the house.” More space was allotted to storage of his photographic equipment than her saris.
Nariman acknowledged Rohinton Mehta, technical editor of Smart Photography as his mentor and Diana as a willing model.
"I have always been fascinated with light and shade and the effect light has on shadows in various seasons of the year.” Nariman notes in the book, "As a boy, on my way home from school, I would often look up at the sky and wonder how cloud formations resembled people... Lightning and thunder, grey skies, the rain, fascinate me and I was very often reprimanded for looking out of our window at home during thunderstorms. Nature occupies a very important place in my heart and this is apparent from most of my photographs.”
Nariman visited Bhutan in August 2010 and was "in awe of the natural beauty that surrounded me.”
The amateur photographer credits his grandfather the late Homi Engineer who "sensed this interest in me and encouraged me to use his Kodak box camera.” The book is dedicated to his late mother Khorshed, a nature lover, and features uncaptioned photographs of the monasteries, people and terrain of the landlocked constitutional monarchy at the eastern end of the Himalayas.
The book can be obtained from Nariman at burjorphotoworld@gmail.com. It has no sale price but any amount contributed would be donated to The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital, he notes.