Constance, our fiercely independent grandmother.

The lady you see in this photograph is my grandmother. She was born as Constance Karuna Charles to an affluent family in Mysore state, southern India, in the in the late 1890s. Around 1910, when she may have been about 12, her marriage was arranged with a man named Durraswamy around 1910. Two years later at the age of 14 she was left widowed, with one baby son in her arms – Arthur.

Our Father Was Our In-House Photographer

Although he never practiced it professionally, my father was a talented photographer and was introduced to the craft by his childhood friend Balkrishna Kulkarni whose father owned a photo studio. My father would closely observe lighting techniques, the developing process of glass plates, making prints etc. Even after rolls of film became the norm, my father continued to make glass plates. Though he also learnt the process of developing film rolls from Laxman Gaikwad, a neighbour who lived with them in Kirloskarwadi and was a company photographer for the Kirloskar company and its manufacturing units.