7/29/2019 Swear Culture in India - Interview with Bangalore Mirror (Part 2), January 6, 2013

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Swearing is similar to smoking

BangaloreMirror I SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013THE SUNDAY READ www.bangaloremirror.com/sundayread

One Sunday every month, thegrey coloured gates of HouseNo 1 in Murgeshpalya opento welcome strangers - noquestions asked. Wedding

photographer Mahesh Shantaramand his wife Vidya Rao, usher un-known people into a 14x14 ft livingroom, lined by low and horizontalcube-shaped book shelves. On thisday, the couple's home, Skanda, turnsinto a public library for lovers of booksand photography.There's just onerule: no book should leave the house.

The collection includes more thanhundred rare and expensive booksfrom Europe, UK, Germany, USA andother places. Martin ParrsLuxuryandGueorgui Pinkhassovs Sightwalkstand spine-to-spine next to VivianeSassensParasomiaor Olivia ArthursJeddah Diary.Their's even a shelf dedi-cated to Magnum photographers. Ifyou ever wondered what is the simi-larity between Paris, New York andShanghai then you have to pick upHans Eijkelbooms Paris. New York.Shanghai and you will find the an-swers. This is our treasure and ourwealth, says Vidya.

In 2006 Mahesh returned to India,after his photography course in Paris,along with his photo books.Five yearslater after going through my books, Vi-dya began making wedding books with

my work pictures, recalls Mahesh.One of her dummy books made it tothe Castle International Fotobook Fes-tival during April-March 2011 and it

was shortlisted among the best 50.

After that, Vidya decided to pursue acourse in photo book designing inMadrid and thats when she discov-ered the real world of photography.During 2011, the couple was in differ-ent countries touring with one com-mon interest photography and col-lecting photo books. The collectionhas been growing ever since.

I dont want to fill the librarywith mediocre books. The books wehave are about contemporary pho-tography and engage the readers in-tellect. When the couple finally setup their new house in September2012, they decided to throw it open.

We had collected so many boonow we had enough space, so wcided to share our books with otsays Vidya. So far with five Houses, the couple has had an eing experience. They love numand want as many people as poto visit their house. Its demotiwhen we have just two to thritors. But at times we have hmany as 15, says Mahesh who ipeople through their Facebook

Mahesh and Vidyas Photo Book LTthey invited a limited num

people for their first Open HoSeptemeber 2012. Ten turne.Our first guest was Mithun K

a software professional... anwas the last one to leaveday, says Vidya. Mithun is otheir regulars now.

The Open House begins atand ends at 7pm. People can wsit, browse through the booksdiscuss photography. .... Whildon't talk, others discuss amongst themselves, says VOnce we also screened a film ontographer Martin Parr -it was the photo shoot for his bookLu

Vidya also plays the perfecSometimes she makes tea or corequested, else biscuits and juialways stacked on the kitchenand people can help themselve

Whoever has walked in has ciated the couples effort. Mthem are strangers. They are u

Maheshs friends on Facebookwouldnt have met everyone pally. But all are welcome, adds V

Mahesh has been dreamiadding Masahisa Fukase'sRavhis collection. I am waiting tthe second edition which wiabout Rs 25,000, says Maheshnot only enjoys capturing mofor posterity but also enjoys shhis treasure" with photographthusiasts and book lovers. So wthey are strangers!

(On January 6 the Shantarams wtheir sixth Open

Say cheese before you enterThe house of photographer Mahesh Shantaram and his wife, Vidya Rao, turns into a public library once everymonth as the couple love sharing their rare and expensive collection of photo books with strangersAyesha.Tabassum@timesgroup.com

Its demotivating whenwe have just two to threevisitors. But at times wehave had as many as 15.

MAHESH SHANTARAM,

PHOTOGRAPHER

MUTHU P

ly re-define what good means to us. It has to be anational intervention, one that begins at thehome, says Ansher. If you find something of-fensive, then raise your voice, complain,send letters to the Ministry, discuss the issuewith your neighbours, dont subscribe tochannels that air such programs. It is not a ques-tion of rudeness. Rather about how socialinteractions have changed. It was civil and po-lite behavior in the 1800s of England to raiseyour hat to a gentlemen or lady walkingopposite you and saying good day. Today,making eye contact with a stranger or smiling atthem could be misconstrued as an invitation.Children follow the codes set by the elders. Ifgrandparents and parents engage with their

neighbors in a language that is civil and respect-ful, kids will pick up on that.

Blogger Mommysan writes: A friend ofmine lived in a joint family in a palatial house. Iremember we were nine year old girls, hangingout at her house, playing with Barbie dolls.Her younger male cousins barged in and startedcreating a ruckus. We shooed them away, treat-ing them as a nuisance but they had a stunningresponse up their sleeve. These boys broughttheir GI Joe figurines and said, hum tumhare Bar-bies ka rape karenge. We were stunned. Thesewere six or seven year old boys. They probablydidnt even know what rape was. They didnteven know how it was done. But they knew it canbe used to teach women a lesson. They mustveheard their fathers and uncles talk about puttingwomen in their place. Zyaada bak bak karegi toh

uska rape kar denge. (The subjugation capital.Blog:Oculus) Ansher believes that change hasto begin with parents. They have to lead by ex-ample. Followed by civic education in schools.We place a lot of responsibility on the media, oneducation, on teachers, and parents are broughtinto the equation as an after thought. We havekind of placed them in a powerless situation.

By the end of 2013, Blank Noise plans to startaswear word project that will examine languagebeing spoken.

Wishing it away or banning it is not going tohelp. Its how conscious you are and what comesout of your mouth, says Patheja.

Its best to set your own moral compass onwhat is and is not acceptable behavior. For whenyou change your language today, you are chang-ing the thought process of future generations.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Mahesh and Vidya find it

exciting to share their ideas

about photo books with

photography enthusiasts. They

have a small but an enviable

collection of books

Product: MirrorBangaloreTB PubDate: 06-01-2013 Zone: Bangalore Edition: 1 Page: BGMRCT8 User: sumar2207 Time: 01-05-2013 19:57 Color: CMYK