An old album containing several small and big snaps unfolds before me. I turn the pages passionately to catch the glimpses of my siblings, parents, relatives and friends. With the passage of time, the pages of the album have worn out and become brittle;the photographs, too, have turned yellowish and look faded. The yellowed photographs frisk me from present to the past, with nostalgic memories flooding. The thin transparent papers alternating after each thick black sheet of paper have crumpled at the edges; some holes too have appeared in their fragile bodies. With the threads of space and time, these albums have preserved our memories and lineage gracefully over all these years.These albums stand as testimony for the evolving culture, and as an archival, the albums help to reconstruct history.
Long skirt with a small top and a dupatta was the ideal dress for the grown up girls then. Girls and women, in their early twenties and thirties, sporting two plaits was quite a common sight. Slowly, the two plaits would turn into one plait and into a bun or in to a knot as one aged gracefully accepting reality. The photographs reveal the hair styles or the trends of those days. We as school girls were photographed with folded plaits,with colorful ribbons and eye- catching designs . In those days, no woman was using safety pins to keep the sari in place, especially the pallu. In these old photographs, I look at myself and my friends in saris, shoulders fully covered with sari pallu. We really look funny, innocent, and beautiful. These photographs indirectly speaks about feminine looks and moral standards and the expectation of society.
At the studios, the photographs of young women flaunting their long single plaits embellished with jasmine or sevantige flowers were quite common in the 1960s and 1970s. For these exclusive photographs, the plait used to be extended with the artificial supplements. To get their embellished plaits to be seen clearly in the mirrors, girls would pose with their backs facing the long studio mirrors. The focus was mainly on the plaits. Every household showcased this kind of photos in the main hall in those days. sometimes, for sheer fun,with girl’s attire and hair decoration, small boys would be photographed being metamorphosed in to girls.
Next comes the interesting description of convocation photographs. In every house, a row of convocation photographs used to adorn the walls of the hall declaring proudly the number of graduates in the family. The medium sized photographs in black and white color, framed either in black or white color frames, used to be seen at each and every house in the 60s and 70s. A graduate clad in a black gown and holding with both hands a rolled up certificate obliquely in front of her/his chest was the typical pose for convocation photographs. Sometimes, the poses slightly differed— a person would be sitting or standing near a tall table, which narrowed at the top. On the table top, a flower vase would appear invariably. This type of photographs was quite common in the albums, in those days.
When I was studying in college, in the early 70 s, the convocation function used to be a very big event for the graduates. In the 60s and 70s, every graduate used to await this event with all the eagerness. After completing the course, it was everyone’s dream to attend the event in the black gown and get the certificate. Only the gold medalists and rank holders would receive the certificate by the chief guest of the prestigious function; others at the office. When we friends graduated in 73, we were looking forward to the convocation function very eagerly. Standing up in queue, we got our respective gowns and certificates at the university office. On the function day, we wore those gowns which were not tailor made for our physique, feeling a little bit uncomfortable but with a bright smile on our face. A sense of fulfillment -- all of us had on that day.
During the convocation event, the studios used to be very busy as graduates thronged there to document the celebration.The convocation photographs adorning the walls of hall of every household spoke of education becoming family prestige.
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