Dalda 13. A portrait of Homai Vyarawalla - ACE414.2

Car with registration DLD 13. Homai Vyarawalla driving; her VO talking about how her husband bought her the car in 1955, how it came to be known as "Dalda 13", and how the number thirteen has always been associated with her (born 1913, many things happened to her on the 13th, etc). Homai Vyarawalla talks about people’s initial reaction at seeing her, dressed in a sari, carrying a camera. The fact that they didn’t take her seriously enabled her to "go to sensitive areas" and take pictures that others could not have got. Examples of her press photographs and covers for Illustrated Weekly of India, initially published under her husband Maneckshaw’s name. Vyarawalla explains that eventually her pictures were credited to her. Photographs by Vyarawalla. Vyarawalla with some of her photographic equipment; she talks about having to look for lenses in flea markets. Photographs of VIPs, many with Jawaharlal Nehru; Vyarawalla says she admired Ho Chi Minh and relates an anecdote (VO over shorts of Vyarawalla working in her garden) about his egalitarianism. Photographs of Nehru and Jackie Kennedy. Vyarawalla talking about this visit. Photographs of Marshall Zhukhov and Nehru; a story about Zhukhov riding an elephant. Government House, Delhi. Photographs of Nehru and Indira Gandhi, and of formal and social occasions during the period she worked for Mrs Gandhi. Usha Bhagat talking about Vyarawalla. Photographs of Vyarawalla with politicians and other celebrities. Photographs of Nehru and family. Photographs of troops, the Dalai Lama, Nehru. Zhukhov, etc. Photographs of Queen Elizabeth II on a state visit; Vyarawalla’s VO talking about how her attempts to take a close shot were hindered by a British photographer and ho she told him off. Traffic. Vyarawalla VO talking about angering Mahatma Gandhi by photographing him with flash. Some of the pictures. Vyarawalla with her Speed Graphic camera, demonstrates how the flash attachment worked and how she used to carry it on her shoulder.