India's first woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawala, who captured the flag hoisting ceremony at Red Fort on August 15, 1947 and several historic events, died at a private hospital here this morning at the age of 98.
The 2011 Padma Vibhushan winner fell from her bed three days ago and was admitted at a private hospital, doctors said.
Her husband Maneckshaw Vyarawala predeceased her. She is survived by her ailing daughter-in-law, who stays in Jamshedpur.
Born on December 9, 1913 to a Parsi family, Vyarawala grew up in Mumbai and moved to Delhi in 1942 where she photographed events leading to Independence, as an employee of the British Information Services. Her work that spanned four decades included both the euphoria of the Independence as well as the disillusionment with undelivered promises in the new nation state.
She was the only professional woman photojournalist between 1939 and 1970, as she survived the male-dominated field, making her presence more significant because of the codes of this profession that largely continue to exclude women even today.
Vyarawala photographed key events that would have a decisive impact on Indian history, including a meeting where leaders voted for the 3rd June plan for India's partition. She also captured the first flag-hoisting ceremony at the Red Fort on August 16 1947, the departure of Lord Mountbatten from India and the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri. Some of the most momentous political events in India were captured by her camera in Delhi during 1941-1970, which include unique image of the Dalai Lama crossing over into the Indian territory in 1959, captured by her lens, are of immense historical significance.
Vyarawala has also captured the visit of Queen Elizabeth to India along with the Duke. She had also captured the visit of American President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1959, where she had to face a big difficulty at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi, as the security had barricaded him with a double chain. Vyarawala took a number of memorable photographs during her career.
Her favourite subject was Jawaharlal Nehru. In her last interview she said: "Nehru used to get surprised seeing me in his functions and used to remark 'You, too, have come here!’".
Vyarawala worked under a different professional name and the identity she had chosen was 'Dalda 13'. The reasons behind her choice of this rather amusing name were that her birth year was 1913, she got married at the age of 13 and her first car's number plate read 'DLD 13'.
In February 2006, a book documenting Vyarawala's works ‘India in Focus - Camera Chronicles of Homai Vyarawala’ By Sabeena Gadihoke was also published.
Many of her photographs were published as photo-stories in the Illustrated Weekly of India, Time, Life, The Black Star, Paul Popper and numerous other international publications. Vyarawala's other pictures include a series of pictures on a day in the life of Indian firemen during wartime, right from receiving a distress call to sliding down poles into an appliance room, from picking up uniforms neatly arranged in rows to dousing the fire. It appeared in the Illustrated Weekly of India in the 1940s.
She had been living alone in Vadodara after the death of her husband in 1970.