For the year 1974 Parsiana published a single color sepia calendar featuring a selection of Parsi statues in Bombay. Freelance photographer Farokh Reporter was commissioned to take photos of the monuments from which our artist and associate editor Manjula Padmanabhan sketched images. Our art director Mini Boatwala felt illustrations would reproduce better than photographs and be visually more graphic.
Those artworks still adorn some of the walls of our office. The calendar was a big hit with many community members who were delighted that the often forgotten individuals whose stone, marble and metal, three dimensional sculptures that dotted the south Bombay landscape were being recognized. We would have been emboldened to publish more such calendars denoting the Parsi presence in India but the costs deterred us. And we also received criticism.
When we proudly presented the calendar to industrialist Neville Wadia of Bombay Dyeing just prior to interviewing him in his office (see "Interview: Neville Wadia,” Parsiana, June-July, 1974) he criticized the lack of color, size, design and so on. But his annoyance may have been more due to his being pressured to consent to the interview. Like members of many reclusive, wealthy Parsi families of old, he preferred to keep a low profile. It was only because our request was made through a confidante of his that he could not refuse. He was further miffed because we had arrived with a photographer and a recording machine (which actually was a cassette recorder and player). We had requested for 45 minutes — he was more inclined to 15.
So initially he was terse, answering questions to the point without elaborating. But once we asked him about his experiences on first joining the family business, he began to thaw. He answered our queries willingly and ventured to impart more information. He spoke frankly about the Church of England to which he belonged, his religious upbringing and his father’s conversion to Christianity, views on the community, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and so on. The interview, when published, was well received. When we met him years later at a Rustom Baug function, he was warm and congenial. Our only regret was not interviewing him again on why he converted in 1994 at the age of 83 from Christianity to Zoroastrianism. He would have agreed to an interview, we were sure. But we felt the conversion and the backlash generated had received substantial publicity. Why further fuel the controversy, we unfortunately assumed.
Our calendar project revived 24 years later in October 1998 in a different avatar: a typographic version featuring the dates and rozs and bound in an issue of Parsiana. Dastur (Dr) Kaikhusroo JamaspAsa guided us gratis as always on the technical aspects. This became an annual feature with each calendar issue focusing on a different theme. Its scope was subsequently widened to include the Celebrations Guide, a listing of service providers, venues for weddings, navjotes and other occasions. Later we published the pocket date diary.
But our nostalgia for the old picturesque wall calendars remained. Our designer Boatwala used to preserve select prints from calendars, magazines and cards. Sometimes she would dig out an image which we could modify and use to augment a design feature in a layout. The cover of our pocket/purse diary is from one such publication. Calendars with reproductions of paintings by the Old Masters were highly prized. How else in India could one access such prints without having to spend excessively or travel overseas? Today with the advent of technology even those with limited financial means can view paintings for free and print the ones they want on home printers or at nominally priced digital print shops. A print of a Monet impressionistic painting from a calendar adorned a wall of our former printing press.
The National Geographic monthly magazine was once the leading publication for nature photography. People proudly preserved old issues and even had them bound. Today the television channel that bears that name enthralls viewers at a fraction of the cost of subscribing to the print journal. But the physical copies may sadly be headed for oblivion, just like the picturesque Life magazine.
While electronic communication has relegated print to a subordinate role, it has also simultaneously lowered the cost of printing. Mobile phone cameras have not only replaced the need for expensive, bulky cameras (except for professional photographers) but also film and processing. Images can be electronically submitted to commercial print shops or printed on home printers on photographic paper, if desired.
Images one may take of family, friends, monuments, travel destinations can be affixed to readymade calendar pages available complimentary on the internet. And while low budget printed and electronic calendars may not constitute great art, they serve as valuable family and community archives.
While many can afford to photograph and print calendars, few do. Our cover story ("Pleasing in print,” pg 26) focuses on individuals who have used their ingenuity to publish calendars featuring their photographic and artistic talent and/or for the causes they hold dear. They print a few copies for family, friends, well-wishers, colleagues and share digital copies with a larger audience. Other community organizations/individuals could do the same. Schools and colleges could prepare calendars highlighting their activities, personnel and student body. Fire temples could email such calendars to their devotees. They would be a useful tool for raising funds. Families separated by geographic distances could use these makeshift calendars to share experiences, happenings, milestones.
Perhaps to mark the start of our 61st year this November, our calendar could include photos from our archives and current stock. Our printing, paper and binding costs for the calendar would double, not to mention the increased postal charge, but this being a landmark anniversary, we can indulge. Even Neville Wadia would approve of this new avatar calendar!