'Alive and Clicking: A Memoir' by T.S. Satyan, published by Penguin India. At a book release function, organised by Karnataka Photo News, Bangalore (May 14, 2005), former Karnataka Additional Chief Secretary and author's long-time admirer Charanjeev Singh observed: "The book is an album of memorable pictures... he normally writes with light, now he writes with words. Anything done by Mr. Satyan can never be less than beautiful and the book proves it.''
Historian Ramachandra Guha, who has written the preface to the book: "The work is defined by culture and civility... that is typical of old Mysore. His (Satyan's) self-effacing nature is evident from the fact that he never uses his honorary doctorate before his name.''
The book recounts Satyan's experiences with Nobel laureate C.V. Raman, filmmaker Satyajit Ray; the significant moments he photographed in the lives of leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Pope Paul VI; and his enduring friendship with R.K. Narayan and R.K. Laxman.
On assignment for 'Deccan Herald' in the late forties Satyan's camera got damaged while covering a C V Raman function. The scientist, noticing Satyan's predicament, sent him a hand-written note, suggesting that he get it repaired from so-and-so. The person who did, didn't charge Satyan anything. Instead, he asked for C V Raman's hand-written chit. He gave it without a second thought, only to regret at leisure, till this day, for having parted with that note.
'Alive and Clicking' comes alive with such anecdotes from Satyan's eventful professional life. It portrays his experiences on assignment in Sikkim, Afghanistan, Arunachal Pradesh and Malaysia, his account of the massacre of non-violent satyagrahis by the Portuguese in Goa and the mayhem in the wake of the assassination of Mujibur Rahman in Bangladesh.
Satyan, 81, born and educated in Mysore, Padma Shri, and recepient of Mysore University honorary doctorate. He took his first photographs as a high school student. A much travelled photo-journalist Satyan's work has been widely published, including in 'Life' and 'Time' magazines.
To mark the International Year of the Child - 1979, UNICEF sponsored his photo exhibition on children - "Little People" - which was featured at the U.N, New York.
Has authored and illustrated "Exploring Karnataka,", "German Vignettes," "Hampi - The Fabled Capital of the Vijayanagar Empire," "In Love With Life - A Journey Through Life in Photographs" and "Kalakke Kannadi," a memoirs in Kannada.
(Sourced from 'The Hindu', 'Deccan Herald' of May 15, 2005)
Satyan's memoir was 're-released' (if such thing is possible) at a dignified ceremony, preceded by high tea, on his home ground, Mysore, May 19, 2005. The morning after, following snippet from 'Alive and Clicking' figured in the 'Deccan Herald', where Satyan had done a stint as staff photographer.
It's on record that the person who dropped and damaged the camera (in the incident mentioned in an earlier post) was Sathyu M S, who accompanied Satyan on a Deccan Herald assignment - 1948 - to cover Sir C V Raman on his Bangalore felicitation after the Nobel win. It happened as Sir C V was ready to pose for pictures with his Nobel Citation. At the nick of time Satyan's camera crashed to the floor. "Raman's face was livid with anger," says Satyan, adding, " he (Sir C V) gripped Sathyu by the collar, and thundered 'you have damaged a beautiful instrument of science'."
As the guilty pair tried to cope with an eminently clumsy situation (that would've been a prize picture, if someone had the foresight to have captured the moment) Sir C V Raman took hold of the damged Speed-Graphic for a scientific scrutiny. Then he scribbled on a slip of paper, 'prism out of alignment; replace one broken piece and realign.Set right the metallic dents' and handed it to Satyam. Elite Studio owner C X Lowe took a week to fix the camera. When Satyan went to collect it Lowe waived the charges, but said, "Let me just keep this prescription that the famous scientist wrote for you". (Sourced from Krishna Prasad's column in 'Deccan Herald' - May 20, 2005),
I have read the book almost in one stretch. Reading it affected me at many levels. The first, a rather surface one. It left me with a feeling that I had partaken of a delicious, many course moduve oota. I am an unabashed foodie, so I end up comparing everything good, to food!! I could liken the 'cooked up' (pun intended) photos of Nehru to the tangy, freshly made mango pickle served in a corner of the leaf. The section on Mr Laxman's coming home was like the obbattu and badam haal served at the end of the meal, while Vinoba Bhave's incident is for me the invigorating Mysore yele and scented supari. Yummy!!!
The style of narration. When I read Vinoba Bhave's chapter, and then looked at the picture, (even though the printing was of poor quality), I was at a quandary. Which was better? The prose, or the picture? You have proved that a person can be equally good at both. You also give readers glimpses of history, and transport them into situations they couldn't dream being part of. Your style is very endearing. Simple, unpretentious, and devoid of deliberately contrived and difficult thoughts, which leave the reader feeling a little foolish and unintelligent. Need I say more?
Finally, Benne angadi Naganna : The shop my father used to swear by, other places in Mysore, Dr M V Gopalaswamy, my grandfather, C G K Reddy, Eric Scott, so many favourite people in one book, so many memories almost from one's backyard - the book is pure magic.
Alive and clicking At eighty, age may have caught up with him but Satyan retains the same youthful zest for life. His face lights with animation when he goes on recounting his experiences with such photgenic memory and attentiion to details that you feel transported to the realm of virtual reality. He is a narrator par excellence for on many an occasion when he used to stop by my house during his morning walks, I have had the privilege of listening to him with rapt attention over a cup of coffee. He is politenes personified and offends none and his childlike smile enraptures you but he has no patience with hypocrites and dilettante and could be easily ascerbic and devastatinglly honest in his criticism always with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes which is the hallmark of his personality. Therefore, I can easily envision how utterly fascinating and unique his 'Alive and clicking' could be unlike any in its genre. I should know because I have read its Kannada twin 'Kaalakke Kannadi' I am sure its publication will be a landmark winning critical acclaim. H.R.Bapu Satyanarayana Portland, USA
Excerpts from the remarks by A Madhavan at the book-release function, Mysore, May 19,2005:
I like the present continuous tense of ‘clicking’, which conveys the author’s unflagging vitality and zeal. This book is a fitting companion to his album of stunning photos entitled, “In Love with Life”, which came out in 2002.
Here is a memoir without recriminations against professional competitors, troublesome relatives, faithless friends. You will find no belly-aching here against fate and fortune, no angry critiques of stupidity and foul play, only an enchanting gallery of portraits and a temporal safari of episodes, where the author’s focus is not on himself, but on others. He is generous in praise of other photographers whom he knew, particularly younger men. Only once, when an official suggests a bribe, does he show his justified anger. “With malice towards none” he has produced a thoroughly enjoyable and reflective life story, replete with humanity, vivacity and art, aided by a long memory for incidents that glow in the telling, and cast an unexpected shaft of light on celebrities and commoners.
As a professional whose task is to record the public occasion, whether it is the first visit of the Pope to India in 1964 or Nehru entering Parliament House to speak on the Chinese intrusion of 1962, he is intent on capturing on film the historic moment as it flies into the abyss of the past. But it is well said that “black and white photography is a form of painting with light.” For me Sri Satyan is a camera artist writer apart from being an ace photojournalist.
Sri Satyan is an artist-writer whose camera tells stories and whose pen functions as a lens. We are living in the age of a digitalised democracy, where technology allows anyone to take action pictures or still pictures with a cell phone or watch or other unlikely objects. Likewise, words and language are common currency for anyone to employ to write a novel or travelogue. How to take up such materials and stamp them with one’s own personal flavour, one’s own distinctive vision and style, is the problem for those who practise both photography and writing. Sri Satyan is one of the few who have achieved this feat.
I am reminded of a remark by Blaise Pascal, the French thinker of the 17th century: “When one finds a natural style, one is amazed and delighted, for where one expected to find an author, one discovers a man.” Sri Satyan tells the stories of his encounters with famous people and ordinary folk, during his assignments for Life magazine or as a freelancer, the places he visited, some little known, like Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Afghanistan, his adventures and misadventures, the kindness of strangers, leaders, celebrities and even officials.
The secret of his capacity to elicit help at critical times was his sincerity, simplicity and geniality, which won over people, high and low. Nehru tells him to hop into his car when he wants to photograph the prime minister entering Lok Sabha. Satyajit Ray, with whom he spent a wonderful week in Calcutta when the genius was shooting “Mahanagar”, comes to New Delhi, borrows his camera.
He tells us how Prof B.S. Kesavan, a stickler for punctuality in the class, excused a student called Doreswamy for coming late; and when asked “Why this partiality?” the professor replied: “If I had a fraction of mastery over my subject as Doreswamy has over his, I would consider myself a fortunate man. I am only honouring his learning.” The student became famous as Veena Doreswamy Iyengar.
Sri Satyan tells us about two great Mysorean brothers, R.K. Narayan and R.K. Laxman in separate chapters and gives us glimpses of their lives and habits: for example, Narayan’s fondness for Zanzibar cloves from Srinivasa Stores. Mysoreans in particular must be grateful to Sri Satyan for giving us such a book of memories, portraying some of the notable figures who spent their formative and creative years in this city.
I have read only three memoirs in English by Mysoreans: “My Days”, by R.K. Narayan, “N for Nobody”, by Prof. C.D. Narasimhaiah, and “Alive and Clicking”, by T.S. Satyan. Each is different, each is worth reading and re-reading, but I personally think this book excels by its original approach and appeal. Here is a classic which should not be missed
I have had the pleasure of getting in touch with TSS while collecting articles for the Kannada commemorative and spoke to him along with many others in that connection. Even though I knew all these people by name and had seen them (I grew up in K.M. Puram which once was a beehive of artists and litterateurs), I got an opportunity to get to know them only in the last couple of years. We published two of the articles - one about Sir C.V. Raman and a Kannada translation of the one on late Vinobha Bhave in 'Vikaasa' even though we had decided to publish only one article per author. I have read "Kalakke Kannadi" and am eagerly waiting for a chance to meet TSS whenever I come to Mysore and get both the versions autographed by him.
Satyan: A surge of nostalgia send me to the Internet to see whether my dear old friend is still alive and clicking. It turns out that you are not only among the living but well established as one of India's greatest photographers--which, to tell the truth, surprises me not at all. Indeed, the very entry of your name at Google brings up any number of achievements, including your Frontline article on physicist Raman which gloriously shows my younger self talking to the great man in a splendid photograph. One of the Google mentions took me to Seshu Badrinath's Tiffinbox website, and it was he who kindly furnished your address in Karnataka and your e-mail whereabouts.
(I was amazed to find that Seshu operates out of nearby Avon, Connecticut, about an hour's drive from me in Kent, instead of being located in some Indian city. The Age of Information never ceases to amaze.)
Leslie and I are delighted to know that you are thriving and are most productive despite all the decades that have gone by. (Meantime, India has increased its population by about 600 million, which would worry me more if it were not for the stunning developments in technology that are giving India a future that was utterly unpredictable in 1957-60. It is weird when I phone Texas to complain about a computer problem and talk to some nice person in Bangalore.)
We are well settled on our mountaintop farm in northwestern Connecticut, with one dog, two cats, a horse (and two boarding horses) and 16,000 books. The last thing we need is another book but I have already placed an order for your wonderfully titled work, ALIVE AND CLICKING. (This is as good as a book on journalism entitled, "Forgive Us Our Press Passes.")
Would love to have a quick summation of your life from 1960 to 2005.You were the finest of companions back in the good old days; not just as a fine photographer but a fine friend and a wise guide to the amazing country that I was privileged to know quite well for three exciting years. It seems that everyone of any account from that time has gone except for you, me and the Dalai Lama. Best wishes.
At 81, TS Satyan’s memories are of another world, which was "pre-wired." And as one of India’s first and finest photojournalists, Satyan observes that, "When you spend 80 summers on one planet with a camera in hand, things happen, events occur."
Satyan, who was named Tambarahalli Subramanya Iyer Sathyanarayana Iyer and later advised by RK Narayan to shorten it, spent his early life in Mysore.At Maharaja’s College, Satyan took to photojournalism seriously and became a regular contributor to the Illustrated Weekly. He also began to write accompanying pieces to his pictures. "The reason was simple. Just a photograph would fetch me Rs 2 but with a story, it could get me Rs 5," Satyan says. As the oldest of 19 siblings, the money was Satyan’s contribution to the family..
Satyan is characteristically modest about his book. "Writing doesn’t come easily to me," he says. According to him the book was written in order "to show events, some ordinary, some extraordinary, as I saw them through the lens and prism of my camera."
There are some factual that are being perpetuated by news reporters.
1. The camera got dropped at CV Raman's lab in Bangalore while I was shooting for a photofeature. Not on any formal news event or 'function' as the reporters mention. 2. I did not author the text for my book 'Exploring Karnaaka'. It is basically a poto book and Sharada Prasad contributed an evocative text that is highly informative and very readable and scholarly. - Satyan
Re Shri T S Satyan's clarification: Did Shri M S Sathyu (well known "art" movies director) accompany him to meet Sir C V Raman in his institute and was it his direct clumsiness which caused the camera to drop to the floor? I heard a version of that account indirectly from Shri Sathyu (a close relative) last February in Bangalore. Was Mr Lowe the camera repair expert, an Englishman who had settled in India?
