[ad_1]
Graphics: Raja Choudhury
Long before he became the most popular Indian sports photographer and added a touch of charm to cricket photography, Kamal Sharma suddenly woke up. After leaving his hometown of Ferozepur, Punjab, for a better life in Delhi, Sharma saw the harsh reality of life in a big city.
In the ruthless sunshine of the Indian capital, Sharma would sleep on a railway platform in Delhi at night.
But even the noise of passing trains in the dead of night, and not those who deceive him in broad daylight, could not prepare Sharma for the dagger that pierced the heart of the Big Apple on 9/11.
As a cricket photographer, Sharma became the only Indian photojournalist who captured the worst terrorist attack in history.
So, 20 years ago, in the decisive days of destroying the Twin Towers (World Trade Center) and changing the course of human history, how did one of the most famous figures in the Indian sports press land in Manhattan, New York?
An invitation to bring him to new york
“Of course, cricket brought me to America,” Sharma recalled, a few days before the world marked the 20th year when the American heart was attacked.
“I was invited by Wasim Akram to cover the Six Nations Exhibition in New Jersey. After that cricket match, I stayed to cover the U.S. Open.”
In the 2001 US Open finals, an Australian rookie named Lleyton Hewitt defeated American idol Pete Sampras. A few days later, Sharma woke up to listen There was a devastating news.
“My brother-in-law woke me up and said that the World Trade Center was hit by a plane. I was shocked by the news, because just the day before, I was still clicking on the pictures of the Petronas Twin Towers and the Empire State Building,” Sharma said.
“But my inner reporter is pushing me to the scene of the tragedy. So I told my brother-in-law that I must go to Manhattan to take pictures of the crash. But we didn’t realize that this was not an accident until we got in the car. It was a terrorist attack. The two towers were also hit by another plane!”
Abandoned manhattan
When Sharma arrived in Manhattan, he saw thousands of people being evacuated from the area. “Except for a policeman, no one, absolutely no one will walk towards it. But anyway, I decided to walk towards the burning tower. The first tower (the north tower) has collapsed,” he said.
“At that time I had been in New York for two months. You know Manhattan, it is always full of people. It never sleeps. But the morning after the incident, the road was completely empty. I photographed the empty one. Street. This is a story in itself, a story of an empty Manhattan.” Sharma still has nightmares. It was a terrible day that killed more than 2,900 people.
“As a photojournalist, I was lucky to capture those moments in New York that day. But as a person, it was the worst experience in my life,” Sharma said.
“I saw people in disbelief. I saw people covered in dust. But what struck me at that moment was that the American people—even if they tried to escape chaos—had no chaos, no unruly behavior. Everyone They follow the rules. Even in that disaster, their deep-rooted discipline was visible.”
Sharma said he didn’t know the importance of what he did that day.
“Looking back now, anything might happen to me that day. You know I’m just a casual photographer from India, even though I have a professional camera,” he said.
“I’m not in any American publication. The police could have shot me at that time, or they could arrest me. After all, the United States was in the midst of the worst attack in its history. But the idea never came to my mind. Flashed by. I just continued to take pictures.” The collapse of the Petronas Twin Towers and the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon may have brought about a paradigm shift in world politics, but Sharma’s artists prefer to reflect on the lost visual appeal of New York that day.
“I remember taking a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge, with the Manhattan skyline dominated by the Twin Towers in the background. This is a spectacular sight. You know the Brooklyn Bridge is a 100-year-old bridge, and the Twin Towers are the most photographed in history. Architecture. The Brooklyn Bridge is like a grandparent, and the twin towers are born and die before it.”
Exhibition in India
After Sharma returned to India, his 9/11 photos radiated so admirably that the list of people who wanted a magnified copy included the iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
“From Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid to Harbhajan Singh, they all wanted enlarged photos. Sachin even asked me to sign them. I was a little surprised because I heard that Sachin had only signed two autographs in his life, one from Ma Tina Navratilova, another one from Michael Schumacher,” Sharma recalled.
Sharma continued to hold more than 20 9/11 photography exhibitions. “All the big newspapers in Delhi published my photos. The response to the exhibition was heartwarming. People like Sachin and Kapil Dev participated in them,” Sharma said.
“We even had people from the American Embassy and senior officials from the Delhi police. Then I was invited to hold an exhibition at the Indira Gandhi National Art Center. It was difficult to find a location there. They saw my picture somewhere. And invited me. This is a month-long exhibition.”
But Sharma said that even 20 years after that attack, the world still did not learn from its mistakes.
“I see disharmony between people and I feel frustrated,” he said.
“You know, I wouldn’t have come to New York 20 years ago without Wasim Akram’s invitation. I have a deep friendship with Wasim. I hope we have more stories of this kind of brotherhood. The world will become better.”
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com
[ad_2]
Source link