“Children in Times of Flux”

“Children in Times of Flux” exhibition inaugurated on February 5, 2008 by eminent cartoonist, painter, writer Aabid Surti. “Children in Times of Flux,” an exhibition by pioneering woman photographer Sarvesh, is dedicated to the many moods of children of all classes in a society witnessing rapid changes. From the super rich children with no time to glance out of their car window to kids knocking at those windows for a penny, the children of an India poised on the threshold of a new age come to light in the varied hues of this exhibition.Sarvesh is one of the few women photographers of India. Her photographs have been published in almost all the newspapers and magazines. She has travelled widely, training her lens on all kinds of subjects from her neighbourhood in Delhi to the war ravaged hills of Kargil.In 2001 Sarvesh held a widely acclaimed photo exhibition on women. Titled “Women in Times of Flux,” the exhibition brought the spotlight on marginalized women. Her second and her most latest exhibition, on “Children in Times of Flux”, is a continuation of that series and reflective of her overall commitment to the lens. It locates children in their playful and innocent settings in a world of fast changing priorities. Her camera brings out the contradictions, the class divide and the complex social fabric of Indian society today. The exhibition assumes greater relevance especially as India has completed fifteen years of signing the United Nations Child Rights Convention. The exhibition if anything, is a pointer towards the rhetoric and the real. India turns a rosy cheek towards the world with a booming economy in the twenty-first century; the deepest reflections of this change are visible in the faces of our children. From ease with the computer at a tender age to creative building of houses of polythene rags to live in, children continue to define future, their own future and that of the nation. Children using laptops cruise past others of their age desperately trying to make a living by selling balloons at traffic crossings. These are just some of the stark contrasts that spring to the eye on the streets of our cities. Sarvesh has managed to capture many such subtle disconnects between children of different sections. Her sensitive lens has however focussed most of all on the joy of living in the young for the resilience of the young is what makes for a vibrant society. Good times or bad times, childhood in the end is about wild, happy abandon and that is what comes through in this exhibition of about 50 photographs. Orphans, victims of terrorism, urban, rural, rich and poor children, working, playing, getting their mid day meals, scrounging for food …you will find children in all situations in these pictures, the images of which will stay in memory for a long time. The exhibition will be held from February 6, 2008 to February 12, 2008 at the India International Centre Annexe, Lodi Estate, New Delhi. It will be open for viewing from 10 in the morning to 7 in the evening.