Sepia Tones

O. P. Sharma.

I've heard the name mentioned in awe. Mr. O.P. Sharma is director of the Photography Department at Trevini Kala Sangam. For 5 months, my colleagues and I will be under his expert tutelage. Though the course is titled "Basic Photography" I have high hopes of learning a lot from this seasoned veteran, Sharma sir.

Before matriculating into this class, I boldly called Sharma sir to inquire whether the course was tailored to film or digital cameras. Knowledge learned can apply to both, he said. I also told him that I had already taken a basic course at the Singapore Photographic Society and had rudimentary knowledge to begin with. He very simply said that the basic course MUST be taken before the advanced course. Very well, good sir, you are the expert.

Classes are held in the second room of the basement of Trevini Kala Sangam on Tansen Marg. In front of the small once beige-walled room is a wooden teacher's table barely large enough for more than three notebooks and a pen or two. Above it is an aging air-conditioner. A dust encrusted wall fan is next to the air-conditioner. On the left wall is a shelf with ordinary tins of biscuits, detergent bottles, a teapot with three cups, empty beer cars--objects to be photographed, I later realized. Three or four rows of green metal chairs are lined up for us. I hurried and took a chair in front of the class then hoped that I would have an English speaker next to me. Except for the air conditioner, it might have been a classroom at the Free School of St. Scholastica's College, Manila. What a throwback to the 60s!

Sharma sir walked back and forth into a little locked room adjacent to the classroom. After several trips (which took all of ten minutes!) he settled down to his teacher's desk and began. I will try to describe Sharma sir to you but nothing I say can convey the aura of the man. Sharma sir has combed back pure silver grey hair that just touches his collar. He has Elton John transparent brown glasses which cover his bushy silver brows, his shining eyes, and a third of his cheeks. A smile shows his crooked teeth; a silver beard covers the rest of his face. He is in a khaki collared shirt with many pockets. It is difficult to guess his age. He has youngish hands which perhaps belie his years. The silver hair puts him in his 60s but the joyful timbre in his voice when he speaks of photography puts him in his 40s!

Sharma sir positions a worn blue plastic notebook precisely on the center of his table. When opened, it reveals sheets of browning paper with handwritten notes paper-clipped to its front cover. Further inside are note cards. There are several photographs of lenses, a diagram of focal distance. This notebook holds not only photography information but also the many years of precious experience of the erudite Mr. Sharma.

He begins his lecture with the admonition that 75% attendance is required to pass this course. There will be written tests; only a 40% mark is required to pass. (This is curious; why would expectations be so low? Or is the course that difficult?) "Photography is everywhere. It is inseparable from life." Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph in 1826.... He continues in English then quickly lapses into Hindi. He weaves in and out of two languages, sadly using more Hindi than English. I wait to hear recognizable words--recording medium, composition, shutter, film chamber--but know that I am missing much when he smiles as he recounts things unknown to me. I will manage somehow, try to remind him often of my presence.

It has been many years since I have left hallowed halls of learning. But in this little room Sharma sir has reminded me that the passing of knowledge is sacred as it is vital. The Internet and the world wide web holds masses of information, it is true. But the human experience is irreplaceable, the voice in the telling, the smile in the pleasure of teaching, all these wonders I have discovered in Sharma sir's basement classroom.