A Way To Reclaim Myself
This is Miraya, my abducted daughter
It began with an idea - to click wholesome photographs, to click pictures for fun, and to express creativity. The idea was to capture moments that might be fleeting and preserve them as visual artistic stories. That idea evolved into a friendly competition, strengthened a marriage, and gave me my beautiful daughter - Miraya. That idea was lost when Miraya was abducted by her mother to India - a country that does not consider parental child abductions as a crime.
Students from Rashmi Academy of Performing Arts.
It took a while for me to heal the broken pieces of my soul together after the abduction of my only daughter. It is a work in progress. The process of healing led to another idea - to create Soulful Pictures. This idea evolved to become a step towards reclaiming a portion of myself. When your identity, your self-worth, diminishes because of a profound life experience, you reclaim it one portion at a time. I am thankful to Rashmi and Rashmi Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA) for encouraging me to reclaim a portion of myself - my identity behind the camera lens. I am thankful to her for obtaining the opportunity to photograph her team of dancers at the Earl Haig Secondary School, North York, Ontario, Canada.
Rashmi and her students performing the tale of Rayamana
In November 2024, her team of dancers performed the tale of Ramayana, a classic tale of good over evil in Indian mythology and Hindu culture. Along with other significant occurrences, Ramayana also involves an abduction - though not an abduction of a child by a parent. Rashmi’s team performed this epic narrative in one of the traditional dance styles from India - Kathak. It was fantastic to see dancers as young as my daughter perform with adults to capture the emotions and narrative of Ramayana.
Rashmi and her dancers during the backstage rehearsal
My focus behind the lens was the interactions backstage. Often, on-stage performances are the epitome of an event. However, behind the stage is where most of the hard work and perseverance live. The busy as-a-bee-hive backstage area gives many candid interactions to ensure everyone is ready. It also provides laughs, nervous twiddling of thumbs, and sometimes even a parent encouraging and assuring their young child that they will be fantastic on stage. These interactions lead to a common goal of building confidence and giving the best performance. It was an opportunity to elevate the charm of those interactions and provide a glimpse of what may go unseen.
A student from Rashmi Academy of Performing Arts posing for the camera
It is surreal to take pictures of others to reclaim a portion of yourself, your identity, your self-worth. Thank you, Rashmi and RAPA for this opportunity.
I encourage you to plan a visit to the North York Diwali Festival (organized by RAPA and Youth For Change, Canada) at Mel Lastman Square, Toronto, to see the Ramayana performance by Rashmi Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA) during October 2025.
