India’s first woman photojournalist dies

Vadodara, Jan 15 (Calcutta Tube / IBNS) India’s first woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawala, a Gandhian who had taken several of the iconic images of yesteryear, passed away at age 98 on Sunday at a private hospital here.

Known popularly as Dalda 13 owing to her association with the number and her car number plate, she had caught on lens images of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (later his daughter Indira), Dr Radhakrishnan and Mahatma Ghandhi besides capturing the moments of India’s independence by photographing the flag hoisting ceremony at Red Fort on Aug 15, 1947.

Born on Dec 9, 1913 at Navsari, Gujarat, Vyarawala had started her career in the late 1930s and worked till 1970 when she retired from active life as a photographer.

In 2011, she was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award of India.

She had studied at the Bombay University and the Sir J. J. School of Art and later was drawn to the ideals of Gandhiji and lived a simple life.

She had moved to Mumbai in 1942 with her family and then to Delhi where she spent about three decades as a photographer.

She had worked with The Illustrated Weekly of India magazine, Bombay Chronicle and the Far Eastern Bureau of the British Information Services.

After her husband’s death she started living in Vadodara from 1973.