“My 50 Years With Dalai Lama”: Delhi witnesses rare photo exhibition on his 90th birthday

Photo: Naveen Bansal

Marking Dalai Lama’s 90th birth anniversary, Vijay Kranti, a senior journalist, Tibetologist, photographer and a longtime close associate of the Tibetan leader has showcased his over 50 years of association through his photographs of the spiritual leader.

He has put up a unique photo-exhibition of some of his exclusive, interesting and historic portraits and camera-studies of Dalai Lama at the AIFACS art gallery in New Delhi.

He has taken these photos over five decades during his numerous one-to-one interview sittings and travels with the Dalai Lama in India and some other countries as his personal photographer. 

Interestingly, a parallel exhibition of another set of Vijay’s photos of the Nobel Peace prize winning monk statesman is also on show at Freiburg in Germany these days.

Speaking to Tehelka, Kranti said, “I was 23-year-old when I first met Dalai Lama. I thought he would be same as other spiritual leaders who often are very self-centered and more concerned about their comfort; but when I saw his commitment for Tibetan community and his association with people. I was quite impressed.”

The photo-exhibition titled “My 50-Years With Dalai Lama” was inaugurated by Balbir Punj, a famous journalist, columnist, author and a former member of the Upper House.

The selection of photos for this exhibition makes it a special event as it aesthetically depicts some important and historic moments related to Dalai Lama.

One photo which stands out for its historic importance is the one which shows Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, standing as an ordinary member among the crowd while Dalai Lama is addressing a large gathering at the inaugural function of Tibet House of New Delhi on 23rd January 1979.

Photo: Naveen Bansal

“I was stunned as I saw Gandhi quietly making her way through the crowd and stopped just next to me to have a good view of the Dalai Lama. Those were the days when she was out of power. But her decision to quietly join such an event was a special moment. The distance between her and my camera was too short for the focus. So I had to make efforts to push myself back to get the necessary focal space……”, said Vijay Kranti.

Vijay has preserved his film negatives and transparencies quite methodically and religiously since 1972 when he met Dalai Lama first time for a news magazine interview. Yet another photo shows Dalai Lama receiving Guard of Honour from a contingent of soldiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police near Leh.