In Photos: The inimitable Homai Vyarawalla and her iconic images of independent India
When we look back at some of the first images of independent India, most of us do not realise that they were taken by a woman -- Homai Vyarawalla. Vyarawalla, India's first photojournalist, has todaybeen immortalised by Google in one of their trademark doodles on her birth anniversary.
Born in a Parsi family in Gujarat, Vyarawalla moved to Bombay to pursue a diploma at St Xavier’s college, before going on to the JJ Schools of Arts, where she started to work with photography.
She is known for capturing India's transition from British Raj to an independent country after partition. As a photojournalist, she has immortalised such iconic moments as the first flag hoisted at the Red Fort on August 15, 1947, the departure of the last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, and the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
In 2011, she was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award. In 2011, she was also given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the I&B Ministry in 2010. She passed away in 2012 at the age of 98.
