It seemed to be a day, which would be exciting and
full of drama with the youth of this country taking to the streets as an
impromptu protest against the gruesome rape of a 23-year-old girl inside a
moving bus in the posh South Delhi area. The historic Rajpath was once again
being a witness to history being made in front of the majestic Rashtrapati
Bhavan.
From the ramparts of South Block (the place from
where majority of mediapersons and photographers were covering the protests) it
felt as if there was civil unrest in the country, with the angry and agitated
youth on one side and the police on the other side. For us (the media) it was like
watching a Tennis match. Once the youth would attack the cops with water
bottles, stones, sticks and abuses, then, the cops would respond with a
lathi-charge, water-canons and tear gas.
As a photographer, every moment was an opportunity
to capture the tense situation depicting the mood of the nation. I prepared
myself for a stressful day at ‘office’. However, what I was not prepared for,
was a sudden stinging sensation on my medulla oblongata and a black-out for
almost 5 whole minutes followed by a huge bump on my head and 3 days of intense
pain.
Its one of those things, which you always feel will
never to you, unless it actually happens. As a news-photojournalist, I have
seen numerous people getting hurt, injured, beaten in various situation and
majority of them being victimised for no fault of theirs. But, when on-field,
the thought never occurs that such things could happen to you as well.
It was a Sunday morning (my weekly off), when I
came to know that violent protests are expected to take place at India Gate.
I
rushed to the ‘spot’ and started ‘shooting’. A couple of hours into the day, I was
already crying a lot (thanks to the several tear gas shells fired by the cops
on the protesting crowd). All of a sudden, while I was lining up to shoot
another picture, I felt a very heavy thud on the back of my head, before I realised
what had happened, I had this stinging sensation and I was lying flat on the
ground and blacked-out. A splash of water from a fellow-photog brought me back
into a world of pain, a huge bump and a very heavy head. A huge piece from a
brick was presented to me by a photographer who told me this is the reason why I
blacked-out. Looking at the size of the brick, on an impulse my hand
automatically covered the back of my head and I sat down.
While I sat in the milieu, I realised that I had
experienced something, which the protestors and the cops had been experiencing
for the past few days.
A lesson learnt, now, even though I travel in my
car, I carry a helmet everywhere, cause I am not sure when and from where the
next snorter would be traveling in my direction.
My coverage @DNA newspaper
