Daakiya: Reimagining The Dying Tradition Of Postal Delivery In Bihar

Sarang Gupta from Jammu derived the idea of his photo essay, ‘Daakiya’ during his days as a photography student in college at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication, Delhi. A student of Commerce, Sarang had cleared three rounds of national-level exams when he realised Photography and not Commerce was where his heart at. Following a conversation with his father, who is a government employee, he decided to pursue his passion for documentary and photo-journalism.

Sarang believes that when one looks at photography as an art form rather than a skill, their attention shifts from the equipment to the narrative and they start exploring stories.

Therefore, when he got the opportunity to visit Bihar with his friend, Nitish from Madhubani, he happily grabbed it.

The idea was a nod to unravelling the nostalgia around letters and the postman who delivered them — an occurrence that is now quite conveniently shrugged off as a relic from the past.

“I travelled along with a friend to his hometown in the Madhubani district of Bihar, where he had told me the mailman is still an integral part of people’s lives,” says Sarang, who was then inspired to capture the ritual from the yesteryears through his lens. Thus was born his photo project, ‘Daakiya’.

Thanks to his father, Sarang has always been used to having the postman deliver government letters to his house regularly. Even though the convenience of emails, texts, and calls has seamlessly replaced the patient love of letters now, one of the most important elements of the process – the mailman – still stands tall. Going house to house with letters and money orders of all sorts, the mailman, probably more in rural areas than urban ones, is still someone people wait patiently for.

Sarang’s first-ever visit to a village opened up a whole new world of stories for him. Sarang remembers, “At that time, Aadhar cards were being distributed in the village. While quite a few people still didn’t know what they were receiving, everyone knew the mailman by name. He had a personal relationship with everyone and would know everyone’s problems.” Sarang shadowed the mailman around the village to capture all the nuances of the process. Chuckles Sarang, “Quite a lot of villagers thought that they were being given ATM cards! I remember older aunties asking the mailman if they would get money out of the card.”

The experience was also his first-ever exposure to active casteism and ghettoisation of the lower-castes in the village. What stunned him even further was how the restriction extends to the workings of the government. “No one at all would go to the area set aside for the Dalits — not even census officials — not even the mailman,” remembers Sarang.

Looking back at his first photo-narrative essay, Sarang talks about his dreams and aspirations, his creative process, the contemporaries he admires, and the throbbing sense of loss that accompanies reality.

I. Who are the people that inspired you during your formative years as a photographer?

My dad was the first person who inspired me to take up photography professionally. He was the first man I saw with a camera around his neck documenting family events and outings. Then I grew up gushing over Prabuddha Dasgupta’s work and later in life when I moved to Delhi to study photography, I got introduced to the work of photographers like Saul Leiter and Constantine Manos who, to this day, continue to inspire my mood board.

II. Do you have a specific creative process and purpose to your work?

Process and purpose are variables that continue to change and evolve with time and also differ as per the nature of the project. In my personal work, I deal with the mundane realities of life, events which are not necessarily remarkable but still hold some importance and aesthetic value, which is the core nature of street/documentary style photography.

III. How do you decide what you want to document?

I still haven’t found a convincing answer to why I capture a particular event or subject apart from the fact that I feel it might end up being something important to the world.

As an introvert who barely spoke while growing up, I felt photography was the perfect medium for me to capture what I couldn’t articulate in words.

IV. Are there any Indian contemporaries of yours whose work you admire?

Abhirup Dasgupta, Ashish Shah, Ashima Raizada, Abishek Basu

V. Could you cite the first piece of work that impacted you deeply? Also, tell us why.

In No Great Hurry: 13 Lessons in Life with Saul Leiter continues to be one of the most touching pieces of visual documentation I have ever come across. In the documentary, Saul talks about his struggles as an introvert trying to make a living in New York City as a photographer, which is a ‘people’s profession’ as you might call it. However, he suggests that other aspiring photographers stay away from the herd, create what you relate to and not what sells. Even though it won’t guarantee commercial success, it will guarantee the artistic satisfaction of creating something unique and personal.

VI. If you could propose and lead a project with the Indian Government, what would it be?

Documenting the rivers of India and the cultures they harbour. The Indian subcontinent is home to some of the mightiest rivers which have given birth to one of the oldest civilisations in the history of mankind.

I want to document how some of them which are on the verge of dying or becoming flowing gutters, have nurtured different cultures and civilisations down the ages.

VII. Which is your favourite piece of work of your own and why?

I think I’m quite harsh when it comes to critiquing a body of work – be it mine or someone else’s. It’s been five years since I have started my journey as a professional photographer and till now, I have mostly produced editorial work for newspapers and magazines which I mostly did to fend for myself. A personal body of work takes time to take a shape. So, I’d say, my favourite one is yet to be.

VIII. One track you’re currently listening to?

‘Khoyo’ by Tech Panda

IX. A project you wish you were a part of and why?

I wish I could have assisted Constantine Manos on his project, AMERICAN COLOR 2, which in my opinion, is one the most intricate bodies of colour photography works ever made.

X. Your favourite midnight munchies?

Cashews

XI. Your greatest vice?

Rubbing hash (charas) with the farmers in Malana.

Check out his Instagram here.

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