Swastik Pal's Poignant Photographic Tribute To His Uncle Tukka

[The following has been re-published on Homegrown with permission from the photographer.]

When I was seven, my uncle was in his late twenties. Today, I am twenty years old and he is in his late forties; it’s been a long journey of twenty years. This project, if I can call it a project, is a tribute to my uncle. This is a very personal project.

My uncle lost his hearing and speaking ability at a very tender age due to medical negligence and the financial incapability of his family at that time. Years of social isolation led to his unstable mental condition as well. Though many can be held responsible for his state, to begin with the family itself, the social attitude towards the disabled and many more. In my work here, I do not blame anyone, find reason or talk of any social issue related to his situation.

This is my personal tribute to a man, a human being who lived in utmost silence for more than four decades now. This is just about him, the way he is, with all his perfections and imperfections. One life, one room and how he passes one day at a time. His world clock perhaps is very slow, silent and very different from our competitive world clock. This is his own little space, a room of 10×10, his own and only world.

I wanted to be a voice, perhaps his response to the way he perceives the world. His waking up to the morning sun, his little luncheon, his fear of the dark, his frustrations, his pain, his little world of amusement and also his dreams perhaps. Maybe this is my desperate wish and hope to give his practically non-existent life a befitting tribute.

He took his final breath on 22/01/2015.

View the full series here.

All images have been photographed by and are copyright of Swastik Pal. They cannot be reproduced without permission, and any such illegal use of these images is in violation of copyright terms.