India’s first woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawalla, who captured India’s most iconic images such as the first tri-color being hoisted after Independence, the death of Mahatma Gandhi and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru releasing a pigeon.
Today on the birth anniversary of Homai Vyarawalla, Google has dedicated its doodle for the day to this maverick personality, who had pioneered a profession that was perhaps unthinkable for women in the back days.
Homai Vyarawalla was born in the middle-class Parsi family in Navsari. She completed a diploma in Arts from the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai. She worked for the British Information Service.
She learned photography from her husband Maneckshaw Vyarawalla, the couple lived in Delhi She uses to travel from one end of the city to the other on a cycle. In 1969, her husband passed away and a year later she quit photography.
As a Photojournalist, she immortalizes some moment of the country for the first flag hoisted on August 15, 1947, to the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi. She was honored by the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India in 2011. She was also awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the I&B Ministry in 2010. Homai Vyarawalla passed away on January 15, 2012, at the age of 98 in Vadodara, Gujarat.
