Memories of Belonging: Images from the Colony and Beyond

Memories of belonging can be read as a collection of slightly offbeat musings on certain aspects of over a century and a half of India’s history. Whether the photograph, lithograph, painting or cartoon is the focus or illustrates a point or an argument, the visual is integral to each piece. A rough historical sense divides the volume into three sections: the first sets the stage for the appearance of the colonial state – not through the usual tropes of political and economic domination but more with vignettes about institutions, people and unusual choices. The second section is a whimsical journey through the country while the final section is all about modes of travel used by a century and a half of people on the move, beginning with the Palki and ending with experiences of the railways. Through its easy style, well-chosen visuals and details peppered with anecdotes, the reader will quickly journey through colonial India into its more recent past, garnering interesting and often little-known facts and snippets along the way.

about the authormalavika karlekar has been a University teacher, researcher, editor and, since 2001, curator of archival photographs. Educated at the universities of Delhi and Oxford, she is co-editor, Indian journal of gender studies and curator, re-presenting Indian women: 1875–1947: a visual documentary, both at centre for women’s development studies, new Delhi. Dr karlekar writes a regular column for the Telegraph (Kolkata), often focussing on the archival visual. Her recent books are re-visioning the past – early photography in Bengal (2005), visualizing Indian women (2005) and visual histories – photography in the popular imagination (2013). she lives in New Delhi and in ramgarh (Kumaon) with her husband and four dogs and is an avid – though not always successful – gardener.