Essay 414 • Nov 4th 2019
- by Pratishtha Chhetri
The most recent Indian election campaign, held in the capital city-Delhi, is nothing less than a circus. Everyone (age no bar) spills out onto the streets in support of their party leaders. I have tried to show the common people, who play a massive role in making this event a spectacle. Optimism is rife but so is the chicanery of the politicians, turning this whole process into a visual charade. It’s a week of nervous celebrations before Election Day, fraught with jibes on placards- as the election members compete with each other- across campaigns.
Pratishtha Chhetri is an independent documentary filmmaker and photographer based in Mumbai, India. She undertook a Master’s course in Middle Eastern & African Studies at the University of Tel Aviv, Israel and holds a P.G. Diploma in Communications for Development (UNICEF) from Xavier’s Institute of Communications, Mumbai, India. She has previously worked with the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development as a short filmmaker and has assisted various NGOs in Policy Research & Advocacy. She sincerely hopes that her photographs bring to the fore issues that need human empathy the most and contribute to the world’s dialogues on development.
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