Indian woman is strong, focused and self-reliant

Stephen Huyler, a renowned art historian, cultural anthropologist, photographer and author, has been visiting Indian villages every year for 37 years and documenting craftsmanship and contemporary traditions. He has received a degree in Indian studies at the University of Denver and done his doctorate at University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. Stephen Huyler talks to DNA about his latest book, Daughters of India: Art and Identity’.

What does Daughters of India: Art and Identity talk about and why have you chosen Indian women as your subject?
I have absolutely devoted my life to India. I have been exposed to the ways in which individuals, families and communities relate to women here and the vice versa. I came here first in 1971 at the age of 20 and I knew immediately that my experience of India on a whole was different from that of most of the others in the US.

Every time somebody asks me what do I do for a living, I say I work in India and the usual response is, ‘Oh, those poor Indian women!’

So, what do you think of Indian women?
Everyone I ever meet outside India seems to be assuming Indian women as victims of sorts. I feel obliged to narrate the stories of Minhazz struggling with her identity even as she is fighting for women folk artists to get representation, or Achamma rising as a leading software developer in a male-dominated business world and 18 other such strong women. 

I have also been raised in a family of strong women. Beatrice Wood, one of the founders of ‘Dada’ in America, first introduced me to India and to the fragile issue of treatment of women here.  I have met scores of women who have gone through injustice.

However, that is not their identity. Indian women are exceptionally multi-faceted and they deal with everything that comes their way with remarkable resourcefulness.

The Indian woman is strong, resilient, self-reliant and intensely motivated to make changes in the society. I have simply used art as a manifestation for the Indian woman’s identity. It could very well have been done through music.

What has drawn you to India every year, for the last 37 years?
India is so diverse, so there is always more to learn, which is what keeps me drawing here back year after year. I am fascinated by the way things work here. Because I work as a freelancer, with no company or organisation sponsoring my trip, I get the chance to be spontaneous.

I can change the course and purpose of my trip constantly. I have been able to move with my experiences. I have lived in hundreds of homes whereas others might have lived in maximum five or 10 houses; this has given me a hands-on experience of the real Indian woman.

What was your experience with the women featured in this book?
Some of the women in this book were straightforward in their approach towards me. But, most of them were shy. Thankfully, with passing of time and as they realised that I was deeply respectful of their culture and traditions, they opened up.

Any projects you are currently working on?
At present, I am working on a work called, Enforced Isolation

You are a very good photographer too and have taken all the pictures in the
book. How do you merge two so different passions?
Writing, for me, is married to photography and I have a soft corner for both of them.
I have a library of over thousands of pictures of India and that, I believe, is an achievement.