there is a strange calm in his eyes that arrests you after all they have seen it all but even after spending more than four decades in the field of photography raghu rais childlike curiosity seems insatiable so when a youngster clicks his pictures with a new camera that he hasnt seen before rai takes a moment out from a serious conversation to ask her about its specifications tall gaunt and with his trademark red scarf rai sits crossed leg to have a hearttoheart with us he begins with the most crucial chapter of his life where a donkey made him want to be a photographer his elder brother already a photographer asked rai to accompany a friend on a shoot in a village not people but a donkey fascinated him and he chased the animal for almost three hours until finally he could take a shot my brother sent the picture to a weekly competition by a magazine in london and i got a good prize money since then i had had a lot of fun i thought why not give it a try he says with a wink and with that picture this civil engineering graduate chose a camera over the idea of building bridges and rest as they say is history rai has framed the transformation of india has bagged many accolades and showed his work across the globe but ask him about his favourite photography destination and he gives you the reply he is known for india why would i go anywhere else he quips though he talks about his fascination with colours with great affection his most illustrious works are the ones in black and white at the ongoing exhibition of his works two particular portraits attract eyeballs instantly one is that of pandit hariprasad chaurasia that dates back to 1988 the other one changes rais expression while talking about it he points to the portrait that features a sadhu extending an offering to a passerby who is standing with his monkey the title underneath reads the day beforeayodhya 1992 he took this picture while he was covering the ayodhya riots for a magazine this is a day before the babri masjid demolition i took another picture just the day after and everything had changed so drastically this picture always reminds me that human beings can turn destructive to any extent in the name of religion rai narrates such pictures he says remain timeless for him but he denies being proud of them and says he doesnt have set parameters to judge others work too theres just one thumb rule for him a good picture has to have a heartbeat the ace photographer says talking about others works he surprisingly supports the trend of pursuing photography as a hobby by the youngsters today why be cynical about it i have heard people say that you either have the eye for photography or you dont i say thats bullshit claims rai one can develop or