Four decades, a few thousand photographs and a firm bond that only grew stronger with time. That’s the kind of association that photographer Kalaimamani N Yoganandan aka Yoga — whose lens zoomed in to show the person behind the politician — shared with DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
When they first met in 1970, they had a rocky start. A freelance photographer, Yoga regularly shot for the Kungumam group of journals. “They were doing a cover story on Kalaignar and wanted me to take photos,” says Yoga. “But due to some unavoidable circumstances, we could not keep the appointment, scheduled for 8.30am at his Gopalapuram residence. He waited for a while, then angrily left for the Murasoli office.”
At an anti-Hindi agitation in the 1960s; with his mentor EVR Periyar (Left); sharing a light moment with PMK’s S Ramadoss, party colleague K Anbazhagan and CPI’s D Raja (Right); Karunanidhi presenting the budget speech in the assembly in 1989, with opposition party member J Jayalalithaa trying to interrupt him is believed to be one of the rare photographs in which the two arch rivals are in a single frame. (Top Left)
The editor apologised, managed to calm him down and get a slot for the next day. Recognising that it was a rare opportunity, Yoga armed himself with four different cameras. “While he was not pleased that we had missed the previous appointment, he relaxed when we began shooting,” says the 71-year-old. “Even film stars who are confident in front of a movie camera get conscious and stiff in front of a still camera. But Kalaignar was a natural, and would cooperate with the photographer,” he says, adding that he shot more than 300 photos that day.
From then on, there was no looking back. Recognizing Yoga’s prowess with the camera, Kalaignar chose him to capture family functions, and special occasions. “I took photos of Kanimozhi’s wedding, for each of his birthdays, on June 3 this year I was with him, and took a photo with him,” says Yoga. During two of Karunanidhi’s stints as CM, it was Yoga’s portrait of him that was chosen to adorn all government offices.
Karunanidhi also held him in esteem, bestowing on him Murasoli Trust’s Kalaignar award. “I was very honoured as previous recipients include Bharathiraja, and Vairamuthu,” says Yoga. “He considered me as part of the family and when my daughter got married, Kalaignar and his whole family attended the wedding.”
Yoga also had the opportunity to capture the leader at his relaxed best. “About 20 years ago, ‘Murasoli’ wanted to bring out a special edition on Kalaignar’s birthday — ‘A Day With Kalaignar — where they would record his daily activities from morning till night,” says Yoga.
He spent an entire day accompanying Karunanidhi as he did yoga, had breakfast with his wife Dayalu Ammal at his Gopalapuram residence, went to the Secretariat and interacted with ministers, lunched with his wife Rajathi Ammal, and returned in the evening to his Gopalapuram residence, where people awaited with their representations.
Some of Yoga’s photos show Karunanidhi relaxing at home in a blue checked lungi, while others show him without the trademark black glasses. “He was not conscious of my presence, and I was also careful not to show him in a bad light,” says Yoga, who published ‘Kalaignar 77’, a collection of photographs of Karunanidhi, in 2000. The one thing he probably could not capture through his lens was Karunanidhi’s sense of humour and repartee. “Once I was asked to take a photo of him and his son walking towards each other. He immediately retorted that it is Stalin who should look at him and walk in his footsteps,” smiles Yoga.
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