A look at how IPL makes money

A lowdown on the IPL business model


The business model is relatively straightforward. The revenues for the IPL and the franchisees come from three streams: media rights, sponsorships under the central or local pool, and gate receipts. The central pool includes sponsorships for the entire league, to be distributed between the IPL and the franchisees. The local pool comprises sponsorships each team manages to attract, of which the franchisee/team keeps the entire amount. The franchisees’ expenses include team franchising instalments, player and personnel, marketing, stadium expenses, and promotion, event management and administration.

The auction of the eight teams generated $724 million. Franchisees own the teams in perpetuity, but make the payments in instalments over the next 10 years. In addition, each team spends $4-6 million per year on players and team personnel. Players signed three-year contracts with the franchisee, and icon players excepted, can be traded after the first season. Stadiums could cost up to Rs 30 lakh per match, and each team is also expected to spend approximately $3-4 million per year on marketing, promotion, and event management costs.

A consortium including Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and World Sports Group bought the broadcasting rights for a total of $1.026 billion for ten years. SET will spend $108 million on marketing, and the remaining $918 million goes into the central pool. The proceeds are divided between the IPL and the franchisees, where IPL’s share is 20% until 2013, and increases to 40% from the sixth year onwards. The franchisees receive 80% up to 2013, and 60% from 2013-2018, less a fixed percentage that goes towards prize money.

The central sponsorship deals are for five years and for the next ten years, IPL and the franchisees will divide the revenues in the proportion 40%:60%, with the latter amount to be divided equally among the franchisees. Sponsors include DLF as title sponsor, and associate/partner sponsors include Kingfisher, Hero Honda, Pepsi, Citi, Vodafone, and ITC. Each franchisee could earn almost Rs 30 crore annually for the next five years. Additionally, the franchisees keep all the revenue generated from the local pools, which include team title sponsorship, partner sponsors, licensing, merchandising (87.5%), in-stadium signage, as well as other forms of sponsorship at the team level. Franchisees have appearance rights over the players during the IPL tournament, which can amount to approximately 10 days, of eight hours each. Gate receipts are a significant revenue source, and the IPL’s share is 20% of the total receipts from each franchisee, while the franchisees retain 80%.

ONE MAN'S LIFE OF NO REGRET

How would you like to climb the highest mountain, fly at the speed of sound, explore the ocean in a submarine, run a five minute mile, parachute from a plane, read the encyclopedia cover to cover, or play classical music on the piano? These are some of the dreams John Goddard had as a child, and at age 15 he included these on a list -- 127 things he would like to do or see or experience during his lifetime. Today, John is 74, and he has completed 109 of his goals. John is one of the world's famous adventurers and a world-class motivational speaker. Articles about him appear in Life, National Geographic Magazine, Reader's Digest, and the book Chicken Soup for the Soul. He has shared these amazing stories with students of all ages all over the world. Here are some of his accomplishments: He climbed the Matterhorn during a blizzard that was so bad, not even the professional climbers would go along. He retraced the route of Marco Polo through all of the Middle East, Asia and China. He rode in the Rose Parade, visited the Great Wall of China, the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, and the everglades of Florida. He was the first man to explore the whole length of the world's longest river, the Nile. Two other men went with him on this 4,200-mile, 10-month trek (John says he had yet one more traveling companion -- he contracted a tape worm that he named Rodney). And what kind of boat do you suppose they used for the trip? Each man paddled his own little kayak! He also boated down the Amazon, Congo and others. He was charged by hippos, crocodiles, a furious wart hog, and bloodsucking leeches in the Congo. He survived plane crashes, earthquakes, three rounds with quicksand, almost drowned twice, and had an appendicitis attack 200 miles from the nearest health care facility. He has faced death 38 times. He was bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake and lived! He became the youngest ever admitted to the Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles, and is a member of the Royal Geographic Society of England, The French Explorers' Club, the Mach II Club, and others. He has lived with 260 different tribal groups. John says these tribes range "from the head hunters of New Guinea, to the pygmies of Central Africa, to the hippies of Tempe ...." He has climbed Ararat, Kilimanjaro, Fiji, Rainier, Matterhorn, and the Grand Tetons. He has been to 120 countries, learned to fly a plane, explored underwater the reefs of Florida, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Red Sea, and more. He has flown 47 different types of aircraft, and set several civilian air-speed records including one at 1,500 miles an hour. He flew an F-106 to an altitude of 63,000 feet, making him the only civilian to pilot an aircraft that high, a record which he still holds. John was asked which adventure brought him the most pleasure and excitement. "Oh, that's easy," John says. "It has to be my family -- my wife and five children."I was reading through a 1972 Life Magazine (Some one sent me a story from Life which i had never knew existed) and came across his story in the magazine that I found so fascinating that it changed my whole Perpective on life and things that matter.In 1940, When John was 15 he sat down and wrote a list of 127 things he wanted to do before he died. Below is a scan of the list

A copy of the list can be found on his website as well. In 1972 (at 47 years old) he had accomplished 104 of them. In the years since he has added 5 more for a total of 109. John now calls himself the "Real Indiana Jones" and has made a living as a speaker discussing all his expeditions and accomplishments. I think I am more amazed that a 15 year old can comprise such a detailed and expansive list. Who even knows about all these things at 15? What I find a bit confusing is why he has only added 5 in the last 25 years. He should have climbed Everest and seen the Poles by now. And how hard can it be to become a HAM radio operator? Despite my wonders, it is an unbelievable list and amazing how many he has accomplished.
How many have you done? My count stands at 6 with the chance to add a few more.In my opinion: (for me not for Goddard)
The easiest: Live to see the 21st century
The Hardest: Go to the moon
A few photos of each accomplishment from Life 1972:

Biography of John Goddard :
"To dare is to do ... to fear is to fail."
This philosophy has characterized John Goddard since he was 15, when he listed 127 challenging lifetime goals--like exploring the Nile, climbing Mt. Everest, running a five-minute mile and playing Clair de Lune on the piano. Now, a generation later, he has accomplished 109 of these quests, and has logged an impressive list of records in achieving them. He was the first man in history to explore the entire length of the world's longest river, the Nile, in a 4,160 mile expedition which the Los Angeles Times called "the most amazing adventure of this generation." He then matched that achievement and became the first man ever to explore the entire length of the Congo; he scaled the Matterhorn in a raging blizzard after several professional guides had refused to go along, and he has established numerous records as a civilian jet pilot, including a speed record of 1,500 mph in the F-111 Fighter-Bomber, and an altitude record of 63,000 feet n the F-106 Delta Dart. A graduate of the University of Southern California where he majored in anthropology and psychology, Goddard has studied obscure cultures in all parts of the globe. In addition, he has climbed 12 of the world's highest mountains, conducted 14 major expeditions into remote regions, traversed 15 of the worlds most treacherous rivers, visited 120 countries, studied 260 primitive tribes, and traveled in excess of one million miles during his adventurous life. A resident of La Canada, California, where he lives with his wife and two of his five children, Goddard does not believe in pursuing adventure for the sake of frivolous thrills, but used these experiences to achieve a worthwhile end. This end, for him, is scientific exploration, adding to the world's store of knowledge. "Digging out the facts is the real challenge," Goddard says in summing up his career. "The adventure is exciting and enjoyable--but secondary." Yet digging out the facts can be a hazardous occupation. Goddard has been bitten by a rattlesnake, charged by an elephant, and trapped in quicksand. He has crashed in planes, been caught in earthquakes, and almost drowned twice while running rapids. But his overwhelming desire to discover fresh knowledge and to complete his youthful list of goals has driven him on in spite of the danger. Honored by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of California's outstanding young men, Goddard belongs to the Adventurers' Club of Los Angeles (youngest member ever admitted), the Adventurer's Club of Chicago, the Explorers' Club of New York, the Savage Club of London, the Royal Geographic Society, the French Explorers' Society (only American member), the Archaeological Society, the Mach II club, the Sigma Chi Fraternity, of which he is a life member.

RACISM DOWN UNDER

“The biggest problem though out the history of man is the fact that racism is anything but an anomaly.” -Erik Hansen

When news started to trickle about the racist attacks on young Indian students in Australia one just felt it was something which was few are far between. One hoped that this would disappear and that it was just a one off incidence. We wanted to forget it as an “isolated incident” maybe forgive too. But soon disbelief turned to distrust when we slowly came to this realization that this was something omniscient and would not disappear just because we wanted it to disappear. When you look closely you realize that at least 100 cases of 'curry bashing' have been reported in the last one year in Australia –- four deadly ones in the past month alone -- and many more probably weren't reported out of fear. That goes well beyond being “isolated incidents". The trust gets broken and distrust seeps in.

Racism always invites disbelief as the first reaction. It’s only when the dust settles that we realize that our beliefs and values gets displaced as the dynamics of the society changes. This marks a tipping point in the social dynamics of a society that has begun to feel emancipated by the constant influx of outsiders. Racism in itself is never a problem but an ever potent symptom of a much deeper malice. “The maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason” underlies what constitutes this malice. The reasons are not always hard to find but the racist mavens are always difficult to locate.

An introspective insight into such incidents reveals that racism sometimes is just the tip of an ever growing iceberg. The malice in most cases is not the color of the skin or the way of life but the more potent question of life itself; Co-existence. When such incidences occur with other ethnic groups we seldom pay any heed to their plight or sufferings. It’s only when the same happens to us that we realize that the hatred is not just for the Chinese or the Hispanics but the hatred is for all who are seen as a threat to ever reducing opportunities. As opportunities for growth shrink so does ability of mutual coexistence. During recessionary times these very differences become reasons for mutual hatred.

What needs to be understood is that is it the point of no return for a society which is sitting on stockpile of racial anger or will it get better if only we start working together to make it better. The Tipping point as we call it came when the media reports about racism reached our shores and got noticed, from there onwards it was a one way journey to distrust and anger. Now what remains to be seen is that can we turn back the process and return to normalcy or has the threshold of tolerance been breached and there is no going back.
Franz Kafka once asked “Isn’t it obvious that a person would leave from where he is hated so much? The heroism of staying in such a place is that of a roach which won’t be exterminated from the bathroom.” So, should Indians still go to Australia to study? Without going into the technicality of the question i would like to give the question a new perspective. Do Indians still would be able to go and study in Australia ? Maybe the answer to this question will be apparent only as time passes but for now I choose to believe in Martin Luther King, Jr when he said “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” That I guess is the final word.

Pursuit Of Happiness.

Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amongthese are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Am I am not entitled to being happy??. Good heavens, Maybe I do not deserve to be happy, but I know i can, and should pursue the same even if to no ends. This does not mean that because I am pursuing happiness I can’t be happy at the same time...Maybe iam happy in the pursuit or maybe the moist touch of that miracles makes me lust for more...Sometimes it's a curse and sumtimes it's a blessing but neverthless it's a pursuit everlasting and in parts unattainable .So why must we always be HAPPY? When I say HAPPY I mean forced smile HAPPY, mega HAPPY, frappacappaccino HAPPY, long nights with a bottomless keg and broken promises HAPPY, ginormous diamond ring HAPPY, red sports car HAPPY, not married HAPPY, stiletto sandals HAPPY, lonely, aching, empty, searching, wounded heart but by gosh HAPPY. …HAPPY?…is this really what we want? If it is, yeah, I do see why we wouldn’t be happy in our pursuit. Why pursue at all? If we were to pursue, we might actually catch a glimpse of what our "HAPPY" is made of.

Sometime ago i came across this quote and it nearly broke my heart…and summed up our sad little world:"It's going to come true like you knew it would, but it's not going to feel like you thought it would"-Rosie O'Donnell…so I am happy in my pursuit, because for me the pursuit is about completing my life.I have realized that somewhere we are all incomplete,we live our whole lives like that.Incomplete in love,incomplete in success even incomplete in our failures. Somewhere all i long for is completion,somewhere all i lust for is fullfilment. Maybe it's our destinies to find our elixer just as it's our destiny to reach our waterloo. I may never find what iam looking for but i know only a touch of that happiness will complete me for ever.Someone ones told me"People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being",fortunately or unfortunately i have still not learnt that but the more i learn i realize this is the reason...maybe this is all my reasons...

"The dream is always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that will be the miracle. "

The Quarter-Life Crisis

The Quarter-Life Crisis

-by unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like.You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

FREE AS IN FREEDOM...

"We call this free software because the user is free"

Richard Stallman, a near-like mythological figure in the world of computing, hacking and a pioneer figure in supporting free software as a political weapon is all about Freedom...

Wikipedia, which devotes ten pages to cover Richard Stallman history and accomplishments, reports among other things:

"While Stallman did not participate in the counterculture of the 60s, he found
its rejection of the pursuit of wealth as the main goal of life to be inspiring,
and this may have influenced his actions at this time. However, he was the last
of his generation of hackers at the lab. He rejected a future where he would
have to sign non-disclosure agreements where he would have to agree not to share
source code or technical information with other software developers, and perform
other actions he considered betrayals of his principles.
He chose instead to share his work with others in what he regarded as a classical spirit of collaboration."

The phrase "software wants to be free" is often incorrectly attributed to him, and Stallman argues that this is a misstatement of his philosphy. He argues that freedom is vital for the sake of users and society as a moral value, and not merely for pragmatic reasons e.g., because it may lead to improved software.

"Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction.Freedom from such restrictions is central to the concept, with the opposite of free software being proprietary software (a distinction unrelated to whether a fee is charged). The usual way for software to be distributed as free software is for the software to be
licensed to the recipient with a free software license (or be in the public
domain), and the source code of the software to be made available (for a
compiled language)."(Source: Wikipedia)

Is that what YouTube, Flickr, Google and the latest Web 2.0 applications offer you?
Enclosed below is a mock interview of Richard Stallman with answers compiled from various sources and his speeches at FSF. Herein he explains a lot of stuff we always wanted to know but were unsure whom to ask. I have enclosed relevant wiki links for easy references.

...

What is free software from your point of view?

Free software means software that respects the user’s freedom. There are four essential freedoms that the user of software should always have:
Freedom Zero is the freedom to run the program however you wish.
Freedom One is the freedom to study the source code of the program and to change it to make the program do what you wish.
Freedom Two is the freedom to distribute copies of the program to others, when you wish. Now this includes republication of the program.
And Freedom Three is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others when you wish, and this also includes publication if that’s how far you wish to go.
If you have all four of these essential freedoms then the program is Free Software. Which means that the social system of the distribution of this program is an ethical system that respects the freedom and community of the users.If one of these freedoms is missing, then the program is proprietary software, meaning that it keeps the users divided and helpless and gives the developer power over the users. This is an injustice.Proprietary software should not exist and should not be used. If you want to have freedom while using computers, the only you way you can have it is by rejecting proprietary software. And that’s the aim of the Free Software Movement.
We want to replace proprietary software, with its unjust social system with Free Software and its ethical social system. And so we develop free replacements for proprietary software, and other free programs whenever we get an idea, so that the world can live in freedom. The part that uses computers, at least, in that one area of life. Because winning and maintaining freedom in general is a much bigger, much broader and harder activity, but this is one part of it.

What are the key negative consequences of using proprietary software versus free software?

Well, I’ve pretty much said already why proprietary software is bad because the developer has power over the users, the users are subjugated. And these developers use their power in various different ways, some hurt the user more than others, but they never should have this power in the first place.
So, with proprietary software the developer decides what it will do, and the users are stuck with that. The only way they can avoid whatever the developer decided is to stop using the program, to escape.
Whereas with free software the users are in control, the users decide what the program will do. And so Free Software develops in a democratic manner. Under the control of the users, the changes that are made and accepted are the changes users want to make and then accept.

What are some of the key examples of Free Software that you suggest people to use or consider using?

The fundamental instance of Free Software is the GNU operating system, which is the only operating system that was ever developed for ethical reasons, instead of for commercial or technical reasons, which is why most systems were developed.
I launched the development of the GNU operating system in January 1984 with the specific goal of making it possible to use a computer and live in freedom. In 1992 the last major gap in the GNU operating system was filled by the kernel Linux. So the result was the combination of GNU and Linux, which was the first complete free operating system. And because of this, there is at least the possibility of using a computer in freedom.
Before the existence of GNU/Linux, it was simply impossible. No one who used a computer could have freedom.
Long enough in the past, it was different, you know in the nineteen-seventies there were some other free operating systems, but they disappeared, and by the eighties there were none. There were none that could run on a modern computer back then. And so it was the existence of GNU/Linux that made freedom a possibility.

Is GNU/Linux a system that now individuals, professionals and organizations can start to use for their daily operations?

They do. Lots of organizations, lots of companies, lots of public agencies and lots of individuals already use GNU/Linux. It’s not particularly hard to use- it’s just different.
So, you have to make a certain effort to move to freedom. But its not a big sacrifice, so we’re lucky, because there are times and places where people had to make very big sacrifices for freedom, and we’re very lucky that they were willing to do so.

To support those, who like me, favor change over the control exercised by large corporations and media, what are the type of actions that individuals can take?

I wish I knew.
This is the greatest political question of our time.
How can we put an end to the empire of the mega-corporations and restore democracy? If I knew I would be the savior of the world.

What I think I can tell is that the media are crucial.
The power of the corporate media enables truth to be suppressed and lies to be passed as truth.
You’ve probably heard that a half truth can be worse than a lie. A lot of the things that our government’s and media say are one-tenth truths, nine-tenths lies. And it doesn’t take many of them together to create a completely fictional worldview, like the one that Bush says – presents – when he talks.
So I recommend that people stop listening to the mainstream media. Don’t watch television news, don’t listen to news on the radio, don’t read news on ordinary newspapers. Get [your news] from a variety of web sites, which are not operated under the power of business money, and you have better chance of not being fooled by the systematic lies that they all tell, because they’re all being paid by the same people to tell the same lies. Or nine-tenths lies.

A Talented Woman History Forgot

Once upon a time i missed winning an Inter school Quizzing contest as i didnt knew who was India's first woman photo journalist!!! It turns out history also forgot 92-year-old Homai Vyarawalla. Being India's first woman photo journalist she witnessed many historic events and changes during the freedom struggle and after. Her vast portfolio, soon to be published in a book, has pictures of Mumbai in the 1930s, political leaders, freedom fighters, the Nehru era right up to the time of Indira Gandhi... As an ode to this great and talented lady who lately came back to haunt me again in a quiz question (What an Irony that it all started with quizzing and came back with it) I have compiled her story in her own words as it happened many years ago. She now lives alone in Vadodara. Culled from various extensive interviews, here is Homai on her life and work.

Homai Vyarawalla with her Speed Graphic Pacemaker Quarter Plate camera.

Starting out...
I met my husband, Maneckshaw, when I was 13. He was interested in this new upcoming art called photography. He had come from Navsari to Bombay (now Mumbai) for his matriculation examination, and was staying with my uncle at the Andheri Agiary (fire temple), in the same block of houses where we lived.
I studied painting at the J.J. School of Art in Bombay. I got interested in the way he was taking pictures, developing them himself and sending them to the press. He was an inspiration. We went around taking pictures together, working in the darkroom.
We married 15 years later, in 1941.
The first pictures I took on my own without his help were published full page in Bombay Chronicle. They were pictures of a picnic party of the women's club of the J.J. School of Art. We had gone to the Amarnath temple, and the girls were enjoying themselves and I went on taking pictures. I was 25-26 years old. The newspaper gave me one rupee a picture in those days. That was a big thing. Painting didn't bring any money, and I thought this would be a paying line. It was something completely new, not being done by any other woman.
My husband was a sort of pioneer in making stories in pictures of all the activities of human beings, the general public - like cottage industries, hospitals, beggars on the street, Parsis, festivals. When we went out together, he had only one Roliflex with him. Whenever I saw something, I would take the camera from him and shoot it. He would sell them in his name because the publishers and editors knew his name. It was later on, in the late 1930s, that my pictures started coming out in my name.

Making my way...
The Illustrated Weekly of India started giving me assignments when the war came on. They asked me to take pictures of all the war-time activities, like the fire brigade, hospitals, ambulance workers and rescue workers all getting ready for any emergency. I was almost working full-time for The Illustrated Weekly and also sending pictures outside.
Then, my husband's and my name were recommended to establish the headquarters of the Far Eastern Bureau of the British Information Services in Delhi, so we moved there in 1942. In Bombay, my pictures were of the general public. When I went to Delhi, it was all political pictures.
The British Information Service gave me permission to continue with my freelance work after office hours. I was also working for Onlooker, a paper about the evening functions of the high society people of Delhi. My husband set up the studios, and remained in the office. I used to go about taking pictures, covering official functions, embassies, activities of the Britishers, and so on. I had taken my son to Delhi when he was only three months old. My mother-in-law stayed with us and looked after him when I was out. My office and our house were so close that we could look at and talk to one another from one building to another. If my son needed feeding, my mother-in-law gave a signal to my darkroom. I would go home, feed him and come back to the darkroom.
The freedom movement...
I was not a part of the freedom movement. I took pictures of freedom fighters and covered most of the big meetings.
Independence came to us easily. A few people fought for it, sacrificed for it, suffered for it.
I was very interested in the freedom struggle, but my job was to do good work for my employers and myself and to look after the family.
I knew all the big leaders very well. I also covered Lord Louis Mountbatten and all the functions he attended. Panditji (Jawaharlal Nehru) was very photogenic. He had different moods and was very active, so that made it possible to get good pictures of him. He always pretended as if no photographers were around. He didn't mind if he was taking a nap and you took his picture. He would wake up and give you a smile. There were others who would flare up and ask for the film. He was not like that, he was so dignified.
Each one of them had a different personality. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Nehru. It was fun taking their pictures. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan looked so imperial, he looked like a real President. You could see the integrity in their faces.
The papers publish the pictures of today's leaders. They look so wily.
Somebody asked if I would want to take pictures today. I said no, thank you. When you have done the best, you can't go to the mediocre.

Most thrilling moments...
The arrival of Mountbatten was very important. The freedom movement was going on, and so were many meetings. My picture of Gandhiji arriving for the Congress meeting to decide on Partition was very important. I took pictures of the first Independence Day celebrations. These were exciting moments. I took pictures of Nehru's address to the nation from the Red Fort on August 16, 1947 just after Independence. But because of some bureaucrat, I was not allowed to cover the meeting where Independence was declared at the stroke of midnight because I worked for a British company. That was the only time I was not allowed to go somewhere.
I was busy all the time and used to come home at two or three in the night. I never hired servants. I did everything myself, with my husband helping me 50-50. We did our developing and printing ourselves. Right from beginning till end, we believed in doing our work ourselves.

Partition...
I didn't take pictures of Partition because I was working in the office and couldn't go out. Another reason I couldn't go out was that we were living in a Muslim's house in Connaught Place. People wanted to burn that house down, to loot the furniture in the landlord's shop downstairs. So one of us had to be there. At the same time, we had to work in the office. My son was four years old. We had to take turns saving our house and family, and at the same time we were working. Those were difficult times. We had to be dressed all the time, never knowing when we would have to move. People used to throw burning rags. It was a very posh furniture shop where maharajas' furniture was made. We had to be on the alert. Fortunately, because we were Parsi, we were saved although Muslims were hiding in our house. They had to arrange to move out because so many killings were taking place all around. They had to shift to Purana Killa.

I quit...
I stopped taking pictures in 1970. My husband died in 1969. It was not worthwhile anymore. All the good things had gone. All the big leaders had either died or moved away. I was not interested. When Indira [Gandhi] came to power, the security guards made it very difficult to take pictures. Also, photographers started getting a bad name because of their bad behaviour, like gate-crashing into private parties, and so on. I didn't want to be associated with them. In 1970, I kept aside the lens. Since then, I have never taken a single picture.
I went to live with my son in Pilani. He was a chemical engineer and he was teaching at the Birla Institute of Technology. I lived there for 11 years. Then he shifted to Baroda [Vadodara], so I went with him. Then after a few years, he fell ill with cancer and died in 1989. Since then I am alone. That's the end of my life. (laughs)

Today...
I don't keep track of new photographers, they keep track of me. They publish lots of my pictures, or invite me for functions.
I read one newspaper. It doesn't give all the information. But there is no time to read all the papers.
In those days, the will to get the British out was so great among the people, there were lots of things happening and most of the papers were also for Independence. There was a lot to learn from them. Nowadays, it is all about CM [Chief Minister] said this and PM [Prime Minister] said this, and they are fighting in Parliament. And terrorists, terrorists, terrorists. And Pakistan... I don't think people mention the name of God as often as they mention the name of Pakistan nowadays. Everything bad happening is Pakistan's doing. But we don't get any information out of this. There isn't a single section of society where there isn't a scam. There isn't anything interesting in the papers.
I like to live a simple life, not burden my head with things that don't affect me. Photography keeps me busy. So many people come to meet me. Corresponding with them and working on my book keep me busy. I don't hire servants, so I look after my house myself and make things for myself - so I don't have to depend on others. All my time goes into all this. There are times when I want to do things that I would like to do but I can't because all the time there is some hassle. Photography has become a burden on me at the moment. I would like to do the feminine arts, to make designs and make things. But I have no time. I make my own dresses. I don't even have proper dresses nowadays because I don't have time to make them for myself. I like to be independent of other people and I don't want to ask them for any help. I want to do it myself (as much as I can) or do without it.