A letter from June 4th, 2020

This is the obituary that I wrote for myself on 3rd October 2013 as part of the Theory of Design class exercise for introspection by Prof. Chisti. ----- Nishita (1993-2022) passed away during an otherwise fun-filled boat ride in the Amazon River, where she was travelling along with a crew for a popular wildlife magazine. She lived the twenty-nine years of her life as a rebellious daughter, obedient grand-daughter and a loving sister and friend. Born and brought up in Delhi, she studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She was always full of stories about people from the different parts of the country and the world who formed the crowd there. Her love affair with the camera which began when she was nine years old led to her taking up several professional photography projects, while simultaneously running her architecture studio. From the one-year long photo story on the slum dwellers of Kalladimugham, where she was a part of the urban development project, to a location shoot for the Vogue India special issue last year, she grabbed the opportunities as and when they came to her and made the best of them. She travelled far and wide and learnt enough of several languages to be able to ask for the directions, food and the toilet. She interacted with the locals and learnt their traditions wherever she went. However, she never quite learnt how to swim and that is something she must have regretted till the very last gasp for air from under the waters of the Amazon.