I fondly remember the early days of my career, when I was a freelance photographer with the Bengali daily ‘Bartaman’. I was struggling to make a mark in the newspaper industry and the first break which helped me to get a toehold in the competitive stream of photo journalism was an assignment on Mother Teresa. Featured above is a candid photograph of Mother Teresa during Christmas Day celebrations at St Xavier’s College, Part Street
All photographs by Amit DattaThe year was 1988. The editor of ‘Bartaman’ asked me to cover a story on Mother. Excited and nervous, I landed up armed with my Pentax K1000. In the above picture, Mother Teresa is seen at the Missionaries of Charity, Ripon Street
Photography has always been my passion. This is what I eagerly wanted to do from childhood. The carefree clicks of my childhood helped me grow as a photographer. But little did I know that photojournalism was a different ball game. My days with newspapers helped me understand the difference between carefree clicking and making instant decisions before clicking a news photograph. Professionalism comes with heaps of responsibilities. Above is Mother Teresa with orphan inmates at Shanti Daan under the Missionaries of Charity, Tangra
February 3, 1986, marked the visit of Pope John Paul II to Nirmal Hriday in Kalighat. It was my first major break as a photojournalist but destiny had other plans. I lost all my photo negatives of the event. Above is a photograph of Mother Teresa in conversation with former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu at the Writers’ Buildings
I am fortunate to have been among the photojournalists who were loved and blessed by Mother. Memories come flashing back of the times I clicked some glorious moments of history by being made. My heart aches to recall September 5, 1997, when Mother left us for her heavenly abode. I covered Mother's last journey with a heavy heart but could not preserve the photographs. Above is a candid photograph of Mother at Missionaries of Charity, Ripon Street
Mother Teresa with Sunita Kumar (biographer, close associate and friend) addresses a news meet at the Ripon Street address