‘One Cannot Survive On Borrowed Money For Long'

For a lot of people, the pandemic was full of trials and tribulations. Including Subinoy Das and Adusyanti Chatterjee from Delhi, friends who are photographers and documentary filmmakers, who own a photography venture Wowdings.

- Nikita Sharma

“We lost five pets in a row and people in the immediate family and friend circle. I reached a point, where I started shortlisting gurdwaras in case we ran out of our last resources,” says Chatterjee, 39.

“I had been associated with Google for documentaries for some time now, but didn’t get any work. No wedding shoots either. Photographers not affiliated to mainstream organisations got pushed to vulnerable positions,” adds Das, 38.

For Chatterjee, as the sole bread earner in the family, going back to Kolkata was not an option. “And Subinoy stayed back, in case something happened to me as I was all alone.”

Some months later, a photographer they knew died by suicide in abject bankruptcy. “That’s when we realised that there’s an impending disaster waiting for us if we don’t do anything now. People offered to loan us money and send ration, but we refused. One cannot survive on borrowed money for long. As a last resort, we started BongTaste, a home kitchen,” says Das.