Avrati Bhatnagar

At the height of the Civil Disobedience Movement in India (1930-31), and during a period when foreign cloth shops faced boycotts and picketing by women nationalist volunteers in colonial Bombay (now Mumbai), leader and organizer Lilavati Munshi is photographed at the picket line—dressed in a homespun sari and carrying a dainty handbag. The attached caption places her outside Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co., one of the busiest British clothing stores in the city, and a frequent site for anticolonial demonstrations often leading to violent clashes between nationalists and the colonial police force.

This photograph was taken in the month of June 1930. The photographer remains unknown.

Questions

1. Are there any objects, gestures, or compositional elements that stand out to you in this photograph? Elaborate what each of these reveals about the historical subjects and/or the setting captured in the image? 

2. Reflect on the relationship between the photograph and the historical context in the printed caption and the short description above. How does the image align with or diverge from your expectations based on the textual information provided?