THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Every Mother’s Day is celebrated with fond memories and giving gifts, but what about Father’s Day? Well, most of us don’t even remember the date. But, two Malayalis living in Abu Dhabi thought of making the day a special one for a few fathers who have been away from their homes and loved ones for a very long time.
Nikith Nath, a professional photographer based in Abu Dhabi and the founder of ‘Nsquared Studios’, along with his friend Waleed Shah, an official Fuji X photographer, spent their vacation in Kerala, spreading happiness and gifting fond memories for nine families.
Nikith says, “In Abu Dhabi, there are many Indians and among them, 90 per cent are Malayalis. Many of them work on construction sites and do works like plumbing. We wanted to tell about their lives in the desert to their families.”The duo travelled from Thiruvananthapuram to Thrissur covering places like Kundara, Kottarakara, Karunagappally, Niranam, Amballur and Poyya. It took five-and-a-half days to visit the homes. They rode to these places on their bikes covering more than 1,000 km. For Nikith, the entire journey was a memorable experience, for it enabled him to explore Kerala.
The portraits
For the Father’s Day project, the portraits of all the nine fathers were taken and framed.
The first visit was to the small hamlet of Kalleilibhagom, where the family of Jiji Thomas, who has been working in Abu Dhabi for more than 28 years, reside. His family received them ecstatically when they came to know about the project.
It was no different when they visited the home of Devassy Thomas at Poyya in Thrissur. Then, they moved towards the homes of Benny, Johny Joseph, Baiju, Joy, Daniel Philipose, and Binu and Anil Kumar. All these families, with teary eyes, listened to the stories from the place where their loved ones lived. They also graciously posed for pictures, which was taken back to the fathers in the United Arab Emirates.
The duo has also prepared a documentary, which will be released on June 17, Father’s Day. The documentary will feature the stories of all the nine fathers. To know more about the project check www.studiosnsquared.com/fathersdayproject.
The Duo
Nikith has an engineering background having graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode. He worked in the oil and gas industry for two-and-a-half years after graduation and did photography on the side. Later, he went on to become a full-time professional photographer, starting his own business in 2016. Waleed also shares a similar story - being an engineer and then moving on to starting his photography brand “Waleed Shah”.