Picture this, an Indian woman with a backpack on her shoulders, a camera around her neck, and promises on her head as she traverses through the picturesque landscapes of European cities. Click, click, click, the camera shutter snaps capturing the perfect picture for the upcoming calendar this year.
Meet Vertika Kanaujia- a recent business graduate, a journalist by profession, a photographer by passion and an unapologetic independent woman who is currently working as a South Asian communications specialist for Hyderus.
“I launched my calendar after I realised that people had stopped the tradition of gifting calendars to their friends and families on new year's and I thought why not gift a more personalised souvenir by sharing some moments from my photo-library,” Vertika said.
Like they say there is a story behind every picture and the one behind her calendar is about the volumes of appreciation that the photographer received so much so that one of them suggested her to sell them. That is how she decided to give away the proceeds to a charity in Delhi, India called Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SYPM). SPYM is a national organisation with a countrywide network that works in the area of community mobilization, health care, and socio-economic development and also provides both Inpatient and Outpatient treatment services for substance use disorders among adults in India.
Kanaujia likes to experiment with various themes for her calendar ranging from Yoga special after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the International Yoga Day to signify the positivity and impact of yoga to featuring Frieda Kahlo another year following the Nirbhaya rape case where she wanted to convey the message of women empowerment.
Last year in Cardiff, the MBA graduate had come out with a travel calendar that had pictures of landscapes from across the UK and had successfully raised a small but significant sum of £500 with which she had taken close to 50 kids from SYPM on a day-trip across Delhi. These little monsters harrumphed across India's capital city, posing in front of Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple, Indira Gandhi Memorial, India Gate, and Rail Bhawan.
“I wanted to gift travel to these children because they haven't been fortunate enough to grow up in nice neighbourhoods and I wanted them to know that the world is a beautiful place!
And there is no better education than travel,” believes Vertika.
This year the Chevening scholar decided to do a travel calendar focussing on the landscapes of European countries and perhaps give an insight into the journey behind every climb. From the serenity of Belfast, the charisma of Paris, the notoriety of Amsterdam to the romance of Venice, each month of this travel calendar will give a peekaboo into the countries that you have been longing to visit.
“The calendar is supposed to serve a two-fold purpose by being “a dream magnate on the desk for all those who have stopped dreaming and a magic wand for all those who dream but don't have the means to fulfil that dream,” said the photographer.
The calendar is available at nominal rates and to receive your own copy, you can directly get in touch with Vertika by dropping her an e-mail at [email protected]
