A Karmic Flickr Connection

'Knock and the door will open. Seek, and you will find'

This is a Flickr Connection story with a sort of Holy Grail

twist to it, for me at least.....

I have spent most of my life bemoaning the lack of actual

recognition my extremely talented artist Father Sam Millar

received during his lfetime, and my desire to correct this

injustice has been a lifelong quest.

A few years ago I decided to share his personal story via a

blogpost I called 'Mother India and My Father'. A story

that revolved around a poster he created for one of

India's most beloved and respected films, back when he

was working in the Indian Film industry. Conducting web

Searches for info about him and his Mother India poster

convinced me of the tragic ignorance and total disregard

for his craftsmanship. When the iconic poster showed up on

Google it was as a recreaton, now re-titled 'Father India'.

A ripoff by Index Advertising in India, who had 'their' work

publicized internationally, with absolutely no credit notes

to the (original, and) deceased artist. Not even a nod to

the creators of the film.

In this age of Photoshopping, online mash-ups and 'Share 

Everywhere' philosophies, I let it pass and moved on. But always

in the back of my mind I wanted someone, somewhere outside

our family to acknowledge and appreciate his intense vision

and talent as an Artist, Musician, Promoter, Impresario, and

Humanitarian. A man with a restless soul and a wandering

spirit who used his power of persuasion to gain favor with

Bollywood film stars, Producers and Directors, Restauranteurs,

Clergymen, and the lower strata of society alike. I could go on

and on about his achievements but I will resist and instead

try to focus on the whole Flickr Connections aspect of this

post as I originally intended to.

A Flickr member who wishes to remain anonymous saw my
Flickr Photos and added me as a Contact there after

viewing my collection of pics of Pune City, our one-time

mutual hometown in India. Moved by a deep feeling of

nostalgia he dug deeper into my entire collection of pictures

and discovered the few superb samples of my Dad's artwork.

On his way to a visit his parents' home in Pune he mentioned

he was determined to photograph the historic and beloved

old landmarks before economic revitalization totally erased
them. Along with frequent updates came a cryptic message
that he had a surprise in store for me. As I rattled my brain
about what this total stranger could possibly mean, I imagined
he would tell me he had run across some old friends of mine.

But unconsciously I believed and wished he had something

much more in store. And I wasn't disappointed on that count.

Rather, blown away by what arrived next in my Flickr mail.

It turned out that J.H. visited all my old childhood

haunts : schools, churches, Muslim shrines and also the
neighborhood Restaurant our family patronized almost daily,
named Shri Krishna Bhavan. Pretending to be my ex-
neighbor, he asked a few questions about my family,
the Millers and when he mentioned my Dad's prolific and
terrific artwork, a chorus of voices shouted out, 'Sam Millar' !

Then the Restauranteurs' stories began and didn't stop for
two days, in which time J.H. was immediately elevated
to VIP status, and was escorted to the Pardesi family home.
There, up on a wall was a painting of the family patriarch
Mr.H.Pardesi, painted and signed by my Dad !

Above: india :pune, works of sam miller, the 'Guru Dakshina'

I received by email. 

J.H. was now a shaken, nervous man, dazed at this twist
to his latest trip to Pune. Both of us hesitantly call this our
Karma, for how else to explain it ? My lifelong thirst for the
knowledge that someone remembered, appreciated and
respected the artwork of my Dad was quelled by proxy when
two strangers living continents apart made a connection on
Flickr that would set the wheels of Fate in their favor.

I now have photographic proof that my Dad was not forgotten,

thanks to a Flickr photographer who was so moved during
his trip that he shared these moving lines with me privately
(till now) on Flickr :

"God gimme the time and the resources to keep safe the

remaining heritage and structures in my cam before they
too are lost to time...i have become very very emotional....
I dunno...honestly I think all that nostalgia is gonna kill
me...I have spent the whole day brooding....very very
disturbed....upset....I wanna do something in a way I
can give back to society.......Mother Teresa is my idol
.....I can never reach that degree of service....but I wanna
give back in some measure ...."

And so it goes, another Flickr connection story. No romance

here in the traditional sense but no doubt one that I think
must be shared here and on Flickr, Facebook, wherever
good stories are repeated. It's just too uncanny to keep
buried like so much of the work of Sam Millar, Artist.

**  More info on the concept of Gurudakshina

*** About Flickr, by Flickr :

".....almost certainly the best online photo management
and sharing application in the world."