Every hoove a beat of his heart...

There will be one person conspicuous by his absence at the Pune racing season beginning tomorrow That will be Royal Western India Turf Club RWITC photographer Ravishankar Gupta who passed away on Friday morningThe South Mumbai resident was simply a ldquofixturerdquo on the Mumbai and Pune turf He cut a familiar figure in his safari suits on every race day faithfully recording racing action in Mumbai followed by the Pune seasonA packed house at the raceslsquoGuptajirsquo was stoic and old style present on every single day of the season He was undoubtedly the lsquogo torsquo man when it came to pictures on the racecourse Be it the winning horse a photo of a jockey horse owner or trainer one could bet pun intended that Guptaji would have that imageAlways thereSaid Dr Ram Shroff from the RWITC committee ldquoHis passing was the most upsetting news we got on Friday He was one of us He used to make albums so that we could relive our moments on the turf and these were also very helpful to racing professionals A humble and courteous person you could just look at the track on any racing day and there he was a consummate professional capturing moments with his camera He will live on through his workrdquoRavishankar Gupta right Sunshine boy Suraj Narredu PicsRS GuptaGuptajirsquos son Amit Gupta who is now a turf photographer too carrying on the legacy left behind by his grandfather and father said ldquoThose 40plus years he spent on the racetrack are all captured in mountains of pictures A picture can say 1000 words goes the adage so imagine what all these pictures say about my father A photographer who was there in the moment whether in the paddock or as the horses flew past the postrdquoGolden memoriesFormer RWITC chairman Khushroo Dhunjibhoy said ldquoGuptaji captured the magic moments of racing giving us golden memories that spoke of all the excitement and thrill that will last through time His personality and special talent will be truly missedrdquoFormer RWITC commentator Mahendra Mallya recalled that ldquoGuptaji was one of the most wellbehaved nonracing professionals I have known He knew one should never walk or stand behind the horse it may kick Compare this to photographers who meander in one day of the season unaware about this cardinal rule Guptaji would also never use the flash suddenly in front of the animal to avoid it rearing up spooked by the action This may seem trivial but is extremely important in the larger scenario Even his demeanour overall was not feverishly exciting In fact he was a picture of calm near the animal and took not just memorable but very useful images entire lsquoalbumsrsquo that showed the sequence which was of immense use for racing professionalsrdquo This paper has approached the lsquogotorsquo Guptaji numerous times for photographs not just of titanic turf moments like Classic race days but of racing professionals too photos of owners or jockeys that would give a face to the voices we quoted in our reportsmidday racing correspondent Prakash Gosavi said of a 30yearold association with Guptaji ldquoHe was as passionate a race lover as he was a professional photographer In a world where superlatives are loosely bandied about Guptaji earns the epithet of not just a photographer but an institutionrdquo