I first visited Pritamnagar no Akado to get rid of the pain caused by my heavy camera. This physiotherapy centre presents a mix of newly painted blue walls with old and new equipment, giving one the impression of being on an artificial set where people come to play their parts—to heal themselves. The swaying curtains give glimpses of distraught faces and bodies lying on beds, recuperating.

Pain removes all the masks that people wear, bringing out one’s true self. The secrecy of misery envelops and distorts one’s daily life, and these are people with stories of how they bravely worked through their trauma and survived; others exercise in painful silence. Later, when I was cured, I made multiple trips to shoot the space. I was someone who had been there and knew what it was like. I was no longer an outsider.

All images from the series Pritamnagar no Akado, Ahmedabad, 2010-2011