Since the Directors of LHC have known me for well over a year as a permanent member of their team and are practically my adoptive work parents, writing a formal letter or e-mail to them for acquiring permission to shoot at the premises was not really necessary.
Instead, in early February, I reached out to Zarafshaan on WhatsApp (as that is where we usually communicate and she is the one primarily handling the affairs of the museum while Zareen is abroad for her studies), reminded her of the little chat I had had with her a while back in-person about potentially using the space to film for our media project, and waited for a positive reply with my fingers crossed.
She immediately gave permission to shoot at the place, and I discussed with her potential days we could have the club entirely to ourselves for shooting. This involved a bunch of going back-and-forth as there was an ongoing exhibition of artefacts and handmade crafts happening at the club at this time, and we had to ensure that our project shoot would not disrupt its proceedings. We also had to decide on a suitable time slot that would not get us kicked out of our homes for not sticking to our curfews, would not overlap with the time when attendees interested in the exhibition would arrive at the location, and would allow us to shoot in appropriate lighting.
Figuring out that we could work around the affairs of the exhibition, Zarafshaan and I settled on a final date and time for our shoot that worked for everyone involved, including me and Esha.
(Spoiler from Future Tashfa: The exhibition actually proved to be a blessing in disguise; Esha ended up taking shots of such crafts, like traditional shawls, that I think helped us add a cultural touch to the music video.)
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