MEET THE FOUNDER
Tejas is the founder and creative director of House of Hukam, a photography house devoted to multi-day South Asian weddings. Originally from Arizona, he named it after the word "Hukam," which in Punjabi and Urdu means divine order, the will that things unfold exactly as they are meant to. When a couple reaches out, he believes Hukam brought him and the couple together, so he treats each wedding as something he was meant to be part of, and couples can trust him with their story. As creative director, he owns the look and feel of every gallery, from the first call with a couple to the last image he delivers.
He speaks Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu, so when a dadi whispers a blessing or an uncle cracks a joke during the baraat, he actually gets it and is already in position for the reaction. He doesn't need a translator, and he doesn't need a shot list to know when something important is about to happen.
He grew up on Bollywood. His two favorites are Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, and he can recite the poems from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara from memory. Those movies taught him what he still looks for at a wedding: friends laughing too hard, family holding on a little longer during a hug, and the quiet pause before everyone gets emotional.
Music is a big part of his life. He plays the tabla, and he loves just about everything, but he is especially drawn to qawwali, with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan at the top of his list, and to Punjabi music, with Supreme Sidhu on repeat. He also loves indie, especially Prateek Kuhad, and on the American side, he grew up on J. Cole and Kanye.
Weddings are where a lot of what he loves shows up at once. There's live music at the sangeet, great food at every function, family switching between three languages at the same table, and traditions he grew up around. A multi-day celebration never wears him out. It's his favorite kind of week.
When the wedding is over, he still reaches for a camera. Photography is his job, but it's also what he does for fun. He shoots on his own time, tries new ideas, and brings the best ones to the next wedding. Nature is where he feels most like himself, so you'll find him walking along the river in Chicago's River North and out on a run every day, with a game of chess to slow things down at night.
Those daily habits come in handy on a wedding weekend. A morning run and a walk by the water keep his energy up for the early call times and the long days, so he's still going strong at the last dance.
He also loves to cook, and like a good wedding, he believes a great meal is about bringing people together. He loves to travel, and his goal at the moment is to visit every national park. It's the same patience and stamina that carry him through a multi-day wedding, and he loves every minute of it.