in print

Photos are great companions. They freeze precious moments, into something solid and ever-lasting. Something that can be preserved for all time to come.

Various moods are snapped into standstill. Grimaces... a sly smile.... ear-to-ear grins..... a pout.... laughs..... tears all captured in well-defined space and time periods. We look for places, greenery.... flowers..... monuments..... pillars.... friends... to make thwm more impressive, more substantial. They function as proofs, hold testimonial, indicating that one did visit a particular place.

Time flies when one gets into the act of viewing them. As one flips each one, memories make their presence felt.

Graduation day at school, when the four of us stand against the glimmering lights.... one where a young M and a still younger me stand in the terrace showcasing new clothes..... on the street when deepavali was being celebrated with cousins.... B, an infant, held in my arms, while another person encourages her to face the camera.... the trick played at the Taj Mahal where one can visualise somebody holding it.... the sunrise at Tiger Hills, Darjeeling, where all of us are wrapped in warm clothing.... father occupying the rocking chair, a book in his hands, with spectacles resting on the bridge of his nose....... mother wearing a proud smile, a result of having won a argument....

Wonderful entities, they take us back in time, help us visualise those effective memorable instances. Effective because, they seem to influence us in a strange manner. Remind us of long-forgotten friends, make us realise that a smile is that which turns a mundane picture into something very meaningful.... while everything else fades into oblivion.

Ah!! The feel of holding a photo between one's fingers... somehow seeing them on a screen does not provide the same pleasure, though the latter is convenient and easy.