Passion for the Lens

In childhood, it was a dream that some day I would have a camera of my own and the whole world would be mine. It was a big big thing -sort of unreachable as cameras have tradionally been treated as expensive and anyone having it seemed to have a different aura, would seem to possess something extraordinary, a magic like thing. And the one using a camera, too, would act  different, a -little -above- all-thing about himself (as generally those in possession were from  rich families). I think most of us in adolescence had 'My Hobby's  as 'Photography' as camera used to be much coveted thing. I cannot describe in words how happy I felt when my eldest sister Neelam didi brought a Vivitar for me from France when I was 25. It is another matter that her Nikon was more an attraction for me with a detatchable flash.

Pursuing this hobby used to be a costly and time consuming indeed. From a thing of romance( for me in 1970s) till the turn of the century, camera in a fon is a real in-thing adorning eveyone (proud to be) Indian or native of another land in any part of the world. This pride possession is visible in every nook and corner held high and above in a (more often than not) right hand taking a 'selfie' or plain clicking anything and everything that catches the eye. Not just taking a shot but also looking admirably after a click is such a common sight that sometimes I really wonder how parched our lives were before advent of this tiny little hidden thing in our smart phones, how very deprived we human beings had been till such time that Nokia, motorola and Samsung and Apple (and my dear BlackBerry)  came on the scene to offer this magical gift with varied pixels and features. Its a real dream come true to click the 'good morning', the soaked rainy afternoon, the charming green evening and the neon lighted late evenings. Nay..not just to click but also to share in an instant the same with the near and dear ones in distant lands. 

I had always been a camera shy person for reasons quite obvious but now fiddling with it gives me a child like pleasure. True, am not a good selfie taker but catching the sea or hills, rain or sunshine and sharing I generally do. I think cell camera is a good means to lull to rest the narscistic tendencies in us. The good shot followed by showing it to others around pacifies our overflowing urge to be appreciated. The adolescent girls, the young boys and even the children can be seen in every street and blind alley using the lens- the joy that the visually impaired children are sadly deprived of. Once a very renowned photographer late Mr Yog Joy had shared with  Amrita Pritam (Saat hastakshar) that the only sorrow he had was that lens could not portray dreams. True. Am reminded of Shakespeare's : we are such stuff/that dreams are made of/and our little life is surrounded/ with a sleep.' Till we actually exist its the 'thing of joy' and once gone, who knows, the best of what we could never shoot, may be there for the world to see!