I was all set and ready to go.
I moved my forehead forward for the "tika" and suddenly there was a
scream-"wait". I had to make a sudden pause because,you know,the camera
person wasn't,uh..READY.Or the camera was on standby, or whatever.I got
lost in thought that instant.You know,remembered old days' photography
when we had our special KODAK cameras(i bet we hardly remember any other
brand,yeah may be a Panasonic or a Fujifilm)There were these camera
rolls(Kodak and Fujifilm,again). Sadly camera rolls are nowadays
confined to iPhone users, namely for their gallery of
course.Anyway,there were very few buttons in those cameras.Only one for
the snap and the other for the back side to turn up so that u could
insert your roll and batteries,or whatever.Aah,its still pleasing to
remember those "EverReady" batteries that run them.We were continuously
and frequently reminded to take care of the number of clicks
available.Some cameras showed the numbers,some didn't.But none were
reliable as far as i remember.We would click 35-37 snaps and finding the
number of reels that exceeded beyond that would be a lucky situation
.That undoubtedly brought us some joy.
Having a solo picture for yourself was tougher.Limited snaps;everybody on for a shot.But one way or the other we had them.We've still got those "singles" for ourselves .We all have a good number of old photos,don't we??
We have albums to show still today.Nah,not those "Facebook Albums". I was talking about those colorful,bright,hard covered jacketed ones.You can still see in those pictures,we were so busy and deep into the celebrations,we barely had those "every single special moment" captured in our cameras.We went through all the festivity first and then later gathered for a family/group snap.
Today we brag a lot of photographs(digital ones of course) to show each and every
such "special moment" in detail.But the fact is -we pay for it.We pay for it with something more important.Its like these days when my sister hands me the "masla"(date,cashew,raisin,almond combo whatever it is called) or puts the mala around my neck("garland" doesn't do.It just doesn't have the feel for me),she isn't simply doing it(she's not completely concerned about it)She's always anticipating the flash from the camera or the approval from the camera person(I used this case as an example but it holds true for many other cases too). I ought to adapt myself with the numerous pauses that are bound to arrive while i take the tika, jamara, dakshina,or even when i bow myself to my elders' feet just for that "perfect picture".
Its not that i am against this form of photography,absolutely not.I am not even complaining about how technology has changed our photography to such an extent which can be deemed "complicated". It's always great to have your moments shared with your loved ones whenever they can't be around.I once skyped(if thats even valid) my whole house to my sister(who's abroad of course) so that see could spot the minute changes around the house and feel at home,despite being thousand miles apart.That's lovely.I don't oppose all that,no way.But what makes me always whine about is that lost "joy" that we fail to live through at all those instants.We all may have memories to share,but they'd all be hollow.Like,when we see them, we realize that at that instant, we were conscious only about the photograph in the making and not the special moment that was passing by.Maybe it feels like we haven't been through them at all.
If my sister puts tika on my forehead,i want her to simply put the tika,unaware of what's going on around,not conscious about how "good" the photograph would later be.I want her to give those blessings with full excitement,i don't want it to be cut down by that "photographic consciousness"(i am creating words like exploding landmines,out of nowhere,hehe)I don't need a perfect tika to show in a photograph.I am happy even if it is a slight mess on the first go.I don't want her to take extra bit of time to reshape the tika so that it looks great in the photo.She can correct it afterwards for the picture anyway.
And talking more about photographs,how often do we have washed or (nowadays)printed photos in our homes these days??(the old ones don't count of course). Back in time we'd have no other alternative to having our camera rolls processed.That way holding hard copies in our hands was obvious as anything.Things have changed as we've reached the current generation,and they've changed drastically.Yes its always good to be able to take thousands of high quality photographs,and have them stored,sent downloaded and saved,anywhere,anytime,any day.But that joy of holding HardCover albums in our hands is surely on the wane.
Imagine that an elderly man visits your house and asks if he could have a shot of your photo albums so that he could revisit old times or say get to know the new members of the family,how they've been doing abroad,or whatever.Now here's the situation,you've misplaced all the old albums and no longer remember where you kept them.Even if you did,it would take a long time to get them out.Since you no more collect HardCover albums,those from the past have become redundant.You are finally relieved that you actually have a lot of photographs,and then turn on your PC or your gadget and run through your " D: " and " E: " drives to show
the man all of them.Moments later,you open your FB account and again move through all your DIGITAL ALBUMS and show him all those photos.The man will appreciate with a cute smile,but do you think it would satisfy him?Do you think he got what he asked for?
I don't.That, kind of leaves a bad taste.We are humans after all,and joy is still the best feeling we'd love to live with,day in day out.But don't you think its kind of on the fall with all those technological advancements(obviously "photos and co." is what i am concerned at the moment) Isn't it kind of, say, "sad"?
Maybe we have to live with it and may be things were meant to be this way.
Nevertheless,i would try a different solution for all this.During celebrations,as i don't want anyone to miss out,(surely not the camera person) I'd shut all the cameras first,enjoy till i get tired;done and dusted with everything,and later pose for every single moment i intend to capture in the camera.That way,i would have all the memories in both ways.Memories of having gone through the fun with great freedom,as well as photographs to show to everyone that what we've been through all those memories and they're here to stay with us.
Having a solo picture for yourself was tougher.Limited snaps;everybody on for a shot.But one way or the other we had them.We've still got those "singles" for ourselves .We all have a good number of old photos,don't we??
We have albums to show still today.Nah,not those "Facebook Albums". I was talking about those colorful,bright,hard covered jacketed ones.You can still see in those pictures,we were so busy and deep into the celebrations,we barely had those "every single special moment" captured in our cameras.We went through all the festivity first and then later gathered for a family/group snap.
Today we brag a lot of photographs(digital ones of course) to show each and every
such "special moment" in detail.But the fact is -we pay for it.We pay for it with something more important.Its like these days when my sister hands me the "masla"(date,cashew,raisin,almond combo whatever it is called) or puts the mala around my neck("garland" doesn't do.It just doesn't have the feel for me),she isn't simply doing it(she's not completely concerned about it)She's always anticipating the flash from the camera or the approval from the camera person(I used this case as an example but it holds true for many other cases too). I ought to adapt myself with the numerous pauses that are bound to arrive while i take the tika, jamara, dakshina,or even when i bow myself to my elders' feet just for that "perfect picture".
Its not that i am against this form of photography,absolutely not.I am not even complaining about how technology has changed our photography to such an extent which can be deemed "complicated". It's always great to have your moments shared with your loved ones whenever they can't be around.I once skyped(if thats even valid) my whole house to my sister(who's abroad of course) so that see could spot the minute changes around the house and feel at home,despite being thousand miles apart.That's lovely.I don't oppose all that,no way.But what makes me always whine about is that lost "joy" that we fail to live through at all those instants.We all may have memories to share,but they'd all be hollow.Like,when we see them, we realize that at that instant, we were conscious only about the photograph in the making and not the special moment that was passing by.Maybe it feels like we haven't been through them at all.
If my sister puts tika on my forehead,i want her to simply put the tika,unaware of what's going on around,not conscious about how "good" the photograph would later be.I want her to give those blessings with full excitement,i don't want it to be cut down by that "photographic consciousness"(i am creating words like exploding landmines,out of nowhere,hehe)I don't need a perfect tika to show in a photograph.I am happy even if it is a slight mess on the first go.I don't want her to take extra bit of time to reshape the tika so that it looks great in the photo.She can correct it afterwards for the picture anyway.
And talking more about photographs,how often do we have washed or (nowadays)printed photos in our homes these days??(the old ones don't count of course). Back in time we'd have no other alternative to having our camera rolls processed.That way holding hard copies in our hands was obvious as anything.Things have changed as we've reached the current generation,and they've changed drastically.Yes its always good to be able to take thousands of high quality photographs,and have them stored,sent downloaded and saved,anywhere,anytime,any day.But that joy of holding HardCover albums in our hands is surely on the wane.
Imagine that an elderly man visits your house and asks if he could have a shot of your photo albums so that he could revisit old times or say get to know the new members of the family,how they've been doing abroad,or whatever.Now here's the situation,you've misplaced all the old albums and no longer remember where you kept them.Even if you did,it would take a long time to get them out.Since you no more collect HardCover albums,those from the past have become redundant.You are finally relieved that you actually have a lot of photographs,and then turn on your PC or your gadget and run through your " D: " and " E: " drives to show
the man all of them.Moments later,you open your FB account and again move through all your DIGITAL ALBUMS and show him all those photos.The man will appreciate with a cute smile,but do you think it would satisfy him?Do you think he got what he asked for?
I don't.That, kind of leaves a bad taste.We are humans after all,and joy is still the best feeling we'd love to live with,day in day out.But don't you think its kind of on the fall with all those technological advancements(obviously "photos and co." is what i am concerned at the moment) Isn't it kind of, say, "sad"?
Maybe we have to live with it and may be things were meant to be this way.
Nevertheless,i would try a different solution for all this.During celebrations,as i don't want anyone to miss out,(surely not the camera person) I'd shut all the cameras first,enjoy till i get tired;done and dusted with everything,and later pose for every single moment i intend to capture in the camera.That way,i would have all the memories in both ways.Memories of having gone through the fun with great freedom,as well as photographs to show to everyone that what we've been through all those memories and they're here to stay with us.
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