Vaidya Ajoba

       I study in a design college,  which means that we study and do things that don't fit the usual conventional routines. Our learning procedures and experiences are not just limited to the four walls, but require us to step out into the real world and completely submerge ourselves into it in order to 'learn'.
       Subsequently, in the past two years, I have been fortunate enough to experience the true soul of what we call 'humans' and their way of functioning in different circumstances. So, in the last semester, we had a module for Photography where in we were supposed to capture the true crux of Pune through the pictures that we click.
So, being the overexcited and overenthusiastic teens that we were, my friend and I set out early in the morning to explore the profoundness that the city holds.
       As we passed one lane after the other, we started getting more and more curious about the functioning of the city and the versatility it holds. We clicked a lot of pictures of different people from different places. My topic of choice for the depiction of Pune was 'Street Vendors' whereas my friend's topic was 'Old tales of Pune' which captured the population in their 'second innings' from Pune.
        Even though the topic and moto behind each picture was the same, that day, I truly understood the meaning of the quote that reads ,"Every picture has a story to tell."
Towards the end of our expedition, when we realized that our stomachs were growling, we decided to wrap it up. As we were passing by Appa Balwant Chowk which is near Laxmi Road, we saw a fellow, sitting on the road, on what looked like a broken chair. The white in hair and the gentleness in his stare, gave us an idea of his age. The wrinkles on his face were so deep, that you could see his whole life flowing through them. We both decided then and there, that we needed his picture no matter what.
          So, we went to him and asked him if we  could click few pictures of him. From the number of times that we had to repeat the same sentence to him, we realized that this old man was nearly deaf. His eyes were firm, but the life in them was somehow lost. His muddy clothes and face, with an unshaved beard, indicated homelessness.
         He readily agreed to get his picture clicked. While my friend was setting up the camera, I couldn't stop myself but wonder about what this old fellow must be doing sitting on a broken chair, in this scorching heat, on such a busy road, with no expectations on his face whatsoever. When the camera set up was ready and as his picture was about to get clicked, he stopped us suddenly, and what he did next not only caught us off guard, but pulled a very sensitive string in our hearts.
           The old homeless fellow, with his dirty appreance, stopped us so he could adjust his hairstyle, to make sure that he looked well enough for the picture as if he was some celebrity waiting to get his photoshoot done. After he was done, he went ahead and said, "Yes I am ready now." That moment, although very small and unimportant, taught me something very crucial about human nature. That homeless man, with that gesture, taught me the power of appreciation in life. He felt so important, even if it was just for a moment, by just getting his picture clicked by some random teenagers.
         It shows how circumstances change a man and how little gestures in day to day life can have an impact on our minds. After clicking a few pictures, we tried to show them to him, but he told us that he couldn't see them as he had cataract in his eyes. I then promised him to get a photo copy of his picture to him as soon as it's ready. Again, the smile that popped on his face was way more worth than the marks that we were going to get by submitting his picture in college.
         In day to day life, even though we may be fortunate enough to afford the basic luxuries in life, we still complain about how we don't have enough. We often fail to appreciate the basic gestures that people around us do, may it be our maid, or our mother or even a really good friend.  We still complain about how our expectations don't get fulfilled and how we are always let down.
        If only we try to focus our heart's lens on what is close to us, we will be able to get a clearer perspective of our life and the people around us and it will help us get those perfect pictures in our minds each day!

I still visit the place once a week in the hopes of finding him sitting there so that I can hand him his picture, but I haven't seen him since that day..