“What can you do?’, Rob asked.
“I can dance”, Ram said.
‘Show me how’, He said
‘Are you a judge or a contest
organizer?’, Ram said in irritation.
‘Oh, so sit here and preach”,
Rob said and left that place.
The library was packed with
students. It might be surprising for parents, but for students it was exam
time. Examination is the only time when a student goes to the library, not to
revise anything but to find a book they have to read to pass the examination. But
alas, few unlucky students yet discuss about their passion, of course, not
study. Rob was not so irritating from childhood, but as he joined high school
he saw a different atmosphere. School is for the growth of a child. It is a
place where a flower blossom and spread its fragrance around the world. A
school is like a coveted sky in need of stars to shine and show the path for
others to follow. But then it is all in the books. A good fiction book or, of
course, what else but poetry.
As soon as students and
teachers around rob found out the passion of photography inside him they like
to tease him with a few of their dialogues like – ‘Do come to my marriage and
click a photo’ or; Click my photo and when I will become a model I will keep
you in my team’ and many more. Most teachers will taunt him with their harsh
words like – ‘First study history and then only you will be a photographer’.
With so much of negativity around, he had become a rebel. Not a positive rebel,
but a rebel who opposes because he has to.
“Hey look Mr. Photographer is
here”, a voice crossed Rob’s ears.
“Stop this” He pleaded.
“Oh Mr. Photographer is
depressed today”, another voice came from the mob and everybody laughed.
“Stop this I said”, Rob said
with furious eyes and picked up a stone.
Everybody laughed and went to
the other side. Rob threw the stone in the water and he saw his mother on the
other side of the road. She was watching him and looked furious.
“What were you doing?” Rob’s
mother inquired.
“They were bullying me”, Rob
said in a low voice.
“What? You have not done
anything as of now what they would bully you for?” Rob’s mother said.
“For my dreams”, Rob said.
“I also don’t believe in your
dream, so will you throw stones at me too?” She screamed.
“No, Mamma”, Rob said.
“So concentrate on studies and
do something. You can click photograph in your leisure time, but stop drowning
in this mad world. This will not bring you anything.”, she said, and tears
started falling down.
No child ever wanted to see
his mother cry because of him and so he hugged his mother and said,” I will
study for sure”.
His mother smiled and they
both had their dinner with the family.
For the next eight years he
hasn’t even thought about photography. He started thinking that photography was
the reason of bullying and so he should stop thinking about it. He was so
convinced in his thoughts that he actually started making a different aim. He
graduated from a good financial institution and started earning handsome amount
of money. His family was very happy and proud of their child. But somewhere
something was missing inside him. He was not enjoying his life, he was not
smiling freely. May be he started believing that this is the way life goes. No
one ever understood the reason of this.
“We are going on a trip”,
Rob’s mother said.
“I have a lot of work in my
office, you can continue with your plan”, Rob said.
“No you will also join us for
this”, She insisted.
“Ok, as you wish”, Rob said
and left the room.
They went to UK for 4 days. UK
means Uttrakhand, a place in India.
“Mumma why this place?” Rob
started out of the taxi and said.
“This is such a beautiful
place”, she smiled.
“Not for me”, Rob said and
started listing to his mp3 player.
The taxi was crossing the
squeezed road. The mountains were standing with the proud, signifying a legacy.
A legacy they are known for challenging every human being. All human beings
can’t fight with those natural body builders, but those who can know and
respect them. Rob was sitting inside the taxi and looking outside. The green
pasture was attracting him to touch them. The Zig Zag roads were like an
amusement park ride. He could observe the carving on the walls on his left. The
taxi was fighting for the race against the natural speed breaker.
The window was closed as they
were travelling in an air conditioning taxi. Rob was listening to music and
looking outside. The sun was dancing on their head, a little afraid of black
enemies, he can sense at a distance. Rob’s father looked at the sky and smiled.
“Switch off the AC”, He said
to the driver and he switched off the AC.
“Hey dad why are you switching
off the AC” Rob asked surprisingly and took off his headphones.
“To enjoy the natural AC”, He
said and smiled.
“What?” Rob was unable to
understand the hidden meaning.
“Let my son enjoy the AC”,
Rob’s mother said patting Rob.
“Yes, Momma, you are right”, Rob said and
again put on his headphones.
“Ok, as you wish” Rob’s father said.
As he was about to switch on
the switch of AC, he saw in the mirror. He smiled and stopped. Rob’s mother was
not able to understand this and she saw Rob.
The window panes were on from
last 2 minutes and the wind was hugging Rob like a good old friend. The wind
coming from the mountains was instigating a smile on his face. They both saw
him smiling after a long time. Rob looked towards the sky and he can see black
clouds hovering around. The temperature had gone down and a chill was evident
from the wind. Rob was smiling. In the next half an hour they reached their
destination.
“Not bad”, Rob said, looking
at his dad.
“This is just the beginning”,
he said, and both of them smiled.
“Look, we will go back in 2
days and then will go to Agra”, Rob’s mother said.
“We will decide after 2 days”,
Rob’s father said.
“But why are we here?” Rob
said.
“Just for spending some time”,
Rob’s father said
“Your father enjoys this
atmosphere. I don’t understand why?” She intervened.
“Really?” Rob smiled.
“Without a doubt”, Rob’s
father said with a smile.
“And we have a surprise for
you too”, He said.
“What surprise” Rob was
puzzled. He looked towards his mother and his mother also smiled.
“We are going to see that
surprise” She said.
“What?” Rob was surprised.
“Yes so get ready in half an
hour”, Rob’s father said and they started settling into their rooms.
After an hour they started
their walk from their place to the required destination. While climbing up and
down through the mountains they could see the clouds so close to them as if
they were in the heaven.
“Where are we going” Rob again
asked
“Ha ha innocent guy. He didn’t
even know that he is about to get axed for life.” Rob’s father laughed
“Stop joking”, Rob’s mother
said to him.
“What is all this” As Rob
completed his sentence he saw his parents looking towards a gate.
They knocked the door. The
door opened and all of them greeted each other. Only after 10 minutes Rob
understood that his parents were there to meet the friends. They were neighbors
10 years ago for 6 to 8 years.
“So you told little guy”, the Uncle
said to Rob’s father.
“No, he is still in dreamland”,
Rob’s father said and everyone laughed.
“Don’t worry, same with me”
Uncle said and both of them laughed.
“What is this all about”, Rob
asked with a big question mark in his face.
“Son, this is about your
marriage” Uncle said and in an instant he understood the whole conspiracy.
“On no, why this”, Rob said
with his hands on his head.
“You have no choice but to go
through this process”, all of them laughed and saw Tina standing equally
stunned on the other side of the gate.
“So young boy and girl you can
take your time and talk to each other outside or where ever you want to be”
Rob’s father said.
Tina and Rob looked at each
other and they were both puzzled. They wanted to revolt but they respected
their parents and so they decided to go outside for some time. They both walked
a fair amount of distance without talking to each other and reached a place
where they can sit.
“What is this?” Rob suddenly
exploded while talking to himself.
“Exactly, they should have at
least asked once” Tina was equally furious.
“I am not talking to you” Rob
said, looking at Tina with anger.
“Excuse me, Mr Whatever, I am
also not talking to you,” Tina said and sat at a distance from Rob.
Suddenly rain started pouring
heavily. They both ran and stood under a big shed. While they were sitting they
got a call from their parents regarding their well being.
“Yes, I am fine” They both
said.
After 3 minutes Tina finally
said to Rob
“We will say our parents no. I
don’t want to marry now”
“Yes, even I don’t want to
marry.” Rob said and sighed at that thought.
“It’s ok, we can deny” She
said.
“Okay, thanks” Rob said to
Tina.
“It’s ok, even I don’t want to
marry so no need to say thank you” Tina said.
“Oh yes, great” Rob said.
“You have been living here
since birth?” Rob asked.
“Do I look like a girl living
here since ages” Tina said in anger.
“I just asked, looking at your
dress. In city girls wear jeans, T shirt and many stylish dresses, but not
suit.” He said.
“Excuse me, I also live in the
city and girl wear whatever they like. They wear all types of dresses.” Tina
said
Rob sighed again and turned
towards the falling rain. He stood close to pouring rain. He could sense that
chill of natural beauty. The rain falling from the sky and wind carrying it to
his face was instigating the smile. He was smiling and looking towards the
rain. He never felt so close to nature. While smiling, he turned and saw Tina
busy in taking selfies.
“What? Selfie?” Rob laughed.
“Mah phone, Mah choice, do you
have any problem?”, Tina said.
“No problem. If you need help
then I can click your photos from your phone”, Rob said sarcastically.
“I don’t need help but you can
fulfill your wish” Tina said and gave her phone to Rob.
Rob clicked a few of her
photos and then he clicked a few photos of rain from his mobile. In the next 10
minutes, the intensity of rain decreased. Now it was drizzling and Tina ran out
to enjoy. Rob was clicking the photos and accidently he clicked one photo of
Tina.
“Hey, I accidently clicked a photo
of you. You want that or should I delete this.” Rob asked Tina.
“Sure, give it to me. Whatever
mine is mine, no one can do anything with that without my consent” Tina said
and took her photo through Bluetooth function.
As they were walking they saw
a crew clicking photos and enjoying the drizzle. One of them came to Rob asking
to click a group photo.
“Yeah, sure” Rob said and
clicked a photo.
He suddenly saw a rainbow in
the sky and he clicked the photo of that scene from that high resolution
camera.
“I think we should go Mr
Photographer” Tina said sarcastically.
“Sure, let’s go” He said.
“You are a photographer?” She
asked.
“No. Why are you asking this”
Rob said while walking.
“Then why are you clicking the
photo of that crew. You know they were professional photographers” Tina said.
“So what, I am not going to
meet them soon”, Rob laughed.
“Their good luck” Tina said
and they both laughed.
As they reached home they saw
that Rob’s mother and father were ready to go. They both were puzzled as they
thought they will have to again answer the question they don’t want to face.
But to their surprise nobody asked them any question.
“What was the joke”, Rob said
to his father while going back.
“Which joke?” He said.
“I thought we were here for my
marriage” Rob said.
“Who told you this?” Rob’s
mother was surprised.
“You said we are only going to
slay you. Surely you will not kill me,
but the only way to do it is to tie a knot” Rob said.
“Do you think I was slain
years ago?” Rob’s father said and everyone laughed out loud.
“But why you called them
without asking me” Tina said irritatingly to her father.
“Excuse me my dear girl, he is my friend and I
just called my friend to my place. Is there any problem with this?” He said.
“No, but why you send that guy
” She said.
“Because we knew that you both
will get bored by our age old talks and so we just told both of you to talk” He
said.
“Oh really? I thought it was
about marriage” She said.
“Oh my little princess is
thinking about marriage now” He said as if teasing her.
“No, Dad” Tina shied away and
went to her room.
“Don’t you think we will ask
you before even thinking about your marriage?” Rob’s mother said.
“Oh, thank god” Rob said and
looked outside.
The sun was on the other
hemisphere of earth and on this hemisphere star were twinkling in the sky. The
moon was spreading his love on this hemisphere and that soothing atmosphere was
getting inside him.
Next day they again went outside
and enjoyed the greenery, mountains and that side of nature. While coming back
Rob started thinking about his trip and realized that he actually clicked
photos after a long time. But as he was relishing the memory in his mind took
him back towards his teenage and he started haunting him of the bullying. He
instantly put his headphones and started listening to music.
After six months Rob got a
call.
“Hey Rob how are you” A voice
came from the other side.
“Hey I am good Jose”, Rob
said. He was his school friend.
“Congrats buddy”, Jose said.
“What happened?” Rob was again
surprised.
“You won a cash prize of 1
lakh and a trip to Dubai for 2 days”, He said.
“What a joke?”, Rob was taken
aback.
“Open your Facebook account”
Jose said.
“Which account? Oh yes, that
account which I opened a few years back and got bored.” Rob said slowly.
“Yes, that one” Jose said and disconnected
the phone.
Rob logged in and was surprised
to see 100 friend requests and various messages.
“What the hell”, Rob was
surprised at this as he rarely logged in and had only 50 friends or so.
While scrolling his profile he
saw 2 photos in which he was tagged in. While he was still in a fix to
understand things, he again got a call from his friend.
“Dude, you saw that?” Jose
said.
“I am not getting it. I never
participated in any contest” Rob said surprisingly.
“Look at those photos clearly”
Jose said.
He again started reading that
tagged post and started remembering as if he was missing something.
“Oh my god, this is Tina?” He
suddenly remembered her and then he saw next photo.
“Oh my god, this photo I
clicked” He was surprised to see that photo of a rainbow. He saw that they were
a part of a contest and both of it won the 1st place. The person who
clicked the photo of Tina was her friend. He tried to ask tine about Rob but
she also had no idea and so he had no option but to wait for you. He said that
he loved the photo you clicked and that’s why he entered it into the
competition.
“But how he got my name?” Rob
asked him.
“He asked Tina and Tina asked
her father after telling him and they tagged you 2 days before” Jose said.
“Okay” Rob said and after 5
minutes he put the phone down.
Rob didn’t know what to feel
for the next half an hour he was still looking at that post and prize money. He
had left this few years back. He didn’t want to face that turmoil again. He sighed
again and signed out of his account. His eyes were wet, but he knew he was
right. He remembered the words of his mother. He knew he had to earn money and
live a good life away from this monster called bullying.
He turned around and saw his father standing
with a smile.
“Congrats son” He said.
“For what?” Rob said.
“For this”, He said and gave a
packet to Rob.
Rob was surprised. He took
that packed and opened it.
“Oh No, not for me”, the tears
now started rolling down.
It was a Nixon camera for
advanced photographers.
“Yes only for you” Rob’s
father said and hugged him.
While Rob was still hugging
his father, he saw his mother coming in. She also hugged the hugging duo of
father and son.
As he came to his normal
senses and washed his face, he looked at his father again.
“No more surprises dad” He
said with a smile.
“This was a surprise for me too” Rob’s father
laughed and they went to their drawing room.
“Congrats Mr Photographer”
Uncle said and patted his shoulder.
“Congrats Rob” Tina and her
mother said in chorus.
“Thank you so much” Rob said with a smile.
“So now you both young boy and
girl can go and talk anywhere” Rob’s father said and everyone laughed.
Both of them went towards the
terrace and sat on the chairs.
“So how are you Mr
Photographer”, Tina said.
“I am not a photographer, I
only clicked photos for 6 years and then I left” Rob said.
“Why?” Tina was surprised as
she thought Rob was clicking photos since long.
“Because of me” A voice broke
from behind.
As they both looked towards
that voice they saw Rob’s mother coming towards them with some sweets.
“Really, aunty?” Tina was
surprised.
Rob didn’t say anything as
that whole episode again started flashing in his mind.
“Yes, I told him to start
concentrating on his studies instead. But when your uncle came to know about
it, he got angry and was about to discuss about this with him. I stopped him as
we were financially not stable and even Rob would have needed a good amount to
pursue his passion. We decided that as soon as we will become financially
stable, we will grant him his wish”, Rob’s mother sighed looking at the Tina.
“It is ok aunty”, Tina could
see tears in her eyes.
“And that’s why we bought this
gift for him and to our surprise we got this news of his winning this
competition.” Rob’s father came from behind.
While Rob was surprised at
these continuous events of impossible possibilities according to him, he was
still confused about one thing.
“Dad, but what about that
bully thing. You said I was bullied due to photography and now you want to gift
me that same thing”, He asked his father.
“I know your soul, my son. I
saw your photos back then and realized that it was not just anything. Apart
from what we told you earlier about financial things we want you to be strong
enough”, He said.
“Strong? To fight for whom?”
Rob asked.
“Everyone has to fight with all
those who bully a passionate person. There are enough people in this world
those who can’t stand people different from themselves. Passionate people find
happiness in their passion and that passion radiates in their personality. Even
if such people don’t speak anything to others their passion speaks a lot and
makes a few people irritated. So a passionate should learn to deal with all
these persons. And I am sure you have that endurance now”, Rob’s father said
looking at perplexed Rob.
“Uncle, I thought you left
both of us to talk to each other, but now you are not giving me a chance to
talk”, Tina said like a child.
“Hey you, how dare you not
allowing my little princess talk to a person she like”, a voice came from
behind.
“Oh no Dad, when I said I like
him?” Tina shied again.
“Do you mean my son is so bad?”
Rob’s mother said.
“No aunty I didn’t mean to say
this” Tina was puzzled at this situation.
“Everyone present in that room
laughed except Tina.
“How dare you laugh at me”
Tina said, looking at Rob.
“Oh, let them fight alone, we
shall sit in the next room” Rob’s father said and they left the room.
“By the way I only came to say
thank you,” Tina said looking at Rob.
“What have I done now” It
seemed as if Rob was fed up of surprises.
“You clicked my photo that day
and I love that photo including the rain, me and that beautiful atmosphere
around me. It gave me a new fresh perspective towards me” She showed him that
photo.
“Oh, thank you for your appreciation?”
Rob said with a smile.
Rob was still in his own world
where he was not able to believe that what has happened in last 2 days. He was
feeling light now. No broken pieces and no sadness. He never believed in
destiny, but today he was spellbound. Today he was forced to believe in that.
He looked towards the sky and he saw clouds hovering around with wind flowing.
That camera was still in his hands. He smiled, looked at Tina and said “Can I
click a photo of you?”
Tina laughed and started
giving a pose.
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