Retirement Blues

The first camera that I used was a prehistoric box camera. The body was not made of metal. It was fabricated from stiff cardboard. It had lain forgotten in an cupboard at home until I spotted it and dug it out. I was then in school.

I had no pocket money so buying film was a problem. I had to turn to my mother's generosity. She obliged me once in a while. The camera was very simple to use. It was an aim and shoot one. Sunlight was the best light to take pictures by. Only twelve photos could be taken. I realised that this equipment gave me power. I was in seventh heaven.

There was a hitch though. How the photos turned out could only be determined after they were developed and printed by a studio.  From taking a photo to seeing the result led to the passage of a week. But it whetted my anticipation.

After getting the photos I would examine and re-examine them lovingly one by one like a miser. It yielded hours of enormous satisfaction.

I remember I once took the camera with a friend who is now in Dubai to take photos near the river Hooghly in Kolkata.

After a session we stopped at a kiosk selling soft drinks. It was hot work so the cooling drink was very welcome. A dark, slim  girl and a boy  were also sipping soft drinks at the stall. I managed to snap the girl dressed in a skirt and boy as they moved away hand in hand. I noticed that the girl had a very nice swaying walk.  The photo turned out well.

Another session was conducted on the Maidan. There was a war damaged Pakistani tank on display from an earlier conflict with the neighbour. The turret had huge gaping holes where armour piercing shells must have torn through. It made a good subject.

A friend's pretty sister who was to be married shortly asked me to take some pictures of her. I was gratified. The photos showed her about the house in the days before her marriage. I treasured these photographs.

Then a college friend lent me a German Pracktika camera. I was in raptures. When we went on a college picnic to Baruipur a short distance from Kolkata, I kept taking photos. There were a couple of girls too who were too shy to tell me that I was being tiresome with the camera.

When I began to work as a journalist, I did not own a camera. Some years later I could buy an aim and shoot camera. After the passage of a considerable number of years, I was able to buy a better one.

Once I went to Mother House, the global headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, which was near my home. It was a Good Friday. I enquired from the sisters where Mother Teresa was and was told that she was praying in a hall on the first floor.

Since none stopped me I went up to the hall and sat near the Mother.  Then choosing my moment I took a photo. Mother Teresa turned towards me and wagged a finger warningly at me. She was not angry I could see. My mission was a success.

I took the film to the office lab and was amazed at how well the picture of the Mother had turned out. It was also an exclusive. That photo was published in quite a number of newspapers in India, particularly in the southern states.

There was another occasion when the Mother was to receive communion at St Teresa's Church. The Mother was a follower of St Teresa of Avila. Her church was at Moulali, a short distance away. There were professional photographers milling around. But I knew the moment was to take a photo of the Mother receiving communion. When the moment arrived I could get my photo, while church volunteers stopped the other photographers from taking the snap. It was a another small triumph for me.

As a newsman I was officially sent to cover the Purulia Arms Drop. It took place on 17 December 1995 in Purulia district in West Bengal. The crew comprised five Latvians and Peter Bleach. Their plane was forced to land by Indian Air Force fighters. The Latvians and Bleach were imprisoned for many years.

I saw where the arms and ammunition were airdropped. I photographed the AK47s and the boxes of ammunition bearing certain markings. Again quite a number of photos were published in the newspapers.

A year before I was to retire I bought  a semi professional camera and a lens. It gave me many happy hours as I went about shooting Kolkata.

After I retired, I bought a much better semi-professional camera besides telephoto lenses, prime lens, 100 mm lens as also macro. As my photographic equipment grew I had a small cabinet made for storing them. I gloated over my collection privately.

People and friends asked me whether I would do more photography now. "Oh Yes," I would always say." The  photos that I took were of Kolkata landmarks like the Victoria Memorial, Gwalior Memorial, the Vivekananda Setu and the Howrah Bridge over and over again.

Later, I bought a small car, which I told my friends was a 'value addition' for the camera. It would take me to places where I wanted to do photography.

But with the passage of time, the car remains in the garage and the photography equipment locked up in the cabinet. It's probably my post retirement blues acting up.