Umm.....I see. So you are here for a story. Well, alright. As an author it is my duty to tell compelling stories, isn't it? But which one should I tell you now? Aha!! What is better than telling my own love story? Listen carefully, okay? (And don't tell anyone).
Who am I in real life you ask? Well, think of me as a ghost of an author of 22 years old from another dimension, maybe? Whose books never got published, so he just goes all the places where he can tell his stories and haunts those who don't listen. Hehe. But I am a pretty damn good photographer by the way(feeling proud). Let's begin the story.
It all began on a Sunday afternoon. Well not proper afternoon, near evening might be better.
I was out for a walk with my beloved Nikon D5600 DSLR camera on the streets of my hometown Silica, the city of joy. But as it was Sunday, not many people or traffic was there on the roads. If you come to Silica on a regular day and then come here on Sunday at a time like this, you can easily spot the differences. It will feel like you have come to a completely different place! No hustling of huge traffic, no ear breaking sound of horns... Nothing. Just plain skyscrapers amidst green trees and roads with some sparkling street lights and few people enjoying their afternoon tea on small stores, that's it.
Click! Click! Beep.
I took a photograph of an old couple in their sixties gossiping and enjoying their tea. Their love for each other could easily be seen in the picture. The reddish sky in the back and the orangey sunlight colouring everything orange with the genuine happiness of the couple was making the whole setup divine and picture-perfect.
"Click", I took another one at a different angle while taking a little bit of the lake in the backside to get the reflection of the light.
Oh, I forget to tell completely! I had already reached the lakeside while walking on the streets. There is a big lake at the end of the town. It has a beautiful green field with some pavements and benches around it to sit. You can see people of all ages if you come here in the morning and the afternoon. Boys love playing cricket on that field which has very soft green grasses. It always feels great to lie down on the grassy field & sense the softness with my whole body while feeling the cool breeze that comes over the lake. At the end of the playground on the eastern side, the slum area starts.
When I was taking the photographs, that old man noticed me and shouted at me,
"HEY!! What are you doing!!! Come here!"
"Ah, man! I think I am gonna get a mouthful now!"
I might not have a bad intention, but taking someone's photograph without his or her consent is pretty bad. But if you want to capture the real emotions of someone, you have to take it in secret. Because people mostly fake it in front of a camera & they are pretty bad at doing it.
"Sorry sir, I took a photograph of you two,'' I went to them and spoke apologetically.
"That much I know, do you think I am a fool!!", that old guy shouted.
Then the old woman gave me a kind look," Don't be so harsh honey, can you show us the picture?"
"Sure," I said. Then I showed the best one among the 4-5 pictures that I had clicked.
Both of them just kept on staring at the photo, with a wow on their face.
"It is one of the best pictures I have ever captured," I told them while smiling.
"Can you give us a copy of it, young man?" The old man asked me in a nicer tone.
"Sure sir, please give me your phone. I will send a copy to it. You can see it anytime," I told him while feeling relieved.
Then I sat beside them on the bench, took out my laptop and a USB cable from my backpack and then transferred the file to the old man's smartphone.
"I have set it as wallpaper, it is looking great!" I said it with a smile and returned it to him.
"You are a very talented boy," the old woman told me while smiling.
"I just do it as a hobby... ahaha", I became slightly flustered hearing someone praising me for my photographs. Not 'like' or 'love' on Facebook, but genuine praise.
"You have given us a great present. Sorry I shouted at you back then."
"No sir, It is alright. I think it is inappropriate to take pictures of someone without permission."
"You are a fine young man, Here keep these cookies. They are delicious!"
"Ahaha, thank you, sir. I will sure enjoy them." Then they gave me a dozen of cookies and then they stood up.
"It's getting late. Now we will take our leave. It was nice meeting you," the old man said.
"It's nice meeting you too sir, ma'am. Especially thanks for this afternoon treat."
"Haha. Don't mention it."
Then they started walking towards the main road.
After walking a little, they looked back at me and the old woman shouted at me,
"Keep taking more good pictures! Bye-bye!"
"Thank you! Have a great evening both of you!" I shouted with a smile back to them.
It was already getting dark. I could not see them anymore as they fade into the dark light of the evening.
"Haha, that was fun! I am so happy they liked the picture so much!"
Most of the time people don't understand the value of a good photograph. A good photo can store a million of words in it, just like a diary.
A one click diary full of memories & feelings you treasure.
And that's why I love people who take selfies! Keep saving the moments even when you are in bathroom! Hehe.
Then I stretched my arms and looked at the lake. The soft cool breeze was blowing on my face as well as my body. It felt a slightly chillier than normal.
Except for some guys around my age, everyone started leaving the place to return to their homes, like those chirping birds in the sky.
I started enjoying the cookies that old couple gave me. They were crunchy and sweet with pieces of cashews inside.
"mmm…This is freaking good!!"
Then the street lights lighten up. Their yellowish light mixing with the darkish daylight was just the perfect composition for me to take some low light photographs. Yup, that's my speciality. I love capturing the beauty of the night, where light and darkness are playing tag.
The sky started turning dark at a very fast rate. You could see the stars that were starting to appear with their bright point lights like those flowers bloom in a tree.
I took some good shots of the night sky, the stars, some of the flickering street lights, etc.
But none of them made me satisfied.
The moon was still nowhere to be seen.
"Oh well, It is already the time for some young love birds to appear," I jokingly said to myself. "I should not make them cautious with my camera, haha."
So I sat down on the bench, connected the laptop with the camera, transferred the files and then started editing them.
Two hours had passed. I was so immersed in the work I forget about the time. When I looked around, I could not see anyone except myself. The whole area had become completely silent.
It was 9:30 pm.
I had never stayed there this late before. But it felt kind of nice. A sweet smell was coming from the night jasmine tree that was on the right side of the bench I was sitting. The flowers might be starting to bloom.
I started taking long breaths to enjoy this sweet aroma.
"Ahaa....so nice!" Then a thought came to my mind.
"If these jasmine flowers were at full bloom right now, with a moon in the sky, this tree would look pretty gorgeous in the moonlight. Man that would have been an awesome picture!"
"I would call it, 'The Night Jasmine!'"
I closed my eyes, let my body loose and put my head on the flat top of the bench and tried to imagine the picture while feeling the wind on my face. I am sure if I were a painter, I already would have started drawing it.
"The Night Jasmine…..huh…A tree full of yellowish white flower shining in the silvery moonlight...."
"....."
"Oh well, it's time to get up. Now back to the house."
I started putting my belongings into the backpack. There were still some cookies left, so I put them in my pocket.
"I will enjoy them while walking, nice!"
"Or, maybe not."
When I was about to stand up I heard a large number of footsteps coming this way from the main street.
When things get into my eyesight, I saw a girl of age 18-19, running at full speed towards me and a group of 10-15 people chasing her. Most of them were holding wooden bars, stones, shoes and were trying to hit her with them.
"What the HELL!!!!!!" I said to myself while stretching my eye as big as possible.
Then someone threw a stick aiming at that girl's leg and it did its job flawlessly. That girl could not keep her balance after the hit & fall on the ground. Some even started throwing stones at her as soon as she falls.
"Have these people gone mad or something!! They are gonna kill that girl with those things!!!"
But she instantly got up within a few seconds and started running again in my direction while trying to avoid hits from those people.
I think that girl hadn't noticed me as I was in the shadow of the jasmine tree. When the girl was about to pass, I jumped in front of her from the shadow and she collided with me. Then I instantly grabbed her hand tightly.
As she was completely unaware of me, She became dumbfounded seeing me holding her. Then a sense of fear started arising on her face.
"Please let me go! Please let me go! Please let me go!" She kept on saying that and kept on shaking my hand violently to get free of my grip.
"Hey, don't worry. Nothing will happen." I said.
"They are gonna kill me!! They are gonna kill me!!!! Please let me go!!!"
That girl kept on saying with pure fear. 'Terror' might be the best word to describe it.
Then that group of violent people caught up to us.
One of them said, "Aha!! Nice man! This slum chick is so fast. We could not have caught her without you! Thanks, buddy! Now please hand her over."
"You talk way too much! Why were you chasing her like violent beasts?" I said.
"This girl picked my pocket!!" someone from the group said.
"Now hand her over," another one said.
"Then I will personally hand her over to the police. You people can go. Please understand violence is not the solution."
"We need to give these slum people a lesson and let them know their place! I think you are also with her, aren't you? Did you hired her to do your dirty works or is she your girlfriend or something?"
Then that group of shithead people started laughing at their own joke.
"What the fuck! Stop blabbering whatever comes into your mouth! How much money did this girl theft?" I asked them in irritation.
"She took a 50 rupee note from my pocket!!
This girl is getting what she deserves! "A person said.
I had gotten so angry; I took out all the money except a 500 note out of my money bag & put them into my pocket and then threw the bag straight towards that person's face.
"Please take it and get out of here! I will take her to the police. You people don't even have a shred of humanity left in you! Who in their right mind throws stones, sticks at someone like that for just 50 ruppies!!! She could have gotten hurt badly!"!!!?" I told them in an angry voice.
I could completely feel how scared this girl was as she was violently shaking in fear while trying to get away from me. She was applying much weaker force than before.
"Please leave or I am gonna call the police, all of you will get arrested for your inhuman behaviours even if she is a thief."
"Pft!! Arrogant asshole!" Someone said. They kept on looking at me with their sharp poisonous stare.
Though I was also getting a little scared, I tried my best not to flinch and kept on the act of a brave guy. I returned their stare with mine.
You might be laughing right now while reading it, but man! I am not a hero from a Bollywood movie or a martial artist from kung-Fu panda! That's the best I can do.
Then they left slowly and dispersed in the main street.
Then I took her near the jasmine tree & let her sit on the bench while feeling relieved.
As I had no way to make sure that she won't be able to run away, I took out my phone with my left hand and took a photo with the flash on.
"Please don't try to run. Otherwise, I am going to call the police with this photo."
"Ah man, It feels wrong so many ways! But nothing I can do for now. Otherwise, she will make a run for sure!" I sighed.
I just wanted to ask her some questions before turning her to the police.
She didn't give any reply. She was looking downwards while sitting on the bench. But what made me feel a bit weird that she was not trying to get out of my grip at all!
After a little hesitation when I was about to let her hand go she held my hand instead.
"I...am...scared. I am scared" She started crying while looking at me with teary eyes that were glistening yellowish in the street lights.
"Oh man! She seriously was scared to death!" I thought to myself.
I didn't know how to console her. She did try to steal. That couldn't be overlooked. I couldn't think of anything. But she was holding my hand like a kid does to his or her parents when thunders strike.
"I can just do nothing, She is still a girl!" a thought came to my mind. I was starting to feel guilty for not realizing it sooner.
The best way to console someone is to show a smile. A pure smile even has the power to completely change a story.
So, I rubbed her head with my other hand with a smile on my face. Though my intentions were sincere, my smile was not, it was fake.
"He...y! Please don't cry! No one is going to hurt you. Here, wash your face with this."
Then I took out my water bottle from the backpack & forwarded it towards her with my left hand. She was still holding my right one.
She looked at the bottle for a sec, then looked at me and then took it.
She slowly let my hand go and washed her face with the water.
Then I realised how soft & warm her hand was.
"Have you calmed down, now?" I asked.
"Yes." She said in a low voice.
"That's good! Here have some cookies I have. They are awesome!"
I took out the cookies that were left and gave it to her.
She curiously looked at my face. I returned a soft smile to her. I bet she was hungry.
Then she picked one and took a bite. "It...is ....good!!"
A child-like smile and a sparkle in her eyes could easily be seen. Then she took another one while hesitating.
"Yeah!! I also like it! I got them from an old couple here for taking a photo of them"
"Ar..e you a photogra...pher?" She asked me with hesitation. She was curiously looking at the camera that I was holding in my hand.
"Not a professional or anything. I just do it as a hobby." I proudly said to her to impress.
"Here..." I handed the camera over to her. Noticing her curiosity in it, I could not help myself but doing that.
"Is ...it ok...ey if I touch it?" She asked.
"Yeah, sure! Just please don't run away with it. Haha..."
"I am not a thief!!!" She told me in a low voice.
"As much I know, pickpocketing falls under thievery," I said with a sarcastic expression.
"It's the first time I have ever done it. I... didn't have a choice."
She said with a sad expression on her face while looking at the ground.
Noticing her sad face, I tried to change the topic.
"Let's keep those questions for later. Press that red button to turn on the camera and the angular one to change photos"
"O...k!" Then she turned on the camera and started viewing the images one after another with a big curiosity and amazed expression on her face.
"These are so beautiful!!!" She said while looking at all the photos. "Especially this photo of the old couple!"
"Yeah. I got those cookies today because of that one. Hey, I totally forgot, You fall pretty hard on the ground. Did you get hurt anywhere?"
She might have forgotten about it due to the tense situation. When I asked her about she lifted her leg upwards slightly to properly see it's condition as the light of street post was not strong enough to see because of the jasmine tree's shadow.
"Ah!!! This is bad!" Her legs were full of bruises and cuts. And they were bleeding at some places.
"It's....no big....deal. I can...bear...it".
"Stupid! Let's go to the medicine store!"
"That won't be a good idea. If those bastards see me helping this girl, it will make the matter worse!" I thought.
"Hey, I didn't ask your name before. What is it?" I asked.
She looked at me with a curious face and with suspicion.
"....."
"Shreya"
"Ok Shreya, don't go anywhere until I come back."
"Are...you going to call a....police?" She asked with a bit fear.
"No stupid! I am going to buy some medicine."
Then I returned a soft smile at that terrified sheep. "Stay here, alright?"
She just kept on looking at me without answering my question. Like she could not believe what I was doing.
Then I started walking towards the medicine store that was on the other side of the main street. Don't know why the thought that she might just run away with my belongings did not come to my mind.
Maybe I was concerned about her or maybe I was just stupid.
Or maybe it was destiny.
But now when I think about it, whatever the reason might be, both of our stories would have turned out differently otherwise.