Story of Passion – The Weekend Affair
Photo credit: seriousfun from morguefile.com
Friday Night
23:00
The air filling the keyhole made way for the key to come in. Raj unlocked the door and went inside his flat. He locked the door from inside and threw his bag on sofa. Putting his wallet and wrist watch on television he opened the windows to let fresh air come in. He quickly changed into loose clothes and a splash of cold water on his face and feet made him feel a little refreshed. With a heavy head and a frustrated mind he cooked rice and pulses and left them to cool down a little. He took his yoga mat, a glass of water and his DSLR camera and went for the balcony. He laid his yoga mat on the floor and sat facing the city. The city looked interesting with its traffic, people, weather and the black sky above with twinkling stars dotting it. The day marked completion of two years of his professional life in the firm he had been toiling, almost in a directionless manner. Pay was fine but frustration of doing something worthless everyday was taking toll on his existence in the worst possible manner. He also did not have much option as of now. He was just waiting for his passion to take off.
Raj was from engineering background and the four years of college went like a joyful trip of heaven. But life after that had been worse than hell. The delusional impression of “life will be good once you get into good college” or “life would be good once you start working” started showing its true colors. The same professional-life saga was scripted even for Raj. At the beginning he used to complain but then saw that most around them were going through same quarter-life crisis and were in similar situation or better. Better ones were those who had either compromised with what life had put them into or were simply unaware of it. They might have buried their dreams deep in their minds or maybe they did not have one. But for Raj things were a little different. His camera was lying beside him and a weekend was there to play & experiment with it. And this particular happening of his life which occurred every weekend made his life worth living and smiling for. It was the only hope he had for a happy, successful future. A future worth waiting for.
He stood and clicked some snaps of the city crawling in front of him. The shrunken faces below moving on the roads and the blossoming stars dotting the sky were depicting a contrast. Both were part of same Mother Nature yet so different in the way they existed. One was running or stuck in rat race of materialism and others were just soaking themselves in the formless sheath of eternal bliss. A look of human faces below and sky above would confirm to this. Raj was capturing every beauty that he could with his camera. A few minutes into it and his smile & energy was making a comeback. He clicked some photos with deepest level of engagement and passion and then went for his Mac. He edited the clicked ones and pushed them onto his personal blog. He checked his previous snaps for likes and comments. There were few interesting talk going on his few snaps and he joined the discussion on topics on which he loved to talk about. Few moments later he checked his clock. It was ticking at 01:05. Time was non-existent when he was with his camera and indulged into capturing beauty of this Creation or beautifying it even further. He felt hunger rising up his head and keeping his Mac aside went into the kitchen. Not much eatables except packets of Maggi and few cream biscuits filled up the shelves. He put rice on his plate and poured dal over it and added a little amount of homemade pickle. This would be enough for him. If not, maggi was always there.
01:15
The city had slowed and thinned out in last two hours. Only few night bikers with their female companions at the pillion seat adorned the roads of the city. Late night cabs were taking people from offices to their respective homes and also some to offices. Raj was happy at his luck that he was not one of them today. He hoped for the best so that nothing urgent comes up this weekend. The homeless & downtrodden were making their bed for the night with a hope that no rich drunkard would run over them. He sat with his dinner and was being soaked in silence and bliss of a full moon night. Raj was more comfortable with his camera and diary than with people around and preferred solitude over crowd and noise. The rice and dal, with pickle as an add-on tasted good and the discussion on his blog was getting more interesting. He was enjoying it all and the silence of the city made it soothing. An entire weekend was before him and there was a lot to click, edit, share and discuss with his fellow photographers in the city and on the Internet. He finished his dinner and went for sleep. Raj hated the profession he was employed into and also the course life was taking. Everyday attempt of following his passion for few hours was the only way to move to a life of meaning, fulfillment and success. This weekend affair with his camera was the only relationship he had fully committed himself to.
02:00
The moon was shining brightly among the twinkling stars and underneath slept a city. Some happy with what they were and some worried about future. Some confident of where their life was headed and some confused. A lot of hopes and confusions, smiles and tears slept beneath. The shining moon, the black sky and far way stars smiled at each other at all the innocence that slept below. The Cosmos had plans to fulfill dreams and hopes of all worried and happy faces. All they needed to do is to ask for it and keep acting in direction of their dreams. Rest will be taken care of. In short, there was a plan for everyone in store.
–END–
