He had recently graduated and had got a job at one of the famous multinationals.
Apart from his profession as a software
engineer, he was passionate about one more thing.
The camera! He loved photographing people,
sceneries and everything else in between and beyond.
He had decided to create a story. A story
through the camera. But there was a problem.
Where was the story? When it came to
writing, be it even a short message or a professional email, he absolutely
could not.
Somehow, writing and him had nothing in
common at all. From his school days, languages were his most hated subjects.
However much he tried, but his vibe didn’t
match with anyone who presented their work.
And then, she entered the project and his life
She was a final year student of literature
studying in his city.
Her friend who happened to be his colleague,
introduced her and said, see if she can be of some help.
And so, it finally happened! Her style
instantly connected with his intentions and the shooting and filming picked up
speed.
From then onwards, things started going in
a satisfactory direction. For months, he along with his small team of performers,
musicians, designers and many more were spending entire days behind an
uncertain yet crazy project.
Yes. They had a very, very scarce budget.
On top of that, he wasn’t expecting any monetary rewards in return.
They discussed, debated and brainstormed
daily. Due to the nature of the project, they had to constantly move throughout
the city. And so, talks over tea, walks through busy and sometimes, quiet
streets had become a regular thing.
There
talks had of course been regarding the project but, sometimes much more than
that. They both loved books,
traveling
and food.
Between all this, everyone was having a lot
of fun! Jokes, laughter and what not!
All of a sudden, the entire world went into a complete shutdown
Companies
announced work from home and their project, too, had to be managed from within
closed doors. A deadly health crisis had begun. All of them, including him,
were balancing this project with their regular jobs or studies. Somehow, they
tried to make it work. But slowly, everyone started leaving the group for one
or the other reason.
However,
despite all this, the uncertainty, the fear, she stayed firm on his side.
During the times when everything had been normal,
Their
conversations ranged from latest music, films/web series, politics, to human
relations and the world in general. Slowly they both began sharing more details
regarding one another's personal lives with each other.
She
had a job before the health crisis from which she got fired. As colleges were
closed, she returned to her hometown.
But
even after this, they remained in contact. She would listen to his tensions and
stressful regressions and motivate him to hold on and keep fighting.
He
too, would hear her out whenever she had to rant or got angry or irritated
about something, Her everyday happenings and a lot more patiently. Advices,
guidance was, many times, mutually shared. His salary was reduced to more than
half during this time. To push things further downhill,
Relatives
and close ones were either being hospitalized or were dying left and right. This was affecting her as well as several of her cousins were admitted
to the hospital and one of them had shockingly passed away. Through this
turbulent phase, He did the best he could to emotionally support her, to comfort
and console her. The most which he was sad about was the harsh fact that he was
forced to do all this from far, far away.
Slowly,
everything was getting back to normal. The world was gradually recovering from
the viral and globally fatal pandemic. And so, it was the year 2022. Almost 3
years had gone by since they had last met regarding the project which, now had remained
just a memory.
He
had become stable in his job and had even got a promotion! She had anyhow
cleared her exams and was out of the college. And….
They
had decided to meet, after so much time, face to face….
They
planned and rescheduled their work timings. And yet,
The
meet was, because of one or the other reason, getting postponed.
Eventually,
the day had arrived. They had decided the location and time. And this time,
they’d promised that both would make it, whatever happens.
But
the weather had taken on its mind to be unbelievably fierce that day! It was
raining like never before. With a dangerous light show of blinding lightning
and thunder booming like fireworks, it was as if nature itself, at any cost, wanted
to stop them.
Still,
both of them arrived.
With
her ever encouraging and cheerful smile, through her graceful, strong yet sweet
attitude, today, she seemed so innocently, truly beautiful.
For
her, he was the same quiet, sometimes silly
Yet
the confident and supportive guy whom she had known.
As
they sat in the café together casually greeting one another and talking about
nothing in particular, the rain outside increased.
They
talked. In that short span of time, they just conversed about random things.
remembering the once close to the heart project, laughing about or on each
other, and about one another’s normal, daily lives.
In
between, he got the news of her moving to one of the metropolitan cities of the
country for a coveted internship, which she had sincerely hoped to get.
Congratulations! Well done! He was genuinely happy for her. For she had so
deserved it.
The
coffee and food had appeared, but it was of little or no importance for them.
The
presence. It was the only thing that mattered.
As
they arose together from the table and were exiting the place,
Both
assuring of another meet quite soon,
The
rain slowed to a drizzle.
Her
cab had come.
There
was a tsunami of emotions inside him. He for the first time since many years,
became teary eyed. It was not love. He never ever had any sort of romantic or otherwise, feelings in her
regard. As for her, she was already in a committed relationship and he totally
respected and was sincerely glad for her.
Then
what? And why?
He
didn’t know. As he looked outside the window, she, as always, just smiled. The
sky split into a colorful, purely scenic rainbow.
His
passionate camera couldn’t capture these moments. For it had no special angles.
No specific focus.
His
emotions, her expression, this relation, at least for him, would always
remain… Undefined.
