Photo essay Photojournalism

The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine. Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker

Mar 2016 back issue

by Santanu Dey

Life is too short, And it ends so fast; but the memories are great, and last forever… Happiness: It is not measurable, profitable, nor tradable. Yet, above everything else in the world, it is what people seek. They want to have happiness and lots of it. But happiness, like air or water, is a hard thing to grasp in one’s hand. It is intangible. So how does one know if one has it? To me, happiness is just another thought process. Even a sad and melancholy man can seek happiness by reliving his great memories. Throughout the globe, different people have different objects from which they seek happiness; money provides happiness to some, whereas some need love, some people also find happiness in their own creativity. Here, I am going to explore one such instance where love and creativity provides happiness to an individual, a man of great taste. This man, an expert artist, is a refugee from Bangladesh, and came to India during the 1960s. Life is always hard, full of adversities. But the one who can overcome all these adversities is considered as the ultimate winner. This old man has had a life full of struggle. He struggled to settle in India, he struggled to feed his family, and he struggled to have a good career. In his early days, he was revered by all for he was a kind and virtuous person. But what was his fate? Today, he is alone, forgotten by his past contemporaries. But still he lives his remaining ¼ part of life with enthusiasm. But how did he overcome his ill-fate? The cozy room of the artist, Ranen Babu, remains a witness of his creative mind with the framed sketches and paper- crafts. The world becomes smaller for him, closed within the walls of his little house. His only human companion is none other than his life partner. His wife still passes her day doing household duties, managing everything like Goddess Dashavuja ( The Goddess with ten hands). And Ranen Babu keeps her in work! He is far from the gateways of facebook or whatsapp; so, the morning newspaper still remains his update app. It is followed by the regular oil massage and timely hot water bath. The lazy afternoon passes on the lonely balcony, watching people passing by. The quiet evening of the old couple starts with the usual evening prayer. Ranen babu watches his wife offering her prayer to God with incense sticks. Then they sit together with their creative works like sketching, sewing, knitting or paper crafts. This man’s only worry in life is what will happen to his beloved wife when he is gone! Will he then be able to protect her from the world beyond? With these thoughts, his dark night finally gives way to dawn, a new light, a new hope. With the breaking dawn, he watches as his wife applies a line of vermilion on her forehead after the punctual morning bath, the old man heaves a sigh of relief. Instead of thinking about the future, he tries to live the present to its fullest, absorbing the joy from every passing moment. He then realizes that, athough many years have rolled by, the power of that little red line still binds their two lives together, and the old bond and love still remains unchanged. His only wish in life now is to turn this love of his into eternity, beyond the reaches of oblivion……