The Lakes of Kumaon

The shoelaces seem to be tied at wrong places. And, the legs were definitely tired after the prolonged classroom hours. Heads bedazzled by the fiery equations and logarithms of professor Pinto'Advanced Mathematics classes. One could not but for a moment compelled to ask: was Alex destined for all this? Beyond this square feet classroom lay his desire, his ambition and his camera.

The greenery, the valleys of Kumaon were his interest. Alex' dad often travel places and he had bought a Pintex 500 from London. Ah! it had remained such an upheaval interest. All day long Alex would go out in the valleys with his camera and kept on shooting photographs at will. He had this knack of capturing the slightest moment and transforming them into radiant beauties. Perhaps, Joseph Chenni, the principal and art teacher of ST. Peters Catherdal School attributed Alex' taste of photography to his 'delight in loneliness'.

Alex was the single child of his parents,which meant due to any siblings he grew up all alone playing with toys and trying hard to embrace the solace. In comes art in his life. The flush of colors and the crayons struck a magical portrayal, and deep down in his heart Alex knew that he was building a world of his own. At first Alex started with his drawing books. He used to open a chapter and start coloring the objects on the chapter- animals, monuments, statues and so on. Then his father got transferred to Kumaon, a beautiful town in the beat of Uttarakhand, India.

Here unlike Jim Corbett,Alex took out his camera and started clicking pics. First it was a hobby and slowly and gradually Alex started taking more interest in the intricacies of the cameras. The technicalities did not seem to be easy for him but he did not mind. He was so good with it that slowly the school found an official photographer.

Alex wanted to pursue his career in photography but he knew that it was not going to easy for him. The family never approved his decision and soon enough he decided to quit his dreams.

Years later after a broken relationship and enough cash in the bank, Alex got a chance to pick up his camera. He had come down to Ladakh to write his new novel. The tall mountains and chillness of Ladakh forced him to take his camera and start clicking the pics. Though it took him sometime to get to the original form, Alex still fancied an award or so.

As he sat down after a hectic day of shooting, he realized his biggest folly. He understood that he was late in achieving his dreams. That he was always destined to be a photographer and inspite of all the odds that life offered he still had the camera with him today. Perhaps, the strength to face your own father while discussing your dreams or careers comes from within and he did not have it anytime. Alex could understood that he could not blame his father for this delay. It was him all along.The reflection on the water bore seem to get bigger every second but much happier to Alex. Perhaps, it was time to click more pics and get them enlarged.