Friday, September 20, 2013

Photographs


Photographs are a way of imprisoning reality...One can't possess reality, one can possess images--one can't possess the present but one can possess the past.
~ Susan Sontag, On Photography 


A woman of not more than fifty, did everything what women used to do
full of drama, vigor and shades, like some character of an epic she was
tales with in tales in her discourse, but calm and composed was her visage
one day a panhandler roamed around, long he roamed and came to her place
after smelling the decorum and grandiose exterior of her well kept space
with parched throat he started asking for water, food and some old regalia
she was a woman of charitable and kind heart, gave food  at that instant
up she moved in the room  less touched, stocked with old materials and stuff
opened one by one the kind of suitcases and trunks that are no longer used
full of old-fashioned robes and garbs, so many still packed and unused
picked few up from a stack of such and gave the man away easily enough
she came back to the room again, a journey to the memory lane began.

Trunks crawling with dust, so much dust, and fragments of time gone by
her heart raced so fast when on bundles of photographs she laid her eyes
one after another and another she emptied them all, decanted all the relics
souvenirs of failures and successes, of puerile naughtiness and tricks
meetings and separations, constructions and deductions brick by brick 
layers and layers of memories uncapped, elated as if a gift she just unwrapped
so old and fragile, some torn monochrome pictures of her mum and dad
she's sitting in the mid, unaware of all that's to come, with  a baby face
girl she grew up with, and the next door boy with whom she always fought
class photographs and the pictures of every prize and gift she won and got
snapshots of gone realities still imprisoned here, reminiscing so profuse
tears were rolling out her eyes, gates of dam just opened, tears on loose.

An envelope was sitting there waiting to be opened by her teary hands
on a little touch, from it fell down an old portrait picture of her husband
one which was sent to her when they were to married, good old ways
the grin on her face, it was to remain on her face through out the day
thinking of times when they used to forget there lives a world around
and then the baby pictures, suddenly she could hear their crying sounds
snippets of times when they first talked, crawled around and walked
whole of her life lying in front of her, in these bits and pieces of papers 
upon closing her eyes she thought of what was she, what became, what now ?
sighed, sighed again, she smiled, of all the choices she ever made, how ?
for every choice, she had a face in mind, a lesson she learned and passed down
for time runs so swift so rapid, its restless pinions witness generations passed.

Her photographs, frozen retentions of all that happened so sudden and fast
happened but forgotten, happened but ignored, happened quick and passed
those times were never erased, all etched deep and preserved with paper and ink
past is worth clinging to, to remind us how far we've come in life and living.

A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you ― Brigitte Bardot

23 comments:

  1. It's amazing how old photographs stir memories and emotions within us...they realyl touch us to the core. I love going through old family photo albums and bringing joyful memories back to the surface :)

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  2. Old pics are a fascination. They record memories that last. Now one keeps them in a digitized folder. More organized but risks of virus attacks may rob us of them. Nicely Jyoti!

    Hank

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  3. They can really bring back a ton, just looking can tell a lot too

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  4. Awesome Jyoti! So beautiful with a touch of tale... just like inscriptions, sculptures and painting of ancient times, photographs are gift of our latter generation to save as memories.

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  5. Beautiful. I could totally get lost in the past, and occasionally do thanks to my extensive journal keeping--but those old picture albums... It's good to pause every now and again to remember the lives that have touched ours. There's so much good.

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  6. A photograph always evokes memories.The older they are they bring in varied feelings long forgotten and highlight in stark contrast the changes life had brought about.To go through old albums of black and white is reliving the old times.
    You have written beautifully in good style.

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  7. The days that pass by and become one of the pages of past in the book of life do shine brightly in our memories, both good and bad ones have their own fascinations once they are one with the past....
    Past is worth clinging to, as you say, for it gives us the opportunity to reflect and relive our sentiments all over again!

    You write so well!
    These random scribblings are really soothing! Thanks dear!

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  8. Beautiful. Frozen retentions, that's what pics are.Loved it.

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  9. बहुत सुन्दर, चित्र न जाने कितने सच एक साथ दिखा जाते हैं।

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  10. mmm old photographs carry so much memory...it is easy to be overwhelmed with emotion when we see them...and remenber things we would not otherwise...

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  11. Old photographs almost always inspire some kind of story in my head. If not a story, then thoughts. I always wondered what they thought about, what their life was like, and what they thought of their picture. Pictures are so taboo for us now, that to them it must have been a big deal to have a photograph!

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  12. old photographs sure take us back in time where lifelong memories were made..
    beautiful write up...:)

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  13. अति सुंदर

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  14. Photographs can stor up memories. But I am a tad aggrieved at the death of those old kinda photos. Digital photos which we have today do not evoke the same sentiments. It's like a book cannot be replaced by an e-book. Similarly, those old square photos which would come out after a few days of washing (we would wait for it with eager anticipation) and then everybody would grab the album and flip through all the photos. Sad, i miss those times

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  15. photographs have the power to storytell and stir up memories. but it's dependent upon our imagination and how much we care to hold onto. i like how you really plunged your vision into the details and made them come alive.

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  16. In my mind,i saw the picture you were painting.Nice write-up.

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  17. You have penned it beautifully.A photograph not only recaps the past but bring those who have attained eternal sleep also to your view.

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  18. nice memories, have thousands of them

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  19. एक सुन्दर प्रभावशाली काव्य प्रस्तुति और जीवंत पात्र के जरिये महिमामंडित फोटोग्राफ !

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  20. Jyoti,

    Read all current posts. So true, old photographs make memories float infront of one. Your poems are as usual full of deep meaning. Love the one on Seeing a Face.

    Take care

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  21. through this post I could be able to know about several hidden thing related with photographs. Superb presentation :)

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  22. Came across your blog through the Halchal' link. Really nice blog, as Anupama di pointed out. Keep it up. Looking forward to read more from you!

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