Click Maadi...

They all line up, from the eldest to the youngest for the breakfast served in a buffet format in a resort. I was standing at one corner and could see some perfect frames in my viewfinder. Just then I could feel someone pulling my t-shirt.

'Hurry up, Dhruv. Have your breakfast soon' a mid aged lady's voice says.

'Mama is calling, but can you take a nice pic of myself and my brother, Dhruv', the individual who had pulled my t-shirt says this.

I turn back and see, Shruti.

The brother and sister, immediately link arms and the sister who is elder between the two hugs his brother. I took a picture and immediately both the kids, unlink and rush to see how both of them appear in the photograph.

Shruti says, 'See, I am looking nice' but Dhruv see you have something on your face.



Post 2000, was the period when the online social networks, the nets of relationship that grow using high-tech socially engineered websites took the world by storm. Starting from Orkut, to Linkedin to Flickr to MySpace to Facebook, each of these sites serve a purpose, but stands unfaltering on the concept of networking. In each of these cases, the webs grow from conversations among people who share common interests, yet who differ in other ways such as living halfway across other side of the globe. All this is fine.

I don't know and even some may even laugh at it but I consider a camera, a tool of networking aside from its exclusive purpose of capturing and storing experiences, panoramas, cycloramas, etc. I met Shruti and Dhruv through my camera and till date have met many others within India and abroad through the small window of my viewfinder. There is always the lure of the unknown, something new.

The pic below is one of a Panditji, whom I had met in a solitary and unfrequented temple on a hill, where the mobile signals fail and there is no internet connection. It was pretty dull and foggy that day and this person, came forward and told me if I could take a snap of his.



My reply, sure, why not. After I took the picture, Panditji, saw his image on the view finder, and was impressed. He rushed inside the temple and came out with a small chit of paper, in which he had written the address of the temple, of which he is the owner and the steward. He asked me if I could send him a hard copy of his photograph.

Similarly, sometime back I had mentioned about an incident, when I was offered a yard long dosa for free.

(Note: The gentleman who prepared the foot-long dosa that you see in the pic, didn't charge me a single penny because he liked the pic that I took for him. I requested him and told him that this was not fair as he deserved his due, but he smiled and asked if he could meddle with my camera for a while. So this post is for that humble soul.)

So what are you waiting for, start clicking pictures. It may be your style of social networking and who knows, you can come with a new big bang idea that challenges Mark Zuckerberg dude.

Keep reading and remain connected.