BY PRATHEBA P
"Sizzler brownie half cut,
Chocolate lava flooding out of it"
- an extravagant delicacy;
actually narrates the coveted eyes of the exclaimed nature photographer!
The inverted images on his retina,
And the high resolution of his cornea,
Are million dollars rich;
Like this jawdropping brownie moment of a volcanic eruption.
Set high on stage,
Facing thousand pupils and a hundred cameras;
Applause hit his images.
Suddenly,
On bombardment,
"your memorable photograph?".
Startled by the question,
he transcended quickly,
Tranversing almost two decades...
"A midnight,
His blue colour vision seemed to sweep the entire frame.
Lips glued to the palms,
Hot air from his fast breathing nostrils warming his hands,
It is icy cold.
Completely stray!
The frame is getting even more horrific
With the upbeat music of tidal turbulence.
A group of four,
Including an adolescent looking boy,
in his shirt wet and trousers torn,
Is having goosebumps over the icy scene"
Their voyage started from the bruises on their body,
Enough to imprint racial memory;
Yet no history cared to memorize.
Heading to nowhere,
On this literal old boat,
Amidst the luxurious blue sea.
Their trip seemed lonely and silent,
Not because of the mighty water,
Nor of the blamable night
But because of our colour blindness,
Which sees nothing but blue,
Nothing but blue
Blinded by preconditioned colour pigments,
Making the frame dumb.
Wiping our eyes,
We see,
Their eyes are dry,
Tears have clearly deserted them,
Fat blanket of the skin
is eaten up by starvation,
We see,
They have nothing left
Except their gesture begging for compassion.
An amicable Marxian upon seeing them,
would say,
"they are not just being alienated from the world,
but also from themselves"
Briskly wiping our eyes further,
A tender happiness,
Light is falling on their boat.
Finally,
They are visible to the human world.
Whistle blows....
Search light moves adjacent.
A chaotic hush hush,
Raid on the poor boat
As meticulous as the fiddler crab.
After complete pleating of their clothes in search of arms ;
They are finally in,
For detention.
Detained for the protection of the wealthy sea.
"Such a comfort ", they sighed
Upon landing under suspicion.
After a while,
The sun lit their spaces,
The group of four seemed to have stuck gold out of the blue.
Fearbags under their eyes,
Seemed to ostracize smile away,
Their wrinkles of sadness,
Tightly treasures their grim.
But their raised eyebrows ornamented with forehead parallels
Showed their surprise.
Clearly extradited by the waters,
The land strangely cherished them with human rights,
With wide open arms.
"After all, they look human", the soil whispered.
A month has passed,
Smile befriended their cheek bone,
Laughter is still pursuing emotional decompression.
Sneaking to the stage,
"Not one,
But two memorable photographs,
My mind holds "
Says the photographer to the ears present.
One, is the image of the dark blue Mediterranean from the shore moonlit.
Meanwhile, rolling past
the adolescent boy in the refugee camp,
Seemed to be frozen by a professional lens;
Earning him fame,
Much to his amazement,
His foster parents...
Who sheltered him with hope.
The boy seemed to shift,
Slowly into his reality.
As near he gets,
As dreamy it seems,
Dreamy enough to suffuse his racial scars.
Getting reminded of his candid photoshoot,
"Why do you capture humans" the boy asked the photographer.
"Ain't I a nature photographer" he smiled.
"What do you really see?" The boy goes.
He handed the camera over to the boy to click.
"You see what you wish to see,
Pride freezes enmity,
Fear freezes cruelty,
Envy knows no uniqueness,
Apathy is blind to belonging.
Which shall you wish to freeze ?",he asked.
Hesitant yet hopeful,
The boy clicked,
"Peaceful Mediterranean shining under the full noon sun " from the shore.
" seemed to have frozen beauty " we suppose.
The boy continued on the stage, all grown up
" indeed it was the second memorable frame,
The same Mediterranean.
Upon hope
Beauty upheld my eyes,
Beauty unraveled serenity,
Upon which,
Harmony imploded my senses,
Zooming every diversity under awe.
Awe of the nature's intellect,
Awe of its adaptability,
Much surprising is its persevering love for humanity"
Upon retiring from the stage,
he says
"what do you wish to see?
Illusion of estrangement?
Or the miracle of synchrony?
Among all of your dreamy dreams,
Reality is the most immersive realization, indeed!
So, wish while you see!"