Keshav Da

What his/her photograph means to someone was never so clear to me as it became today. The office photo shoot took place today and everyone got their nice and lovely photos clicked, including two men who are employed to serve everyone with tea and coffee when required. One of them, fondly referred to as Keshav Da, is a man in his early 70s with whom age has supposedly caught up. Keshav Da has earned a reputation for himself that doesn't reflect too well for him but does help many in the workplace to have a good laugh. He is that guy whom when you tell to bring coffee will put a cup of tea in front of the person sitting next to you. In fact, he is known to engage the employees in long stories of his life which most, due to his mental state and his age, take with a pinch of salt. Most of the time, he is just there in the background, until someone cracks a joke on him to which smiles back, don't know whether in ignorance or with indifference.

Coming back to the day, with the hard drive with all the photos in my possession, I knew he wanted to see his photographs. when he walked up to me with a cup of tea I hadn't asked for. In fact, he had already bombarded me with questions earlier in the day about how can he get hold of his photos. I had assured him then that he will get his photos without actually knowing how he will, probably half expecting him to forget about them when we next have the conversation as he does with our requests for tea and coffee.

But when he had camped near my seat, I had little option but to give in to his child like requests. And so I took the mouse and clicked on the folder that contained his photos and opened them one by one as he sat beside me with a sense of anticipation. A man battered and bruised by time appeared on the screen. The almost magical skills of the photographer did little to hide the toll age had taken on him but what the photo had done to the man sitting outside the screen was something I wasn't prepared for. There was a joy on the face of Keshav Da that I hadn't witnessed on anyone else's in this office of young and successful people in my limited time here. He took time admiring his photographs with a glint in his eyes and even went on to compliment himself in a few of those with a child like innocence. After seeing his individual photographs, he nudged me to also show him the group photographs where our boss, a Chilean man, had put his arm around Keshav Da's shoulder. Keshav Da was evidently proud to have the hand of Saaheb, as he calls him, around his neck as he asked me to zoom in on the photo to show him that hand on the shoulder.

As he looked on with a smile of satisfaction on his wrinkled face, I felt a little guilty about underestimating the impact of those photographs on the man. I don't know after how long he had been clicked but after a long time I saw a face that was happy to see his own self, no matter how frail and dark, without itching with the desire to show it to the rest of the world like the rest in the office were. As Keshav Da returned to his place after expressing his gratitude to me in all possible ways, I just had one thought running in my head. I wish, one day, I too can have Keshav Da's innocence