#PictureStory 44 : Spiral

"What they hide is much more than what they show" spoke the landlady as she saw the new tenant admiring the beautiful spiral staircase.

Intrigued by her comment, Pete and his wife Carolyn looked at her with their faces almost asking a similar question 'What do you mean?'

Reading their faces, she replied "I just got the carpeting done. It looks beautiful, doesn't it?"

Without waiting for them to react, she continued "I grew up in this house. We were six siblings, so it was nothing short of a mad house. There was chaos all around, fighting and playing, giggles and wails, laughter and shouting. A lot of those things used to happen on or around this staircase. Winters were spent near the fireplace with our father regaling us with stories from his travels. We thought that life would be like this always. But then when we start planning our life, is when life starts planning for us. Two of my brothers left the country, one died while serving in the army, and three of my sisters got married. My parents passed away when I was 17.

I could never leave this house, which I call my home and my abode. I guess my attachment to this place was far stronger than what I could have felt for any person."

After a pause, she looked at Pete, Carolyn and their baby and said "You are the first tenant in the 125 year history of this house. The moment I saw your baby and heard her chortle, I knew that having you guys as tenants will help in bringing back some of those noises that have got buried deep in the treasure chest of my memories. I hope you love staying here as much as I have all these years. Welcome home."

Pic details: Clicked in Edinburgh, Scotland in Aug'16

#PictureStory 43 : Culmination

Today was the culmination of their decade long dating. Jonathan and Marylene had met in their first year at Trinity College when both were studying history. It was love at first sight for both of them. They were both from outside Ireland. Jonathan was from England whereas Marylene was from United States of America. After classes, they would go and explore the town of Dublin. What began as historic tours to museums soon turned into dinner dates followed by pub crawls and then weekend getaways to nearby towns like Galway and Doolin. 

Five months back, while standing under a moonlit sky and gazing at the stars, Jonathan whispered in the ears of Marylene "Nothing is as beautiful as the sky today. If time was to come to a stand still, I want it to happen now, as what can be a more apt moment than now when my arms are around the most precious treasure that I know right under the gaze of the stars that act as diamonds and bring glory to this treasure."

He then went on his knee, extended his hand and asked Marylene "I would like to weave many such moments into a garland of memories with you, if only you say a yes. Oh my princess, will you marry me?"

With tears in her eyes, Marylene said yes and they decided to get married in the chapel of their alma mater - Trinity Chapel at Trinity College.

Pic details: Clicked on the campus of Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in Aug'16

#PictureStory 42 : Passion

People would get quite uncomfortable with Mario's stares. It was a long gaze with no blinking of the eye and that would make people uncomfortable as they felt that he could see through their character. 

Mario would do this for hours while sitting at the station, sitting at beaches or sitting in restaurants. Just stare and observe people, their behaviour and their quirks. 

And then he would take a pencil and paper and start doodling, sometimes for hours. Based on his strong observations, he started creating distinct characters, with unique characteristics, loud physical features. Even the dog had its own unique identity. 

Soon his work started appearing in dailies and people loved the fact that Mario had the ability of taking a usual life situation and give it a humorous lens. After a few years, the entire nation knew who Mario Miranda was and what his work was all about. Mario's passion and true calling of becoming a cartoonist by observing people had been fruitful for him.

Pic details: Clicked in Brittos restaurant in Goa, India in Sept'16 where Mario Miranda's work has been displayed.

#PictureStory 41 : Colour

Balbir ran his eyes across the room to quickly form an opinion on who could be the trouble makers and hence need to be watched out.

Having been a Chief of Security at one of the leading Music Festivals of the country for more than a decade, Balbir knew that people of various mannerisms come to enjoy the fest and some of them have to be cautioned when they start showing any signs of trouble.

It wasn't the youngsters that bothered him as much as the middle aged men. These 40 somethings had earned their stripes in the corporate world and always had an air of authority and attitude in them. A few drinks down, they would change colours faster than a chameleon and behave like hooligans just to feel a part of the crowd and feel younger again. If one would try to stop them, they would get offended and would try and show their might of money.

Today morning, Balbir had cautioned his entire security staff to be extra alert but yet diplomatic to as much extent as possible. After all, today was when 500 delegates of a company were coming to be a part of the festival. Balbir knew it very well that a combination of power and the strength of numbers wouldn't take much for some of them to show their true colours, hidden behind that mask of professionalism.

Pic details: Clicked in Goa, India in Sept'16

#PictureStory 40 : Windows

Sitting in her room and watching the world go by, as she sipped her coffee was a favourite pastime of Svetlana every day.

People rushing to work, hawkers carrying their wares, couples enjoying a few kisses without bothering about the world, a child skipping while holding his mother's hands - all of this gave Svetlana a moment and opportunity to enjoy the world and its happiness from her eyes.

But she knew that all this was temporary. Because she knew that by evening, it would be her standing in the windows and this time people would be staring at her. That was the reality of the windows of Amsterdam - while you were the audience in the morning, you became the source of entertainment to the audience outside by evening.

Pic details: Clicked in Dublin, Ireland in Aug 2016.

#PictureStory 39 : Lost

George went to the police station to file a lost complaint.

The cop looked at him and laughed when George told him what he wants to file the report for.

George looked confused and persisted for the report to be filed.

The policeman asked him to be thrown out of the police station and told the other police officers "He seems crazy. He says that he has lost love from his life and he wants our help to find it. Who files a report for love lost."

It had been four years since George had been searching for love. All his friends were falling in love and finding a partner except him. All of this had made him lose his mind a bit. Today, in an act of desperation, he entered the police station but realized his folly after he was thrown out.

Pic details: Clicked at a parade in Glasgow, Scotland in Aug'16

#PictureStory 38 : Castles in the Air

It all began with a message on LinkedIn. Sanaya had reached out to Kevin for a job opening in her organisation, where she was responsible for recruitments. He showed interest. So she started texting him on Whatsaap asking for his CV. After a few days, he mailed her the CV.

But the twist in the tale happened when Sanaya turned around and asked him on Whatsapp if he had any opening for her in his organisation! He found this very funny but this was a good ice breaker. Soon they started texting to each other and talking about various things other than just professional discussions.

Kevin found her very pretty and so he took a chance and started flirting a bit during these chats. She would just smile and deflect it with some other topic. Even though, he hadn't met her, he started forming castles in the air.

It reached a stage where they were chatting all through the day and he was now keen to meet her soon. Then in one of the chats, she gave him a hint. He latched on to it and probed further. Soon she told him that she has a boyfriend. He was crestfallen. But on further thinking he found the entire situation funny and ironic as without meeting her, he had been thinking what he shouldn't be!

She had put him in the 'friend' zone. He hated that feeling. This had happened to Kevin before too. He made up his mind. While she could think of him as a friend, he wasn't giving up. Not so soon and not so easily.

Pic details: Clicked somewhere in the skies in June 2016

#PictureStory 39 : Chase

He had done it again. Been with a woman for months, flirting with her, sharing sweet messages with her and kindling romance with her.

But the minute the conversation veered towards commitment and towards marriage, he would go into a shell. He would start finding reasons for not going ahead with it. He had done this many times now with different women at different points of time.

He knew that time was running out, but yet he could not find the reason for his problem. If only he had met a psychiatrist who would have told him that he still has some genes from the prehistoric cavemen who loved the chase much more than the conquest. Yes, that was his problem of turning away all the amazing women that he had met.

                  

Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Kolkata, India in June 2016.

#PictureStory 36 : Expression

When the #eyes speak their language, then #words are not needed as the expressions of the eyes are always stronger and truer than that of the tongue!

Pic details: Clicked in a mall in Delhi, India in July'16