Buying my first camera on RakshaBandhan

Why do I want a camera?

Every night, after coming back home from office, I open the balcony in my room, in Ahmedabad.

My flat is on the sixth floor of a tall, old building. And it is surrounded by three other tall, old buildings. I open my balcony, usually to get some fresh air. But I can’t help but look through the balconies of families living in the building opposite me. I’m not a stalker. The buildings are close, barely a hundred feet away, so I can practically see everything happening in the living rooms of these people.  

Tonight I looked at the balcony right opposite to me, which is usually never lit. But today, it seemed a large family gathering is taking place there. They have this fancy, elegant, dim yellowish lights on. And the whole family is sitting and eating dinner while watching TV. They have Taarak Mehta on. Which is normal because every single Amdavadi I know watches Taarak Mehta while eating.

Then I looked at the balcony right below this family’s balcony. The lights were off. Maybe they went to sleep early. But then I saw someone sitting on a chair, close to the balcony. All alone, in deep thought. I looked closer and saw it was an old lady. She got up after some time, slowly walked to the balcony, and shut it off. Old people and their instincts man. How did she know I was watching?

Anyway, I quickly hid myself in the dark to save myself from the old lady’s gaze. And looked at all the closed windows, right next to the balconies, on the walls of this building. Old windows, all of which are painted white, and this dim white streetlight (or moonlight) is falling on them. Making the windows shine in some romantic, poetic way.

And they felt so real. So alive. I felt as if the windows were talking to me in a language I was hearing for the first time. It felt like some weird unknown reality was striking me with a giant, strong thunderbolt. I’ve never felt so alive.

Watching these old, closed, white painted windows made me realize how life is truly in the present. In the moment. And I wished I had a good camera to capture EXACTLY what I was seeing in these windows. Or rather what these windows were trying to tell me. Everything around these windows was mellow. And beautiful.

So why do I want a camera?

But also because I want to capture the happy, peaceful moments of a family having dinner. I want to capture Taarak Mehta and his Ooltah Chashma. I want to capture an old lady in deep thought who instinctively knows when a moron is watching her.

But more importantly, because I want to capture the old windows. Of an old building. Talking.

TL;DR: Buying a camera tomorrow because it’s RakshaBandhan. Have managed to sell the “money is tight” story to the cousin sisters. Which has led to a decent amount savings, of cash I can splash.