The Big Leap!

Questions!!! Questions I ask myself, questions others make me think about.

Am I Good? Am I Bad? Is my work hated? Is my work loved?

It’s obvious; we try to imitate others, whoever they are. We fear elimination, we also fear being mocked. Definitely, may be, the scariest thing in the world, is to love yourself; to believe enough in who you are to stand tall and proud and to tell the world, 'hey, this is who I am’.

They say, ‘Hold the vision, Trust the process!’ and while all these apprehensions tried to cloud my mind, I silently kept pushing myself, to my own limits. Then came the time for the big leap and back were the questions. Am I good enough? Am I ready? Being me, even though I kept my calm, I also wanted the answer. The big leap should be big enough and also timely. The brainstorming during this phase was actually more mind-numbing than walking in the wild with the backpack. But then, I came out smiling, well I don’t know, its strange feeling. It’s that happy feeling which will not let me sleep; will not calculate my dreams and won’t let me limit myself. This feeling is something that will linger with me for a long long time.

And while I celebrate this little success of mine, I also want to make sure to thank each and everyone who made this journey wonderful. Yes, I’m no celebrity and neither I have a podium for a speech, all I have is a heart filled with gratitude and a promise to be better in due time. Though a plain ‘thank you’ is not enough, am honoured to be blessed with the best bunch of people.

Probably I’ll play safe here and won’t mention names; you people anyways know whom I mean. Firstly, thank you almighty, for the wonderful gift of nature and for blessing me with my best bunch. This is for you my little angels, Jill, Mamunu, Pakhi, Barbie, Buki, Suki, Tora and Jiya for being my dream catchers, for I could look up to you, smile and set sail for new dream. Dita, Maa, Baa, Sasanka Da for all your love and support, for never stopping me from going to any trip and for always welcoming me home with a smile and the eagerness to see what I was up to. Also sorry, for the all your altered plans because of my travel schedules. Cousins, Family Members, thank you for being there and also understanding my absence during family functions! For you, friends in Pune, who made this effort more winning, it was because of you all, everything went so smoothly. Each and every one of my Pune friends, roommates, seniors, juniors, I wish you all were there. Pune was not the same without you people around. For you, my school friends, where ever you are. For you friends in Assam and other parts of North East, friends in Delhi (East, West, North, South, Gurgaon, and Noida), Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and every other part of India, friends in US, UK, UAE, Singapore and everywhere else. Thank you for your companionship, your stamina, your wisdom and the smiles, delivered right at the doorstep. Thank you everyone in the photography fraternity, elders, friends and young ones, for all those awe inspiring clicks of yours. For you, my partners in creative crime, for all the fun time, it’s actually fun to commit those crimes with you guys around. My gang, as I call it, thank you for always egging me up, for all the love, and sorry for you had to face the wrath of seeing every click, and to answer stupid options I used (which I will continue)  to give for selecting photographs. And off course, my ‘Bachha Party’, thank you for all the liveliness, the love you spread around. For all my critique, without your valuable words, my work would have been incomplete, thank you! And last (also the least), big thank you to all you people (you know whom I mean) out there, (I know, am not meant to say negative things here), this is for you, for all your mockeries, for all your behind the back discussions, and for your belief that I’m actually nothing. I won’t claim, I’m the best, but yes, I’m something.

Thanks are in order, thank you everyone who flocked in to the exhibition, everyone who couldn’t coz of geographical limitations, everyone who stayed glued for the tiniest update, everyone in the media, everyone at Grubshup, for making things so comfortable. Thank you everyone for making this journey of last one and half year so memorable. While the feeling of contentment refuses to fade away and I’m almost about to leave for my next voyage, take a bow!