SUPW — Four alphabets that were meant to shape our lives in addition to the usual subjects in school: Socially Useful and Productive Work. Yes, that was SUPW. Classes we looked forward to because it was in these classes that we students really got to do some work. Practically, that is. The rest being theory classes.

I wanted to pursue Photography. My dad thought otherwise. Taking a photograph was a luxury, he felt. Learning how to tie a fuse wire was a necessity, he said. When my mom, a teacher in the same school seconded his opinion, I opted for Electrical Gadgets and their Repairs.

Thirty five years later, tying a fuse wire is as alien to me as Greek and Latin. Coz my mind lay elsewhere. Thanks to the rotation of classes, I picked up the nuances of photography from my master, George Paul sir – an expert with both the camera and the paint brush.

Those were the days of Click IIIs and Kodak Brownies. Thankfully, my dad’s Kodak Brownie box camera came in handy which he parted with a heavy heart on days when I had my Photography class. ”Careful…..it cost me a fortune….” he’d say.

Taking a shot with a box camera wasn’t easy. You had to hold it below your waist and take the shot. The viewfinder was on top and all you got was an inverted image of the subject. You had to remain still. The subject too. No…There was no focus ring or interchangeable lens. I forget if there was a knob to change the shutter speed. Aperture Priority? Eh…….what’s that?

I left school in 1980. No…Dad wouldn’t buy me a camera. ”You learn…you work….you earn…you buy” was his credo. ”You learn the value of a thing only when you buy it with your hard-earned money. Sweat’s worth….I’d say……..”

I wasn’t one to give up. In college I borrowed cameras from friends and took shots. From my pocket money, saved enough to expose a roll of color film plus the costs of washing and taking prints.

It was not until I opted to be a freelance journalist that I began to pursue photography in a big way. My early photographs were taken with a Pentax point and shoot camera which I borrowed from an aunt. The turning point in my career came when a cousin gifted me with an SLR kit: A Yaschica FX 7 Super camera with a wide array of lenses which I treasure even to this day. Armed with rolls of film, I travelled the length and breadth of the state shooting to my heart’s content.

”If you really value something in life, if you are passionate about something…..you will hold it close to your chest….and treasure it until end of days….” I told dad as he browsed through my albums. He nodded in agreement. Point taken.

Box cameras are passe. So are SLRS, film rolls and negatives. It’s a long way from a Kodak Brownie to a Pentax to a Yaschica to a Canon 7D and two Nikon cameras. Technology has changed. So have the products. But the passion remains the same. So do the teachings of George Paul sir. ”Photography is all about light. How you manipulate it is what matters. Let that be your leading light….” The words were never lost on me with the passage of Time. They never will.

George Paul sir retired in 1994. Retired from school, that is. Settled in Nemmara, Palakkad, he leads an active life….painting and introducing hundreds to the world of colors. The upper storey of his house is a gallery of sorts. It’s his mini-school. ”I’m now doing a painting of the Last Supper…..here…this one….and that one over there…..it’s my self-portrait. There’s more work to be done…….”

Elsy Paul and Anoop ThomasWe were meeting after 35 long years. It was fun to take a walk down memory lane as Elsy clicked away to glory on our point- and-shoot camera. ”No….I don’t teach photography these days. What’s there to teach? It’s the digital age. The camera does everything. Even on a DSLR, almost everyone goes AUTO. Each shot is seen on the rear of the camera. The thrill’s gone….the thrill in photography lies in the expectation…the wait….from the moment you take a shot till you see the print in color or black white…..back then there was no room for error. Today you fire up to a thousand shots and sift through them…..”

I grinned.

”How did you find me?”

”Susy and Rabin are great friends. They said you live close by. Elsy and I were returning from a friend’s wedding in Palakkad. On our way back, took a detour to meet you, sir…..”

”When will we meet again, Anoop?” George Paul sir asked.

”Here’s my number… Any time you feel like seeing me, just give me a call. Elsy and I will be there…..”

(Anoop Thomas is the Deputy News Editor of The New Indian Express, Kochi, Kerala. He loves travelling, meeting people, making friends. His passions include photography, music and hogging food. He lives in Tripunithura near Kochi. He is married to Elsy Paul.)