Sights

Generations in transition – a true story

November 16, 2017

In 1961, my father, then 36 years old was traveling through Europe. Being an accomplished amateur photographer, he used to carry his German Rolleicord camera and other paraphernalia – a bunch of filters and lenses. A bulk of the pictures was taken in Italy where he spent most of the 3-month sojourn. As testimony, we still have numerous black and white pictures, preserved in ancient and now ‘smelly’ albums with a few silverfishes for company.

Our trip into the past

In 2009, when I was planning a Europe vacation with my wife, Jyothi & my son, Siddharth, my wife decided to carry some of the pictures taken by my father. She had come up with a bright idea: could we re-create a mosaic of pictures with the three generations against one backdrop, recreating a scenario of ‘generations in transition’? She had chosen a specific picture of my father, leaning casually against a rocky structure with the major landmarks of Florence, Italy, behind him. In my wife’s opinion, out of all the available pictures, this one stood out for clarity.

Anticipation and anxiety

When the tour began, we were not very sure of our idea’s practicability and therefore, had begun clicking pictures at other locations as well, which my father had visited. However, the palpable excitement of coming face to face with our Florence location was building up inside us.

As the bus turned towards the city of Florence, we were camera-ready. It was already evening. We were praying that the fading light should not play spoilsport. All through the day, we had preserved the camera’s charge by applying discretion when clicking pictures.

Between my wife and I, we had taken vantage positions on either side of the bus, not sure if the ‘location’ would appear to our left or right.

There it was!

When the bus stopped at Florence, like excited school kids, we burst out of the bus, waving the 48-year old original snap, comparing the real ‘sight’ with the backdrop in the picture. And there, it was! We spotted the imposing Duomo cathedral and the spire between which my father had been standing when he was photographed. The rocky structure against which he had been leaning had been replaced by a row of decorative iron pillars – even these were now old and rusting. Standing there, one could get a sweeping view of Florence.

Historic shot!

It was now important to get the angle right. Since the light was fading, time was running out. We had to hurry up. The place was a medley of languages. All the tourists were crowded at the same place because that was THE location. We waved the picture to the tourists there and in cryptic telegraphic language, tried explaining the ‘project’ to them to get exclusive space for a picture. There was a gush of appreciation in several languages and we were allotted prime space.

My son & I took turns to pose for the historic snap. We tried the same leaning angle, which had become a trifle difficult because of the difference in height between the rock structure of then and the iron pillars of today. My wife had to ensure that the Duomo and the spire appeared in the picture, the same way it had appeared 48 years ago. She took several pictures of the same pose from slightly different angles with the digital camera – survival of the fittest would be the cardinal rule.

Back in Bangalore, we went to the studio and got the three pictures arranged in one frame. My father appeared in black and white. My son insisted that my picture appears in sepia tone while his picture would be in color, symbolically indicating the passage of time.

The picture adorns the wall of our Living Room. When my father was alive, he used to encourage visitors at home to gravitate towards that part of the room. Not lagging behind in her expression of accomplishment and pride was Jyothi, my wife.

PS: My father passed away in 2010.

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  • Christopher Noel says:

    Felt like an​ R K Narayanan moment while reading. The nostalgia was palpable as you reminisced a particular window in transition of generations.

  • Divya Tiwari says:

    Great and idea and such a nice read!!

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