Framed in: How should we welcome death? It’s a paradoxical question, yet profound. According to Osho, acknowledging that death is inevitable allows us to let life flow naturally. Clinging to life only breeds discontent, leaving us with an unfulfilled feeling that there’s more to accomplish. In this perspective, hope can be seen as a villain, as death cannot be postponed even for a second. So why hesitate to accept it?
“The Last Leaf” by O. Henry once inspired many, but it also brought about strange thoughts. It offers a false promise—nothing in this world is eternal. The same applies to certain relationships. Some may be intense but ultimately unstable, constantly reminding us that they won’t last. Despite this, we often cling to them. The best way to move forward is to let them go. Allow them to drift away and resist the urge to hold on. The emptiness might be painful for a while, but time is the best healer, as the cliché goes.
Let the leaf hanging on the edge of your finger fall. Let it descend and perish, for new leaves will undoubtedly sprout in its place.
Framed out: This picture was taken during one of our practical classes in my second year of undergraduate studies. There was a huge structure made of iron, covered with a white translucent material. At the time, we had no idea what it was for, though I now suspect it was meant for table-top photography. Ironically, it was used for everything except its intended purpose! Creativity was the buzzword back then, and we were constantly trying weird things to prove we could think outside the box. This photo was the result of one such experiment.
I found a banyan tree leaf and asked my friend Gayathri Devi (Gayu) to hold it against the white translucent board with one finger while I positioned a light directly behind it. The result was this picture, which has a mysterious look. It’s another addition to my collection of unconventional photos. I captured it with my Yashica FX3 camera, using an FX7 lens.
Grey Frames: The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. ~Mark Twain
Beyond Frames : “Creativity is defeating habit by originality:” (Courtesy: One of the tables in the Transit in Forum Mall in Bangalore and Nitha who showed it to me!).
