My DSLR Journey

Kamal Baruah *

Can there be any excitement filled with fun and adventure? Then it’s my DSLR moment which I had come across with so much anticipation for that day.

I planned to visit Himalayan kingdom with family. The most important thing was to glimpse the international border as I’m fascinated with borders and meet the Chinese at the frontier. I had a dream of meeting soldiers of enemy countries. That didn’t happen as the difficulties of a war zone. Also I ain’t got no INSAS Assault Rifle either. Instead I was air warrior that didn’t require such combatant task but confined inside ATC.

Our tickets are booked as per plan. No matter what I packed or which camera I shoot on. The best way to capture events is possible from skills of creativity. There is no denying that DSLRs are great at taking quality photos.

So I poured my heart out for want of one need ahead of the journey which I processed the order with TataCliq. There was big discount for that digital imaging sensor but the delivery was not available in my city. So I ordered it for Pune delivery where my friend Shankar lives.

Since there was no COD, I made payments in advance. To my utmost unhappiness was an inbox message that came after a week saying all sold out? I wasn’t disheartened and I ordered it once again. My previous payment had yet not credited to my account. But I trust TATA.

I waited another week and saw absolute and sheer disappointment and disbelief. The supplier failed to provide the demand to warehouse. I thought of going for the last chance as I was determined to buy it for that journey. Yes my order had been captured at third time by logistic and my previous payment credited to me. My order was picked and packing going on.

The order was collected by the courier with real-time tracking. The package had finally been delivered where my friend redirected it to me through air courier.

I glued my eyes on shipping process. Only a week left for the journey and I waited for the parcel with impatience. I saw the dashboard day to day for inbound and outbound delivery on roads to different warehouse. The inventory got delayed due to blockage of National Highway for strike.

Also There was heavy demand for delivery during festival rush. I kept watching the track and visiting the agency every day. It was the evening prior to the journey; I was nervous and hurriedly entered into the courier office.

There was a ray of hope as I saw the parcel arriving Guwahati on that late afternoon. I was shockingly informed that the item won’t be delivered for coming three days for Durga Puja. I was asked to visit warehouse immediately if something could be done.

I ran across the road but it was already closed for the day. I felt a terrible sense of loss for the moment. But the night watchman was kind enough to try once in the next morning as few employees would turn up as skeleton staff.

The shutter was still down. The Bible gives many examples of people who had to wait for God. But my God was the Courier. And God finally arrived at 10. I peeped through the window and saw that all packages scattered on the floor.

The helper was trying to open one after another but my packet was untraceable. The manager realised my feeling and he was busy searching in the monitor to locate it.

Soon I produced my Id card; the packet had been delivered. It was noon while I was coming out. There was huge rush for Anjali for Maha Ashtami. Everybody at home was eagerly waiting as our departure time gets closer. At home all were flushed with excitement for un-boxing the Canon.

I hadn’t been any experience for handling such high end gadget. I was flipping through the downloaded Instruction searching for clues. Going through 526 PDF pages were harrowing task for installing and settings besides advanced operations. The charging of the battery took a couple of hours.

I could finally configure it but with difficulty for a click. With the help of manual, I tried to understand Basic shooting with Auto mode. I was struck up and restless. I packed luggage side by side for the entire afternoon.

We head into NJP via night train adventure. It was a pretty good night but I could not sleep. The flashbacks memory of treasured journey is still alive. I was learning photography while the complete coach was sleeping.

The first day sightseeing brought disappointment as it was heavy downpour at Gangtok so my DSLR failed to open the shutter. The image sensor exposed to light on the next day capturing some of the most spectacular waterfalls and hills streams at Nathula Pass.

The panorama of Himalayan hills, frozen Tsomgo Lake and snow at Baba Mandir on the Himalayan Mountains made me feel like I was living a dream.

My learning to DSLR was tense with excitement. One unforgettable online shopping of laugh and thrills, I faced. But it was surely an unforgettable DSLR journey.