P.O.V

Scorching heat of the noon sun radiating from the white sands of Mararikulam Beach in Alappuzha, Kerala. The Beach is crowded as well as the market which is close to the beach. A typical marketplace where people are rushing. Shopkeepers shouting at their maximum volume. In that crowd, two young men about 25 years old, Amit and Asif, are having a hard time taking photos. They both are photography students from Delhi. They have come for a photography assignment. Amit is a guy with 6ft height, fair skin and a neatly trimmed beard. Asif contrastingly is a guy about 5ft height, clean shaved and neutral skinned. He has a round-shaped spectacle and has an innocent looking face.

Amit is unhappy with his photos. The rushing people in the market are making him stressed and frustrated. People are accidentally hitting him on the shoulder when he is taking the photo and he is not getting a shot that he likes. He takes out his frustration on the people and starts shouting at them. Asif, on the other hand, is also trying to take some photos in that rush, but he is more calm and says sorry to the people when they hit him accidentally. Asif notices Amit getting angry and frustrated and walks up to him and tries to make him calm. Asif says to Amit to keep calm and when getting stressed just close his eyes and try to imagine any soothing song in his head. Amit closes his eyes and imagines a song. At that moment they hear a very soothing, beautiful flute music coming from somewhere. They both were surprised to hear the flute music amongst the busy market. They started walking towards the sound of the music and found an old man playing the flute. He was sitting in a corner on an old bed sheet. He had a messy white beard and his hair looked like it was never combed. But the music coming from his flute was magical. He had a small bowl placed in front of him. Inside the bowl there were some coins and 10 rs notes. A little girl, about 8 years old, was sitting behind him. She wore old faded clothes and her face was looking very sad. Amit and Asif first enjoyed the music and then they started taking the photos of the old man and the little girl. Again Amit was not satisfied with the photos he got. Even the soothing sound of the music did not make him calm. The old man noticed them but did not stop playing. He posed for them and they took some photos. No one else was noticing the old man. Some people just tossed a coin on to the bedsheet and the little girl picked it and put it in the bowl. When the old man finished playing, Asif asked Amit whether he could give some money to the old man since he had no cash with him at the moment. Amit first hesitated but then took out his wallet and gave him money (a note). The old man got overwhelmed with joy and accepted the money with both his hands and by folding his hands he thanked them, not only for giving him money but also they listened to him play. Soon after thanking them, he started to play another song, as if he got appreciation for his work. Amit, after realizing he started another song, told Asif to move along. Asif with slight hesitation said ok and gave a smile to the old man and the little girl and they left the place.

Amit and Asif left the busy market and headed towards the beach. They resumed their photography work, in that hot afternoon. The time flew by and they became tired of the heat and their work and they hadn’t even had any lunch. They decided to have juice from a nearby shop. Amit ordered two juices and took out his wallet and noticed there was only 20 rs. Then he realized that he must have given 500 rs instead of 20 rs to that old man. Amit gets frustrated and starts shouting at Asif. Without drinking the juice he walked away from the shop and started to search for that person. Asif was trying to calm down Amit by saying that getting back money from the old man is not a good thing and he should think clearly. But Amit was not in a mental state to listen to Asif. They went to the first place in the market where they had seen the old man, but he was not there. Amit asked nearby shopkeepers about the old man and they said they did not know where he went. They left the market and went towards the beach again. At this time, Amit was totally exhausted and he went and sat on the white sand. Asif came and sat next to Amit. With all the exhaustion and stress, Amit exploded at Asif and blamed him for losing his money. Asif just sat there silently without knowing what to do.

Suddenly, along with the sound of the waves, they heard that flute music again. Amit got up quickly and started following the sound. Asif also followed him. Finally they found the old man and the little girl. The old man was sitting on the sand near the water, playing the flute and the little girl was dancing to the music. This time she was wearing a dress with bright colors which seemed to be newly bought. She looked very happy and was laughing and dancing in circles around the old man. She gave the old man a tight hug and kissed him with happiness. Amit and Asif stood still for a while watching all this. They both had no words to say. Amit’s face looked very regretful. Asif had a smiling face and told Amit that their happiness is because of Amit. The fact that he gave 500rs meant that the old man could buy his granddaughter a new dress which she might be asking for many days. Also they were enjoying their time on the beach rather than performing for the people who did not even listen to him play, in that busy market. The 500rs might have been more than what he usually gets in a full day. Whatever he does with that 500rs will not be equal to the happiness of that little girl. Amit’s face brightened and told Asif that he understood his mistake. Then Amit took out his camera and captured the beautiful moment of the little girl kissing the old man on his cheeks with the old man playing the flute with his eyes closed, with the sun setting in the background. Amit looked at the photo and again at them and smiled. In his smile it was clear how satisfied he was with the photo.

Cast: Deepak Verma , Raja Sekhar P, Abin Alex, Aleena Abin, Vishnu Prakash