Idlis in London


I don’t remember when I met Sunil. But I remember the day I took some photographs of him, using my favourite Pentax K1000. The year was 1999, soon after we finished our journalism course at Press Club, Trivandrum. One evening, Sunil handed over a roll of Konica and asked me to take his pictures in different angles. I took him to first floor of the Press Club building and started clicking. Close-ups, medium shots and long shots followed one after the other... Finally, we both went to Babas (a famous studio) and got it developed. Sunil didn’t tell me what was the purpose, and I didn’t even ask him.
After two days, Sunil told me that the pictures were sent to London. For a moment, I was shocked. London always evoked a kind of nostalgia. It was my dad’s favourite place. The smell of London always surrounded him although he left the place when I was seven. The chocolate bags, toy planes and post cards… Everything he brought in from London had a smell of the town. So London was always a place I wished I could visit once. “Oh…that’s nice,” I told Sunil. But what’s the purpose? “Don’t tell anyone”…he told me, “I am getting a proposal from London. They want to see my photographs.” I was a bit worried because I was sure I would be missing my friend since there was no reason for anyone to reject him. Only if something went wrong with the photographs…But that didn’t happen, Sunil got engaged a month later.
I left Kerala and joined Newstime in Hyderabad. Sunil in fact sent me invites for his marriage, but I could not make it. One day, I got a mail from Sunil, saying he got a job in London. I was happy. In 2004, when friend Bishwanath went to London to attend a Reuter’s programme, Sunil came to see him. In fact he came with a pack of hot idlis. It was something only a friend like Sunil could do. A simple, straight-forward guy... It has been ten years since he got married. I wish him all the best…

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