Shristi had been planning this for a long time; she had been trying to set up time for it, somewhere in between being busy and being lazy. Little did she know that when it would eventually happen, it would take a lot more time than what she had anticipated.
So, one day during a government holiday, Shristi sat with albums arranged in the form of one upon another on a small tool near the study table; finally, she had found the opportunity to use her brand-new scanner that she had bought for this very purpose.
She was going to scan each printed photograph that was in the house and save them protected in digital form. She began with the oldest album in the house which only had black and white photographs of her grandparents when they had recently married and later her father as an infant. She also saw her aunts and uncles there. It was always a very warm time trying to imagine the life they lived.
The next album was what caught her attention. It had black and white photographs as well, but they were not particularly taken with focus on people, rather different roads and places around. Shristi had never seen this album and faced some difficulty in the beginning identifying but then in some photographs she found familiarity, they were of the neighbourhood here around her house. She was quite surprised by how things had changed. The now crowded roads with a lot more houses used to be a lot less crowded with more trees around.
People walking around talking in a very different manner and mindset, one could tell on close observation. The houses carrying a different form of aura, the children’s dancing away to a tune very different from now. A lot of time went by and Shristi found herself having spent more time with thoughts of a unique kind than the actual work she had sat to do.
Towards the end of the album, on a white paper glued was a small writing written with a fountain pen by Shristi’s grandfather where he mentioned how he wished for his family or anyone to look at these photographs after a decent amount of time had passed and they would have a glimpse of how things used to be. The album was an attempt to not let the life that existed fade away.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
2 responses to “Captured Glimpses”
What a beautifully nostalgic and tender piece by Anuran Chatterji. 📸✨
The story captures the quiet poetry of memory—how photographs become time machines, preserving not just faces but feelings, voices, and forgotten worlds. Shristi’s gentle journey through the albums feels deeply human, reflecting both the warmth of family bonds and the bittersweet passage of time.
The ending, with her grandfather’s handwritten note, ties it all together so poignantly—a reminder that preserving memories is also preserving love. Graceful, heartfelt, and profoundly moving. 🌿
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Beautiful 🌷
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