Giveaway

I grew up in the time when "Digital Photography" was not introduced. We had the film cameras which used to have limited number of photos that could be taken from it. Once the photos had been taken the real had to go for picture development. Clicking pictures and seeing the results used to be a time consuming process. Digital cameras came in and literally changed the whole picture.

Digital camera. An iconic item to possess in early 2000s. My father had bought a digital camera in 2000s. I remember that one afternoon he had called me from his office. He was very excited. He told me that he had spoken to someone at Shoppers Stop. They had a new age digital camera available in their kiosk. Because of his connections we were going to get the digital camera at a reduced rate. He told me to carry the cash and meet me at the Shoppers Stop within 1 hour. I was delighted to hear this. I loved photography. I was the family photographer. Whenever there used to be any event or function in the family then responsibility of taking pictures and videos was always with me. It was an unassigned responsibility yet it was always assumed that I would be the photographer. I was excited because finally I was going to be able to take the best quality pictures with the new age digital camera.

I met my dad at the Shoppers Stop. We quickly made the purchase. The sales person had shown me various modes that the camera had. He had told me how to use the camera. I was on cloud 9 after receiving that camera. It was not a gift to me but it was going to be the item that I would use the most.

I would take the digital camera everywhere I used to go. I would capture all the family events and functions using the new digital camera. Everyone used to get so impressed with the superior picture quality. I naturally had the talent towards photography so my pictures used to be amazing. I had covered so many family events using that digital camera.

The only drawback with the early models of digital camera was the battery. This camera model did not have a rechargeable battery. Every time I had to use the digital camera I had to buy the batteries from the store. If I run out of batteries I was not able to capture the pictures. Hence using the digital camera started becoming tedious. Also by that time the phones had been level up. The phones were having a good quality camera. So it was convenient to carry the phone and take the pictures instead of carrying the digital camera along with spare batteries. My usage of digital camera started reducing at soon as I had a better phone camera. I would prefer taking pictures from phone rather than the digital camera. So now the digital camera just kept sitting in a corner of the cabinet. It would rarely be used.

Then 2010s started. Digital cameras were improving. Digital camera started coming with a rechargeable battery. I had bought a new digital camera with my own adult money. I started using that digital camera more often. I had almost forgotten about the old digital camera. But it's still had a very special place in my heart.

20 years after the purchase of the digital camera now it had started becoming useless. It had lost its relevance. I would rather use the new camera or my phone camera for taking pictures because they were more convenient. But I had no heart to give my old camera away. I had a strange attachment to it. It became my first camera from which I had taken amazing pictures and had captured the best memories. My first step into becoming a photographer. So it was impossible for me to give it away.

Finally the time came this year. We had to declutter our house for a purpose. We were removing a lot of stuff that either was no longer useful or had become obsolete. The first digital camera fell into this category. It was hard for me but it had to be done today or tomorrow. I made a tough call of giving it away. We gave it to our society security guard who wanted to use it for his son. With heavy heart I had handed him the camera. At soon as I gave him the camera I felt lighter. As if I am giving away my most favourite thing to someone who would care about it. I am glad that I made this decision.

Today I still remember my first digital camera and I still have the pictures I had taken with it. At the same time I know it was handed over to the best person. I do not care if he sells that camera, destroys it, or uses it. That digital camera had served me and it had given me the most loyal services that I could have expected. I would forever be thankful to that inanimate object.