Hope Believe Magic

Heaven on Earth

As soon as Shaan returned home, he walked straight up to his room and closed the door partially. Through the half closed door, Meenakshi took a peek at what he was doing. He was reaching out to the black leather bag on top of the almirah. Meenakshi smiled to herself. He pulled the bag out and dusted it. Then he slowly opened it and reached out for his camera, something he had not done in years. He had not touched the bag since he put it up there. Meenakshi walked to her room, shut her door and opened "Siddhartha" and said, "Shomu andha ponnu marupadiyum vandhutta. Avan aasa padara edathukku kandippa avana kootitu povaa. Nadakkum... nalladhe nadakkum."

The next couple of weeks were extremely busy for Ananya. AK was proud to see how prepared his daughter was, as a director. In the past few months she had gotten a better grip of things. She was handling her staff, the actors and her time perfectly and as planned, completed the shoot in two weeks. Thankfully, AK was feeling well enough too so the camera did not catch his fatigue as much. He could always rest after the shoot.

Ananya also kept Shaan updated about her plans and finally, after completing her project and handing it over to Ani, her MD, she said, "Dei two days la vandhuduven ok? You better have some good stuff for me when I return. Ippo enakku oru mukkiyamaana velai irukku. Kavya vum editing work paakara. Ozhunga velaiya paarunga ok?" They rolled their eyes but smiled with a thumbs up. They knew what she was up to. She took the night flight and reached Bangalore. On the way to her hotel, she stopped at a store to grab some essentials. Then she messaged Shaan, "Just reached my hotel. Need you to pick me up at 4am." He smiled and replied, "Yes your honor."

The next morning he arrived at her hotel lobby by 3:50am. Anu was already there is her joggers, t-shirt and the cap. He smiled. She was back to her tomboyish self. She walked up to his Jeep and took a peek at the backseat and smiled in satisfaction. There it was, the famous black leather bag. She placed her back pack next to the camera bag. She sighed and hopped in to the passenger side with a chirpy, "Good early morning." He smiled back and said, "Nee kooda 4 ku ellam plan poduviya?" She replied, "Velainu vandhutta naan vellakaari theriyum la?" and they laughed. They chatted about regular stuff as they reached their destination in an hour and a half. It was now a long trek to Bandeja falls.

Both Shaan and Anu were in good shape to do the trek. The slowly started walking up. Ananya instructed him to capture what she wanted and he did it happily. Anu noticed how every click made him smile as he was maneuvering both cameras for pics and videos. It was very peaceful up there. The sounds of birds, the smell of earth and the splashes from the waterfall was all very divine. After a couple of hours they found a nice rock where they decided to sit for a break. Ananya opened up her back pack and handed him something. He looked at it and laughed, "Bun, butter, jam. Paravaillaiye indha vaati nyabagam aa eduthuttu vandhuttiye." Ananya glanced at him and said, "No no. Not just any Bun butter jam but the best, Anu special, bun butter jam. Try it and be baffled" she said proudly. He smirked and took a bite, "Hmmm.... Not bad." She smiled in satisfaction, "I told you, I am the best." They enjoyed their breakfast quietly in the breathtaking scenic beauty. Then, suddenly, without looking at him, Ananya said, "Adhu eppidi unakku romba pudicha vishayatha appidiye, just like that, vittuda mudiyudhu?" He looked at her shocked but she pointed at his camera and said, "Adha thaan sonnen" and before he could say anything else, she stood up and said, "Polaama?" and started walking ahead with him following her.

Rest of the 4 hours were just absolutely gorgeous and it was just a delight for Shaan to capture it all. Both Anu and Shaan realized one more thing. They really enjoyed each other's company even if they did not say a word to each other. Although there were silence both of them let themselves be in the present and relish the divine moment with nature. When they returned, something had changed for both of them. Shaan had reconciled with both the camera and her but he still hadn't said much. As he dropped her off at the airport, she waved a bye and said, "Shaan enga Appa sonna oru vishayam sollaren. Talent is a gift given to us from God. It is your duty to cherish it. Please never ever put your camera away. Your talent needs to be seen. Adhe madiri thaan relationships um. Edhuva irundhaalum conversation helps. Shutting yourself away does not. Andha camera va shelf la vacha adhu nee poi edutha thaan varum. Naan appidi illai. I hope you realize that you mean a lot more to me than you think. See you Shaan, hopefully soon."

Shaan could not say anything at that time. He hadn't expected her to say so much. He was processing what she had said. During the week he got a message from her asking for the pics and videos and he promptly sent it to her. The next few weeks were very busy for Anu working on her movie. She messaged Shaan infrequently. He understood her schedule but he too was thrilled having his camera back. One day when he was uploading some recent pics, he got a phone call from New York. He was confused but he quickly answered. He was blown away by what he heard. The lady on the other end congratulated him for his very impressive submission, "Heaven on Earth". His work had been selected for the cinematography scholarship. This was an 8 months workshop. He was given 100% scholarship. His was the last submission. The workshop was starting in 10 days. They were sending him all the paper work and all he had to do was hurry up and get there.

Shaan could not believe any of this. He was excited and confused. He mumbled a "Thankyou". That's when he realized what Ananya had done for him. He could not believe that his dream was being fulfilled. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. He ran and hugged his mother and just wept. She just hugged him back tightly. Her son had not hugged her in a very, very long time.

Brinda Subramanian