My friend has a
Pentax Optio 30. No matter where we go, we always carry it with us. So it was not a coincidence when a person from the multimedia department came running inside the lab that evening asking if anybody had a camera. I proudly pointed to the Pentax connected to the charging unit in the corner of the room.
"Good. I need you to take the camera and come with me."
I was a little surprised. Why did the multimedia people want me? Maybe they had seen my collection of abstract photographs about the campus. Maybe this was my big break. He was in a hurry, so I quickly collected the camera and batteries.
As I followed him down the stairs, I put on a deliberate casual attitude and asked him, "Well, whats up doc? Are you taking me to photograph something?"
"Yeah" he replied as he walked down two steps at a time. "The management wants it done quickly and nicely."
My stomach suddenly went hollow. "The management? The college management wants me to take photos for them?"
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, out of breath from excitement.
His only reply was "Get on the bike. We have no time."
While on the bike, I was desperately trying to calm myself. I explained to him that the camera was just a simple point and shoot and I will need an SLR to get a real professional image. I also pointed out that the flash on the camera might not be sufficient. For all my efforts, I only succeeded in irritating him more.
"Hey!!", he whipped his head back at me and said "Your camera will do just fine."
The remaining journey was passed without comments or conversation.
We went on a route that goes behind the college and around the mountains. The scenery was breath taking. All around me were small green fields sometimes lined with brown huts made from coconut leaves. I was not sure if I could do justice to all this with the Pentax.
We soon arrived at a place, which I quickly identified as "Goshala", the cattle farm run by the college. Some local farm hands had assembled there to meet us. We were led to a lone shed near the farm. I could make out something covered with a huge blanket lying in the center of the shed. I looked at my friend and he motioned me to go inside. I understood that I was to photograph this thing under the blanket. As soon as I entered the shed, one of the workers came forward and removed the blanket.
I was to photograph a dead cow!!! I gave my friend a "You better explain this to me NOW" look. He got the message for he quickly replied
"The cow died of old age. We need to apply for insurance and the insurance agent needs a full photograph of the dead cow. All of our people are busy with projects, so the management asked us to get somebody with a camera and finish the job."
I managed a weak "Oh!!" And so the talented and promising young photographer was instantly reduced to a "somebody with a camera".
I went over to the cow. It looked like it was having a siesta. I switched on the camera and got the cow into frame.
"Thats a nice looking dead cow." I exclaimed in broken tamil to one of the local workers. Immediately he raised his hand asking me to stop, went over to the cow, pulled its mouth wide open and wrenched its tongue out.
I almost fainted.
Fifteen minutes later, a very quiet and shaken "somebody with a camera" was taken to the multimedia lab to deliver the photos and then was left to find his way back to his room in the MTech lab.
The nice looking dead cow
