“There would be so many people out there; like him; waiting and wanting to be heard. That thought honestly shook me, in a good way. And that’s how I started this.” These words resonated in my mind. Usually cities are associated with isolation, a place where you can’t trust anyone but yourself and your close ones. We are always taught to be strong and face our problems. Tackle them head first. But what if all we want is someone to lend us an ear to listen; just listen. Not suggest a solution or take charge, but just listen. Who could that be? How about our friends, parents or partner? Try a stranger.
Prathamesh Rege is a 20 something, student studying for his bachelor’s degree in Pune. He is a curious student who explores people and their personalities. Always the curious one since childhood, exploring anything new excited him. Talking to me about what got him started on the humanitarian photo stories on random strangers, he said, “I usually travelled home on weekends. One such Saturday I was waiting for the bus to arrive at the Swargate Bus station in Pune when a man comes and sits next to me in the waiting area. Just a few hi-hellos and some of his queries is all what we spoke in the beginning. After maybe 10-15 minutes, the man started talking to me about life in general and he went on with it telling me about his life and how difficult it was and what problems he was going through! Just then, his bus came and he left, but before leaving he thanked me for listening to him for so long and expressed how good he felt sharing it with me.”
According to Prathamesh, this was the beginning of the whole journey of the photo stories he does on micro-blogging platform, Instagram. These stories easily strike a chord in the heart of anyone who reads them, including mine.
So does he go looking for his stories, then? “I don’t go looking for stories. As I said, I have been doing this as a hobby. And going specially looking for stories requires a lot more dedication. And currently it becomes difficult for me handling both my education and this hobby of mine. But when I’m usually out with friends and if I see anyone that looks or feels interesting, I go ahead and talk to them and try to explore it. Well, there have been times when these stories have presented themselves to me when I wasn’t even looking. Life around us is full of stories actually we just need to look around!”
He is talking about life and here I am sitting gobsmacked. Rarely do I talk to my friends about life and here this guy is talking to complete strangers and probably assuaging their worries a little bit too. All the time I was thinking, who knows how much difference it would make if we actually went about asking people we talk to everyday a simple: hey, how’re you holding up?
Screenshot of Prathamesh Rege’s Instagram page
Honestly, I didn’t think they had time to stop and discuss. But if you really are at your wit’s end, you don’t have much choice but to just let it out, don’t you? When asked how he gets people talking, he said, “People aren’t as open as you would want them to be. Well, there are exceptions, of course. There are times when the person just gets comfortable with you right with the ‘hello’, but mostly people don’t quite want to tell you things unless you make them comfortable about this and not make it obvious. Most importantly, you need to be their friend for them to talk to you about things. Don’t fake it. People catch it. Just be yourself, talk to them and make them feel comfortable before you start asking anything. Also let me mention, that this doesn’t work always. Most often, people are a tough nut to crack and just ignore you bluntly. But I don’t get disheartened. It’s understandable for people to not talk with strangers so easily. Afterall that’s what we are taught since our childhood. I take it as another chance and try again next time I see something interesting again.”
Again, to get people interested in your work, you have to have strong PR tactics. On asking Prathamesh what he does and if he is the only person on board the young man tells me, “I don’t do any publicity and I haven’t even given that a thought. Like I’ve been saying, I do this purely for my passion and as a hobby currently. It doesn’t matter if it spread far and wide or gets publicized or not. I do what I love and that’s enough for me at the moment. But yes, I do it all by myself.”
That’s clearly something different. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was actually going out of his way and talking to people and making them share their problems with him. Moreover, he was doing all this only because this was his passion.
Ask him what keeps him going and you get a fascinating answer. “It’s basically that the more I’ve explored, the more fascinated I have been and when people thank you for listening to them and smile, it does give me that satisfaction and happiness. Plus the wonderful responses and comments people and friends give to all the uploaded stories are very heartening too. They definitely inspire me to keep going.”
I was simply blown away to say the least. I have talked to authors, for example, that I have met through some contacts when I am fangirling over their work. They are all stuck up and act like they are better than everyone else. Once I talked to him a bit, I was comfortable and not at all nervous. No longer jittery, we bonded over our Marathi origin and I wasn’t the least bit intimidated. To be honest, humanitarian stories catch my attention instantaneously and my heart warmed when I read a couple stories. I have never met someone so grounded, endearing and funny; with the knack to make a difference.
Tags: india Instagram Mumbai people photographer Prathamesh Rege Pune Social Media
