Everyone likes to click photographs or get clicked. These photos not only freeze the scene; it also captures the feeling of mixed emotions. Ranjan Kumar Patra, a Yoga teacher by profession is a camera lover. He captures anything and everything that he finds appealing to his eyes. This trait of his infuses happiness in people’s faces. He often surprises people with photographs that he has clicked with or without their knowledge. But what does he gain from this? Perhaps, it’s a gift of joy for the strangers just to make them feel special about the moment.
Ranjan, a son of a grocer hails from Sahid Nagar, 7 kms from Bhadrak town. He joined Odisha Adarsh Vidyalaya, Kalahandi as a yoga teacher in 2016. Initially, he was happy with this new role in life, but soon his mind was loaded with the idea of doing something new that could feed his spare time. He started capturing different landscapes in his extra time as he had a soft corner for nature. In 2017, he won a photo contest on theme ‘Childhood’ organized by Saroj Bal’s time pass magazine “Saamnaa” and was felicitated by renowned Odia writer Pratibha Ray. Since then, his curiosity sparked up in the direction of photography.
“While returning to quarters from my school in Kalahandi once, I came across a man. He was feeding a brood of hens in his yard. I was immensely fascinated by the activity and instinctively captured that scene. Later, I laminated the photo and gifted it to the man. His mixed reaction of joy and surprise overwhelmed me so much that I was more inclined to portray photographs under my new initiative ‘Tike Khusi’ (a little happiness) in 2020.”
Every person is stressed and desolating from the basic necessity of life that is happiness. The incident laid down a new path for Ranjan. He believed if his photography brings happiness onto the face of others then it would be a big achievement for him. And that’s how ‘Tike Khusi’ became the mission for him to bring a smile to people from the hectic and stressful work regime.
Ranjan cites an incident of a traffic havildar who was helping two blinds to pass the road. The act of support by the havildar attracted his attention, and he captured the moment in his camera. He ensured his effort might not be able to fizzle out his stress at work but at least offer a moment of happiness in his life. With this spirit, he has gifted more than 100 laminated photos to persons in the different parts of Odisha and became the reason for their joy.
Ranjan has also won a few other photography competitions and has been acknowledged on various platforms. He has also bagged the first position in a competition organized by Rourkela Art Gallery and was selected as no.1 in Wildlife Competition conducted by Odisha State Museum.
“Even today, whenever I visit the State museum, I get delighted to see my photographs on the display board. I feel content and inspired to carry on my initiative of spreading happiness to as many people as I can.”
Ranjan considers yoga and his passion for photography as two inseparable parts of his life. While one is for sustenance, the other soothes his inner being. He is looking forward to continue both of his passion. He opines that a person should indulge in some kind of activity that imparts joy to others.
Photography is the reflection of a photographer’s vision. We randomly capture images without realizing how big of impact photography truly has on us. And when we realize the joy becomes lucid as we look deeper into the photograph. These are the gateways to the memory lane. A photographer like Ranjan has the inherent outlook to click the photos that voice words of that memory. Therefore, ‘Tike Khusi’ is Ranjan’s special gift of joy to all and a souvenir of its possessor.
