Harmony

I was supposed to pick up a friend who was coming into town this morning. So I decided to start a little early and spend some time in the old city before picking her up.

It was a beautiful sunny morning today and I walked straight into the mosque. the security policies at the mosque are pretty random...at times, they stop us from entering with the camera and at others, they seem to have no problem with us shooting freely around in the mosque premises...today was one of those better days...feeding the pigeons is a daily morning routine for the locals...people come with family and kids and spend some time feeding the birds in the mosque premises...though mostly people are muslim but one can see people from different religions and age groups throwing cereals at the birds...the birds are so friendly with humans here that most of the time, they would eat right off your hands...at one point, I saw a man feeding two pigeons straight off his hands, with one more perched royally on his head...

I was completely lost in this amazing natural harmony between the pigeons and humans when my friend called me to let me know that her bus will arrive in another 10 or so minutes...and that's right when one of the young lads at the mosque asked whether I am going to hang around for a little longer...I said - yes, but just for a few more minutes...he said - just wait for some time and I will be right back in no time, don't leave...and he dashed off...he didn't tell me what where was he going or why he asked me to wait...I didn't even ask his name...probably he went to get some of his friends to get their pictures clicked...probably he went to change into a better shirt...or maybe he went to get something to show me...I had no clue as I didn't stay there long enough to figure that out...

I waited briefly and then, very reluctantly, left the place to go pick up my friend...I wished I had some more time...

on the flip side though, had he returned back, would I have remembered the incident so much? sometimes a strong lingering 'want' about something increases importance its so much...

some more shots from today...shared here