We still believe. We still have faith. That one fine day, a letter will drop in the mailbox, telling us we’ve been accepted to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry. No matter if we’re way (waaayyyyyy) above 11 years of age. The thought that there is a magical world out there (no questions here. If you have doubts, we ask you to seriously start questioning your life), and the thought that we are not a part of it and might be muggles….Pah! That’s ridikulus (see what we did there?). This is the basic emotion all us Potterheads hold within us. Be it the Hogwarts castle, the Great Hall, the dormitories, the subjects or Quidditch, it has been more than a dream for us, it has always been our reality (sorry, emotions running high here).
In our quest to bring this love into our lives for real, what have we not done? A few years ago, there was a headline saying that a Japanese company was in the process of making a real life Invisibility Cloak (we didn’t know the Peverell family went to Japan!). Other than that, there have been so many recreations of Quidditch, which is understandable, we mean, flying around in the air? Nothing excites us more! Although the recreated versions are slightly different, with people running around, holding brooms between their legs rather than flying…. Well….
But in the end, the dream of playing Quidditch remained a dream only, well, for us, we suppose. But, for some children in the village of Kalap, Gharwal, Uttarakhand, this dream came true, to some extent. Anshu Agarwal, an English teacher there not only introduced his young students to the amazing world of magic by showing them Harry Potter movies on Sundays, but also, decided to weave magic through his camera lens!
He asked his students to pose on broomsticks set up on high wooden benches, to let go of all inhibitions and imagine that they were flying freely in the air, trying to score through the makeshift hoops or catch the invisible snitch! But that wasn’t all. After that, Agarwal, being already familiar with ‘levitation photography’, used his Photoshop skills and the art of ‘light-painting’ to remove the benches and other proofs of presence of “muggle things” and Viola! The result was as magical as the idea itself! The joyful faces of kids levitating in mid-air, playing Quidditch, was truly a sight to behold! As he plans to create more Harry Potter themed photographs, Agarwal talks about the inspiration behind these ideas,
To me, photography is a bridge between my perception of the world around me and what it actually is. While I’m behind my camera I feel a dire need to take control over the subject and the surroundings. Perhaps that explains why I am most keen in creating something larger-than-life.
Well, what can we say? Only that these photographs created an instant flutter in our hearts. The love for magic and wizardry will never leave, we say. Whether we try to recreate it in a specific way, or just hold on to it within our hearts, it will stay with us “Always”. We will leave you muggles alone now, as you cherish these photographs and excuse us, as we wait for letter from Hogwarts!
