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24 October 2026

Look at an old photograph and you may remember something the camera never recorded.

A family picture might show everyone smiling, yet bring back the argument that happened five minutes earlier. A photograph from a holiday may remind you not of the famous place in the background, but of a roadside tea stall, a sudden shower or the person who made you laugh until your eyes watered.

Pictures preserve appearances. Memory is less obedient. It brings back sounds, smells, private jokes and feelings that never entered the frame.

That is why two people looking at the same photograph can seem to be looking at different days. One remembers the journey. Another remembers who was missing. Someone notices the clothes, while someone else hears a familiar voice in their mind.

As the years pass, photographs become valuable in ways we could not have anticipated when they were taken. An ordinary afternoon becomes precious because it cannot be repeated. A face that once seemed permanently present becomes a reason to pause.

Perhaps we should take photographs, but also pay attention while the moment is happening. Notice the conversation. Listen to the laughter. Look beyond the camera.

One day, the picture may help us remember. But the life inside it was ours to experience, not merely to record.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah, Guwahati, Assam, India, Instagram @rajatchandrasarmah, YouTube: conversewithasmile, email rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com