Out of focus

But today,64-year-old Ghaus is a worried man,because this ‘collection’ has become a burden for him. Correcting you on the word ‘collection’ he explains,“It is not my personal collection,they do not belong to me. It is the amaanat of my customers and I want to return them.” The thought of selling off all the cameras would have surely crossed any other person’s mind in his place,as the cost of each of these cameras ranges between Rs 500 to Rs 1.5 lakh. “How can I sell them and make money? My religion does not teach me to cheat anyone. Moreover,we are able to earn a decent living with our shop,” says Ghaus,owner of Kamera Kraft at Wonderland,Camp.

He shows some receipts,and according to one of them,a particular camera was brought to him in August 2003 and was collected in June 2009. In another receipt,while the collection date was October 4,2004,delivery date was December 2,2009. “Generally,people are very possessive about their cameras. I wonder how some people forget to collect such a precious thing.” But the kind of efforts he has taken all these years to preserve the cameras is really admirable. Some cameras,which were given to him around 30 years ago,are still with him. Neatly wrapped,labeled and packed in boxes — Ghaus has taken utmost care of every single item with him. “Even label and ink have life,some of them have none. But I have tried my best to maintain them,” says he. In fact,he had to buy an additional cupboard to store them. All this is done by Ghaus,despite giving the customers a receipt which says – Our responsibility for any equipment ends after three months.    

The worst part is that,since these were brought to him for repair,he had to spend time,money and labour in repairing them. “If I put together the total labour charges which these things would have fetched me,it goes upto Rs 2 lakh. But today,I am ready to part with that too. I am growing old and I don’t want to die with a burden on my head,” says Ghaus,who is now more worried for his son,Zubair,who is handling the business with him these days. As per Zubair,he can foresee a bigger problem coming up. “My father is the one who recognizes all those customers. Tomorrow,God forbid,if something happens to my father and someone comes up claiming that some expensive equipment out of these belongs to him,I have nothing to cross-check the truth,” he says. As you leave wondering and silently appraising the honesty of these camera technicians,the Ghaus father-son duo anxiously wait for their forgetful customers.