Last Updated on April 11, 2021
This edition of Story Behind The Shot is more about the story than the shot. It’s a simple selfie, shorn of any photographic merit. But what led to this being clicked is more than special to us.
It was our second day in Kaohsiung, Taiwan’s second-largest city at the south west of the island. A comfortable metro ride from the city centre later, we alighted at Zuoying station and had a leisurely walk to the Confucius temple, the largest dedicated to the great mind.
Just beyond lay the sprawling Lotus Pond, a serene sight, complete with the iconic pagodas rising up from the still waters of this artificial water body. After we were done with the Confucius temple, we took to the walkway around the lake. It was a sunny morning and, despite being a popular attraction, there was a sense of quiet and order around.
As we wound our way around the path, the sight of the pagodas and the scenic setting with the lake was all that we had set our eyes on. There weren’t many tourists around and we remember spotting some local folks sitting on the park benches on both sides of the walkway.
We continued to be engrossed in finding the best angles to take photos and were clicking away, oblivious of the people around.
That was the build up to this shot for which we have this story to recount.
I felt I heard someone coughing softly but thought nothing of it as my attention was on framing a shot. The coughing continued and I noticed a pattern to it. It was the twin cough that was more the forced type intended to bring polite attention.
There was hardly anyone around just then other than an elderly couple sitting on a park bench. I tried my best to avoid looking rude and stole a glance at them. It was then that I realised it.
It was the gentleman, thoroughly dignified, who was trying to seek our attention. I smiled nervously and he too broke into a shy smile. Next to him, his wife looked at us almost apologetically as if they didn’t want to really disturb us.
Warming up to their tentative but friendly disposition, we walked up to them. They both stood up even as we gestured them to remain seated.
Then the language of universal love and friendship took over. Our attempts through English and theirs through Chinese never really went anywhere but just communicating through our hearts and eyes, we recorded our first interaction with a Taiwanese family. It may have been among the briefest conversations we had had but also among the most fulfilling.
They were politely curious as to where we were from. When we said we were from India, they couldn’t get it, at first. Then, their eyes sparkled and they nodded and said “Yindu”. We smiled and soon the ice broke.
I extended my phone to them and showed them a few snaps we had taken so far of our trip in their beautiful country. They talked among themselves and beamed at us.
But what really moved us was when the gentleman dipped his hand into his bag and pulled out a banana each and offered it to us. We were kind of taken aback and graciously tried to thank them and make a gallant attempt at a friendly refusal.
Of course, they wouldn’t hear any of it. To their gentle but insistent offering, we couldn’t say no. Pulling out the one word we had packed into our arsenal of Mandarin, we said “Xie xie” and thanked them from our heart.
We couldn’t pass up that moment to freeze it in posterity and requested if we could take a photo of four new friends in a frame. It didn’t matter that we couldn’t understand most of what any of us spoke and heard or that we didn’t even exchange names. It was one of the most memorable of any interactions we had had in any of our trips and they had to be among the warmest, most unforgettable people we had met.
In a mixture of bowing respectfully to them, holding up our hands in a Namaste and extending a handshake, we took in that moment of experiencing the friendliness and hospitality of the Taiwanese.
Read more: 15 reasons why Taiwan should be your next travel destination.
As we waved at them and walked away, we wondered if we would ever meet them again. For sure, in the next trip to the Lotus Pond, we will watch out for this kind, gentle and friendly couple seated on a park bench and hope to continue that lovely meeting.
