A Mother's Joy

As I have mentioned before, one of the highlights of my time in India was all of the incredible and interesting families I met along the way, and this is another example. One afternoon I had my camera out of my bag and over my shoulder when a family asked me to take their picture. They wanted me to take the picture with my digital camera, so that they could just see it in the display screen on the back of my camera. I am guessing they didn't own a camera, or a computer, or have email, or any of the electronic conveniences I take for granted each day. For them it was simple, they just wanted to see the picture, if just for a moment. After I took it, other members of their family asked to have their picture taken as well. Before I knew, there was a lined formed of a bunch of people wanting photos. It was part of another amazing day for me.

I loved this picture in particular because the young boy seemed to me to be sweet and cute, and yet at the same time intense and determined. I also loved how his mother was just beaming with joy in the background.

The Harvest

Since my last post was about the density and congestion of Delhi, I thought I would show you what a stark contrast there was out in the country. I passed mile after mile of wheat fields throughout my journey. I'm no farmer, but it looked as though it's just about time for the harvest.

One late afternoon, as I was staring out the window of our vehicle, rumbling down a bumpy country road, I spotted these deer running through a field. I was told they were chital deer, and just out of sight of my photo, the deer were following a huge male Nilgai, which looks like a blue deer.

I really enjoyed seeing the slower pace and relative quiet of the farmlands; it's a nice change of pace from urban London.

Density

These two photos aren't the best quality, they were both quick spontaneous pics I took while on the move. Both were taken when I was in Old Delhi. The street above is from an area known as Chandi Chowk, and it was one of the most crowded scenes I have ever experienced. On the same road, you have people walking, bicycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, an ox pulling a Whirlpool frig, and several cows just strolling by.

Not to be outdone in the area of population density is this quick photo below I took as I made my way to my train platform at Old Delhi Station for an overnight train north. Mind you, this picture was taken at 10:47 PM. There were literally thousands of people crowded on every platform. Our western sense of "personal space" gets thrown out the window when you travel in India.

Education

In many ways, this post is related to my first one. However, these pictures were taken about 1,000 miles away from those.

This is another view of a classroom, except this one is outside on the ground, underneath a big tree providing a bit of relief from the scorching sun. You have to leave the big cities of India and venture into the countryside to experience what daily life is like for many of the 1+ billion people living there. This particular village is so poor, that literally, other villages have made up disparraging names for them, and will have no interactions with them. Some friends of mine have set up this school here, and also schools in many similar villages. What struck me as interesting was that while this school was going on, most of the women of the village were gathered around the edges, just within listening distance of the teacher. They seemed to be listening and learning just as intently as the young students.

Faces of India

Just for the record, I am not the photographer in the family. I'm not even the writer. But it is through my wife Anna's encouragement and proding, that I am venturing out into blogland to share some of my photos from my recent trip to India. You can't go to India and not be effected by the masses of people, the sights and sounds, and the vibrant culture.

These first two photos are of a school I visited, and it's the first of some wondrous faces I saw, and amazing people that I came across on my visit. These particular children are living in extreme poverty, and yet they seemed to have a genuine joy you can see in their smiles. They really made a profound impact on me.

In the days and weeks to come I will be posting a series of pictures from my travels across India.