Life in the by-lanes
High rise, swanky apartments; glittering showrooms; hoards of window and actual shoppers; lively eating joints, restaurants, cafes; zipping traffic - that's in few words, life on the fast, busy and attractive lanes in many a areas in the metropolitan cities. But tucked away, few hundred meters is lives of so many of people, perhaps, 'not-so-amongst-us' - for whom this glittering world, is meaningless. What is important for them is, to be able to provide meaningful existence to themselves and their families; where they have subsistence income to be able to take care of their basic needs.
I live in one of such busy roads in Bangalore city, and I had never ventured to see - what lies in the by lanes of this busy road. The inquisitive and photographer part of me, has been on different plane of thoughts for quite some time now, and this is what led me to explore the life in the by lanes project, which I hope to continue for sometime. I ventured out on an exploration business and on a photo walk after 4-5 months, but more than capturing the moments, I wanted to observe the life there.
Some of the niceties of life in 'fast lane' vs in the 'by-lane' is what I hope the images convey.
Note: All images take to my flickr page or facebook album, but some of them are private and you would not be able to view the details there. However, some are from my archives on flickr/facebook, which are publicly viewable (marked as public).
Though I had seen many cows roaming in the middle of the busy roads, it was first time I was seeing one being milked.
I remember, once in my previous workplace, I took a firang client - on a city tour, the so-called 'client entertainment' and he asked me (looking at some cows, buffaloes roaming on the streets of Delhi) - "to whom they belong to?" :). I wish I could show him now, to whom they belonged to :)
On a side note, this reminds me of the famous C&H quote:
"Who was the first guy that look at a cow and said," I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them?" :D
I was actually pleasantly surprised to see good quality roads (better than ones 'usually' catering to the masses), pretty clean surroundings (with some exceptions) and above all - peace.
Agreed it was a Saturday, but the lane was peaceful and clean by all means. Compare it with the so-called educated people's attitude towards life and cleanliness:
garbage thrown in the stairs of my apartment!
There was joy and happiness seen on many faces, which is becoming a scarcity now :)
While public parks have become a playground for 'haves', I could see the children finding ways to entertain them - by playing on a sand-hill :)
I observed these kids for few minutes, before I clicked few shots of them and they reminded me of our childhood days when we used to build 'tunnels' across these sand piles. Aaah.. good old days :| I was hoping the kids would do the same, but they did not :).
There were disappointments too, though; thankfully, not in huge numbers.
Being on topic of parks, I noticed one park becoming a home for few migratory labo(u)rers:
I crossed a particular lane on two continuous days and the contrast was evident.
The children-mother happiness as reflected here (public on flickr)
transformed into a Father 'beating-and-playing-with-daughter' session the next day:
Even though there are numerous 'sulabh shochalyas' (Nirmala - the pay and use toilets), spread across on various main roads, I am not sure, if the same are made available to those who have subsistence income, nearer to their home.
This was a sight seen on one such day of exploring the by-lanes:
And another, where a girl is washing her face in the lane
One common theme which ran across almost all the shots of children (which was a major disappointment to me) - many of them without any slippers!
Imagine the same happening to our kids!
That's the feet of my son, by the way. I shudder, if we made them walk on harsh roads without any cushions!
At least some were lucky in this aspect:
But the flip side is carrying loads (siblings, water on shoulders) while they should have been playing or gone to school?
Life, meaningful existence, basic needs? Haan?
My exploration is not over yet, and I hope I would be able to continue the same in near future, but now at least I know, what is the life in by-lanes.
Or is it just the figment of it?
I live in one of such busy roads in Bangalore city, and I had never ventured to see - what lies in the by lanes of this busy road. The inquisitive and photographer part of me, has been on different plane of thoughts for quite some time now, and this is what led me to explore the life in the by lanes project, which I hope to continue for sometime. I ventured out on an exploration business and on a photo walk after 4-5 months, but more than capturing the moments, I wanted to observe the life there.
Some of the niceties of life in 'fast lane' vs in the 'by-lane' is what I hope the images convey.
Note: All images take to my flickr page or facebook album, but some of them are private and you would not be able to view the details there. However, some are from my archives on flickr/facebook, which are publicly viewable (marked as public).
Though I had seen many cows roaming in the middle of the busy roads, it was first time I was seeing one being milked.
I remember, once in my previous workplace, I took a firang client - on a city tour, the so-called 'client entertainment' and he asked me (looking at some cows, buffaloes roaming on the streets of Delhi) - "to whom they belong to?" :). I wish I could show him now, to whom they belonged to :)
On a side note, this reminds me of the famous C&H quote:
"Who was the first guy that look at a cow and said," I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them?" :D
I was actually pleasantly surprised to see good quality roads (better than ones 'usually' catering to the masses), pretty clean surroundings (with some exceptions) and above all - peace.
Agreed it was a Saturday, but the lane was peaceful and clean by all means. Compare it with the so-called educated people's attitude towards life and cleanliness:
garbage thrown in the stairs of my apartment!
There was joy and happiness seen on many faces, which is becoming a scarcity now :)
While public parks have become a playground for 'haves', I could see the children finding ways to entertain them - by playing on a sand-hill :)
I observed these kids for few minutes, before I clicked few shots of them and they reminded me of our childhood days when we used to build 'tunnels' across these sand piles. Aaah.. good old days :| I was hoping the kids would do the same, but they did not :).
There were disappointments too, though; thankfully, not in huge numbers.
Being on topic of parks, I noticed one park becoming a home for few migratory labo(u)rers:
I crossed a particular lane on two continuous days and the contrast was evident.
The children-mother happiness as reflected here (public on flickr)
transformed into a Father 'beating-and-playing-with-daughter' session the next day:
Even though there are numerous 'sulabh shochalyas' (Nirmala - the pay and use toilets), spread across on various main roads, I am not sure, if the same are made available to those who have subsistence income, nearer to their home.
This was a sight seen on one such day of exploring the by-lanes:
And another, where a girl is washing her face in the lane
One common theme which ran across almost all the shots of children (which was a major disappointment to me) - many of them without any slippers!
Imagine the same happening to our kids!
That's the feet of my son, by the way. I shudder, if we made them walk on harsh roads without any cushions!
At least some were lucky in this aspect:
But the flip side is carrying loads (siblings, water on shoulders) while they should have been playing or gone to school?
Life, meaningful existence, basic needs? Haan?
My exploration is not over yet, and I hope I would be able to continue the same in near future, but now at least I know, what is the life in by-lanes.
Or is it just the figment of it?
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2 comments:
Kudos. You have consistently been exploring streets and now have enough ammunition to put thoughts across in words!
Heart warming and heart rending at the same time. Great observations and appreciate the mind and thoughts behind them. What do we the 'haves' do to bridge this gap? Any thoughts? or maybe a further article?
Can't take my mind off that Father beating the daughter scene :(
Asha
Thanks Asha for your words here. My apologies for being late on this - as I was searching (extension of the literal meaning) for the answers to the questions raised by me, you and some other people. Another good friend of mine - whom I respect a lot - explained in person how he felt and viewed the
posting - it highlights more on the negativity, about which most of us are aware of and we should highlight more of positivity. A point which I well acknowledge.
Photography in general and documentary work in particular, has been blamed for ages to highlight what is going wrong with the world, and the debate has been on for ages whether projecting such work makes one aware of the issues or does it also help in improving the situation. The work above and the questions it raises are on the same line of thoughts. Although, there is nothing new presented here, yet I felt there is something which I never thought of exploring
earlier, and presented here.
I had been thinking on the lines for quite some time on how to give a closure to this and hence this delay, until I had something concrete to put up. I was thinking of highlighting what we all can do - on the lines of issues raised in this book: What Matters (which can be viewed online too, http://www.whatmattersonline.com/). The authors and editor have given in the end a list of links and resources to 'What we can do', which is very encouraging. I have not been able to put up something like that, but here is what I have:
- I have read and even heard couple of chaps (on Radio) about the way they contribute back to the society in a very easy way - daily they buy footwear for the less privileged people and hand them over on their way to their workplace (Mumbaikar and a Bangalorean too). Easy, simple, effective and he achieves his purpose - they can't imagine children, people walking bare foot on roads!
- Volunteering with NGOs who are working on these issues (sanitation, environment, child education etc). This is what I have myself started with. This is
very early stage for me, so would not be able to comment further on it, till I have something more concrete on it to show.
- Sponsoring a less privileged child's education - it is easier said than done since there is huge commitment involved, but it costs less than having a lavish meal at a 5-star
- This as we know you have been doing yourself - waste management. A lot of us need to be made aware and educated about it.
I guess I don't have answers to everything, since if I had would have been a learned man, and started something good for a social cause :), but some small pointers to what can be done.
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