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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