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| Kolkata Cab Driver | | Dimensions (HxL) : | 32x32 cm | | Style : | Réalisme | | Technique : | - | | Thème : | Personnage-sujet | | Catégorie : | Photographie | | Année : | 2006 | | Desc. : | The traffic had come to a grinding halt at the Park Street-chowringhee Intersection and I saw this cab driver from the passenger window of my brother's car, who was driving me around the city. We were cruising, nothing to do on a working day when the rest of the city folks were busting their ass off trying to get to work. My brother had taken some time off for his big brother visiting after a long time from 'Amerika'. Cars are split by the hairline distance in Kolkata. No car has side-view mirrors. I am totally amazed at how they maintain their hairline space between them with the way that Chaotic traffic moves. He cast a glance at me, my long hair and hippie like looks he despised. To him I was a total jerk with a camera in hand. To me he was a million dollar shot with that face wearing a cynical smile for no good 'idle rich' like me. To him I was too foreign, too white,(even though I am only a shade less brown then he was) too not local, almost too not Indian the way I looked and acted (one finger slightly raised with a pleading look ' May I please take just one picture of you'. No real local person, real Calcuttan would be bothering a working class guy, working real hard to make a living by asking for a picture. I thought he would say to me in the Choicest Hindi to F'off, but he changed his mind at the last second (As always the pristine knowledge of the local lingo came to my rescue as I said 'Jai Ramjiki' Hail The Lord Rama, a regular very important greeting for Hindi speaking 'Biharis' like him). Biharis are to Kolkatans what Mexicans are to the Americans. Biharis migrated to Kolkata, The Mahanagar (the great city) to seek a better living and life. They are Bus Drivers, Cab Drivers, Rickshaw Pullers,House Help, Cooks, Washermen... very hard working, very honest. Yes, he changed his mind and then gave me this expression 'Here take this gift from a working class person like me and remember it as the most precious one you ever got'. Yes the rare gift, the rare picture, the rare face, the rare expression, the rare tolerance, the rare pride, the rare decency, the rare generosity, the rare human dignity |
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