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| Children of lesser paradise 'BASTI KIDS'* | | Dimensions (HxL) : | 32x32 cm | | Style : | Réalisme | | Technique : | - | | Thème : | Personnage-sujet | | Catégorie : | Photographie | | Année : | 2006 | | Desc. : | Why do you laugh so much when you live on less than dollar a day? Well the words almost forms on one's tongue when you see this picture. But I had a better vantage point to understand this. They were playing a game of Carom on the street. Nice January Evening. I stopped there for a little bit on my way home to catch some local carom action. I couldn't especially take my eyes off one of the kids (one holding a two year old little girl in arms) who was playing his shots when it was his turn. Every now and then he would have to bend a little bit to look at the angle and how he would execute his shot on the board. Every time he did that the little baby in arm would also go down a little bit with that motion. Her gaze was transfixed on the board. I think she was more concentrated it seemed on the shot than her uncle in whose arm she was very cozily placed. Then of course with the 'customary generosity' that these slum dwellers are known for they invited me to play with them. Now that drew a little attention as now there was an Indian with long hair more interested in taking pictures than playing the game (besides I sucked at it as I haven't played in many years). They were very respectful and would often make encouraging remarks when I would have made the simplest of shots with a lots of difficulty and absolute mediocrity. At the end of the game I asked the whole group for a picture . They raised a big racket about it. They were pushing each other and horsing around. There was a contagious laughter going on among them. I still don't know for life of me what had turned them on in this state of 'Satchitanand' (Sanskrit word for 'pure joy of a pure mind') One very simple answer would be that they have a finesse, built in their nature, to improvise in any situation and get maximum out of life with the least they have or get. *Basti is the Bengali word for slum in Kolkata. |
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