This is not a post about me, but about another fellow traveler who lives less than 100 meters away from my house, yet so far removed from my world that it took me some courage to actually approach him and talk about his travels.
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| The Riverfront Development construction site |
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| Reflection in Sabarmati |
This is the story of Maganbhai, who hails from the town of Mehsana and travels the state on his tractor with his wife and two sons. Magan is a construction worker employed by the company which is developing the prestigious
Riverfront Development project along the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad. Maybe some other day I will cover the more beautiful stretches of the Riverfront, but today its his story time.
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| The house of the people with ACs |
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| Maganbhai's humble home |
Magan carries tractor loads of construction material from one place to the other, and moves places almost every two months, based on where his services are needed. The whole family packs their bags, stacks it on the tractor and shifts to the new home, which they construct on their own. The house is a shanty with minimal facilities, toilet is never within the house. Away from the prying eyes, the riverfront becomes their personal toilets.
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Some locals walking around, these lanes may not
remain accessible to all sections once the project completes |
Yet Magan is not bitter, for him its a job which requires travel so he travels, and in the process making something which can be used later by those living in AC houses, generally pointing towards the building where my house is. I tried to look away, but he was only smiling. He had some exceptional spirit, and only talked fondly about traveling and
settling down.
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| Another immigrant kid playing with his goat |
The kids also move with the father, hence get no schooling. The elder one knows Hindi because they move around so much and interact with so many people. None, including his wife, had a problem (none at least chose to discuss the problems with me) with traveling; moving around was the only way of life they ever knew.
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| Magan's son in the front |
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| More neighbourhood kids |
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| The younger son |
As much as the family welcomed me, the dogs in the neighbourhood were extremely displeased with my presence in their sacred land, and constantly barked and bared their teeth. We all ignored all this in good humour, and this infuriated them even more. They were relieved when I jumped over the wall and went back into
my own area.
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| The barking dogs! |
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| Some dogs from my area! |
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| This kid actually chased the dogs away with his goat! |
Maybe another day I will visit him again and learn some more from him, I think he would have some very interesting travel tales of his own. Its weird that though am writing a post about someone else, I am writing more with my heart, no matter how much matter-of-fact I might try to sound. Writing like this is like baring another layer to the people unknown to me, something am not used to.
This is a most beautiful and poignant post that brings to life through pictures and heartfelt words the story of a hard working family living, in a way, a nomadic life. Your photography puts a real face on this family that touches the viewer's heart down to it's core. The pictures are excellent and bring the story to life. The first one immediately sets the tone of this piece with perspective from which it was taken - my world on the one side of the mammoth wall of concrete and wire, and that OTHER world on the other side. You are to be commended for your superb work. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete@Genie: Thanks a lot for your very encouraging words. I am not even sure if I have covered this nomadic family well, I intentionally wrote about nothing but their travel life. And surely their life is tough, living constantly on the wheels, with short intermittent breaks...
ReplyDeleteInteresting and different .
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for visiting my blog today and leaving two very nice comments, Siddhartha!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you did, as I am now able to meet you. As the first post I will have read of yours, this has certainly been a moving one with which to start. I think the way you've told the story of this family is incredibly sensitive and really quite moving. It makes one think! You certainly have displayed quite a talent for this type of writing in doing so. I'm impressed & will definitely bookmark your blog and visit again!
I have just read Genie's comment - perfectly put! Exactly what I was trying to say.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and unique post. I enjoyed reading it Siddharth. Put up a photograph of Maganbhai (with his permission , ofcourse) in your next post. The perspective of the Magan bhai's house photo is very nice.
ReplyDeletethe will to live - portrayed beautifully
ReplyDeleteA very interesting story, which sheds a light on the different ways of life in India.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, but sad to know that there are still children who cannot go to school.
ReplyDeleteI too see such a world daily around me. And not know much about how to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautifully written post, Sid. Thanks for sharing it here.
ReplyDeletenice photos
ReplyDeletebut our politicians do not see their hidden pain
What a great post - happy to vote for you and looking forward to following your travels :) Glad you stopped by our site so we could find yours!
ReplyDelete-Carrie
Thanks everyone for the comments :)
ReplyDeleteMy intent with this post was just to give a glimpse of the other world that lives just across a wall, and talk about how they are also in essence travelers like me, despite all the hardships and obvious lack of amenities.
Maganghai was interesting to me because he a traveler too, and that's about it :) I wish him loads of luck for his travels in life, and of course for life itself!
This is such an unusual, interesting and sensitive approach to presenting such a moving story. Your photos translate the same emotion. You are on my list of blogs to follow! :))
ReplyDeleteI am sure your friend is a great traveler and photographer like you !!!
ReplyDeleteVery well written post but sad about the story going through the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI am really happy to learn that you met Magan bhai. Your sharing of his life's struggle was beautiful. The photographs are great.
ReplyDeleteSuch interesting shots. I expecially like the ones of the children. They have cute faces!
ReplyDeleteThose pictures tell a lot of stories on how those people live their lives from day to day. It looks interesting to be a traveler in your own home.
ReplyDelete