India: Its People

Without a doubt, my favorite part of our recent visit to India was the people. The diversity of language and culture, and just their sheer numbers are impressive, but the ability of so many to live in such poverty, and yet, still have a ready smile for a stranger from a foreign land, is remarkable in my opinion. Many of my photos were shot from our tour bus, and even from that vantage point, I was able to connect with people, as evidenced by these shots of girls on buses next to us in traffic.

For the majority of our journey, we traveled as part of a tour group run by Road Scholar, a non-profit organization I highly recommend. There were 14 of us plus our Indian guide, Jayanta Kar, a very knowledgeable and patient young man from the city of Varanasi. I will write more about the program in later posts, but one of my favorite activities on the tour was a visit to a public school in Kalwar, which is near Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan.

Road Scholar has developed a service learning program with the school, in which participants sign up for a two week program and spend a good part of that time staying at the Kalwar Castle and teaching English to students in grades 6-12 at the school. When we visited, there were three RS volunteers working with the students, and we were able to observe them in the classrooms, meet the students, and then discuss the program with the volunteers over lunch. It was very interesting and obviously very rewarding for the participants. 

The students were so excited to practice their English skills with us, and especially liked having their pictures taken, as you can see from a few of the photos I took that day.

It occurs to me, that the kids in these three shots look very calm and quiet, when they were actually very rambunctious, and became still only when they were posing! They loved having their pictures taken, and couldn't get enough of seeing their images on the preview screen! Luckily for them, most of us had cameras and we enjoyed it almost as much as they did. I have had prints made of the dozens of "portraits" I shot, and I am going to send them to the school so the kids can have them to share with their friends and family. 

We were so inspired by the school and the program that Road Scholar runs there, that we are considering returning and participating as volunteers on our next India adventure! Anyone want to join us?

The school at Kalwar was only one of the many places where we met interesting and friendly people. My second favorite activity was visiting small towns and villages, and seeing how people live outside of the crowded cities. The following photos are some of the people we met in small villages and in the desert areas.

Local village girls in Rajasthan.

Mother and child sitting outside a shop near Kalwar Castle.

Look closely and you will see that these shopkeepers are selling and repairing treadle sewing machines -- you know, like your great grandmother used back in the day! They are very popular, and practical in the countryside, especially when one may not always have access to electricity!

On a jeep tour of the desert near Jamba, we met this lady, her family, and their livestock. She showed us around her home (mud huts with thatched roofs), but then had to excuse herself to take a call on her cell phone! 

This gentleman is a weaver of dhurrie mats and rugs. I purchased three small mats for our daughters from him at a very good price.

This old man lives alone out in the desert near Sardargarh, and our guide told me that in the local language, he is called Mauani Baba. Having given up all of his possessions, his days are filled with silent prayer, as he has not spoken a single word in 23 years! As you can see, he also has not cut his hair or beard for a very long time!  He seemed very happy to see us, and showed us a small album he has, filled with photos people have taken of him over the years. 

Pint-size troublemakers in the desert of Rajasthan.

Lovely farmer's daughters.

Village elders drinking opium "tea." They offered to share, but we were all a bit suspicious of the water they were using! Really, that's the only reason we turned them down! ;-)

This lady and her family were preparing for a wedding. As you can see, she has fresh henna applied to her hands as part of the wedding preparations.

However, she is not the bride at this wedding. We can tell she is already married from her solid silver ankle bracelets, toe rings, and a heavy silver belt (not pictured) that she wears everyday. 

I bought handmade slippers for our grandchildren, fashioned by members of this man's family in Rajasthan. I only wish I had gotten a few more pairs of them!

To see photos enlarged, click on one of them and a slideshow should appear. 

Also, if you would like to see more of my people photos, check out my Flickr album - India: The People