Flashback to India, August, 2007: the girl who Latika brought to mind; two of her street peers

In the previous post, I refered to the movie Slumdog Millionaire and mentioned how, when I saw the character Latika begging on the streets of Mumbai, I thought of a girl whose path had crossed mine in Bangalore. This is not her, although I did meet him on the same day.

When he first showed me the snake and the tiny chess set, I told him, politely, that I did not wish to buy either, or anything else that he was selling. He must have been quite certain that he could change my mind because, over the next couple of hours I roamed here and there and he continually materialized in front of me, smiling, exuding complete confidence that this time I would be either so charmed, impressed, or exasperated that I would buy from him.

When I look at this picture now, I kind of wish that I had bought that snake from him.

I hope he is doing well. Maybe he will be a millionaire one day.

These flying legs do not belong to the girl that I first thought of, either, but they do belong to someone who also survives by making her living on the India street. I was riding in an "auto-rickshaw" with my nephew and niece, Vijay and his wife Vidya, and we were briefly stopped in backed up-traffic. I glanced at the driver's mirror. I saw the reflection of a girl as she wind-milled our way in cartwheels from behind, nimbly navigating the narrow gap between two uneven rows of vehicles, all jam-packed tightly together.

Quickly, I raised my camera and shot, hoping to catch her image as she cart-wheeled by. The first part of her to enter my frame was this - her upturned, bare, foot which barely escaped her long, billowy, pantaloons.

The momentum of her cartwheel pulls her all the way into my frame...

and then she stops, obviously surprised.

This is the girl who Latika made me think of.

And when I saw her up ahead of me, begging like this, getting turned away, I thought of my oldest daughter, Melanie, when she was the same age.

There are strong resemblances between them, both in physique and facial structure.

She went from car to car, begging.

And then she was at our cab. Latika. My own daughter.

I look at this picture that I took as part of my incessant quest to document the world as it unfolds around me and I feel helpless. There is no way for me to know, but I hope that there is not a Fagan, a Maman, waiting to confiscate her earnings, eager to manipulate by other means her profibility in future years.

For the moment, when she stands in front of me, it does not matter. I must give her something. One way or another, even if by chance it means I must also fund to an even greater degree an evil Fagan, her survival depends upon it.

The only thing is, at some point in every day that one roams in India, he must stop giving, for there are too many open hands that reach toward him and he lacks the capacity to drop something, even small, into each of them.

Yet, I cannot tell you how badly I yearn to return to India. Every single day I feel this desire. And it has been a year and four months now. And each day when I look into the mirror, I see more white in my beard than I did before. And now the white even creeps into my hair.

What the hell was God thinking, to create such a magnificent, full, complex, challenging and diverse earth, and to give a human such a short time to get to know it?

Comments

[Lindy]

Very beautiful post, Bill. Thank you for reminding me of how small the odds are of 1) being born an American, 2) being born caucasian, and 3) being born middle class are. Whoa! Fabulous post.... has me thinking of how phenominally blessed my family and I are and that we need to give more. And that I need to teach my children EVERY SINGLE DAY how blessed they are.

Thank you, my friend.

Lindy

[Michael Spotts]

Hello, Frostfrog. I'm a fellow dpreview member. Interesting and emotional series of images. Thanks for posting them.

Regarding your query, "What was God thinking, etc," I wonder how you came to believe with surety that there is in fact only one God and not a pantheon, when the Indians by whom you were surrounded predominantly embrace millions of supposed deities?

Perhaps it was only a figure of speech, but if you do believe in one God, it may be interesting to consider that all three major monotheistic religions on the planet, and their tributaries, share a common theme regarding the broken state of the world, namely, that mankind is reaping consequences of mutual selfishness and rejection of God as their highest delight.

Have you had the pleasure of reading the bible, especially Genesis, John, and Romans? These books say that God created man to live indefinitely, but that Adam's sin brought death and corruption. It also tells how God has subjected the world in hope, for the day approaches when the heavens and earth will be made new for those who will inherit it.

So, basically, the answer to your question which Christianity offers is that all men are by nature willing rebels to God's authority and purity, when compared to His perfect moral righteousness. Even the brevity of life enjoyed on earth is a gracious gift we by no means deserve. And after death comes judgment by Christ, who is God the Son incarnate, under which no man can be found innocent, for all have sinned. Guilty persons shall be cut off and the perfect will become heirs of the new world.

But If everyone is guilty, who gets the earth? Those alone who have received an imputed, legal righteousness from Christ. This they receive by faith in his atoning self-sacrifice. Though he was sinless, on the cross He bore their sins, so that by faith they receive the virtue of His obedience as if it were theirs. On the third day after his death he raised Himself from the dead, ate and spoke with men, was seen by five-hundred witnesses, and ascended into heaven to intercede for those He is saving. He is alive to receive the prayers of any who come to Him believing, no matter how sinful they have been.

Those who repent of self-trust, believing on Christ Jesus alone (as evidenced by their new found love of holiness, the sign of spiritual rebirth) are given the title deed to earth and an everlasting life in the time to come.

So, there's an answer for your consideration. I'm no guru, I've just read the book and I believe it.

Grace to you, friend.
A fellow photographer,

-Michael Spotts:.
www.theopenlife.com

[Wasilla, Alaska, by 300]

Hi Lindy -

Thanks for the comment. It is always good to hear from you. Let us just hope, given the ever widening downward spiral that our country seems to be caught in, that these blessings continue unabated.

I am optimistic, yet still leery.

Michael,

Thanks for your well articulated comment.

While I did write the sentence from a western perspective, I did, indeed, mean it more as a figure of speech, certainly not to imply any surety on my part. It was not my intent to limit the definition of the word "God" to any particular philososphy, including my own, whatever that may be.

I even meant it to carry a touch of humor.

I have had theological discussions with my Hindu in-laws in India and have heard them use the word "God" in ways which, on their face, can sound much like you yourself might sometimes use it, although their belief is fundamentally different than yours (even as it encompasses yours).

So I meant God as the creator, be that creator a Diety, host of Dieties, Raven or cosmic accident. No surety here. I sure don't know.

Yes, I have not only read the Bible, multiple times, but I grew up on the scriptures. My Mom began to recite them to me immediately upon my conception and continued to do so until infirmity overtook her and put her in the grave. But I cannot define God, not for myself or anyone else. During those times of my life when I allowed myself to be convinced that I had been given the answers, this certainty cut me off from things I might otherwise have experienced and learned - to my regret.

As your site and blog proves, you are an excellent photographer. Despite your own words, I believe you would have been a photographer even if you had come of age during that time period when you think the pursuit to have been too expensive, too complicated.

If its in you to be a photographer, its in you. There is nothing you can do about it. Expense and complications become irrelevant. Very few of yesterday's photographers come from wealthy backgrounds.