My first trip to Delhi, indeed to India, was absolutely amazing and I will be returning again and again for sure. Even though I ended up with the dreaded Delhi belly (more on that later!), I would do it all again. We were exceptionally fortunate and blessed to stay at the Aman New Delhi, a stunning and utterly perfect hotel. All the Aman hotels are always amazing, but this one took the biscuit. The staff were so incredibly kind and helpful, but not in that fake way that you sometimes get. Here was a genuine desire to serve and to please. A wonderful intimacy that was not threatening or inappropriate at all. We got into many conversations with many of the staff and learned a lot. Perhaps my favourite member of staff was my guide, Rakish. Here he is with the driver and the fabulous Ambassador car we drove around in.
Rakish took me to Old Delhi on the first day. I had asked him to take me to where the ‘poor people were’, which made me feel slightly like a voyeur, a tourist and a fool. But at the same time I really wanted to see it all…and to take some photos. The streets were small and winding and filthy. There were hundreds of people all on a mission, all going somewhere. Traders, rickshaws, trishaws, bicycles, dogs… All the time I had my eye out for interesting looking characters. The first person I saw was this lady, who was wearing a peculiar plastic/leather ‘nose’. Rakish informed me that she probably had no nose or a deformity, so she wore this to hide it.
I felt very self conscious at first, taking photos of these people but slowly I realised that if I offered them money, they were only too happy to pose, in some cases frantic! In fact I soon had a large crowd of people following me, asking me to take their photos, many of them willing to be ‘clicked’ for nothing. At dinner that night our hosts explained that the people on the streets love having their photos taken, money or no. So each time I took a photo, I stopped and showed it to the subjects, who would grin widely and look very pleased with themselves, before continuing on their way.
As I continued my wander on day one, I spotted this guy sitting quietly on the floor amid the throngs. I took a few frames and then one of the temple cleaners came along with a sweeping brush and literally brushed him away. The poor guy had to jump up and wander off. One passer by leaned down, as I was crouched on the floor taking the photo, and told me “Don’t take his photo, he is mad!”. To which I replied, ‘We are all mad, Sir!”. He is one of India’s ‘untouchables’. They are the people who live at the bottom of the Hindu ‘caste system’ and they are often branded as impure. Discrimination is technically illegal, but this does not stop the rest of society from looking down on these people, who are believed to be paying for sins from their past lives. They are shunned by society, made to eat and drink from separate utensils, banned from temples and basically treated in an utterly unacceptable manner. Like I said, the cleaner of the temple next to which we were, came along with a sweeping brush and swept him away, his brush strokes full of contempt and disgust. I guess that was why I received so many confused and shocked looks from the crowds when I crouched down to him, smiled and touched his hand. I asked my guide, Rakish, what he thought about all this and he told me that it upset him greatly and that he hoped one day it would change for the better. Ghandi did much work to try to end this insane ideology, but it continues almost as strongly now as ever. I pray and hope that one day things will change too. There is hope that many people feel it is wrong and unjust, but I wonder how much they dare to speak out against the masses.
I won’t bore you further with stories of day one as it was all a bit hit and miss as I was still finding my feet. It has been a while since I used my ‘real’ camera properly for I have been stuck in a half world where my camera has felt like a burden a lot of the time. And so I chose to let it sit and gather dust. During this trip, however, I felt I re-discovered it and instead of the usual heaviness, I didn’t feel its weight at all. I was so absorbed in all that was around me. The faces. The beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, haunting Indian faces that were all around me. You will notice in the portraits, there are no layers. No-one is hiding. What you see is real…humanity in its purest form. You can see into the soul of man. Here are some images from the first day…
Day two proved to be much more what I was looking for. I wanted to get away from the beaten path, away from the tourists and to see how the people actually live. I had a feeling that going round taking photos of beggars and people with missing limbs was a bit voyeuristic. Much better to just go round giving them food and taking nothing, even if they did want their photos to be taken. Actually, I don’t suppose any of the truly unfortunate were really thinking about the concept of having their photos taken. When I mentioned to Rakish that I really wanted to see how the locals lived, he thought for a moment and then asked me if I would like to go to the village (an area of the sprawling maze of Delhi) where he grew up and where some of his family still lived. I said yes immediately. And so I found myself stepping carefully down a bumpy road full of people about their business, again looking even more like a tourist with my Canon 5d slung round my neck and my flowery dress and sandals. We took a sudden left turn into a very narrow alley, which ended abruptly with Rakish’s childhood home, which is now rented out to various families. I was quite surprised at first for it appeared to be a very poor area, but as I chatted and asked questions, it became apparent that this was a fairly ‘well off’ working class home, albeit lower working class. Indeed one of the ‘relatives’ was a business man, selling water and none of the kids were starving or skinny, but rather all had plump, smiling faces.
The home consisted of a main ‘courtyard area, one below and one above, around which were small rooms where people lived. One room downstairs housed the two cows used for milk for the family. The uncle of Rakish (a very handsome gentleman who could have passed for a King) even had a small shop right there which he opened whilst I was taking photos. There was no electricity at that particular moment though, so I could not take any photos of his shop. Word spread fast and soon there was a small crowd gathering. I waved and smiled and felt truly in awe of these wonderful people. The family were delighted to have me photograph them. After some time and having been shown around their home (and also after I had sadly run out of space on my cf card), Rakish told me, in a quiet voice, that his uncle was most eager for me to take tea with them. My first thought was ‘Oh no!’ as I had been warned repeatedly about not drinking the water in Delhi. Not to mention the fact that the milk probably came from the two cows I had been walking past earlier, and thus was likely un-pasteurized! I tried to decline but was told that the family would be somewhat (erm, VERY) offended if I refused. So I put on a brave face and sat in the living room with the men to drink tea from their very best chipped china. It was all very civilized and somewhat surreal and whilst they were looking at me as though I was someone very special, I was at the same time looking at them and thinking how incredibly privileged I was to be sharing with them in this way. I felt no awkwardness or desire to leave. I was full of joy. I have to say the tea was delicious too…although the twenty four hour bug, that started several hours later, was not! Like childbirth, however, I would do it all again.
Here are some of my favourite images from this little area of Delhi. An area I will surely return to. I particularly fell in love with the girl with the face of an angel, the one wearing the black jumper with the pink stripe (featured in the second image below). There was just something about her…
My favourite image from their home was of a little boy and a girl who were standing in the ‘cow room’. They were unsure of me at first, but then like everyone else, were soon scampering around after me!
Perhaps my personal favourite shot of the whole trip was of a group of workers who were labouring at Humayun’s tomb, a beautiful tourist spot near New Delhi. I wanted to take a few photos and soon scores of people were surrounding me. I chose to take a portrait shot of this man and his family. He was such a happy chap, giving me a wave and a thumbs up when I initially approached the group. Here he is with his children. Well, maybe not all HIS children…
And so was my first trip to India. And I cannot wait to go back there. I hope you have enjoyed viewing the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. I think my photography bug is back, but in a different way. It is time for a change. And change is always a good thing. I hope and pray the people of India can change and love each other. Remember, if we all do one small thing for someone else, the change in the world will be remarkable. Namaste. xxx
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