I met him, dressed in white from head to toe, sitting inside the single-roomed, street-side tea shop of his son, the chaiwala, Parvej. There is a profound calm to him, a stark contrast to the hellishly-hectic market street just outside the shop.
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Often times you don't know that someone has touched you until the moment you tell them goodbye. For the few days I knew them, Parvej was my chaiwala, his father, my stoop companion. We had but few words we could say to each other, but with hand gestures and head wobbles we understood each other.
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I was recently moved by someone to get a painting of Ganesh the elephant-headed Hindu god; immediately, I knew who I had to go to. Pyreula is a laundry man by trade, but has been doing water-colors for the last 17 years.
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I suppose sometimes, with the challenges you face in volunteer work, you have to swallow your priorities and adjust yourself even more in order to make the best of the situation at hand. Isn't that after all why we travel abroad?
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The ASHA program offers a lot in the way of empowering women and gives many opportunities to village women, but I think it is valuable to note that although the program offers prestige in the larger community, it may not always translate to empowerment in the home.
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This young girl, aged 22, is pregnant with her first child and is answering questions posed to her by the local ASHA as well as by CommCare, a health care questionnaire given through a mobile phone.
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Benares (Varanasi) was not a disappointment. It justified its reputation as a curiosity. It is on high ground, and overhangs a grand curve in the Ganges. It is a vast mass of building, compactly crusting a hill, and is cloven in all directions by an intricate confusion of cracks which stand for streets. Tall, slim minarets and beflagged temple-spires rise out of it and give it a picturesqueness, viewed from the river.
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I'm finally doing work in the field, albeit slowly and with waning patience; Manjhanpur, in contrast to Varanasi, is split 40/60 between Muslims and Hindus. It's fascinating to be in a place where both exist seamlessly. Internet is horrendously slow, so I'm only able to offer one image; enjoy.
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Sitting in the Varanasi Open Hand Cafe, indulging in espresso and creamy cheesecake one might very easily imagine himself somewhere in Europe or the west village of New York. The pastries are fresh, the coffee comes in a large mug and the clientelle are nearly all european. However, the blaring midday sun and noise from honking horns pour in over the second floor balcony as a reminder that this is indeed India. Rhyne de Bruin, a South African native, runs one of Varanasi's premier cafes on Assi Ghat which boasts not only a wide selection of barista quality coffees but artisanal handcrafts from Varanasi locals.
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My first post from India, yes I am indeed alive after a brief battle with heat exhaustion; now I'm finally up and running, fully recharged with plenty of electrolytes and ready to start photographing the sites around me. I decided one morning to take an early (5 a.m.) boat ride to see Varanasi from the River Ganges along with an Israeli documentary film maker I had met the day before.
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This year, I'll be spending two months in the northern province of Uttar Pradesh, specifically the city of Varanasi, documenting the Indian healthcare system.
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Welcome! I've had the immense opportunity of living in several countries throughout the world and to see the beauty that it offers in both its people and its everyday sights. I hope my photography captures some of that beauty and I hope you enjoy seeing the world through my lens.
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