Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Women at Work

A tribal woman near the historic old bridge close to the Red Fort in March 2010.

In India, with its fairly large geography and over a one billion strong population - diverse and spread out - there is no dearth of ideas or issues that one can write about, or maybe, even shoot. Still, I constantly struggle to think of ideas to write on, for which I can find relevant photographs also. Maybe it is just that I am a bit lazy or that I get busy or, possibly, it is a combination of both.

So, after an avoidable delay over locating photographs for this wonderfully touching song, Just Another Day in Paradise, I decided to finally rifle through and mix 'n' match my photos with Phil Collin's lyrics. I just wished that I had done this a fortnight earlier and could have worked on the next post instead of pondering over possible photo-shoots which never materialised.

I also hope that, though I have a mildly nagging fear at the back of my mind, nobody is going to haul me up for plagiarising - which, of course, is not my intention at all. I just thought it would be a good idea to put the song under the spotlight in these troublesome dark days, which are haunting the poor little rich boys - from brokers to bankers and property agents to industrialists - particularly when market economies have to be proped up on stimulus crutches.

As Phil's song describes a shelterless girl on city streets, I thought it would be apt to put photos of women in their various roles in the city - right from the homeless to those ekeing out a living doing odd jobs.

City homeless preparing to sleep outside a mosque in old Delhi in January 2010.

JUST ANOTHER DAY FOR YOU AND ME IN PARADISE, Phil Collins 
She calls out to the man on the street,
"Sir can you help me?
It's cold and I have no where to sleep.
Is there somewhere you can tell me?"

He walks on, doesn't look back.
He pretends he can't hear her.
He starts to whistle as he crosses the street.
He's embarrassed to be there.

Oh, think twice, it is just another day for you and me in paradise. Just think about it.

This old woman was selling religious materials in the open for the pious on the Yamuna river bank near the Inter State Bus Terminus in December 2009.

She calls out to the man on the street.
He can see she's been crying.
She's got blisters on the soles of her feet.
She can't walk but she's trying.

Oh, think twice, it is just another day for you and me in paradise.
Oh, think twice, it is just another day for you and me in paradise.
Just think about it.
Just think about it.
Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do?
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

A woman, most probably a sweeper, drinks water after having lunch in the Sanjay Van city forest in south Delhi.

You can tell by the lines of her face.
You can see that she's been there.
Probably been moved on from every place because she didn't fit there.

Oh, think twice, it is just another day for you and me in paradise.
Oh, think twice, it is just another day for you and me in paradise.
Just think about it.
Just think about it.
A small shop selling the very basic stuff manned by a woman in a slum. It can only fetch her a meagre living.

It is just another day for you and me in paradise.
It is just another day for you and me in paradise.

It is just another day for you and me in paradise.
It is just another day for you and me in paradise.

It is just another day for you and me in paradise.
It is just another day for you and me in paradise.

Its another day for you and me in paradise in paradise.

Young girls and women line up their cans to fill up water - an early morning daily exercise for most slum clusters and resettlement areas in Delhi.

1 comment:

Y? said...

Great pictures. and theme. women on the street are the most vulnerable.