Three years ago near our tented camp at Manvar, I met a woman who is a member of the untouchable caste. Although the caste system has been outlawed in India, the defining lines between the casts are still clearly visible and the social positions of each caste is well understood by the Indians themselves.
During my first visit to her home I was so touched by this woman’s generosity and impressed by the elegant way she carried herself that I felt compelled to photograph her. In the following year I again visited her and wrote a blog post entitled “The Untouchable”. If you have a moment it would make sense for you to read that blog post before proceeding any further. Here’s the link .
Anyway, this year I returned to her small village with our photo group. When we arrived she was busy caring for her child. Some of the members of the group approached her and she stood up, exchange pleasantries and smiles while I stayed in the background. After a few minutes I caught her eye, but she quickly looked away. I wasn’t sure if she remembered me so I just stood back and observed for little while longer. Eventually she and several members of the photo tour walked over to her home. She began to tidy up the place by sweeping, rearranging some aluminum pots and straightening up her kitchen. Then she sent someone to get some cloths for her child who was running around naked.
At this point Ruti, one of my tour guests and started a conversation using sign language and essentially asked her if she remembered me. Pulling the veil further over her face she embarrassingly indicated yes, that she remembered me; this photographer from previous years.
It wasn’t long after that that she started milking a goat and I immediately understood that she was going to make me tea for me again, just like she had during the previous 2 visits. I’ve got to tell you, that it was really heartwarming thing to understand that she remembered me and that again she was welcoming me to her home with a cup of tea. I made several photographs of her as she prepared my tea but unlike prior years, I wasn’t all that interested in making her photograph, but rather I wanted to experience the moment.
I know for certain that no matter how hard I try I won’t be able to create a blog post with the same kind of emotion and impact that I did last year, so I won’t even try. And frankly, as I walked into the village I didn’t expect that my experience of visiting the untouchable would come close to my previous 2 visits, but I was wrong, this was just a different kind of visit… one that included less photography, but just as much impact as last year. I really enjoyed visiting her again, seeing how things have changed in her small village, and reconnecting with her even though we don’t speak the same language. What a privilege it is for me to be able to come back and see her and to introduce members of my photo tour to her. It seems that she, and untouchable, has so much to teach all of us. This year, the lesson for me seems to be that it’s OK to put the cameras down once and a while and just enjoy the moment.
Below are photos from another village near Manvar.
beautiful photographs
yes, I agree with you Karl. Sometimes the camera can get in the middle between our emotions and our need to take the photograph that will remind us later that we were there at that moment in time. Better, sometimes, to carry images in our own memory bank. Images that will bring back the emotion we felt while witnessing the event. Have a great time in Puskar.
Dear Pawan and Carl, Thanks for the comments…wish you guys could be along on the trip, you would really enjoy it!