01 April, 2014

Creche-Not Made Beggar (1 Picture and Story)


While I was standing with my friend Jayesh Solanki at a roadside tea stall on Ashram Road in Ahmedabad, a young lady with an infant came up, begging. I looked at her for a moment and then at the infant who was in a little hammock hanging from her shoulder. Upon seeing me he smiled. I touched his cheek.
Within a few minutes I had his mother's permission to take some photos. Her name is Neetaben. She doesn't know exactly her age; it is maybe 21 or 22. Her baby, Akash, is a year old. Her husband, Ajaybhai, is a tree-trimmer. Every day he visits a different neighborhood and offers to trims trees that need it. 
I asked her, “Why are you begging?” She said, “Before the birth of my son Akash, I used to do masonry work. But now I worry as to who would take care of my baby Akash at the worksite.” 
There are laws in India requiring a crèche to be provided at such worksites, but we Indians are not law-abiding. So Neetaben stopped going to work and took up begging to supplement her husband's income. On a good day she gets some 50 or 100 rupees. “Every month, hunger comes into my hut and stays for two or three days.” She said this with no display of emotion. Akash was smiling. Speechless, I touched his cheek again and gave her some money. She took it with a slight smile and went on her way.