even innocense has caught the midnight train
posted by morrisson at 9:53 PM
0 comments
Saturday, November 13, 2004
INVISIBLE MEN
This is not an article about statistics,its an account of lives.
The aim of this article is not to criticise the efforts of any social welfare organization in particular, but to bring to notice certain individuals who cannot help themselves , obviously in need of aid, some whom I've seen in the same places for the last ten years or so! How did we miss out on them, under our very noses, when, we , the society, when begging for foreign funds with our hats in our hands, claim to reach the far rural corners of India, to help the underprivileged? How often do we walk by someone in pain, how often do we ignore them as is they were a disease, treat them like they were invisible?
It is my belief that social organizations claim to help the poor and the suffering, and to reach rural corners, because itt catches the eye of potential donors. It seems unlikely that they have a genuine feeling towards helping the underprivileged, or else downtown Chennai would not be a gallery of 'frameless heads on nameless walls ' , as Don McLean would put it, a place where one can see suffering on almost every street corner, in areas that shamefully host a number of offices of those very social welfare groups that seem to be so keenly looking for people to help.
But the aim of this article is not to slap mud on these organizations, but to give certain individuals a chance to leave their fingerprints in time, a little space in a little magazine, so they too can leave a record somewhere. Maybe on seeing this photo essay, just one person, or one organization may wake up to reality and see the wonderful opportunity they have to set some wrongs right.
Here's a little math for all you business tycoons. Add all the money in the world, and divide it by the population of the planet. You know you have more than your fair share, put like that. Don’t come up with "people that work hard make money", you know your employees work harder than you do. Imagine how money came into being, and why it did, following the barter system. Imagine a prehistoric society in which people co-existed at a common level of status and comfort, dividing chores among themselves. One section to hunt, one section to fetch water, one to make clothes, one to collect fruits, one to cook…….very organized, like today's society, but 'all the people sharing all the world', John Lennon's dream theme. Obviously one individual from one section decided not to share what he had. Obviously he must've asked for more than his fair share in return, maybe what he was holding back was vital for survival, say firewood. There begins the first business deal. There begins the point in time when people start thinking twice before 'sharing all the world'. There begins the necessity for something called money, which divides man from man based on the value of his assets, nothing else.
Life was a race where all the athletes used to hold hands and walk past the finish line together, until one of them decided to break free and make a run for the finish, and then another, and then another. Until some were left so far behind that running would make no sense now, it’s a race that they just cant win. These pictures are about such people.
The Leper-
This leper hangs around with all his belongings i.e. a cloth he sits on, and a water bottle, near the parking lot of a station in Chennai. Notice how leprousy has eaten away the better part of his fingers. Probably, the best that he can do for himself for nourishment is to raise the bottle of water with all that’s left of his hands, to his lips. Notice his bent back and bony arms.
I've written to a lot of N.G.O.s, asking if they could use photographs like these to help people like these. Not one replied.
This photograph wasn’t shot in some drought-hit, famine-hit area where there's just too much to do, too little funds. It was shot in a rich downtown area of 'Indiashining's' metro, Chennai.
The Long haired guy-
At first glance I thought this guy was probably a lunatic on the loose. But on observing him for a few weeks, I'm sure he's perfectly sane. He stands outside a roadside tea shop on Paper Mills Road, Chennai, begging. Now I come to think of it, I've never actually seen him begging, people just give him stuff going by his looks, I guess. On bumming a bidi, he turns to the wall and smokes it shamefully! Now how many of us feel that much shame? If we did, he wouldn't be standing there!
Also, he starts walking purposefully down the road sometimes, so as not to appear to be standing doing nothing. Then, abruptly, he turns and walks back to his spot, the tea shop, probably hoping no one saw him take a fake walk.
I don’t think he's insane, I think he's had it with trying to make it in this society, trying to run the rat race.
The deformed man-
It’s a little hard to take note of this gentleman, tucked away into his shelter on Paper Mills road, Chennai. He's deformed. He's made himself, probably with some help, a shelter measuring about three feet by five feet at best. He spends all his time there. He's not capable of reacting on being asked a question, or maybe he chooses not to…..
He eats here, he sleeps her , .its his home……until somebody decides to renovate or reconstruct the building adjacent to his shelter I guess. I wonder what he'd do then. He isn't capable of carrying all his belongings, I'm not sure he's capable of carrying himself!
The madman-
I used to walk home down this road, on my way back from school, about ten years ago. This lunatic stood there talking to himself. He enters a college premises to sit on the benches sometimes, which, surprisingly, the watchman doesn't seem to mind.
That was ten years ago,……he's still standing there……he's still talking to himself! People on this street have become so used to having him around that no one even crosses the road to the other side when they see him, any more. He's become one of the objects on Taylor's road, blending into the everyday scene…invisible man?
I guess he's got his excuses to tell God why he couldn't do much in life,,,…..have we got ours?
'Gandhi'-
A kid in a Gandhi get-up, begging on a Pune-Chennai train.
Depressd man in cap on railway station
Last word to everyone who's a music buff……Did you ever listen to what John Lennon and Bob Dylan and more recently, Jon Bon Jovi , have to say?
'Imagine all the people, living life in peace'
- John Ono Lennon
'How many deaths will it take till we see that too many people have died?'
- Bob Dylan
'Even innocence has caught the midnight train'
-Jon Bon Jovi
The aim of this article is not to criticise the efforts of any social welfare organization in particular, but to bring to notice certain individuals who cannot help themselves , obviously in need of aid, some whom I've seen in the same places for the last ten years or so! How did we miss out on them, under our very noses, when, we , the society, when begging for foreign funds with our hats in our hands, claim to reach the far rural corners of India, to help the underprivileged? How often do we walk by someone in pain, how often do we ignore them as is they were a disease, treat them like they were invisible?
It is my belief that social organizations claim to help the poor and the suffering, and to reach rural corners, because itt catches the eye of potential donors. It seems unlikely that they have a genuine feeling towards helping the underprivileged, or else downtown Chennai would not be a gallery of 'frameless heads on nameless walls ' , as Don McLean would put it, a place where one can see suffering on almost every street corner, in areas that shamefully host a number of offices of those very social welfare groups that seem to be so keenly looking for people to help.
But the aim of this article is not to slap mud on these organizations, but to give certain individuals a chance to leave their fingerprints in time, a little space in a little magazine, so they too can leave a record somewhere. Maybe on seeing this photo essay, just one person, or one organization may wake up to reality and see the wonderful opportunity they have to set some wrongs right.
Here's a little math for all you business tycoons. Add all the money in the world, and divide it by the population of the planet. You know you have more than your fair share, put like that. Don’t come up with "people that work hard make money", you know your employees work harder than you do. Imagine how money came into being, and why it did, following the barter system. Imagine a prehistoric society in which people co-existed at a common level of status and comfort, dividing chores among themselves. One section to hunt, one section to fetch water, one to make clothes, one to collect fruits, one to cook…….very organized, like today's society, but 'all the people sharing all the world', John Lennon's dream theme. Obviously one individual from one section decided not to share what he had. Obviously he must've asked for more than his fair share in return, maybe what he was holding back was vital for survival, say firewood. There begins the first business deal. There begins the point in time when people start thinking twice before 'sharing all the world'. There begins the necessity for something called money, which divides man from man based on the value of his assets, nothing else.
Life was a race where all the athletes used to hold hands and walk past the finish line together, until one of them decided to break free and make a run for the finish, and then another, and then another. Until some were left so far behind that running would make no sense now, it’s a race that they just cant win. These pictures are about such people.
The Leper-
This leper hangs around with all his belongings i.e. a cloth he sits on, and a water bottle, near the parking lot of a station in Chennai. Notice how leprousy has eaten away the better part of his fingers. Probably, the best that he can do for himself for nourishment is to raise the bottle of water with all that’s left of his hands, to his lips. Notice his bent back and bony arms.
I've written to a lot of N.G.O.s, asking if they could use photographs like these to help people like these. Not one replied.
This photograph wasn’t shot in some drought-hit, famine-hit area where there's just too much to do, too little funds. It was shot in a rich downtown area of 'Indiashining's' metro, Chennai.
The Long haired guy-
At first glance I thought this guy was probably a lunatic on the loose. But on observing him for a few weeks, I'm sure he's perfectly sane. He stands outside a roadside tea shop on Paper Mills Road, Chennai, begging. Now I come to think of it, I've never actually seen him begging, people just give him stuff going by his looks, I guess. On bumming a bidi, he turns to the wall and smokes it shamefully! Now how many of us feel that much shame? If we did, he wouldn't be standing there!
Also, he starts walking purposefully down the road sometimes, so as not to appear to be standing doing nothing. Then, abruptly, he turns and walks back to his spot, the tea shop, probably hoping no one saw him take a fake walk.
I don’t think he's insane, I think he's had it with trying to make it in this society, trying to run the rat race.
The deformed man-
It’s a little hard to take note of this gentleman, tucked away into his shelter on Paper Mills road, Chennai. He's deformed. He's made himself, probably with some help, a shelter measuring about three feet by five feet at best. He spends all his time there. He's not capable of reacting on being asked a question, or maybe he chooses not to…..
He eats here, he sleeps her , .its his home……until somebody decides to renovate or reconstruct the building adjacent to his shelter I guess. I wonder what he'd do then. He isn't capable of carrying all his belongings, I'm not sure he's capable of carrying himself!
The madman-
I used to walk home down this road, on my way back from school, about ten years ago. This lunatic stood there talking to himself. He enters a college premises to sit on the benches sometimes, which, surprisingly, the watchman doesn't seem to mind.
That was ten years ago,……he's still standing there……he's still talking to himself! People on this street have become so used to having him around that no one even crosses the road to the other side when they see him, any more. He's become one of the objects on Taylor's road, blending into the everyday scene…invisible man?
I guess he's got his excuses to tell God why he couldn't do much in life,,,…..have we got ours?
'Gandhi'-
A kid in a Gandhi get-up, begging on a Pune-Chennai train.
Depressd man in cap on railway station
Last word to everyone who's a music buff……Did you ever listen to what John Lennon and Bob Dylan and more recently, Jon Bon Jovi , have to say?
'Imagine all the people, living life in peace'
- John Ono Lennon
'How many deaths will it take till we see that too many people have died?'
- Bob Dylan
'Even innocence has caught the midnight train'
-Jon Bon Jovi
posted by morrisson at 9:36 PM
1 comments
