Another one from the streets of Mumbai. I met this gorgeous woman, living under a fly over with her family, and here's what happened...
Seetal (Sheetal) asked me to show her what I clicked. I saw those broken nails and some cracks on her fingers when she touched my camera screen. She said, “boodhi Ho gayi ab”. (I am turning old now) Before I could say anything, I heard someone commenting, “Chaand Boodha nahi hota”. (The moon always remain pretty, no matter how old it gets).
I turned around to see an old man with a cheeky smile. Seetal jumped in and shouted, “Chal hat, Jaa yahan se” (get out of here). She looked at me again, smiled and said, “Aadmi hai mera” (That’s my husband), turned around and went back to begging.
Sheetal lives under a bridge, close to traffic signals in Mumbai (India), with her family that includes her husband, daughters and grandkids. While they all beg and sell petty stuff to make their day’s earnings, I stayed back to experience an hour worth of all the right ingredients that a family needs to stay as a family – happy, playful and together.