Sleeping with the traffic.
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]
About midnight. A few men and a few dogs are sleeping on the concrete divider. “The (traffic) fumes prevent the insects from coming on to the middle of the road,” says Javed Khan. The Delhi Walla meets him on the School Lane flyover in central Delhi. It is close to Modern School in Barakhamba.
“I’m from Nepal. I don’t have any work,” he says.
“Aren’t you scared that a speeding car can run over you?” I ask.
Mr Khan shrugs his shoulders.
“Most people here are labourers and rickshaw wallas.”
Mr Khan’s friend, who is sitting beside him, is quietly smoking a cigarette.
The headlight glare of an oncoming car blinds my sight.
Soon afterwards I’m summoned by a beat constable from across the road. He says, “Don’t go close to them. Most are drug addicts. They can do anything to get their daily dose of smack. They might snatch your camera, or even attack you with a razor.”
A few minutes later, two dogs sleeping on the divider get up and start barking. The men continue to sleep.
Sweet dreams
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
I suddenly realized that cop is right. You ARE taking awful risks moving about alone at night, with that multi-thousand DSLR and equally expensive lenses…
Mayank,
As i prepare to finally emigrate forever to the East Coast of the US , the mental picture i have of India can easily be summarized by this blog’s pictures : one of a homeless desperate person in ‘bed’ with a stray rabid dog . It wasnt before i made my first international trip to the Germany and US that i realized
1 how disgustingly poor and filthy India was
2. how Delhi wasnt the center of Universe
3. How no country other than ours was teeming with stray dogs
4. How short of funds the labs of AIIMS and IIT s were.
5 and finally how fragile my patriotism was
Cant wait to get my H1B approved soon and leave this unfortunate land soon for a place that better appreciates my talents. India and I just dont deserve each other
you are pathetic and will remain one, no matter where you go, you dont deserve India. unfortunately you are not alone, millions of indians have this attitude and trust me, unless you change, happiness will always evade you, whether you live on the east coast or anywhere else, for you the grass is greener on the other side, usa is not a fun place, i have lived there for 35 yrs, i know.