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| Adults standing in long queue for long hours to get food for the family A week after the 2004 Tsunami Hut Bay - Little Andaman - Andaman & Nicobar Islands |
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| I am amazed by the sight at the busy Suburban Railway Station where a man busy reading newspaper while waiting for his train Chennai - Tamil Nadu |
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New Sattankupam Village - Pulicat Lake - Tamil Nadu
Traditionally in India, a tree was planted in every village square, with an earthen platform placed below, so that villagers could gather together under its branches. It served as the communal meeting place. In New Sattankuppam there is one tree. The rest is concrete blocks, new homes built by the government, set on a grid in the dust. It is hot. Very hot. The relocated village is not by the sea. There is no shade. There are no shoals of fish to spot from afar. As we enter the village voices are continuous and confrontational even 4 years after the 2004 Tsunami. We are hungry. There is no fishing. We have nothing. What have you brought us? Why are you coming? A program doesn’t help us. The ones in Old Sattankuppam are stealing our belongings and selling them. You must help us. Why are you here? Hungry elders and restless young men are gathered under the single tree. The children begin to arrive. Little ones with their sisters and brothers. When asked their name, they speak clearly, then sit down in great shyness. Or is it vulnerability? The elders and young men pay attention – directly and indirectly – watching the group form as they talk and murmur amongst themselves. A grandmother crouches behind this evaluator with her hand out, repeatedly asking for food. About thirty children have gathered.
After introductions and recognition, the shyness still holds. The opening invitation is to say your name, and have everyone echo it back in full volume, filling the space while we all sat in circle. As this takes place, the repetition of names begins to melt shyness and tension as the group calls out and affirms everyone’s presence. Children are smiling. The men have been watching the respect, focus and attention given to the children and the space held by the children themselves. They see the children shining in their own light. The simple truth and dignity the children express has begun to ease suspicion and anger. The men and elders add their names to the circle with enjoyment, hearing it repeated back, their presence included in full volume. In that moment, the children transforms people’s hearts.
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| Early in the morning villagers on the way to the field for their daily work Hatnoor Village - Sanand - Gujarat |
