Every Picture Tells a Story.......I just wish I knew what their stories are

Here are some of my favorite photographs taken over the past few weeks....From Top to Bottom:

The Nap- I took this photo near our house; we had stopped to get our dry cleaning and this man looked so comfortable resting and it was such a perfect example of how life is here. India has its own heartbeat.....I have seen several men piloting these bicycles designed for delivering items...some times very heavy items like construction materials, pipes, furniture, etc. What time did he awaken to go to work? What time will he end? If he has done this job for the past 10 years or so, I can almost bet that he has traveled more km/miles on this three wheel bicycle with heavy weight than many of the athletes that have participated in the Tour de France.......yest he has found his equivalent of the Grand Prize under the shade of a tree next to a waste bin.


Fences Make Good Neighbors- I took this picture while walking atop the perimeter wall at Purana Qila. We came upon a temple located just outside the wall of the fort....a very busy temple. Many times when I am taking a photograph I am trying to capture one thing and I later discover something more interesting than what originally caught my eye. Here the beggar's have formed along the fence asking passers by from the temple for a handout of anything. What struck me after reviewing the picture is how orderly things are on one side and how chaotic they are on the other. Then it dawned on me that the wall I was standing on taking the picture; built in the 1500's formed a similar purpose many years ago...India is a country filled with contrasts like what is depicted in the photograph. Can they not see how clean things are on the other side of the fence? Do they not wish that they too could walk to and from the temple? Why don't they beg from the other side?

The Specialist- I named this photograph the specialist because here in a market where thousands of items are being sold, this man is selling a single item: what appears to be cranberries from a basket covered in cloth. I watched him set up shop just a few feet from a man who was selling the same thing......look closely at the photograph and notice the bags that he puts the berries in once a sale takes place. The bags are made from recycled newspaper......nothing is purchased that would increase his overhead costs...he works from an open air shop, a sidewalk in the middle of the market. He may sit for hours with his berries baking in the 110 degree heat. Has he always been a "berry wallah"?

The General Practitioner- Again, just a few steps away from the specialist, in the same market, was the GP.....with the fancy store and huge selection. The produce here is so fresh...eating healthy is not a problem in India......the displays are always very beautiful and colorful. Was this shop passed down from his father, who was a vegetable vendor as well as his father?

Mardi Gras Beads- This young girl followed us from inside the market to our car trying to sell us a string of glass beads, which I would have purchased if Linda would have truly needed a pair.....the price she was asking was 25 rupees...., but I honestly took more interest in her than her wares.....she was paid her asking price for allowing me to take her picture. Will she always sell necklaces? Will she become a famous Jewelery Designer one day?