The Villagers

The most important part of a village are the people that live there. The villagers of Gudivada are known as Dalits. In the Indian caste system, Dalits are the lowest of the low, the poorest of the poor, and dirtier than dirt. It is because of this that many Dalits turn to other religions outside of Hinduism, which embrace equality over caste. For this reason, many villagers practiced Christianity, although the Hindu gods were never far away.

I never thought that I would meet a boy named Daniel in a small village in India. Turns out Daniel and Dan were pretty popular names among Indian Christians. The nephew of Ravi was named Daniel. Since I was the first foreign Daniel that this Daniel has ever met, we instantly became friends. Not to mention it was easier to remember his name than names such as Hariprasad, which I just nicknamed Harry Potter or something else just as ridiculous. All I really knew about Daniel is he liked to count to 100 while throwing a Frisbee, and just ordered a camera from Singapore. Daniel was not a Dalit, but he lived in the village.


Daniel and Daniel

Speaking of cameras, the children loved them. Actually it was hard to pull out the camera and take pictures without being swarmed by children asking for it or saying, “Just one.” I guess in this sense, I took far fewer pictures than hoped since I just didn’t want to deal with it. In some ways I really wish I brought a bunch of disposable cameras and just let the kids take a bunch of pictures. Who knows what interesting things they would have captured. Although most of the pictures they did take when they borrowed my camera were of goats and their friends just standing without a smile.


Framing the shot

Besides the children, the adults appreciated what we were doing. There was one guy though, that seemed a bit too friendly, to the point where many of the villagers sometimes told him to stay away. He wasn’t part of the same village, and decided to show me his village. In a sort of broken English explanation I could tell he wanted me to take pictures and try to find sponsors and volunteers for his village. It was very uncomfortable, because I really did not know his situation or have the ability to really help him in the way he wanted. I guess it is a good example that you can’t help everyone in the world, but you should help those that you are able to.


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