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- Description: In the chiaro-scuro of existence: For the rickshaw-pullers of Kolkata, the difference between joy and sorrow is defined by the number of passengers they get during the day. If it has been a good day on the street, it means a square meal for him and his family. But a bad day may end with little or nothing on the plate. The hand-pulled rickshaw is probably as old as Kolkata. Since the days of The Raj, it has pulled people to their destinations through the winding alleys of the city. It is the chosen mode of transport for elderly people especially in the monsoons when waterlogged streets slow down the pace of life. Almost 20,000 rickshaw-pullers ply the city streets. Most of them have migrated from the heartland of India and made Kolkata their home. The Left Front government has suddenly decided to ban rickshaws in Kolkata. If that happens nearly one lakh people will have to find other means of survival. The socialist government hasn't yet come up with an alternative source of employment for these impoverished people. In the context of a more global city with glitzy malls, multiplexes and foreign cars, we have not been able to help the rickshaw-puller re-define his life in terms of square meals every day for his entire family and basic prerequisites of life including health and education for his children.
- Credits: Shantanu - (India) Mukherjee/Majority World
- Keywords: asia, bad day, city streets, family, good day, india, kolkata, life, meal, monsoons, passenger, people, ply, pullers, rickshaw, rickshaw pullers, salil bera, south asia, street, transport, waterlogged
- Added: Aug 21, 2016
- Created: N/A
- Filename: MWC010494.jpg
- Colors:
- Pixels: 3000x3766
- Filesize: 3.68MB
- Photographer: Shantanu Mukherjee
- Owner: Shantanu Mukherjee
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- Description: In the chiaro-scuro of existence: For the rickshaw-pullers of Kolkata, the difference between joy and sorrow is defined by the number of passengers they get during the day. If it has been a good day on the street, it means a square meal for him and his family. But a bad day may end with little or nothing on the plate. The hand-pulled rickshaw is probably as old as Kolkata. Since the days of The Raj, it has pulled people to their destinations through the winding alleys of the city. It is the chosen mode of transport for elderly people especially in the monsoons when waterlogged streets slow down the pace of life. Almost 20,000 rickshaw-pullers ply the city streets. Most of them have migrated from the heartland of India and made Kolkata their home. The Left Front government has suddenly decided to ban rickshaws in Kolkata. If that happens nearly one lakh people will have to find other means of survival. The socialist government hasn't yet come up with an alternative source of employment for these impoverished people. In the context of a more global city with glitzy malls, multiplexes and foreign cars, we have not been able to help the rickshaw-puller re-define his life in terms of square meals every day for his entire family and basic prerequisites of life including health and education for his children.
- Date Created: 0000-00-00 00:00:00
- :
- City: BANGALORE
- Source: AFP
- Copyright Notice: Copyright Majority World
- Filename: MWC010494.jpg
- File Date/Time: 1471657785
- File Size: 3855012
- File Type: 2
- Mime Type: image/jpeg
- Sections Found: ANY_TAG, IFD0, EXIF
- Image Description: In the chiaro-scuro of existence: For the rickshaw-pullers of Kolkata, the difference between joy and sorrow is defined by the number of passengers they get during the day. If it has been a good day on the street, it means a square meal for him and his fa
- Make: NIKON CORPORATION
- Model: NIKON D100
- XResolution: 300/1
- YResolution: 300/1
- Resolution Unit: 2
- YCbCr Positioning: 1
- Exif IFD Pointer: 1480
- Exif Version: 0230
- Components Configuration:
- Shutter Speed Value: -100/1
- Flash Pix Version: 0100
- Color Space: 65535