This little girl followed me for a few hundred yards, and finally plucked up the courage to ask me to take her photo. When I said "Yes, of course", she ran off and brought her mum and two younger siblings. Mum wasn't quite so sure about the photo, but the little girl prevailed.
I hope they don't mind their photo up for all the world to see; I think they'd be chuffed to bits. I'm sure the little girl would have been, at the time; I hope she hasn't changed her mind.
That isn't actually their house behind them, but it's very similar.
I'm not sure whether this area is under water since the filling of the Wainganga Dam. If it's not actually under water, it's right on the edge of the reservoir. Certainly the middle of the village is under water, but this end of the village is up a bit of a rise. I’ve not been in this area since 1984.
Central India, 1983. I was out on an early morning walk.
This sort of thing happens a lot in the villages – children (and sometimes adults) want their photo taken, even though they know they’ll never see the photo. They never think of begging, it’s just not something that ever enters their heads. So different from the cities or on the tourist trail – see Small Change.
©Clive K Semmens 1983-2014