Future for a Fisher Folk?

15 year-old Karthick

 Karthick sits in front of me, a shy fifteen-year-old whose dark, bright eyes are fixed on the floor. Karthick came to see me so that you, dear Reader, can have a glimpse into his past and maybe even become a part of his future. You see, Karthick longs to do something important with his life, and he knows that having an education can open up a whole new world for him. He came to Chennai to study a House Electrician Course that is offered by IID Community Colleges. He has already made a few friends in the college and loves being there among so many other young people. However, there is a problem.

Karthick, with a friend from the Community College

Karthick hails from a small village near Tada, Andhra Pradesh, and he and his family belong to a community of fisher folk. This small village is situated in the bay area of the Pulicat Lake, and it is a very poor community. Basic medical facilities are not available, and to go to a hospital, the people in this community need to travel at least an hour by boat. Karthick himself traveled one and a half hours by boat each way to attend school. During the monsoon season, the whole community needs to be housed in government run facilities as the area in which they live is usually completely flooded.

Both his parents fish for a living in the rivers close to where they live. Sometimes they leave for months at a time, leaving Karthick and his three older sisters to take care of themselves while his mother and father earn money for the family. Whenever they catch enough fish to save a decent amount of money, they return home again. Sometimes they return home exhausted and drained after being away from home for weeks at a time, but with only just enough money to get by. Karthick and his family have had to go without food for many meals, as they just didn’t have enough money. In spite of the unpredictable situation at home, the long distance to and from school, the displacement of their community every monsoon and the poverty-stricken situation of his parents, Karthick was able to study and complete his Tenth Standard in a government-run school. However, if Karthick were to depend on his parents for his education, the future looks very bleak for him.

Both his parents fish for living and are sometimes gone for months at a time, leaving Karthik and his three sisters to take care of themselves.

 

So here he was, a young man ready to do something with his future but not able to study because his family cannot afford to send him to College. When I ask him why he wants to join IID Community College, Karthick says that because he is the only male child in his family, he wants to be able to study and get a job where he will earn well and take care of his family, and in the future, he wants to be able to help others who are in similar situations as him. When we first started talking, Karthick’s eyes hardly left the floor, but as we continued talking about what he wanted to do with his life, even though he was still shy, his eyes were filled with longing and hope, knowing that studying in IID could change his future.

So now, dear Reader, you know a little bit about Karthick. However, more importantly, if you do feel like you want to help change the course of his future, then please do get in touch with us at IID Community Colleges.  A little support can achieve much.  

There are many other young men and women like Karthick who would appreciate your support. Do get in touch with IIDA (email address below)for further details. 

•  Help us raise his 1 year course cost: 12 x INR 3,500 (EUR 50/CHF 60/USD 63)
• Help with any one time donation
• Email us: support@iida-india.org
• If you wish you can correspond directly with Karthick through above Email ID;
• Our staff will print and forward your message and send his reply.

     Thank you very much on behalf of Karthick and his family!

Larry & Roshin : Engagement

 I always love a good story - especially a good love story :) I also love my job because I am getting to know so many new people! Larry and Roshin are such a lovely couple. We had a great early morning shoot :) Thankfully the sun was just rising and it wasn't too hot yet.

Larry came all the way across the world, from America to India, wanting to become a priest in the Mar Thoma church. Little did he know that he would marry the daughter of his mentor! Larry and Roshin were very sweet throughout the whole shoot - even though it was getting so hot by the end of it! I could also tell that they were the kind of people that would give their very best to everything they do, as they tirelessly posed for some of the shots until we got it right :)

So to begin with, we started with the formal wear - and they were such good sports, even when Roshin's heels were sinking in the sand and the water threatened to ruin their clothes!

Musician in the Making?

So, as I focus on people in my world and in my life and in my city, there is one little person who is so special to me :) My son, Matthias, came into our lives a little over two years ago, and completely turned our world upside down! Many people say that marriage is a huge change in your life, etc, and yes, it is, but having a baby ...well, thats a whole different ball game!

Being a mother (a mother - I still can't believe it sometimes!), has changed me so much. I think at heart, we are pretty selfish, and having a baby changes all that. You learn to put your little one's needs ahead of your own. When Matt was still a few weeks old, I swear I felt a physical tug in my body every time he cried. It was like there was almost a physical bond between us... it was such an amazing feeling - well, and a little tiring, because I kept jumping up in the night every time I heard him cry! :)  The first three months were some of the most difficult times in my life, but somehow, God's grace helped us through it.

And today, I am going to post a few pictures of Matt. I have titled this post 'Musician in the Making?' because ever since he was little, Matt has loved music. At first whenever we went to church he would run to the stage and want to play with the guitar - we had to literally hold him back, many times. His love for the guitar turned into a love for the drums, and even now, Matt loves to take out his drumsticks and drum away on anything he can find at home. I've had to hide the snare drum(!) my father-in-law bought for Matt, because he would've driven the neighbours (and us) up the wall. 

Anyways, here are a few pictures of Matt that I took while experimenting with some flash photography. I'm still learning a lot, and I still have so much to learn, but I would appreciate your comments and feedback on these pictures :) I wish I had taken the time to iron out the green cloth behind him - but I was too much in a hurry to check out the flash, and I thought I would leave it as it is, SOOC (Straight Out Of the Camera) and see what you guys think of it.

p.s. today my facebook page completes 6 months! Have a look at the page and take a moment to 'like' the page if you like my work! Thanks a lot!

 I love the effect on this last picture - it was taken at a slower shutter speed and this is Matt in motion! :)

The stories of our lives

I was thinking yesterday about how all our lives are made up of stories. Sad stories, fun stories, embarrassing stories and happy stories. We all have them... and those stories are what makes us who we are. I can think of so many hundreds, or maybe even thousands of stories that make up my life. And I think photographers have also started this trend of shooting in 'bursts'. What that means is, you take a series of photos continuously to catch a short story rather than a moment.


For example:

Joel

So after focussing on a couple of ladies, this past week I thought it was maybe time to put up some pictures of a guy :)

This post is about a friend called Joel. These photos were taken for Joel's cd cover and inserts - you can see his album cover here.

I would like to mention a few things about Joel that challenge me. Joel puts his heart and soul into everything he does. I had the privilege of being able to sing for two of his concerts, and I was so amazed at how he was able to get his dream idea of a concert into reality. I remember him talking about how he wanted his concert to be a certain way, and he had very specific ideas about certain things. To be honest, I didn't take him seriously, but I was so impressed at how the concert was exactly how he had planned it to be - as much as I knew about it, anyway.