photo gallery: Scavengers Tale
"...It is strange to witness a part of our civilization going back to the days of gathering for sustenance- but in an entirely different context. The cities’ every increasing garbage spewed out in tonnes everyday has become a new means of livelihood for the community of rag pickers. Some of them were farmers and labourers in the agricultural lands who lost their land to wealthy builders who took over the land that was once far away from the city.
As an eventual consequence of becoming landless they have taken up to picking garbage because of the proximity of the land fills to their ancestral homes. While many others migrated to huge cities in promise of a livelihood these communities have realised that only land fills could feed them.
It was interesting to note, through the course of my documentary, that they all shared a common bond, with an evident dignity of labour and a burning desire to make ends meet. My attempt was to document the scavengers as a community and study their struggles to live a life in an environment that was soon turning urban. I have tried to understand their world which is so different from mine and to get to know the real people whose job none would envy..."
