Young and beautiful
By: Louk Vreeswijk
| Aperture: | f/7.1 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 23.4mm |
| ISO: | 160 |
| Shutter: | 1/0 sec |
| Camera: | DSC-R1 |
Except that these girls are clearly sent out by their parents to get something in their baskets, they’re as young and radiant and beautiful as the children on last week’s photo. What I wrote there holds good here in almost the same way.
Here’s how the story could well continue for this girl after only a few more years. I cite from what my wife wrote about another girl whom we knew when she was as young and radiant and beautiful as the one on the photo.
“Last night I lay on a bed outside with R. looking at the stars. She told me how enslaved she is in her husband’s joint family having to do all the cleaning, cooking and washing clothes for a family of ten from 5 am to midnight every day with just an hour or two of rest in the afternoon. The sister-in-law who is unmarried does nothing at all – doesn’t even wash her own panties. Neither does the mother-in-law. She and the other daughter-in-law who has two unruly kids have to manage everything. If she goes out of the door to talk to a lady neighbour she’s called back in. A couple of months ago R. was very ill, semi-conscious for a while and weak. She’s enjoying the rest here back home for a few days because of Rakshabandan but is dreading going back to her in-laws family”.
In the span of a few years sent from paradise into slavery: the destiny of still many a girl in India.
Photos of the week: Girls in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh, India 2007
καιρός remembered 
Leave a Reply