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The Overlooked

By Rohit Sinha

June 04, 2012 at 8:00 PM

: Many times we miss out the real India or Bharat in the quest for 7-8% GDP growth. After all it is only a number, which hardly means anything to the tribal population of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. They are simple ordinary people who strive for the best for themselves and their family. Yet, the rest of us pity their position rather than understand their aspirations or empathise with their cause.

: The environment is a very integral part of the life of the tribals. They see it as a measure of their prosperity

: Mud houses, soft colours, warm people make for a lovely sight.

: This was the first time these kids had seen a camera. Lives outside these villages are inaccessible to many.

: Household chores become a part of a girl’s life at a very early stage. She made dinner for us that night.

: Boys wearing school uniform yet don’t find themselves going to one for various reasons.

: Women and children using the shade on the side during a village panchayat meeting. Men still dominate the working on panchayats.

: Elders of the village showed a sense of loss. Trading their past for development is always tough call for them.

: Social awareness campaigns are a usual. Most times it is received with apprehension for the mistrust in the system to help them.

: A lady diffident about the redressal policies about the government. Security of one’s family and self is the biggest consideration in day to day life of the tribals.

: Women participating in a meeting, to create awareness about the MNREGA program. The colourful sarees’s are a spectacle.

: This old lady walked from another village to file a complaint against the sarpanch. Though her complaint would be of no consequence, you are touched by the hope in her eyes.

: Children are the life of the villages. The ever-curious make for good photographs.

: Austere indoors of mud house made for simple living. Even then warmth of the villagers to us ‘outsiders’ was incomparable.

: Untouched by roads, these lands are of unimagined beauty. This photo essay is part of a series on India Invisible. If you have a photo essay that connects with this theme share it with us.