A minute in the life of a street kid

These pictures capture about sixty seconds in the life of a street child, a little girl who was engrossed in a small plastic paper packet. Sixty seconds is the time the light took to turn red.

This cute little girl with a very poignant face gave us a quick glance as the car halted, but otherwise she was least interested.

She was more interested in rummaging through a paper packet and we were curious as to what she was doing.

She seems to be threading something. Maybe a necklace?

She has threaded a pendant into a thick black thread and seems quite thrilled with her achievement,

Here she is, examining the pendant closely. She appears to love it! Small pleasures!

She is back to rummaging in the packet. And the little shiny pendant can now be seen clearly.

You might also like: Children playing in the river water in rural India
Or Street kids playing cricket or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India

More Images of children playing, working and studying: Children playing without toys or Child Labour or Working children or Photographs of children studying outdoors or Child Beggars

Or try the label "Children" for all pictures of kids on this website.

Portraits of a Gujarati tribal woman

She is an elderly Indian lady, and poor. You can tell that she has had a tough life. Standing and staring. Wearing her traditional Gujarati dress she was seen on the Somnath temple grounds in Gujarat. Gujarati women wear colourful clothes as opposed to the dull whites and blues of the Gujarati men. This woman is wearing a nose ring and has a large tikka on her forehead. The bright red and green (traditional colours of Gujarati textiles) pallav is covering her head. Her arm is tattooed, common amongst tribals.

Her son is by her side. By the looks of him this woman could not be more than fifty, but looks older due to the hard life and exposure to the sun. Or is he her grandson?

You might also like pictures of Women filling water from village well in India or Tribal women in India or Rural women carrying water and firewood or Village women in Gwalior District, India
or Women in burkhas or burqas - photos or Woman Gardener in India or Mothers and children
Or photos of Young girls enjoying an ice-cream bar or Young Women Walking Silhouettes or Silhouette profile of an Indian beauty
Or check out the scores of photographs of Indian Women on this blog.

Child in hammock

A poor child of a construction worker in India in a hammock made out of a piece of cloth.

You can find more images of children and also on poverty by clicking on the labels below this post.

Little girl carrying firewood in the forest

A working girl. Barely ten years old. And carrying wooden logs almost as big as her.

These photographs were taken at the edge of the Gir forest.

Mother and daughter walking home after collecting firewood

The mother too is carrying a fairly heavy load. And balancing it on her head. No hands! Must have been doing it from childhood.

You might also like to see pictures of Child Labour or Working children or Children playing without toys or
pictures of Mothers and children or see the many pictures filed on this website on Children.

If you are looking for image of women try these posts: Urban women workers carrying loads on their heads
Rural women carrying water and firewood or Women construction workers in India or Tribal women in India or photographs of Women filling water from village well in India or Village women in Gwalior District, India

For sketches try this post: Village women from India - sketches and silhouettes

Children playing in the river water in rural India

Trying to escape from the summer heat, these kids are frolicking in the river on a hot sunny day. A man is also bathing in the river. In the villages the river is used for washing clothes and at times utensils, bathing as well as for swimming.

Kids enjoying themselves playing in this shallow river adjoining a small village.

Another photograph of children playing in the river water.

(Higher resolution photos of the above are available).

You might also like Street kids playing cricket or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India or A minute in the life of a street kid

More Images of children playing, working and studying: Children playing without toys or Child Labour or Working children or Photographs of children studying outdoors or Child Beggars

Or try the label "Children" for all pictures of kids on this website.

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Poor but spirited

Images of poor children from the streets of Mumbai.

This young boy at a traffic light was high-spirited and cheerful despite not having any clothes to wear. When he saw my camera he saluted, a kind of mock salute I guess.

I was photographing the traffic when this young boy came and stood in front of me, kind of defying me to click his picture. And I did. He posed.

You might also like to see more pictures about poverty like Homeless in India - Photographs or Street kids playing cricket or Children playing without toys or Child Labour or Working children or Child Beggars

You can also check out these pictures: Boy on cycle with his mother in rural India or Young girls enjoying an ice-cream bar or Photographs of children studying outdoors or
Young Muslim boys
Or more images of Children 

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Merry Go Round

Colourful pictures of a merry go round in Florence, Italy. Pretty merry go round with white painted horses and a shiny exterior.

Father and child at a merry go round at Florence in Italy.

You might also like Children's Playground with slides, jungle gym and play station
Or Children playing without toys  or City parks and gardens in India

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Boy on cycle with his mother in rural India

This picture of a young boy on a bike with his mother speaks a thousand words...about working children, about poverty, about the bond between mother and child, about the poor state of roads in rural India. It is a photograph of a young boy, barely 12 years old, carrying his mother double-seat at the back of a bicycle.

You might also like Mothers and children or Fathers with their children or  Rural Schools and playgrounds in India or School children from rural India or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India or Child Labour or Working children
More images of Children or Rural India.


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Young girls enjoying an ice-cream bar

This is a candid photograph of two young girls in India enjoying an ice-cream on a stick.

More photos of women: Young Women Walking Silhouettes or Women filling water from village well in India or Road-side food stalls or street food or check out any of the labels below this post.
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Young Muslim boys

This is a photograph of young Muslim boys in traditional dress waiting to cross the road in fading light. The photo was taken on the side of a road near Airoli (near Mumbai, India) and near a suburban railway station. They are wearing a type of salwar kameez often donned by Muslims as a traditional dress.

You might also like: Street kids playing cricket or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India or Women in burkhas or burqas - photos

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Street kids playing cricket

These are pictures of poor children playing cricket in an abandoned ground in a public place in an urban area. Cricket is very popular in India but most children don't have a place to play as most schools do not have proper playgrounds.

A child hitting the cricket ball gingerly. The dark coloured ball can be seen directly above the edge of the bat.

Engrossed in the game of cricket.

The children enjoying the camera! One of them is posing with the bat.

More Images of poor children playing, working and studying: Children playing without toys or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India or Child Labour or Working children or Photographs of children studying outdoors or Child Beggars
Or try the label "Children" for all pictures of kids on this website.

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Child Beggars

These are a few poignant faces of poor little girls begging on the streets. There is something haunting about the expressions of these children. Once they look at you it is difficult to look away or forget them. A mixture of despair, anger and sadness is all too evident. 

All these photographs are taken through the car window and there are reflections but they don't take away from the striking photographs. Each of these photographs tell a story...of poverty, helplessness and tragedy.

In this photograph the girl has been handed over a baby to hold as this gets them more alms. The baby is very likely to be her own sibling, although there is no guarantee of it.

In India it is not just abandoned children who beg. In each of these cases the mothers of the children were begging alongwith them. Sadly, the presence of parents do not guarantee that there will be no matted hair, a clean skin, or a bowl of food. The sad eyes of this little girl stared back at me as she pressed her face to  the car window. Her mother was just a few steps behind.

This girl was looking sulky but she suddenly flashed a smile as I fished out my camera.

Related Images: Old Women Destitutes and Beggars  or Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men or Disabled Beggars or Homeless in India - Photographs or Slums in India - Aerial View
Or more photographs of poor children: Child Labour or Working children or Children playing without toys or Photographs of children studying outdoors o
Or try the label "Children" for all pictures of kidson this website.

Fathers with their children

These are photographs of fathers with their children. Indian men are mostly reluctant to participate in domestic chores but if these pictures taken on the streets are any indication they are able to take fatherhood seriously.

This photograph is taken in the narrow gullies of Ahmedabad and shows a father driving around his little son.

Here is a man taking his daughter to school.

A man with a baby girl clutching him for safety!

Another photograph of a family man with his daughter.

The following pictures are small images but I have posted them here because they reveal the special bond between father and child. In the first one you have the father holding his son in his arms.

Another photograph of a father holding his son in his arms.

You might also like: Mothers and children or Photographs of children studying outdoors or Urban school children in India

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City parks and gardens

These are photographs of people relaxing, jogging, and enjoying themselves in a well maintained municipal park.

This image shows a childrens park and some buildings in the background and in the foreground you can see people sitting on benches and chatting.

A couple sitting in a park on a bench and watching the world go by. A jogging track is seen in the image.

This a bird's eye view of the beautiful Priyadarshani park next to the Arabian sea in South Mumbai. The jogging track which runs parallel to the sea can be seen in the image. It is lined by palm trees. It is a vast piece of land belonging to the government but is being maintained by citizens groups. There are reports that the government plans to destroy this rare piece of open space in Mumbai. Already open spaces have been usurped by unscrupulous builders and while this land may belong legitimately to the government, people deserve the open space it provides.

Related Images: Swimming pools and people swimming or Children's Playground with slides, jungle gym and play station

Urban school children in India

These are photographs of urban children going to school.

This image depicts girls and boys riding bicycles to school in Pune. These children are children from middle class families in Pune.

This photograph was taken outside an elite school in Mumbai. School has just got over and the children are trooping out. Children usually travel  by school buses or cars.

 The rest of the photographs show poor children from municipal schools. Here are a group of young girls standing in front of their small municipal school in Thane.

These are boys from the same school.

This is a closeup of primary school children from a municipal school walking towards a dhaba or small makeshift tea stall in Mumbai

These are school girls in Pune waiting to cross the road.

These are a group of school kids being taken by their teacher for an outing in Puducherry in Tamil Nadu.

Related Images: School children from rural India
Rural Schools and playgrounds in India
Photographs of children studying outdoors

Child Labour or Working children

Child labor is a common sight in India and it happens not in so-called sweat factories, but just about everywhere...on the roads, in families, in shops, in hotels. Often the kids work for their own parents in their shops. The poor do it to supplement their income. Girls usually do most of the housework while boys take up heavier and outdoor tasks. The problem arises when parents do not send the children to school.

This is a small boy on a street in Aurangabad, working in some sort of workshop.

This is a heartrending picture of a very sad boy selling roses on the streets of Mumbai. The sadness is visible in his eyes. His face looks slightly swollen, perhaps due to lack of sleep.

This street child is better groomed and has probably been sent to sell childrens' books on the streets by his parents.

Here is a small girl carrying ground wheat from a milling shop. Most Indian families do not use ready-made wheat flour. They buy the wheat and get it ground from small mills which can be found at almost every street corner in cities and towns.

Here is a close-up of the same girl. This girl was seen on the outskirts of Mumbai. She doesn't look more than ten years old.

This picture is taken in a small town town in Maharashtra. Here is a boy busy with some work concerning loading and unloading.

Related Images: Photographs of children studying outdoors or Children playing Holi in semi-rural India
More pictures of poor children: Child Beggars or Children playing without toys or Photographs of children studying outdoors

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