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.

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.

A poor foreigner in Goa

These are photographs of a white man who looks like a destitute on a Goa beach. He is surrounded by stray dogs and what looks to be garbage and is wearing a dirty vest and cotton shorts. He is possibly a Russian (because Goa is full of Russians). It was an odd sight to see a white person who appears to be a tramp! He looks well-fed, but one wonders why he is rags and hanging out with stray dogs on a Goa beach.

A closer look at the man. It makes one wonder whether he is living on the beach.

Related Images: Abandoned ship in Goa or Goa beach shacks or check out all the pictures from Goa. Or Or try the label Beaches for all beach and sand photos.

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Clothes Lines

These are pictures of clothes hung out to dry in the sun, on the streets, on balconies, in the fields in rural Indian and on terraces of houses. Unlike developed countries hardly anyone in India uses dryers to dry their clothes. This might result in the uglification of buildings and the streets, but it saves the earth from green-house gases. And strangely enough, I found that there was something artistic about these clothes which were hung out to dry. Some type of random art.

This first one shows some trousers and shirts hanging out to dry on a fence. Slum dwellers who live under a flyover bridge have hung their clothes here.

This building looks ugly because of the tarpaulin (which protects the houses from the Mumbai monsoons) and also the clothes which are hanging out to dry on the small balconies and even the barred windows. These are very tiny apartments and have no other space to dry their clothes.

Clothes drying in a backyard in rural India.

People dry their clothes wherever they can, and that includes in a ditch near their hut and near some abandoned pipes. Possibly this is near a construction site.

A novel way to dry clothes, and that too in the shade! These clothes have been hung out to dry in a farmer's field, under an open water tank.

A ramshackle clothesline in rural India. A clothes line on thin wooden branches, a kind of makeshift clothes line. Clothes hanging in the open air dry quickly in Indian weather, even if it rains!

Related Images: Dhobi Ghat in Pune

Tramps on the streets of Italy

These are photographs of poor men on the pavements in Italian cities. They were not women tramps that one could see, unlike in India which has both men and women on the streets and ofcourse many more of them!

This tramp was lying on a fancy pavement in Bologna, Italy. His posture and the way his belongings are lying around him makes one feel that he could be a drunk although the can next to him is a soft drink can.

This tramp certainly looks as if he is very poor. He is eating of a piece of paper. There was also a wild look in his eyes.

This is a closer look at the blue-eyed tramp. He looks very old, probably nearing the age of 80.

Images of poverty from India:  Old Women Destitutes and Beggars or Homeless in India - Photographs  or Disabled Beggars  or  Child Beggars  or Old and elderly women in India  or Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men  or Man sleeping on tractor

Old and elderly women in India

These are photographs of old and elderly women photographed on the streets of India. None of these women were seen begging. It is known that the poor elderly have a difficult time in India, often abandoned by their families because of poverty.

This portrait of an old woman was shot in the forest of Matheran. The picture was shot on a cell phone, a Sony Ericksson which has a decent camera function. The woman's eyes seem clouded, perhaps with cataract. She could barely see. Her skin was leathery, her hair uncombed and a piece of cloth over her head protected her from the sun on the hills of Matheran. She was wandering about alone, looking for firewood. She was not a beggar, nor a destitute, just poor.

This picture was taken in a town in North India. The woman seems partially dressed and poor, but she was not begging, but she was possibly a beggar or destitute.

This photograph was taken in Puducherry in South India. The woman was resting on the streets and was probably a poor saleswoman.

The photograph below is part of a larger photograph. The old woman villager is resting in the shade of a vegetable cart, to protect herself from the harsh sun of Rajasthan. She is wearing a large nose-ring. Her large and chunky jewellery is very much part of the traditional dress amongst tribals in that region.

This photograph juxtaposes women from two different backgrounds. Taken in a busy cloth market in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, it shows a middle-class woman looking at the wares in the cloth shop. A poor scraggly woman passes her by, shivering in the cold winter of Ahmedabad.

Related Images: Old Women Destitutes and Beggars or  Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men or
Urban women workers carrying loads on their heads or Women construction workers in India or an elderly
Woman Gardener in India

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.

Man sleeping on tractor

This is an image of a wiry young man, probably the driver of a tractor, sleeping in an odd position on the tractor or a similar vehicle. It is hard to imagine anyone taking a nap this way as only the upper half and lower half of his body are resting on a hard surface. Half his torso is hanging in mid-air and he doesn't seem to be the worse for it. He was fast asleep when this photograph was clicked.

Another photograph of a sleeping man - a labourer taking a break from work. He is sleeping on some type of packed material lying on top of some old tyres. It is so typical India. People working long hours, and not getting enough sleep at home! Or perhaps he is simply taking his siesta!

You might also like: Workers taking a break
Or check out images of poverty from India:  Old Women Destitutes and Beggars or Homeless in India - Photographs  or Disabled Beggars  or  Child Beggars  or Old and elderly women in India  or Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men or Drunk and drugged people lying on the roads

Disabled Beggars

These are photographs of disabled beggars from India.Beggars in India are not as poor as they appear to be. They live poorly and sadly but often have money, often stashed in the form cash either in a bank of in their pockets.


The first image is of two disabled beggars in a market in Hyderabad's old city. The man who is standing is blind and the man who is bent forward appears to be stricken by polio. 

This photograph is shot in Mumbai with the part of the iconic High Court building in the background. The area is a famous square in Mumbai - called Fort or Fountain. The beggars are traveling in a cycle type cart with large wheels which the beggar can drive himself.

This disabled beggar is sitting on the staircase of a railway overbridge at Thane suburban station. Many of these disabled people are struck with polio. Unable to work and nowhere to go.

This photo of a beggar woman being wheeled in a small makeshift wheelbarrow is taken in Pune.

Related Images: Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men or Old Women Destitutes and Beggars
Photos depicting poverty in India: Homeless in India - Photographs or Photos of thatched huts from the Chennai area
Photos of slums:  Mumbai aerial view - pictures on the way out of Mumbai or Slums in India - Aerial View

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Sketches and drawings of thatched huts

These are pencil drawings of thatched huts in India. They are based on photographs taken by me in rural Tamil Nadu, between Chennai and Puducherry.

In this you can see that dried vegetation has also been applied to the walls as well as the roof. These layers protect the harder layers inside from water and other elements of nature. The inner layers are usually made from natural material like mud and clay, although at times brick is used.

This sketch is also of a hut from the same area in Tamil Nadu. An umbrella can be seen outside the hut as well as some cycles. A thatched hut is the choice of the poor as it is a low-cost option.

This sketch is not one of a real thatched hut, but a model one in the tourist place of Dakshinachitra.

Related images: Sketches of traditional Indian houses or  Photos of thatched huts from the Chennai area (on which the sketches on this post are based) or Photographs of houses and huts from Dakshinachitra in South India (these are the old traditional houses of South India) or Huts in an Indian Village (huts with cobbled roofs)
For ancient Chinese architecture: Chinese style architecture sketches of the Forbidden City

Slums next to the Mumbai airport runaway

These are photographs of unauthorised slums adjoining the Mumbai airport runaway. Dangerous for the residents of the huts, and also very noisy. It is dangerous for the aircraft as well because crows tend to collect around the garbage near the slums. Both the photographs were taken from inside the airplane, through the window. In the first picture you can see the wing of the plane which forms the foreground, and the slums the background.

This is a clearer picture of the slums next to the airport runaway.

Related Images: Slums in India - Aerial View or Homeless in India - Photographs or check out all posts on Sanitation.

Old Women Destitutes and Beggars

These are pictures of old and elderly women who are beggars. They are destitutes, probably abandoned by their family.


This woman was seen outside the Pan Chakki, a tourist site in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. She could barely see.

This old woman in a pink shawl was begging for alms outside MacDonald's, a fast-food restaurant near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. She was squinting at us from behind her thick spectacles and had a slightly puzzled expression on her face.

This is a close-up of the same woman. Her leathery and wrinkled face did not show any emotion as I took her picture. 

A destitute woman eating roti on the streets of Puducherry in Tamil Nadu.

This elderly woman was on a suburban railway station bridge begging for alms. A one rupee coin is in the tin in front of her. In the background is a two-wheeler parking lot. The woman had a cynical and mistrustful expression on her face although she did not object to me taking the photo.

Related Images:  Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men or Disabled Beggars or Homeless in India - Photographs or Child Beggars or Slums in India - Aerial View

Water Pipeline in India

Water pipelines in urban areas in India are often encroached upon by slums. If there is a leakage it can result in contamination of water.

This photo is of a part of the large pipe which carries water to the city. Here the pipeline itself does not have slums on it, but around it. In the middle of the pipelines there is litter and garbage.

Pigs are feeding on the garbage inbetween the water pipelines. These pigs are not strays, but belong to the slum-dwellers. To the right of the picture you can see a hut which is touching the pipeline and children playing on it. A boy in a red shirt is running after the pigs in the garbage.

The water pipeline looks different in serene surroundings. This particular pipeline is on the Mumbai-Pune highway.

Related Images: Water Pump for irrigation in India or Syntex Water Tanks

Other related images: Garbage on the roads in India or Litter and garbage on the rail tracks

Destitutes and beggars - portraits of old men

In India family ties maybe strong, but poverty is what finally counts. The number of old and destitute people on the streets of India are high because neither the state nor their families look after them. These are pictures of some elderly men in different cities of India.

This first picture was shot in Mulund, a suburb of Mumbai. This old beggar man in a red bandana and saffron robes came dashing towards the rickshaw we were traveling in, just as the light turned red.

The two pictures below are of an old beggar at Mammalapuram, a popular tourist site near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Many beggars wear saffron as it is a sacred colour in Hinduism and gives them "respectability". The beggar below is not only wearing a saffron lungi, he has a large tilak on his forehead and brown holy beads around his neck. If you don't mistake him for a godman, he could pass off for a devotee.  A walking stick, a small dirty blanket, remnants of food and a plastic water bottle lie near him, to keep him company the whole day. In the background is a part of a temple at Mammallapuram and some tourists.

The same old man shot from another angle, this time without the temple background. A green fence and a lawn form the background of this picture.

The picture below was taken on a railway pedestrian bridge at Thane railway station. People whizzed by, not noticing the old destitute man, who seems homeless.

This is a closer look at the man who is fast asleep. His hair is completely white, his banyan or vest unwashed and he is clutching a synthetic jacket of some kind to cover his body. His meagre belongings lie next to him as well as a water bottle which looks old and dirty.

This old beggar seen in the portrait below has been shot on the streets of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

The smiling man below was caught on camera in central Mumbai, near Dadar. A  municipal bus is in the background. He seems quite organised, and not as badly off as the other beggars. He looks healthy, his stick fancy, and the tin box he is carrying is a sturdy metal piggy bank! His lips are red from the stains of paan. He may be begging, and maybe homeless, but he certainly does not look to be starving.

When I fished out my camera, he actually turned coy.

Related Images: Elderly Indian men in ethnic clothes
Or Old Women Destitutes and Beggars or Child Beggars or Disabled Beggars or Homeless in India - Photographs or Slums in India - Aerial View