JPG

The otherday I was strolling down the musky, busy streets of Old Dhaka. I was tired after an afternoon of shifting through the unbearable traffic. Although, I was out hunting for an opportunity to capture human emotions in solid state packets, it was all in vein. I was exhausted, weakened, uninspired, cursing the people and myself in my mind.

Then I came across Anjoy, Jyoti and their father Soroj. Mr Soroj sells betel-leaves at the street's corner. Coming from the lower Hindu casts, their social or economical standards have seldom seen the light of improvement. What's even more heartbreaking is the fact that Anjoy and Jyoti, the two angel faced kids were orphaned at birth when their mother died of labor-complications. Since then, Mr Soroj has raised them by himself, one day at a time. Relatives have tried to coerce him into remarriage, but unlike many from his social standards and astonishingly so, he never did it. When asked why, he said " Their step mother will never treat them with the love they deserve" . I was dumbfound, thunderstruck at his devotion towards his kids. The male chromosome was never supposed to be this caring, this tending to his kids, and yet there he was... the
embodiment of "Fatherhood".

I realized then that I too was an orphan in this world. So I called out to the kids, "Hey do you know where *our mom is?" Then I pointed to the sky, and their gazes followed with a happy inquisition. Perhaps for a blink of eye, I was able to show them zen.

The blue sky was giving them comfort, their mom was hiding behind the clouds and their dad was right beside them...guarding against the many evils of the society, evil that guises themselves as 'customs' or 'ethics'.

Hallelujah, there's still some good left in this wretched world.

Taken in Shakhari Bazar
On the Nikon D90 + Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF