Bang Bang Galore!
A Filmmaker’s BLOGELLA
Written by Steve Rosenberg
Blog 9 (The security guard)
Candid moments are like a drug to me and being quick on the draw is key. Today I see children working in traffic jams; many of them weave effortlessly through the traffic jams, urging motorists and passengers to cough up a few Rupees for a pack of gum, newspapers or roses. The visuals are so compelling that I can’t help parking my camera in my lap waiting to photograph another working child.
Some children agree to be photographed for money while respond angrily or simply. A seven- year old boy who sells newspapers wags his finger at me when he sees me raising the camera to my eye, as if to tell me don’t you dare take my photo. I hit the record button anyway. I am constantly shooting out the sides of the open aired auto rickshaw only to find that a thin layer of silt settling on my camera. These are great photo ops, but I fear my camera will pay the price.
I am forever concerned about the well being of my camera, yet the weight of all my gear, especially my forty pound tripod is my ball and chain. Lately, when I want to feel lighter, I have been storing my tripod with Mahmta, a twenty five year old wafer thin woman who acts as a security guard for the school. When I pick my tripod at the end of the day, I usually bring her baked goods and we exchange simple pleasantries. She and her husband and their two children live in a tiny corrugated metal hut at the back of the school and act as caretakers as well as lunchtime cooks for the three hundred children. Despite her meager means, she is lovely and radiant in her glittering purple saris. I am reminded of a line I once read in a DH Lawrence novel, “She is a woman who could blossom almost anywhere, even in a mud puddle.”
In addition to guarding the school, Mahmta also acts as the lunchtime cook for the entire school. Although, Mahmta does her best, the food consisting of large vats of white rice and watered down vegetable sauces is less than appetizing. I’ve noticed that John and Mio avoid this food and opt instead for quick stand up lunches at the local eateries. A few days ago, I needed my tripod and Mahmta was nowhere to be found, but in her tiny room where she lives and cooks meals a large grey rat poked his head out to greet me.
Rats are a part of many urban landscapes around the world and maybe it’s time for me to stop photographing poverty. In many ways, I feel like I am exploiting the poor. Maybe I don’t like bleak films after all.
