It’s long been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. However, when the picture is supplemented with a background story, it pervades our psyche in an even deeper manner. And that is exactly what photographer Brandon Stanton has been doing since 2010 when he started off the ‘Humans of New York’ (https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork) project. One man with a camera roams the streets of New York and captures not just pictures, but stories, dreams, ideas and aspirations on his lens. And when this shutterbug was asked by the UN to travel to various countries and do the same across the world, we were thrilled that India figured on his tour itinerary. As Brandon wraps up his Indian sojourn, here are the 12 most powerful images he clicked here.
1. Of Marriages – Love And Arranged
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"Some people still prefer the arranged marriage, especially in the countryside where tradition is still strong. The thought is that your parents know you very well, and will make the decision based on experience and not emotion. The divorce rate with arranged marriages is lower, because both families are heavily involved and there are many people committed to making the match work. But the tradition is on the way out. It used to be that you didn't even see your wife until your wedding day, and you fell in love after your wedding, as you learned to support and care for each other. But today there's Whatsapp and Facebook, so keeping two people apart is almost impossible. 'Love marriages' are becoming much more popular than arranged marriages, and even arranged marriages involve much more interaction than they used to. Many families still choose to uphold the appearance of an arrangement. Their children will come to them and say: 'I fell in love.' And they'll say: 'OK, let us arrange it.'"
(Jammu, India)
2. An Honest Living
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"If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?"
"If you feed your children with food earned from corruption, they will be corrupt. If you feed your children with food earned from honesty, they will be honest."
(Dharamshala, India)
3. Inside An Obese Mind
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"I've been overweight all my life. But I broke up with my boyfriend last year, and things weren't going well, so it got worse and worse. I'd try to diet, but I'd eat something that I wasn't supposed to. I'd try to go to the gym, but I'd leave early. I was trying to lose weight because I felt like I needed to be a different person. But time has passed now, and I think I'm approaching weight loss with a much more positive attitude. I know that I can be happy without losing weight. Sure, I wish I could wear prettier clothes. I wish I could take a photograph without my face looking like a football. But I know that I'm not my weight. And it's hard to come to that conclusion. You really have to battle to separate your self-image from your weight. Because weight is always the first thing that somebody sees. Somebody will see you after a few years, and their first comment is about the weight you've put on. Maybe I've become a better person these last few years. Maybe I've been a great friend to someone. Maybe I've read a lot of books and become smarter. Maybe the reason I've put on weight is that I've got a great job that can be stressful and doesn't leave me time to go to the gym."
(New Delhi, India)
4. The Importance Of Faith
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"I used to drink a bottle a day. But then I met my guru."
(Amritsar, India)
5. The Lesser Known Gandhis
"My father was very simple, but everyone respected him. The former president of India came to his funeral, even though we weren't a wealthy or powerful family. Everyone saw my father as a peacemaker. Whenever there was a fight, he'd put himself in the middle and beg for it to stop. Once there were two groups of men fighting, and my father ran over to break up the fight. Someone threw a stone and it accidentally hit my father in the head. He was so respected, that as soon as the stone hit him, everyone went calm."
(New Delhi, India)
6. Confessions Of A Refugee
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"I think the great fear of every Tibetan is that our story will die out. It's been over fifty years now since Tibet lost its independence. Our monasteries have been destroyed. The Chinese language curriculum is being mandated in our schools. More and more Han Chinese are moving into Tibet-- building homes, building malls. I think now we are all starting to think that the Chinese are too powerful and that the dream of returning home is fading away. I think our mistake was that we didn't keep up with the world. We held on to the monastic tradition too tightly. We didn't embrace modern education, and so we weren't connected with the outside world. Because of that, we lost our freedom silently. I think our challenge now is to educate our children in a modern way, so hopefully they will be better at sharing our story."
(Dharamshala, India)
7. Long Live The Resistance!
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"Before I went to the protest that day, I stood in front of a picture of the Dalai Lama, and I swore an oath: 'If I am arrested, I will not give the names of any of my friends.' They put me through eight months of interrogation. They burned cigarettes on my face. They made me stand in ice for four hours, until my skin froze into the ice, and then they pushed me forward. They gave me electric shocks on my tongue. They told me they were going to kill my father and mother. After eight months, I had a trial. Two guards stood next to me when I testified, and they hid electric shocks in my sleeves in case I said something they didn't like. I was sentenced to four years. Sometimes I'd get so hungry I'd eat toothpaste. And sometimes I'd get so thirsty, I'd drink my urine. When I finally got out, I weighed 39 kilograms."
(Dharamshala, India)
8. Lessons From Buddhism
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"I have a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy. Now I want to learn as many languages as possible so I can teach as many people as possible."
"What do you think is the most important thing that people can learn from Buddhism?"
"Compassion. Everyone suffers and everyone needs happiness."
(Dharamshala, India)
9. Observation VS. Experience
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"When my children are settled, I am going to retire and devote more time to my meditation. Every time you meditate, you get a little further from the world. You become more and more like the lotus, which grows in the water, but never touches the water."
"So what's the benefit of withdrawing from the world?"
"Meditation is like a glass of juice. I can describe the glass of juice to you. But you're not going to know the glass of juice until you taste it."
(Jammu, India)
10. Things We Do For Love
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"We practiced for about thirty minutes before he actually called my parents. I pretended to be my mom, and tried to think of all the reasons she'd object to us getting married, and he practiced his rebuttals. The actual call was a lot easier than the rehearsal."
(New Delhi, India)
11. How Patience Works
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"I'll do this until something better comes along. Then I'll do that."
(Kotla, India)
12. Not A Child’s Play
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"I can't see, so he guides me. Whenever I make a sound, he will come running. He reads to me. He cooks for me. And he got the second highest ranking in his 6th grade class."
(Nurpur, India)
(All quotes taken from HONY’s Facebook page)
