The Story of Bade Miya and Chote Miya **Really Pic & Story Heavy**

[Raj_55555]

My apologies for the very long post, but it'll definitely be worth the read. At least I hope so, spent a lot of time typing this

First things first, I tried a different edit on the first one ignoring all the rules.. Does this suck?

My dad met with an accident recently. Although he didn't suffer any grievous injuries, unfortunately the same couldn't be said about my beloved bike which needed quite a makeover. As usual I took out my gears while my bike was being looked after. I started with this cute, little gentleman working for the garage, with whom our story begins.

He is probably the shyest street kid I've ever seen, I've seen enough to know that the kids brought up in these circumstances are unfortunately too bold and overly matured for their age; but this kid clearly had a lot of innocence still left in him. He was working his heart out, kept his head down and ran from one point to another when asked to fetch a certain range or a screw-driver. He was definitely the hardest worker they had in their garage, and wouldn't stop cleaning the parts until the last spec of dirt was washed off! It was very sad and yet he fascinated me for some reason, I tried talking to him in vain as he wouldn't even tell me his name. All I got were a few cute smiles from him now and then, and these few pictures before his elder brother came along. Here are a few pics of Chote Miya working very hard:

I spoke to the garage owner who gave me part of the story I was looking for. He told me that this kid only works there for the weekends and actually attends a govt. funded school for the rest of the days.
These schools offer cheap lunch to these poor kids in an attempt to lure them into attending classes, which, unlike most of the govt. policies here, does work!
Then came along his elder brother who was the polar opposite to his younger kin, and was very interested in my camera. After a while of bullying his other brother:

He came over to me, and grilled me about my camera and whether I was a reporter until his mom called him over. He reappeared shortly though, with a big smile. I asked him if he'd like to have some ice-cream,
his reply "Sorry, don't have any money!"
I said "It's okay, I'll pay."
his response "Can I share it with my kid brother?"

I spoke to the garage owner, and took them both for an icecream, where Bade Miya started a fight with the seller claiming these cost Rs. 3 and not Rs. 5, and that they'll find some other place to buy there ice cream..

Anyways, after getting our ice-cream he told me I should take some photos as it'll make for a good shot, and instructed his brother to pose for the camera. This kid was really sharp, I wonder where he might have been if he had a decent upbringing.

Afterwards both of them went back to work, but kept coming back to me frequently and I had a few more shots as time passed by.. Bade Miya told me what the real name of Chote Miya was and unfortunately it was a Bengali slang, that's why I keep calling them Bade and Chote Miya (Elder and Younger Gentlemen - roughly).

Bade miya also told me he really enjoyed studying, and that his younger brother just went to school for the food.. nice kid!

Just when I was about to leave, he dragged along his other bro from somewhere and requested me to take another picture as he was left out earlier. I obliged, although I wish the results were better.

It was an amazing experience, I am surprised how much I learn about people everytime I pick up my camera for street photography; changes your entire perspective!

Oh, and Bade miya also learned how to operate the camera from me, and took a pretty decent picture of me and chote miya together. He even operated the manual focus himself, that is something I had hard time teaching to some college kids (not photo enthusiasts). Unfortunately, I didn't shave that day and looked like crap, the consequence of spending the entire day in the oil and dust of the garage, otherwise I might have shared that one too..
But let's not make the post too big!

 

[pjaye]

Absolutely gorgeous Raj. The story telling of both the words and the pictures is so well done.

 

[pgriz]

Raj, great story and pictures - and kudos for you for getting to know them a little better. Their personalities certainly come through in your images. From a purely pictorial point of view, the first one kinda misses, in my opinion, but the black-and-white ones are solid - expressive and interesting. I find the b/w ones more engaging than the colour ones, probably because the colour adds almost a decorative dimension, whereas the b/w ones focus our attention on the details of the faces and surroundings.

 

[limr]

Loved the pictures, loved the story! It's such a different world than what I'm used to and whenever I get to see a little slice, I'm absolutely fascinated. Thanks for sharing!

 

[baturn]

Great photos ,great story. Thanks.

 

[Raj_55555]

Absolutely gorgeous Raj. The story telling of both the words and the pictures is so well done.

I'm relieved that you people like these pics.. A semi-decent post was long overdue. Thanks Barb..

Raj, great story and pictures - and kudos for you for getting to know them a little better. Their personalities certainly come through in your images. From a purely pictorial point of view, the first one kinda misses, in my opinion, but the black-and-white ones are solid - expressive and interesting. I find the b/w ones more engaging than the colour ones, probably because the colour adds almost a decorative dimension, whereas the b/w ones focus our attention on the details of the faces and surroundings.

It was a pleasure knowing them really, a very unique personality. Something I didn't add to the story was that I was told by the garage owner that their father is a drunk (as is the norm usually in such cases) so they are forced to work, luckily their mom understands the value of education.

Loved the pictures, loved the story! It's such a different world than what I'm used to and whenever I get to see a little slice, I'm absolutely fascinated. Thanks for sharing!

I was equally fascinated, and these kids were very unique to me as well even though I'm relatively used to see children of this age work (that's not a good thing). I was also fascinated by the care that Bade miya took of everyone even though he was a bit rowdy.. Before I left that day, he made me promise that I'll get him prints for him to show it to his mom. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll sure get them a copy. Thanks Leonore

Great photos ,great story. Thanks.

Thanks Brian, and you're most welcome!

 

[mmaria]

Oh, and Bade miya also learned how to operate the camera from me, and took a pretty decent picture of me and chote miya together.... Unfortunately, I didn't shave that day and looked like crap, the consequence of spending the entire day in the oil and dust of the garage, otherwise I might have shared that one too..
But let's not make the post too big!

Oh no, you won't just do that and not give us the picture!

GIVE US THAT PICTURE!

 

[Raj_55555]

Oh no, you won't just do that and not give us the picture!

GIVE US THAT PICTURE!

Noooo... I don't want to ruin my chances with you!!.. All right, but don't tell me I didn't warn you!!

I'm off with my camera for now

 

[The_Traveler]

This story is worth every bit of effort to get you that camera for me and for all of us.

The camera makes permanent all your thoughts of what you see and allows you to see more.
Keep it up for yourself and for all of us.
Maybe someday, I'll hear about a famous photojournalist that I knew as Raj_55555

 

[limr]

What you need to understand, Raj, is some of us girls like a little scruff on a man

 

[AmiL]

Raj - Street photography at its best!!
I really liked the photos. The lighting, editing and presentation are superb!
I hope your bike is at tip-top condition now

 

[frommrstomommy]

What you need to understand, Raj, is some of us girls like a little scruff on a man

Yep, a little scruff is nice sometimes for sure!

And thank you for sharing.. I always love seeing your posts.

 

[Pejacre]

A wonderful view into a world few of us will ever have the opportunity to step into - thank you Raj, both for the fantastic shots and the story to accompany them.

 

[Sarmad]

When I read the post is too long I out of my sheer laziness just carelessly scrolled down to see the photos, Damn I had to scroll back to the post and read it all.

Wonderful story, and kudos to you for takin'em for chuski I'm so shy I don't think if I shall ever be able to do that. There are lot of stories here in my area too, but I'm a little reluctant to street shooting and fear that people might not like it, me taking photos like that in a bazaar.

Anyways, That's one step in photojournalism, keep it going.

 

[JimMcClain]

Raj, this was a great read - very interesting story presented in words and pictures. And very good pictures too. Well, except for the first one. The washed out background distracted me. But the rest are quite good, especially the B&W ones. And Bade didn't do so bad on that picture of you and his brother. Very entertaining. Thank you.

Jim