eLearning Task-Activity 2 by Hardy Shein Nyein Chan

Picture 2(a)

This is a picture of a street in India where there seems to be quite a busy road with taxis, family cars, van and other vehicles. A man in a blue checked shirt is riding along side a yellow cab. Perhaps, the man is trying to overtake the vehicles to escape the slow traffic.   

I believe that the focus of the picture is the man that is pulling the cart with what seems like two boys sitting on it. The man, who is pulling the cart, is pushing himself, along with the cart, forward. He looks strongly built with muscles on his arms. He has a white singlet for tops and a green sarong covering his lower torso and he was walking bare-footed on the wet street. Behind him, being pulled forward by his strong and firm grasp, was a cart which carried to boys. 

In my opinion, as a Singaporean, I do not really see this sort of situations in Singapore. This actually shows the poor state of India. People are so poor that they become human vehicles in a way, just to earn a living. I can’t imagine for such exhausting and tiresome trips, one could probably earn very little money that could, at most, barely get one a small piece of bread. 

The photographer is most likely trying to express how lucky people like us can be and how we do not appreciate it. While we are here stuffing our faces with food and enjoying a wonderful and comfortable living, there are people in places, like India, who are struggling and doing anything to survive.

I really like the photograph as its perspective and view of it really tells a lot. The man who was pulling the cart was not only having to exert a lot of strength, but had to bare walking bare-footed on the rough, wet floor of the street in India. 

If I was the photographer, I would have taken a close up picture of the passengers on the cart too. I can guess that despite their position of sitting on the cart, for all we know, they might not be living the life of luxury that one may perceive. Thus, it brings one to see how not one but many people are missing out on the privileges one enjoys now.