Tiller of the Soil
India 2006 : A photo walk in Jaiselmer
I love the look of these beaky-faced men with the flowing moustaches, especially when they wear the long tailed shirt over their dhoti or skirt. You’d be surprised how masculine it looks because they tie the dhoti to make it look like a pair of pants. He wears a battered pair of ‘jooties’ which are the slipper like shoe of India. And his white or beige turban tells us that he is a Muslim. Only the Hindu wear those fabulously colorful turbans of red, blue and yellow. Although he looks fierce and maybe fearsome, he is a farmer who has come to town to buy seed and he holds seed in his hand as he inspects the quailty.
I look at him and imagine that he has walked miles and miles behind his buffalo as they plowed the dry soil of Rajasthan. I imagine his children asking him if he has brought them a treat from town when he arrives back in his village. And his wife asking if he has gotten a good price on the seed. I imagine him being happy to be back in his little home away from the bustle of Jaiselmer and the prying eyes of a strange woman with a camera.