Fisherman's Family, Madras

An Indian mother and her children, Madras

 

"Wannakil" --"hello," I said with a smile, right hand in front of my face with fingers up, palm slightly out in the South Indian gesture of casual greeting.

"Wannakil," replied the young Indian mother. She smiled, as did her daughter and the toddler. The little boy regarded me with an intelligent, quizzical look.

Still smiling and with a question in my eyes, I tilted my camera slightly.  With a pleased smile, she nodded. They seemed pleased, even honored, to have me make their photograph.

"Nandri" -- "thank you," I said with a repeat of the salute-type gesture.  She responded in kind, we both smiled, and I moved on down the street in search of other opportunities to make brief but no less genuine personal contacts with the people of India. Photographing in more than 30 countries on five continents has taught me that people in other countries are can be amazingly gracious and patient. If you show them friendliness, you will most likely get friendliness in return.  

Whether this smiling young woman and her three bright-eyed children are actually the family of a fisherman, I’ll never know. But I’ve always thought of them that way, finding them as I did on the sidewalk in front of their home just inland from Madras City Beach. Perhaps they were waiting for their husband and father to return with the day’s catch.

Olympus OM camera, 35mm f2 Olympus Zuiko lens, Fujichrome 100D slide film.

Photograph and text copyright 2022, David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone

My book, Backroads and Byways of Georgia, is now out of print, although copies are apparently still available from Amazon, and possibly other sources. The second edition is now in the editing stage and is scheduled to be released on December 6th.