This is a daily life documentation on village people in a stone quarry in Ayodhya hills at Purulia. They survive their life with such a low income with less scopes of earning sources.
Almost five years back, when AYODHYA upper damp was being constructed, if Japanese engineers didn’t left those unused stones in the valley, the scenario could have been different.
Tourists may find a beautiful place to visit in Ajodhya but it couldn’t change the livelihood of some people. May be they have to be depended on their husbands, doing household works or doing something else which didn’t make them self-earned member of her family, if those stones were not left, for another new turn.
Irrespective of housewives and girls take part in this job. They collect the stones from the hilly region and break it into small pieces. Old women are also a part of this work. They break the stones by hammering them with naked hands. Women used to do their household jobs in the work area. They washed their clothes and all in the nearby pond. Unitedly they do the stone breaking operation as well as household works. They have a very lively life. In spite of their tough lifestyle they also enjoy their tiffin times and entertain themselves. The only thing makes them more tensed when it comes to earning sources. Govt. strongly issued notice to not to dig the region for earning purpose. It causes natural loss. But in the other hand there is a strong chance to loose earning sources of these people. Life of these children are under severe risk. There is a very uncertain future knocking behind these people. They don’t know even what will be the next turn of their life. They are standing in front of such insecure life. Life and nature are both under danger. To save one, one needs to sacrifice. This is probably the saddest turn of my entire documentary.
The saddest part of this story was that when I asked them what will they do when these stone cells will get finished, which the engineers had left unused. And these village people neither have much fund nor permissions to blast a portion of that hill again. Really they don’t have any answers. They remain silent as well as the valley remains always.
About Dipayan Bose
Dipayan Bose is a Kolkata based documentary and street photographer. After completing his graduation, he started photography as a profession. He has worked as a freelance photographer under many organizations. Now he is a photography lecturer in ICAT DESIGN & MEDIA College, Chennai. According to him, Documenting human life, social issues and environmental stories through photography is not only a documentation process but also it’s a proof of a time or incident. So it’s a responsibility to keep the truth through the lense for future references.
