Unblessed on Earth but Connected to Heaven

This post is very close to my heart as I travelled to the 'Other India' to shoot this. I stayed with one of these families for a couple of days to understand how to 'survive' when you have been branded as a witch due to various reasons. My focus was on children of these so-called witches who aren't directly in the line of fire but carry the burden of humiliation nonetheless...sometimes for their entire lives...here are a few stories of these unblessed children.

It has been 10 years, but 150 km away from that fateful day, Mani is still trapped. Her mother was branded as a witch and hacked to death by her own son (Mani’s brother). Mani wants to smile again, but being a ‘witch’s daughter’ isn’t easy.

Pappu’s eyes betray his close encounter with death. His mother was killed by his relatives for “consuming his father”. Pappu’s occasional smile is a reminder of the lost innocent. Abandoned by all, 12 year Pappu only wants some friends to play and go to school with.

Life came to a standstill for Basi Kui after she was attacked by her neighbors for allegedly learning witchcraft from her ‘witch’ mother. Like all ‘witches’ children, Basi Kui stares at an uncertain future ahead of her.

Comments

Rana AyyubNovember 15, 2009 at 8:54 PM
awesome danish..look forward to a lot more
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UnknownNovember 15, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Excellent danish... Very good work. U have well captured the facts, which is stranger than fiction for sure. Love to see more from you. keep it up..
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Faisal AhmedNovember 16, 2009 at 1:16 PM
bhai ur best work till date...ur pics are like stories..which can be read and re - read...way to go man....

p.s. why the fuck do u not make a decision...u r wasting ur talent..
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Danish SiddiquiNovember 16, 2009 at 7:15 PM
thanks evryone...
@faisal..already made up my mind...waiting for the right opportunity
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crookedlinesNovember 16, 2009 at 9:01 PM
These are truly untold stories. Their eyes speak a thousand words...all other explanation is worthless.
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hoo haa!November 18, 2009 at 7:25 PM
great balls of fire working within you man.
I liked ur spirit of visual communication in exploring or rather re-telling stories
(along with your captions).
Very cinematic with utter honesty
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AnonymousDecember 27, 2009 at 11:48 PM
strong theme...maybe you should explore a photo-essay on the same...these marginalised stories need to be talked about more...
- sushmit
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