The Hidden Dreams

By: Nikita Kaul
Submitted: 02/24/2009

This picture was clicked in a very remote village in Kutch, Gujarat, India. Kutch is a drought prone area of Gujarat and offers miniscule options and opportunities for livelihood for people of this village. The migration of people to nearby or even far cities is so high that the inhabitants of this village are mostly above 60 men and women, daughter-in-laws of families and the children.

Mobility of women in this area is not too restrictive, simply because people can not afford to limit the women of their house to just within the house- it proves to be an expensive deal. The fact is that every one who is fit to work has to work. Children are seen as an asset, especially girls, for they can bring income to their house by working in the farms as laborers. The notion that a girl need not be educated is practiced by design here. When I say by design, I only mean that there might not be any societal hindrance if these young girls are sent to school but the fact that the family needs more and more earning hands bars education of girls. Their counterparts have to be educated as migration is indispensable. Education for boys is only a means to better employment opportunities in post migration phase.

I actually wanted to click the picture of this cart where the girls are seated in the picture. The moment I took out my camera, these girls rushed toward the cart, jumped on it and posed in sheer excitement! It actually made me wonder if they experience this excitement when they hear the school bell ring.