One Picture One Story Week #102

I was returning from my job and on the right side of road I saw a hut. I cannot stop myself to take picture. So I stopped and clicked a picture. When I saw this picture, I stayed quiet for few seconds. I do not know why but it touched me slowly. This place is not beautiful in a normal way. No green grass, no big houses, no clean street, only small hut of poor family. It is real picture. The land is dry, full of straw, like it is tired but still breathing. This poor family lives here. Not in comfort but with courage. Red poles holding the shade are old and rough but they are standing strong. Just like the people who live under them. The shelter looks weak but it protects them from sun, rain and also from losing hope. Here life is simple but very hard. The cows are quietly in open field. For many people cows are just animals but for this family they are life. Milk is food milk is money. Milk is tomorrow. Every cow matters. I can see they are taken care with love not with luxury. The family knows if cows are fine, they will survive. I saw a small boy walking near the animals. He is too young to be thinking about work but life forced him early. His clothes are dusty, his steps are slow but his eyes are sharp. He is not playing. He is watching and learning. This boy is growing up before his age. Childhood here is short. Their father is near the cart. That cart looks broken and tired but still useful. Like his father. All man wake up before sunrise. His body hurts his hands are rough but he is working. No complaints. No drama. Poor people don’t cry loud, they cry inside. The mother of this family is the silent power. Mother is also working as labour in fields. She is cooking something simple inside. Roti, Tea, chutney of green chilli. Her hands carry love. She knows how to make little things enough. Mothers like her are strong in quiet way. The walls in background tell another story. Big walls, strong walls. They separate worlds. On one side, people with comfort. On the other side, people with struggle. This family lives outside those walls but they stand with self respect. They do not beg. They don’t show off pain they just live. This picture made me think about my own life. How many times I complain for small things. Late reply bad mood. Little problems. But here, life itself is a challenge. Still they move forward slowly and patiently.

This is not just poverty, this is strength. This is reality. And honestly, it teaches more than many words ever can.