The unending vast range of pine forests set among the lofty peaks of western Himalayas were drenched in heavy rains. The sheet of clouds covered the mountains, roads and forest too. In one of my strolls under the dense fog, I stumbled upon a curiously attractive stone house; I couldn’t help but knock on the little door to check who inhabited it. I entered a tiny room filled with smoke and saw a teenage girl cooking food; she rubbed her eyes and came closer to try and identify this intruder. A fortunate encounter led to photographing a series portraying the tenderness in their tough-life.

Manisha and Babita, both aged 13, were neighbors and friends. While Manisha was bold, had beautiful almond shaped eyes and thick long hair, Babita was a feeble girl who was often beaten by her grandmother if she didn’t obey her. Obeying meant working all day long. She was 13 but looked like an 8 year-old kid.

In most of the villages of Uttarakhand, India, girls aged 10 are supposed to cook, help their mothers in fields, take cattle for grazing all day long, and collect wood for fuel. Life in the mountains is not easy, and particularly for women. Sadly, these teenage girls were already being treated like women; losing their precious moments of childhood. But I wanted to photograph the child in them who perhaps is more connected to nature and still retained its innocence.