I often go to bed thinking of the various possibilities of a brighter tomorrow. But that night, on the muddy floor in Jwanta, a village in Vidarbha region, I lay sleepless switching my moist gaze between the ceiling fan and the picture of Jitender hanging on the wall. He must have hung himself right above my head where his wife Savita found him in the middle of the night.

From Between pyre and poverty

Once Vidarbha was known for its cotton or 'white gold’ production, but now Vidarbha is mostly known as the suicide belt of India. From 2012 to today, approximately 4,000 farmers committed suicide in the six districts in Vidarbha region – Amravati, Yavatmal, Wardha, Washim, Akola and Buldhana. Even a debt of Rs 10,000 was enough to push a farmer over the edge.

From Between pyre and poverty

There is no work even as a labourer for last two months - Seema Adhikane, 39, Tonglabad

From Between pyre and poverty

The wells are dry and the tap water works once in every fifteen days which leads to an acute shortage of clean drinking water. Fatal diseases among children and elders due to unclean water is normal here.

From Between pyre and poverty

So when a crisis-hit farmer kills himself, what happens to the widows and children? The widow is further pushed into the debt trap which multiplies her struggle to make ends meet. The families have to take to working as laborers in other peoples’ farms to sustain themselves. The children often drop out from the schools, realizing that their mothers can’t afford to pay their fee. In the tender age, they also work as laborers to provide for the family.

From Between pyre and poverty

Women usually walk up to 3 km to fetch water for the family to meet the bare minimum need of daily chores. Using toilets or taking a bath is a luxury they can't afford. There is no water in schools for kids, and they often come back to home for water and fields for toilet.

From Between pyre and poverty

Savita is one of such widow who is now left with the responsibility of her three daughters- also debt which her husband borrowed from private money lenders and banks for farming. She received a compensation of Rs. 100,000 from the government but the lack of rainfall in the last few years have led to crop failure and crushed her under the debt.

From Between pyre and poverty

The only treasure these women possess are their children, who provide them the strength to keep going.

From Between pyre and poverty

Vaishnavi Thakre, 13, Sonora Village
Vaishnavi was only 5 when his father committed suicide. She is now staying in a hostel as her mother can't afford to pay for her travel to senior school in Chandur. She misses being at home.

From Between pyre and poverty

Marut Rao, 83, Viashnavi's grandfather is now the only bread-earner of the family and almost spends all his time in the fields to take care of farms after his son died.

From Between pyre and poverty

Sangeeta, widow of Ashok lives with her two sons: Mangesh and Aakash. Tonglabad is one of the villages where Congress scion Rahul Gandhi visited during the election campaign in 'scorching Vidarbha heat' and waived off the debt for 4 families. However the situation hasn't quite improved, the younger son Aakash had to drop his studies to support the family.

From Between pyre and poverty

Children often drop school to help their mother in the fields or work as daily labourers.

From Between pyre and poverty

My husband spent Rs. 3.6 lacs on her daughter's wedding as dowry, he could never recover from the loss in agriculture and had borrowed money for the wedding of her daughter. He consumed pesticides he used for agriculture to end his life. - Chita Deepak Rao Khode, 50, Village- Vai

From Between pyre and poverty

On the shores of Bay of Bengal, in the dim morning light; I heard fishermen signing aloud as they pulled the heavy net with the help of a 200ft rope attached to it. They formed human chains on the either ends of the rope while pulling a net weighing more than a ton including the weight of fish, the stones, floats tied on the net and the junk entangled in the net. By 7 in the morning the sun was harsh, bodies covered with sand they sang even louder.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Fishermen call Bay of Bengal- Penn Kadal, which means a ‘feminine sea’ as it is calmer than Indian Ocean, which always is choppy. However the Bay of Bengal chooses forgo it's calmness once in while and causes destruction. It did so in1964. A massive cyclone changed the fate of this place forever. It destroyed Dhanushkodi, killed nearly 1800 people , swept away a train called Boat Mail Express, which was carrying a lot of students who used to travel from Dhanushkodi to Rameswaram everyday.

From Dhanushkodi TP

In the long human chain where Karadi and other fishermen of his group were working, I spotted Amudha, who is 26 years old and right behind her; her sister Selvi (shown in above photograph)who is 28. These two brave girls were among the group of men who were working to pulling the net weighing a ton or more, for which they are paid adaily wage of Rs. 50 to 100 while men share the weekly profits.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Amudha and Selvi were 2 and 5 years old when their mother brought them to Rameswaram as her husband married another women, leaving his wife and daughters without a divorce.

Who would have imagined that the history would repeat itself? Amudha and Selvi both were abandoned by their respective husbands and now taking care of their children together.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Sharanya became the first girl to get a Government job, to run the small thatched post office at Dhanushkodi earlier in 2017. It was a government officer from Delhi who spotted her in the small shop run by her family that sells seashells to tourists. She belongs to a family of fisherfolk.

Sharanya was given the laptop by government on completion of her studies. However, there is no electricity to charge it.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Karadi’s real name is Muniyaswami and he got involved in fishing when he was 21, after the small restaurant runby his father suffered losses . He was introduced to the dangerous method of fishing – Vedi Valla (blast fishing). It is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection.
He was an untrained boy and didn't realize how dangerous it could be. An explosive device went off inhis hand and helost his hand and his eyesight. The blast left scars on his and gave him his new name- Karadi or bear.

From Dhanushkodi TP

After recovering from the accident, it was hard for Karadi to find work.
A few people suggested that he take to begging as his deformed face and body would evoke sympathy. Karadi refused to be a beggar. A person without eyes and a hand could not be a fisherman. Yet faced with an insurmountable challege, he found hope and courage within himself. Karadi learnt the swimming with one hand and put all his strength in the work and appeared as the most enthusiastic and energetic fishermen among all.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Lakshmi Amma, an elderly lady who may be in her late 60s runs a small shop that sell trinkets and things to tourists. Lakshmi had a big happy family of 6 children. Five sons and a daugther. They had a small boat which her husband and son used for fishing.

After the death of her husband four years ago the family started to fall apart. The elder son became alcoholic, the youngest son got into a debt trap and of boat and the rest distanced themselves from him and the mother.

Lashmi Amma started taking care of the firstborn of her debt ridden youngest son, a little girl called Nirmala. The son had to leave Dhanushkodi to earn money and had three more daughters in the quest to father a son. Nirmala who has always been attached to her grandmother was left back here in Dhanushkodi, so that she can go to school, and her father didn’t have enough money to pay for it.

From Dhanushkodi TP

The village has two primary schools but no secondary school. Children often drop school after class 8th

The village has two primary schools but no secondary school. Children often drop school after class 8th. Nirmala on her way to school

From Dhanushkodi TP

Nirmala and Lakshmi share a special bond, which is beyond the limits of parenthood. They are the pillars of strength for each other. Nirmala is a shy kid and often don’t mingle with other children. She sits with her grandmother in the shop after the school. Lakshmi hardly gets time to leave the shop and cook; she fears losing the business, which is anyway very limited.

From Dhanushkodi TP

Post the cyclone, Dhanushkodi was decalared unfit for human habitation surviroes were rehabilitated in a small town nearby. A motley group of fisherfolk, came back to Dhanushkodi and have been living there. There is no electricity, nor there is piped water or any other ameneties. There is the sea and sand. The sea is so rich, it home to many exotic fish, crabs and lobsters. Indian and Lankan fishermen are constantly fighting over this bounty.

From Dhanushkodi TP