photos of the first day

Here are a few photos from the first day of the walk to Delhi.

Waiting to begin, sitting across the street from the abandoned Union Carbide factory where it all began.


The inspiration for the padyatra (read my last post). All of these children of gas-exposed parents all have serious congenital problems. I don't know what to say. It was a very emotional thing for me and photographing them was difficult, but I really want people to see, and so do they, so here you are. There's so much I feel like saying or writing about it but none of it comes out right. It just hurts very, very badly to meet these children. I don't have other words now.

Happy, hopeful padyatris. Ganesh, the man on the left, is just a really radiant man. You can't help but be happy around him. His friend is completely barefoot. I don't know how he does it. 750 kilometers is long way to walk barefoot. This photo is not mine, by the way -- it was taken by a new volunteer named Jenny, from London.

Just yesterday alone really shoved me a lot deeper into speaking Hindi. There is almost no one on the march who speaks any English at all. I had to speak Hindi all afternoon. It's a mental workout. Harder than the walking. If I make it to Delhi I'll be thinking in Hindi.