Ganesh, The Coolie

Ganesh as he staggers by, his pint-size frame bent double under the weight of the load on his head weighing nearly 28 kilos!

Ganesh`s profession, if you can call it one, is working as a coolie at Delhi’s Interstate Bus Terminus. It gets chilly to 3-4°C , in India’s capital in winter, but all he wears on his feet are plastic bath clogs. At night, he sleeps on the side-walk, near the Bus Station.

For lugging the overstuffed valise of someone bound for Chandigarh or Jaipur, Ganesh pockets around 30 Euro cents. His irregular white teeth flashing, says. „I am from a very poor family“.

India`s cavernous bus station and its Kiplingesque throngs of hurrying passengers in turbans and saris and vendors hawking cigarettes and other wares are a dead end for coolie children like Ganesh.