Travel Photo| India’s election day picture louder than words
AGRA, INDIA – FEBRUARY 2012 – Student holds onto a train seat as he travels home on a four hour train ride from Agra to Delhi for India’s national elections in 2012 (Ian Yacobucci/Borderless Travels)
India’s future:
Back in 2012 when I was training as a mountaineer with the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute I decided to visit Agra and the Taj Mahal before heading East to West Bengal. To make a long story short, the Indian airline I was planning to fly with went bankrupt and the day I planned to head back to Delhi was the day everyone was returning to their home cities to vote.
Luckily, with the help from the manager at my hotel, I was able to secure a seat on the overpacked train to Delhi. Elections are extremely important in the world’s second most populated country with more than 1.2 billion people. Religious, cultural, historical, economic and ethnic diversity make governing India a huge challenge for any politician and extremely important to the wellbeing of its populace.
Sitting on the train absorbing the chaotic atmosphere, watching people deep in discussion, people sleeping, eating and drinking as the chaiwala called out to the masses. I captured this quiet thought provoking image in the eye of the human cyclone. For me it represents the many hands of the country. It represents men, women, and children who make up a country in transition a country that wants change; that needs change.
What do you see in this image?
Happy travels,
Yak
