Poignant images of life on the streets

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For Murugan, street was once his home. Many-a-time,  countless, as he observes, had he ventured into the dark streets of Kochi hunting for a pack of damaged bread discarded from nearby bake houses. Now, after overcoming the obstacles of a penurious life, Murugan has come to Thiruvananthapuram to exhibit 70-odd photographs that he had taken on the misery of life on the street.The seemingly humble autorickshaw driver, who has donned the role of a rescuer for over 5,000 innocent souls on the street, feels that it was his life and the bitter childhood experiences that prompted him to venture into the world of charity work."The journey from Peerumedu to Kochi showed me how miserable life can become. First, my father deserted us when we were in Peerumedu. The rest of the family then moved to Kochi. My mother and I had to wander in the streets in search of bread. Later, I joined a group picking rags from the streets, thereby earning our livelihood,” Murugan said.Murugan spent a chunk of his life in various shelter homes in Kochi. Later, when he became mature enough to bear the responsibilities of an elder son, he bought an autorickshaw and began to carve a life for the hapless souls living on the streets.At the exhibition held at Gandhi Park on Tuesday, Murugan lined up frames that he had taken from various parts of the country. All the snaps reveal deep pangs of pain of homeless children, orphans wandering in streets, child labourers, leprosy-stricken aged and sex workers who were forced into the profession.A mere glance through the photos would leave a sombre imprint of life. Most of the images that Murugan has snapped are from slums and shabby alleys haunting cosmopolitan cities. When asked about his favourite picture among those displayed, he pointed to one which had a child picking up scrap from a canal."This was taken from Vadodara in Gujarat. A myth-breaking snap which questions the claim that Gujarat has developed a lot. The marginalised sections  in the state are still living in misery,” he said.The event was organised by ‘We love Murugan’, a social network community formed to promote novel initiatives undertaken by Murugan.The photo exhibition was inaugurated by K Muraleedharan MLA. Mayor K Chandrika, Sugathakumari and V Surendran Pillai also attended the function.