View allAll Photos Tagged rickshawpuller
I am on a human powered tourist rickshaw ride operated by the Kyoto- EBISUYA Higashiyama Rickshaw company and have been going around the historic Gion district of Kyoto, Japan. (see previous pictures earlier in this album). I opted for the half hour ride and so after showing me several interesting sights, my rickshaw puller guide winds up the tour with this selfie in front of a traditional Japanese wooden house with the Yasaka Pagoda in the background. Considering the wide entrance, closed with wooden flap doors, I assume that the building in the foreground is some sort of a public facility or offices of some sort. Notes about the Yasaka pagoda appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
In kolkata when I roamed the city i surprised one thing was the "mode of Transport", Yes there are many different types of transport like Bus, Train, Tram, Ferry, Taxi, Auto and the Rickshaw pullers. I am very much heard 2 things about Kolkata one is Taxi and the other one is Rickshaw pullers. The moment we planned the trip to Kolkata I decided to have a story about the Rickshaw pullers.
I tried to capture them with the environment they live, where they pull the rickshaw and the people to interact. I tried to covered as much as possible with their actual daily activities rather than having a staged one. My photographs may not fully convey their life and work style but i tried my level best.
I personally felt very bad since they almost all are over 40 years old and they pull the rickshaws in the hot sun and dusty, crowded and narrow streets.
few points about the Rickshaw pullers from the existing documentary around the world;
Hand-pulled rickshaws came to India most likely from China during early 20th century. Kolkata is the only city in India, and one of the few around the world where hand-pulled rickshaws are still operating. Most of them are from the neighboring states like Bihar and Jharkhand and belong to uneducated and poor families. Most sleep, eat and live on the city's crowded pavements.
In most cases they do not own the vehicles, but pay a sizeable portion of their earnings to hire them.
According to the statistics, there are 6500 registered, and a few more thousands unregistered, hand-pulled rickshaws on the streets of Kolkata.
In 2006 the Government of West Bengal proposed a ban on the hand-pulled rickshaw; the authorities had decided the sight of barefoot humans pulling other humans around the city was bad for Calcutta’s image. Their union went to the High Court to oppose the ban and now this case is pending before the court of law since August 2006. All of them are contributing from their earnings to fight against the ban.
The Government is planning for other alternative work to provide them with because if they will stop working as rickshaw pullers they will lose everything they own.
I have returned to that pleasant sakura (cherry blossom) lined canal road in the Shirakwa area of the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan. I was debating where to go next as I was pretty pooped at the end of an unbelievably hectic day with an early start and my wasting a lot of time and energy walking around in loops in a totally wrong part of the district. The rain gods solved my predicament for me when I it started drizzling pretty heavily and I had to beat a hasty retreat after this! Between me and the building at the far end is a canal lined with willow trees, high-class restaurants and ochaya, (traditional Japanese tea houses), many of which have rooms overlooking the canal. The building seen here is probably one of the high end resaurants overlooking the canal, which runs between me and the building.(Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Kolkata is a city of happiness. This man is a rikshaw puller and no doubt his life is not comfortable. But a man with this broad and natural smile … must be very very happy … still !!!!!!!!
Venue : Sishir Market, Sealdah, Kolkata ( Calcutta ), West Bengal, India
Date : 11-10-2010
Time : Early Morning
Camera : Canon 450D
Lens : Canon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS
Shooting Mode : Aperture Priority
Shutter Speed : 1/500
Aperture Value : 5.6
ISO : 800
Focal Length : 50.0 mm
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Yesterday I spent the entire day till 4 in the morning walking around the streets of Kolkata. The streets were packed with people out to celebrate the puja time. Yet in all that chaos around, the stillness of this moment caught my attention.
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Shibu, a 10-year old Bihari migrant, is a rickshaw puller in Gurgaon (India). With his father working the night shift, Shibu does his bit during the day. Struggling to pull the weight of more than one passenser, his feet barely reach the pedal. He coyly admits, "Most of the money I make is through tips, people give me a little more than the standard rates."
Sadly, despite my initial reservations about riding on a human powered rickshaw pulled by another fellow human being, my 30 min tour run by the Ebisuya Asakusa Rickchaw Tours sadly came to an end soon. And my feeling bad for him aside, my rickshaw puller was none the worse for the wear and appears fit and ready to go on for another two hours! (yes, two hour rides area available as well but they cost a bomb). So when I told my jolly rickshaw puller guide about it, he changed this route slightly to set me down here near a store where I could find them- that is just behind the rickshaw a across the street. And despite having run for half an hour without rest, hauling me along, my good rickshaw man was very apologitic that he had to set me down here and I would have to walk another 100 yards to the nearest metro station!. He gave me a little souvenir from the ride- a pamphlet, a sticker and a post card and gave me this pose before he went on his way. (Tokyo, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Remember that pleasant sakura (cherry blossom) tree lined lane we had passed over a few minutes earlier? (see previous pictures earlier in this album). We are on that picturesque part of the Gion district in Kyoto again, and this is looking ever more beautiful as ever! I am on a human powered tourist rickshaw ride around the area, a ride I took quite outside my comfort zone as I have my reservations over sitting on a vehicle powered by another human being. I returned to this street again on foot later but could not find that geisha lane we had passed over earlier. (see previous pictures earlier in this album). This lane is in the Shirakawa district of Gion in Kyoto, Japan. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Chinatown (Petaling Street)-KL's Chinatown is a bustling and colourful street of shops,
restaurants and hawker stalls. Hawker stalls are paradise for bargain items. Asides
from the popular shopping area of Petaling Street, the nearby buildings, clan houses
and temples contain evidence of the city's built heritage. Some of the old shophouses
were built in the 1880s.
In the old days, 1900s-1960s, Petaling Street was not a tourist area but a bustling commercial center for all types of hand made tin-can wares, clogs, chinese medicine/medical hall, all types of grocery shops, the chinese traders' calculating machine were abacus. There were shops selling things for after life eg. hand made to order 2 to 3 meters high grand paper house, effigy of maids and house guards or hell-money.
The 2nd & 3rd floor of the buildings were rooms to let, people staying there were usually family of small time hawkers, rickshaw pullers, coolies and many other walks of life.
There were chinese restuarants, morning dim-sim tea house where the customers brought along their caged song-birds happily cherpped away. Vice and opium dens
were just as popular.
Those were the days the soiled-buckets manually taken out thru back door in the back lanes.
Picturesque Shirakawa area in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan. I om on a human powered rickshaw ride on a pleasant sakura (cherry blossom) lined path along a canal, thoroughly enjoying the ride. The canal is lined by willow trees, high-class restaurants and ochaya, (traditional Japanese tea houses), many of which have rooms overlooking the canal. As it is a little off the beaten path, the Shirakawa Area is typically somewhat more quietr than Hanami-koji Street. The path was pleasant enough, but just as I was beginning to think that it is getting to be a little crowded with tourists and cyclists, my good rickshaw puller-guide turned right to cross the lane itself over a delightful little stone bridge. Beautiful, isn't it? I later came here on foot later, but sadly it started raining heavily soon after and I was forced to beat a hasty retreat, back to my hotel, by cab. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Since we are at a dead end, we need to take an U turn here. The Yasaka pagoda you saw earlier in this album (see previous picutre) is at the end of a narrow alley to my left, Up straight ahead is what my rickshaw puller-guide referred to as the three monkeys temple due to the statues of the three monkeys sitting right atop the entrance arch. Of course this is only the colloquial name given to this temple due to the statues atop the arch- the main three monkeys temple is much larger and is close to the Kiyoizu-dera temple in a distant suburb of Kyoto. I have just come from Kiyomizu-dera (the temple with the vermillion coloured torii gates- see previous pictures earlier in this album) but I did not visit- or even know of- the three monkeys temple there. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
This photo was taken in Kolkata during my recent visit, (Netaji Nagar, South Kolkata). This person was carrying these Chicken to the nearby Chicken Shop.
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Rainy street I captured this image on October 21, 2020, from Khilgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh, South Asia
A pensive rickshaw-puller is lost in thoughts as he waits for the next passenger.
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Taken in front of Drik Gallery at Dhanmondi.
This shot was taken during my first try, to do panning..........
was actually taken quite some time ago.......but never dared to upload it.....
but the colours attract me quite a bit.....so finally decided to upload this one.......
Copyright:Aneek Mustafa Anwar
Contact:labouffon@gmail.com
As of 2005, the last sizeable fleet of true rickshaws can be found in Kolkata (Calcutta), where the rickshaw puller union resisted prohibition. Several major streets have been closed to rickshaw traffic since 1972, and in 1982 the city seized over 12,000 rickshaws and destroyed them. In 1992, it was estimated that over 30,000 rickshaws were operating in the city, all but 6,000 of them illegally, lacking a license (no new licenses have been issued since 1945). The large majority of rickshaw pullers rent their rickshaws for a few dollars per shift
Most rickshaw pullers work barefeet -- pulling their load over Calcutta's uneven potholed roads. This one is lucky -- he has flip-flops. Can you imagine pulling a rickshaw with flip-flops on? And they go quite fast too.
May 2020 : Abul Khair , a rickshaw puller who was at the rickshaw garage he keeps his rickshaw. He said that he is 75 years old but still he has to work as a rickshaw puller at this ripe old age because his sons and daughters are not financially capable to support him. During the lockdown for Covid-19 crisis his income has been drastically fallen. He used to earn around 400 BDT (4.7 USD) per day but now his income has been fallen to around 150 BDT (1.8 USD) per day, which doesn't cover his daily expenses.
Accommodations behind the geisha houses in the Gion district in Kyoto, Japan. I had outlined the reasons for such narrow alleys and geisha houses earlier in this album (see previous picture). Detailed notes about geisha (called geiko here in Kyoto) and maiko (trainee geisha) appeared earlier in this album. (see previous pictures). I am on a human powered rickshaw ride around the Gion district of Kyoto and all these pictures are taken from the vehicle. My rickshaw puller-guide was very clear about restrictions in photographing in this area and said although once can take pictures from the vehicle, he is not allowed to stop (except to take an U turn) or take pictures of or for tourists in this area or allow them to get off the rickshaw to do so. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Tourists milling about at the entrance of a celebrity lane in the Gion district of Kyoto, Japan. I had passed this lane earlier on a human powered tourist rickshaw (see previous pictures earlier in this album) but have returned later on my own, on foot, hoping to explore the geisha street at leisure. Sadly, I was initially in a totally wrong part of town and no one knew what the hell I was on about, and one wizened old gent in a pharmacy actually looked rather scandalized and gestured to me to bugger off! When I eventually found the right place, I could not spot the geisha street, nor did anyone know where it was, but I at least managed to find this lane for a few pictures. I however started raining heavily soon after this and I was forced to beat a hasty retreat by taxi, back to my hotel. This little land has apparently featured in many Japanese movies and tv serials and has a bit of a celebrity status. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
I am on a human powered rickshaw ride through a historic part of the Gion district in Kyoto, Japan, a ride the rickshaw puller convinced me to take despite my own reservations about sitting in a vehicle powered by another fellow human being. We are now on a pleasant thoroughfare lined with sakura (cherry blossom) trees in bloom and a canal behind them on one side of the street and traditional Japanese wooden houses on the other. The street seemed to be quite popular with the locals and tourists alike. I later returned to this part of town on foot but it unfortunately started raining by then. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
I am on a human powered rickshaw ride in Kyoto, Japan. Operated by the Kyoto- EBISUYA Higashiyama Rickshaw company, I am quite outside my comfort zone as I am quite wary of sitting in a vehicle with another human being playing beast of burden. My rickshaw puller-guide however assured me that this is part of the Japan government's tourism promotion drive and it helps the locals and tourists understand each other better. Be that as it may, my rickshaw puller stopped by this elegant structure. 'Traditional old Japanese wooden house', h pointed out. Well, looks cool, doesn't it? (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)
Crowds of tourists out for a walk on the pleasant sakura (cherry blossom) lined lane along a canal in the Shirakawa district of Gion in Kyoto, Japan. I am on a human powered rickshaw ride down this lanel. I later came by on this lane on foot but I was lost and was trying to find my way and hence did not enjoy the experience on foot as much as I am doing now on the rickshaw. But it was an extremely pleasant experience even on foot nonetheless, with several sakura (cherry blossom) blooms still seen owing to a one weeklate blooming season this year. (Kyoto, Japan, Apr/ May 2019)