Carly Clarke

Viyaso Devi, Dhauladhar Mountains, Dharamshala

Viyaso Devi, 80, lives alone since her husband died five years ago. She receives no pension. One of her three sons helps her with food and money sometimes. She tells me she doesn’t like living alone but she has no options other than this. In this photograph she was visiting the local villagers with her cow, a journey which gives her the time with other people that she needs to be less lonely. 

Gujaro Devi

Gujaro Devi, 87, lived with her adult son who recently died unexpectedly. Now Gujaro is looking after her son’s two children. Gujaro’s husband had a good government job so she receives a widow’s pension 'But it’s still not enough' she said 'Especially since now my son is not here to provide'.

Lambra Devi and grandchild

Lambra Devi, 100, was born in 1912 and she sits outside with her great, great grandchild of two years old. She has spent her entire life in Zia village where she continues to live now. She married young and then lost her husband, Rupi Ram very young as well. She used to be a local traditional singer as part of the Ghaddi tribe. She is an expert hiker and trekker of the Himalayan region, like many others in the area. She lives with her son and daughter-in-law and their two year old son. She told me how food used to be used as a medicine instead of drugs and how all diseases and problems were treated to aid recovery with healthy foods and plants. She told me she doesn’t want anybody’s help because she is content with her life and has everything that she needs. 

Nikki Devi

Nukul, 66 and his wife Nikki, 55 live together on their farm and their daughter in-law lives with them. Nukul is unwell a lot of the time as for the past 13 or so years he has been suffering with severe back pain, a serious hand injury and severe depression which has left him mostly disabled and at home. As a result he barely works and therefore Nikki does a lot of hard work in the rice fields to provide for them both as this is the only income they have. He does receive a pension of 500 rupees per month but he emphasised that it is not enough. He also cannot afford to get medical treatment for his hand from his accident and it is now infected. He also talked about needing relief for his severe pain which he also cannot afford. I asked him if he thinks the government should be doing more to help and he said 'Yes of course!' When I asked him what would be a reasonable amount from the government to help poor families he said 'At last 5,000 rupees per month. If somebody could help it would be great but we have nothing like that here in this village'.

Brickmo Devi

Brickmo, 80, has a son and a daughter, who are both married, and three grandchildren, one of whom she lives with, after her husband died a few years ago. Many children in her village like her because she has a good personality and is fun to be around. She informs me that her son is providing for his family and helps her too. He works in a hard labour job but has to in order to afford to pay for his children’s education. She told me she loves to make blankets from wool and said ‘being happy is the best thing because once you leave this world it’s the only thing you can take with you’. I asked the children why they love to spend so much time with her and they said she’s never angry with them, she plays with them and has a positive energy. 

Shubh Karan and Sandy

Shubh Karan, 75, lives with his family and wife Sandy, 66. He receives a pension of 500 rupees per month. His wife suffers with many health problems so he often has to look after her.

Grandchildren of Shubh Karan and Sandy

Bhagwan Das

Bhagwan lives with his wife in a remote part of the Himalayas. He told me he gets no pension at all and he has applied twice but his application was not approved. He told me he doesn’t know the reason for this because he is very poor'. I am disappointed because my son is working very far from here, but he is not getting a good salary at all. I think the welfare office is stopping me from getting my pension because they believe my son is helping me. How can he? He has his own family to support and look after'. As a result of this, his wife works in the rice fields, and although he is unable to work, he looks after their cows. 

Mankhu

Mankhu, 75, has health issues such as arthritis in both of his hands and his feet, which stops him walking properly. He lives with his wife. They said that although there is treatment for the arthritis, they can’t afford it so he just has to suffer with it and has suffered with it now for about 30 years. When I asked them if they think the government could do more to help they said ‘I think they should. If somebody could help us it would be very, very good for us’. They then asked me if I have any medicines for them.

Ratto Devi

Ratto is 65 and she is still working but is limited to working about 100 days per year on the days when she is not taking care of Mankhu. She receives about 100 rupees per day for her work. She even has difficulty looking after herself because of the time she spends looking after her husband. He receives a pension of 500 rupees per month but otherwise has no other income.

House in Village in Himalayas

Prem Chand and Ratto Devi

Prem Chand is 85 years old. His wife Ratto Devi is 75 years old. They have three sons who live locally, one of whom is building his own home next door. They have farmland so they work in cultivation and have cows. Their sons help with the farm work. Prem Chand told me what makes him happy in life: ‘Lots of hard work, lots of working is the most important thing in life for us and others and avoiding bad company around me, such as people with addictions. I very much respect old people. I have a good timetable in life and stick to it”. Ratto told me about how they had an arranged marriage; they had not even seen each other before the wedding day. She told me it’s so different in the modern world because people get to know each other first. She said “He has never had to cook for himself a day in his life!” They have a very happy marriage and family.

Harbans Singh - 

Is a famous traffic controller in Kullu 

Hari Ram, Bimlo and Indu

Hari Ram, is the husband of Rukamani and the father of Bimlo and Indu. They are a family struggling for money as there are a total of eight people living together and one of their daughters (Bimlo) has polio and is handicapped which brings many difficulties. They rely on local labour work to keep the money coming in as they are not quite old enough to receive pensions yet.

Gita Devi

Gita, 96, is known to be the oldest person in the village and despite her age suffers with very few health problems other than the usual aches and pains. She lives with her son Ashok and does not work anymore having retired from farming about ten years ago. Her son looks after her and they have a very good relationship. He has a business in the village selling binoculars mostly for tourists visiting the area for trekking and hiking in the mountains. 

Kesari Devi

Kesari is 83 years old and lives with her two sons who are both married. They are taking good care of her. One of them works in a labour job and the other in PWD. They are struggling but have no problems to supply food. She tells me about her husband who died about 4 years ago, who used to work in the slate mines but the government stopped that now. She wanted to tell me about the earthquake that happened in 1947. She said there were a lot of Muslim's there who were sent to Pakistan. They were hidden in a temple nearby here she recalls while peoples houses and surroundings were falling down. 

Bhuddo Devi

Bhuddo, 75, was very unwell when I met her. Her family had just brought her some medicine from hospital. She was suffering with body pain, fever and cough. Her husband passed away about 30 years ago due to a sudden sickness and she told me that time was the worst time of her life. Now she is grateful to have family looking after her and her son Dilber is doing labour work. She is not happy because of their severe poverty. They have no land to sell so they have to try to earn more if they want more. They don’t have any savings so it will be very difficult to educate her son’s children in the future. 

Brijlal

Brijlal, 75, lives with his wife Nadtu Devi, 73. They told me they are struggling to afford the medicine that Brijlal needs and that their family had abandoned them. He said he needs an operation for a kidney problem and a stomach ulcer but they cannot afford it. 'My wife is the only one working, she supports us' he said. 'Our families do not care about us. One son is too busy to help us. They don’t care.'

Nadtu Devi

Is Brijlal's wife. 

Kairo Devi

Kairo Devi is said to be 102 years old. She gets asthma, which is recent, her eyesight and hearing is quite weak, she feels fragile in her body, and says “I’m old so it doesn’t matter”. I asked for her advice on living a long life and she told me, “Ghee, buffalo’s milk, natural healthy foods”. They have rice fields and they sell milk from their cows. Around 60 years ago her husband died, he was 39. When her daughter-in-law was born she arranged the marriage to her son.

When she was young, her friend took her to get a tattoo on her chin. When she tried, the vibration of the machine scared her so much that she ran away and went home to try to get rid of it. She never could and so the tattoo was never finished (it should be a spot in a circle, but it is only a spot).

Geeta Devi

Geeta lives with one of her sons, his wife and their 4 daughters and mother-in-law. Her son looks after her well he has farmland and has done so since her husband died from a brain tumor. She told me that, "back in those days people didn't go to regular check-ups so people would notice problems too late, when they were too difficult to treat anymore."

Her mother-in-law (Kairo Devi) told her "You must look after the kids and do everything for them." So after this advice they built their own home and did everything for themselves, and became labourer's and now they are happy.

Chattar Singh and Puspa Devi

Chattar, 68, is ex-military and lives with his wife Puspa Devi, 64. Although they both suffer with some health issues, Chattar receives medical treatment from a military hospital where he pays half of the fees, whereas Puspa is getting treatment for her eyes at a private hospital costing 35,000 rupees, which is very expensive. They have three sons and one of them works in slate mines. Even with a larger income they told me they are still struggling financially and that they think the younger generation need to learn the value of respect ‘The new generations should not drink a lot, or smoke so much. They should have good behaviour which creates a good life and should learn to be more respectful to their elders, as I did in my life’. 

Ivy

Ivy Phewali, is in her 70’s and she grew up in central India. She has a son Irvin Watson, who lives in Florida and a daughter Anne Lyn, who is living in Dubai. She is planning to move there soon to be with her daughter but is awaiting paperwork. She went to a convent school in her younger years and her mother taught her English. She loves the English language and poetry and writes about the seasons and will soon have some of her poetry published in Delhi. She grew up a protestant and is now a Jehovah’s Witness. She told me, ‘I have a happy heart and I believe we should be good and faithful to all we meet in life’.

Hari Har Giri

Hari Har Giri is in his fifties and is known as a ‘Babaji’. He works as a freelance journalist for a Hindu newspaper and he tells me ‘I don’t think about money, it is not my subject. When I run out, I look in my bag and think to myself, I just need a bit more money. Every day, it doesn’t matter what is the day or the month, I do my rituals’. He is not married and has no children or family. He is always meditating, practicing Japa Tapa and Sadhana techniques and trekking in the Himalayas. He started his baba life about 35 years ago. He was born in Kullu and studied in the Kullu area. I asked him why he decided to take on this way of life, ‘God connection… I am very happy to not have family life because it is a very difficult life’. He said ‘I spend most of my time meditating, feeling, listening and being still. Baba life is yogi. It is our job, it used to be free before, but now money is the exchange. Everything is yoga in life. It is yoga that you and I met right now. The connection we have with God is yoga’. 

Koshlaya Devi

Koshlaya lives on her own in a secluded area that is only accessible by trekking - you have to cross rivers and woodland to get to this part of the village. She is very happy being alone and loves to work a lot. She was a farmer in her younger years. She told me how much she loves her life. The local girls had dyed her hair with henna. She said she’s not bored with old age, she still likes to be fashionable and learn from the youngsters. 

Panchma Devi

Panchma, 78, told me her husband passed away four years ago and he used to run the shop. Now she runs it alone and gets a pension of 500 rupees per month. She has a few health issues and she recently spent 20-30,000 rupees on an eye operation which she paid for from her husband’s savings. Her two sons live elsewhere with their families and she doesn’t get any help from them. She told me she very much misses her husband and now she is struggling to even eat. Her family won’t help her ‘they don’t give me anything, if I work then I can eat, otherwise I have a very big problem, but I can work anywhere, I have no problem with that’. She expressed how grateful she was that I took time to speak to her 'I’m happy you came here because nobody comes to ask me about my problems’. She is very lonely and said ‘My younger son visits sometimes but even he has his own problems but I have a few neighbours I talk to. These days nobody helps each other because they are not so rich, so what they can say to people in times of need. If our families can’t help, who can?’.

Chanchonto Devi

Chanchonto Devi begged me to take her away from the government home where she lives in Northern India. She told me that when her husband died, she had to go live with her son and daughter-in-law. 'They locked me up outside in the cow shed for a long time and fed me through the window'. Chanchonto’s caregivers told me the police found her locked up in the shed when investigating her daughter-in-law’s alleged suicide. A death for which her son was later found guilty. 

Roshan

Roshan, 79, told me he has one daughter who is married. He is a beggar and asks people for money and usually receives 1-2 rupees per person, which amounts to about 100 rupees per day. He walks miles to gather this money, sometimes as much as 25 kilometres per day. He told me it is usually the same people that help him every day.

Gulabi Devi

Gulabi, 70, is a widow who lives in a government-run care home. She had two sons and one daughter but they both died. She was left with her two brothers but gets no help and has no communication with either of them now. After her husband died her husband’s family took her house, her land and everything that she had. She receives a government pension of 500 rupees per month and this is her only income. She suffers with some health problems so this isn’t enough to support her. 

Kenemlam

Kenemlam, 68, told me his wife left him after his leg was amputated. 'She did it when she knew I was unable to move and could not stop her from leaving me. She took everything with her including one kilogram of gold and silver. I have seen enough bad days in my life and now I am waiting for my death'. He lost his leg due to a bone infection in his knee, which turned to gangrene so he needed it to be removed. This happened 14 years ago, prior to this he worked mainly in construction.

Rehlu Ram

Rehlu Ram, 90, lives with his wife Viyasa Devi, 75, and their son and two grandchildren. His daughter-in-law recently passed away. He told me he has an array of health problems and he can’t see properly after an eye operation. Viyasa looks after him but she has asthma, weakness in her body and vomiting. She can’t go to the doctor because she can’t afford to, as they are very poor. Rehlu receives a pension of 500 rupees per month but again it is not enough. He told me he worked in labour in the past but now they have no farm land and they are not very happy anymore. 

Laxman Ram and his family

Laxman Ram is 60 years old and suffers from depression and has been taking medication for about 15 years now. From a young age he started smoking and drinking alcohol. Anil who is Laxman’s son believes the depression could possibly have developed from this problem. When he’s on medication he behaves better but if not taking it then he doesn’t sleep well and can be quite aggressive. He’s not very good when he is drinking and when Anil was growing up he said it was quite a difficult time. He doesn’t eat properly and small things hurt him emotionally, so sometimes people aren’t able to share things with him in case he reacts badly. He is very old fashioned and doesn’t watch TV, use the phone or even read newspapers. He is not a very happy person, but everybody tries to take care of him. He was a slate mine contractor before he became unwell. The sisters-in-law are really great; they run the house really well. Laxman is often kept separate from family involvement because his mind is very different now.

Punnu Ram

Punnu is 80 years old, he and his wife, 65, live together and own some farm land for cultivation but they have no children, although his cousin’s grandsons visit regularly because they live close by. He was a soldier in the Indian Army in his younger years and retired about 35 years ago. He receives a pension of about 8,000 rupees per month. He told me he is fit and healthy and has a very happy life, he offered some advice on living a good life in India saying ‘Be busy with your work, don’t be a street boy, if you get health issues you can’t do anything or even work, so it’s important to always be active’. 

Heera Devi

Heera, 75, has quite a few health issues. She complained about the state of the small house that she lives in with her son and grandchildren. Her husband passed away 33 years ago due to a heart problem. She receives a widow’s pension of 500 rupees per month. She has great difficulty walking and uses two sticks at a time. She informed me she is not very happy because her son has a drinking problem and he doesn’t take care of her as much as he should. Her son lost his wife seven years ago during childbirth, so he was left bringing up the children on his own as well as caring for his mother. He sometimes does labouring work to help but the work is not very constant. Heera was quite upset when I talked to her, and she told me ‘I’m so bad, I cannot live and I cannot die, but I want to die’. 

Kelsang Norbu

Kelsang has been a monk since the age of nine. He lives in Gyuto Karmapa Temple in Dharamshala. He lived in Tibet until 1959 when he escaped along with the Dalai Lama and many others. His family also left Tibet from Ramachi Temple and moved to Uttar Pradesh. He told me he has a happy life as a monk ‘If you can help others and not hurt others is the greatest advice for a good life’. He went on to say ‘Monks live very precious lives and we don’t suffer much as monks but we pray for others and wish for others wellbeing and happiness above everything else. We even put others above ourselves’. He told me he lives in the same room as his disciple Tsevang, who is 17 years old, and that after 65 years of prayer in the temple, he no longer has to leave the room to pray and do his duties.

Heera Devi

Heera is over 90 years old. When I ask her name she tells me, "Heera is a famous deity in India which means 'diamond.' She has a very happy family life. She lives with her one son and his family. She informs me she is in great health, she eats well and very simply. She told me "If my grandson is happy then I am happy to die."