Travel Blog: India, Day 8 - The kids at the riverbank.

While at my host's cheerful home village, an oasis in the middle of abject and depressed poverty state in India, we met a group of children doing laundry in the nearby river. Let me see...

A gaggle of village kids.  India.  A river.  An open field of epic proportions.

Why, yes, a photo op was in order.

Every time I visit India, I am always amazed and overjoyed by the people's capacity for kindness, unhindered friendliness and hospitality, and their sheer willingness to participate.  Shy though they were, this group of children stayed true to Indian hospitality by eagerly smiling and waving at the camera when I started clicking the shutter.  They giggled and laughed elatedely when I turned the SLR around showed them their photos in the camera's monitor.  I took dozens of photos of the little guys.  I don't know what these children's lives are like on a normal day, but in that environment, with those kinds of smiles, they made this scene look absolutely idyllic.