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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Vicky Roy’s story is something that most of us would see only in the movies.
The 25-year-old, who fled from his grandparents’ home in Purulia, West Bengal at the age of 11 and boarded the train to Delhi, is today living his dream.
He spent a year living at the railway station and a street eatery. He collected plastic bottles to sell, washed dishes and made flatbread for a living.
The camera became Roy’s best friend after he was rescued from pitiable conditions by Salaam Baalak Trust, a non-governmental organisation. He photographed others like him, living on the street and in shelters. The photographs, mostly in black-and-white, are a stark comment on the lives of these children.
Roy's first exhibition, Street Dreams was held in the national capital in 2007.
Today, Roy's photographs have been shown in six countries (he having travelled to five of them). In London, he even had lunch with Prince Edward at the Buckingham Palace. In 2009, Roy was among four young photographers picked by the US-based Maybach Foundation to document the reconstruction of the World Trade Centre in New York.
Rediff.com brings for you a collection of his works...
Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Children at a shelter run by the Salaam Balak Trust
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Deepak rests after sustaining an injury to his right cheek
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Nandu leafs through Tehelka, a weekly newspaper, in the centre of a New Delhi street. Children sell the (very good) publication for Rs 10. Had he read the edition of a couple of weeks later, he would have found a review of the exhibition in which his photo appeared.
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Rag pickers at the New Delhi railway station
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
This photograph shows two children polishing shoes outside a Delhi market
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Roy found this boy named Bharat working at the New Delhi railway station
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Sunil, Vijay, and Lucky cool off near India Gate
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Roy spotted this boy taking bath along the tracks leading to the New Delhi railway station
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Pooja (10) and Ramdas (7) at a fountain near India Gate. They live with their families in a basti next to the tracks by New Delhi Railway Station and make money by selling balloons in Connaught Place.
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Street children washing clothes at New Delhi railway station
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Street Dreams: Capturing the slumdogs of Delhi
Vicky (not the photographer) waits for some money while the shiny shoes of 'New India' walk by
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