Anshu Gupta

A man carrying his food cart across a flooded street during the Kashmir floods of 2015

Jammu and Kashmir Floods, flooded the catchment areas, particularly low-lying ones for more than two weeks, it resulted in the death of 300 people and critically injuring 25 people. The floods severely affected life and livelihood, damaging even the basic infrastructure in the state*.

This man’s smile as he stands in knee-deep water, trying to push forward his cart of gol gappas on a flooded road, makes this photo an especially memorable one for me. We were in our car and saw him passing by, trying to earn his living. I wondered who would come to eat gol gappas in a situation like that. But as I looked at him smile, I marvelled at his courage, hope and optimism in trying to live through this disaster.

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