A different Kind

Horse racing in Ooty is a big deal each summer. The track is opened, horses and jockeys are brought in from around India. This is normally a man’s sport. The jockeys are men, the race officials are men, most of the spectators are men. The only women you see at the track are women doing track maintenance. They water the turf during the week, and pound down divots after each race, smoothing the track for the next race.

One day though, I went to watch a race. That day, I was surprised to see that one of the horses was ridden by a female jockey. I wondered how that would be taken by the spectators. Did they not think she could win? What was it like for her to be in such a man’s world?

Talking to men at the track though, many of them were betting on her to win. They would ask me who I thought would win, and I said the number 1 horse would. That was the one with the female jockey. I expected laughter, but I usually got nods of agreement, and impressed looks as they thought I knew what I was talking about. Honestly though, I had no clue.

She was treated differently before the race than the men. Rain began as the jockeys were mounting, and instead of having her mount in the rain, they gave her an umbrella and let her remain on the ground, dry, while the male jockeys rode in the rain. She did not mount until just before the race.

The race was started, and as the horses came around, number 1 was far in front of any other horse. They won by a few lengths.

And again I wonder about culture, and about what people think. What do the women fixing the divots think of this woman? Not only does she participate in a man’s world, but she is highly successful. She does not hold back, and she blows the others away.

Photos by Laura Webster. Ooty racecourse, May 2012

The Beginning

This blog is the result of a conversation with a friend, where he suggested that we do a photography day with the theme of “Women in India”. Sadly, we never did, and that friendship has sort of fallen to pieces. But the idea stuck in my mind, and I couldn’t get rid of it. So I began going through some of my old photos, finding pictures of women, and girls that would fit with the theme. Then I started taking pictures with it in mind. Focusing more on getting photos of women, just in everyday life.

I am not going to try to do a blog describing the lives of women in India. I would fail miserably. I have no idea what the life of a typical woman in India is. Heck, I barely know what the life of a typical woman in the U.S. is, and I lived there for 25 years. The blog will mainly be focused on the photos, and the impressions I get from the photos. Everything written here is my own opinion, unless otherwise stated. I have photos of white people which will be posted, some of me, some of friends. We too are women in India, despite the fact that we are not Indian women.

We often hear about the negatives in the lives of Indian women, and I am not in any way trying to downplay that. But there is so much beauty in the lives of women in India as well, and that is what I want to try to communicate here. Even in the hard work, there is beauty.

This blog will most likely not be one that goes on for ages. I leave India in Dec, and who knows when I will be back. I just wanted to post these, and I’ll post until I have no more photos to post.

Most of the photos are mine. Some have been taken by others, and photo credit will be given where necessary. These pictures really mean a lot to me, and I wanted to share them.

Hope you enjoy,

Laura

Photo by Laura Webster. Gandhi Museum, Mumbai. February 2012