獵奇印度加爾各答的人力車伕

The rickshaws of Kolkata, India, remnants of British imperiAlism, are among the last in the world, but phasing them out has been far from simple. In 2005, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee called them an “inhuman practice” and pushed for their eradication. But the All Bengal Rickshaw Union protested the ban, claiming that without alternative employment, the drivers would lose their livelihood. The photographer Dougie Wallace, who has a book coming out on taxis in Mumbai, “Road Wallah,” shot the drivers on these pages, many of whom told him they’ve been working for more than 20 years for less than 500 rupees ($8) a day. Still, says Shireen Hyrapiet, an instructor at Oregon State University who has interviewed drivers extensively, many young immigrants see pulling a rickshaw “as a means of upward social mobility.” Marnie Hanel

印度加爾各答的人力車是大英帝國的殘留物，是世界上存在這種事物的最後幾個地區之一，但是把它們淘汰掉也沒那麼容易。2005年，印度首席部長布達德夫·巴塔查爾吉(Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee)稱拉人力車是“不人道的行當”，力主把它們清除掉。但是全孟加拉人力車聯盟(All Bengal Rickshaw Union)抗議該禁令，稱人力車伕沒有其他工作，會因此失去經濟來源。攝影師道基·華萊士(Dougie Wallace)即將出版一本關於孟買出租車的攝影集，名叫《路上的僕人》(Road Wallah)，裏面是這些人力車伕的照片，其中很多人告訴他他們工作了20多年，每天的收入不到500盧比（8美元）。俄勒岡州立大學的講師希琳·海拉皮特(Shireen Hyrapiet)廣泛地採訪了這些人力車伕。她說，很多年輕移民仍然把拉人力車看作“一種提高社會地位的途徑”。

Population of Kolkata: 14,112,536

加爾各答的人口：14112536

Licensed rickshaws: About 6,000

有許可證的人力車數量：大約6000輛

Estimated rickshaw pullers: 18,000

估算的人力車伕的數量：18000

Average traffic speed of motorized vehicles: 8-11 M.P.H.

機動車的平均時速：8-11英里