After I took this picture of a rather desolate looking man sitting among the remnants of a building that had just been demolished, I felt he could have had a story to tell. I saw him sitting on a concrete block, staring at a mobile phone, possibly trying to make a phone call home; or he could have just lost his job; he might have not been paid for months; he could have been homeless or, simply, he might have just been sitting there in solitude. Whatever it was, I will never know but all these thoughts did cross my mind when I saw the picture on the computer screen.
Why would such thoughts come? There is a reason. I have been a journalist here in Bahrain, and before that in India and have written several stories about people without food and shelter, people not being paid for months on end, those with no visas or residence permits, even some with no proof of their identity or nationality.
It’s a sad state of affairs with such human beings who come hundreds of thousands of miles in search of a better future for their loved ones and end up on the streets – at times making the park bench or the tree on the sidewalk their home.
There was even this story of a man, his wife and two kids living out of the boot of their ramshackle car on the streets.
This is why I wish I had spoken to this man and got to know why he was there. Was something bothering him? Did he have an issue with his employer? His landlord? His family back home?
But that he had that poignant look and feel about him, I am sure he had something to say – he needed help, perhaps a shoulder to cry on or maybe blurt out his tale to anyone who would care to listen.
Perhaps, I will go back to the spot and find him. Or maybe not! Destiny will decide on that!