“I Wanted to Capture the Special Bond Between the Old Farmer and His Faithful Buffalo – Spotted at Tharpu Village in West Sikkim” by Nityam Rai

“He is a farmer who works for his landlord. I met him at a field in Tharpu Village in West Sikkim, which is about 30 kms. away from my house. This was my second meeting with him, and I feel we are friends now. The first time I met him, I couldn’t take his picture as it was raining but I had a beautiful conversation with him. The conversation kept my mind awake the whole night. Apparently, he comes to the area regularly to work, along with his faithful friend – Kaley, the buffalo. I regretted not taking their photos, so I went to the same location the next day. Lucky for me, I met both of them, and I took a lot of pictures that day.

I could see that he shared a special bond with his buffalo. For him, it was more than an animal; it was both a friend and a family for him. In the middle of our conversation, he cut off saying that his buffalo was thirsty; he pulled him towards the shade, dug a temporary pond, and led the buffalo to sit inside the water to cool himself. He kept was talking to his buffalo about how hot it must be for him so he kept cooling him from time to time in between our conversation. That was when I took this particular photo.” ~Nityam Rai, Sikkim