Kerala, India

In Kerala, there exist many retirement homes for the Malayali elderly. Sometimes, the homes are split up into a section for women and a section for men, which was the case for this home. While communicating with many of the women in this home (through unpracticed Hindi and sparse English), I heard their voices and opinions regarding their entrance into the home. In India, providing for one's parents and elders is a norm, and for that reason, many of the mothers, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers in this home felt despondent and forgotten about when their family placed them in the home.

This woman asked us to take a polaroid photo of her as there were very few mirrors in the retirement home. In Hindi, she murmured, "I never want to forget the way the world sees me.”