We were shooting a kids cradle. And obviously for that you need to shoot with kids. three to nine month old kids.

There is an artist agent we worked with called Ketan Bhai, who had an assistant called Mohammed. Both of them “supplied” people for the shoot. Adults and Kids and babies. Two thousand ruppees per day, plus food. Most of them who lived in distant suberbs like Vasai (closer to Gujarat than to where we were shooting, in Andheri). A 90 minute travel by local train. and then a 45 minute bus journey from there on.

What struck me, was that the people who brought their kids for the shoot were not poor. They were the neo-middle income group (not quite neo rich, but wanna be neo-rich). And for 2000 bucks a day, they exposed their kid to the harsh lights and glare.

I felt like a hypocrite. I needed them to give their babies for the shoot. Yet i despised them because they did.