Varanasi, India — Dear World Foundation
To get up
when I fall
is now a habit.
Portrait: @dearworld
The Letter
Dear
World,
I am very happy. My son earns two hundred rupees a day, and that is enough to get by. My family and I are satisfied with what we have. I have nothing to be sad about.
However, there is sadness in my heart, but it is of my heart. I do not like showing it because we already live a hard life. What is the point of telling other people you are sad?
What is the point of telling other people you are sad?
Sincerely,
To get up when I fall is now a habit
Varanasi, India
About this project
The holiest Hindu city
on earth.
Dear World traveled to Varanasi to produce a portrait series with women who shared their last words to the world. For more than 2,000 years, Hinduism has believed that a person will skip reincarnation and achieve “Moksha” (Heaven) if they die in Varanasi.
These women wrote their stories on their skin - a Dear World tradition - and delivered letters to the world with extraordinary honesty, grace, and quiet strength.
As seen on Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien