Man of Kochi

• 10 Oct 2014
• Features

In our lives, we walk past hundreds of people every day whodo not even get a glance from us. We miss inspirations, achievements and struggleson our way along. Brandon Stanton, Founder of ‘Humans of New York’ stopped andtook a moment to get that bit extraordinary thoughts from ordinary people onthe streets. He introduced the eclectic crowd of New York City to the world inthe simplest possible way. The ten million likes on his Facebook page is enoughproof to show how people can relate with the lives of others so easily. Wonderif Kochi too has a diverse crowd just as New York. To find an answer to thatquestion, Lohit Chandran started ‘Humans of Kochi’ inspired by HONY. After beinga B.Tech graduate and serving in an IT company for two years and then as a PROfor five years, he finds great pleasure and satisfaction in this act ofinteracting with people and getting to know their lives.   

The Kick Start
Lohit moves along the streets of Kochi with a photographerand strikes up conversations with anyone he finds interesting (or is willing totalk). He documents the story that reflects the person’s individuality. “I kickstart the conversation by asking what their interests are. By getting to knowtheir passions I slowly make my way to their strong and weak moments”,  said Lohit. “Most people confide personalmatters which I can’t publish in a public platform like Facebook, so I try totake and put up information that is not scandalous,” he added. On his journey tocompile life stories, he also come across people who are uncomfortable while  posing for the camera and opening up to astranger. Women are more uncomfortable, even when the page is described orshown to them. This has resulted in less number of women centric stories onLohit’s page. One factor that makes the page delightful to read is that thestory is also written in Malayalam which washes out the constraints ofunderstanding a foreign language. “The thought behind writing in the regionallanguage is aimed to make the page look different from other ‘Humans of’pages,” said Lohit. 

Worth the Wait
Lohit tries to get shots of eight people on any day he goes outto hunt for stories. Some days he acquires it and some days it would be quitedisappointing. We wonder what this young man has learnt from his effort and interactionswith people. “From my experience, if the first, second and third say no, I’msure I’ll get a yes from the fourth person. ‘Humans of Kochi’ has taught mepatience. Now I know our very next attempt may lead us to success.” Once again,the age old saying of being courageous to continue is what leads us to success,becomes true.   

Click the link below to the hearts of Kochiites, https://www.facebook.com/HumansOfKochi.Official