It wouldn’t be right to show you the greater adjutant storks and black kites in Guwahati, Assam, without showing them in context with their surroundings. The greater adjutant and black kite are both scavengers and are seen here in great numbers at the Guwahati rubbish dump. The greater adjutant is one of the biggest storks in the world, standing almost 1.5 metres tall and with a wingspan of 2.5 metres. They are critically endangered, there being only three breeding populations in the world, two of which are in India. They are found here daily, scavenging alongside cows and people, who risk their lives alongside the massive grabbers which are constantly shifting tons of garbage on this enormous tip.
The machine operator spends his day in a cage and it is ironic that the guy in the grey T-shirt is sporting the word ‘mindset’. Verywellmind.com defines ‘mindset’ as ‘a set of beliefs that shape how you make sense of the world and yourself. It influences how you think, feel, and behave in any given situation. It means that what you believe about yourself impacts your success or failure’. It is difficult to see how success in any form could feature in the lives of these people who share their days with the cattle, storks and kites in what is a very miserable place.
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