It was dusk and Christmas Eve so I went out of the house for a stroll in the street.

I was standing at a wall watching some boys play cricket in the fading light. A man and his granddaughter were also watching and I greeted him. After a while it was too dark for cricket so he put his granddaughter on the front of his bicycle and both he and I were thinking of how cute she looked. I asked to take a picture and he happily agreed. After I shot the pic I showed it to him on the camera monitor and he said ‘Thank you’ and mounted his bicycle and rode off.

Every time I’ve taken a photo of someone in India they’ve thanked me. I don’t know what they’re thanking me for. I thank them for taking the time to let me capture the moment but why do I get thanks? They know I won’t give them a copy so it leaves me scratching my head why they thank me.