Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty is the project that developed out of these initial thoughts. It focuses on honour-based violence in India; in particular, the violence against women and men who fall in love or have a relationship against their family’s will.
Honour-based violence used to be limited to rural areas, but it is creeping into large cities due to the rise in extreme religious and political groups. One group fighting this violence is the Love Commandos, a voluntary organisation that was originally formed to protect couples who celebrate Valentine’s Day from attack by political extremists.
“I had heard of the Love Commandos and approached them to make a story. They are a small team of five guys based in Delhi that provide assistance to couples who are in love but cannot be together due to family opposition – mainly due to caste or religious issues. In India most people still have arranged marriages, but young people do fall in love and run away to be together, all the time.”
The main function of the Love Commandos is to allow people to do this in safety and in accordance with the laws of India. [Part of their mission] is to prevent honour killings from happening. They take in young couples and provide protection, and sometimes they send in people to rescue couples at risk. There are eight shelters in New Delhi and one in Mumbai, and they have 50,000 volunteers, many of whom have been helped by the Love Commandos, who can give advice to people in their area.”
It is a traditional documentary subject featuring people who are in very real danger of violence or murder. There are an estimated 1,000 honour killings in India every year, but it’s also a problem that extends across much of Asia, Africa, into Europe and the UK. “A couple came in once who were extremely scared – they were shaking and sweating,” says Pinckers. “They had escaped from their village after being chased by the girl’s family with machetes. They had secretly got married but were afraid of being caught.”
Pinckers could have taken a straightforward editorial strategy, photographing the Love Commandos and the people they have helped. But instead of emphasising the documentary side of the story, Pinckers began pulling in a fictional direction using a visual language that borrows from Bollywood and its depiction of relationships and love.
