a sabbatical, a camera, and a return to story
Prithvi’s Path: A Journey of Identity, Community, and Self-Discovery in Jodhpur
At the end of 2024, I took a sabbatical and traveled to India for a photography and ethical storytelling workshop with Photographers Without Borders. I went to learn, to slow down, and to reconnect with the creative parts of myself I’d been missing.
What drew me in wasn’t just the chance to sharpen technical skills, but the invitation to rethink how stories are told. Early on, we examined the everyday language of photography. Subject, shoot, take, trigger, capture. Common terms, but ones that carry weight. They suggest power, control, even violence—especially when used to describe how we see and represent others.
That conversation, and many like it, challenged me to look at my camera as both a tool and a responsibility. Storytelling calls for more than technique. It requires consent, care, and awareness of the space we hold around our cameras.
This wasn’t just theory. I was partnered with Sambhali Trust, a grassroots organization supporting women and marginalized communities in Rajasthan. Being invited into that space was a reminder that ethical storytelling starts with listening.
Along the way, I met Prithvi. His warmth and openness helped shape the story that follows.
Thanks to Photographers Without Borders, Sambhali Trust, and especially to Prithvi for the time, the trust, and the story we made together.
Prithvi’s Path: A Journey of Identity, Community, and Self-Discovery in Jodhpur
Each morning, Prithvi rises with the sun and begins his work. He makes chai, assists in the kitchen and organizes his tasks for the day, while also planning for his future.
For the past two years, 20-year-old Prithvi has worked as a trusted aide in the home of Govind Singh Rathore, founder of Sambhali Trust and the Garima project in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Through Govind and the Garima project, Prithvi has found more than a job — he’s found a community that allows him to be a fuller version of himself.
Prithvi hasn’t always felt supported, understood, or welcome. Beneath his warm smile and gentle kindness is the courage he has built while navigating life’s ups and downs.
In the immediate aftermath of his parents’ separation when he was a toddler, Prithvi stayed with his mother while his two brothers went to live with their father. Eventually, Prithvi’s mom remarried a caring man who accepted all three children as his own. Still, things weren’t easy.
Prithvi’s mother fell sick, and he himself experienced serious illnesses — first a heart condition, then dengue fever. After his biological father’s death, his two brothers joined him with his mother and stepfather, forming a newly blended household.
All the while, Prithvi was in and out of school because of his health, the pandemic, or the family’s inability to afford even modest school fees. And while he was in school, it wasn’t always a safe space. As a teenager, other boys bullied Prithvi because of the way he carried himself, saying he looked like he was walking with a lehenga.
Prithvi began exploring his identity—researching what it meant to be gay, connecting with others online and experimenting with clothing typically worn by women—all which helped him feel more like himself.
Prithvi’s family accepts his love for dancing, makeup, and mehndi — interpreting these as expressions of religious devotion to a Hindu goddess — but most aren’t ready to accept that he is gay.
In 2022, Prithvi planned to attend Jodhpur’s first LGBTQ Pride celebration but had to miss it because of his mother‘s illness. A year later, he made it to Pride. That evening, he attended a party hosted by the Garima project, where he first met Govind. After that, Prithvi started attending Garima’s Sunday meetups. For the first time, Prithvi felt he could “speak freely“ and express himself without fear of judgment or discrimination.
Not only that, Prithvi received through Sambhali Trust a scholarship to continue his studies, encouragement to learn new skills — including embroidery and making lehengas from old saris — and a job working in Govind’s home and for guests of Sambhali Trust.
In a twist of fate, 35 years ago, Govind and Prithvi’s mother were childhood friends. They reconnected through Prithvi and have renewed their friendship. While that connection opened the door, Prithvi’s steadiness is helping his mother grow toward a deeper understanding and acceptance of who he is.
Prithvi’s vision for himself is to be a dancer, a makeup artist, or a mehndi artist. Thanks to the Sambhali Trust and the greater self-confidence he has developed, Prithvi is getting practice with all of these things. Prithvi is turning his vision into reality and building community along the way.
Tomorrow, when the sun rises again, Prithvi will be one day closer to achieving his dreams, and Sambhali Trust will be one day closer to fulfilling its mission of empowering women and the LGBTQ community in Rajasthan.
Ready to claim his unique path, Prithvi shares a message for others: “Embrace who you are and the love you have; it’s what truly matters.”
Anyone who wants to join Sambhali Trust and support young people like Prithvi can donate here.