The Bus Driver

I tried to take a candid shot of Ahmed but he saw me and inevitably posed for the camera - which was fine. He beckoned me across to his driver's window. He wanted to talk. I think a lot of Muslim people feel the need to talk at the moment. I got the impression he felt tainted by recent atrocities and wanted to reassure me somehow. I didn't need any reassurance. 

I found his words sad but also beautiful. He just wanted to express the obvious truth that whatever our race or religion, we are all the same, just human beings, each and every one of us. I told him of my belief that people are fundamentally good. The evil in the world sits with the ideologies that corrupt that fundamental good in people. I would like to have talked longer but people started to board his bus. I just managed to snatch a quick portrait before they got too impatient.