Category: India
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Washed ashore
Her eyes are closed. No she is not washed ashore. She is breathing. Lying under the vault of heaven she enjoys the feel of the fine wet sand and the pleasant coolness of the rippling water. Life is good to her. Photo of the week: On the beach in Goa, India 2011
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Tomorrow is another day
On this last day of the year I offer you a sunset over the Arabian Sea, seen from a beach in Goa. Stars are hanging low, ready to light up. Tomorrow is another day. Happy 2018! Photo of the week: Sunset at Dona Paula, Goa, India 2016
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One to see, one to touch
Two Infants Jesus, one inside the stable, the other in front. That’s how this church meets the strongly felt need among believers to touch the new-born Infant in his manger. Maybe they think some of his infinite love will thus pour from the plaster figure into their own veins. Touching! Photo of the week: Christmas,…
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Young and beautiful
Except that these girls are clearly sent out by their parents to get something in their baskets, they’re as young and radiant and beautiful as the children on last week’s photo. What I wrote there holds good here in almost the same way. Here’s how the story could well continue for this girl after only…
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The best of youth
I came upon them down in the valley. They interrupted their play for a moment to gather round me for a photo. A confluence of barely restrained joy of life. Their looks are open, positive, curious, without a trace of suspicion. And each one of them is unmistakably her- or himself. Life at its best.…
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Cramped for room
You wouldn’t think looking here at houses in one of the most posh parts of Mumbai. Still that’s what it is. And that’s how it is. The luxury mansions are just around the corner. At home you may be cramped for room but outside there is still space to fly your kite. And dream. Photos…
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Banganga
The neighbourhood of Walkeshwar on Malabar Hill harbours a rare 1000 year old water tank called Banganga. The tank and its peaceful surroundings let you almost forget that you are in the heart of the city of Mumbai in the 21st century. A man – or his wife – has washed his underpants in the…
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Bastion walls
This is not the image that comes into your mind when you think of cosmopolitan Mumbai, brimming over with life. It looks more like a closed bastion that has armed itself against the seething waves of dangerously high tides. I love old walls with their weather-beaten faces. They breathe history, tell stories, let dream of…
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Spitting image
That is to say, the spitting image of the pan chewer who embellishes with his creations the pavements, roads, platforms, corridors, staircases, and, if you are lucky enough in passing a chewer at the right moment, your clothes or shoes. Temples and shrines are generally spared. That’s why tiles with images of gods and goddesses…
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Holy tiles
Compared to the ISKCON temple of last week’s post, this nearby little roadside shrine looks rather cheap and shabby. Still, it probably represents Indian popular aesthetics better than its majestic neighbour. It has taken me awhile but I have come to appreciate this kind of simple religious display. The daring colour combination (like so often…
καιρός remembered 