Category: India
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Holy feet
Holy feet It so happens that the sacred remains of St. Francis Xavier are kept in the Bom Jesus church in Old Goa. They are exposed to the public once in ten years and the last exposition was around December 2014, in the big Se cathedral across the street. I was in Goa at that…
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St. Francis Xavier
St. Francis Xavier Faith is business. Not only for the Church, others try getting their share as well. Churches and stalls selling religious trash undeniably hold attraction for me. It must be because of my catholic youth in the catholic south of the Netherlands. For years I sang in the boys choir of the local…
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Faith and business
Faith and business According to catholic doctrine Maria wasn’t deflowered before she conceived. In her case the Church speaks of the Virgin Birth of Christ and so Maria remained a virgin even while being a mother. Virgin and mother at the same time, that’s what makes her special. Maria is often depicted as a beautiful, virtuous young…
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Via crucis
Via crucis or: the missing fingers Religion can be a true source of inspiration for Art with a capital A – examples aplenty through the ages for all the different religions. It can also inspire to living folklore and concomitant religious kitsch – examples aplenty as well. Living in the post-religious era, at least as far as…
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Bathing at the pump
Bathing at the pump Life of the seasonal migrant workers in the brick kilns is all about hard work, eating and sleeping in tiny huts and, as we see on this picture, cleaning of body and clothes at the common hand-pump. What pleased me in last week’s pictures of women at work in the kilns…
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Pillars of strength
Pillars of strength That’s what they are, the working poor of India! Especially the women. Without their constant effort and care the entire structure of society would collapse in no time. Prone to exploitation and even bondage, these migrant workers in the brick kilns have one advantage over their middle class masters. Their physically demanding…
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White elephant
White elephant Sometimes you meet after many years an old acquaintance who greets you with the exclamation “You haven’t changed a single bit!” The same applies to the Indian Ambassador car. Since its birth in 1957 as a clone of Morris Oxford its looks have hardly changed during all those years that it has been in production. But…
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Mind your step
Mind your step Everyone who has moved around airports must be familiar with this phrase “Mind your step”. Seeing it, I immediately hear the proper voice with the right intonation warning me: “Mind your step!” But what is it supposed to mean here? Can it be a warning to those who are on the verge…
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Backbone girl
Backbone girl Cleaning, cooking, fetching water, looking after the children, feeding and milking the family cow or buffalo, collecting firewood, all this and more is women’s work in many a traditional society. This Kumaoni mountain girl carries a tree home that she may even have cut herself with an axe, because in these parts women think…
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Women at the village pump
Women at the village pump Such a common sight, but always inviting to pause for a while and enjoy. Here it’s a few women of the Gond tribe with their feet in the mud around the village pump, cleaning vessels and jars. The shiny silver of the traditional armlet, anklets and elaborate belt reflects its beauty…
καιρός remembered 