Category: India
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Mirror images
Mirror images A mirror not only confronts us with ourselves, but can also reflect objects from a part of the room or space around us that would otherwise be invisible from our vantage point. Or it can reflect a side of an object that we would not be able to see without a mirror. In…
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Jai Golu Devta …
Jai Golu Devta … So what are the requests like, that the worshippers of Goludev ask from him? They write their petitions on paper, which allows us to take a closer look at some of them. “Jai Golu Devta! My name, Priyanshu Gagola! Make me successful in finishing the 12th standard! May I get a…
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Goludev the bell lover
Goludev the bell lover I have never been able to really understand the meaning of the word ‘praying’, or maybe I should say ‘the act of praying’. One prays to god – at least according to my catholic upbringing – but since I can’t imagine anything when hearing or reading the word ‘god’, praying to…
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The hotel room
The hotel room I’d arrived at Haldwani station in the middle of the night and saw that the town was shrouded in complete darkness due to a power cut. With some difficulty, I found someone who could guide me through the darkness to a nearby guesthouse, where I was offered this room. I still remember…
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The waiting room
The waiting room Despite the iron barred doors standing wide open, the ‘Welcome’ sign on the wall doesn’t exactly seem like an unnecessary gesture of encouragement for potential visitors crossing the threshold of this waiting room. The contrast between the space and the sign must have struck me as strangely amusing as I walked past…
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Where I stand
Where I stand After my comments in the previous posts on the Fall of man and Redemption of man, you may like to know where I stand. Well, I’m standing here under this tree and look up and think it’s beautiful. Through our observations of nature, and our thoughts and studies, we have come to…
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The lonely slipper
The lonely slipper or Shiva and Parvati in a courtyard “Shiva is man and Parvati is woman; they are the causes of creation. All men have Shiva as their soul, and all women are Parvati. Shiva has the form of the male sign, the lingam, and the goddess has the form of the female sign,…
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Floating Baobab
Floating Baobab The decisive moment for this photograph didn’t come until after it had been taken. It occurred to me that it might be interesting to rotate the photograph 90° anti-clockwise, and that is what you see here. It suddenly becomes intriguing: it looks as though the tree is floating on a perfectly still surface…
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A stick in shallow water
A stick in shallow water Such a simple photo, yet so profound! Ever since I saw this branch in the water and took a photograph of it, the image has been etched into my memory. What we see here is clear: 1) a stick in the sun, protruding from the water, 2) the broken continuation…
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Funfair Ganesha
Funfair Ganesha Popular Hindu pilgrimage sites, with their newly built temples and statues of deities, all too often bear witness to poor taste. In Haridwar, for example, where this photograph was taken, there is a long row of new temples that seem to be competing for first prize for tacky and kitsch design. Why is…
καιρός remembered 