Category: Asia
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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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Reflections
Reflections I love reflections and photographs that feature reflections. Reflections invite us to look more closely and encourage us to reflect – see my previous posts ‘Floating Baobab’ and ‘A stick in shallow water’. It is probably no coincidence that the word ‘reflection’ has these two meanings: a reflection or mirror image, and a thought…
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The raising of the flag
The raising of the flag I was born after the Second World War in a liberated Netherlands. The country had just emerged from five years of occupation by Nazi Germany. I still remember very clearly the annual celebrations during my childhood on 5 May, the day in 1945 on which the country was liberated from…
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The friendly army
The friendly army What an impressive army of identical little figures! That was my first reaction when I came across them on the grounds of the Buddhist Hase-dera Temple in Kamakura. On closer inspection, however, some of the faces do display slightly different features. So there must have been a few different moulds used to…
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Wishful thinking
Wishful thinking I wonder if I should reconsider my stand on religion somewhat. In earlier posts of this blog I have spoken – illustrating my point with pictures – of the ‘folklore of faith’, implying that apart from its popular forms, there is also a more serious and fundamental side to religion. The latter would…
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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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Pure landscapes
Pure landscapes Standing in the middle of a beautiful landscape can be a profound experience. The wide vistas allow us to feel the immensity of space, and the sense of the earth upon which we live. This sensation is intensified also by the quality of the sounds we hear; sounds of animals or human beings…
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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…
καιρός remembered 