Varanasi, India, 2010. A morning offering to the holy river Ganges
Goa’s Garbage Goes Green
1 June 2011
In Goa India, there’s a grassy hilltop that overlooks the span of two beaches and blends the ocean with a similar hue of sky. It is a dynamic view when your stance is at the edge, towards the sea. To the left is a steep, rocky climb down to Baga Beach while to the right is Anjuna’s golden sand and palm trees. At the edge, looking at a distinct blue line that separates sea from sky, you can see the world’s roundness from the line’s subtle, developing shape, a curvature that encases a people in one common space and future.
Varanasi, India. 2010
A week before a terrorist attack blew up the Sheetla Ghat in Varanasi, Hindu sannyasins rested on its steps from their travels. The renunciates gather in Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in India, at the final stage of their spiritual journey. Of the 100 ghats, Sheetla Ghat is home to the sunset aarti, a daily evening prayer ritual offered to the holy river Ganges.
The orange garb signifies renouncement of possessions, desires and temporal attachments. The sannayasin’s goal is to achieve moksha or liberation from the cycle of suffering. Locals sweep and run water from the top to the bottom of the steps to prepare for the daily ritual. Meditation and unwinding are common along the ghats, a few steps away from the Ganges. There was a peaceful quiet on this warm afternoon, then suddenly, drums beat to begin a celebration.
Chennai, India. 2010
In a low-income housing area in Chennai, India, a mother held her child. I was walking through the area with a professor, Dr. Millie Nihila, for my independent project on community development.
There was not much space to walk through in the alleys—blanketed with trash, mostly plastics, and dirty water collected in the potholes. Dr. Millie said that the child was sick due to the lack of basic sanitation services, a fact that was consistent with the families I interviewed in the area.
Tamil Nadu, India. 2010
Among innumerable sights, smells and experiences from the Davidson semester in India program, Krishna’s butterball was as memorable as Amritsar’s Golden Temple. The freestanding rock, precarious, in command of the terrain and a natural rarity that puzzle physics professors, is considered the young Krishna’s favorite food, a butterball, as told by local lore.
The rocky terrain cooled the day’s heat while goats skillfully scaled cliff sides. Our group walked to a Hindu temple beyond the boulder—some laid down in front of the presumed butterball, tried to push it, succumbed to a beating sun and the touristy photographs inspired by the illusory holding of Pisa’s leaning tower.
Varanasi, India 2010
Sunset on the Ganges River in the ancient and holy city of Varanasi, India. The wooden boats ferry thousands of pilgrims and visitors along the holy river each year. A man gently held his fishing line in an area where boats are tied to rest until an evening of traversing the river.
Sounds of life are rarely mechanical in Varanasi. The boats, rowed with manpower, have no motors and sustain the ancient river scenes with the sounds of wooden paddles softly hitting the water. This photograph was taken on one of our last days in Varanasi. Children were flying kites and selling flowers for spiritual offering to the Ganges. The old man sitting relaxed on his small boat was a visual insight and testimony to Varanasi’s continuing ancient lifestyle.
