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10/26/2015

The little beggar girl

When we changed our office, I said to goodbye to the leper and his stumps of hands who owns the intersection of Juhu Tara Road. On my new itinerary, I stop at another crossroad “owned” by another gang, the gang of the fake eunuchs – but I will speak about it later...

The other day, I was going home and I saw this three-year-old girl, lying on the sidewalk. In fact I saw her because a woman, presumably a beggar, was leaning on her and watching the flies fly. And this is not a figure of speech. The small girl was covered with flies. And the woman did not make a gesture; she stood there a few seconds and left. Moreover, all the time that I was at the red light, some passers-by are passed, none of them making a gesture. None of them even glancing at her actually. As if she wasn't there.

I was trying to deal with the feelings that the scene inspired me – sadness, anger, shame (of myself, for not being able to do anything other than holding a camera instead of moving my ass, and I have no excuse) – when my rickshaw driver started moving and I discovered the same woman, some ten metres away, monitoring the child and laughing with two other kids. She had made the little girl lie there, across the pavement, on purpose, more visible, rather than on the street corner...

 

This is what I like about India, you regularly get a slap as reality check (1)...

And finally, a more optimistic note with this nifty website, TheBetterIndia, which shares positive initiatives to help "make good collectively. And this makes the balm in the heart every time I read an article!

TheBetterIndia.jpg

(1) According to UNICEF, 12.6 million children are engaged in hazardous occupations. Nearly 40,000 children are abducted every year, of which 11,000 remain untraced, according to a report by the National Human Rights Commission of India.Source: https://in.news.yahoo.com/which-devi-are-we-worshipping-when-a-4-year-old-girl-gets-raped-here-091250861.html

09/28/2015

Ganapati and the elephantastic noise

It has been 9 years that Ganesh festival was impressing my eyes (see previous notes); now it mostly impresses my ears!

Below is the typical musical scene I face when going home. And also once I am home, sound-proofing not being a forte of Indian houses.

Every year millions of Ganesh idols, the God with an elephant head, are put into water, taking off with him the sins of the poor mortals. The latter spending fortunes(yes yes, even poor people invest a lot. Especially the poor in fact) to have the best looking (or most impressive) Ganesh of the neighbourhood. And to let everybody know about it - the most effective way being using huge speakers and playing techno music full fledge.

On top of aggressing ears, the festival makes me feel bad, personally. It is so bad for the environment, these tons of Plaster of Paris (which does not dissolve at all even after 48 hours, unlike clay (source)) and heavily toxic paints thrown in the sea every year…

But let us be positive! There are some good initiatives bringing hope. Immersing the idols in tanks instead of rivers. The chocolate statue drown in milk and distributed to poor children. The Ganesh made out of fish food with natural paints made out of spices. So of course it creates metaphysical problems, and the religious experts have been debatting about the future of the immersed Ganapatis. Ending up in a landfill? In the digestive system of fishes? Or in the tummy of poor kids? Is it religiously correct? I have obviously no theological expertise but ending up as trash rejected by the sea is not the sexiest thing either!

Sources:http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-all-fiv...; http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=569081... ; http://www.storypick.com/ganesh-idols/; http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-chocolate-ganesh-creates-a-buzz-on-social-media-2126669

09/21/2015

The art of eating graciously with fingers from a banana leaf