Passage back to India

I am sure that everyone has boxes of photographs lying about; those from a memorable vacation or a childs first birthday party, which were meant to be placed with care in an album or scrapbook but, alas, were ultimately stuffed into an old shoe box and perhaps forgotten. I know that I can't be alone in this behaviour. Since the dawn of digital photography, sharing and preserving photographs on the computer has become the norm. But now what to do what all those relics? I recently opened up a few of my boxes with the intention of scanning and saving the "keepers" on my computer. Instead I was taken back on a journey to the wonderful places that these photos represented, the memories still vivid.

We spent 2 1/2 years living in India, so a number of these "relics" were from our time and travels around this magnificent sub continent. India is a land of contrasts; the splendid and the horrible, the affluent and the impoverished. The people are warm and welcoming and will go out of their way to make you feel at home in their country, often to their own expense. In fact, the Hindi greeting Namaste means I bow to you. We had experiences never to be equaled in another place. I remember one shopping trip to the vegetable market and spotting some palak (spinach) which was just coming into season. I had to repeatedly reclaim it from the cow who had been contentedly munching away on it before we arrived.

The women in India are the life force behind every family, as they are in most cultures. Whether they are college educated and career driven, or uneducated and work balancing building supplies on their statuesque heads, they are all beautiful. I remember taking this particular photograph as I waited in the car for my friends one shopping day. This sari clad woman came out of the shop with her recent purchase along with the kindling needed for the cooking fire secured on her head. Her grace and demeanor struck me as she easily managed both her child and her supplies without the creature comforts of a carriage for the child, or an automobile for her heavy load.

Although this particular photograph was taken with an old, inexpensive camera and not really worthy of mention for it's photographic qualities, the message it delivers is priceless. This one is a keeper.

Namaste