Soul of India

[Suncity]

Scooter again!
photo copyright antoinequerre

[Suncity]

Villagers visiting Ajanta (a world heritage site) have a group photo taken
photo copyright byronic501



Dancing away in Bangalore
cc rights antkriz



Navaratri Celebrations in Vadodara
photo copyright tushal

[Suncity]

Slow march to a social revolution

photo and text copyright pandiyan
A small town near Chennai: Girl children in India have a rough time. Especially in rural areas and among the economically deprived sections of our society. Education and childhood enjoyment is considered a luxury for them. Such a heartening scene. Girls carrying books and walking to their school in a small town near Chennai. There were scores of them; coming from various hamlets nearby, trudging along rough pathways through barren fields, braving the hot summer sun; and some even on bare feet.

[Luckystreak]

Traditional Sports.

Bull fight



Bull race



Boat Race

[Suncity]

Classical Dance
photo copyright snakesun



Rajasthani folk dance
photo copyright jimfrappier

[tonta]

hi!! this might seem an odd request but i am desperately seeking photos of dance bars (even from the outside would be great) and country liquor stores, the slightly seedier alcohol selling joints - preferably in mumbai, but really anywhere in india at all . . i'm an indian trying to make a (positive) point and its incredibly hard finding pics online. . if you could pleease help me as soon as you can you would be saving my life thank you!!
by the way - beautiful beautiful work so far, makes me homesick for what i cant see for real

[ultranet]

great posts........

[kronik]

I love this thread.

[Suncity]

Nashik - Mahndra Scorpio factory
photo copyright BigK

[shockw4ve]

Awesome pictures!!!

[Suncity]

One India but two sides

The economic boom is bringing prosperity to many

photo copyright goodmorningmumbai



But many are being left behind

photo cc rights brajeswar

[Sridhar]

Wonderful thread! I wonder how I missed it all this time. Thanks to the contributors.

[kronik]

Great pics Sun, but please allow me to say something about post 111 though.

I think its wrong to say that the kid sipping sugar cane on the sidewalk is left behind. I mean how do we quantify the economic boom? That city kids are becoming more western and wear better clothes, or the urban poor are earning more money to feed and clothe themselves?

One thing is for sure that all India will never be a homogenous society, and social inequalities will probably remain, despite our best efforts. Urban poor, those that come from the villages and those born in the city, will probably remain, and while they may not look like the richer, lighter kids, I am hoping their state is still improving by the day.

Maybe yesterday the kid did not have money to buy that stick of cane and today he does.

[Sridhar]

Well, the evidence suggests that the gap is widening. Not just because those at the bottom are not keeping up with the frenetic growth of those at the top of the income distribution (that is an unavoidable, if cruel, consequence of growth in a free market) but actually because those at the bottom are worse off than before. There is a real problem if the calorific intake has actually reduced in some regions in the last decade (i.e. people are eating less than before).

This boy's case may be different. These pictures may not reveal the full picture. But there is no point in brushing issues under the carpet. They need to be dealt with squarely. We need to generate growth and the growth must create jobs not just for the highly skilled (and the fact that it has is a good thing) but also for the semi-skilled and unskilled. That is an area where we have not quite failed uniformly (though the fact that calorific intake has declined in some regions of the country is a definite failure), but success has been below par for sure.

And all sides of India (I was about to write 'both sides' but that is too restrictive) constitute its soul. It may not be all pretty, but it is still beautiful. I hope the purpose of this forum is not to show only the pretty sides of the country and to become a mirror image of those sections of the Western media that are obsessed with showing its 'unpretty' sides.

[Suncity]

I do see Kronik's point of view. And as Sridhar said - not everything is pretty about India (just as not everything is unpretty about India as portayed by many activists, media outlets, missionary units and foreign photographers on poverty pang trips).

[Suncity]

Evening prayers at Varanasi
photo copyright ddcplus

[Suncity]

photo copyright pinakivw



photo copyright ez2axs

[manojp_mp]

Sun,
This is an amazing thread...

[p.raghavendra6]

A very very common sight....

[Suncity]

photo cc rights addictedeyes

Originally Posted by addictedeyes

I took this while on the road in Rajasthan. I remember my mother and another were the only women to drive in our town (Erode, TN) 25 years ago; that had surprised many people back then. Its great to see Indian women's self sufficiency and freedom these days; still there is a long way to go!

Working hard in a vegetable market in WB
photo copyright pinaki vw



The glam world - the Kingfisher Swimsuit calendar launch
photo copyright soumik



Nation building brick by brick
photo copyright rtq