One of my favorite posts this trip has been when I finally managed to do some street photography, so I set out to take some more in Bangalore on my last day in India.
First, it being Easter Sunday, we decided to drop by St. Mary's Basilica.
The garlands on the Madonna and Child are an Indian tradition, so this is an interesting localized version of Easter celebration, I think. I think it's also worthy of noting that Christian women still wear saris.
The Basilica was around the corner from Russell Market:
Then I attempted to go to the museums I missed on Good Friday. Unfortunately, one was closed on Sundays, and the other was closed due to power outage. Power demand severely out-strips supply in India, to the point where there are daily brownouts except in the biggest cities. Even when I was in Hyderabad, there were daily brownouts, and all the big companies have diesel backup generators.
So I decided to take a stroll in the neighboring Cubbon Park instead. Here is a strolling couple:
And here is a woman in a sari playing cricket:
(Sorry about the baby stroller on the right; I took some unobstructed pictures, but they were a bit blurry, and she didn't have as intense a stance.)
A family:
This boy has spotted me:
A couple on a bench:
(Note how some women do wear Western clothes.)
And then a few from my ride home:
Up next: My trip home!
Comments (7)
My favorite part of these is the dog that is being eaten by the tree in the pic where the boy spotted you. It was great to see you!
Posted by Vinod | April 27, 2011
i like the street pics the best...well, and park pics- i don't know how these people don't spot you taking their photo
Posted by ao | April 27, 2011
noting that Christian women still wear saris
A lot of Muslim women wear saris too, actually.
There have been Christians in South India since the time of the Apostles, so I'd guess the garlands are as authentic an Easter celebration as painted eggs. ;-)
I really love the cricket picture. I think the baby carriage adds to it. The family on the bench and the parents of the boy who spotted you are also great. And it never ceases to amaze me how soundly babies sleep on their mother's shoulders, despite being on bumpy rides.
Posted by Saheli | April 27, 2011
Yeah as I noted in The Streets of Bengaluru Part I, the Muslim women seemed to be wearing colored outfits underneath the black. :)
Posted by ToastyKen | April 27, 2011
Well, a lot of Indian Muslim women also don't wear the chadors, black or otherwise. I'm just pointing out that just b/c a chador indicates someone *is* Muslim, a lack thereof does not indicate they *aren't*.
Posted by Saheli | April 27, 2011
Yeah good point. It's just that the Muslim women who aren't wearing chadors... I wouldn't recognize as Muslim. :)
Posted by ToastyKen | April 27, 2011
I was actually curious about something related. My wife asked me if there's a way to tell Muslims, and my best guess was that Muslims tend to touch their heart after shaking hands. However, it didn't take much time around people who did that before I started unconsciously doing that myself, so I wouldn't be surprised if lots of non-Muslims also picked up the habit. I don't know if that's a thing in India so much though. Or you could see if they greet you with assalamualaikum vs. om suastiastu, but I didn't notice anyone doing that either in India.
Other than that, I don't know enough about India to know which parts of cultural paraphernalia (e.g. house decorations) are universally Indian and which bits would be associated with a particular religion.
Posted by Evan | April 29, 2011