Kolam for Pongal

It's the second day of the Pongal festival. In the morning I walked around my neighbourhood, photographing the rice flour kolam patterns which women (in this area, they are generally servants) make outside their gates. All of these feature the clay pot in which newly harvested rice is boiled until it overflows with abundance; and stalks of sugarcane.

I saw a lot of colour this year -- unlike the traditional south Indian kolam patterns, which are made from white rice flour. I like the plain ones better -- but what do I know?









New Years Day, 2013

I went out at 8:30 in the morning. The grounds of the hotel were completely empty and silent, as though everybody had danced themselves into a deep, fairy-tale sleep. I walked around taking photographs of sunbeams filtering through the tall trees.



I passed the little temple to Ganesha, who looks after beginnings. A hotel employee, the first person I had seen, was sitting on a bench, praying. As I passed he finished, stood up, and rang the temple bell three times. Suddenly I heard voices from all sides, as though he had signaled for the world to wake up.