Rice is Life...

Sign the petition...

...for Greenpeace

Save India from GM rice, here...

Be the Change You Want to See in the World...

I did it...

Erenia needed another $25 towards her agricultural loan... she can buy her vehicle now... 

Good Luck Erenia...

Thanks Kel for the inspiration...

You can do it too... It's easy... you can even pay by Paypal... and it's only a loan so you'll even get it back (if you want it) or you can use it again to help someone else...

Kiva

Mera Bharat Mahan... My India is Great!

I feel guilty because I've been back in the UK for a week now (visiting family) and I have shied away from posting.  I guess I've been away from technology for so long (and enjoyed the freedom!) that I don't want to get addicted again.  I've found myself checking my inbox one too many times... for what? I haven't even sent an email to be replied to!  So this is it... my "Dear John"...

I won't be back on any kind of regular basis.  I will however keep my blog alive and I hope that I will still get some new comments as I still love to read them.

I will be forever grateful to those blogger friends whom I have had regular blogging contact with, I'm sure you all know who you are.  You have all pulled me through a lonely and rough ride over the last year.  I would be happy to give you my email if you want to stay in touch.

Since being back in India I have realised I am less in control of the issues that my blog focused on, which at first was hard for me because of the dramatic contrasts in culture. I have had to let a lot of things go and follow the easy routes just to keep sane!

When you are living in a world where it is normal to look a child beggar, carrying a screaming baby, in the eye and know that you are helpless, the issues you once cared for melt away. 

I don't need to worry about whether I am eating organic vegetables, because Sainsbury's aren't there to hold my hand and tell me they are looking after me. 

I don't need to worry about re-cycling, because there are no council workers there to prosecute me if I mix my plastic and paper. I do however know that somewhere along the line, a dirty child will rummage through my waste and claim every last scrap of re-cyclable rubbish to keep her family alive.

Don't think that I don't care anymore, because I do. I just have to change my attitude to fit with the culture I live in now.  Indians do care, they really do.  They are the most caring, hospitable and patriotic people I have met.  They know what they can do and they know what is beyond their everyday control.  They are patriotic in a way that the British could never be.  They think of themselves as a big family, who are in it together, who can grow and learn from each others mistakes. There is no sense of superiority or super power, they are proud to be Indian and proud for what it stands for.  It's a selfless pride that comes from their hearts and is so big it spills out in front of your eyes.  

Every truck in India displays the words "Mera Bharat Mahan" ... My India is Great...  

It truly is...

cranjam

There is no Hindi word for "Goodbye"... I like it that way...

Diyas and Rangoli...

Today the world I live in is celebrating the 'Festival of Lights'...

Diya's and Rangoli decorate the doorsteps of every Hindu, Sikh and Jain home on the eve of Diwali...

One of the most intriguing qualities that puts India in my dreams, is that no day goes by without flashes of patterns and colours that bring your senses and emotions to a split second standstill...

I guess it explains why I love photography so much too. To capture a moment of life that we rarely get a chance to savour in all the rushing around from here to there...

To sit and have the privilege of studying in detail the colour and depth of such minute detail in the never ending story of the busy world you are living in...

To take time to be grateful for what you have...

I find it beautiful that where money is scarce, the colours seems to become brighter, people surround themselves with beauty in a more passionate manner...

The senses are given more importance in life to enlighten and awaken the soul...

Colours are brighter, music and prayers are shared, food is sweeter and you are transported to memories past at every corner where a chai stall sends the smell of ginger and cardamom to your nose...

The fate of an Indian lies in Gods hands, the passion for their culture and religion is so alive in their hearts, it is hard for it to not rub of on you when you walk past..

Life is full of beauty when you take the time to look...

Happy Diwali to you all...

May the journey you are following be full of colour and light in every way...

***

Thanks Sharon... x