INDIA, 2009

=JAIPUR - PUSHKAR=

Photos © Ruud Leeuw

In January we travelled through parts of India, our very first visit to India. At the airport of New Delhi we were met by a chauffeur and he drove us through Rajasthan. After a visit and 1 night at Jaipur we got underway to Pushkar.

 


Food stalls seem to be the most colourful items in the street; a vegetarian diet in this country is no hardship as vegetables are never in short supply and served in a great variety of dishes.


There is plenty to see in the streets without much going on.


Not everything is colourful.. This looks like a scene from a war-torn place..
Except for that nice, shiny car of course.


The sides of the street are always sand, but then again we are in a desert state; Rajasthan. This camel seems to be on a work break..


I think the deal here is that you can buy leaves for the cows and such a gift will benefit your karma and afterlife... The cows seem in agreement!


The less fortunate... In India such people face their fate bravely and in quiet, dignified resignation. At no time I felt threatened by the homeless or inhabitants of such dwellings. I remember how in Nairobi homeless people started throwing stones at me, when they thought I was taking pictures of them (I had been taking a photo of a streetscene and hadn't noticed them).
 

I couldn't help but feeling the women were working harder than the men... The women were gathering firewood over considerable distances, but I also saw them laboring at roadconstructions (men drove the trucks, the women performed menial labor).


A woman carrying firewood, men sit and stare.
 

At some places entire villages seem to do and trade nothing except marble stoneworks.

 


Building materials are transported in many ways.

 


Pity I couldn't take any of these ornaments home, am sure they would have looked good in my garden.

 


The photo was slightly blurred by movement, as our car was passing at full speed. But I liked the photo, so I made an artist impression of it, using photoshop.
 

Public transport... Our driver was considering passing the bus at the busstop, but then he had to slam the brakes as this large truck came into view. With the traffic here you have to remain on your guard and our driver did an excellent job.

 

I just love these simple photos and how the women dress in the most colourful dresses

India’s huge and growing population is putting a severe strain on all of the country’s natural resources. Most water sources are contaminated by sewage and agricultural runoff. India has made progress in the supply of safe water to its people, but gross disparity in coverage exists across the country.
Although access to drinking water has improved, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. In India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily— the same as if eight 200-person jumbo-jets crashed to the ground each day...

 


Transportation technology centuries apart (well, maybe apart from the tires..)

 

 


JAIPUR BACK  |   NEXT PUSHKAR

 

Helpful links:
Indiaonline.nl (Dutch)
www.india-tourism.com
www.bharatonline.com
Lonely Planet
Wikipedia