The Good Life

“There is a special spirit among people who call themselves Banarsis, whether they are rickshaw-pullers, merchants in the market, or the old aristocracy.
It is an art of living, both passionate and carefree.
They call it masti (“joie de vivre”), mauj (“delight, festivity”), and phakkarpan (“carefreeness”).
It is the exhilaration and drunkenness of Holi, the extravagance and culture of Burhwa Mangal, and the glitter of Divali.
It is enjoyment of life without ostentation…”
(From “Banaras, City of Light” by Dianan L. Eck)

These ladies were bargaining religious accessories sold in front of the Swami Narayan Mandir (temple) in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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Bette Davis Eyes

“…She’ll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She’s ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a crow blush
All the boys think she’s a spy
She’s got Bette Davis eyes…”
(From “Bette Davis Eyes” by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon)

Those people bargaining religious accessories in front of the Swami Narayan Mandir (temple) in Varanasi (Benaras) caught my attention and especially the lady wearing the yellow sari who had a few expressions reminding me of Bette Davis…

This is a link to an amazing version of this song by Karen Souza, youtu.be/ydTzfPBw_tY

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The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

An Endless Well

“Vel once told me that the heart isn’t like a cup of water.
You can’t drain it.
It’s more like an endless well, and the more you love, the more it pumps out.”
(From “Endgame” by Ann Aguirre)

After sunrise this lady was pumping water near Raj ghat along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

Related To the whole world

“As a woman I have no country.
As a woman I want no country.
As a woman, my country is the whole world.”
(Virginia Woolf – English writer, 1882–1941)

This lady was changing clothes after having a bath in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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Being Bold

“Freedom lies in being bold.”
(Robert Frost – American poet, 1874–1963)

Anand is wearing a kantha silk scarf made with a hand embroidery.
Each scarf is unique and made in a silk saree.

(Scarf style “Kingdom” – 100% silk – Collection RED HALO)

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people who were living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the RED HALO page on Facebook and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi,www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

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© All photographs are copyrighted and all rights reserved.
Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

The Heart of the Mandala of Creation

“Brahma once weighed the heavens against Kashi.
And Kashi, being heavier, sank while the skies, despite all the gods who lived there, rose upwards.”
(Adi Shankara – Hindu philosopher, 788-820)

A view of the Ganges through a silk saree drying under the morning sun at Rajendra Prasad Ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
“Kashi outweighed the heavens because the whole cosmos is contained within its five Kroshas.
All that is auspicious in creation is here.
All that is powerful and sacred is here.
All the 330 million gods are here.
All knowledge resides here.
All tirthas are here.
All eight directions radiate from here.
All time is born here.
Yet, though Kashi forms the heart of the mandala of creation, it is above it.
It is lokattara or transcendent.”
(From “Varanasi:The Other Reality”)

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
The use of any work without consent of the artist is PROHIBITED and will lead automatically to consequences.

How Far

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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
(T.S. Eliot – American born English Editor, Playwright, Poet and Critic, 1888-1965)

Anand is wearing a kantha silk scarf made with a hand embroidery.
This artcraft is done by ladies involved in several workshops that we have settled with GURIA, a Human Rights organisation fighting against the sexual exploitation of women and children, particularly those forced into prostitution and trafficking.
Each scarf is unique and made in sarees provided by women in Benaras who take this opportunity to get rid of pieces that they brought in order to celebrate happy moments, festivals or parties.
Those accessories carry traces of happiness in their yarns…
Our model shows his body for the purpose of this brotherhood and happiness chain as this is a way to catch the attention on this fight for Human Rights and human dignity.
(Scarf style “Kingdom” – 100% silk – Collection RED HALO)

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people who were living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the RED HALO page on Facebook and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi,www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

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In Brilliant Technicolor

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“There are some parts of the world that, once visited, get into your heart and won’t go.
For me, India is such a place.
When I first visited, I was stunned by the richness of the land, by its lush beauty and exotic architecture, by its ability to overload the senses with the pure, concentrated intensity of its colors, smells, tastes, and sounds.
It was as if all my life I had been seeing the world in black and white and, when brought face-to-face with India, experienced everything re-rendered in brilliant technicolor.”
(Keith Bellows – Editor in Chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine and made a vice president of the National Geographic Society)

Colors are overpowering Varanasi (Benaras), after uploading a few pictures in black & white I always need to balance this with colorful images otherwise I would feel that I am disloyal to the city…
This lady came to wash her laundry in the Ganges, then she stretched those sarees along the ghat in order to dry them under the early sun of the dawn.

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An Auspicious Day

 

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“Engage yourself in all that is auspicious.”
(From the Sama Veda, the third of the four Vedas / sāman “melody” + veda “knowledge”)

One early morning those ladies came from far away to worship in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was a Monday, Lord Shiva’s day and as Shiva is the God of the city it was an auspicious day for them.
After taking a deep in the river, they washed and stretched many clothes along the ghats.
By the amount of items drying under the sun, it was clear that those pilgrims had a long journey.

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Pursuit of Happiness Photography

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Please do not use any photographs without permission (even for private use).
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“I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that at that moment it made me happy to do so.”
(Jacques Henri Lartigue – French photographer and painter, 1894–1986)

One early morning those ladies came from far away to worship in the holy waters of the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).
It was a Monday, Lord Shiva’s day and as Shiva is the God of the city it was an auspicious day for them.
After taking a deep in the river, they washed and stretched many clothes along the ghats.
By the amount of items drying under the sun, it was clear that those pilgrims had a long journey.

Join the photographer at www.facebook.com/laurent.goldstein.photography