7/22/2004: Crowd of Indian women

These Indian women are members of the Swadhyaya Parivar, or self-awareness community, listening to their leader during a "Women Self-Development Meet 2004" in Ahmadabad, India. This is described as a "spiritual and social movement based on human dignity, for the self as well as others". I think that's pretty cool, as evidence of how women are becoming empowered and liberated around the world.

But that's only partly why I saved the photo. It's the sea of faces that really does it here. It's interesting from many points of view, I'm sure only interesting as an outsider to the culture.

One interesting thing is how little diversity there appears to be - racial diversity, not diversity of thought of course. How makeup is about as used as it is in the US: so many different cultures change their appearance in different ways, but we all seem to do it, for one reason or another.

I see diversity, too! Some have a dot on the head and some don't.

I find that to be the most interesting - the differences that one can't even see if one is outside the culture! What kind of tip-offs are there that someone is in a different caste?

I would expect that most of them are more or less from the same stock, and by that I mean most if not all are from Indian families that have only come from India (little to no mixed racial blood). Though that's the case, there's plenty of diversity within that group there, skin shades from light to dark, face shapes and hair texture. But it's that one woman in the middle-right who really stands out (pun intended).

I found Waldo!

imagine the line they must have when there is a ten minute bathroom break

It's India. Don't they just pee where they stand?

The stand out woman is the one with the teeth right?

She really is noticeable.

UT photoshopped the teeth in.

I think I recognize one of those women!

One of those women looks very familiar...

Hey! Somebody looks familiar!

Sisters.

There are so many people that stand out.
- There is the tall WNBA chick just to the right of centre.
- Here apparent sister who is almost as tall, standing beside her a little further to the right.
- There is the girl with the teeth who looks like she is playing a tambourine, in between an in front of the sisters. (why is she so happy?)
- Or the large lady with her eyes closed in front of the tambourine girl and to the right. (is she having a heat stroke?)
- And the lady in front of her on the far right who smells something nasty, but is too polite to say anything.
- Then there is the lady in front of the WNBA girl and a little to the left who has that evil "I'm gonna cut your nuts off" look.
- And the one to the left of her who wishes she was a little taller so she wouldn't have to stretch her neck so much. (what is she clapping for?)
- to the right of her and in front of the evil lady is an older lady doing some weird vulcan mind trick with her hand.
- between that old lady, and the stinky lady is the American-football player lady. (you can't see her mouth, but look at the size of those shoulders! She can be my defensive tackle any day!)
- What about the hair-rag girl just above center. She's not even looking in the right direction! Maybe she is covering up her blonde hair? (hey! the action is over here!)
- Then there is Bubbles just in front of hair-rag girl, with her thick glasses, and huge bubble eyes underneath.
- Finally the short lady to the left of Bubbles who has her eyes closed, and lips pursed. (who is she gonna kiss?)

Now, have a good look at the football lady, and Bubbles. Is that the same lady, or are they sisters too? Both tall, both have glasses, round faces, no apparent ears.

She's not REALLY taller. She's standing on the feet of the woman just behind her and to frame left. Note the pained expression.

Affirmative action

I was talking with two Indian co-workers talking about college, and one of them mentioned affirmative action. I quized them about this, and it turns out that in this case it is the practice reserving a certain number of slots for lower castes.

They also mentioned the backlash that occurred when this went into force and the occaissional pretender who wasn't really from that caste.

"India might just be one of the most fucked-up places on the planet."
No I really think that dubious honour falls to the Sudan....or maybe the Congo....possibly the Ivory Coast. Lot of places waaaay more fucked up than India.

I have enormous affection for the Indian culture ( married to a sense of deep anger and frustration over such issues as the Untouchables and the practice of aborting girl babies or abandoning them.....acid attacks on girls by spurned lovers and honour killings ....railway children and the glittering lives of the burgeoning middle classes whilst the majority of the population do little more than subsist )..... I was raised on stories of India as my father was born there and lived there until the family had to leave ( just before the hand back whilst the sectarian violence was at a peak) .....Whilst from my Grandparents I heard the tales of a wealthy elite and was given a glimpse into arrogance of mindboggling degree, from my Father I heard the other tales. My father was a child and a rebellious one at that and as such his relationships with the staff who saw to most of his nurturing was very different to that of his parents. They were less careful around him and allowed him to see their world a little. I am glad of that because he passed some of those tales to me and left me with the fee,ling that in some small way I have a connection to that culture.

I worked for an Indian psychiatrist for two years. He hated India, never wanted to go back.

Y'know what they say Pie..you can never have enough Hyperbole

I used to work with several engineers named Patel and Desai (sp?). They all wanted to go back eventually but every one of their wives absolutely refused.

To use UT's own words:

this might be the beginning of a fun game, beestie.

one of these things is not like the other:

Well, well, well - look who showed up...

Ohh.... big mistake beestie....

A beautiful picture of womanhood and humanity in general. :thumpsup:

NBN, I don't know what you do, or how you do it, but you seem to be good at it.

i guess the one on the right got a good way off spending her time!

You all are so racist. I believe they prefer to be called native americans. Have some sense, people.

...you are aware that these are Indians like from India, right?

*laughs*

Yes. My husband thinks he's so funny - that is an example of his comedy stylings.

on the un-edited photo,the one w/o the photoshop faces,you can spot what looks like a man's head.If you look 3 heads behind the woman turtleknee said looked like she was having a heatstroke,theres what looks like an arm beside her head. directly behind her is what looks like a high school geek trying to look over her head.

I circled him:

Sorry about the color my stupid computer doesn't allow saving in JPEG.
Just compare pics.

I hate connect the dots. Can anyone tell me what it made?