The streets of India come alive with trades, people and chaos, and it is always, always colourful.
Pictures by Chan Kit Yeng.
In recent years, news headlines have pictured India as a land of fear, abuse and, in particular, rape. As a lover of the subcontinent and someone who has travelled to 30 of its 36 states and union territories, I beg to disagree. As much as it has some violent hotspots, such as the extremely poor state of Bihar and the back lanes of Delhi, it also has some of the most hospitable and genuine people I have ever met. In India, the guest is a gift from the gods, and for this reason, many times doors have opened for us and entire families have taken care of me and Kit Yeng as part of their own.
It is time to demystify media horror stories and remind people that India is a pulsating, colourful and benevolent land of rickshaws and the luckier cows on Earth.
Sadhus are holy men – they renounce material life and follow the religious path of Shiva, living on the streets, free from any rule. Indians usually bestow upon them offers of food and money in exchange for blessings. As typical of their creator-destroyer god Shiva, Sadhus largely drug themselves up with dope, thus resulting in a very docile bunch. They might, however, annoy you with their insistent begging.Father and daughter in Mon, Nagaland – the uncertain borderland that divides northeastern India from the Mon state of Western Myanmar. The Nagas have been fierce headhunters for centuries, until Christian missionaries came to evangelise the region, exchanging piles of sitting skulls for churches and crosses.
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