Penelope Gan | Photo Blog just some cl!cks by me …
Documentary
Tsunami Photo Museum – a visual memory
After 7 years since the Tsunami devastated the coast of Sri Lanka taking over 50,000 lives with thousands more injured, displaced and left to reconcile with their memories and nurse their scars, businesses, infrastructure and lives have been rebuilt. However, the signs of destruction that had taken the nation by surprise are still there … none more prominently showcase than the Tsunami Museum in Telwatta, Sri Lanka.
The Mevlevi Sema Ceremony
The Mevlewi believe in performing their dhikr in the form of a “dance” and musical ceremony known as the Sema, which involves whirling, from which the order acquired its nickname the Whirling Dervishes. The Sema represents a mystical journey of man’s spiritual ascent through mind and love towards “Perfection”. The Sema is credited to the Mevlewi founder, Rumi, who heard the dhikr “la elaha ella’llah” which filled him with happiness that he stretched out both arms and spun in a circle.
Reflections: Yamuna River
Despite it’s “clear blue” coloration, the Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers in the world, especially around New Delhi, which dumps about 58% of its waste into the river. With nearly 57 million people dependent on the Yamuna waters which accounts for 70% of Delhi’s water supply, the government has spend nearly $500 million on clean up efforts and over Rs 1,700 crore to control pollution since the 1990s with little success.
Taj Mahal, the Crown Palace
The Taj Mahal is regarded as one of the eight wonders of the world that was constructed over a period of twenty-two years, employing twenty thousand workers by Emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his dear wife – queen Mumtaz Mahal. Completed in 1648 C.E. at a cost of 32 Million Rupees, the Taj is an “elegy in marble” or some say an expression of a “dream.”
Religion and Trance
People of varying faiths throughout the world are said to have experience a transcendence state from different perspectives with many textual references supporting such claims; ranging from the Bible (Matthew 8:28-34), the Torah (Genesis 6:4) to the Qu’ran (Verse 275).
Lives as Brahmaputra Dies
Scientist predicts that the Brahmaputra and other Himalayan rivers flowing through Northeast India will stop flowing within the next 5 decades if the soaring global warming temperature is not arrested. This will cut off one-sixth of humanity’s water source; affecting over 400 million people’s lives in China, India and Bangladesh.
Miracle Healer or Merciless Killer
Endangered species from Africa’s forests are laid out for local buyers seeking sex boosters, spiritual and physical cures and exotic food while skins of jungle cats and reptiles are to Western buyers in UNESCO enlisted Djemaa el Fna. Can a membership with CITES curb illegal wildlife trade in Morocco? Or will culture, spiritual practices of the medicine man prevail?
all we have is the earth and sky
Over 18 million Indian children life, work, play, sleep, dream on the streets and sidewalks of Indian cities with a steady upward climb with more than 50 children escaping intolerable circumstances at home to begin new lives on their own on the streets. With least access to shelter, nourishment, health care and education, they work long hours and are constantly harassed and exploited.
Survival : Men vs. Cow
Urban poverty is a massive and growing issue, but it is often poorly understood, underestimated and unrecognised. Being the most populous city in Uttar Pradesh, Agra – the home of the grandiose Taj Mahal -has most of its 1.69 million people living under the poverty line and ‘homeless’. As resettlement projects takes place in Mumbai and Delhi, will Agra benefit from its experience?
Children Beggars
9 out of 10 homeless children do NOT beg as a way of life. Children who take to panhandling are usually victims of organised begging rackets, led by gang leaders who often present themselves as ‘benefactors’ and ‘protectors’ of homeless children that comprise of the poor, runaways and disabled. In order to reap bigger profits, thousand of these children are mutilated yearly
Raising Darchor
Projecting serenity by day and a ghostly effect under a moonlite night, the Darchor is a vertical Tibetan prayer flag raised annually during the Tuosui’ ceremony to spread good will and compassion to all. As such, they are often found high above ground levels such as rooftops and mountain passes to ensure the unobstructed wind passes over their surfaces thereby purifying the air with mantras.
Save Tibet
The Tibetan Autonomous Region is the poorest Chinese region with annual per capita income of less than USD 100. Where central subsidies and investments are channelled only to the Chinese administrators and settlers, couple with fierce discrimination and oppression, Tibetans have imposed self ‘exile’ to harsh, arid and rural areas defending for themselves, their freedom, culture and religion.
Jama Masjid + Feathered Friends
Whilst the pigeons in Jama Masjid are free, a stark reality occurs just hundreds of meters away at the Jama Masjid bird market and across the road behind the Red Fort at INA Market; feathered species of all kinds are cooped up waiting for an exchange of swabs of rupees for their lives and freedom. Although the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 exist, enforcement is lacking.
Suryavarman II Sacred Angkor Wat
Built in the early 12th C as King Suryavarman II’s temple state and capital city, Angkor Wat was neglected after the 16th C only to be discovered by French explorer – Henri Mouhot – in the mid-19th C. Restoration begun in the 20th C and continues today by foreign parties despite the establishment of the Angkor World Heritage Site that provides funds to the Cambodian government.
Addressing India’s School Dropouts
Spending just 3.5% of GDP on education, of India’s 1 million schools, most are state-run and sub-standards. Set against this backdrop, a physically handicapped man funds a private school that dishes out scholarship and subsidised fees for the deserving with hope to provide skills to the improvished and dropouts.
The Homeless, Rural India and COP15
While buzz is on the leaked draft, disarray climate talks that threatens international unity and speculations on India and China’s move at COP 15, there is a stark difference on the ground: playing catch-up, re-thinking energy development strategy and focusing on key drivers for transition right through the grass root levels.
Spastic Children’s Association
Established in February, 1960 in a garage of the Red Cross to address the shortfall in the education system that does not cater to children suffering from cerebral palsy (CP), the Spastic Children Association caters for 300 students to date providing inclusive education aimed at creating self-reliant individuals.
The Tibetan Diaspora – 50 years on
The first exodus into India took place in 1959 in the wake of the failure of the Lhasa Uprising. Today, approximately 220,000 Tibetans are dispersed globally and Tibetan Buddhism has a following of more than the population of Tibet despite accusations of charlatanism, commercialism, power-politicking, immoral behaviour and radically different teaching across the four schools.
Hashish Children of Kullu
Raking in Rs900 crore p.a., locals alongside a nexus of expats and international smugglers have cashed in on the charas resulting in stronger enforcements from the Indian police and the Narcotics Control Bureau. Those that face the greatest lost are the children in this valley; forced into the cartels’ trap, removed from the officials’ radar.
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is 572 years old by the Gelugpa Buddhist reckoning of reincarnation of his predecessors. An inspiration for 6 million Tibetans, and 100,000 impoverished Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal who followed his lead into exile, photos and newspaper cutting of him are found around the TRSHC.
1 of 10 Million Blind
More than 1.5% of India is blind. Of these 15 million, almost two thirds are blind due to cataract where surgery is one of the most cost effective health interventions known and most operated eye condition with highest rate of success and satisfaction. Barriers to access cataract surgery includes financial, fear, distance, lack of awareness and support, all of which are more prevalent in rural and peri-urban areas.
Cancer Is A Bitch
More than 100 million skin cancers are diagnosed annually. However, only 3% of skin cancer cases are melanoma, which causes more than 75% of skin cancer death. Unfortunately, melanomas in Asians tends to be at advanced stages during diagnosis due to its occurance on non-exposed skin with less pigmentation.
I am HIV+
In April 2009, 6 people stood tall and proud and uttered these simple but profound words that would change their world: “I am HIV+”. Through their eyes, an educational process took shape that helped spread the message of awareness and inspired others to come forth and lead a life worth fighting for.
A Sustainable Future for Argan Oil and Widows
Known for their medicinal, nutritional and cosmetic properties, argan pits have been processed long before the Phoenicians arrived and continues to be in demand today. Processed by widows, divorcees and unmarried single mothers in the Little Atlas Region of Morocco the formation of women cooperatives that works within a biosphere protected in UNESCO, has given a renewed lease of life for both the women and Argan trees.