Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly collection wherein NPR’s worldwide correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work all over the world.
Banyan bushes are my fixed companion as I journey in India. These bushes sprawl out, sending down roots that develop from their branches like ropes that youngsters swing on. In each Hindu and Muslim areas, it is commonplace to see oil lamps nestled in reverence on the tangle of banyan roots — the tree is seen as life-giving. Typically, there are strips of fabric fluttering off branches in hopes of prayers answered.
The bushes are additionally shade-giving, like this one I noticed in late spring outdoors Dingucha village within the western state of Gujarat. These males have been sitting fairly nonetheless within the late-afternoon warmth, catching a break subsequent to a stall that sells paan, a mix of floor betel nut and flavorings. The sunshine regarded sepia-toned — as if I might stepped into an previous {photograph} — and I started snapping. There was no such respite, although, for the stream of younger girls I noticed strolling previous, balancing heavy pots of water on their heads — a grueling job they’re generally anticipated to repeat a number of instances a day.
See extra images from all over the world:
- Greetings from Khartoum, Sudan, the place these with the least supply their visitors essentially the most
- Greetings from Moscow, Russia, the place Lenin’s tomb attracts a brand new surge of tourists
- Greetings from New Delhi, India, the place performing monkeys spark delight — and ambivalence
- Greetings from Damascus, Syria, the place a crowded bar welcomed post-Assad revelers
- Greetings from Alishan, Taiwan, whose purple cypress forests supply timeless magnificence
- Greetings from Odesa, Ukraine, the place a Black Sea seaside presents respite from conflict
- Greetings from Shenyang, China, the place employees type AI information in ‘Severance’-like methods
- Greetings from Palmyra, Syria, with its once-grand resort named for a warrior queen
- Greetings from Mexico Metropolis, the place these canines experience a bus to and from faculty
- Greetings from the Galápagos Islands, the place the blue-footed booby exhibits its colours
- Greetings from Afrin, Syria, the place Kurds danced their hearts out to rejoice spring
- Greetings from Dharamshala, India, the place these Tibetan children have been having the very best time
