"I love the speed, strength, and vitally you see in these young, mobile woman."
I love the sense of danger, the way their vision is obstructed to some unknown degree and the flowing drapery seems about to get caught in the chain.
११ डिसेंबर, २०१४
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Weird. The first two women are the same woman on the same bicycle, but taken at different times. If he's just randomly snapping photos from a rickshaw, what are the chances of that I wonder.
They'll learn to start wrapping up their ankles soon enough.
I see isadora duncan
High fashion for the strictly orthodox Muslim woman -- not a speck of skin can show in public, except around the eyes.
Amazon carries them under the names Opera Length gloves, or bridal gloves , or Party gloves.
As the Professor prefers men in long pants over short pants, I prefer women in long gloves over short gloves. Great minds think a like...well on one meaningless thing.
I love the way barbarians protect their property.
The wonders of tunnel vision!
Except for the first woman (twice), there's no meaningful vision disruption, nor do I see anything likely to get caught in a chain.
One need not be wearing spandex to be decently equipped for cycling, after all.
I know why the caged bird sings.
I love the socks with sandals look.
Many of the comments are very interesting:
Gayatri: ...I was raised in India and I used to dress like this when driving around the city on a two-wheeler. It is not religion so much as common sense – to protect against dust, pollution and the harsh sun rays. A coughing/sneezing fit while on a two-wheeler can be dangerous! We usually remove all such ‘protection’ once we reach our destination :-)
And
kamlakumari Hi people I lived in Varanasi a few years and this fashion is nothing to do with religion. The Muslim women of Varanasi almost exclusively where all black burka. The face cover and gloves are for dust and sun protection. The socks are for warmth. The winters in Banaras are very dry and can get cold. The biking in the roads also mean you are inhaling the fumes from the cars on the road. I used this tactic sometimes as well to save myself from the exhaust.
And somewhat more manic:
Moxa Haha! Cultural differences ! Indians want to be white, Americans want to be tanned! This is true! I was born in India, my wife wants to retain her fair tone and I want her to be tanned more! Love your eye !
Those bikes have chainguards that do some serious guarding. I think I have only seen wraparound chain guards in pictures. I own metal pants clips to compensate for my open-style chainguard.
If it's for protection from dust and other pollutants, why are the men unprotected?
"the flowing drapery seems about to get caught in the chain"
Most all of these bikes have chain guards, a piece of equipment largely dispensed with in America, along with the kickstand, on the pretext that we are all training for a bicycle race.
I do like the gloves, but wonder how they stay so white. The rest of the outfits seem like high visibility Hefty trash bags. I saw a bicyclist hist morning literally wearing a Hefty trash bag in San Francisco, where it is storming and downtown is without power.
Christy wrote: If it's for protection from dust and other pollutants, why are the men unprotected?
I don't know Varanasi, but when my wife traveled to Mumbai, her hosts made it clear she needed to wear Indian clothes that covered her arms to the wrists and legs to the ankles. For all they cover, the fabric is light and thin and the clothes are very comfortable in an extremely hot, humid, dirty environment.
So clearly there is a cultural, Indian, paradigm at work, but just as clearly these women are going about the practical business of being fashionable.
You can see the same paradigm at work in a different context in this picture:
Physicists in saris
In any case, I think Indians explaining the context is a lot more interesting than Westerners pronouncing judgment.
The gloves are body armor. Without the gloves they would be showing skin and subject to ritual murder.
The women are Muslim--yes, even in India. Some people submitted to conversion rather than being one of the 100 million-1 billion slaughtered by the Muslims. India was a favorite hunting ground for the brave Muslims because the Hindus didn't fight back. There are stories about rivers of blood that aren't hyperbole. Women cover up lest they face the wrath of local busybodies. Rape is a popular corrective.
Love the look.
Muslims in India are generally very po.
When I lived in Bangalore I would take pics of their slums...when they weren't looking-they have zero power
My Indian hubby's father was born in Karachi, but all the Indians left Paki when the countries divided.
Did you know there are Portugese in India. Goa is like Miami Beach....in India!
thanks.
"Indians want to be white: Americans want to be tanned."
True, except along the Rio Grande Valley where Americans use LOTS of sunscreen so as not to be mistaken for all the Mexicans, lol.
The pictures would be pretty if I hid the context from myself, but I can't quite succeed in doing that. Images of shrouded women carry too much horrific meaning to simply be pretty.
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