Kaleidoscopic India

How does a kaleidoscope work? Many pieces of colored glass or plastic fall against the mirrors inside the tube. I look through the peephole in one end and twist the cylinder to the right or left. The pieces fall into ever-changing patterns but their essential nature remains the same.

Why do I say India is kaleidoscopic in nature? First of all, I see it through my very limited perspective. All that has shaped me affects my perception, binding and focusing it - limiting my understanding. I see through the narrow channel of my western mind.

Rich saffron, cerise, electric royal blue, chartreuse - each color as intense as the next in saris, salwar kameez, children's school uniforms, buildings painted marigold and bubble-gum pink, black and gold bumblebee rickshaws on three wheels. All these fall together and separate in undulating, organic fashion.

Here time is not segmented into chunks but is a tide on which we rise and fall. The kaleidoscope of India turns smoothly, without the rigid jerkiness of regimentation. All the elements are here, and seemingly will remain so as long as time exists.

(Sorry - no photos yet to illustrate. Perhaps tomorrow the internet connection will be kind)