A thick line of scarring ran from one ear to the other under his chin, with the most scars and disfiguration around his throat. He walked barefoot and stayed close to us for a couple blocks to see if we’d give him any change. Erin commented that his throat and neck were probably mutilated on purpose in order to garner sympathy and enable him to beg for more money. This was one facet of Bangalore.
As we drove through a section of the city, gleaming glass skyscrapers rose out of the rust-colored earth. Just a few feet away tents made from grimy tarps flapped in the muggy breeze. A woman cradled a little girl in the doorway of the tent.
Bangalore is a city of contrasts. The promise of technology, industry and modernization mingle with the impoverished, often in the same city block. Trash cans go unheeded, as garbage is strewn and piled in the streets.
I saw another example of contrasts when I attended an Indian Christian wedding Friday afternoon. India and the West blended in the ceremony. The bride wore a white sari and veil, and the groom presented a mangalasutra – a necklace-like object – along with a wedding ring. The organist played Wagner’s Wedding March as the couple left the church. The guests, with the women dressed in brightly-colored saris, walked to the reception, held in a tent made of tapestry-like cloth.
As we drove through a section of the city, gleaming glass skyscrapers rose out of the rust-colored earth. Just a few feet away tents made from grimy tarps flapped in the muggy breeze. A woman cradled a little girl in the doorway of the tent.
Bangalore is a city of contrasts. The promise of technology, industry and modernization mingle with the impoverished, often in the same city block. Trash cans go unheeded, as garbage is strewn and piled in the streets.
I saw another example of contrasts when I attended an Indian Christian wedding Friday afternoon. India and the West blended in the ceremony. The bride wore a white sari and veil, and the groom presented a mangalasutra – a necklace-like object – along with a wedding ring. The organist played Wagner’s Wedding March as the couple left the church. The guests, with the women dressed in brightly-colored saris, walked to the reception, held in a tent made of tapestry-like cloth.
Another contrast is the transportation system. Vehicles in India drive on the left side of the road and all traffic lines, signs and lights (if they have them at all) are mere suggestions. There are no seatbelts and cars jockey for positions on the road, beeping the horn to alert other drivers. In fact, beeping the horn seems to be the main way of signaling. Rickshaws powered by motorcycle engines and buses crammed with people careen down the road. The rare street policeman, armed with a whistle, is disregarded. Yet there are toll booths that look exactly like the ones on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and hotels and restaurants line the roadways. In Bangalore there’s a Pizza Hut and Ruby Tuesday’s.
Pray for this country of contrasts.
Pray for the workers in this harvest field.
Pray for the workers in this harvest field.
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