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| A woman in the Gulbai Tekra slum eyes a freshly painted Ganesh statue. The annual building of these plaster of Paris statues is a major boost to the slum economy, as devotees from across the city and neighboring areas purchase their Ganesh statues and turn their homes into shrines for the festival. During the last days of Ganpati, as the holiday is known, the statues are taken to the river (in Ahmedabad, the Sabarmati), and submerged into the water. Thus they disintegrate and become one with the river. This was more environmentally sound when the statues were made of mud, but now they are spray paint, plastic, and chemicals. |
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| In the back of an open flatbed truck, I rode with friends, holding onto flames and a statue of Ganesh, adorned in powders, flowers, gifts and spices, past large chanting crowds carrying more statues of the elephant god to the river. We rode through the city and ended at the riverside slums. |
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| Lighting a flame for Ganesh. |
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| Ganpati devotees celebrating on the banks of the river (it is night time). |
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| The Langur monkeys are actually quite vicious. I was once surrounded by a gang of them baring their teeth. They are like the Sharks and the Jets, except they can give you rabies. |
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| There are many cows and worn out buildings in Ahmedabad. |
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| Ganesh, surrounded by devotees, before he is submerged in the river. |
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| A boatman on the Sabarmati River. |
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| A Hindu temple near my bungalow and Law Garden. |
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| A young girl selling chana choli dresses for Navratri. |
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| At the Law Garden shopping stalls. |
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| Whenever I have my camera out, everyone wants me to take their picture. These cricket players were thrilled when I told them I was a bowler. I'm pretty sure that is a position in cricket. |
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| Chandravilas, the oldest restaurant in Ahmedabad, is delicious. Everything pictured here is fried to perfection. |
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| A mandir, or Hindu temple, in a pol walled neighborhood in the Old City. |
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| A Jain Temple |
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| In a pol, or semi-enclosed neighborhood, of the Old City. |
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| A broken door of a temple, likely destroyed by the 2001 earthquake. |
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| The Jamma Masjid, or Friday Mosque |
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| The Old Fort |
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| Children in the Street |
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| Götterdämmerung |
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| A beautiful handmade lamp. |
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| Ganesh with Offerings of Chili and a Penant |
