The photo below was captioned "Accidental Aesthetics" Floating in trash is aesthetic now, what emotion is that defined as in whoever performs such trashy Ganges' aesthetics? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Is there some sort of honor involved, for a reason of "just because"? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! When i look at the picture I see eyes of lustrous contempt.
I see some kids playing in garbage. I think someone's parents better pull their fingers out of their arse and start parenting or don't have the kids. Nothing of beauty in my eye.
its obviously an Indian ritual the one they do in Ganges. It has much more to do with just "playing".
*** MOD NOTE *** What has this to do with Human Science? Is it not more Art & Culture? Or are you going to establish factually that it is some sort of ritual? Viz:- Obviously? And this assessment is based on...? Evidence?
It looks very much like human science to my untrained eye. I dare say it is in India also. I also dare say the poor little grommets are doing what any other kids would do in hot weather and seeking some relief in a waterhole. That their only waterhole is hideously polluted is very much human science. As much as it is tragic. I have seen the pollution (especially litter) problems in Asia first hand. Massive world issue people.
Yup, that's my take on it - the kids are playing in the only water they have. I'd say that's more Science & Society, but... If Draq can justify his earlier *cough* observations (e.g. "obviously")...
From here. I would suggest that the phraseology "in some places" indicates that it is far from "obvious" that it's a ritual or is more than playing.
so they are just happy and floating in water filled with trash, that they completely forget about trash alltogether and enjoy the thing that they seeked in the first place, a way to cool off. What emotion is that? I put this in human science because I want to classify the emotions these kids are experiencing when they allow themselves to be surrounded with things that are obviously to not bring pleasure, yet are able to eccentriate on beautiful things life has to offer. What feeling is that?
It's called "making the best of what you've got". If polluted rivers are all these kids know then that's where they'll play. And you still haven't explained your erroneous claim that it's "obviously" some sort of ritual.
The reason for my saying of it being a ritual comes from the presence of flowers in the photo. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I believe that it is much more than just "making the best of it". I believe that this is part of allowing oneself to purify the soul. Just like buddhist monks in Tibet venture into mountains without food or help by themselves to find the path to the inner self.
Two different occasions, two different circumstances. And speciously dishonest of you. You claimed the first pair of photos were a ritual - where are the flowers in those? Don't shift the goalposts. And the evidence for that "belief" would be...? Drag, you're reaching. What evidence at all do you have for that claim? The original site doesn't support it, nor does the later, third, photo. The information for the first two photos clearly states "swimmers" not "religious devotees" or anything similar.
The two photos I first posted show kids swimming in water in what appears to be ecstatic feeling of happiness. One has the kid flowing amongst flowers, the other does not. And even so, I believe the kids in these photos are experiencing the same emotions as if they were both part of a ritual. My main goal is to analyze the human emotions behind this practice/ritual. Dywyddyr, my goal was never to identify it as a ritual although I do believe the second photo of a kid with flowers and a clear red tilak on his forehead further strenghtens my point. My goal was never to understand if these are rituals, but to understand the emotions these kids are feeling, I saw something much more in these pictures than just kids floating in water amongst trash. I saw emotions which I cannot identify and that is where I need your help. If I was given an apple pie that lay amongst mud, even if I was hungry, I would never eat it. If I wanted to cool myself off in a river from a hot summer day and there it was the river but was full of trash...I would rather sit on the sides of it and watch the trash float by me than go swim amongst it. There is a line these kids have crossed on a psychological level that I cannot seem to understand.
I see what could well be described as a contrived scene, likely set up as 'art' of some kind or another. While the pix may well have originally been part of a group taken on whim or opportunity, the final selection could well have been done to convey some kind of message. I note that much of the trash in the top photo is American - like the "Plus!" carton near the child's head and the nearby plastic "GoGurt" bottle. The ethnicity of the children confuses the issue somewhat, but the 'arty' part may be that we treat our children like garbage or that we have bequeathed our children a dump to live in due to our polluting the environment or something along those lines. India should quit dumping dead bodies and trash in the Ganges too, but that is another story.....
No? Which just goes to show how lucky you've been in your life and that you've never been hungry. That's because you're pampered and you've known clean rivers and available food.
It's such a shame the Ganges is such a polluted river. I think the fact that India has let a allegedly sacred river end up toxic speaks for itself.
