A Passage to India

"Colour would remain- the pageant of birds in the early morning, brown bodies, white turbans, idols whose flesh was scarlet or blue...She would see India always as a frieze, never as a spirit."

"He was not the unattainable friend, either of men or birds or other suns, he was not the eternal promise, the never-withdrawn suggestion that haunts our consciousness; he was merely a creature, like the rest and so debarred from glory."


"As the elephant moved toward the hills...a new quality occured, a spiritual silence which invaded more senses than the ear. Life went on as usual, but had no consequences, that is to say, sounds did not echo or thoughts develop. Everything seemed cutoff at it's root, and therefore infected with illusion."

"It was the last moment of light, and as he gazed a the Marabar Hills they seemed to move graciously like a queen, and their charm became the sky's. At the moment they vanished they were everywhere, the cool benediction of the night descended, the stars sparkled and the whole universe was a hill. Lovely, exquisite moment- but passing the Englishman with averted face and on swift wings."

India is on the top of my list of places to live before I die. I am so captivated by the spirituality that seems to pervade the people, architecture, arts and culture of the country. I am inspired by the rich colors and the warm feel of the pre-dusk glow in these pictures; I read A Passage to India this past summer and have since been drawn to the culture of colonial India.

Happy Monday :)

Quotations from A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.

Images from Anthropologie May Catalog.