Mr. Rajah’s Neighborhood

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Once again, the delightful Ping was our tour guide. Today she would be guidng us through Little India. We started at the Tekka Centre, a combination of shops, wet market, and bustling food courts. The Tekka Centre was filled with wonderful, sights, sounds and smells! I will let the photos speak for themselves. (You will have to imagine the delicious smells.)

Banana flowers and sugarcane

Ping talked about the HDB blocks again. She said that Little India is not just for Indians. In the HDB blocks the government maintains a level of about 20% non-Indians. It is similar in other neighborhoods. (Sounds like the government has been reading Malcolm Gladwell.)

Here’s a 12-second clip of girls performing an Indian dance they have learned.

It is Sunday and Little India is packed with families. 

Ping pointed out a block that contained a mosque, a Catholic church and a Buddhist temple.

A small Buddhist temple 

Catholic church

Sultan Mosque

As we wandered the streets we saw a number of charming windows, murals and sculptures. 

Entrance to a Hindu temple 

Above the entrance to the Hindu temple

Some other colorful sights above street level.

Namaste. 

Today’s fabric is brocade. A brocade is a rich silk (or synthetic) fabric with raised patterns, usually in gold or silver.

Photo from Kalki Fashion (kalkifashion.com)