God in the stones

Reprinted from Indian Express, Oct. 9 by Sudheendra Kulkarni

What struck me was that before the team began the day’s work, a woman performed a small puja on the stone, smeared it with the auspicious yellow and red powder, broke it with a ceremonial strike and then everybody went about their respective tasks. I asked the woman why she did it. In her own earthy Marathi, she replied, ‘‘This is not a mere stone for us. There is divinity in it. This stone feeds us. It also makes your cars run smoothly on the road.’’

full story at:
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