I can see three connections between these photos.
#1 The people in these two pictures are related: Baby Joanna, my great niece is our family’s joy. The elderly man is my grandfather Rev V.G.Asirvatham, and he is Joanna’s great great grandfather. (Joanna is the first daughter of his first son’s first son’s first son.)
#2 Thottils and veshtis: Joanna is in her thottil. In the old days, babies in Tamil Nadu traditionally slept in a thottil, which is a cloth hammock. The cloth used is usually an old saree or veshti. Everyone these days knows what a saree is. But what is a veshti? This is where my granddad’s picture comes in handy, because he is wearing a veshti.
#3 The thottil gives babies a snugness without making them hot, and so is ideal for that climate. You can see Joanna snug as a bug and yet beating the heat. As for granddad, he is not doing too badly either. Obviously it is another hot summer day about 70 years ago and he is relaxing in his chair.
Courage to tremble 
Nahomi,
What a wonderful peek into your culture, and family. I was listening to John Piper yesterday, in his “Greatest Sins” series, specifically on The Tower of Babel, and he was mentioning that God is glorified through various cultures, and languages.
I see and understand that. It is a marvel to me, that you are many thousands of miles away from me, in the land “down under”, come from a completely different culture, yet, we share the same Father. We are in love with the same Messiah.
Because of our individual membership in God’s family, we are brother and sister.
How amazing is that? I am thankful to have you as a friend, and sister.
Because of you, God is glorified, because I can see his great majesty, as he builds his kingdom all over the world.
I look forward to finding many more brothers, and sisters, all over the world.
Hmmm…I am thinking Greenland would be fun!
Thanks for sharing the photographs!
Great pictures! What a beautiful baby! And thanks for a peek through the cultural window. I’ve noticed there’s been a lot more attention paid to Indian culture since the release of Slumdog Millionaire – but I also know from you that India is a country of diverse cultures.