There's no spray paint involved or ghetto blaster necessary. These ladies are spilling the rice powder and colored sand for art literally on the street: the kolam. Walk around Tamil Nadu and you'll find these geometric and now often, colorful designs in front of homes and businesses. And it's women's daily work when it comes to making these. Each morning, they dust off the road and make a new one traditionally by free hand or nowadays with stencils. It's all about complexity, symmetry and precision. This is all done to ensure prosperity in their homes. Although, it wasn't always for that reason. Prior to being for decoration and good luck, the rice powder invited ants and other small creatures to feed in front of homes; a celebration of melodious co-existance.
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| Fancy kolam tool |
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| A rainbow of sand |
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| We'll be decorating Fort Greene streets with these |
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| Testing them in our hotel room using talcum powder |
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