Some Thoughts for Food

All the beautiful sarees and shawls the women wear caress the men as they unwrap them to wed or to bed like gifts on Christmas. To be passed by a sultry woman and have the train of her accordion folded saree tickle your arm hair as her figure diminishes while her feet carry her away. This is not incentive or innuendo, but it is as traditional as the cutting instruments the agriculture workers use to harvest paddy. To define culture by their way of dress is one thing, but to examine the modern day interpretations is entirely different.

You can have more than a family of Indian brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but they will never treat you like their family. They will never ask anything of you, you have to be forcefully persistent to share even minor expenses, cooking or cleaning means you are taking rest. But at the same time they accept you under any circumstances. If a family member is ill, they will still welcome you to stay with them. They will always offer you the best food even if you ask for kanji. There is a love and dependency, a connection with a foreigner, a desire to expand their familial relationships to include you. Yet there is also the burden of the third world, the lack of entertainment and sedentary lifestyle, and the obligations to their immediate and inclusive family. The acceptance I feel and the experiences I am gaining from are not only teaching me about the culture and people, but about their lives and history.

The men are sneaky only because they know the stereotypes the foreign women are attached to and stereotypes always relay some kind of truth. A drunkard or sober man who dares to touch a foreign girl or interact with them or be perverse toward them, would never dream of acting in that manner as openly with an Indian woman. The key word being as openly.

If you open your eyes you can see the light, but if you let the light shine on you, only then can you be enlightened. If this is in any way linked with the mind of Ambedkar I would be flattered. The idea of obtaining enlightenment, is it really possible to measure its attainability? How can you measure something like enlightenment or infinity and when it is mixed with religion, spirituality, and money? Which factors are really supporting the idea of enlightenment and who is going to publish a book of my blogs?

The road ahead is as dangerous as the curves the speedy Indian bus devours. Sometimes there are bumps and everyones body experiences a moment without gravity. Sometimes there are stops where everyone is either sleeping or making faces expressing their annoyance. Sometimes passengers change and get on or off going up and down the three or four steps to the road. All the while the driver is seated in his seat grinding the gears and giving diesel to the engine. All the while the conductor collects bus fare and monitors the passengers ensuring some amount of safety and order until reaching the final destination only to embark on another journey with completely different encounters.