people

Not the magazine, but actual people. Here are a few observations about some of the people I’ve met along the way . Thankfully, with one notable exception – see the “Another Roadside Attraction” post - they’ve all kept their clothes on.

Margie. Thaba’s mom. She arrived last night from Toronto, just in time for our Holi party. Margie has a solid reputation as being someone you want at a party. Case in point: when Thaba and I told her colleague Elizabeth that Margie would be her for the Holi party, Elizabeth rather innocently asked what that meant.

The response, in unison was:

Thaba: “More Scotch!”
Anne: “Tequila shots!”

You get the idea. Needless to say, we’re thrilled she’s here.

Tiffany and Professor Hayashi. Yesterday, I was at the Red Fort. Amazing, even more amazing if one stops to think of HOW MUCH MORE OF IT THERE WAS before the Britishers (love that term) razed most of the city after the Mutiny of 1857. But I digress…

I stopped in the shade to relax and had the good fortune of meeting Tiffany and Professor Hayashi. This is one of the really nice things about traveling alone, people are more apt to stop and talk to you. Tiffany is a charming young Taiwanese-American from Houston who is studying in Mumbai and traveling in India on her own over the spring break. Admirable. Professor Hayashi hails from Tokyo (another city I love) and is a professor of economics at the prestigious Waseda University. He is touring India to see the Indian economy first hand. He tells his students that if they travel alone for one month outside of Japan, then they might (might!) have a chance at earning his respect. To say he is fascinating would be nothing short of a gross understatement. I spent a pleasant half hour in their company and can only hope that our paths will cross again some day.

In the midst of this conversation, we met The Family from Sohal. Admittedly, language kept us from really getting to know each other. Their thoughts on the new India? I’m afraid I’ll never know. What I do know is that Tiffany, Professor Hayashi and I will be forever immortalized in their photos from the Red Fort and that their small baby – immediately thrust in to my arms – may have a fear of blondes and abandonment for years to come. They were warm, friendly and I wish that I could have said more than hello and thank-you to them.
I mention The Family from Sohal because this posing for photos with Indian families isn’t unusual. This happened to me the last time I was here and it’s happened a few times since I arrived in Delhi. I like it. I’m also used to it from my time in Japan. Many Japanese schoolgirls have great photos of Kyoto with a giant gaijin (yours truly) in them. As much as I love entertaining these supermodel delusions, I know that I’m no match for the scenery in India or Japan.

Okay, so that I’m not a supermodel is hardly a surprise to anyone who knows me. Reasonably photogenic, yes. Supermodel, sadly not. What is surprising is how seemingly annoyed some foreigners are by these photo requests. To them, I can only say this: get over it. Hey, when you ran into that celebrity during TIFF, do you really think s/he didn’t mind you taking a photo with your cell phone? Believe me, the only reason they didn’t keep walking was that they didn’t want you blogging about what a jerk they were when you approached them. When you run into a group of tribal women in Rajasthan, or those cute little Hmong kids in Sapa, Vietnam, you’re fooling yourselves if you believe they really want a photo taken with you. Just in case you’re wondering, here’s what they’re really thinking: “Oh great, another bloody foreigner who won’t give us so much as 2 rupees but will parade these photos around as part of our their authentic travel experience.” Enough said. Pose and smile with everyone who asks - at the Red Fort or anywhere else.

Hiroshi Miyamoto. I didn’t actually meet Hiroshi, but I spoke to him on the phone yesterday. Hiroshi is originally from Japan, lives in Toronto now and is an accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer. Imagine my surprise when I saw that he was performing in a show called Mango Cherry Mix here in Delhi. I love this small world thing. And I think Hiroshi was pretty surprised to have one of Joanna DeSouza’s kathak students calling up to find out about tickets. Ji and I went to the show. Admittedly, I don’t really “get” modern dance, but it was a pleasure to watch Hiroshi and Navtej Johar perform.

Jamaan and Ishaan. I met these little charmers on Sunday when Thaba and I took Seung Yi to the park. They're my new fans, aged 5. We had a great chat since we all speak English. The best part of the conversation had to be lovely little Ishaan's parting words: "When you go back to Canada, be sure to tell everyone that you met a very cute little Indian boy." Seriously. Those were his exact words. Indeed I did.

[On the road-12-March-2009]