As much as I could do without the stares I still get from Indian people every day, I will admit that everyone could use a little bit of Indian curiosity in them. Not at a level to where you find yourself leaning over someone’s shoulder reading the email their typing; something that happens to me quite frequently here and to me is a kind of curiosity just as inappropriate as it would be for me to randomly ask a girl what color of underwear she was wearing. No. The good kind of Indian curiosity I’ve come to discover here is the kind that makes a person walk right up to you and ask you what your name is and where you’re from. It’s the kind that makes a person offer you tea so you can talk a little bit longer and get to know one another better. The type of curiosity where a conversation is more about the other person than it is about yourself. This is a good curiosity indeed and I have the Indian people to thank for reminding me that every great relationship starts with “hello” and that if you wait for someone else to say it to you, you might just miss out on meeting a very special person.
Although every day is a good day, Monday in Kolkata had an extra dose of “goodness” to it thanks to the cool weather we had. It’s not like Kolkata is at the 100 degree mark like it will be in May and June, but it’s still pretty hot and so I welcome a cool day here just as much as a warm day back home. With the nice weather, it was perfect conditions for badminton and so I spent a good portion of the afternoon just playing with the residents and getting a couple more double matches with my nemesis, who by the way, happens to be a very nice kid. First match we lost 21 to 20, second match we won 21-18 and third match we lost 21-18. I would have preferred of course to go 3-0 in these matches, but when considering my team was competitive in all the games and we didn’t look like Gonzaga did against Syracuse last year in the NCAA tournament, I walked away encouraged. I’m still anxious for the “one on one” showdown with “Rafael,” but I think my body isn’t as eager and that was a conversation we had with each other the next morning.
Below, you’ll find a grocery store chain in the area that I’ve taken a special liking to. The beauty about not being able to read Bengali is that I can make the words whatever I want them to be and so for me, the name of this store has CARE MORE written all over it. I think that has a lovely ring to it don’t you?
No comments:
Post a Comment