I hope no one takes offense... :)
How to answer the usual questions asked to Indians........ Here are the proper answers to awkward questions asked everyday :
Are all Indians vegetarian?
Yes. Even tigers are vegetarian in India.
Does India have cars?
No. We ride elephants to work. The government is trying to encourage ride-sharing schemes.
What does that red dot on women's forehead mean?
Well, in ancient times, Indian men used to practice archery skills by target practicing by aiming at their wife's red dot. In fact, that is one of the reasons why they had many wives. You see, once they mastered the art of archery and hit the target....
Does India have TV?
No. We only have cable.
Are you a Hindi?
Yes. I am spoken everyday in Northern India.
Do you speak Hindu?
Yes, I also speak Jewish, Islam and Christianity.
Is it true that everyone there is very corrupt?
Yes, in fact, I had to bribe my parents so that they would let me go to school.
India is very hot, isn't it?
It is so hot there that all the water boils spontaneously. That is why tea is such a popular drink in India.
Indians cannot eat beef, huh?
Cows provide milk which is a very essential part of Indian diet. So eating cows is forbidden. However in order to decrease the population of the country, the government is trying to encourage everyone to eat human meat.
Why do you sometimes wear Indian clothes to work?
I prefer it to coming naked.
Me
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Love
"Everyone who comes here falls in love- most of us fall in love many times over. And the Indians, they most of all. Your little friend may be beginning to love you. There is nothing strange in this. It happens often, and easily, for the Indians. This is how they mange to live together, a billion of them, in a reasonable peace. They are not perfect of course. They know how to fight and lie and cheat each other and all of they thing that all of us do. But more than any people in the world, the Indians know how to love one another."
I awoke yesterday, after a long night, wide-awake and ready to prepare for work. There was something different in my demeanor, for I had a split realization that hey, I was living in India, and loving it. I had found my niche and knew that my comfort level had been raised. As I stood in my wet bathroom with my daily shower of cold water pouring down, I grinned. I felt the grin sustain as I dressed for work and listened to the voices of BBC World News projecting from my TV. With the door to my enclosed porch open and the sound of the city growing louder, I went to see what time my cell phone announced. It was time to eat quickly and begin my workday. When ready, I walked to the elevator and descended to the street level. As I walked out of the lobby I noticed the grin again, and I spotted the usual group of men standing outside on the street like so many other corners of Chennai. The love factor in India is nothing that I have felt before. Maybe it is because of the immense amount of people that project this true form of love and compassion. However, I still find that each person I meet is just oozing out love. The friends that I have made here are the key to my happiness. With some many people roaming the streets and ridding their two wheelers, one could become very lonely. They say those surround by many are just that much lonelier. My understanding of this love began as soon as I arrived in Chennai and met my "boss" Krishna. He is unlike any boss I have encountered. If I am to come to him to say a quick hello, the first thing out of his mouth is "is everything okay, is something wrong?" I laugh and say "no, everything is wonderful" and then a smiles of the most loving smiles comes from the deepest portion of his heart as if he been fishing for it for days and finally it was found and presented to me only. My next encounter came when I meet Geetha and her daughter Pretika and her grandmother. These are three exceptional women who inhabit the flat down the hall from my haven. Geetha was a classmate of Krishna and has become my sergeant mother. She cleaned my flat before she even meet me and even when presenting it to me said, "I could clean more for you if would like. I can also bring you a fresh bucket of water twice a day if you would like." Let me specify, that she is no way the landlord or manager. Just my neighbor that loved me before we even exchanged eyes. She has included me in her family, their movie outings, their meals and their hearts. "I haven't seen you in three days, my heart was sad. You are not to do that again," her grandmother says. Her love comes from the food which she presents to me. "More, more, you want more, come, come." There is no question in this just the statement. With their own problems of escaping that they are dealing with they bring none of that to me and just love me. Never asking for something in return. Never. If I am to do something for them they are gracious, but never make it seem needed. My next encounter of love came from Christabella, a woman who works in my office. We met on the company bus on our way to a volunteer retrench at an orphanage. I had just met 10 new people but had lost them and had nowhere to sit. But before I could get sad I look down at an open seat, and looking up I saw Chris's smiling faces, with no question floating in my head I asked to sit. We talked nonstop for the 2-hour ride. I began to ask her about the demographics of India as the landscape flew by. The bus proceeded trough the city first and then we were transported to any other world of shakes and even more people on the roads, on foot mostly. She explained the high literacy rate and the need for better infrastructure and jobs, and most of all space. We talked marketing and human life and family stiff. This was the beginning of our bond. Even with me realizing that she was considered one of the two vice president of the office we spoke candidly as two girls at a slumber party masked by the dark night. Over the last two weeks she as also included me in her family, introducing me to her mother, father, and brother. "You will come home for lunch to day," she says, already treating as one of the children. While this was amazing feeling, I remember that this is just the Indian way. "I want to see you stroll in her one day and ask to be fed, with no warning," he father announces after lunch was done and we all had a glass of wine. Love, can be seen in so many lights. The best for of it is that which is brought to you as a gift with no wrapping and with no need for a thanking. One that roles off the fingers and is placed in the care of those who needs it. No love is pushed upon you or brought with an ultimatum. The concept of true giving is hard to define, however my best attempt is to say that giving is the act to love with no desire for gratification or reimbursement. It is hard to find it in our world, but Indians has capitalized, franchised it and still presents genuinely.
I awoke yesterday, after a long night, wide-awake and ready to prepare for work. There was something different in my demeanor, for I had a split realization that hey, I was living in India, and loving it. I had found my niche and knew that my comfort level had been raised. As I stood in my wet bathroom with my daily shower of cold water pouring down, I grinned. I felt the grin sustain as I dressed for work and listened to the voices of BBC World News projecting from my TV. With the door to my enclosed porch open and the sound of the city growing louder, I went to see what time my cell phone announced. It was time to eat quickly and begin my workday. When ready, I walked to the elevator and descended to the street level. As I walked out of the lobby I noticed the grin again, and I spotted the usual group of men standing outside on the street like so many other corners of Chennai. The love factor in India is nothing that I have felt before. Maybe it is because of the immense amount of people that project this true form of love and compassion. However, I still find that each person I meet is just oozing out love. The friends that I have made here are the key to my happiness. With some many people roaming the streets and ridding their two wheelers, one could become very lonely. They say those surround by many are just that much lonelier. My understanding of this love began as soon as I arrived in Chennai and met my "boss" Krishna. He is unlike any boss I have encountered. If I am to come to him to say a quick hello, the first thing out of his mouth is "is everything okay, is something wrong?" I laugh and say "no, everything is wonderful" and then a smiles of the most loving smiles comes from the deepest portion of his heart as if he been fishing for it for days and finally it was found and presented to me only. My next encounter came when I meet Geetha and her daughter Pretika and her grandmother. These are three exceptional women who inhabit the flat down the hall from my haven. Geetha was a classmate of Krishna and has become my sergeant mother. She cleaned my flat before she even meet me and even when presenting it to me said, "I could clean more for you if would like. I can also bring you a fresh bucket of water twice a day if you would like." Let me specify, that she is no way the landlord or manager. Just my neighbor that loved me before we even exchanged eyes. She has included me in her family, their movie outings, their meals and their hearts. "I haven't seen you in three days, my heart was sad. You are not to do that again," her grandmother says. Her love comes from the food which she presents to me. "More, more, you want more, come, come." There is no question in this just the statement. With their own problems of escaping that they are dealing with they bring none of that to me and just love me. Never asking for something in return. Never. If I am to do something for them they are gracious, but never make it seem needed. My next encounter of love came from Christabella, a woman who works in my office. We met on the company bus on our way to a volunteer retrench at an orphanage. I had just met 10 new people but had lost them and had nowhere to sit. But before I could get sad I look down at an open seat, and looking up I saw Chris's smiling faces, with no question floating in my head I asked to sit. We talked nonstop for the 2-hour ride. I began to ask her about the demographics of India as the landscape flew by. The bus proceeded trough the city first and then we were transported to any other world of shakes and even more people on the roads, on foot mostly. She explained the high literacy rate and the need for better infrastructure and jobs, and most of all space. We talked marketing and human life and family stiff. This was the beginning of our bond. Even with me realizing that she was considered one of the two vice president of the office we spoke candidly as two girls at a slumber party masked by the dark night. Over the last two weeks she as also included me in her family, introducing me to her mother, father, and brother. "You will come home for lunch to day," she says, already treating as one of the children. While this was amazing feeling, I remember that this is just the Indian way. "I want to see you stroll in her one day and ask to be fed, with no warning," he father announces after lunch was done and we all had a glass of wine. Love, can be seen in so many lights. The best for of it is that which is brought to you as a gift with no wrapping and with no need for a thanking. One that roles off the fingers and is placed in the care of those who needs it. No love is pushed upon you or brought with an ultimatum. The concept of true giving is hard to define, however my best attempt is to say that giving is the act to love with no desire for gratification or reimbursement. It is hard to find it in our world, but Indians has capitalized, franchised it and still presents genuinely.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
