Slight Return
Much like a poltergeist, I'm baaack!
It's been two and a half weeks since my last post, but somehow it feels like it's been much longer than that. In case you're wondering (yes I know, no one actually asked), I spent most of that time in India. It was a good trip. In fact it was a great trip.
I got to go out into villages in India for the first time in over ten years. It was quite amazing how they have changed. And how they have not. There are cellphones all around now, and more of the buildings are made of brick and plaster. But then the sun starts to drift down to the horizon. The cowherds stroll back home with their animals after a day's grazing. You stand still while the evening breeze drifts past you, redolent with dried cowdung. It's a warm, dusty evening in early October. The young men in the village know that they live in a new world. But as far as the cows can tell, this is how it's always been. I think they are both right.
I also finally got to wipe out the stigma of having lived in Delhi for twenty years without seeing the Taj Mahal. I can't help but state the obvious: it is gorgeous. What really amazed me was that no matter what angle you look at it from, it still looks absolutely symmetrical. When I got up close, I was quite surprised to see how unadorned the Taj was. But I guess that when the structure itself is so perfect, it would be utterly pointless to embellish it any further. When the structure is so perfect, any adornment would only be an imperfection.
If the Taj was the highlight, the lowlight was definitely the sight of men dancing with each other in nightclubs in Delhi and Bombay. And when I say dancing, I really mean grinding. I admit that when I still lived in India I would have not considered it odd to see guys getting up-close and personal on the dance floor. But I'm not used to the sight anymore and now it curls my toes when I see a Balwinder and a Sanjeet getting it on under the strobe lights. I am deeply thankful that when I was growing up I was way too awkward to even consider dancing in public, otherwise I would have been one of them. Excuse me while I throw up into a flowerpot.
12 comments:
lol! d first time i realized it was when a dutch colleague *visiting b'bay* noticed guys "dancing" and asked me "are these guys gay?" i had to tell him to not be so hopeful! lol!
and yes, do write more often. i MAY ask u where u've been, then! :)
dancing with the prime prospects!? Takin consumer immersion to a new level :))
...so are you less awkward now or less inhibited?
hahaha... where did u see the young punju lads shake their booty together?!! I know, it could have been anywhere, but still.
Vacillus - definitely less awkward when it comes to dancing, but definitely inhibited when it comes to dancing with men!
rt (is that you, tan-tan?), I saw it at Dublin in Delhi, and at Hawaian Shack in Bombay. It's a disease sweeping across the nation!
hey!
not surprisingly, it was my first time to see the taj almost 4 weeks back. got to agree it's gorgeous. took a lot of artsy photos also- plus some ironic ones. will post in blog soon.
im sure this dancing with consumers was a short trip between the in-house interview and the shop along. ;)
it is i indeed, sire
and before u ask why i speak so, just watched 300 for the n-th time... i'm beginning to realize i'm starting to speak like them.
quirky quill, amileforeveryshoe - the whole point was that I did not dance with the prime prospects. I was more like David Attenborough, observing the preening rituals of a newly discovered species from a safe distance.
rt - I am so waiting for the day someone says to me "This is madness" so that I can respond with... well, you know what I would respond with :-)
hola! plz to pick up thy award. and no, it's not for saying my template's gorgeous! :P
Came over from Y's....OMG - this one post was really funny...LOL :)
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