Mid November 2012
Musings in Kerala, India
*Some men’s wear:
To me, it looks like they just finished drying the dishes and then put the
towel around their waist. Are you really going to walk around like that? They
give me a similar look when I wear shorts that show my knees. They can show
their knees but I can’t. Hmmm….
*Women’s wear: They
wear gauzy, colorful, silky, flowing, color-coordinated, flyaway fabric draped around
themselves. They look like beautiful, graceful angels.
*Playing with your food and eating with your fingers is permitted and encouraged. The spoon in my
purse is such a valuable thing to me. Eating with my right hand fingers just
feels so yukky! (Indians don’t use silverware.) Napkins are valuable too. Often
there are none on the table when I so desperately need them as a result of the
spicy food which causes my nose to run.
*It feels a little
claustrophobic when you can dress in a tank top and shorts in your room but I
must cover up to go out. And it’s s nice and warm out that it’s a drag to put
on pants and a long sleeve shirt. An Indian friend visited me in my room and as
he left, he closed my door in case someone would see me in short and a tank
top. My fitted sport tee-shirts also get stares because you can see the shape
of my body.
*The author Salman Rushdie noted that Americans are often looking for 'frontiers', while in India, they are often looking for 'truth'in the mountains of forms to b filled out. That sounds about right to me.
