I am having troubles starting this post. I have decided to write about my physical appearance in relation to my location. I am a large white man in a country of small brown folk. That is about as boiled down a description of my situation in India that I can make.
Growing up in New Jersey and specifically Hudson County, I quickly grew accustomed to seeing people of all sizes, shapes, and colors. As a young child my best friend was a kid across the street of middle eastern ethnicity named Allah. Throughout grammar school my best friend was an odd mix of Irish and Guyanese. I grew up in a town where the majority of the population is Hispanic. I went to high school in a city where no one ethnic group can claim a majority. And I lived next to the most racially diverse city in the world.
I am not making the argument that India lacks diversity. There are dozens of ethnic groups located in India, and they are all represented in Delhi. It just so happens that none of those groups looks like me.
Everywhere I go I feel eyes on me. I cannot just blend in with the crowd or step to the background and fade away. As I walk down the street almost every single person will stop and look at me, at least for a second. Some children are so afraid of me they run away. Many people are very friendly and will walk right up to me, say something I cannot understand, and shake my hand. Every moment I am out in public feels like a moment I am on display.
I have mixed feeling about all the attention I get. On one hand their interest in me interests me. I take it as an opportunity to interact with people in a way I do not get to back home. I keep a smile on my face and wave to the people staring at me. I play a game with myself trying to keep count of all the people that wave back. Many people do wave back and most of them return my smile with one of their own. It is an odd and distant interaction, but I enjoy it.
On the other hand sometimes I just want to blend in. Sometimes I just want to be able to walk from point A to point B without people staring at me or whispering to each other. A perfect example of a time I wish I could just blend is on the Metro. The train is crowded and you are surrounded on all sides by people. It would be nice to just be one body amongst many. However the Metro is no safe haven. People are still staring and whispering.
It isn't really all that bad. It is just something that is always present. I have gotten used to it.
My plane leaves for Orissa on Saturday. Posts may come a little more sporadically after that as I am not sure when or where I will have internet access. When I get my cell phone number down in Orissa I will post it for people to call me. I would suggest using Skype to call me as international calling rates from the US are unnaturally high.
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