Law, Partially

I’ve been back in the States for two weeks now. Some Indian reflections are in order. Consider this closure. I think I’ve done all the things in the States that I had been dreaming of all summer. I’m drinking red European wine and eating European cheese as I type. (American wine and cheese were also dreamed about, but it just so happens that I’m going European tonight.) These items are prohibitively expensive in India, but at Costco in the U.S., they’re just the right price. I ate Mexican food at El Maguey. I saw friends and family. I spoke English, and everyone understood. As I type this, I’m thinking, being back home sounds underwhelming, and actually it probably is. I have unfinished business, it feels, in India. Eleven weeks just wasn’t enough time. I was intimidated by India when I first arrived there. What shocked and scared me most at first was the madness of the streets. People were walking on highways. Also on highways there were roadside stalls set up. People didn’t stop at r...

This turned to be a pretty funny day, and I still shudder when I think how lucky I am I ended the day on a plane headed west. My last day in Bombay was Saturday. Friday night I stayed to work until 10:30pm trying to finish my work (especially since I had taken a 5 hour lunch break on Thursday with Christine). I even went in to work on Saturday morning, just to make sure my work was done enough. Actually, I have some significant portions to finish here in the States. I have no time for this, but I’ll make time. I was originally supposed to stay at Marico for another 4 weeks, back in those heady days where I thought I was traveling onward to Hong Kong from India. Had I stayed those 4 weeks, I would have finished more of my project. I am rather tired of Indian food, but just because I hadn’t eaten pav bahji very much and because it’s the last time I’ll have it in a while, I went to my office building’s cafeteria to get some pav bahji. Pav Bahji is a spicy tomato-based thick liquid eaten w...

Remember my shoe shine friend Amand? His name is actually Amar, I just misunderstood with his accent when first introduced. He’s tripled his earnings now that he shines shoes in a railway station with his shoe shine box. His mother and sister don’t have to beg anymore. Instead his mom goes to gossip with the other neighborhood ladies during the day – a common pastime for Indian women, as I guess it is for all women everywhere. My mom gave me some money to give to Amar, so I did, and Amar is so happy that he now calls me every day. I’m not kidding. He also says he’s going to go to the airport with me on Sunday even though my flight leaves at 5:55am. He and I spent Sunday at Juhu Beach. Juhu Beach is the most crowded beach I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s dirty, the sand is rocky, but it was good times, even though the heat from the sun (which is always directly overhead here – it’s not in the south like it is in the U.S.) made my skin red, white, blotchy, and itchy. Amar and I ate a spic...