Blessed ignorance as a foreigner
It happened but only a few minutes ago. Thought I'll write it down since I find it amusing.
I'm sitting on the banks of river Ganga, reading "To the unknown God" by Petru Dimitriu. I was doing the same when I see two teenage boys staring at me. They whisper to each other, some distance away from the steps where I was sitting. After almost an hour during which a family came in and took a holy dip in the river and left, one of the guys comes up to me, seeing that there is no one about anymore.
He greets me politely and then asks if I could help me with something. I am wary. I decide to be cautious but not unfriendly. Besides, he seemed harmless. At a nod from me, he sits down a step below me and saying, as I look a stranger in these parts and perhaps am a foreigner, I may be able to advice him. Bewildered I look at him.
He explains by saying that he is in love with his childhood friend but is scared of letting her know. He is a high school student. She lives far away as her family shifted some months back. He seems shy so I suggest he could write to her.
Suddenly a man comes up. This teenager looks at him, balks, mutters a "thank you" to me and leaves hastily. The man apparently is the owner of the building being constructed on this bank of the river.
He asks me if the boy was troubling me. Not wanting to cause any trouble for the boy and not sure what to say, I dither. He says" Beware Madam, these guys look harmless but are dangerous."
I thank him for his concern and tell him that I didn't think the boy was dangerous but I shall be careful.
He boasts about his importance in the area and declares that I look like a woman coming from respectable family (THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR POINTING IT OUT! I wanted to burst out in outrage). He emphatically declares that I shouldn't be going out on my own.
Now..I've learnt a trick. The only way these guys stop interfering is when you tell them you are a foreigner. I tell him about me being one and I could see a difference in his tone and manner. Somehow, if I'm an Indian- they feel it is their responsibility to reprimand me for going out alone but if I'm a foreigner, they are relieved of this responsibility. "Foreign women are bold and brave..they can work things out for themselves." -is what they think. I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it myself. I wanted to tell him about his forgetting all those brave ladies who fought wars in India. But I keep quiet.
He says," Madam, you sit here and read. No problem. I will keep watch over you. You're safe. If any problem, come to me. I solve it." I smile and thank him. He leaves.
I feel bemused at the behaviour and wonder about the kind of people one meets during the journey of life. Shaking my head,I get back to my book.
Today however, I found none who were ready to go to the Ashram where I was putting up.
Once I sat down- they invited me to this trip...insistent that they pay for it. They paid for my cup of coffee and said that since I was a guest in that area, they were glad to be friendly and hospitable.
