Chameleon Tendencies

When I was here last, my fellow classmates consistently complained about how obnoxious it was to be so stared at. When we traveled to many tourist sights I saw Indians come up and take many pictures with my classmates, and at some places local boys would sneak up behind them to sneak pictures with a foreigner in the frame with them. This never happened with me, so I guess I viewed it as slightly amusing. I accredit this never happening because of people assuming I was from somewhere in India, that is before I opened my mouth and it was apparent that my Hindi was very broken at best.

However this time in India with Seina, I have been wearing a lot more Western clothes. I didn't bring that many clothes with me and I don't really feel like buying a bunch more, so wearing western clothes gives me about two more outfits in my laundry cycle.

The other day I decided to go see the Bahai Lotus temple. I think of the Bahai as the Indian version of Unitarian Universalists. They don't worship any particular idol or god, but instead are welcoming of all religions and faiths. They instead focus on a philosophy of universal peace and elimination of prejudice.

I arrived at sunset. The architecture was really beautiful. The aptly named Lotus Temple is shaped like a blossoming lotus. Outside are these beautiful pools to contemplate, and inside is a hall where people are invited to sit in silence for however long they like. On my way out, some Indian woman made the universal "picture" sign, the one where you hold up an imaginary camera to your face and click the shutter. I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her, but instead she wanted to take a picture with me! Amused I agreed and recalled all my classmates doing similar things at first. As I gathered my shoes, some random guy shook my hand and asked what country, and I saw a few others sneak a photo. It was quite bizarre, in my whole 6 months here last time this never happened. I then realized I had worn jeans and baby-doll shirt, and this might be the source of my new-found fame. So apparently I can easily pass for a foreigner in Western clothes, and sometimes pass for an Indian in Indian clothes. I have often thought of myself as a chameleon, being able to shift between different social groups, different modes, different states and countries, basically different identities. I suppose it is just interested to see my chameleon tendencies outwardly reflected.

I found the cure to my antsy-ness is to do at least one thing "productive a day." So Friday I went to the Lotus temple and Saturday I went to a Sufi concert. Seina's friend had a pass to this "by invitation only" Sufi concert of Abida Parveen who Wikipedia explains as "one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music." We didn't know about it until late, so I missed the first two hours but was still able to catch the second two hours, it apparently was a long performance. I didn't get to go to that many performances last time, but this one was really well attended. I suck at estimating but I would estimate over 2000 were there. Every once in awhile she would pause in her singing and say something, and the entire crowd would collectively sigh, like as if all of them were saying "wow" from some amazing spiritual line. I felt like everyone around me was feeling enlightened by the experience of listening to this music, and I couldn't help but smiling being around it.

This time I went dressed in my Indian clothes. Not that there is a direct correlation, but this time no stares just really nice people. When I got there all the seats were full, so I stood on the sidelines with hundreds of other people, trying to get a glimpse of the singer in action. There were about eight cameras with corresponding crews huddled in the middle, and then a huge camera on a crane that periodically swept through the crowd. I noticed that as people were trying to get a better look, there was no shoving or even competitiveness. After standing and trying to catch glimpses for about thirty minutes a nice man near me invited me to stand in front of him to get a better look. About 15 min after this, a man sitting the aisle next to where I was standing asked the entire row to move down so that I could sit. When not everyone moved over (because they were saving seats), he got up himself and gave me his seat, claiming it didn't look good for him to be sitting and me to be standing. I tried to not accept, but he insisted, and within seconds of offering his seat to me, he was offered one as well. So even though I got there late and didn't even know the singer, I got to see two hours of the concert for free and got to sit in the 6th row. I actually recognized a few of the songs which was pretty exciting, and obviously everyone around me knew every word.

Yesterday I got a haircut, even shorter now! And today I went to see my old SIT school where Katherine is now working, and now I will start to do some more planning for our trip to the South!