Bollywood

Old Delhi, New Delhi, crowds, touts, beggars and more. The group of nine white tourists drew attention at all the sites we stopped at, and we were asked multiple times to take pictures with the locals, or Indian tourists. Finally, being treated like the celebraties we are? An interesting experience at best, at worst it turned into an uncomfortable experience. At the Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi, we drew a crowd that shoved their children in our laps to have their pictures taken while religious pilgrims prayed a few feet in front of us. There are some times when the novelty of being a tourist wears off.

Later, we see a Bollywood movie, showing the other side of India. Glamor, movie stars and sexy bodies fill the screen. It is hard to reconcile these images with those of the crowded streets and dirty water. It is shocking to see both side by side, but then I wonder if the only reason we think the contrast in India is so great is because here the poor is not segregated from the rich. Everything that India has to offer she shows on her sleeve, the good the bad and the ugly. Sometimes I feel that back home we are too afraid so afraid to show our old and infirm, our poor and broken, that we soon become uncomfortable in their presence.

On another note, we have all been realizing that the more time we spend here the more broken our English becomes. Misplaced verbs and incorrect tenses litter our speech, as if we are trying to blend in a bit more. Anything helps in the game of cover up.