We get outside the gate area and walk by a Indian liquor store, which looks like concession stand you would see at a football stadium built into a larger building. Uncle goes, "jer-ee would you like a beer?" so im like yeah why not and we each get these pint sized beers which is the standard size in India and then he's like you want a smoke? and im like yeah, why not? so we then he buys me a pack of these super strong Indian cigarettes. I'm going to try my best to describe this scene because it just totally blew my mind and was utterly insane. The simplest trips have turned out to be the most mind bending and revealing.
its dark, the ground around us is mud layered with various kinds of garbage. There's a cow across the street and stray dogs running around us. As we stand there, about 25 different people ride by us on motorcycles coming to and from the liquor shack while others walk up forming a large crowd. All the while I'm standing here talking to a man dressed in a long indian gown drinking giant ass beers and smoking a cigarette, and to him, all of this is totally normal. I just felt like looking at him and bursting out laughing asking him if he was fucking kidding me.
This is the first time I've been solely hanging out with an Indian person and it makes all the difference. because to me, everything, literally everything, from the clothing to the architecture, to the weather, to the roads, to the language is out of a movie or another dimension and this guy is talking to me like its just an ordinary scene (and of course for him it is). but to be with another person who sees nothing out of the ordinary when everything wacky is a very interesting experience.
When you just walk around on your own or with other Americans you still retain a sense of me (west) and them (east) because you can always re-solidify your western identity by interacting with them and not going to far into the Indian culture but when I was with this guy it felt like the western constructs of mind were being slowly peeled off and I was becoming integrated (albeit to a very small degree) into his reality. ego loss, cooooll
Jer-ee, did you buy a bag of pretzels to go along with the brew? And how was the heater? Strong like an unfiltered Lucky Strike? If so, be sure to get a carton for Mr. Kaczmarczyk. Peace.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh.... now the immersion begins and the eye sees new colors, the ear hears new concepts and the brain begins to open.
ReplyDeleteJerry, you know.... I read your words first thing every morning, and so enjoy how you are living in this amazing new world to you. Thank you so much for sharing. Love you, G
When I was in Luxembourg the family I stayed with had a daughter my age and we did some traveling together, visiting some of her friends in Belgium and France, going to clubs and hanging out. It was the best for exactly the reasons you mention, and it shaped how I behaved and what I experienced even when I was with Americans. Don't think I ever drank a pint of beer with cows though.
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