Randomness
Some of the weirdest experiences I had over the last three weeks ...
- Sitting with a nun, talking about prisoners. When the issue of sexual violence came up, she very candidly admitted that MSM is prevalent within prisons, and then, in a very calm, nun-like way, cheerily turned to us to say, "MSM means men who have sex with men," an explanation I never thought I'd hear from a nun.
- One night, Currun came home from Colaba Causeway (the tourist shopping area) with a package of dancing dolls. Basically, it's a very cheap pair of dolls, strung on an almost invisible string that you stick to your fingernail on one end, and the wall (or whatever) on the other, making them dance in mid-air. The dolls were pretty cool until we touched the string, which felt uncannily like human hair (and definitely NOT like string or fishing line). Currun insisted they couldn't possibly be strung with human hair (and, when he felt he was losing that argument, instead began defending the human hair trade), but we were all pretty certain.
A day or two later, in the car, Aziza decided to ask Mr. Sada about the dolls. Before she was done with the question, Mr. Sada informed us quite matter-of-factly that they are in fact strung with HUMAN HAIR!!! Apparently, the hair is bought from some temple of a religious sect in which the women shave their heads as a sign of devotion. Faced with this disgusting fact, Currun steadfastly insisted on their coolness, but I must admit, I'm more than a little repulsed.
- Shopping one evening in Colaba, I was approached by a girl carrying a baby. India is full of beggars, but I was especially affected by this pair, because the girl was asking for rice and milk, not money (and because the baby had been taught to reach out and grab peoples' shirts). So I agreed to buy the rice and milk, thinking there's no harm. However, she tried to lead me down a side street to a specific shop, which was both suspicious and a bit unnerving, since it was late in the evening and the street wasn't well-lit. Mike and Neema wisely vetoed, and we returned to the main street, where I offered to buy the girl fruit instead (from a vendor nearby). She didn't want the fruit, however, saying it wasn't good for the baby.
Neema was pretty sure something was going on, since earlier that day we'd been approached by a young boy who wanted rice, and got upset when Neema insisted on buying him fruit instead. So she asked a shoe seller on the corner if the kids were legit. It turns out there's an entire system set up, where the kids bring tourists to vendors, who sell the rice and milk for WAY too much money, and then the kids sell it back, thus gaining a nice profit both for themselves and for the shopkeepers. (The fruit is refused because the vendors certainly wouldn't buy fruit back.) I felt like a dupe - especially considering the fabulous suit-selling scheme I fell for in Thailand - but I must admit a certain admiration for such a complicated system. (Of course, playing to my sympathies with a baby is going a bit far.)
- Sitting with a nun, talking about prisoners. When the issue of sexual violence came up, she very candidly admitted that MSM is prevalent within prisons, and then, in a very calm, nun-like way, cheerily turned to us to say, "MSM means men who have sex with men," an explanation I never thought I'd hear from a nun.
- One night, Currun came home from Colaba Causeway (the tourist shopping area) with a package of dancing dolls. Basically, it's a very cheap pair of dolls, strung on an almost invisible string that you stick to your fingernail on one end, and the wall (or whatever) on the other, making them dance in mid-air. The dolls were pretty cool until we touched the string, which felt uncannily like human hair (and definitely NOT like string or fishing line). Currun insisted they couldn't possibly be strung with human hair (and, when he felt he was losing that argument, instead began defending the human hair trade), but we were all pretty certain.
A day or two later, in the car, Aziza decided to ask Mr. Sada about the dolls. Before she was done with the question, Mr. Sada informed us quite matter-of-factly that they are in fact strung with HUMAN HAIR!!! Apparently, the hair is bought from some temple of a religious sect in which the women shave their heads as a sign of devotion. Faced with this disgusting fact, Currun steadfastly insisted on their coolness, but I must admit, I'm more than a little repulsed.
- Shopping one evening in Colaba, I was approached by a girl carrying a baby. India is full of beggars, but I was especially affected by this pair, because the girl was asking for rice and milk, not money (and because the baby had been taught to reach out and grab peoples' shirts). So I agreed to buy the rice and milk, thinking there's no harm. However, she tried to lead me down a side street to a specific shop, which was both suspicious and a bit unnerving, since it was late in the evening and the street wasn't well-lit. Mike and Neema wisely vetoed, and we returned to the main street, where I offered to buy the girl fruit instead (from a vendor nearby). She didn't want the fruit, however, saying it wasn't good for the baby.
Neema was pretty sure something was going on, since earlier that day we'd been approached by a young boy who wanted rice, and got upset when Neema insisted on buying him fruit instead. So she asked a shoe seller on the corner if the kids were legit. It turns out there's an entire system set up, where the kids bring tourists to vendors, who sell the rice and milk for WAY too much money, and then the kids sell it back, thus gaining a nice profit both for themselves and for the shopkeepers. (The fruit is refused because the vendors certainly wouldn't buy fruit back.) I felt like a dupe - especially considering the fabulous suit-selling scheme I fell for in Thailand - but I must admit a certain admiration for such a complicated system. (Of course, playing to my sympathies with a baby is going a bit far.)
posted by Teale at 9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home