Trains are way better in India. You get to stretch out and sleep. You get to talk to aircraft engineers from Hyderbad. And you get to instill fear of America in random people.
Our second 12-hour overnight train trip was dandy---a very easy way to travel and meet folks. As before, we bought three-of-four beds in the compartment and got a random dude foisted on us even though the train was not sold out. His name escapes me, but he was a very nice guy who spoke better English than my Kannada... He worked at Honeywell and had applied for a U.S. visa to work in the company's Phoenix office. But he looked scared when we suggested he visit nearby Las Vegas. "Are you knowing the word sin? Ahh, Las Vegas is called Sin City." Frightening words to a typical south Indian.
Are you knowing...besides the head bob, this use of the present perfect tense was also fascinating---and another habit I think Jeff will have trouble ridding himself of...
Anyway, he looked past our sinful Americanness and talked with us for a while. During the conversations, we kept catching flashes of movement in the shadows on the floor.
"Is that a mouse?"
"How does a mouse get on board?"
Yes, it was a mouse. And I do not know how it got onboard. But I do know that it climbed into the bag sitting a foot from my head and snacked on our snacks... Grr. Oddly, the rodent preferred chips, to the good stuff so we still had custard apples for our next stop---Madurai, one of south India's oldest and best temple towns.
Coming Soon: I go all the way to India to get approached to join a Chicago guru's cult; we find the Starship Enterprise; Stop eating paneer!
1 comment:
Sadly, my habit of using the present perfect -- as in, "are you having" instead of the more traditional "do you have" -- wilted pretty quickly upon my return. Though it (and the bobble) came back instantly when we were in Jackson Heights, Queens this weekend, that being the center of South Asian culture in NYC.
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