Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

My parents came to visit me this summer, for the 3rd time!

On their first trop they went to Pune and Kerala.

On the second to Mumbai and Rajasthan.
And on the last to Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Pondicherry and Matheran.

And here go my father about his experience – he also inaugurates the category “comments of visitors”:

I also updated my photoblog with pictures taken by me or my dad during the trip, a mix of glimpses of everyday India: http://indiansamouraipics.hautetfort.com/

Pictures to be posted every second day from September 10th to November 18th.

"A different India that doesn’t leave you indifferent!  

This summer 2011, I got to discover other aspects India than those met during previous visits, less touristic, in any case more “Indian”, more authentic, in short away from the beaten paths like we say.

Mumbai! The first time that I came here, I found it so ugly! This time...

I did not renew the experiment with my Hindi teacher but I did not give up…

A teacher found my blog and offered to give me lessons but it was not conclusive - she lives too far. On the other hand that gave me a new boost.

And so here I was, googling “Hindi teacher Bandra”. And here, on a fine evening, a teacher arrived at my home. In order to not fall in my usual trap (shyness) I started off in Hindi…

At the same time, my cat was sniffing avidly his feet before going on with a thorough examination and putting his front paws on his lap, obviously with the objective of sniffing his hands, or maybe of playing with his envelope.

He told me a little about his life. How he gave up journalism to open a spa with a friend. He knew nothing back then, he had to learn everything about massages. Moreover he also got into reiki. So he would charge me for Hindi lessons but massages are free of cost (foot massage or reiki)!

It can help relaxing during a lesson!! And it helps him not to lose touch!!

So either he is a total pervert. Or he is a real gem!!

Either way I am going to give him a chance to teach me Hindi – if anything it will be a good distraction for my cat!

In India, it is important to choose your building well… And its inhabitants!! Because what they call “society” will not let you free… All the bored people (the retired ones, the housewives, the servants, the watchmen) will find your life worthy of being watched…

This is how, in Pune, I had a hard-time finding a “society” that would accept a non-married French-Indian couple. The landlords were cool about it. But they had to ask the permission of the “society”!!

Then, once I arrived in Mumbai, I moved into a Sindhi “society” – Sindhis are the Hindus who came from Pakistan after the partition. Nothing special to say apart from the fact they all were Sindhis.

And then, when I shifted to my new building, I was very happy to discover a catholic “society” - I thought that they would be a little less “conservative” that the others but well, not really. In short, in my building, there are only Rodriguez, Pereira, Rebello etc. families and this makes me laugh every time I see the board with all the names! And then, one fine day, I get a note from my “society” stating that the annual meeting took place and in  introduction: “after praying, we started the meeting…” Would be interesting to try that in France!

We are also regularly invited for masses (for birthdays, deaths etc) in our small garden. At least this brings people together...

The most constraining “societies” might be the Muslim ones, from what I heard. A French friend was accepted in one of them only because her husband was Muslim. And in another one, the French guy promised not to bring in alcohol nor pork.

No judgment here. It is just a little surprising, at the beginning.