BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS!!!!

Hey all, being a Navy person’s wife, I am bound to travel to different parts of the country. The Navy bases are placed in all developed towns or cities, unlike most stations of the Indian Army, where one will have to look for the map to locate the destination. I would like to share with you all my experiences with strangers I met and how they judged me!!!!!!

In 1993, I was a newly wed lady and Goa was our first posting. When you hear the name “GOA” everyone thinks that the life out there is “JAZZY”! Yes………however my experience was entirely different. One weekend my husband told me that we would go out for dinner at a beach shack (In Goa, one can find lots of Restaurants on the beach). We went to “seagull”, which popularly was known as “JOHN’S”, as the owner is more famous than the Seagull. My mind was placid and assured as we headed towards “John’s”. After gulping Pepsi for a while, it was time for us to order dinner………and the glossy menu card was placed in front of me.  I literally fixed my gaze at it with lot of curiosity and a watering mouth to decide my dish for the evening. But………… gosh! There was no vegetarian dish at all!!!!!! Being a god fearing Tamil Brahmin, I felt as if I had come to an alien land. To make amends, my warrior hubby asked the steward to make any vegetarian dish. But he was smarter than us and educated me that “Madam, take out the fish from the curry and it will become ‘veg curry’, so that you can eat it with rice!” Wow!!!!!!!  For a second I was wondering whether I was in India as there seemed to be no such concept as Vegetarian. So this was my experience with a person who could not differentiate between veg and Non veg, and revisit it every time I have a hunger pang. But now……..things have changed in this regard, and John’s offers one of the best veg cuisines in the locality!!!!!!

Few years later we moved to Cochin (kochi), the beautiful city surrounded by greenery, famous for condiments and heavy rains, with lots of movie halls and “veg” restaurants. Life was happy as I could converse in Malayalam as well. I used to tell my naval community friends that it was like was living in heaven. One day, I went to the Vegetable market and was bargaining in Malayalam. I was utterly shocked when the vendor got angry with me, and replied rudely in Hindi that he would not come down to my price. I was taken aback by his reaction and was aghast to hear what he said to his fellow vendor in malayalam “These North Indians learn our language and trying to show off to us!” Then he sternly insisted that I do not irritate him by talking in Malayalam. I was really surprised! However, I tried to tell him that I was a South Indian and I knew Malayalam. But the stubborn vendor kept giving me a blank look. I will never forget this stranger with a strong opinion.

Subsequently we moved to the city of destiny, Vizag, in 1998. We stayed in Vizag only for a year as during Kargil battle my husband had to move to Mumbai in mid 1999. Vizag exposed me to a different experience. As we were in the waiting roster for a naval house, we had to put up at a hired house. After a lot of thought, we took a house on hire in Sriharipuram, which was close to the Naval area. It was a MIG colony mostly consisting of god fearing people and we had a Brahmin family as our neighbor (who incidentally never spoke to me for a very long time). My husband was a young officer then, and had to do a lot of night duties and he hardly stayed at home!!!!! Besides that, his ship sailed left, right and centre keeping me puzzled with life in this small town. The only bright spark in my life was my daughter who was 4 years old then. Me and my daughter explored the markets and tried to make the most of life at home. Surprisingly nobody in the colony was warm with us, or for that matter even spoke to us. We were left alone like accused people. As for the cold treatment from my neighbor, I was totally confused as to what was going on in their great mind!!!!!!!

In the meanwhile, my in-laws came from Mumbai to stay with us for a few months. And when my mother-in-law befriended the Brahmin family, we learnt that all the people in the neighborhood thought that my hubby and me were leading a live-in relationship and were not officially married. This was so because he was seen only occasionally, that too coming and leaving at odd hours at times. Therefore they concluded that “SOMETHING WAS FISHY IN OUR HOUSE” and that is why they kept a distance with us……….heights of suspicion!!! I realized how people formed an opinion just like that! My mother-in-law became my savior and helped my neighbors to come out of this web of confusion. This town had all “judges” around and they branded anyone so easily! However, when they came to know that we were a legally wedded couple they became good friends and even allowed their daughters to speak to me! In this whole episode, my hubby was the only one who was unaffected and merrily sailing for the “INDIAN NAVY”.

Thereafter we stayed in Mumbai for a long time! It is a concrete jungle. We could see snazzy buildings and glittering malls! People mend their own business, no time to make an opinion on others! Typical people with lot of energy. ………to earn and enjoy!!!!                

I had the opportunity to meet many small and big time celebrities because of my job. I came to know their fake attitudes and selfish nature. Actually, most of them are arrogant and I learnt one thing from them, “ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY”. So here, I branded them, and formed my own opinion.

Recently, I had been to Singapore………I was so… so……happy. The warmth of the people is commendable. They were very friendly, trustworthy and approachable. Once I had traveled in a taxi all alone at around 10pm in this foreign country without any fear. While on the way, I was talking to my husband in Tamil on the phone. When I finished the call, the driver asked me in Tamil whether I was an Indian. I felt very happy. It is a great feeling to meet a fellow Indian in a place away from your country. I told him proudly that “yes” I am an Indian. We exchanged pleasantries and he told me   “JAIHIND” when I got down from his taxi. It was superb……I am proud to be an Indian.

It is nice to reminiscence and cherish my experiences with these “beautiful strangers”!