Like Obama?

This is from a December 2008 letter I wrote soon after now President Obama won the election. I wrote it while returning from Thailand:

[Editor's note: A tuk tuk is a small, three-wheeled passenger vehicle that serves as an alternative to a taxi in Thailand.]

Now that Obama is president-elect, people seem ready to believe that black people really do come from the U.S. too. It's kinda nuts.

Typical exchange:

Tuk tuk?!

No thank you.

Where you from? (South Africa?)

America.

America! Like Obama?!

Yes! Like Obama.


Typical follow up exchange for remainder of trip:

OBAMA!

Yes. Obama.

Vishnu, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

This is taken from a letter that I wrote to my mother:

Mommy, I love India. I'm so excited to be here. At times, I can't even wrap my head around the fact that I am here after wanting to come for so long. This place is crazy and wonderful. You can practically tell the time by what wildlife is about. Sunrise belongs to eagles and other birds. Around 7 a.m. the flies get humming.

Mid-day is too hot for anything but tourists and livestock. Cows are everywhere. The dogs are next in terms of population size. Goats and pigs also make the scene in more rural areas. They all share the road (and any other thoroughfare) with cars, bicycles, rickshaws and pedestrians.

Early evening belongs to the monkeys, literally. They are pretty territorial. Any territory they are in -- regardless of whether you were there first -- is theirs.

The people here are amazing. Full of color and contradictions. I baffle them. A five-foot, nine-inch tall Indian woman with an afro is a rarity to say the least. I've started parting my hair in the front and putting red make-up in the part (a symbol of marriage like our wedding band) and that seems to both further confuse and elicit respect and appreciation. When I wear Indian clothes all bets are off. I don't appear to be Indian, but what else could this non-Hindi speaking, yet not clueless tourist person be? Despite their befuddlement, everyone, for the most part, has been very respectful, kind and helpful.