Saturday, March 11, 2006

It kind of rubs off on you

















Dear Marc, have you been to India?

If so, did you grow a mustache? You must have.
India does something to people, and it seems that what it does to men is to create an urge for more hair on the upper lip. 99.9% of all men I see here have mustaches. It’s like going to a country where all women have feathered hair.


As for women, if you stay for more than 2 hours in India, foot jewelry will seem like a must have, just as long skirts, scarves and colorful sandals. I swear it’s so contagious, I found Vanja’s blonde Barbie dolls adorned with blue dots between their eyebrows the other day. I had no idea they were so desperate to fit in.

We’re in Goa now, we took the train here. It was a lovely experience except for the fact that we were stuck with a woman who never quit talking. We all moved out of our compartment to avoid the constant babble, but that didn’t stop her, she found me, asleep with Joel sleeping on my arm behind closed curtains in another compartment. “Excuuuuse meee!”, she said and proceeded to show me yet another cell phone video of her baby.

But the train ride was still great, because the scenery was often breathtaking and the food was so good. And the people behind the food was even better, listen to their slogan:

Rajdhani: Service till eternity.

Isn’t that what we all want? I guess it could be a nod to the slow pace of many Indian train journeys, but I still love the grandiose dedication to the customers. Thankyou Rajdhani!

Almost as good was the motto of the Kerala police force: Polite but firm.
That’s what I want to be too!

Polite but firm greetings from
-e

Ps. Did you ever try an Indian Tourist candy bar? The hollow waffle with a white creamy centre.

I don’t think I’ve ever read such a fitting description.

Here are some pictures for you:























Vanja showing off her yogic flexibility, flowery thoughts, sharp teeth and new anklet. Notice the mustache on the pseudo-Indian guy beside her.




















Keep working, happy, polite, skull!




















Trying to soothe the talking woman’s baby as Vanja looks on and Joel protests.



















The best part of taking the night train is breakfast with a view as the new day is dawning.

4 comments:

Claire said...

Hello
I first looked at your blog because of the great title. Anything to do with M.J is always worth a look! It's so nice to read about your travels with family but I have to ask you - are you actually Swedish? Because you write so well in English, better than me and I AM English! Loved the 'service to eternity'.

charlotte said...

your photograph of the sunrise is beautiful, stunning. and your writings are so very entertaining - I'm thrilled to have discovered your blog!

Anonymous said...

thanks for make my life better!!!for sure that your letters cheer me up!!

kisses for u and your gorgeaus kids

Denise

Mary Lewys said...

Please never stop writing these letters.