Miscellaneous 3
Zoo Life
At any attraction we visit, we become part of the attraction. India has been similiar to our visit to China and a little less so Vietnam. That is, we are of enough interest for people that they will stop, stare, ask for selfies, etc. The staring here is a little more pronounced which I suspect is a function of the culture. In China people tried to descretely look and take pictures. Here in India they will stop and stare. Really stare. Like walk right up to you on the street or in the car and uncomfortably stare. Before it becomes unbearable for me with my Western perspective the one-sided tension can be broken with smile or a nod of the head. One man shook my hand, patted my bald head and said "Unique". In the North the girls were collecting long looks from the boys and counting them as their boyfriends. Not sure who won that game. The South sees more foreigners so there is a little less stardom for everyone.
Where Are The Women?
We have noticed in the smaller towns that you rarely see women. India seems to be rather patriarchical, this is demonstrated by the paucity of women that you see out and about except for in the bigger cities. When you do see them out in the smaller areas it is usually while they are performing some sort of manual labor task. This really struck me in Kochi when we took a walk on the shoreline. All men enjoying the sand and surf, fishing and selling goods, but not a woman in sight except a Muslim who was fully covered. I think even Christian cultures influenced by the enlightenment have fallen into their own versions of this when they forget that the Bible is clear that through Christ we have all been made equal, and that women is the glory of man, and that industrious women are to be praised.
Sorry No Sari
The women that you do see out and about are always wearing fantastically colorful Sari's. It really adds a vibrancy to any setting. It appears to me like all the women are dressed for a night out while they may various objects balanced on their heads for transport or performing other tasks. Patti refuses to trade her sweats for Sari's, maybe someday. Many men in the South wear a Dhoti which looks like the bottom half of a robe and attaches at the waist. It adds nice touch to whatever shirt they are wearing. Or in the case of the pilgrims that were flooding into Periyar when we were there, nothing up top. Just a Dhoti and nothing else, not even shoes.
At any attraction we visit, we become part of the attraction. India has been similiar to our visit to China and a little less so Vietnam. That is, we are of enough interest for people that they will stop, stare, ask for selfies, etc. The staring here is a little more pronounced which I suspect is a function of the culture. In China people tried to descretely look and take pictures. Here in India they will stop and stare. Really stare. Like walk right up to you on the street or in the car and uncomfortably stare. Before it becomes unbearable for me with my Western perspective the one-sided tension can be broken with smile or a nod of the head. One man shook my hand, patted my bald head and said "Unique". In the North the girls were collecting long looks from the boys and counting them as their boyfriends. Not sure who won that game. The South sees more foreigners so there is a little less stardom for everyone.
Where Are The Women?
We have noticed in the smaller towns that you rarely see women. India seems to be rather patriarchical, this is demonstrated by the paucity of women that you see out and about except for in the bigger cities. When you do see them out in the smaller areas it is usually while they are performing some sort of manual labor task. This really struck me in Kochi when we took a walk on the shoreline. All men enjoying the sand and surf, fishing and selling goods, but not a woman in sight except a Muslim who was fully covered. I think even Christian cultures influenced by the enlightenment have fallen into their own versions of this when they forget that the Bible is clear that through Christ we have all been made equal, and that women is the glory of man, and that industrious women are to be praised.
Sorry No Sari
The women that you do see out and about are always wearing fantastically colorful Sari's. It really adds a vibrancy to any setting. It appears to me like all the women are dressed for a night out while they may various objects balanced on their heads for transport or performing other tasks. Patti refuses to trade her sweats for Sari's, maybe someday. Many men in the South wear a Dhoti which looks like the bottom half of a robe and attaches at the waist. It adds nice touch to whatever shirt they are wearing. Or in the case of the pilgrims that were flooding into Periyar when we were there, nothing up top. Just a Dhoti and nothing else, not even shoes.
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