Sunday, January 8, 2012

Bags and Love



In New York we were asked to give up our seats for a unaccompanied minor. As a result of our wiliness to surrender our seats to the youth, the nice man at the counter put business class tags on our luggage. "Your bags will be first off the plane." he said with a smile.

We did not think about the fact that at our layover in Dubai our bags were first off the plane and first loaded onto the plane.
So in Calicut as I stood panicking our bags were lost forever I noticed something lovely about Indian men. First, they all stood close to one another chatting and watching the bags circle the conveyor belt. Next, they would lovingly pat one another on the back or, rest there arms on one another. Lastly, if a bag came by that needed to be removed it was never lifted alone.



I noticed this behavior through out India if six people were all piled onto a motor cycle (okay, I am exaggerating, five was the highest I saw). They would not hold the back of the Cycle or, onto the seat, they would lean their cheek lovingly onto the person in front of them, or give the driver a back rub or, just a gentle hug.
If that was me there would be no gentle hug, I would have been hanging on for dear life.
The whole Kerala driving system is made up of a giant game of chicken combined with an extreme faith in breaks. 
Cars and Auto Rickshaws Passing on the left


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