Cute but Ferocious ... like a Goose.
I know I haven't written in forever, but honestly I've haven't been out of the house much. Marga and Theo's company was hosting board meetings all last week, so they had lots of friends in town from South Africa. So, I was at home with the baby a lot. I love hanging out with Kara but I'm not sure how thrilling a blog post about my day enacting the itsy bitsy spider would be. At some point though I will do a blog about my typical day around the house, whether you like it or not.
Today though, I was granted the afternoon off. As grateful as I was, I didn't really know what to do. I've run out 'touristy' land marks to go see, I'm not a huge museum guru, and my wallet is telling me that I just can't keep shopping in my free time. So, I decided I would go to a park. I was desperate to take some new pictures and I thought this would be a good location as any.I was a bit nervous though, because the parks that I've seen don't look so paradisaical. There's usually more trash than grass and there's a man peeing on that tree over there and then you're looking at the tree you were just leaning against and realizing you don't know where this tree has been. But, Sajjid told me about a park where there was a terrorist attack a few years ago, and weirdly, I thought that if terrorists planned an attack there, it must be nice. And I was right.
So I grabbed my Hindi notebook, a novel, Theo's (very very nice) camera and set off. I figured I could lounge in some grass, take some pictures, study a bit of Hindi, and just relax. The park was beautiful and had all these great places to watch people. There were many jungle gyms, but also a large lake dock filled with boats, and even a monorail where kids could ride these old cars. It was a perfect park for taking pictures and my plan was proceeding along quite perfectly....at first.
I'm completely fascinated by Indian people, which is why people watching in a park sounded so great to me. Indians are so tender and receptive, their clothes are striking, and as a culture they are so modern yet moth-eaten at the same time. It entrances me. So I started off walking around the park just taking pictures of people. I had taken some good candid shots of people on the drive over and I wanted to take more. Like this picture below. The man on the front of the bike seems the exact opposite of the man on the back, but there they are. (Sorry about the blur around their faces. The window was dirty but had to be up because of the beggars.)
At the park everything was going fine, but then I started to attract a lot of attention.
It started off so innocently, one man coming over and asking if I would pose in a picture with his wife and daughters. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by people all wanting to take photos with me. I desperately wish I had copies of these pictures - me standing there awkwardly, blushing furiously, as eight guys stand around me posing for a picture on a camera phone. Unfortunately, I only had Theo's very very nice camera and I wasn't about it hand it over to someone I didn't know. I think I must have stood there and posed with over twenty random groups of people before I finally broke away. And that was just round one.
Also people just wanted me to take their picture. They didn't ask me to send a copy or anything, they just wanted me to take their photo. Especially the little boys. It would always start off with just one "You take one photo of me Madam."
"Wait, Madam. Wait. Okay you can take picture now."
The camera lens clicks and as it opens you see about five more of his friends all standing around nudging each other as they try to get to the front of the group.
Or this group of boys below was also funny. The tall boy on the left asked if I would take a picture of him and his friends but as I pulled out my camera he asked me to wait. He then pulled a comb out of his pocket and began to fix his hair. Very cute.
So, like before, I just kept walking around. I mean every time I stopped people approached me and then I was surrounded - so I walked. But now there's about fifteen children around the age of eight following closely at my heels laughing and just saying things like "Madam!" "Hello!" "Hello Madam!" I felt like I was being followed by a pack of geese. Because geese, they're cute but kind of ferocious at the same time.
As I was getting some soda from a stand a man in a nice suit approached me and said, "Hello Madam. If anyone gives you any trouble you just come to information desk, okay? I've already sent away a group of boys causing mischief."
I figured when groups of people were being thrown out of the park because I was just so weird, it was probably time to go. Also, I was starting to get creeped out.
I'm fascinated with Indian people, unfortunately, they seem to be equally fascinated by me. Hey, at least I did end up getting some good photos. Too bad not one of them was candid.
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3 comments:
Ali! These pictures are gorgeous! I am glad that you found something to do with your day off and sorry that you didn't get to enjoy some alone time! I really love the first one!
You are getting some stunning pictures in, im completely captivated with the first one! Keep documenting, these pictures are going to be lifetime keepsakes <3
love,
taylor
Love it... and these experiences are going to be unforgettable. Love every single awkward, weird moment you have... because all those kids want is a bit of attention. You probably made their days.
I love you always.
And your photographs are amazing.
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