Greetings from Agra!
It has been a few days since I last wrote a blog post. I don't even know where to begin. I wish I could tell you about all of the amazing experiences I've had over the past few days. I'll save all of those stories for later. Today, I'd like to tell you about some of the people I've met while I've been here. If you know me well enough, you know that I love meeting new people and making new friends. Sometimes, it may come off as obnoxious or over enthusiastic, but I guess that is just who I am. The first few days that I was in India, I was so annoyed and easily ticked off by annoying shop owners and children that made me feel guilty enough to give them 100+ rupees. However, after getting over the constant staring, pestering, grabbing, bothering, and shouting of "madame aye Indian madame come look in my shop," I have grown to love the people here. There are five people that I want to tell you about.
The first person is Rahul. He was a ~22 year old ( I say ~22 because he doesn't really know his birth date) boy who owned my camel, Shakti. We went out into the desert at 5 am to see the sun rise, and he kept my crazy camel under control (which I am very thankful for). Shakti is known to bite a lot of her riders; fortunately, I was not one of them. I got to know Rahul very well on our 2 hour camel expedition. We had so much in common! At first, we bonded over Hindi music and Bollywood movies. Although I don't know too much about either, I knew enough to hold a steady conversation. After a while, we started talking about that any normal person would talk about: relationships and parties. This made me realize that no matter where I go, people of the same age will always be interested in the same things. Rahul told me that getting married in India was like being imprisoned; I told him that most boys in America think that way too. It was nice getting to know someone close to my age, and learning about what he likes to do for fun.
Another person that I totally fell in love with was this little boy named Vikram. He was Rahul's cousin, and was also in the camel business (it is a family business). Vikram was so cute- shouting Hindi songs, dancing into the desert, and speaking broken English slang with us. He was only 12 years old, and he taught himself English. He said he loves the language and just reads books to learn how to speak it. It was crazy to think that someone so young could do such a thing. He worked so well with the camels, and wasn't afraid to pester or punish them; he was much braver than the rest of us 18-27 year olds who were scared to ride. Vikram was so young, yet to accomplished. He was in school, working for his family, and teaching himself a foreign language so that he could get a job in America. He taught me that age doesn't have to hold one back from his or her dreams. I think this is a message that should be heard by all people.
Next is a woman named Deepa. Deepa in a cooking instructor from Pushkar. She taught us how to make aloo paratha, malai kofta, and gulab jamun. She seemed fairly young, spoke good English, and was extremely welcoming. She was such a kind-hearted women, and the food we made was delicious. When we started getting to know Deepa better, she told us about all of the jobs she has. She is a mother of two young children (one boy and one girl), a cooking instructor, does all of the household work, and designs costumes that are shipped all around the world. This woman literally does it all. Despite her multiple roles and what seemed like a very busy lifestyle, she was so happy. She didn't seem overwhelmed at all. I need to learn that from her; as you all know, I am stressed out very easily when it comes to multitasking. Deepa made me realize that I truly can live out all of my passions. Just because I want to be a doctor now doesn't mean I can't be an interior designer (my first dream job).
The fourth person (my favorite Indian) is a boy named Zoy. I met Zoy, a cute little 9 year-old boy. He was trying to sell me postcards, but I refused. Instead, I talked to him about his interests and life. Zoy was seriously the nicest person that I have ever met. He held my hand and showed me around Akbar's palace; he made sure to tell me every single time a step was coming up so I wouldn't fall; he fought off annoying shop owners when they tried to sell me things; he took photos of me in front of every beautiful place in the palace. When it was time to leave, he didn't ask me for a single dollar. He didn't try to sell me the postcards again. He simply gave me a hug, and waved goodbye. I ended up giving him some money anyways, but I appreciated how genuinely kind he was.
Finally, I'd like to tell you about my husband here in India. In Fatehpur, I got married. Yup, it happened. The boy (I am going to refer to him as "the boy" because I definitely forgot his name) started off by telling me I was beautiful, blowing a kiss, and winking at me. It was really weird. Then, he followed me around for about 30 minutes asking me to buy something from his shop. I kept refusing, and he kept insisting. When he realized it was time for our group to leave, he came up to me, asked me to marry him, gave me a beautiful silver anklet, and told me to wear it our wedding next time I come back to India. He was super creepy, but at least I got a free anklet... and a husband. I only agreed because he said he would let me ride in on an elephant.
Anyways, my time at the cafe is running out and I'm running low on rupees since nobody here carries small bills! I hope you enjoyed the post, and I'll be sure to write whenever I get a chance. I hope everyone back home is enjoying their summer.
Xoxo, Radhika
It has been a few days since I last wrote a blog post. I don't even know where to begin. I wish I could tell you about all of the amazing experiences I've had over the past few days. I'll save all of those stories for later. Today, I'd like to tell you about some of the people I've met while I've been here. If you know me well enough, you know that I love meeting new people and making new friends. Sometimes, it may come off as obnoxious or over enthusiastic, but I guess that is just who I am. The first few days that I was in India, I was so annoyed and easily ticked off by annoying shop owners and children that made me feel guilty enough to give them 100+ rupees. However, after getting over the constant staring, pestering, grabbing, bothering, and shouting of "madame aye Indian madame come look in my shop," I have grown to love the people here. There are five people that I want to tell you about.
The first person is Rahul. He was a ~22 year old ( I say ~22 because he doesn't really know his birth date) boy who owned my camel, Shakti. We went out into the desert at 5 am to see the sun rise, and he kept my crazy camel under control (which I am very thankful for). Shakti is known to bite a lot of her riders; fortunately, I was not one of them. I got to know Rahul very well on our 2 hour camel expedition. We had so much in common! At first, we bonded over Hindi music and Bollywood movies. Although I don't know too much about either, I knew enough to hold a steady conversation. After a while, we started talking about that any normal person would talk about: relationships and parties. This made me realize that no matter where I go, people of the same age will always be interested in the same things. Rahul told me that getting married in India was like being imprisoned; I told him that most boys in America think that way too. It was nice getting to know someone close to my age, and learning about what he likes to do for fun.
Another person that I totally fell in love with was this little boy named Vikram. He was Rahul's cousin, and was also in the camel business (it is a family business). Vikram was so cute- shouting Hindi songs, dancing into the desert, and speaking broken English slang with us. He was only 12 years old, and he taught himself English. He said he loves the language and just reads books to learn how to speak it. It was crazy to think that someone so young could do such a thing. He worked so well with the camels, and wasn't afraid to pester or punish them; he was much braver than the rest of us 18-27 year olds who were scared to ride. Vikram was so young, yet to accomplished. He was in school, working for his family, and teaching himself a foreign language so that he could get a job in America. He taught me that age doesn't have to hold one back from his or her dreams. I think this is a message that should be heard by all people.
Next is a woman named Deepa. Deepa in a cooking instructor from Pushkar. She taught us how to make aloo paratha, malai kofta, and gulab jamun. She seemed fairly young, spoke good English, and was extremely welcoming. She was such a kind-hearted women, and the food we made was delicious. When we started getting to know Deepa better, she told us about all of the jobs she has. She is a mother of two young children (one boy and one girl), a cooking instructor, does all of the household work, and designs costumes that are shipped all around the world. This woman literally does it all. Despite her multiple roles and what seemed like a very busy lifestyle, she was so happy. She didn't seem overwhelmed at all. I need to learn that from her; as you all know, I am stressed out very easily when it comes to multitasking. Deepa made me realize that I truly can live out all of my passions. Just because I want to be a doctor now doesn't mean I can't be an interior designer (my first dream job).
The fourth person (my favorite Indian) is a boy named Zoy. I met Zoy, a cute little 9 year-old boy. He was trying to sell me postcards, but I refused. Instead, I talked to him about his interests and life. Zoy was seriously the nicest person that I have ever met. He held my hand and showed me around Akbar's palace; he made sure to tell me every single time a step was coming up so I wouldn't fall; he fought off annoying shop owners when they tried to sell me things; he took photos of me in front of every beautiful place in the palace. When it was time to leave, he didn't ask me for a single dollar. He didn't try to sell me the postcards again. He simply gave me a hug, and waved goodbye. I ended up giving him some money anyways, but I appreciated how genuinely kind he was.
Finally, I'd like to tell you about my husband here in India. In Fatehpur, I got married. Yup, it happened. The boy (I am going to refer to him as "the boy" because I definitely forgot his name) started off by telling me I was beautiful, blowing a kiss, and winking at me. It was really weird. Then, he followed me around for about 30 minutes asking me to buy something from his shop. I kept refusing, and he kept insisting. When he realized it was time for our group to leave, he came up to me, asked me to marry him, gave me a beautiful silver anklet, and told me to wear it our wedding next time I come back to India. He was super creepy, but at least I got a free anklet... and a husband. I only agreed because he said he would let me ride in on an elephant.
Anyways, my time at the cafe is running out and I'm running low on rupees since nobody here carries small bills! I hope you enjoyed the post, and I'll be sure to write whenever I get a chance. I hope everyone back home is enjoying their summer.
Xoxo, Radhika
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