A few days ago I came back from a trip to India. I went there alone and being a quite small white guy (in Indian eyes - rich tourist) naturally provoked curiosity for the local people. The same as in Pakistan people find the easiest way to approach by asking: Where are you from?
Maybe would be cool to be from one of the largest leading world countries - it would give them a lot of answers by default (without my involvement). However, the reality is totally opposite: I come from a very small, European country, which is quite young and didn't have a chance to stand out especially for the people of South Asian countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the list can go on...
I tried my best to be polite and patient explaining that I'm from LITH-U-A-NIA! No no! Not Australia! No - it is not a state in USA.
I could go on with my own examples but I will use a quote from a book which I got in Mumbai ("Shantaram" by Georgy David Roberts). I found a very good example which illustrates my experience in both countries (Pakistan and India). Reading the given quote below I remembered my trip to the Northern Areas of Pakistan where my friend Sheeraz most probably was going through pretty much the same flow (a dialog between to guys from village in the bus):
- What is he doing here?
- He's visiting my family.
- Where is he from?
- New Zealand.
- New Zealand?
- Yes. New Zealand. In Europe.
- Plenty of money in New Zealand?
- Yes, yes. Plenty. They're all rich, white people there.
- Does he speak Marathi (one of the languages spoken in India)?
- No.
- Hindi?
- No. Only English.
- Only English?
- Yes.
- Why?
- They don't speak Hindi in his country.
- They don't speak Hindi there?
- No.
- No Marathi? No Hindi?
- No. Only English.
- Holy Farther! The poor fool.
- Yes.
- How old is he?
- Thirty.
- He looks older.
- They all do. All the Europeans look older and angrier than they really are. It's a white thing.
- Is he married?
- No.
- Not married? Thirty, and not married? What's wrong with him?
- He's European. A lot of them get married only when they're old.
- That's crazy.
- Yes.
- What job does he do?
- He's a teacher.
- A teacher is good.
- Yes.
- Does he have a mother and a farther?
- Yes.
- Where are they?
- In his native place. New Zealand.
- Why isn't he with them?
- He's traveling. He's looking at the whole world.
- Why?
- Europeans do that. They work for a while, and then they travel around, lonely, for a while, with no family, until they get old, and then they get married, and become very serious.
- That's crazy.
- Yes.
- He must be lonely, without his mummy and his daddy, and with no wife and children.
- Yes. But the Europeans don't mind. They get a lot of practice being lonely.
- He has a big strong body.
- Yes.
- Make sure you feed him properly, and give him plenty of milk.
- Yes.
- Buffalo milk.
- Yes, yes.
- And make sure he doesn't learn any bad words. Don't teach him any swearing. There are plenty of arseholes and bastards around who will teach him the wrong sisterfucking words. Keep him away from motherfuckers like that.
- I will.
- And don't let anyone take advantage of him. He doesn't look too bright. Keep an eye on him.
- He is brighter than he looks, but yes, I will look after him.
So... I think this small dialog illustrates the best of the pure villager in Pakistan/Indian land. I might be wrong in that, but as my blog name says: Point of View : )
