Dec 12 2000 Pramod's Village in Uttar Pradesh wake up and go to McDonald's in Delhi, no Egg McMuffins there, just cheesy and toasted buns for bkfst, drive 40 km to Kudi. Pramod takes me to his local barber for shave and haircut before I meet his family. This was one of those far from hygenic shacks set up on the side of the main road in any Indian town... barber's infant boy in dirty cloth diaper cries on floor, he loads a new razor blade and tosses the old one on the ground, generously applies cream and brushes cold, brackish water to make thick foam, shaves 'beard' and 'moustache', then have hair cut and smelly oil wiped on head. all for $1.40

Kudi is a town of 750 about 3km off a minor road connecting Delhi and Hardwar in the North. It is a sugar cane and wheat growing community where everyone is related to Pramod and completely vegetarian (certain high Hindu castes are strictly vegetarian) . It is also a town that has not one single toilet (people take walks into the fields and use irrigation water to 'rinse' with left hand) or a television. I'm a huge hit and subject of great curiosity amongst the Kudians. I meet the father and mother who blesses me by sweeping her right hand over my face; meanwhile, Pramod's 18 and 22 year old unmarried sisters (picture of sisters, father, baby, and uncle ) scramble to bring us tea. Tracked by numerous cousins as we go to the grandfather's house, where several elders are sitting around the courtyard on beds smoking a water pipe and hacking while young female grandchildren bring them tea and food. I am invited to sit, smoke, and drink.

I sit, have a toke of the pipe, cough, and the questions begin... 'How old are you?', 'Where is your wife?', 'How long are you travelling?', 'How can you leave your family and village for so long?', 'Why aren't you working?' My explanations of: 1) not meeting the right girl yet and 2) the importance of self discovery and betterment thru travel and exposure to different cultures, do not satisfy them at all, and they urge me to go back quickly to my home village, find nice girl from my caste, get married and have children. Return to the father's house, go into the main room of the men's house where there are six beds (which are twin bed sized wooden frames, covered in jute twine, on which mattress rolls are placed for sleeping) , all the men (Pramod, his dad, two uncles, and me) sit on the beds covered in blankets as the sisters bring us dinner of lentils and chilis and buttered flat bread which we eat with our hands (roll up the bread and scoop up the lentils). Hot fresh bread is brought immediately by the attentive sisters, I drink shots of '8PM' whiskey with the father and uncles and amuse everyone with my limited Hindi and amaze them by using my mobile phone to speak to my Mom and find out that Chicago is freezing and has 12 inches of snow. Sleep in room with the Father whose cough keeps awake.

BACK to INDIA DIARY