Wow, am I being Bong or am I being Bong. I'm being helluva a lot more Bong-er than I am in Cal. I ate macher jhol bhat today and slept after that in the afternoon. Fish. I ate FISH. As in proper fish fish, not a pansy old baked/grilled bhetki. A fish with all em bones and JHOL. And...here's the deal... I liked it. Shh. Don't tell Ma though.
I've been doing a lot of new things since I got here. Take for instance in Pune, I was staying somewhere where there weren't any Western Loos. And I'll be plain. I hate the Indian ones. Hate, gut wrenchingly hate. But I also know that beggars can't be choosers. Especially at 8 in the morning, when you have just GOT to go, before an interview that too. So I went...*sigh*. But that's a part of the travelling on your own bit, right? I just like to sit, like proper sit-sit, and read a comic or a paper or two - with some kind of fan on, so there isn't too much, ahem, noise, and go about my business. Can't a woman have her dignity?! *sigh*
Anyway. I'm more tolerant of Indian loos now. Now that I've survived the entire ordeal.
So, now that you know, what a spoilt little child I am (fish+loo+I wanted the goddamn two night train journey to get over soon so that I could bathe in some hot water and shampoo my hair) - let me tell you, I usually get around to doing these things anyway. Sometimes grudgingly, sometimes quietly, sometimes with a certain amount of enthusiam (as with the fish). What can I say? I like my luxuries. But it's not beneath me to live in a way different from my own. In fact, it isn't even too difficult. What would you call that? Snobbery or conditioning? I dunno.
When we were kids, we lived in a small apartment, and there was a loo with an Indian thing, where I fell in once, so that could explain my hatred for it. I hate fish, because I was forced to eat it as a kid, and I don't like being forced to do anything. I like having a bath, because, well, I look a mess. And my hair looks limp and sparse and people laugh at it. And that kinda sorta bugs me.
Tell you what. I still like travel. Because I learn from it. I learn to adapt, learn to get over my quirks. Very soon, I'll stop minding people altogether. And then I can give up bathing. :)