Somebody's watching me...

My experience in India is very different this time around. Last week, I worked nearly 100 hours and had very little time to do anything but sleep and grab food on the way back to work. Things are finally starting to calm down a bit. Also, my work schedule has changed so that I work most hours on the same day, instead of going to work during the afternoon of one day and leaving in the early morning of another day. I'm splitting my time between the Indian day shift and US day shift now, so I'm usually asleep by the time my friends and family get off work around 5pm. But I wake up hours before them to start working again.

I've taken a lot of fascinating pictures from the car rides to and from work, but I'm ready to get out and see the city in daylight now. I share a car with my co-worker for transport to work. She and I have found little things to make the long rides more tolerable. There's a certain point where she always looks for 3 cows that hang out together on a corner. Those cows played Holi a couple of weeks ago, because they still have colors on their horns and backs. Along that same road, I always look for my "Chevy Rickshaw" and she tries to help me get a picture of it. This elusive rickshaw stands out from all others because it has a bright red top and a Chevrolet symbol on the back window. I have to take a picture in it before I leave. Also, when we leave the office in the dark, we usually see trucks full of "flying chickens". The trucks have chicken cages on the back, and every time they hit a bump, you see the chickens bounce into the air. The same trucks are always empty when we see them during the daytime, and we know they've gone on to "Chicken Heaven". That sight makes my co-worker not want to eat the chicken sandwich we sometimes take for lunch, but it doesn't stop me. We also pass a busy truck stop at night that takes over the highway. I don't know what their capacity is, but trucks fill the inside of this station, and those that can't fit inside then park in the 2-3 lanes outside the truck stop along the highway. Just imagine passing a Flying J or Love's truck stop on I-20, and all the trucks are parked on the highway all night forcing the cars to only use 1 lane. The traffic is even worse when the trucks start to move again in the early morning to start their deliveries. They all seem to try to leave at the same time, forcing themselves on the road carrying heavy loads with workers sitting on top or inside the trucks in precarious positions.

Since I've been here, people have asked me if I am Nigerian, Ugandan, South African, and Ghanaian. Someone also called me Bob Marley (who happens to be very popular here) because of my hair. They are all surprised when I tell them I am American. They look at me in disbelief. I met another black woman at the hotel within my first couple of days in town. I was excited to see her and to actually have a conversation, especially after my experience the last time I was in India. She's a flight attendant from NY who usually stays at my hotel when they land here. We exchanged contact info. I also met a Swedish photographer at breakfast one morning over beet juice. We both sampled the hotel's fresh beet juice and agreed that we'd rather eat the beets than drink that concoction ever again. He was only in Mumbai for a day as part of a 12-day global photo shoot. He was heading to Dubai next. Check out his work. www.jacobfellander.com

The office is located near several malls. We walked over to the food court on the first day to pick up lunch, and I mentioned that there wasn't as much staring as my previous trip. No sooner had I said that, we walked in to the mall and all eyes turned in my direction. We went upstairs to the food court, and even the cooks stepped out of the kitchen to get a better view. The restaurant that we chose had a small window between the kitchen and the area with the counter and register. All I could see was a bunch of heads trying to look through that tiny window as I ordered. We had to wait a few minutes for them to get back to work and make the food, so everyone sitting in the food court turned towards us and watched us like we were animals on display at the zoo. It has been like that every day since. It doesn't happen as much at the hotel and the office. However, when we changed shifts and started working earlier in the Indian day, a new group of people had to get accustomed to seeing me in the office every day before they stopped staring as much. The people who ogle me out in public spaces seem to have no shame. They are not subtle stares either. They look at me as though I have three heads, 5 arms, and I breathe fire. I've started staring back at them. Most people turn their heads when they see me looking at them the way they look at me, but some just don't seem to get it. I saw a man and his children out yesterday. The children didn't pay much attention to me, but he looked at me for about 5 minutes straight, practically ignoring what they were doing. I went up the escalator, and his eyes were still fixed on me. I turned around and looked at him while I rode up. He adverted his eyes briefly. I stepped off, looked back down, and his neck was still craned to see me. Seriously? I need to start charging people a fee.

Truck stop during the day

"I see you!"

Empty chicken truck :-(

See the baby sleeping on the front?