Leaving Chandigarh

I was very sad to leave my friend Yogi and his family in Chandigarh. They are a family of very modest means, but showed me extreme generosity and hospitality. They insisted on feeding me, carting me around, and even paying for my admission to the fantasy rock garden (which was incredible: a labyrinth-like garden filled with thousands of sculptures and statues made entirely out of recycled materials – including statues decorated with broken glass bangles). This was why I wanted to give something to Yogi’s family to express my appreciation. He told me that his parents were “very simple people” and that anything that was too flashy or expensive would not be used. He suggested to me that I purchase a lipstick for his mother and a sweater for his dad. However, upon my departure his mother presented me with a beautiful sari. I was overwhelmed, to say the least (and I am still feeling guilty – though I secretly suspect that Yogi may have contributed to the purchase though he was adamant that he doesn’t believe in gifts). Yogi said that it is lucky to gift a sari and that upon learning that I am unmarried, his parents felt it would be helpful to bring me luck in that regard so that I should return to Chandigarh a married lady.

It seems that many in India are concerned about my single-dom (doom?). One taxi driver in Kerala told me, wagging his finger in the rear view mirror, that I had better get a move on as “glamour is going after 30, madam.”

Yogi dropped me at the airport, after a quick stop to use the posh bathrooms at the Chandigarh Taj Hotel (where I got my photo taken with a number of Bollywood celebs). It was so lucky that I met him on the flight to India and I’m glad that I got over my fear that he was part of an evil plot to lure me to Chandigarh to steal my kidneys and trusted my instinct that he is actually just a really nice guy. I’m hoping that we will keep in touch and that I’ll be able to show him similar hospitality if he is ever in Canada in the future.